Winter Hearts

I need more, one more

Leo strode into the club a few steps behind the rest of the boys, practically seething.

He had sat alone during the ride down. At first, he had been calm, thinking on what Mr Mikhalis had said. He got the feeling that Mr Mikhalis was sensing a fight coming on at the dinner table and tried to calm him down, and he appreciated the gesture, because it was like the irritable static in his body had been discharged from him.

And, Mr Mikhalis was right.

Leo had felt such a surge of anger listening to N that he thought he would lose all control.

He was annoyed that N had put two and two together about him and Siana and then had started pushing him for a reaction. It made him appreciate Hongbin's delicate handling of the matter earlier that day. However, Hongbin himself was at a loss when it came to lending a hand in the face of N's onslaught.

Leo was mad at himself for not being quick enough to laugh it off or distract N. But it was becoming more and more obvious that N was discussing Siana as if she were something to be taken advantage of.

Leo was glad that Siana didn't seem to realise N was referring to her. And he hoped that further down the table, the others didn't notice what was going on.

During the ride down, his anger seemed to resurge, at a slow burn. The others sat in front, Ravi and Ken groaning over the delicious food that they had eaten, whilst N, Hyuk and Hongbin talked about the pretty twinkling lights of the various townships they saw along the way.

Now, as he walked into the darkened club, the thumping bass seemed to match his heartbeat. He felt a familiar shiver run down his spine as the hairs on his arms stood up. He felt like he was onstage, facing an audience that was going wild for him. This was the effect music had on him: the anticipation of drama, the heightened expectations of attitude and fantasy that Vixx brought to the stage. There was something about music that could bring out the beast in him, and it only seemed to happen when the music was playing.

He had realised early in his career that there was something in his expression that was very charismatic during performance. Growing up, he often put off acquaintances and colleagues with his supposedly grumpy expression. He always thought he was just staring blankly into space, but it seemed that his features were set in such a way that he looked more fierce or aggressive than he really was. He certainly wasn't a confrontative person, so he spent a lot of time being bewildered by his alienating aura.

Once he began performing, and figuring out what worked for the camera and what didn't, he found the less he did the more reaction he got. Viewers would see what they came to see - and Vixx's particular brand of highly stylised pop, laced with a hint of kink, coupled with his expression, served to imbue his onstage character with an enigmatic flair that he felt he really didn't possess off the stage.

But here - tonight, after a long eventful day full of emotional ups and downs, and in a club that was almost full, atop a hill facing the sea, in the winter far away from home, where somewhere in the crowd was a girl with eyes that penetrated into his soul - he felt as if his heart was beating with a new pulse.

So this was what drew people to the clubs. Not just the music, not just the dancing, but the possibility of something... happening.

He searched the room for any sign of Siana. He saw Hakyeon wave to someone and made out the tall figure of Panos who was dancing in the throng across the room. He noticed more than a few faces turn and stare at the six tall unfamiliar men as they made their way forward.

His eyes adjusted to the chasing lights, and he waved absently back at Panos as he scanned the crowd. He finally recognised the jacket Siana had been wearing and stepped closer to see better.