Winter Hearts

When Wingmen Become Friends

Panos could see Siana was struggling.

Oh, she was playing well, and seemed to be holding her own against him and Hyuk. But he could see there was something on her mind, and it was bugging her.

He had seen Leo walk over to her last night, and was surprised to notice his expression as he crossed the dance floor straight towards her. At first he thought it was concern, maybe even anger. It put Panos at the ready. Maybe Leo had cause for concern, or maybe he was angry at her for some reason, but Panos was ready to get to her side in either case.

He had glanced at Siana, noticed that she was in her own little world, dancing. He had often seen her like this, it was something she got into while on the dance floor. He could see she was stirred up, and noticed her tear falling. Panos knew her well enough to know that it was a cathartic process for her , that the music, and the excitement, and her depth of feeling when she got into her own headful of dreams, sometimes caused her to well up out of the blue. He teased her about it, but she called him on it - because he was exactly the same.

But when he looked back at Leo, he realised it was no longer concern or anger he was seeing, but rather, that singular, penetrating focus that a man on the prowl had. He knew then that Leo was, for want of a better word, on the hunt.

Panos didn't know if the attraction was one-sided, but he certainly wasn't going to stand and watch his cousin get harassed if she wasn't interested. He started making his way towards her, trying to get there in time.

When he saw Leo reach her and grab her hand, he stopped. The look on Siana's face was one of welcome, even though she seemed shy of Leo, or maybe from being caught at an emotional moment.

For the first time in all his years of knowing her, Panos felt he was intruding on a private moment.

But he wanted to be sure she was alright, so he watched as Leo bent down to speak to her. Flashing lights blinded him so he couldn't tell what Leo was saying, nor what her expression was as she was partially obscured by him. When he straightened up, Panos could see that whatever he had said, she was happy about it.

Then, Leo had pulled her behind him as he made his way towards the exit with her in tow.

Panos happened to catch Hongbin's eye as Leo and Siana walked out. He knew that Hongbin had witnessed the whole thing too, and saw that on Leo's side, there was someone concerned for him too.

Panos came off the dance floor and went over to Hongbin, who was standing by the bar, his drink in his hand, and Leo's forgotten bottle on the counter. Panos signalled to the bartender, who, annoyingly, was scrolling through his phone as the other bartender looked over his shoulder.

"Hey, you're working, put that away!" Panos yelled over the noise at him. The bartender was experienced, but had only just started working for his father's club, and Panos didn't like his superior attitude. He also put off a bitchy vibe which Panos personally detested, but knew that patrons sometimes liked. He asked for another bottle, looking at Hongbin as he did.

"Something going on that I don't know about?" he asked, hoping that Hongbin wouldn't give him the run around and give it to him straight.

Hongbin smiled, pausing as he waited for the bartender to give Panos his drink. He was about to speak, when he paused again, smiling and looking down at the counter. Panos realised that Hongbin was aware of the proximity of the bartender to them, and probably valued discretion over the chance to speculate. Panos looked at the bartender, and was annoyed that he was loitering near them instead of giving them space.

Panos was familiar with this behaviour from having Siana as his cousin, as well as knowing her mother briefly, and from being educated by Siana as soon as she felt he needed to be educated.