Winter Hearts

Ken Gets Acquainted With the Situation

Ken didn't expect to be breaking a sweat, but he was enjoying playing ball nonetheless.

He knew when he was being let down, and took the hint graciously. Siana's style kind of made him fall in love with her a little bit, but he knew there wasn't enough going on between them to warrant him getting obsessed over it.

Ah, puppy love. I'm full of it, he thought, wistfully.

But Leo hyung... so there was something going on there between him and Siana? If so, that was some fast moving, hyung! Ken thought to himself proudly.

No wonder Leo had cut off his attempts to question him about Siana when they were hanging out with Kkomae that afternoon.

"Off limits," he said quietly to himself as he received the ball from Siana.

Leo-hyung's very words. He took aim and shot, springing up high into the air before Panos could react in time.

He scored, and Siana high-fived him with both hands. The urge to hold on and pull her into a bearhug was strong, but Ken let go, smiling at her.

Leo's words suggested that he had already become possessive about her, barely one day after they had arrived.

Ken felt a little sad that his immediate attraction to Siana's bubbly, sporty character had to go unrequited. But he knew that that was ll it was. He certainly didn't feel there were any feelings deeper than that. Or none that made him want to tell people she was off limits.

Ken knew what that feeling was like. The feeling that you wanted someone all to yourself, even if that person wasn't yours to begin with. He understood that anyone could feel that, even relative strangers.

This was what he believed fans felt. It was like agony. Wanting someone you couldn't have. It could drive people crazy with jealousy and make normally reasonable people irrational and out of touch with reality.

Oh yes, he had definitely been there.

It was a distraction and if things weren't going well or fast enough, and could eat up the insides of even the strongest person. One could literally become love-sick.

So Ken did have some reservations about Leo going into something when there was so little time that could be spent together. How fast did Leo Hyung want to move? Because there was barely enough time to get to know each other, let alone indulge passions.

Ken avoided Panos' offensive reaches, swivelled neatly and laid up another shot, scoring again, much to Siana's delight.

She punched Panos playfully in the shoulder and laughed. Normal gestures, everyday actions - but to an amorous onlooker, those very things became exciting, meaningful and suggestive. If he were Leo instead of Ken, seeing her do those little things would make her seem more fresh, vibrant, beautiful. Ken knew that being in that state made separation very painful.

It left a hole in your heart, a gap in your world - that could take weeks or months to get over if you have fallen hard. And he suspected Leo had. All because of those words.

Off limits.

Ken thought that maybe Leo was telling himself she was off limits too, at that time. Poor Leo Hyung, he couldn't help but fall into that pit called, for want of a better word, love.

They resumed playing, listening to Hyuk's not-so-gentle joking that maybe they should just let him play on his own as he was doing quite well winning by himself. He loudly complained that it was hard to be perfect on the courts AND look good. Amidst laughter they managed to play a rather boring game where Ken single-handedly put the ball in the net a few times in a row.

They came off the court feeling a little unsatisfied, even though they all felt they had run around a lot.

"I try to keep positive, but losing so easily makes me very bitter," joked Panos. Hongbin and Ravi laughed. Ken looked over and noticed Ravi admiring Siana's form with a surreptitious glance.

"How do I describe feeling bad about winning?" Siana smiled. "I barely did anything."

Hongbin shrugged, looking a moment too long at Siana, Ken thought. He smiled and twirled the ball on his finger.

"Just go with it, it will eventually feel good," he said cutely, making Siana roll her eyes as she glanced at him, laughing.

Oh, she was charming.

He felt like he was one of many moths gathering around her flame, and while he could, he would enjoy whatever form of attention he could get from her, even if just as a guest at her stayhouse.

Ken felt that he understood fans very well. They liked interaction, they liked being noticed, they wanted to share pictures, they wanted to be acknowledged. They wanted to feel their adoration was being received, even if there was no hope of reciprocation. Of course there were some who couldn't control themselves, but they were few and far between.

It was exactly the same situation. Except that, whether they knew it or not, Siana was their Vixx, and Vixx were all infatuated in one form or another.

And interesting place to be in close quarters, away from the public eye, on a time limit.

Ken smiled, letting his gaze linger on her sweet smile. He looked up to see Hongbin and Ravi watching him too.

This holiday was going to be very interesting indeed.