Winter Hearts

Unsolicited

Leo watched from the entrance as Siana and Mikhalis said their goodbyes to their family. Ravi and Ken had gone on ahead, having said a quick goodbye to Panos. N, Hyuk and Hongbin were still being polite, saying goodbyes ahead of Siana and her father, slowly heading towards him as he stood near the christmas tree.

He had shadowed Ravi and Ken as they had left, seeing that they were being brisk and wanting to get home - and had thus avoided being impolite by leaving without greeting the hosts.  He didn't mind saying goodbye to relative strangers, but tonight he felt on edge, and had been since he realised that things were not as straightforward as Panos and George thought they were when it came to their errant staff member.

The sense of dread that had descended on him held him for the rest of the night, and he found it hard to shake off that feeling, even with Siana close by.

He felt as if he was breaking out in a cold sweat. The thought that had occurred to him made him wish he was being stupid or irrational. It was just a little thought, but had huge repercussions.

What if, that bartender whom George thought was taking pictures of him and Siana fighting, was not taking pictures of them at all?

Leo thought back to that night at the club. He distinctly remembered feeling the bartender's hand linger too long on his as he passed him the drinks.

Had he imagined it? After all, he had been deeply distracted by his view of Siana that night. But that was the thing - he had paused to think about it, meaning that it had struck him that the touch had been too lingering.

Too invasive.

Leo remembered noting the incident, and then shrugging it off as just another in a long line of unsolicited attentions from others - male or female.

But, was the bartender, Stavros, showing an interest in him because he recognised him as a kpop idol? Or was it simply from personal attraction?

Laughing, Leo wished for the latter.

Then, at least, the matter would be much simpler and wouldn't involve his public identity.

But the dread continued to grow, and he couldn't help feeling like he should accompany Panos and George to get to the root of the matter.

He sought out Hongbin, who was coming ahead of the other two. He felt that Binnie had been on edge all evening too, and wondered if he was thinking along the same lines as him.

When he caught Hongbin's eye, he saw there was concern there already, and he gestured for him to come outside quickly. Hongbin gave a worried look over his shoulder at Siana and her father, then ducked out after Leo into the cold winter air.

"What is it Hyung?" Hongbin asked, his face drawn and pale.

"By the look on your face I can tell you have already had some thoughts on this matter," Leo said, checking to see if anyone was nearby.

"Thoughts?" Hongbin looked, for want of a better word, scared. He continued.

"Hyung, I really didn't know that this was going to happen. It is a coincidence, I swear," Hongbin hugged his arms around himself, bunching his coat up as he did so.

"A coincidence?" Leo was confused. "What coincidence?"

"I made the arrangements separately. We didn't know Siana was going to Athens til she said so just now. We weren't planning our own trip together, I just want to make it clear."

"What are you talking about?" Leo felt irritated. He thought Hongbin was on edge because he was concerned about the incident with the bartender that afternoon.