Winter Hearts

Post

"Hyung!" Hyuk called from the lift as he stepped out and saw Leo walking towards N and Hongbin in the hotel lobby. Leo looked up as he sat down in an armchair.

He was angry. More articles had come up, different versions of the one that he had shown them earlier, but as he checked his phone before leaving his room, a new one had come in, catching his eye for all the wrong reasons.

"Lewd Leo" - or something to that effect, was the headline that had sparked the slow burning embers of his ire and stoked them into flames.

He held up his phone and wagged it at them as he spluttered, "Have you seen this? Can you believe this?"

Leo looked on as Hyuk handed his phone to N, who saw the headline and gasped.

"What is it?" Hongbin asked, prompting Hyuk to grab the phone and hand it to Hongbin. N looked at Leo.

"Siana just told me," Leo said quietly.

"I have to call Kkomae," N said, standing briskly as he pulled out his phone and dialled.

"They're on the way down, I have told them already," Hyuk said. N hung up and looked at Leo again. Hongbin handed the phone back to Hyuk, and then they were all looking at Leo in expectation.

"She wants me to call my parents," Leo said distractedly, rubbing his finger over his phone. N growled in exasperation.

"Post your damn video, you fool!" N yelled, grabbing Leo by the shoulder and shaking him before sitting down in a huff.

"What do I say-" Leo began, a little taken aback by N's sudden outburst.

"Nothing! Just post it. No edits, leave the sound on. Don't say anything, let it speak for itself!" N's voice pitched at the end, and he shut his lips tight as if he wanted to stop himself from losing it any further.

"N is right. Just do it. It's what you wanted anyway." Hongbin said gently, looking Leo in the eye.

"What is stopping you, Hyung?" Hyuk asked.

Leo sighed. "It changes everything. I can't control anything."

"Yes. YES. You can't control everything, and everything has changed and doing this will change everything again. Yes. Get it into your thick skull and stop procrastinating any more," N said, his eyes round with disbelief.

Leo stared at N, seeing his long-time friend looking at him as if he was the stupidest thing he had ever seen. It was a mixture of indignation and pity - and he suddenly saw himself in the same way.

He bent his head, opened up his phone and account, selected the video and posted it.

"Er... you won't check it to make sure you didn't say anything you shouldn't post?" Hyuk asked, a little anxious.

"I shouldn't have to hide anything," Leo said, his voice a little shaky as a weird kind of relief washed over him. He looked at N, who stared back at him with a kind of irritation.

"Listen to yourself, all talk!" N said, sighing loudly. "Until now."

Hyuk opened up his phone and went to Leo's page, loading the video and pushing Hongbin over so that he could sit next to him. Reluctantly, Hongbin looked over to watch as the clip played.

The recording was shaky for a while then they heard Leo's soft voice speaking over the sound of breeze and the distant chatter of tourists. Then Siana came into view as Leo held his camera up for a selfie in anticipation of their pose. All they could see was the back of his head as he turned to talk to her intimately, his other arm around her and holding her close.