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[Moments earlier]

Lina knew how Eva could get sometimes, she would try to keep it all inside of her, and then one day she just might burst with the pent up emotions. If she was going to do that, she wanted to be by her, or maybe help her ride out her anger and sadness.

She pulled up just a hop and skip away from the side entrance, and changed the gear to park, taking a moment to think through her next actions. When she went to grab for her purse that lay perfectly on the passenger seat; she noticed a familiar figure by the doors.

With her oversized sunglasses, she squinted her eyes and then widening them up again. Going back to the moment when the car sales man asked if she wanted tinted windows- she thanked god for her decision of yes.

Slowly slipping them off of her, she took another look at the person with the black baseball cap and sunglasses. A sighed laugh escaped her, the fidgeting of hands then to shove them in his pockets, of his lips, and the swift hair flip before entering through the glass sliding doors gave him away.

“Leo, please. Get to her. Help her.”

Putting the gear into reverse, she backed out of the parking spot, slipped on her sunglasses, and then continued to drive back to her place. She looked in the rearview mirror, Eva’s complex in the distance, she gently blinked-her top waterline softly kissing her bottom one, warm air blew out of her nostrils, and a content smile shaped her lips.

She would be in good hands.

[Currently]

As Eva’s knees trembled underneath her, she could feel that they were going to give out any second. Her chest heaved harshly, and as another heave escaped her lungs- out went her knees.

Before her knees could smash onto the floor, a pair of helpful arms caught her. She instinctively wrapped her arms around Leo; slowly he brought her down to the flooring.

She had only got through two days without completely breaking down and she was angry knowing that. The tears that escaped her were full of hate for him, anger at herself, and sadness recalling their memories. The TV kept on in the background, talking further about the appeal case, and JiHoo as the ‘charismatic lawyer to watch out for’.

Her held her in his arms for only a minute longer, before cautiously stepping out of the embrace to turn off the god-forsaken news. Reaching back for her arms, she instead kept her hands clenched at her knees, her fingertips and skin the going white. Her head hung low, the tears fell down on her thighs forming tiny puddles, and then dispersing onto the cool surface around her.

Knowing that she wasn’t going to let up on her hands, he wrapped her arms around her, and faintly rocked her body with his. It hurt him to see her this way. The regular Eva was lost somewhere in her heart, locked away and left with this crying vessel.

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All the pent up emotions coming out, she desperately gasped for air as the cries tightened . Her eyelashes drenched, sticking to the one another, more and more tears left her. Leo closed in on his embrace. He could feel the liquid seeping through the fabric, soaking in the undershirt he had.

I’m here for you Eva.

Her forehead was plopped in the crook of his collarbones; she lifted her head a tiny bit to look through her blurred vision at the powered down TV. So much for sunny skies.

It was as if Mother Nature had gone behind her back, and when she thought she was getting better, she pulled the rug from underneath her.

Eva’s arms came up to coil themselves around Leo’s back, she grabbed onto his sweater, her tiny hands grasping on for support.

After a couple of minutes, her grip loosened, and went underneath in between their bodies up to her face to wipe off her tears. Leo pulled away a smidgen to give her some space to move her hands around.

She took her long sleeved shirt to wipe her face in between sniffles. “Okay- I think I’m fine now.” Eva looked at him with reddened eyes, and a weak smile on her lips. He slowly dropped his hands, placing them on both sides of the body. Her bottom lip quavered and her eyebrows pinched down,  “My mother said to never waste your tears-” The knot in crept back up and through a cry she told him, “on someone who isn’t worth it.” Leo hugged her again, a soft sigh departing him.   

With her strained voice, she told Leo, “I have to stop crying.” Wiping at her tear stained cheeks, she went to pull out of his embrace to stand back up. However he ended up holding onto her tightly, he leaned down towards her ear, a small exhale of breath caressed her earlobe, “Eva, you don’t have to lock this up inside of you. Let your emotions run its course.”

She choked on a small laugh, “Says the resident ice prince.”

Rubbing his hands on her back, his lips turned up, how was she even still making jokes.

A muffled cry came out, “I can’t, and I need to be strong.”

Holding her closer, he leaned in by her ear, “It’s okay to let your guard down once in a while. I think Esme would understand.” Eva had only ever mentioned her mother’s name once to him, and at the sound of her name, she lifted her head up to meet his orbs. Her eyes were blotched with red, her nose forming a pink shadow on its tip, her eyebrow furrowing softly. She was touched that he remembered her deceased mother’s name.

Switching from each eye, he looked at her with pained expression, his eyebrows rose ever so slightly. Her vision was blurred again as the tears built up and spilled out.

He was right she thought, her mother would understand. She probably didn’t even want Eva to take these things too literally, and no leave no grey area- but sometimes that was just Eva’s problem.

She cried into his shoulders, muffled questions escaping her, “What did I do wrong?” Leo didn’t say anything, but just let her drown out her emotions. Stronger, Eva clutched onto Leo. It was ripping her apart having these reasoning have come onto the light.

She sniffed up her now stuffy nose, and facing away from Leo, she laid her head on his shoulder. Eva's inner devil had swum over her submerged walls of defense right into her mind—taking over. “It’s probably because I worked long hours.” The venom shooting out from her lips hit him.

Taking her left hand, she brought it to her face to wipe off her tears. The mocking in her tone diminished, and became tremulous, “He probably needed me, and I wasn’t there for him.” She placed her hand back onto his back, covering the empty spot she had left on him. Eva turned back into the crook of his shoulders and continued to weep.

Leo patted her tresses in an attempt to alleviate out her emotions. Trying to make the pathway from her tightly gripped heart onto the room just a bit easier.

He then stopped her tresses, tilting his face into her hair, “So did he Eva, he worked long hours too, you can’t blame work.”

How could she try to rationalize his actions?

And how many times did he probably use that as an excuse to see that woman, he kept tucked away in his thoughts.

But as if she had read his mind, the same sentence spat out .

“Eva you can’t blame it on yourself.” He let go of the embrace, and picked her chin up, balancing it on his index finger. The pink shadow on her nose, deepening to a soft red, and her cheeks stained in consequence to her dried tears. Getting a glimpse of her glossed eyes for a second, she shut her eyes tightly- she didn’t want to meet his gaze.

But when she did open them up, it was ever so slightly; she kept peeking through to make sure that she wasn’t going to confront his eyes. Contrary to what she wanted, Leo did meet her gaze and her eyes shut defensively. Ripping her head away from his hand, she quickly jumped back up on her two feet. Leo was bewildered.

What exactly was going on in the mind of Eva Kim?

She walked away from him to the back of her sofa, gripping onto the plush fabric. Leo got up- he wasn’t going to let him tear her apart. He walked behind her, “That’s what he wants. For you to take the blame for his unmoral actions.” Leo continued to walk in front of her, sitting up right on the couch facing her, his silvery voice traveling to her ears, “And that's not right.”

Hesitantly, he placed his hand on top of hers. Feeling her warmth, unlike the dead cold hands from days before. An exasperated sigh fell from her gaped mouth, and spun around onto the couch, sitting next to Leo. She moved her body closer to his and rested her head on his left shoulder. With her tears ending, they sat in silence, both of them peering into the black TV screen.

“Lean on me Eva.” His eyes grew- he knew how that could have been interpreted, Leo had gotten caught up with the heavy emotions. He feigned a cough to rethink his words; “You know that we’re all here for you Eva.” He paused to let his words sink in, “If you let us in. You don’t have to go through this alone.”

A faint turn of his lips flashed across his face.

She raised her head from his shoulders, wiping her face clean of the demonic tears that spilled out of her. She turned her head to look at him- and feeling her stare on his, he titled his head towards her. “I know but,” Eva cleared , “Is it selfish that I want to go through this by myself?”

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Astonishing Leo, a small crescendo of laugh shook her body. In between laughs she continued to diligently wipe her eyes clean, throwing some sighed ‘oh god’ and ‘oh man’s. In a stretched out sigh, a slap on her knees, and she got back up towards the kitchen. She went to attend to her finished coffee that had been waiting patiently for her to be consumed. 

Eva’s back was to Leo who was pleasantly confused and surprised, with his arm propped against her couch. Her back shrugged in a soft laugh. “Why am I laughing? You must be wondering right?” He nodded his head. Without turning her back to see his reaction, Eva answered her question, “Because I’m weird Taekwoon-ah”. A chortle shook his body, he wasn’t expecting that to be her answer. She looked over her shoulder, laughing, and it on pressed him on more.

Together the sounds of laughter washed out the depressing atmosphere, Leo even yapped along. Her apartment was lifted of the bad vibes as she walked back to the couch grasping two mugs of hot coffee. A quiet ‘thank you’ was given as she handed him it, “Careful, it’s really hot.”  She blew on the dark liquid.

Taking a careful sip from the mug, she placed it down on her black coaster on the long coffee table in front of them. “Taekwoon-ah”.

His eyebrow rose, creasing his forehead for a split second; he placed his cup on the coaster. A small sound hummed from his lips, when Eva leaned in to embrace him in a hug. Nuzzling into his neck, she muffled out a “Thank you”. He froze for a second feeling her warm breathe grazing against his exposed skin, to then accept her hug by wrapping his arms around her body again.

Leo nodded his head, giving Eva his response to her statement. She pulled out of their hug, and went to pick back up her cup, as did he. “Thank you for being there for me Taekwoon.” He shook his head, while he gulped a sip of the coffee. “And for not laughing- or being scared and running off.” She added.

His brows furrowed, Leo felt a bit hurt at her words, “Why would I do that?”

“Well this isn’t typically ‘me’, or how I act.” She looked at Leo, who was staring intently at her.

His soft-spoken voice sang as he crossed his legs, “Well, we all hide a part of ourselves, and act different around different people right?” The quizzical expression taking a turn on his face.

Eva shrugged her shoulders, circling the rim of the pale white mug with her index finger, “I guess so.” Her voice became quiet.

Comforting her, his eyes glazed over- meeting hers when she picked her head back up- “Well, I act different depending on the person.”

Eva’s lips turned upward in a smug expression across her face, “You got that right, I thought you hated me the first time I met you.”

“Which first time? When you crashed into me at the park, or when we met at Jellyfish?” Sassypants came out to play for an instant.

Her eyes playfully narrowed, and threw her hand up in response. They jokingly bickered about which instance was their first meeting. Drinks in hand with laughter leaving the two, the moment was light hearted and sweet.

“Fine, you’re right.” She huffed.

He looked at her with a content smile gracing his features. Though- I didn’t think you were going to let me win Eva.

Leo barked, bouncing over to Eva, he propped up on his hind legs and pawed at her knee leaving tiny white claw marks on her skin. She understood his actions, and went up to refill his water bowl. Leo followed her while floated around her apartment, and with her furry companion happily trailing besides her. Eva opened up her bottom cabinet, shaking the box of doggie treats in a teasing manner- she walked back to the couch.

With a treat in her hand, Eva showed him some of the tricks that Leo knew, getting a large smile from tall man on her couch. He was awed at the little guy giving her his paw, rolling over, and other moves.

“Wanna try?” A brown shaped bone extended from her hand to Leo. He nodded his head and took the treat onto his large hands. He copied her key words and movements- garnering the same excited yaps from the animal.

Unable to contain his excitement, Eva fought to keep her fit of laughter from escaping while she looked at the Leo crumbling down at the paws of her dog. Glancing over to Eva, her shoulders tightened up finally letting out her laughter.

Leo finally gave the begging dog his treat to look back at Eva. “Taekwoon-ah, you become so cute with animals.” She lightly nudged his arm- and he dropped his head trying to hide his slight embarrassment.

She just called me cute. Oh god.

Her cheeks pushed up with a smile. “Your fans always tell you that-right?” With his head still hung low, he nodded.

Eva chuckled as she picked up the empty mugs and made her way back to her kitchen. “Well, Taekwoon it would be nice to see more sides of you-” Her voice teasing him,  “or as they say in your idol world- your ‘different charms’.”

I already show you a different side of me.

“But then again, you already show me different sides- however people are complex huh?”

Air exhaled from his nostrils with a smile tugging on his lips; there she went again with her ‘mind reading’. He picked his head back up again, looking over to her- he nodded.

She pointed to the coffee mug, asking him if he wanted another cup. He nodded again, with his soft-spoken voice seeping out, “That coffee is really delicious.”

Smiling, Eva looked over her shoulder- “I told you~” She grabbed the two cups and walked back to the couch. “My dad brought it from Puerto Rico.”

Feeling confident enough to ask her, Leo asked Eva about her father. She told him about his job, and his whereabouts. As Eva talked, her hands became an extension of her body, like most people from a Spanish culture, body language and enthusiastically talking with hands is the norm.

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Continuing, she even talked about how her father and her took the news of her mother’s condition, and when she passed away. Her mother was more of the head of the family, something uncommon in Korean households. But then again, her family wasn’t like most- she was in the midst of two cultures; two different ways of life.

Leo was attentively nodding his head while she talk, and he listened. She continued telling him about when her mother past away, her father had lost it for a moment, so that was when she felt that she really had to step her role in their family. She became the wall holding up her father through his darkest moment. Not only did she have to be strong for herself, but her father as well. He wondered if that was when she decided it was better to keep these strong emotions tucked away from everyone.

She told him, that he’s doing much better nowadays, so she feels proud of herself- knowing that she was partially responsible for her father’s progress. Unconsciously, she bit her inner lip, she wanted to ask Leo questions about his family, but she didn’t know whether he would have been comfortable to talk about it.

Instead, she used her swift skill of switching subjects and started talking about something else, lightening up the atmosphere again. Getting into their conversation, one topic lead to another while they both finished their coffee. At the end her last drop, Eva looked over towards her doorway.

“Aw man, we still have all of those to throw out.” She playfully stuck her tongue out like dog and lazily got up with Leo. She opened her door and kicked down the stopper. They both grabbed the bags and made their way to the garbage bin. With the extra hands, that Eva received the work was done within minutes.

They went back inside her apartment, and Eva swept the floor clean- of those bags and him.

“Well.” She placed her hands at her hips, “I feel better,” A faint smile turned her lips.

Leo looked at his watch- surprised at the how fast the time had flown by, he dug his hands into his pockets. “I- have to get going.” The soft disappointment in his voice made her lips turn downward.

She went to take a step towards him but then spun around towards her kitchen. Leaving Leo confused by her sudden actions, after rustling in her kitchen, she quickly came back with a small brown handle bag.

“Here.” Eva outstretched her hands, “It’s the Puerto Rican coffee, I have like two more bags.” Her blissful expression was pleasant to his eyes.

However, he was hesitant to accept it, but Eva grabbed his hand and slipped it through his slender fingers. “It’s the least I can do- you know, for everything you helped me with today.”

Bowing, he accepted the brown bag. They both headed for the doorway and Eva cut in front of him to open the door. Leo bounced his way over to the pair, and lightly yapped at his twin. He bent down to pat his head and give the dog one last tummy rub before be stood back up. When he did, Eva took a step closer to him as she dove in to give him a hug, startling him once more. He was glad that she couldn’t see his face as he felt his cheeks flush pink and smile forming on his lips. She stepped out of their moment and bowed to him as he walked out of her apartment.

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She smiled against her door. Even though her heart wasn’t fully mended, at least she knew that there was people in her life that would be there as she pieced it back together. And it was thanks to Leo that she had even given herself the opportunity to open up and not go through this alone.

~

Monday rolled around, and Leo headed early to the company building. His newfound extra energy coming from the coffee that Eva gifted him. That which he made a story up on how the imported coffee made its way into their dorm. It consisted of a bumping into a street vendor by pure coincidence, limited supplies, and how the boys were to not touch his precious coffee.

It wasn’t far from the truth- he did just so happen be around the Eva’s neighborhood, and she didn’t really have many packages left.

The story also made up for time that he had left the dorm. To which he obviously couldn’t tell the truth that he had visited Eva for the questions of why he went and was there something wrong with Eva.

Digging into his pockets, he reached for his iTouch to press the pause button as he exited the elevator doors into the fifth floor. Immediately entering his ears was a voice that he had learned to recognize. Following the sound of her voice, he was in front of the wardrobe room peeking through the cracked door. Eva walked around with a blazer in her arms putting together today’s fan sign outfits. Her volumonous straight dark brown hair dancing against her black dress. She was singing a song that he had heard from her once before, his heart clenched for a moment at her change of tone.

She was no longer singing Byul, Byul, Byul with love that once filled her lungs, but instead it was full of cheerless emotions. He stood against the doorframe listening to her sing; she was using this song as a gateway to let out her emotions. Leo’s mouth thinned out, and then turned upward- it was progress for her. Good progress.

Immersing himself in her voice, he subconsciously took a step closer to the door making his foot lightly tap open the door a smidgen more. He froze for a second thinking that she heard the creaking of the door, but instead she kept on going about her way. Leo went unnoticed as she took more pieces together, diligently working to put the perfect outfits for each member. As spilled beautiful notes, she would lift up a hanger with the finished look, content with her work- she put it down on the rolling rack. Taking white pieces of paper, her tiny hands grasped the black marker writing their names in English- to put them on each respective member's look. 

He leaned against the doorway, watching her as she came to the end of the song. It was then she turned around pleasantly surprised at his presence, her body jolting for only a second. Leo adjusted his body posture and gave her a reassuring smile. She lightly bowed her head, making her hair come over her shoulder framing her face and gently batted her eyelashes as a smile stretched out her red matte lipstick.

Once again it was just the two of them. 
 

In silence they looked at each other across the room. 

There were no words needed,

She understood him,

And he understood her.

Sometimes all we need is just a little push from someone. 

Author's Note:

Sorry for updating kinda late, which IMPORTANT INFO: I just picked up another job, so I probably won’t be able to update super fast like I used to…but I’m going to try to write 2 chapters at a time. And the BEST motivation for me are YOUR comments- so thank you so much to those of you who take a minute to drop by a comment <3 And my silent readers, don’t be scared to lemme know what you think of the chapter~  

No cliffhangers on this one guys!

Okay so this chapter was a bit shorter than last ones- (ever since I started writing 10 pg chapters, 7-8 pages seem so short now u_u). Well anywho, I hope you guys liked the Leo x Eva interactions on this one. & Also saw that Eva isn’t really a Mary Sue, girl has personality defects like the rest of us.

I’ve been trying to create a personality for Leo when he’s with her, which is kinda hard because it’s obviously strictly imagination. Unlike his on screen personality that I can bounce off from- but let’s see how his personality develops~~~

&& Can we get an amen for Lina!

Question of the day: What do you think of Eva? What do you think of Eva and Leo’s relationship?

@Tarantulax: Hope you liked it!

@themixedtape: omo~ you’re comments are spectacular! Bows thank you, thank you. I’m really happy you enjoying the soundtrack!

@ZumilovesLeo: As you can see he totally is- hopefully now their relationship will grow stronger! Hope you liked the update!

@Coralie_x_SHINee: I know she should be >_>. Oh girl. Bb Jung is getting more confident with Eva as well ~ yay!

@dissful: lol- sorry for updating late T_T. Yeah I just started writing it and before I knew it- it was 10 pages long. I hope you liked this chapter!

@aidapark: Woohoo~~~ glad you liked it & her decision about JiHoo things hehe. Taekwoon is just a ball of emotions when he’s with her. When will she notice him~. I love their friendship too! & Thank you SOOO MUCH <3 For the praise! (Even if you’ve told me before, I love hearing readers compliment the story- so yay!)

@ilovekpopforever: hope ya liked the update!

@starrilbue: Well good thing that Leo was there TT^TT.  Thank you for commenting~~

@mydivakey: Yes- she finally let her emotions out! Yay you like their friendship! Me too J I think I’ll write another Eva POV chapter later on- so please anticipate it!

Love you all~~ Thank you for the comments, it’s the best motivation to write these chapters <3