Requested by: ayatakarai

Characters: Ken [VIXX] & Meg Scott [OC]

Premise: Continuation of chapter 11: At First Sight.  How does their relationship progress? Requester would like to know how they get to know each other--maybe they go to a restaurant?

Author: Admin K, DivinestSense

The Hands of Fate

“Have a safe trip, Hyung!” mocked Hyuk.

Jokingly shouting his own jeer back, Ken made his way to the nearest coffee shop.  They were filming an episode of a reality show in which the script had them playing a blindfolded hide and go seek.  He had been the first one found, so as a result, he was forced to go out and buy the rest coffee.  With the sun shining and the wind caressing his face, it wasn’t a bad punishment—all it meant was less screen time.  Singing out loud as he walked, he smiled and acted his normal happy self (plus it gave the cameras something to film without pressuring him to actually do something).

Ignoring the growing crowd of fans following him as he continued on his way, his mind travelled back to the fan-signing event that had occurred last week.  Never in his life had he been so disappointed as when day after day, Meg never called.  He had fallen for her at first sight and even given her his personal hand phone number, yet nothing.  Maybe she had left the country and returned home already?  The contest prize’s trip to Korea had been for two weeks, but she could have grown tired of the place and went home.  In reality, he knew it wasn’t a likely option, but it was easier than accepting that she did not like him the same that he liked her.

She had been Leo’s fan, her letter explicating detailing the reasons behind her dedication to the silent vocalist.  His friend was well deserving of her affection as he was just as she descried him.  After reading her letter, Leo had kept it under his pillow until they were forced to hand it back to the company so they could contact her.  His reasons for doing so were not clear, and Ken feared that just as he had starting falling for her without even meeting her, he would do the same.  Should her favorite member return her affections, Ken had only made a fool of himself by giving her his number.

But that was okay—part of falling was acting like a fool and he intended to make the best of it.  Life was too short to get wrapped up in mistakes and regrets.

He was prepared for the worst, but he also considered that maybe he had just caught her off guard with the number. As most of Leo’s fans were (and as she wrote about herself in the letter), she was taciturn by nature and not one to make a big deal out of everything.  Receiving the phone number of an idol must have made her uncomfortable and to him, that was worse than embarrassing himself.  It had been an impulsive action and he could only mentally scold himself for not handling his feelings better.

He was an idol after all; that was what he had trained for.

“Ah, we’re here!” he cheered as they approached the café.   Gently pushing his thoughts a little further back in his mind (she normally was in the front), he made his way to the ordering station.  Immediately, the worker recognized him.

“Oh gosh, you’re Ken!” she squealed, suddenly looking very embarrassed.  Smiling and entertaining her love for the group for a while, he performed some aegyo and sang a bit before ordering the group’s drinks. 

He and the cameraman sat down at a table and Ken immersed himself in filming things that would interest the fans upon airing.  He asked random customers if they knew of him or VIXX, shot hearts and the fans he could see through the window and even did some tongue twisters—if he were anyone else (‘if he were Leo,’ his conscious jabbed), doing the things he was doing would have been humiliating.  They both loved their jobs the same, but he was more willing to make a fool of himself.

And what girl would want a fool?

Regardless, he wanted to tell her that even though he and Leo were polar opposites in personality, he didn’t pretend to be someone else.  In many ways, he was just naturally what an idol was supposed to be like—cheery, cute and bold.  With agencies molding trainees even more precisely to fit the image of an idol, it killed Ken to know that his natural personality had become the poster child for insincerity.

Either way, he could not dwell on it too much.  Just thinking about that made him feel guilty, as though he had been talking behind her back.

Thanking the waitress for the drinks, he stood up and turned to leave, only to almost trip over himself, for walking through the door was none other than the thief who stole his heart: Meg Scott.  Sporting her beat up converse and a simple, white dress, she looked absolutely stunning.  The sun’s rays danced off of her long, blonde hair; from where he stood, the area around her seemed to glow in her radiance while also dimming in comparison.  She was the only girl he saw until she looked at him.

It took an obscene amount of willpower to keep himself from running up to her.  All of the idiotic things he would say to her rushed to his mind and he had to physically bite down on his tongue to keep the words in.  He could not show favoritism (or any sign of interest in a girl) on camera—even if it were edited out, the people sitting around would remember.  Fans would say horrible things about her and that was the last thing he wanted. 

But that was not the only thing holding him back.  She was like Leo in many aspects, so without knowing her he felt as though he knew more about her than made him comfortable.  It had taken years for Leo to feel secure on camera—acknowledging her would only bring her unnecessary and surely unwanted attention.  He was a nice person—a bubbly and animated guy—but before that he was infatuated with Meg.

He would have to show his affection for her in a way other than flashing hearts—he would respect who she was and keep the cameras away.

Before she was even fully through the door, she noticed him.  Pausing in the entryway, her eyes widened before a light pink blush beautifully painted her cheeks.  He liked that reaction—in that moment, he could only think that he wanted her to look at him like that everyday; breathless and genuine, she was a sight to behold.

But at the sight of the camera behind him, her smile faltered.  He didn’t have to read minds to know that she was conflicted.  The decision was up to him.

So instead of exclaiming in glee at the sight of her, he smiled as he would to any normal person, moved to hold the door open for her and walked out.  Heart clenching as he walked away, he prayed that she understood his reasons for keeping silent and ignoring her, moving along with his signature light-hearted smile on his lips.

He just had to have faith that she could read between the lines, separating appearances from intentions in the silence that stretched between them.

Staring out the window of the café, Meg did her best to drown out the whispers of joy over the fact that Ken from VIXX had just been in that very place.  It seemed to be all the workers and teen customers could talk about, despite the fact that he had left half an hour ago.  Silently sipping her drink as she read the same line of her book for the twentieth time, she wondered how they would react if she were to mention that she had his number.

Her phone weighed heavily in her lap as she thought back to the day she met him.  She had been so disappointed that Leo was not in attendance; he must have been really sick if the recipient of her letter had missed the event.  Yet against every expectation she had about the other vocalist, Ken had proved himself so real in that first glance.  Never would she have imagined such a smile and tone of voice to be genuine, as most all idols had mastered it like it was a part of a play, but she could not forget what she saw.

Every day that passed she considered calling the number he gave her, only to scare herself away and continue on with her trip.  She did not doubt that it was his real number—that it was some sort of prank—but rather she doubted calling him would lead to anything.

In all of the insanity that had consumed her mind after that day, it had taken her some time to sort through her feelings for her bias, Leo.  He was the one who she wrote her letter to and he was the one who implicitly told her it was okay to be herself.  She owed a lot to him—it was frightening how much of an influence he had over her—but in all she was willing to give in thanks, her heart was not included.

The theory of opposites attracting was, in Meg’s opinion, absolutely ridiculous.  That may be the case in Science at its most literal level, but not for relationships.  The saying made a relationship like that sound far too easy, a fact which she had seen first hand disproven.

For her, opposites did not attract, but rather repelled—and frankly, she was okay with that.  She didn’t want a relationship that would be simple; she wanted someone who would push her to try new things, to step out of her comfort zone.  She wanted someone who could console her with words and openly show affection—someone who would make her want to do the same.  She wanted to learn from her partner in a relationship while respecting the delicate balance in a relationship between opposites. 

And the perfect guy for her had given her his numbe