SIX HOURS; kim jongin

Hour Two

11:21

A little while later, the pair of them were sitting in silence. Unlike before, this silence was less tense and anxious. It still wasn't 'comfortable' per se, because, well, they were both still freaking trapped in an elevator, but it was ok.

The guy was sitting opposite her once more, his eyes closed and his head tilted back against the wall behind him, one leg laying flat and the other drawn up with one arm resting on it – his pose a slouch compared to hers, as she had her knees drawn up and her arms wrapped around them, hugging them. Maybe it says something about our personalities Leia thought to herself. Her mom would have a lot to say about it. But then again, her mom had a lot to say about everything, and everything had some sort of meaning that could be psychoanalysed. The perks of growing up with a psychologist as a mother. Hey, maybe that was why she was so... what was the word the guy had used before? Neurotic.

She didn't mean to be staring at him. She was lost in her thoughts and had no idea her absent-minded gaze was aimed at him, until he cleared his throat, and she blinked, coming back to the present.

He was looking at her with only one of his dark eyes open, the eyebrow above it slightly raised in curiosity.

She felt her cheeks heat up with a blush, and she quickly looked away.

Another moment passed, Leia taking time to get over her slight fluster at being caught staring, before she hugged her legs slightly tighter and looked back over at him - intentionally this time.

She cleared her throat, a hesitant and unsure sound. Both of his eyes opened and met hers.

"About earlier..." she paused, trailing off.

"Don't worry about it." he said simply, and a small, sincere smile pulled his lips up.

"No, I freaked out, and... and..."

"You had a panic attack." He said, matter-of-factly. "That's nothing to apologise for."

Her eyes widened a little and she bit her lip. "A panic attack..." She said, her voice small.

"Yeah." He said and shifted a little so he was facing her directly. "You never had one before? They can be pretty scary. My noona used to get them sometimes, when we were younger." He said, his smile faltering, a little when he said the last part.

Leia didn't answer his question, feeling a weird knot in her stomach. Sure, she'd gotten them before... just never in front of another person, ever. Not even her dad, her sister, not even her hyper-analytical and hyper-observant mom... let alone a perfect stranger. So instead, pushing 'panic attack' aside, she asked, curiously "Noona?"

"Oh." He said, and chuckled as he realised she wouldn't know the term. "It means 'sister'. Older sister." He clarified.

"Oh." Leia said, and nodded. "So... Korean? Right? It's a Korean term?"

He nodded.

"And... before. When you sang... that was in Korean?"

He nodded again, and this time, his cheeks went a little pink. Leia didn't need to be a psychologist like her mom to know it was because he was conscious about his singing. After he'd done it, before, he went and sat opposite her, and didn't say a word, and that was when they'd fallen into the silence they'd been in just before. Which was ok... because Leia needed time to process what'd happened, and... to get over her complete awe.

His voice was husky, and deep, and even though he sang softly, she could tell it was powerful. Not perfect... but good. Really good. 

"I was born in Suncheon, which is in the South Jeolla Province and lived there til I was twelve, and then came over here." he said, after a moment, and then, still slightly self-conscious, he shrugged. "So it's my mother tongue."