Leona was leaning on a wall in the corner of the conference room, bored and sleepy. She doesn't normally participate in the briefings and just wait for her brothers to fill her in whenever they're about to take on a mission but Big brother Klaus, the immediate supervisor of the team wanted her to be present today, she can compete as the most stubborn human being in the planet and won't go if she doesn't want to but she can't say no to her brothers.
She's been with her three other brothers since they were kids until they become a part of Big brother Klaus' unit later on, they lived in a boarding military school since she's been an orphan but unlike her and Li Wei. Dimitri and Akio have family which she thinks made their situation sadder than hers. She is sure that her parents won't let her stay in a boarding school and a military one at that if they were still alive, but her brothers just shrugged it off and got over it right away. Nevertheless she knew it affected their relationship with their parents at some point and that was also why they've been inseparable ever since.
They found family with each other and value one another more than their own blood that instead of resuming their heir status and be bosses on their own families' businesses after graduating, they stayed and became a part of the elite special forces which she imagine must have made her brothers' parents regret their decision in sending them to a military school to "cultivate formidable traits fit for corporate heirs". They must have thought that her brothers will just quit when told; matured, disciplined and all as expected and did not anticipate that more than anything else they will grow up patriotic and value their duty for the country more than upholding filial piety.
'Who told them to messed with their own kids?'
She snapped out of her train of thought when she heard the door opened. Another team went in, it's the unit that for some reason loved to compete with theirs. Leona saw the woman Nicole glared at her which just earned a snort from her as she closed her eyes and continued leaning on the wall.
"What is this stoic doll even doing here when she's not even gonna participate in the discussion." she heard her mumble as she passed by in front of her.
Right after them, the door opened again and this time, two unfamiliar men went in.
She listened as the superiors greeted the two guys and eagerly introduced them to the teams.
"It's you!" she heard someone say but she's too lazy to pay attention to them, she's been dragged here against her will so might as well act like a wall. She reasoned out as she continued to rest her eyes but she ended up opening them lazily when she heard the voice blurted out the same words, this time on her face.
"It really is you" he said softly this time.
Leona's forehead creased as she stared back at the stranger in front of her, not saying anything. He has this beautiful green eyes that seems to have a tinge of blue in it, it looks so mesmerizing up-close.
'Wait, what am I doing?' she inwardly scolded herself for getting distracted.
She decided to ignore the guy and closed her eyes again.
'And what does he mean by 'it's you'?'
"Leona do you know him?" Her eyes twitched when she heard brother Klaus' question.
"No." And when she opened her eyes again, she realized that all eyes are on them. Even the superiors present in the meeting are giving her questioning look which made her feel more irritated, she never wanted too much attention from other people. She stood straight but her stoic expression didn't change at all. " No sir" she repeated, this time like the real soldier (which she is :D) reporting to her superior.
The green-eyed guy scoffed "really now?"
She gave him a blank look, as if she's looking at a lunatic.
"She wouldn't even talk to people she'd known for ages." Nicole retorted. "I doubt she'll talk to strangers unless neccessary."
"My, my, my! So this is the infamous woman who ran away from my brother." Said the guy next to the green-eyed stranger, hopping towards her happily "Chu Liu Xiang" he introduced himself but before he could grab and shake her hand, her brothers were already next to her -shielding her from the men.
"The hell you talking about?" Li wei informally asked. She leaned back to the wall, letting her brothers take over the conversation. Ignoring the discomfort she's feeling from the handsome guy's stare.
"September 18, Diamond Hotel. Underground Parking Lot." she bit her left inner cheek after he mentioned the date and the hotel.
"You must have mistook her for someone else, we were busy with our mission that day."
Xavier can't help but give them an intimidating gaze, who are these idiots next to her? her harem of boy toys? huh! and she has the audacity to lie to his face and say that she's being imprisoned by her family? He looked at the woman who is silently leaning on the wall with amusement, he finds it funny and infuriating at the same time that she could act like whatever is going on has nothing to do with her.
Unlike the first time he met her, she doesn't seem to be free-spirited today instead she looks chill, no... she looks... arctic cold. Her hair is fixed on a neat low bun which complements her neat military uniform that gives her a formidable aura, far from the feminine side she had shown him two weeks ago. She's still not wearing make-up today which makes her face look innocent as always but the absence of expression on her peerless face annoyed him for some reason, how can someone feel so familiar and unfamiliar at the same time?
But who is he? he studied human behavior and microexpression for too long he could tell, even by the slightest shift of someone's facial muscle if they're lying or affected by some stimuli, like a situation or statements. She might appear calm and had mastered the art of controlling her reactions however he didn't missed the subtle change on her facial expression. He also observed how the other three guys feigned ignorance with flying colors, regular people would have never noticed.
He turned to his brother Klaus and as always he couldn't read him, well they've been through the same vigorous training together and Klaus knew this skill of his and eventually learned how to counter it. The younger ones still have a long way to go but he has to admit these kids would go far in the future, his brother must have trained them well.
'you're definitely hiding something.'