radiance | baekhyun

14

15:53.

soft sound. gentle breeze. ambient music. aqua-blue sky.

roma could have sworn that she'd felt, remembered, the presence of baekhyun's sleeping figure beside hers. strong arms resting against her own, bodies entwined comfortably, heaving up and down, matching her own breaths. white-washed walls having created a comforting encasement of the sound of his light snores and the distant bustle of downtown life, filtering upwards from down below the balcony.

day-dreaming. she almost still felt the ghost of a gentle touch of lips across her forehead, too close, yet not enough. she could've sworn. light had poured brightly into every corner of her wandering mind, warming her, reassuring her that he had stayed. like he'd promised. the night before.

but roma had woken to a mess of left-over, crumpled sheets, creased covers and an empty space beside her.

and, of course, the blazing heat of the foreign sunlight.

he'd left; roma couldn't help but feel sad, because, what else? she'd thought, stupid girl, that maybe last night had changed something. maybe he would have stayed as if he'd meant it. with a promise of one of his curved smirks and a warm cup of coffee.

the thought of his bruises and cuts became more prominent once morning light had shed its irradiance, the image of him haunting her mind. she wished he was here with her, so she could touch him. check that he was still real.

roma had rubbed her tired eyes, sitting up, looking around hopelessly. or hopefully. didn't matter.

once adjusted, her piercing vision had darted towards the unfamiliar object placed purposefully atop of her novels and notepads. heart raced, as she reached forward to grab it, the crinkle of the ripped paper in her hand, soothing.

good morning, beautiful

what you did last night meant a lot. sorry i left like this, but i'll be back. promise.

love,

baekhyun 

below, he'd inscribed a messy array of scribbled digits, having drawn an arrow and stating, call me. roma recollected that they'd already exchanged numbers a few days ago, his repeated forward proposal provoking that all-too-familiar red flush to her cheeks.

roma smiled, because baekhyun had this weird way of making that warm feeling inside of her tummy erupt into butterflies.

she'd also smiled because the prospect of seeing him again meant seeing those sparkling eyes and those full, pouting, pink lips, despite his beautiful features being momentarily masked by the consequences of his protective nature. it meant that all of this would be real again.

maybe he actually wanted to see her; spend time with her.

a couple of days had come and gone, the memories and occurrences encompassed by heat and radiance. as always. it was the hot afternoon the day after that she'd got a message from baekhyun, saying that he wanted her to meet him at his flat. meet his friends.

at the thought of friends, the indistinct but definite memory of kai greeting her boisterously at the club flitted to her mind, the thought of facing him, even though it didn't really matter, made her blush.

her nerves would kick in at random moments, stimulated by meeting new people, being in crowded places, speaking to baekhyun. a current one. but he'd asked her to come, and she was hardly going to refuse. even offered to pick her up, but in need of preparation time, she politely refused, stating it wasn't far. he'd reluctantly agreed. if you're sure, he'd said.