radiance | baekhyun

34

Monaco. 05:43.

it was so dark. the road ahead had diminished, no cars to be seen, except for the occasional beam of headlights. either side of them lay a vast expanse of nothing. at least, that's what it felt like. the dashed, white lines disappeared rapidly beneath the bonnet of the car.

roma was exhausted. not just physically but also mentally, from all of the emotional stress. the utter darkness didn't help. mia was fast asleep in the back seat, feet up on the leather seats, and roma, in her frazzled and tired state of mind, wished she wasn't here; she couldn't think why sehun would have agreed to her coming. how was he going to explain all of this to her?

sehun's grip had been tight on the steering wheel ever since they'd set off. he'd only released his hold when he'd called someone; roma hadn't wanted to ask who, because the intensity of his gaze had warned her, almost, not to ask. he'd just said that they were on their way, but didn't explain who they was.

roma assumed it was them.

she didn't care. didn't care about the fact that she could barely breathe right now or that her eyes were puffy and swollen or that sehun wasn't talking to her. she only cared about knowing that baekhyun was okay.

which was really selfless of her. he doesn't care.

this constant reckless and spontaneous behaviour on her part was starting to wear on her well-being. heart hammered and breaths stammered, and she couldn't see or think straight.

and, as usual, the lights weren't on.

the night dwelled.

please, please, be okay.

//

the car pulled to a stop; the sudden and complete silence inundating the interior of the vehicle. roma was startled awake, the jolt of her seatbelt and the scraping gravel breaking into her bad dreams, forcing her back to reality. she felt a cold sweat resting along her neck and forehead, the heat perspiring her thoughts and words.

sehun pulled the keys from the ignition.

"s-sehun, w-where are we?" roma asked groggily, stretching, immediately, the question cliché and almost out-of-place in the darkened atmosphere. roma could just about make out other parked cars and the shaded outlines of towering, terraced houses, stacked together.

"it's difficult to explain," sehun stated. as if that was a sufficient answer.

in a burst of exhaustion and aggravation, roma grabbed his sleeve as he was opening the car door.

humid night air flooded in.

"sehun, you can't just say that to me, that's not fair," she said. her abrupt tone startled herself. "where are we? is baekhyun here?"

as she repeated her question, sehun's stare intensified further, narrowing in on her quivering frame. her long eyelashes fluttered nervously.

"we're at our house."

sehun spoke with indifference, ignoring one of her questions, shaking roma's grip from him and opening the door with an even rougher gesture.

the loud sound woke mia up, as roma heard her stirring in the back seat. mia looked around her, eyes sleepily half-shut, stretching her weary limbs. roma didn't even have time to talk to mia before sehun was yanking her door open and telling her to get out.

sehun wasn't being particularly aggressive; he was just being assertive and serious in his own quiet way. his persona put roma on edge. he looked overly-worried and panicky, a look of steel evident in his chiselled features. the street lamps shed an amber glow onto the sharp extent of his jaw and nose.