radiance | baekhyun

56

Somewhere in Arizona. 23:58.

sat, with her legs crossed, one over the other, listening intently to their conversation. ears perked, body on edge, confused as to the whereabouts of her new surroundings.

outside, it looked indescribable: indecipherable. she couldn't possibly place a name to the location. so foreign and new and bizarre.

the heat had sunk heavily into the dim atmosphere; a burning amber had settled into the small mounds and crests that lay beyond her vision, as she looked out of the window, in her periphery. dusty orange swam a length through the blazing horizon. it was a beautiful juxtaposition; the black of the night sky to the line of reddish-gold that sat, all ablaze, beneath it.

new territory. stepping into the unknown for what felt like the thousandth time.

hot. underneath her collar, sweat perspiring and gathering below her neck, sleeves rolled up, bare legs. hair cascaded casually over her right shoulder.

baekhyun and chanyeol sat on opposite sides of the large, glass coffee table resting between them, each respectively on the huge sofas that had been placed parallel to one another. roma noticed a finished bottle of red wine centred in the middle of the polished glass. noticed baekhyun eyeing it in a suspecting manner.

stained scarlet marks, drops of red, across the clear, glazed surface. missed the glass, or something. missed his lips. maybe. only imperfection visible in the spotless space. the heat was already getting to her. it was late, anyway, and...she didn't know. couldn't think straight.

chanyeol was reclined. he looked extremely comfortable, like he was used to this. and roma supposed he perhaps knew this sort of setting all too well. one leg was folded, crossed over the other, shorts exposing his long and deeply tanned legs. white shirt draped over his wide shoulders but thinned torso, arms outstretched around the back of the sofa.

baekhyun almost mirrored him, except:

he was sat slightly forward, shoulders hunched, his body seemingly ready for any situation or occurrence that was going to be thrown at him. t-shirt and jeans and long hair falling forward over his blackened eyes. hands folded, interlocked, resting on his poised knees, jutting forward against the coffee table.

and roma looked relaxed, too. but wasn't. she wasn't stressed, either. an odd state of mind; where everything seemed to be slowly flitting and filtering from her brain, like a stream of confusion, ebbing and flowing. not relaxation, but not deprivation.

their soft chatter, friendly and murmuring, was comfortable for her ears to listen to. background noise.

"are you still as big of a drinker?" chanyeol's voice laughed, bellowing slightly louder, catching her attention.

roma watched for baekhyun's reaction. her mouth and throat craved something cold and alcoholic. a bottle of wine seeming ever-so tempting.

"ha," baekhyun replied, equally as casually and under his breath.

not making eye contact with roma. looking down.

"nah, not as much anymore," he responded, tilting his vision upwards and forwards. a light and somewhat awkward laugh accompanied his answer. averting gazes.

like he did with all of the others, he exchanged a look that could only possibly be comprehended on a whole other level; a message that transformed through the static, electric glances, each twitch producing a different signal. missing her.

roma sighed to herself. but they couldn't hear her.

"shame, man. not that there are any good parties in this deserted shithole, anyway," chanyeol spoke abruptly, a large smirk still hitched up into the corner of his mouth.