radiance | baekhyun

17

roma rounded the corner, watching the restaurant's lights diminish in the background, bag slung over her shoulder, bringing her jacket in closer to her shivering body. it wasn't cold. but her skin prickled and her teeth chattered.

streets were emptying, slowly, as she left behind the seeming safety of the thronging crowds of people. each corner revealed less and less, a diminishing population. roma held onto her thin jacket tighter, hands clasping the material, eyes shutting to recollect her thoughts and attempt to count her breaths.

the church tower's spire loomed above.

it reminded her of her first encounter with the strange boy she'd come to be entranced with. it reminded her of the frightened look on baekhyun's face when the lamp had exploded, its light shutting off, leaving them in a complete darkness of cobbled streets and unmoving stars. it reminded her of her pounding heart.

as the memory occurred, the string of street lights were all cut off: one by one, as if on cue. roma stopped. breathed.

saw him.

//

baekhyun had gone into town.

partly because he was sick of being stuck in the apartment with nothing but black coffee and kai's endless rambling to keep him company, and partly because he was worried about roma.

he had to get her out of his head. it was already affecting him; the lights, not being in control anymore. it was her. her big, blue eyes and her soft touches. everything. it was too much: not enough.

he was drunk. very drunk.

baekhyun's steps were uneven and all over the place. his hand reached for the wall, his arm offering support against the bricks as he clutched his forehead, straining his vision. he felt sick. the street lamp above him cut off, sparks flying, hitting the cobbles on which he was standing.

"fuck," he swore to himself, picking his body up. the darkness. "roma."

he tripped over his feet. swore again. tried to see where he was.

baekhyun hated this; the echoing of his heart resounding through his body and the convulsing of breaths that left his mouth in short gasps. he remembered the night before, the lights following him, the running, entwining himself within each corner and alleyway. alone. empty.

the church tower; tall, looming, piercing the navy sea of sky.

blurred vision. dizzied mind. baekhyun was tired and it was so dark.

a matter of moments and he was shoved to the side, losing his balance, falling to the concrete ground. if only he could see. he felt the first punch to his face, his chin, the metallic taste of blood seeping into his mouth. baekhyun attempted to fight back, his hands gripping onto the other body. pushing them off. he felt the presence of more than one person. someone else lifting him up by his shoulders.

he couldn't see. he was drunk.

"who the fuck--"

"remember me?"

baekhyun summoned the strength to hit jack as hard as he could.

//

darkness.

roma's heart beat louder than ever. she was scared. couldn't breathe.

the shouting, the arguing. their voices sounded too familiar for her to ignore. she couldn't see, her only guidance being the loud yells resounding from somewhere up ahead of her. roma could just about, barely, make out the obscured figures fighting. the hard sound of forceful punches and bodies thrown against concrete.