radiance | baekhyun

64

the window sill seemed odd, suddenly, beneath him. 

three of them had gone out: minseok, junmyeon, kyungsoo, leaving baekhyun to fill his afternoon with taunting questions and utter boredom. 

his mind was so consumed by selfishness and himself that he hadn't even cared about where the others were going. he felt that he had a purpose, but wasn't fulfilling it. the others appeared on a differing agenda. 

what the fuck was he supposed to be doing?

and he knew the answer to that, of course. he did. 

the sun's rays flowed through interesting patterns, twisting in between their fiery paths. they fell over the sofa, dripping with an overwhelming and brightening presence. seemed inexplicable. 

he'd got up, making himself a cup of shitty coffee, standing by the counter, when the sound of the front door buzzing didn't surprise him at all. his stance didn't alter, the familiar sensation of electricity coursing through his body. felt the fibres fizzling out. 

baekhyun could hear him just opening the door, because they'd left it unlocked. he glanced down at his appearance, with his tattered t-shirt, old boxer shorts and bare feet, cup of coffee in his hand. couldn't quite recall the last time he'd had a shower. definitely hadn't had one this morning. his skin felt tired and worn, and he wondered whether he hadn't gone outside much in the last few days because of how brightly the sun had been beaming. 

change. 

a shadow of grey matter had been cast across the living space, signalling the arrival of whatever was to come. an odd chill ran through his pulsing blood. baekhyun put the coffee down.

preparation. 

the taste of it burned his mouth.

burning.

reminded him he was very much alive; feeling every single sense that penetrated through his fragile and tangible skin. 

jongdae came into his view. 

shadows; a stormy reverberation consumed the tightly constrained room. 

"thanks for answering my calls," baekhyun smirked, adding a quirky smile sarcastically to the end of his sentence. he leant his back against the counter, observing the slow and steady pace of jongdae's steps, as he rounded the corner at the end of the stairs, keeping his eyes on baekhyun. 

his expression was one of interest; not making eye contact at all with baekhyun. hands were occupied, dragging the luggage, the only readable element of his stance being that of the lopsided smile that adorned the curved nature of his expression. 

baekhyun couldn't quite understand. 

the coffee still tasted bad. milky and too watery. jongdae's baggage landed with a thud onto the laminate flooring. tame impala were playing softly and muffled in the background, on the slightly broken stereo. 

it slanted in diagonally: the sun's rays. in between each stretch of golden light was a darkened strip of grey mass. highlighted and emphasised the immense space and dust floating through the atmosphere. 

"yeah, well," jongdae shrugged, stretching his arms behind him, still smirking in an odd and indefinable manner. 

baekhyun threw the rest of the coffee down the sink and let the mug clash against the metallic basin.

"i was helping you." 

he finished this statement, crossing his arms over his chest. 

jongdae appeared somewhat refreshed. adorning a pressed shirt that he surprisingly hadn't sweated through, beige shorts rolled up, clean trainers. baekhyun felt lazy and rather disgusting in comparison.