It had occurred to Kyungsoo that the dingy gas station probably wasn’t good for his health, or at least the hot dogs weren’t, yet he was back there again. He couldn’t help but wonder if Cliché would show up again.

Not to his surprise, he did. The leather jacket was persistent as ever and so was Kyungsoo’s eye roll. Cliché entered and looked straight over to Kyungsoo. He smirked when he noticed the half-eaten hot dog Kyungsoo was, inevitably, eating. The expression unsettled Kyungsoo and made him self-conscious, not only over his eating habit but about his general appearance as well. Before now, all Kyungsoo had noticed about Cliché was his leather jacket and platinum hair (not to mention the Smirk) but now he couldn’t help but accept that despite his many faults (all of which pertaining to the stereotype he portrayed), Cliché was extremely good looking, so much so that even Kyungsoo had to admit it. It came at the price of Kyungsoo staring at the man far too long, the smirk slowly becoming awkward and Cliché’s eyes drifting to anywhere but Kyungsoo. That, in itself, had to count as a win for Kyungsoo. Or at least that’s what he tried to convince himself of. Truthfully, that was a situation wherein there could be no winner for one was uncomfortable and the other, in this case Kyungsoo, looked like a psychopath.

Kyungsoo averted his eyes quickly, as one does when staring at a stranger for far too long. Cliché trained his gaze downwards, barely managing to hide the blush appearing on his face. He walked around, seemingly aimlessly, and threw a couple glances Kyungsoo’s way as if to make sure he wasn’t staring again. Of course, Kyungsoo had learned from experience and constricted himself to only tear apart the still-disgusting hot dog in front of him with his eyes and so, whatever Cliché wanted, he didn’t catch Kyungsoo looking again.

Life seemed intent on repeating itself as Kyungsoo managed to finish his “food” just as Cliché walked up to the register. Once again, he picked out his vice. Just as Kyungsoo passed he heard the cashier deliver the news that Cliché was a few wons short.

As you should be well aware of now, Kyungsoo wasn’t one to look past chances to bring some color to his drab existence and so he found himself walking up to the counter and, with the most confidence he could muster, handing several bills over to the seemingly unphased cashier. As if small men in dirty, orange coats paying for a tall, leather clad, platinum haired man’s cigarettes was a normal occurrence at the dingy, old gas station.

“It’s on me.” He said, not looking at Cliché unless it was from the corner of his eye. The cashier took the bills and handed Kyungsoo his change. “It’s the least I can do.” He said without looking up at Cliché’s furrowed-brow face and made an attempt to slip out of the station before more words could be shared about his sudden generosity.

The automatic doors took forever to open from Kyungsoo’s perspective and he was barely out when Cliché came barreling into him. They both let out small grunts at the impact and while Cliché came to a halt, Kyungsoo stumbled forward by a few steps.

“Uh, thanks, I guess.” Cliché said. Kyungsoo turned around slowly to see the image he had created in his head crumble. Cliché stood before him, fiddling with the pack Kyungsoo had just bought for him. Kyungsoo didn’t know what to say so he didn’t. A curt nod was the only response Cliché got. “I’m Sehun.” Cliché introduced. Kyungsoo stared at him, trying to decipher what his objective was as his hand hung between them in front of the doors of the unfortunate gas station. Slowly, he took Cliché’s --Sehun’s-- hand in his and shook it.

“Kyungsoo.” Cliché --Sehun-- smiled slightly.

“You really saved my back there.” He said, letting go of Kyungsoo’s hand and gesturing to the cashier behind him with his head. Again, Kyungsoo nodded. They stood in silence for a few moments before Sehun spoke up again. “So,” he started, “what brings you here?” Kyungsoo shrugged and turned his head away from Sehun as he replied.

“I don’t know, beats wasting away at home.” Sehun nodded, appearing to completely relate with Kyungsoo’s sentiment.

“Cool, cool. I get that. It’s kinda quiet here, don’t you think?” He asked, Kyungsoo looked at him incredulously before answering.

“I guess so, I’ve never really thought much about it.”

“How long have you been here?” Sehun asked, far too interested in Kyungsoo than the latter would’ve ever thought possible.

“Since birth.” Sehun’s eyes went wide at Kyungsoo’s statement.

“Wait,” he asked, voice almost an octave higher than it should be in his shock, “you’re not just passing by?” Kyungsoo shook his head. “Oh wow,” Sehun continued, “I am so sorry. I thought you were just a visitor like me.”

“Why are you apologizing?” Sehun looked at Kyungsoo with a dumbfounded expression as he tried to form a coherent response.

“I… I don’t know.” He said slowly. “It’s not nice to assume things about people, I guess that’s why?” His answer sounded unsure, like he wanted Kyungsoo to confirm. Kyungsoo, finding the action to be as, if not more, repetitive as his eye rolls, shrugged once more.

“How long have you been here?” Kyungsoo turned Sehun’s question back to him.

“About a week and a half. Or at least I think it’s been that long.” Kyungsoo nodded, time was warped in this town as hours passed like seconds and days passed like weeks.

“Well, nice meeting you. Good luck with whatever brought you to this sad excuse for a town.” Kyungsoo muttered, turning away from Sehun and heading back in the direction of the town.

“Do you want a ride?” Sehun offered, gesturing to a vaguely familiar motorcycle parked next to the station. Kyungsoo was surprised he hadn’t heard the engine approach seeing as it was right next to his window. He mulled it over for a few seconds, weighing the pros and cons taking up the offer. He ultimately decided that since he barely knew the guy, he should decline. Taking chances is okay as long as the outcome is most likely safe. Accepting a total stranger’s offer to give him a ride on a motorcycle had about a 60/40 chance of Kyungsoo ending up dead.

That might actually be an improvement, he thought to himself before shaking his head vigorously to get the thought out. Since Kyungsoo had never actually given Sehun a reply, he took that as one.

“Alright, I’ll see you around then, Kyungsoo.” Sehun bid his farewell, sending a wink with the utterance of his name. “You should really lay off the hot dogs, though,” Sehun added as an afterthought, “those things can’t be good for you.”
“I know, you really should’ve kept the change, too,” Kyungsoo replied, “guess we both make questionable choices.” He finished and with that he left Sehun confused, a smirk spreading across his lips as he stuffed his hands in the worn out pockets of his coat on his way to the same, boring town he had never truly left.

It is worth mentioning that Kyungsoo both did and didn’t expect to see Sehun at the gas station when he made his way back there. What he fully didn’t expect, however, was that Sehun would be waiting for him.

“You’re late.” The taller said as he pushed himself off of the building’s outer wall. The cigarette hanging from his mouth almost seemed like it would fall at any time.

“I didn’t know we made plans to meet up,” Kyungsoo answered, knowing full well that they, in fact, didn’t, “you really shouldn’t be doing that here.” He finished, gesturing to Sehun’s almost-at-the- cigarette. The taller took it from his mouth for a small examination before pressing it to the wall to stub it out. The dead fell to the ground and as Kyungsoo watched it, he hoped that it wouldn’t send the area into flames. Thankfully it didn’t and Kyungsoo managed to catch a “let’s go,” from Sehun as the latter tugged on the sleeve of his still dirty and barely-still orange coat.

As they entered the all-too-familiar gas station, a realization of just how different the pair seemed dawned on Kyungsoo. Still, he let Sehun drag him to the counter and order him yet another almost-inedible hot dog. Along with that came Sehun’s standard pack of tarpaper.

“How many do you even smoke in a day?” Kyungsoo asked, realizing that Sehun just bought another pack two days earlier. The younger of the pair blinked a few times as his wallet hung from his fingertips haphazardly over the counter until he realized that Kyungsoo was talking about the pack currently lying just out of the wallet’s shadow.

“Like two? Maybe four if I’m having a bad day?”

“Did you have a couple of terrible days then?” Sehun let out a chuckle at the question and shook his head.

“No, I need to stock up. I don’t know when I’ll be able to buy another pack.” He confessed. It took until they were seated at Kyungsoo’s regular spot for the sentiment to sink in.

“You’re leaving, then?” Kyungsoo asked in between horrible bites of an equally as horrible nutritional supplement. Sehun nodded slowly in response. “When?” Kyungsoo inquired further.

“I don’t know, when I feel like it, I guess.” A few seconds passed in a silence only interrupted by Kyungsoo’s chewing.

“Where did you come from?” Sehun laughed at the sudden question posed before him.

“Originally or before I came here?” He asked, a smile still present on his lips.

“Why not both?”

“Alright,” Sehun said, his amusement evident and infectious, “well, I was born in Seoul and when I was twenty I decided to go on the road. That was about four years ago. I travelled a lot, overseas and in Korea, before I came here but the last place I went to was Jeju.” Sehun answered as Kyungsoo listened intently. It came with the unfortunate side-effect of wide-eyed staring and so Sehun’s smile turned slightly awkward.

“How many places have you been to?” Kyungsoo asked, taking a bite of the hot dog which had been ignored until then. Sehun puffed out his cheeks and released a long breath of air before replying.

“A lot? I haven’t really been counting.”

“Which one was your favorite?”

“France.” Sehun answered immediately. Kyungsoo’s eyes went even wider at the response.

“You’ve been to Europe?” He asked in astonishment. Sehun nodded.

“Multiple times, actually. Maybe I’ll go back there when I leave here, even.”

“Take me with you.” Kyungsoo sighed, slumping down in his seat and letting the hot dog fall to the counter.

“Maybe I will.” Sehun laughed. Kyungsoo couldn’t help but laugh with him, albeit bitterly.

“So, France, tell me about it.” Kyungsoo requested and as soon as the words left his mouth it was as if stars had taken residence in Sehun’s eyes.

“Oh man, it’s so beautiful.” He sighed with longing. “You know,” he said excitedly, leaning closer as if to make sure Kyungsoo fully understood what he was saying, “there are different kinds of beautiful, right? A beautiful garden feels different than a work of art and a beautiful city feels different than a person. France feels like all of those in one. It’s an intricate blend of everything from food to architecture. I am telling you, a list of things I could never regret would mostly be made up of my trips to France.”

“You’ve been there more than once?” Kyungsoo asked, slightly less shocked about that information than Sehun’s former revelation. The latter nodded with a smile which made Kyungsoo envious. He wasn’t sure if it was all in his head but he was certain that Sehun’s smile held every memory he had ever collected of his travels and a pang shot through his chest.

“If you play your cards right I just might bring you with me.” Sehun said with a wink. Kyungsoo smiled but it didn’t reach the sadness in his eyes, knowing that whenever Sehun were to leave, Kyungsoo would stay behind.

It was just as well, Kyungsoo hated clichés anyways and the “small town boy who’s never left his home is whisked away by a handsome city man” trope was too played out for his taste. He was content with staying home, or rather it was best for him to convince himself of that.