12. Cliché

 

 

 

 

When Seulgi arrived into the parking lot, she couldn't find Sehun's car because

It was getting darker The giant bear she was holding easily took away half of her view Her eyes were puffy and she figured she had lost one of her contacts while crying in the lockers.

 

Nevertheless, she continued to walk between the rows looking for a black car as if nobody else had that and Sehun would magically appear out of nowhere. Thankfully, he did after spotting her in a millisecond with her giant yellow plushie toy. He never needed help to find Seulgi. Sehun got out of the car and took the bear from Seulgi before dragging her to his car by the wrist. His hold wasn't as strong as the one in the amusement park and it didn't hurt.

 

 

"You can get inside," he told her as he tried to make the bear fit on the backseat of the car. Seulgi still tried to help him with the oversized bear and pulled it inside as Sehun pushed from the other side until it passed trough the door. Then, Seulgi wondered if she could sit on the backseat too but maybe that would be too childish after a fight. She didn't have the time to hesitate anymore when Sehun the engine and told her to get inside a second time.

 

 

As Seulgi sat down next to him, Sehun finally got a clear view of her face and the truth dawned upon him. Seulgi had obviously cried. Her nose was slightly red and her eyes puffy but what gave him the biggest clue was that she looked like she could still start crying and that she forced herself to stop just because they had to leave.

 

 

It was in those moments that Sehun remembered Seulgi was still Seulgi. Even if she went to parties now, wore elegant black dresses that put emphasis on her great body, found a new guy to accompany her to those parties she never went before and yelled at him, Seulgi was still the vulnerable girl he dated from the past who cried whenever he decided to do a joke that turned bad or ignored her. How did Sehun forget how fragile Seulgi was just because that Taehyung or Taeyong guy was around now and had just as much respect for him as Wendy?Sehun unknowingly sighed and held tighter onto the steering wheel. Was it really a great idea to tell her after all? Sehun started regretting his words again when he heard Seulgi sniffle a few times.

 

 

As they reached the driveway where they would spend a good hour on, small droplets of rain started to fall onto the windows of the car. Seulgi rested her head onto the window and looked outside as it became dark while Sehun continued to drive in complete silence. The car was just as noisy as a library minus the students who always whispered to do team projects even if it was forbidden to talk. Seulgi closed her eyes but she still couldn't sleep with the thousand of questions bombarding her mind. She wouldn't sleep tonight again she figured.

 

Sehun parked into a gas station that also held a convenience store when they passed by one since the light on the car's board kept flashing to signal him that the reservoir was almost empty.

 

 

"Do you need anything?" he asked her before opening the door.

 

 

Seulgi silently shook her head and returned to rest her head onto the window. Sehun went out and Seulgi pretended she hadn't heard him sigh as he closed the door behind him. She watched him walk to the convenience store and regretted not asking him to buy candies before closing her eyes again. Maybe not candies but surely painkillers. The headache she had didn't come from her tight ponytail after all, her lack of sleep was surely the cause. Sehun came back running as the rain continued to pour harder and sat down with a frown . If she wasn't busy pretending she was sleeping, Seulgi would have asked him what's wrong but Seulgi preferred to not talk.

 

"The cashier said they blocked the route because of an accident," he said as he started the engine. Sehun knew she wasn't sleeping.

 

Seulgi didn't answer.

 

 

"I don't know if I can trust this information and I'd rather see for myself, is it okay with you?"

 

 

Seulgi shrugged with her eyes closed and turned her head to give her back to Sehun. He only continued to drive silently as he watched her fall asleep to the steady rhythm of the car and the peaceful sound of the rain falling.

 

 

The ride to the where the accident supposedly was situated was in fact longer than Sehun thought with a good 10 km distance from the gas station. As he didn't want to wake Seulgi up, he parked onto the sideway and got out of the car to talk with the policemen who were giving directions to lost drivers.

 

Seulgi jolted up when she heard the noise coming from an ambulance passing through. She looked next to her to see that she was alone in the car. A little bit panicked, she scanned the area although it was pretty dark outside and sighed in relief when she saw Sehun busy talking to someone in uniform. He had his arms crossed on his chest as usual and looked pretty concerned with whatever the policeman was telling him. He came back into the car a few minutes later and answered Seulgi's confused expression as soon as he put his seatbelt.

 

 

"We can't pass through," he said.

 

"Isn't it just an accident? Can't they close half the road and let us pass one car at a time?" Seulgi asked as she watched Sehun start the engine. "We're 20 minutes away from Seoul at most."

 

"The road is blocked Seulgi. There's nothing to do."

 

"Nothing?"

 

"A truck full of oil was involved in the accident and now there's oil all over the floor. Thankfully, nobody was deeply hurt but it would be too dangerous to let hundred cars pass on it."

 

"Fine but where are you going?"

 

"They said there was a hotel not too far from here, they said they wouldn't be done with the cleaning before tomorrow morning so that's where we'll be staying until then."

 

 

Seulgi's eyes grew out of their socket and she dramatically turned to look at Sehun who didn't look phased by the situation one bit.

 

 

"No, no no no no no no," Seulgi started. "I refuse."

 

"Refuse what? You're saying this as if we had another choice," Sehun scoffed.

 

"We always have a choice," Seulgi said. "And I'm not going."

 

"You're not the one driving as far as I'm concerned."

 

 

Seulgi turned to face the front and held her head in her hands. This couldn't be possible: the most cliché of the cliché romantic situations portrayed in movies and books was happening to her. She was going to spend the night with Sehun out of town.

 

"This is not a fanfic!" Seulgi whispered-yelled as usual to show how helpless her state of mind was.

 

 

She could already imagine the disaster: the hotel was full because the policemen recommended everyone passing on that route to go to that hotel and then Sehun and her would have to share the only bed available in the room because of course the only room left would suddenly be for a couple.

 

"This has to be a joke," Seulgi whined. She shot her head up as an idea popped into her mind and reached for her cellphone.

 

"I hope you're not expecting Chanyeol to come get you at this time," Sehun sighed. "Even if he did, he wouldn't be able to leave."

 

"Listen, I can't do this Sehun," Seulgi slightly panicked. "Don't take it personal but I don't want to sleep with you."

 

"I don't know where you got this idea but I don't intend to have s—"

 

"Not this! I mean that we can't share a bed."

 

"It's a hotel, I think they can afford more than one bed," Sehun retorted.

 

"You don't understand," Seulgi shook her head from left to right. "It's going to be full and they'll only have one room with one bed left."

 

"Where do you get all this imagination?" he frowned.

 

"Just watch me be right."

 

 

Seulgi ended the conversation and anxiously waited until they arrived to the supposed hotel that was less than a kilometre away from the place the policemen were informing people. She noted there were many cars parked into the entrance and nervously followed Sehun inside the shabby hotel. Seulgi knew she couldn't expect anything from a place situated in the middle of nowhere but it was wrong to call this building a hotel. If anything, it looked like a dormitory.

 

 

"Two separate rooms, please," Sehun said after greeting the short young woman managing the rooms.

 

 

The clerk sighed and looked down to a list on her desk. She was probably reading Seulgi's nightmare on it.

 

 

"Wait, let me guess," Seulgi started after accepting the situation that she obviously couldn't avoid anymore. "There's only one room available."

 

"How did you know?" the woman gasped. "I hope you don't mind sharing a room."

 

"Don't mind? Wait I'm not done, I bet there's only one bed in that room because all the families from the amusement park checked in the others," she continued before slamming her hand onto the counter. "Worse, you hoped we were a couple because the bed is probably small and that would be awkward for anyone who isn't here with their lover. But we're not!" Seulgi exclaimed with red cheeks. "That guy is my ex and he hates me! You want to know what's worse? We fought right before coming here and I knew this was going to happen on our way to this hotel in the middle of nowhere and he didn't believe me! But it's fine and I'm used to it because he never trusts me! I was supposed to be at home by now in my pyjamas thinking of the great day I would've spend with Baekhyun if he hadn't decided to play with my innocence and drag them to the party but now I'm stuck 20 minutes away from home just because there's a little bit of oil on the road!"

 

 

There was a short silence that took place right after in the hotel lobby that only accentuated the awkwardness Seulgi had just caused.

 

 

"Tmi…" the young clerk whispered under her breath.

 

"The hell does T-M-I mean?" Seulgi asked after catching her breath from her long monologue.

 

"It means too much information Seulgi. You literally revealed your life to someone who didn't want to know," Sehun sighed as he ruffled his hair out of tiredness. "I'm sorry for this, we'll take the room," he said to the young woman.

 

 

Sehun then dragged Seulgi to the staircases as there were no elevator to no one's surprise. She had just realized what she did after coming back from her panicked state and noted how she just lost it from a tiny bit of stress.

 

 

"I hate myself," Seulgi facepalmed herself while Sehun checked the room's number attached to the key.

 

"How did you know there was only one room available?" he asked her without bringing back her embarrassing outburst.

 

"Because my life Sehun and that's what happens when everyone goes to the same hotel after an incident on a road trip."

 

 

Sehun shrugged and entered the key into the door of the right room.

 

 

107. Seulgi knew she wouldn't forget that number soon enough.

 

 

As they entered the room, a deep sigh escaped Seulgi's lips and she banged her head onto the nearest wall. There was indeed one bed but it was a single sized bed.

 

 

"I'll sleep in the car," she said as she monstrously examined the size of the bed. No way she would sleep with Sehun on this: there would be no space left. Anywhere.

 

"We can both fit on this though." Sehun then sat onto the bed and tested it. "It looks okay to me."

 

"I-I am not going to try to fit anywhere with you Sehun. Especially not on this tiny bed for children," Seulgi stuttered. "Come on hand me the keys."

 

"You're literally asking me to hand you my car," Sehun frowned. "That's a no."

 

"I don't want to drive it, I just want to sleep in it!"

 

"No," Sehun repeated still as calm. He got up and took the keys he had left on the table to put them in his pocket.

 

"Fine, I'll just go find some random floor to sleep on in the lobby or rest in the bathtub if there is even one in this room," Seulgi mumbled before taking her stuff to leave. "It can't be that bad."

 

"You're so stubborn," Sehun sighed heavily before bringing her back by the shoulder. "Just take the bed and I'll sleep in the car."

 

"You can have the bed, I fall asleep pretty easily on a car seat," Seulgi tried to propose. She somehow felt guilty.

 

"I'm okay, it's good for you as long as we're not in the same room, right?" Sehun asked with a hint of sarcasm. He then came out of the room and closed the door behind him.

 

"That's not what I meant…" Seulgi sighed.

 

 

That's exactly what she meant. It's just that Seulgi didn't notice how her words got mixed to turn into something mean under all this stress from imagining herself in the same bed as him and freaking out even though she had no intention of hurting Sehun. In no way she wanted him to get out of the room or to sleep in the car, she proposed to go because she was the one who had a problem with the situation. Not him.

 

Yet she was the one with the bed now.

 

 

Seulgi scratched her head and looked around the room to see if there weren't any extra pillows or bedsheet but this hotel lacked many things apart from looking cheap. There no extra about anything: only one bedsheet, one pillow, one bathrobe, one towel. This room was definitely made for one person alone.

 

 

Seulgi sighed once again and decided to just sleep as there was nothing else to do. No TV and no signal for her phone. She figured she would sleep fully dressed with the clothes she wore all day because there was literally nothing else to wear and that she distastefully would have to take off her makeup when she would get home the next day. This day was becoming more and more like a punishment. She had fun for about one or two hours after stopping overthinking every action that came from her exes as the rest of the time was just a whole lot of nerve wracking thoughts.

 

She shifted on the uncomfortable bed after trying to sleep on her left side for about ten minutes. But she couldn't fall asleep. Seulgi tried to count sheep to stop overthinking but then again, every time she reached a number with three in it she would start thinking of the same thing that was keeping her awake.

 

The reason why Seulgi got barely any sleep in the last week was because of that number. 3. It obsessed her.

 

3 failed relationships.

 

(almost) 3 years of being single.

 

Not more than 3 years of dating experience (she barely got over 24 months)

 

3 men.

 

 

"3 failed relationships," Seulgi mumbled. "2 failed and one break up that couldn't have been avoided," she corrected herself after thinking of Baekhyun's previous situation.

 

 

Weirdly, she didn't feel like crying again after thinking of what Sehun revealed to her earlier in the day. If anything, it seemed pretty stupid.

 

 

"Who would ask someone if they want to break up just for the sake of it? Does it sound fun?" she genuinely asked as she turned again to sleep on her left side. "Maybe I'm missing something but maybe Sehun is a complete moron too."

 

Yes, that made more sense: Seulgi was guilty of nothing. She didn't breakup with him. He did. Sehun was still the jerk who dumped her out of nowhere before going out with someone else a few hours later and that's all she had to say on the matter.

 

"Sehun is a… Sehun is…"

 

 

Seulgi turned to see the empty space left on the bed and started feeling bad. He wasn't a jerk and she knew it. The simple fact that she was on the bed while he rested in the car outside in the cold was just another example of the man she used to call a gentleman before. The change was so drastic when he broke up with her that Seulgi had totally forgotten how nice he used to be with her.

 

 

Sure the bed was enough for the both of them as she needed less space than she thought initially, but there wouldn't a lot left if Sehun joined her.

 

 

"He doesn't need a bed," she tried to convince herself as she closed her eyes. "The car must be more comfortable than this torturing bed."

 

 

Seulgi continued to count sheep for about six more minutes.

 

 

"501… 502… 503… Gosh, 504… 505…" she whispered out loud. "506… Don't do it, 507…. 508… 509… Enough, 510… 511… Please, 512… 513… Fine!"

 

 

Seulgi got out of the bed and quickly put on her shoes before stepping outside of the room. She felt like she was going to regret this but it didn't matter anymore as a heavy feeling on her chest wouldn't let her sleep. She indeed felt guilty.

 

 

She reached Sehun's car in no time and knocked on the window to wake him up: he didn't seem to have trouble sleeping compared to her.

 

 

"Yes?" he asked as he rolled down the window and rubbed his eyes to come back to reality.

 

"Please sleep with me," Seulgi said without really thinking of the formulation her words could have. "We can share the bed."

 

"Have you finally lost it?"

 

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