Prompt By: @kireitenshi

-Tite: 45.7cm

-Ship: EXO's Sehun x GUGUDAN's Sejeong

Characters: [MAIN] Sehun/Oh Sehun (EXO), Sejeong/Kim Sejeong (GUGUDAN)

Word Count: 1956

Warnings: Medium language

Summary: In which Kim Sejeong is literally 45.7cm away from Oh Sehun.

Kim Sejeong knew she’d regret signing up for night classes.

The minute she stepped on the subway to take her to class, she regretted it.

Clinging to the hand grip, she swayed back and forth with the train, fighting to keep her eyes open and herself awake by finding things to think about.

Glancing around the almost desolate train, she saw the ads it was decorated with- one for some type of medication for elderly people, another for a theatre show, a birthday ad for some celebrity.

Above her, however, was quite a strange ad- it depicted a ruler, and loudly exclaimed ‘REAL SIZE!’ ‘NOW 45.7CM!’ ‘TEACHER APPROVED!’

Sejeong was not one to doubt the authenticity of a ruler ad, especially one that teachers apparently advocated for.

As the train slowed to a stop, halfway between where she lived and campus, her eyes skirted over to the next ad, but was quickly blocked by a tall man in a long jacket with a hat placed upon his head.

Exactly 45.7cm apart, she thought. How uncanny.

She retreated back into her thoughts, thinking about what’d she eat next and where and if her friends would like to go to that theatre show with her.

Suddenly, the train jolted to a stop, and Sejeong could picture the stop like in the cartoons, where the middle of the train arches up and relaxes back down.

The jolt of the train tossed her around, causing her to lose her grip on her handhold and crash into the man beside her.

They went crashing to the floor, and the bag the man was holding burst open, makeup brushes and compacts and palettes and tubes exploded out over the grimy floor.

“I’m so sorry!” Sejeong cried, kneeling over and gathering up as much as she could into her arms.

The man was quickly beside her, shoving as much of his belongings back into the bag as he could.

“Watch it.” he hissed, snatching what Sejeong had from her.

“I’m only trying to help.” she snapped, picking herself up and brushing herself off.

“You’re gonna break my ,” he grumbled, following suit and standing back up. “I need this for class. I’ve heard stories of this teacher, and if he lives up to the tales, I won’t even survive the night with broken makeup.”

“You’re a student?” Sejeong pressed. A man with a bag full of makeup was strange enough, but the fact that he was also a student, seeming to be on his way to class as well, was almost freaky.

The man nodded. “Modelling and makeup. I got an email a few hours ago saying I needed to bring all this.” He lifted the bag, gesturing to it, and Sejeong’s eyes widened in realization and panic.

She was also a student in modelling and makeup, but never checked her email. She had a few belongings with her, stowed tightly away in her bag- her wallet, keys, phone, earphones, charger, a pack of gum, a sleeve of crackers, sunglasses, hand sanitizer, lip gloss and lip chap, a spare pen, hair elastics, and a small notebook and pencil she managed to make fit in there.

“You don’t happen to go to the university at the next stop, do you?” she asked, trying to mask the panic in her voice.

Again, the man nodded. “Why do you care?”

“Is your teacher Mr. Lee?”

“That’s his email sign off.”

“I’m in for .”

Kim Sejeong had received a few emails (on the rare occasion she checked it), telling her class details such as the time and duration, and she had been informed that her teacher was, in fact, the infamous Mr. Lee.

What she had not been informed of was the large bag of makeup she was supposed to have with her.

“You’re in the same class, aren’t you?” the man asked.

Sejeong opened to reply, but was cut off by the crackle of the loudspeaker. The intercom said there’s been an issue with the tracks, expressed an apology for the inconvenience on behalf of the subway company, and announced an unknown amount of time for the delay, but a rough estimate was about a half an hour.

“I’m gonna die.” Sejeong whispered.

First, she didn’t bring apparent necessities for her class. Second, her teacher supposedly has a stick so far up his the (slightly threatening) man beside her feared him and his repercussions. Third, she would be late to class, and if the first reason wasn’t enough to crave death, the third surely would be.

“It’s only 6:28,” the man commented, glancing at a watch strapped to his wrist. “Class doesn’t start until 7:45.”

“I thought it started at 6:45.” Was she really that bad at reading emails?

“Time change. Did you not read the email?” Sejeong shook her head furiously, and the man gave her a crooked, questioning look. “So I’m assuming that bag isn’t full of makeup?”

Sejeong shook her head again as she slid her bag off of her shoulder, unclasping and opening it, allowing her newfound friend and classmate to peer inside. “Just cracker crumbs.”

The man reached in, grabbing a cracker and shoving it in his mouth. “These crackers are .”

“I get peckish.” she held her bag close to her chest, frowning at the man.

“Peckish.”

“Yes, peckish.”

“I’ve never heard someone actually use that before.”

“Well, I’ve never heard anyone so…” she trailed off, huffing as she failed to find a word that described this incredulous man.

“Sehun,” he provided. “It’s okay, you can use it as an adjective. Plenty of people do. ‘So Sehun’. That’s going to be the name of my brand when I’m famous. My line, my magazine, my show, the likes.”

“You think you’re going to be famous?” Sejeong snorted.

“I don’t think. I know.”

“I know you don’t think. It’s not that hard to tell.”

“Is that supposed to be an insult? ‘Cause it didn’t work, sweetheart.”

“My name’s Sejeong.”

“Well, you’re not very good at insults, Sejeong.”

“Well you’re not very good at being likeable.”

“I wasn’t trying to make you like me.”

“Good, because I don’t.”

“Good, because I don’t care.”

The two stayed in silence for a moment, before Sejeong turned back to Sehun. “Have you seen the ridiculous ads?”

“I thought you didn’t like me.”

“I might not, but you’re the only one here who shows the slightest interest in me, and you’re quite easy to hold a conversation with I need something to keep me awake.”

Sehun sighed and leaned against the pole, making eye contact with her. “Show me the ridiculous ad,” she pointed above them, and he followed her with his gaze. “Huh. Would you look at that. That is a pretty ridiculous ad. One day, my ad will replace that.”

“And it’ll be as equally as ridiculous.”

“Ridiculous may just be effective.” he muttered as he dug out his phone, snapping a photo of the strange ruler ad.

“What’s the for?”

“What’s what for?”

“The photo.”

“So I remember the ruler. It could come in handy, y’know.”

“For what?”

“For measuring things. That’s typically what you use a ruler for.”

“What are you measuring? People’s faces?”

“Geez, you ask a lot of questions. And no! Clothing measurements. I already have a degree in fashion design.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to.”

“That’s a lame answer.”

“Well, you’re lame, so…” Sehun didn’t finish the thought, just shrugged.

Sejeong sighed, clasping her hands together. “Dear Lord, please let me off this train as soon as possible. I don’t think I can take it anymore.”

“You love me.”

“Far from it.”

“You’ll love me when I tell Mr. Lee this bag is the both of ours.” he held his bag up again, and Sejeong wheeled around, bowing and holding her cupped hands out towards him.

“I am forever in your debt. I owe you my life.”

“Hell yeah you do,” Sehun laughed. “One coffee should do it.”

And that’s how Kim Sejeong ended up at a coffee shoppe, spending what little money she had on a total stranger’s coffee.

The train they were both on moved both forwards and backwards, and the conductor was instructed to move the train back to the previous stop to let passengers off.

Kim Sejeong and Oh Sehun made a small detour before heading to class, stopping by a coffee shoppe and then taking to the streets, having to walk more than planned.

“If we’re late we go down together.” Sehun told her, holding his coffee in one hand.

“If we’re late we die together.” Sejeong lamented.

“If we die, we have to have a will.”

“A will?”

“Yeah, like what happens to your things. Your money. Stuff like that.”

“You can take my things,” Sejeong told him. “Not like there’s much in the first place, though.”

“Well, you usually give all your things to a spouse.”

“I’m not married. I’m 21.”

“Boyfriend? Girlfriend?”

“Not since high school. You?”

Sehun shook his head. “I’ll take your money, then.”

“I said my things, not my money!” she squealed, but Sehun didn’t say anything, just grabbed the sleeve of her jacket and stopped.

“Sejeong.” he said quietly, his voice above a whisper.

“Hm?” she turned around, gazing at him curiously.

“Since we have time before class…” he trailed off, and Sejeong furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, and he leaned forward, but before he could come too close to her, he stopped, a drop of water hitting the end of his nose. “It’s raining.”

“I see that,” she, too, spoke softly, taking a step closer to Sehun. “We should get inside.”

“Campus is still quite a way away.”

“It’s okay if we miss one class, right?”

He paused for a moment, as if turning this thought over. He grimaced for a moment, not liking the idea and figuring out how to turn her away, before relaxing with a sigh. “Where would we go?”

“Anywhere with a roof.”

“Back to the coffee shoppe?”

“Back to the coffee shoppe.” she agreed, and took another step forward to move on their way, but ran into the unmoving Sehun.

“Wait a second.” he hesitated again for a second, moving in as if to kiss her and then retreating before he could do so, as if thinking better of it.

Before he could back out again, Sejeong wrapped her hands around the collar of his jacket, using it to lift herself up onto tiptoe to gently press her lips against his.

For a moment, he didn’t kiss her back, as if he was too flustered and confused to figure what to do, but eventually leaned into it.

It seemed like forever they stood there, Sejeong’s feet quickly growing tired from standing on her toes.

When they broke away, Sehun shrugged his jacket off, draping it over her. “You don’t want to get wet now, do you?”

“I already am,” she said without thinking, and didn’t realize what he said until she saw Sehun’s wide-eyed, shocked and surprised expression. “No! No! Not like that!” she cried, waving her hands madly in protest. “I mean…” she held one hand out, allowing the raindrops to fall into her palm. “It’s raining.”

The rain had started as a small drizzle, but had quickly picked up, starting to pool at their feet and soak into their shoes.

“My apartment isn’t too far from here. Like, around the corner.”

Sehun and Sejeong quickly took off down the sidewalk, their hands tightly grasped together.

When they stepped into Sehun’s apartment, stripping the soaking wet jackets and shoes off themselves, Sejeong again shot Sehun a curious look.

“Where’s your bag?” she asked.

His eyes widened in realization. “. I set it down on the train.”

FIN