You couldn't exactly say that life with Lay was fabulous. Because it wasn't.

It really wasn't.

"Park Chanyeol, will you please get your arse out of bed and come and help?! Lord almighty! It isn't that damn hard!"

You were met with a long, lanky and shirtless Chanyeol, sprawled out and tangled in a mess of sheets and blankets. What was it with the boys you lived with and sleeping shirtless? Mornings were havoc because Lay was never sure whether or not to allow you to look. On more than one occasion he'd locked you in your own room until everyone was dressed, despite you screeching at him and telling him you'd seen everyone half before anyway.

"Are you not going to get up?!"

Chanyeol groaned, "go away-"

"I'll call your sister!"

You waited and Chanyeol sat up, pulling a face at you. "I don't care."

"Kris?"

"Still don't care."

"Lay?"

"Definitely don't care."

Your patience was running slim. "Kyungsoo?!"

Upon hearing his name, Kyungsoo ran into the room and upon seeing the giant, his eyes widened.

"Chanyeol, why aren't you out of bed yet? Get up," he said simply. Chanyeol knew he was beaten.

Sighing heavily, he pulled his long limbs out of bed, shooting you a death glare as you smiled sweetly at him, your personality that morning already taking a turn. "Okay, okay. I'm getting up."

 

As you left, Kyungsoo high-fived you. It was 8 AM on a Saturday morning and most, if not all the members of the dorm were awake. Suho and Sehun had gone on their usual round of shopping and Kai was helping his girlfriend, Aki, prepare for a talk she was going to do in front of some parents of prospective students. She'd been panicking for a while, more than usual, and being the sweetheart he was, Kai had decided to order some flowers for the younger girl and delivered them to their council room himself. She'd been overjoyed of course, seeing that not only was her one-sided crush of a few years now finally her boyfriend but he was also willing to show that role off to the rest of the school. 

Baekhyun was talking on the phone, as usual, sitting on the floor of the balcony looking at his fingers.

"Of course we are. Maddie, what are you talking about? Hey!" He screeched in Korean, "what do you mean you're going away for the weekend?! With Ahri?! What?! Why?!"

You laughed as you saw Baekhyun slide open the glass door and thunder towards Luhan who was sat on the couch, reading the morning newspaper, a content and happy look on his face.

"Luhan, what the hell?!"

Luhan blinked innocently, "what's wrong?"

"You sent our girlfriends to a spa retreat?!"

"What's the matter with that? They had a good deal so I bought them a package. It's only for the weekend."

"But now I can't see Maddie until Monday!" Baekhyun wailed, his bottom lip trembling, "I had an event all planned. I was going to take her to the cinema and then we were going to-"

"Baekhyun, can't you see I'm reading?" Luhan snapped.

"Hyung!"

"It's two days, baby Baek. Come on, you can deal with it." Luhan laughed, "God help Maddie when you decide to marry her."

You looked around the dorm, searching for that one person. Since getting together, Lay had slept in your room on a few occasions. It was a little awkward with the others knowing what could potentially go down on those nights but usually the sleepovers simply involved a lot of talking, cuddling and eventually sleeping in his arms. Last night had been one of those nights- sweet, innocent, with lots of ticking and a few butterfly kisses here and there. 

Knocking on the bathroom door, you heard a "come in!" and pushed it open. Kris was stood in front of the bathroom mirror, his fingers working a sculpting gel into his hair and a towel around his neck as he gazed at himself. His toothbrush was in his mouth and he raised an eyebrow at you.

"Yes?" he asked, pulling out the toothbrush and spitting into the sink. He then reached for the mouthwash and started to gargle.

"Wasn't Lay supposed to be showering?"

Kris nodded and opened his mouth to reply, mouthwash spilling down his face. You couldn't stop laughing, grabbing at the walls to support yourself as Kris used the towel to clean himself up.

"He finished and went back to bed," he muttered. "Haneul, stop laughing."

"You're so stupid sometimes."

"Shut up."

 

Returning to your room, you noticed a damp towel and a bundle of clothes in a heap by the door. Spotting Lay's t-shirt in the mess, you groaned, realising you'd be having an even bigger problem waking up your boyfriend. Creeping into your room, you spotted him nestled under the covers and you pulled them back, startled to see him shirtless and only in a pair of dark grey sweatpants. His hair was still wet, staining your pillowcases and you picked up a towel, starting to dry his hair.

"You're going to catch a cold if you don't dry your hair properly."

"Mmhmm..." he mumbled, a little as you pulled at his hair, the gap between his eyebrows creasing.

Gently, you leaned down to kiss him, softening the wrinkles. "Lay, you should listen to me. Get up, we've got things to do today."

He shook his head, instead grabbing your arm and pulling you down on top of him. In a few swift movements, you found yourself pressed up against his bare chest, your fingers the fading scars on his back, as he encased you in his arms.

"Lay, hey-" you struggled against him, "get up, come on-"

"I'm tired," he moaned, "can't we just stay like this?"

"No," you replied stubbornly, "we have to go to the airport, remember?"

There was a hint of iciness in your tone of voice and Lay shivered. "Haneul, are you sure you want to come? You're not going to get mad again, are you?"

You turned to him angrily, punching him softly. "Don't remind me."

Lay chuckled, mumbling into your ear, sleepily. "I don't mind if you get a little mad. You're cute when you're angry." You were about to say something back but Lay's grip around you tightened. He knew what to do whenever he teased you to stop you from turning against him. Leaning in further, he ran his fingers down the side of your face and kissed a soft spot on your neck as you rolled your eyes.

"You can kiss me all you like, Zhang Yixing, but that still doesn't change anything."

You felt him chuckle against your skin. "Of course not. I'm still an for almost leaving you, aren't I?"

"You're an for making me cry. Now get up, we've got a busy day ahead of us."

 

Huiling was arriving later that day for a business trip. Since returning home, she'd inherited a pretty large business and was put straight into the daily grind of things. The purpose of today's visit back to Korea was actually to meet up with Chanyeol's family. Lay had explained to you that it was something about a deal or a proposition but after that, your mind had switched off and you lost interest. What irked you the most was Lay's adamance to pick her up from the airport and take her to her hotel. She wasn't staying at the dorm and you thanked the high heavens for that but it still pissed you off that Lay was willing to cancel out on a date to pick her up. You shouldn't have been jealous of Huiling, especially as it was you with him on your arm, but you were and that was that.

With one hand on the steering wheel, Lay placed his free hand on your thigh, squeezing it in reassurance as he pulled into the car park of the airport. You scowled, not even trying to feel slightly happy that Huiling was back. You still remembered the havoc she'd caused and although deep down you also thanked her for helping you finally realise that you couldn't quite function with the thought of life without Lay, you weren't ready to admit that just yet. Maybe on your deathbed you would.

"Just promise not to pull her hair out. She's probably just as nervous as you are."

"I'm not nervous," you said as Lay placed an arm on your shoulder.

"And what about the hair?"

"I can't promise that-"

"Haneul..." His voice was stern.

"I'm joking, god! Calm down."

"I know you don't like her but she hasn't done anything wrong. Not really."

"I almost lost you because of her, you ." Your frustration was bubbling and Lay couldn't help but laugh, finding your pouty lips and sharp eyes incredibly cute. Even when you called him names, he couldn't do anything but smile to himself.

"Hey, the important thing is that I'm still here and I'm with you and I can do this." He leaned down and pecked you on the lips. "So don't hate on her too much, okay?"

You grinned, forgetting all about Huiling for that moment. With Lay smiling at you and asking just this one thing from you, you wanted to fulfil his wishes. "Okay. For you."

He kissed you on last time before linking your hands as you began to walk towards the arrivals gate. "You're amazing."

 

Half an hour passed and you were growing tired of waiting and staring up at the television screen. Lay was also a little bored, making it obvious by constantly checking the time on his phone and groaning whenever he saw that not even a minute had passed since he'd last checked. Eventually he tapped your shoulder to get your attention.

"Haneul?" He said, "should we get something to drink?"

You nodded, "I don't mind buying it. What do you want? Water? Juice? Soda? Starbucks?"

Lay chuckled, passing you his wallet. "Surprise me."

You walked through the bustle of people eagerly running into their loved ones' arms. It felt strangely familiar and you remembered the day you had arrived in Korea to meet Kris standing with a placard, towering above everybody else. Walking into Starbucks, you looked up at the menu, eventually deciding to order two iced coffees. After waiting in line, you paid with your own money anyway, opening Lay's wallet out of curiosity. Tucked inside was a very old and creased photo of him, Luhan and Kris. The corners were dog-eared and there was a deep crease running down the photo through middle of Lay's face. They all looked rather young and you guessed this was probably taken before Lay had moved in. You felt your heart thump a little when you noticed a slight darkness surrounding Lay's right eye, a bruise he had obviously tried to cover up. Slipping it back inside, you found there was another small photo- a passport photo to be exact. It was of a woman and you assumed it was his mother. Their similarity was too much to just be a coincidence. The final picture had been folded up a number of times, being too large to fit in properly. Unfolding it, you saw that it was a sheet full of stickers of Huiling and Lay, obviously taken at a Japanese-style photolab.

You traced the pictures a little sadly, wondering why he hadn't yet asked to take photos with you. The only reassurance came from the fact that none of the photos showed the pair doing anything remotely romantic. There were no hearts, no arms around each other and certainly no kisses on cheeks- just the typical victory pose and nothing more. You wondered when it had been taken. Did Lay have feelings for you then too? You made a mental note to yourself to find out.

"Order 122? Two iced coffees?" 

"Here!"

Collecting the cups, you slid Lay's wallet into your back pocket and walked out, happily sipping your coffee and occasionally stealing a slurp or two of your boyfriend's. As you walked back towards where you'd left Lay, you found yourself lost. He was nowhere to be seen and when you looked up at the screen, there were floods of people from the China flight heading towards the gate. Guessing that he was probably somewhere in the crowd, you weaved your way through, stopping when your eyes fell on an unfortunately familiar sight. Perhaps you'd seen this a few too many times in your dreams, or nightmares rather, because you were sure it hadn't happened much in real life. Was this deja vu? Huiling had her arms around Lay and he had hoisted her up in the air, spinning her in the air and they hugged. You could almost hear your heart breaking and errupting into flames.

What the ...

With a new fire, you marched over to Lay, internally battling with yourself over what was the right approach. Were you going to be happy and smiley as Lay had wished? Or were you going to make sure Huiling knew exactly who she was touching? It hurt a lot, seeing your boyfriend acting so close around a girl he knew you weren't too hot on and what upset you most was the fact that it felt petty to be hurt by it. This was Lay and he was yours. You knew that. 

But why did it feel like suddenly you were the third-wheel in their relationship?

Walking up to the two of them, you threw Lay's wallet at his face and it landed with a satisfying thump across his eye. He groaned and bent down, knowing exactly why a leather object had come flying at him seemingly from nowhere and he felt a little guilty. Hearing your footsteps, he doubled over pretending to be in pain and you knelt down in front of him, lifting his chin.

"Hey Huiling," you said casually, before kissing Lay on the lips. "Look at my big baby."

"You threw my wallet at me!" Lay whined.

"Aww, did it hurt?" you asked, "want me to kiss it better?"

"No," Lay replied coldly, standing up and taking Huiling's luggage.

"Fine," you said, passing him his coffee. "Stick that on your eye instead then-"

"?" Lay chuckled, "yeah, I know."

 

The drive to the hotel was long and tedious and by far the most awkward thing you'd ever experienced in your life. Lay, wanting to silently make things up to you as he knew you'd seen his hug with Huiling, held your hand the entire way, gripping it harder every time you tried to pull it away. Under his questioning, Huiling explained what she'd been doing in China and how grateful she was to have Tao on hand to help her settle in at first. She then went on to tell you both exactly what she'd be up to in Korea, relaying her schedule as if she'd memorised it perfectly and eventually asking if you'd both like to have lunch or dinner with her.

Lay had said yes before you could even process her question.

When you arrived at the hotel, the doorman opened the car door for Huiling and she turned to Lay.

"Are you busy today?"

Lay shook his head, despite you trying to squeeze out a 'yes, we have a date'. Hearing him tell her that shut you up faster than anything else in the world. God, it hurt a lot hearing the words come out from your own boyfriend's mouth.

"Why don't you get the valet to park and we can go out somewhere?" Huiling suggested.

Your boyfriend agreed. Within minutes, the car had been handed over to the valet man and you were in the hotel lift with Lay and Huiling feeling overly uncomfortable. Once her luggage had arrived and Huiling had hung up a few rather expensive looking dresses in the wardrobe so that they wouldn't crease any further, she changed her handbag and grinned.

"Let's go!"

You sighed quietly, refusing to heave yourself off of Lay's lap where you had decided to sit in order to punish him. Eventually, he reached down and pinched your hard, making you yelp and jump up in surprise.

"Hey!"

He smiled at his cute and angry girlfriend, "yes, baby?"

You pulled at his shirt, getting him to drop his head down so you could whisper into his ear. "Do you we have to?"

"I'll make it up to you," he whispered back, "I promise."

 

For the rest of the day and the whole 10 hours spent with Huiling, you were seperated from Lay, third-wheeling the entire time. It was almost laughable, the thought of being the third wheel in your own relationship. God, it must have looked a sight, you thought- you trailing behind Lay and Huiling as they walked together, side by side, laughing at each other's jokes and soaking up each other's company. When you entered a small cafe, Lay held the door open for Huiling and then led her inside, not even looking back at you. When you found a table, he pulled out the chair opposite him for her before taking his own seat, ignoring you completely. As you waited for the food to arrive, he chatted happily with her, the thought of bringing you into the conversation not even crossing his mind once. 

By God, you were angry. But more than that, you were upset.

As the day wore on, you felt your ego wear down too. Slowly, slowly, ever so slowly. Like wallpaper being stripped off a wall. Long, tiring and painfully slow. Why was Lay paying all his attention to Huiling? Oh. Right. Because she had come to town for a visit and this was the only interraction they could have.

So it's just you being petty.

"," you cursed, clenching your fists, "ing ."

"Haneul..."

You could hear the concern in Lay's voice. Was he finally going to pay some much needed attention to you?

"Do you need to go to the bathroom?"

You could feel your jaw dropping and your eyes watering. That was it? His concern for you was 'do you need to go to the bathroom'? You almost vomited in anger. Picking up your things, you nodded and headed around the corner. Only instead of taking a left to the ladies washroom, you took the right and walked straight out of the cafe, hailing the next taxi to pass you and returning straight home.

 

When you arrived back at home, the pacing continued. Seeing you so visibly upset, the others were on edge, unsure of what to do. Were they supposed to comfort you or tell you that they'd beat your boyfriend up until he had no left? Or maybe they were supposed to just leave you alone to your thoughts? Baekhyun was out with Chanyeol, doing something to take his mind off the fact that his girlfriend had disappeared for the weekend without thinking to warn him previously. 

After a long cry, you forced yourself to peel away from your bed and grabbed your jacket. It was getting late but the night air was cool and you knew exactly where you wanted to be. Heading down and out of the student accomodation building, you walked the path towards the high school, smiling when you were met with the familar warm sight of the gazebo, lit up by a few dim lights dotted around the courtyard. It was the place you'd first seen Hyun Ki back when you had been trying to find your place in the school. Sitting down on the bench, you drew your knees up to your chin and rocked back and forth.

"Yixing, you idiot." 

As if the God was purposely out to get you, your phone started to ring and you picked up, excitement soaring when you saw the caller ID. You'd sent Lay an apologetic text when you left, telling him you were sorry that you had to leave but you didn't feel too well. You had hoped he'd read into your message and understand that you were upset about being left on the side lines whilst he entertained a different girl right in front of you. 

"Hello, Haneul? Are you okay?"

"Mmm-" you mumbled.

"Okay, that's good. Huiling and I are going to go out for dinner since we realised we don't have any other free time together."

Free time with Huiling? So what if they didn't have any other free time together?

"I'll be back soon. I'll come back as soon as we finish."

"No, it's fine," you said sarcastically, "go to a karaoke room with her whilst you at it. You know, because you don't have any other free time together."

"Really?" Lay asked, surprised and not detecting your tone of voice.

"Of course not really, you ing ." You ended the call quickly and slapped your mobile down on the bench, tears falling down. 

This situation is really pathetic.

 

By the time you willed yourself to go back to the dorm, everyone knew you were in a state. Kyungsoo brought you some dinner and kept you company as you ate, not wanting you to eat alone. As soon as you retreated to your room though, the suppressed tears fell and you were quick to fall asleep, wanting to forget all about the horrible day you'd had. Lay was right. You shouldn't have come. You hated that. At around 11pm, your disgraceful boyfriend finally arrived home to a furious dorm-ful of angry boys. 

"Do you know how upset you've made her?" Luhan was the first to say.

Xiumin noddded, "I think you need to say sorry."

"How is Huiling anyway?" Tao asked.

"Don't ask about Huiling!" Chen hissed and Tao bobbed his head up and down to apologise.

"Yixing-"

Lay ignored their calls, walking straight into your room and locking the door behind him. He got changed, acting as normal as if nothing had happened and slipped into the bed with you. Feeling the bed dip under his weight and his presence beside you, you woke up and opened your eyes, finding yourself face to face with him. Upon seeing him, your eyes welled up and you quickly turned around, determined to give him the cold shoulder the way he'd done to you too.

"Haneul-ah... I'm sorry about today."

" you, Yixing."

Lay winced at the sound of his name. He could tell you were hurt and he wasn't sure what he could do to make it better.

"Do you know how upset I am?..." you whispered as you felt Lay's body press up against yours, his arms snaking around your waist. "You didn't pay any attention to me at all today. You didn't look at me. You didn't talk to me."

"I'm sorry," was all Lay could say.

"I was really jealous," you admitted quietly, half hoping he wouldn't remember this weaker side to you. "It really hurt."

"I know, I know," Lay said, your hair.

"Am I being really pathetic?"

That made him chuckle. "Of course not."

"Why aren't you apologising?"

"Because I did it on purpose," Lay confessed. "You're cute when you're angry."

"I'm not angry, I'm upset."

"Then let me make it up to you, like I promised."

"How could you dismiss me so easily?" You whimpered, ignoring him. "Lay, do I really not mean that much to you?"

"Of course not, Haneul," Lay replied, holding you tighter and drawing circles with his finger on your arm. "You mean the world to me."

"But you-"

"I think you're cute when you're angry so I purposely made you angry. When you call me names it makes me feel happy because you don't call anyone else horrible names the way you do to me." Lay chuckled deeply, "I like being the , as cheesy as that sounds."

"You're not an , you're a ing ," you said bluntly and Lay laughed, exhaling loudly as he did so.

"God, I love you," he breathed and you almost smiled.

Almost.

"I hate you," you said.

"No you don't."

"Yes I do," you argued back adamantly. "I hate you with every cell that's touching you right now."

"How can I change your mind?" Lay asked, purring ever so slightly.

"Tell me why you still choose me. Even when Huiling's here and obviously into you and you willingly spend time with her, tell me why you come back to me and expect me to forgive you."

You could feel him stirring behind you. "That's hard to put into words..." He smiled, "can't I just show you instead?"

He propped himself onto one elbow, his arm that was around your waist moving up to caress your face. Slowly, he began to lift his entire body until he was hovering above you. You felt his fingers try to move you so that you'd look at him but you remained stubborn and stiff, facing the wall with an angry pout that looked even more inviting to him.

"I want to hear you say it," you said.

"I love you. That's why."

"Is that all you're going to say?" you said, sighing in frustration when Lay nodded.

You turned your head to face him, ready to spit an insult at him for being so heartless but as soon as you were in exactly the right spot he wanted, Lay quickly lowered his head, capturing your lips. This kiss was different, maybe because he was trying to prove just how much you meant to him. It was quick, passionate and needy and you found yourself getting drawn in. Knowing that you weren't much of a tongue person, Lay stuck to using his lips, surprised to feel your tongue swipe his bottom lip as you wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him down on top of you. Lay liked to use tongues as much as you didn't but you wanted to show him that you had forgiven him. Smirking a little and knowing your intention, he smiled and pulled away just enough for you to retract your tongue. He then closed his mouth again so that you wouldn't have to carry on doing what you didn't like just for his sake. 

He'd shown you how much he loved you and you'd forgiven him. Rolling back over onto his side, his lips still connected with yours, he scooted closer to you until your legs were tangled with his and he could hear your heavy and hot breathing. He pulled away and gazed at you with misty eyes. You looked practically radiant with the moonlight shining and casting shadows on your skin.

"You're not perfect." Lay placed a sweet kiss on your forehead. "You get jealous." He placed one on your nose. "And you call me names." Moving down, he kissed your lips but pulled away before you could deepen the kiss further. He started nibbling your jawline. "But I think you're beautiful." Slowly he moved lower, kissing the same spot on your neck from that morning. "And I love you." He began  it and it as you gripped his arms, burying your nails in his skin. "No other girl could ever mean as much as you do to me."

You cracked a smile, feeling ecstatic both within and from the way your boyfriend was treating you.

"Y-Yixing..." you whispered, your lips trembling as you let out a small whimper.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it when I said I hate you with every cell that's touching you," you said and you felt his teeth against your skin as he laughed.

"I know you didn't, Haneul-ah," he whispered back. "Don't be so cute."

 

 

---

what the did I just write. I apologise for all the swearing and truthfully I'm not sure how the ending ended up so ual and reminscent of a story. Because honestly I have no idea why my brain came out with this. Obviously I'm a repressed and lonely 18 year old! YAY!

The next epilogue will actually be a small bonus one for funsies (a fabulous couple may I just add) and the one after will be Kyungsoo's ^^