It had been a while since Lay had watched Jihoon and Jinyoung stuff their faces with seafood kebabs and potato dogs.

“Here they come!” Jinyoung mumbled, his mouth full of food.

Sure enough, Myungsoo and Joongyu were making their way through the crowds of people at the festival, toward the three band members. Lay couldn’t help but notice, that they seemed, cheerful. Like Leeyoung always was. They weren’t brooding in silence with each other, like they’d been doing since Myungsoo started seeing Jiae.

“Give me some of that food,” Myungsoo said as he plopped down in a seat next to Lay.

Joongyu sat to Lay’s other side and grabbed a seafood kebab. “Let’s eat all the food before Jiae shows up,” he remarked, before taking a huge bite.

Jihoon and Jinyoung blinked, looking back and forth between Myungsoo and Joongyu, with Lay caught in the middle. “Well, what’s the verdict?” Jinyoung asked.

Joongyu cracked a smirk, and Lay knew then, that what was coming was good. “I had to give in,” said Joongyu, “What am I gonna do? Apparently they really like each other that much. I can’t deny it. I’ve fought with Jiae before, in fact I fight with her every day, but she’s never been this mad at me, or this determined to get what she wants.”

Myungsoo smirked beside Lay. Jihoon, seeing Myungsoo, scoffed. “I don’t get you, Myungsoo. What do you see in Jiae? She’s like, a miniature, human-sized elephant. She’s not really a girl,” he remarked.

“Yah, that’s my sister you’re talking about!” Joongyu interrupted.

Myungsoo and Jinyoung laughed, but Lay had something else in mind. “So… then what about the band? What about Leeyoung?” Lay said.

The boys got quiet. Joongyu scratched his head awkwardly.

“I… I can’t make you guys take me back in,” Myungsoo said hesitantly.

Jihoon grasped his hair with his hands, baring his teeth at the situation they’d come to.

“But we’re a band,” Jinyoung remarked, “We’re Planet X.”

Lay took a good, long look at each of his friends, who’d pushed down their unending appetites for food, just to resolve the mess they’d conjured up. His heart did a double take, when he brought the picture of Leeyoung’s bright, cheerful face into his mind. She had saved them from a straight pitfall. And now that they were back together again, were they just going to let her go, saying, thanks for your services, we don’t need you anymore?

For some reason, all eyes were glued on Lay. The guys were staring at him, trying to decipher what kind of thoughts seemed to be running through his glazed eyes. “So?” Joongyu asked.

“What?” Lay responded.

“What do you say?”

Lay’s eyebrows furrowed. “Why is this my decision?”

Myungsoo coughed uncomfortably. Jihoon, with a sigh, explained, “Dude, we all know this is most important to you. We all like Leeyoung. She’s totally awesome for a girl. But you like like her. Like, you like her as a girl, not as a friend. That’s why we’re reluctant to ask her… because of you.”

Lay unconsciously drew one of his hands up to scratch his head. He was confused. He was reminded of how Baba kept telling him to confess to Leeyoung, before she got away.

“Is it that obvious that I like her?” Lay asked, his voice genuinely bewildered.

“Yupp,” Jinyoung answered curtly.

“Do you think it’s obvious to her?” For some reason, Lay hoped the guys wouldn’t answer.

“I would say… yeah..” Joongyu said, chuckling at the end of his reply.

Lay palmed his face with a hand. Baba’s laugh rang in his head. Why was his dad so… right all the time?

“Yah!! You guys didn’t eat all the food, did you!?!” The voice made Lay look up. It was Jiae, jogging over to the table the boys were sitting in. She circled around and sat next to Myungsoo. “Joongyu, move your !” She nagged.

Joongyu got up and moved to the other side with Jihoon and Jinyoung. Lay felt awkward, being an unwanted third body next to the now permitted couple. Jiae immediately started scarfing down the food that the boys had forgotten about.

“So, what did you guys decide to do about your other guitarist?” She said.

The guys cleared their throats, not daring to speak up. “Well?” Jiae urged.

“I’m gonna confess to her,” Lay finally replied. That drew looks of surprise from his friends.

“Really??” Jiae mumbled, talking and eating at the same time, “Aww, that’s sweet! But wait, that doesn’t answer my question.”

Lay sighed to himself in relief. His head was spinning from the very weight of what he was about to do, but at the same time, the notion that it was all going to be solved tomorrow, somehow, assured him.

“It’s too bad your dad isn’t home,” Leeyoung muttered, as she and Lay stumbled down to Lay’s basement.

“No, it’s not,” Lay retorted. By now, Leeyoung knew how to navigate Lay’s basement like her own house. She strolled into the band’s practice room and sat herself down on a stool. For once, she wasn’t wearing her dark leather boots. She was dressed casually, in light colored jeans, a white Rolling Stones t-shirt, and black converses. Lay looked down at his clothes. A white v-neck shirt, jeans, black converses. They basically matched.

“Okay. Let’s hear it!! I wanna hear how awesome this song is! Right now!!” Leeyoung exclaimed.

Lay wordlessly brought out his guitar and sat on a chair. He had already set out a music stand with his finished song sitting on it. He found himself staring at the sheet music, the black music notes, the lyrics written under them, the guitar notes scribbled over them. He sighed, the muscles of his fingers constricted. He peered over at Leeyoung. She sat in her same spot, smiling at Lay sincerely, as if he had already played for her the most beautiful song in the world.

He began playing. He felt his voice vibrate in his throat. No other sounds disturbed his entire house, just his song, that he’d written, for her.

The girl on the street

Strums her guitar

With delicate fingers and strong hands.

She sings with a smile

That stops people in their tracks

And calls them over to listen.

The girl on the street

Draws everyone in

To believe what she believes.

She drew me in

And made me believe

And made me fall in her music.

Her music

And her smile

And her voice that calls out to others

Is just as beautiful

As she.

Only when Lay launched into the chorus of the song, was he able to peel his eyes away from the sheet music he’d memorized by heart, to look up at Leeyoung. She was still smiling at him, as genuinely as ever, listening to every strum, every note, and every word of his song. He had titled his very first composition, “The Girl on the Street”. He had written it about Leeyoung. How beautiful she and her music was. And how he wanted to play along with her.

The soft, acoustic melody died down with Lay’s final strums. For a moment, the whole room, the whole house, was silent. And then, Leeyoung began to clap gently. “I knew the song was going to be amazing. You really have talent, Lay,” she said.

Lay drew a hand over his hair, sweeping his bands out of his eyes. “The song is about you,” he admitted. He lowered his gaze, unable to look her in the eyes.

“I’m the girl on the street,” Leeyoung muttered. She laughed to herself lightly. “Well, you certainly know how to flatter a girl.”

Lay wasn’t sure if that was enough. If he had said enough, to let her know that he had just confessed to her. He didn’t really know what else to say. And there was something nagging at the corner of his mind, too. Because he also had to tell her about Planet X’s situation. She had to know.

He decided to be as honest as he could. “So…” he said, “apparently, everybody knew that I really liked you as more than a friend… except me.”

His hands were sweating. He kind of wished Baba was here. No wait, he didn’t. “Did you know?”

“Well, I think I guessed,” Leeyoung answered.

Lay wiped his hands on his jeans. “Then… Is that okay?”

At that, Leeyoung laughed. “What do you mean, is that okay? Are you asking me if it’s okay that I know you like me, or if it’s okay to like me?” It wasn’t a mocking laugh, just a laugh to let Lay know that he wasn’t speaking clearly.

“Uhhh, the second one,” Lay replied.

“Hmmmmm…” Leeyoung hummed, tapping her chin. She then got up from her stool, and walked out of the practice room.

Lay supposed he should follow her, so he put his guitar down and went out to the main room of the basement. Leeyoung was sitting on a sofa. Lay went and sat next to her, although he put enough space between them for a whole other person to come sit.

“Yeah, it’s okay,” Leeyoung said, when Lay had sat down.

Lay felt a grin spreading across his lips. He felt like he’d just accomplished something huge. He felt great. But then, the whole awkward situation with the band came to his mind.

They sat in silence for a bit. Lay had no idea how to bring up the topic.

“Is that all you had to say to me?” Leeyoung asked.

Lay froze. “Uhhh…”

There was no point trying to avoid it, so Lay told her the truth. He explained to her how Joongyu and Myungsoo had made up, and how their old group of friends were okay again, with Myungsoo and Joongyu’s sister now a couple.

He turned his head toward her carefully. He was surprised to see that Leeyoung was still smiling.

“I’m glad you guys worked it out. You can’t break a strong friendship like that just for a girl, right?” She said. “So basically, this means I’m not really needed in the band anymore.”

“Well, it’s not that… we all think you’re an awesome guitarist…” Lay defended.

“I understand,” Leeyoung cut in. “I think it would be best if Planet X went back to its original group. It was an all-male band to begin with, right?

“It doesn’t mean we don’t wanna hang out with you anymore… all the guys think you’re really cool…”

Leeyoung put up a hand, shutting Lay up mid-sentence. “But. Tell the guys that I’ll leave the band on one condition.” She turned to Lay and gave him a smirk. “They have to share you with me a few days a week, so you can play in front of the soup kitchen with me and raise money.”

Lay stared at her. “Agreed?” She asked. The smile never left her.

He nodded, slowly.

Seeing Lay’s speechless expression, Leeyoung laughed. She stood up from the sofa. “Great! Now let’s go and record your song so I can put it on my Ipod.” She left Lay sitting there again, heading into the practice room like she lived there.

Lay obediently obliged to all of Leeyoung’s orders and demands. He dutifully played and sang his song again while she recorded it, and waited patiently while she burned the track onto a blank CD to take home. But after that, he deleted the track, because he didn’t want Baba or the other guys coming in and finding it unnecessarily.

She took a black marker and wrote “The Girl on the Street” on the front side of the CD. “There we go! I think I should get home for dinner now. Wanna walk me out?”

They stood in the doorway, facing each other. Lay didn’t know when he’d started blushing, but for some time now, his cheeks had been uncomfortably warm. He stared at her, losing track of concrete thoughts in his mind.

“So, ramen for dinner for you, huh?” Leeyoung said.

“Haha, yeah,” Lay answered.

“Like I said, too bad your dad isn’t here.”

Lay shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

“I can’t wait to meet up with the rest of the band again,” Leeyoung remarked. “I get to meet your friend Myungsoo, and Joongyu’s sister, and we get to let them hear your song…”

“Hear my song… umm, no, that’s not happening.” Lay remarked.

 “Of course they should hear the song! It’s gorgeous! Maybe you guys will even transform the music as Planet X’s first self-written song!” Leeyoung threw her hands up dramatically.

Lay scratched his head. He could faintly imagine the guys snickering like idiots at the song, not really because of the music, more because of the lyrics.

Leeyoung had opened the door, and her body was halfway outside. “Bye Lay, Tzai Tzian,” She said with a chuckle, “I love the song, so much.”

As she left the doorway, Lay found himself following her out, to watch her leave. She took a few steps, then turned around, startling him.

“By the way,” she called. “Us playing together in front of the soup kitchen, those don’t count as official dates. I’m expecting you to ask me to a real date, soon.”

She began to walk backwards, waving at Lay with a hand. “I like going to concerts. And amusement parks. Oh, I like shopping, too,” She added. And with that, she walked off, disappearing from Lay’s view.

[A/N:]

That's the end of Lay and Leeyoung's story! What did you guys think? I won't apologize if any of you guys cringed with those song lyrics. Nope, I won't. Oh, and any content Inspirits out there? Haha, Yes, I ship Myungsoo-Jiae pretty hard. Enjoyed sticking that couple in here, hehe.

Alright, I'll keep this author's note short~ Thank you as always for reading, and please stick with us for the rest of the stories, pretty pretty please~♥