(A/N: I had this fic to write for 32483209 years for e-llien on tumblr...hope she doesn't hate me now ;A;)

You impatiently tapped your foot on the linoleum-floored restaurant. Even though it may not be the most esthetically pleasing spot, it was your and Lay's favourite place to meet. He had let you out at the front door and went around the back to park the car. You wondered why he was taking so long. One in the morning was normally was a safe time for the two of you to be out together, unless a night-owl fangirl noticed him. The regular waiter approached to take your order, but you waved him off apologetically, still waiting for Lay.

Eventually, you spotted his familiar stride entering the door. He scanned the restaurant and noticed you with a smile. You returned the smile, however your eyebrows knitted as you saw the slight limp in Lay's walk. How did you not see it before when he picked you up at your apartment earlier?

Lay approached and sat in the chair across from yours. He looked over your ahead and signaled for the waiter to come take the order.

“Are you okay?”, you asked, concerned, after the waiter left.

“Hm?”, he replied, almost absentmindedly.

“You were limping when you walked in.”

“Oh. Uh, yeah. I think I pulled a muscle during practice today. Don't worry too much about me”, Lay reassured you.

“But still, you should be careful. Your skin doesn't look too good.”

You weren't lying when you said that. Lay's face looked a bit grey, his eyes somewhat bloodshot. You understood that the long hours and late nights came with his job, but it still pained you to see him like this.

“Tell you what, on our next date, you can take care of me as much as you want. You can give me those disgusting ginseng powder packs and everything,” Lay promised, even though he shivered at the thought of having to take the ginseng powder.

You leaned forward, excited by his proposition, “Can I do face masks and give you the apple hair too?”

Lay chuckled and reached his hand forward, poking your nose cutely.

“You're a bit too ecstatic about this for my liking. I'm kind of worried.”

He proceeded to ask you about the details of your day. You talked and he listened. One thing that you appreciated about your boyfriend was how easy he was to communicated with. He listened to you (even though you tended to ramble) with a contented smile.

Eventually the food arrived. The two of you ate in comfortable silence. But soon, you noticed that it was mostly you who was doing the eating. Lay's rice bowl went almost untouched. He took a few sips of water here and there, but for the most part he just watched as you ate.

You picked a morsel of food up with the chopsticks, but stopped as your eyes fell on Lay's left hand that was resting on the table. If you could call it resting. His fingers were tapping the table, not in the nervous habit sort of way, but simply just to keep his hands busy. If that makes sense.

You put the chopsticks down and reached across the table, resting your hand on his. You were surprised at the unusual cold, yet dry texture of his skin.

“Oppa..I think we should go,” You stated, somewhat hesitating. You looked forward to whatever time with Lay you had, so it was disappointing that it would be cut short tonight. However, his health came first.

Not waiting for his response, you called the waiter over and pulled out your wallet to pay. Lay responded in protest but you swiped your card anyways.

You gave him an assuring smile and stood up.

“Next time you'll be paying. For the ginseng powder packets”, you added cheekily.

You and Lay walked out of the restaurant, his hand wrapped around your waist, guiding you to where he had parked. Lay led you around the back of the building down a scrupulous-looking alleyway. You unconsciously began to walk faster.

He chuckled, “You scared, hon?”

With a quick shake of your head, you denied it. Truth is, you were a bit worried. People say how safe a city Seoul is, even at odd hours of the night/morning, but walking down this alley, you found that quite hard to believe.

You weren't fooling Lay. He squeezed your side reassuringly. You looked up to him, about to give him a smile of gratitude, when you noticed something about his eyes. They were somewhat glazed over, more than earlier, with an odd glint in them. He looked like he was squinting, but you couldn't be sure. You stopped walking and stepped in front of him. The end of the alley was in sight, so you thought the two of you were out of harm's way (but were you ever in harm's way?).

“Oppa,” you began, “can you see okay?”

Lay brushed it off and linked arms with you, pulling you along. You could tell he was getting annoyed with your constant pestering. He didn't like people worrying about him.

“I'm fine, I already told you that”, He reminded you in a steady and controlled tone.

As the two of you came to the end of the alley, you added almost inaudibly, “I think you should call Kris just in case.”

Lay laughed out loud this time.

“And what will he do?”

“I don't know..maybe he'll let you stay home and rest tomorrow?”, you suggested

“Haha, you obviously don't know Kris very well, but I'll ask just for you”, he said and kissed the side of your head. You could feel the smirk on his lips.

The two of you finally reached Lay's car. He reached in his jacket pocket, pulled out the keys, and handed them to you. You took them slowly, but then looked at him questioningly, eyes wide.

“You drive”, he smiled casually. Lay saw the look of doubt in your eyes and added, “I trust you.”

Seoul was a crazy city to drive in and he knew you weren't used to it yet, so you needed all the practice you could get.

Lay pulled your head to his chest and kissed your head again.

“You smell good”, he commented while reaching for the passenger door.

You slipped around to the driver side while saying, “Well yeah, girls usually smell nice, like flowers and that kinda stuff.” You shot him a playful look.

The two of you drove in a comfortable silence. You concentrated on the road, forcing yourself not to flinch or freak out whenever a pedestrian fearlessly walked in front of the car. You glanced over to Lay the first time it happened to see his reaction, however he wasn't even paying attention. Lay's head was resting against the door, his fingers pressing the side of his temples.

You were scared to ask if he was okay with the way he reacted before. You didn't want to be annoying. Taking the chance of glancing from Lay to the roads then back to Lay, you noticed the deep rising and falling of his chest. He reached his hand to the door and pressed the automatic button to wind the window down. You saw his nostrils flare as he inhaled the fresh air. You forced yourself to focus your attention back on the road.