Chapter Thirty One 

Frustration  

You stared out of the tinted windows of Lay's frighteningly expensive sports car, watching the night sky fly past you with a furious scowl. You were cold, angry and tired, all you wanted right now was to have a bath and go straight to bed so that all of the dramatics of today could be over. But you couldn't do that, because you had just left your house and were on your way back to the EXO mansion once again. 

Lay gave you a quick sidewards glance, "Hey... Are you still mad?" He asked, testing the waters. 

You didn't even bother looking at him as you folded your arms over your chest and gritted your teeth. "Take a guess." You growled to the window. 

Lay resisted the urge to laugh. "I'm sorry?" He offered, not sounding sorry at all. 

That did it. "You better watch it." You snapped, "Because of you, I'm officially homeless and my dad hates me. So yeah, you should be sorry." 

Lay rolled his eyes, "You're the one who started the fight with him. And what are you talking about 'homeless', you stormed out all by yourself!" 

You huffed in your comfortable leather seat, thinking back to how you ended up in this situation. 

40 Minutes Earlier 

Lay stepped out of his formal bow and stared steadily into your father's eyes, "I'm Yixing, your daughters boyfriend."  

And just like that, the beast was awoken. "YOU DARE COME IN TO MY HOUSE- MY DAUGHTER!" He shifted his angry eyes to you, "YOU LISTEN HERE YOUNG LADY. I'VE HAD ENOUGH. YOU'LL QUIT THOSE RUBBISH CLASSES AND YOU'LL END YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THIS- THIS- BOY!" 

You would be damned if you were going to take this sort of insult from your own father, you were putting your foot down, this was the end. "No, you listen dad! I'm not a child anymore! You can't just dictate to me, can't just tell me what I can and can't do. This is my life, not yours. You can choose to be in it or out of it because as of right now, I'm not putting up with it any longer." 

Your father was almost turning purple he was that consumed with rage. Running out of arguments with you, he pointed a shaky finger at Lay, ready to start his next rant. "He did this didn't he? He's got you hypnotized into thinking that you have no value-" 

"He is Yixing! And he is my boyfriend." You grabbed Lay's hand, getting caught up in the heat of the moment. "And he's perfect, because unlike someone, he accepts me as person. He didn't hypnotize me into thinking I have no value," You spat viciously, "He showed me just how valuable I am! He loves and respects me, unconditionally. Just as I love him." You stood up straight. "From this day forward, I'm taking my art classes seriously and will hang out with whoever I want and date whoever I want. If you have an issue with that, then that's your problem." Before he could say anything else, you snatched your jacket off your desk and grabbed Lay's hand again, practically dragging him as you stomped out of your room. "Let's get out of here."  

Your father was so shocked from your sudden passionate outburst that he actually let you walk past him and down the stairs. 

That was before he finally processed what had just happened. He wasted no time as he quickly spun around, face bright red again as headed for the stairs in hot pursuit. "Saerom!" He called, eyes widening as you opened the front door, halfway out already. "SAEROM! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" 

"Going to work on out art project." BAM. The door was slammed behind you. 

Lay was in a daze behind you, sure, he wanted you to stick up for yourself but this, this was on another level, this was far exceeding his expectations. He was stunned to his core. 

"Where's your car?" You snapped at Lay as you stomped out into your front yard, the anger not fully dispersing yet. 

"O-Over here." Lay guided you cautiously, afraid he would be next if he stepped out of line. 

Back in Lay's Car 

"But this all started because you said you were my boyfriend! You lied!" You finally turned to him, your previously subdued anger trying to make a comeback. 

"So what? Luhan lies all the time." Lay retorted. 

You couldn't believe that he actually had the audacity to try and bring Luhan up at a time like this. "You dare-" 

"You want to know something Saerom?" Lay started, awfully calm like as kept his eye on the road ahead, his hand gently shifting gears. "I had almost the exact same problem with my parents, it was even the same in the sense that it was about art. They wouldn't stand for it, they both wanted me to be a doctor like them, and for a large part of my life the only thing we talked about was my future." He paused for a moment, flicking the blinker on, "But then one day, I did what you did. I let it all out, did the whole 'it's my life speech' and ran off to stay at Kai's house. Of course, I returned after a few nights. But you know what? It really opened their eyes and they finally started working on accepting my dreams. Of course their acceptance didn’t just happen overnight, but my problem was more or less solved. Now," He smiled smugly, "I can take all the art classes I like." 

"My point is," He continued before he let you have a say, "I was trying to help you. I gave you something to encourage you, I gave you a friendly push." 

As heart warming and hopeful as his speech was, you scoffed at the last part. "A friendly push? You threw me to the sharks!" 

"Don't be dramatic Saerom." Lay rolled his eyes, taking another left turn. "Everything will be fine. You don't hate your father and he doesn't hate you. He loves you. I know that, he knows that, and surely you do too." 

You sighed. "Maybe..." Of course you didn't hate your father, you were just so frustrated with him. And Lay was right, even if you the two of you were going through a rough patch, he was still your father and you knew he loved you.  

Lay chuckled, "See? Just give it the night, go back home after school tomorrow and things will be better." 

You looked up at him, wanting so much for that to be true. "You promise?" 

He slowed down until finally the car came to a complete stop in front of a huge, familiar mansion. "I promise." 

You sighed, taking a look at the time. "It's late... Will anyone be up?" 

Lay cut the engine, also checking the time, "I don't think so. It is pretty late, even for our standards" 

"I didn't even bring pajamas." You muttered, resting your head against the leather seat. For some unknown reason, you didn't want to get out just yet. 

Lay chuckled, his cute dimples making an appearance in the darkness. "You can borrow something of mine. Oh, actually..." His smile slowly vanished, being replaced by a small frown, "You could probably just borrow something of Luhan's." 

Great. Way to make it awkward Lay. "R-Right. Luhan, my real boyfriend." You sighed, your hand absentmindedly reaching to your necklace. There was no way of getting out of this one, you were going to have to explain what had happened at your house. You knew Luhan wouldn't be angry about your fight with your father, but you did have a certain inkling that Luhan will lose it just because Lay was at your house without his consent or knowledge. Should I leave out the part where Lay said he was my boyfriend?  

"Don't stress over it." Lay comforted, guessing where your thoughts were headed. "He won't be mad at you." 

"But he'll be mad at you." You muttered. 

"Nothing I can't handle." 

You closed your eyes. "Why does everything have to be so complicated..." 

"It's not, really." Lay lightly hummed, "It's just your feelings that are complicated." 

You scoffed, "Oh, yeah?" You challenged, "Like what?" 

"I know you're in love with me Saerom." 

Your eyes shot open, "What did you just say?" 

Lay turned his head to look at you casually, "You heard me." 

"I did." You agreed, "But I was giving you a chance to take back what you said." 

He had the balls to chuckle at you. "You even said that you loved me." 

"Alright, that's it. Now you're just lying." 

Lay openly grinned at your mistake. "So you agree that I wasn't lying before? You agree that you're in love with me?" 

You turned away from him. "Stop that. You know that's not what I meant."  

"It's true though, you said it when you were arguing with your father." 

"I did not- Ah, , I did." You groaned, thinking back to the moment, you did kind of say it. He loves and respects me, unconditionally. Just as I love him.  

"He loves and respect me unconditionally. Just as I love him." He quoted and you could practically hear the smirk in his voice. 

Your cheeks flamed a brilliant red in the darkness, there was so much heat radiating off you that you were scared that your cheeks might actually be glowing. "I-It's not like that, I didn't actually mean it. It was because I was angry-" 

"It was because you do love me." He corrected, leaning a bit closer to you, "And being angry was the only safe outlet. The only way you could truly and honestly admit it." 

You leaned away from him, the car wasn't very big and he was close enough that you could feel his breath on your skin. He was starting to get on your nerves. Just how persistent was this guy? "You said you weren't going to interfere." You reminded as sternly as you could. 

"I did." He agreed before he leaned back with a sigh."But I can't help it. It's so...frustrating." 

"You think it's frustrating?" Oh no, you were getting angry again. "How do you think I feel? The two of you are constantly flinging me back and forth. I thought we were friends Yixing. You're confusing me, you make feel all- all-" You looked away from him, your heart beating fast at the sight of his caring expression. "Weird." You finally said, shaking your head, "I'm supposed to be with Luhan. I love Luhan." 

Lay stayed quiet, letting you get it all out while he sat there, beginning to feel gui