**A/N: So I made this after seeing tonnes of YouTube comments that were comparing Lay and Kai and after seeing that Kai gets alot of attention on his dancing, and Lay not so much, so thought I should give Lay a little love...Big ups to Kai though. Infact, I love watching both of them dance equally and I feel like they both have their own charms when they dance so they really shouldn't be compared. 

I also saw a radio show where Lay admitted to being jealous of an EXO member and the idea just sprouted from there~ Hope you enjoy and remember to give all of the members of EXO lots of love <3
-update- Name of radio show is Cultwoo Radio...definetly check it out!-
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It was the ordinary Saturday morning for EXO: Practicing from 7 am till late in the afternoon on their secret comeback song "Overdose" as well as practicing Growl for Music Bank on Tuesday. Having split themselves into pairs, one member watched while the other member danced and at the end, the first member would critique and explain to the other where to sharpen their moves up. Lay and D.O. had already finished their practice and were sitting against the practice room wall observing the others. Well. Lay was. D.O. just slept. 

As Lay quietly watched, he found his eyes gravitating strongly towards Kai's form. No matter how much he tried to tear his eyes off Kai he couldn't. The charismatic dancer had sweat dripping from his fringe as he effortlessly danced to Growl, smirking ily in all the right places. Lay found himself comparing himself to Kai subconciously. It was painful for him to listen to his inner voice.

"I just look awkward when I try and act y like that but Kai looks like he dropped from heaven."

"My body roll there isn't even right but his looks amazing."

"His arm movements are sharper than mine there."

"He just picks dances up like that while I have to toil and - "

He stopped himself right there. That was his stupid subconsience talking. No way did Kai pick up dances just like that. Kai put in the same amount of effort as the rest of the members if not more with regards to dance. That was something nobody could deny and denying his hard work would just be disrespect to all their hard times together. Sighing in a resigned manner, Lay picked up his phone, hoping to take his overworked mind off things. Deciding to watch a performance of Wolf from earlier on in the year, his lips curved up at the sides. No matter what, EXO's hardworking performances always cheered him up and the fans gave him emotional strength to continue even when he felt exhausted. Fan chants were the best motivators for him and the boys. However...

"Listen to when Kai has his solo parts when I have mine. The cheering is so much louder for Kai than for me...I'm nowhere near as good as he is."

Throwing down his jacket Lay frustratedly stood up and left the practice room to visit one of the smaller practice rooms. There he danced his frustrations out.

Step. Turn. Step Step Shift. Up. Down. Back and to the Side. 

Step. Turn. Step Step Shift. Up. Down. Back and to the Side. 

The music ended and the choreographer called them all to attention. 

"Now Kris see if you tilt your hips more this way it'll look more graceful and Chen, watch your arms when you step to the side; you nearly took Luhan's head off there," (snickers ensued making the choreographer wonder) " - but otherwise, good job everybody! Lay, please could you come here for a moment?"

He flapped his hands outwards, signaling the end of practice and everybody except for Lay dispersed, complaining about wanting chicken and craving korean barbequed beef as they headed off to shower.

"Lay. What's bothering you? You space out even while dancing nowadays. You're supposed to be one of the main dancers so you really can't do that. I don't know what it is but please go and sort it out because your dancing is starting to really fade."

Fade into the back? Or pale with comparison to Kai's? Lay sourly wanted to retort, struggling not the voice the thoughts. Nodding and apologising, Lay promised to "sort it out". 

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Minah had gone with the rest of the boys to the dorm after the morning practice after Lay had disappeared without a word into another practice room and locked the door, turning his phone off and turning the blasting music on, making it clear that he wanted to be alone.

It was now 10 pm and she had returned with one of the managers through the back entrance to the company with the hope that Lay was done with his practice. She understood his wish to be alone to practice since that chiding comment about fading was clearly bound to strike a few raw nerves in him since his whole life revolved around dance. 

Peeking into the practice room she watched him dance away, popping and locking, going over newer songs to be released and songs back to their debut like History, going over every individual step and sharpening every movement. This is what she fell in love with him at first for: his genuine hard work.

A yell pulled her out of her thoughts and her heart almost stopped as his body smashed into the ground, unable to complete the move in Growl where they twisted their bodies off the floor during the rap. Her feeling of alarm heightened up as she tried to open the locked door when he didn't get up, struggling with the lock and yelling for a manager, tears filling her eyes as she helplessly pulled at the handle as she watched him squirm in discomfort when he tried to push himself up, collapsing back onto the cold floor.

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The car ride back to the dorm was silent, with the manager in the front, who kept glancing back while driving, trying to gauge the tense and awkward situation in the back. Lay and Minah sat as far apart as possible with Minah glaring bullet holes through his the side of his head and Lay glaring his own set of bullet holes through the tinted glass window, watching the sparkling skyline of Seoul as they passed over the bridge and turned into the apartment complex with the EXO dorms in them. 

With Minah's help, the manager managed to quickly help Lay limp inside and deposit him on his bed at the dorms. Straightening up, the he met eyes with the couple and glanced down again. Awkward. 

"Right, so. I'll just....pick the rest of the boys up from karaoke. Uh. Minah, please look after Lay? Lay? Please, uhm, rest?" He shuffled out of the dorm, cringing at the atmosphere. 

Hearing the electronic door lock itself snapped them both out of their own thoughts. Minah left the room to bring back some painkillers and water. Settling him against the pillow, wincing when he groaned at the pangs in his side, she gave him a sip of the water and dropped the tablets into his mouth before leaving the room again to bring back bandages and muscle gel.

Silently she stripped off his sweat drenched singlet and threw it across the room. Lay just sat up and sulked. She started removing the makeshift bandage she had made with her scarf and massaging the gel into his waist area.

"You know you should stop doing this Lay. Just please stop dancing if you're going to push yourself to the point of injury."

"AGAIN with the 'stop dancing'! Before at the practice room and now again! I've already told you it's fine so don't bother yourself!"

"How am I supposed to believe that when you're lying here injured in bed with me worried sick?!"

"Well HOW am I supposed to take it if you tell me to stop dancing! You heard him: I'm lagging behind!"

"Lay you're not going to fix that by hurting yourself CONTINOUSLY by dancing okay? Look at Kai! He hurt his waist once and learnt his lesson to dance carefully and he's doing well now! By getting hurt, you're hurting me and you're letting your team down!"

The ugly green monster inside Lay reared it's head and his eyes narrowed at the mention of Kai. Pushing her hands away from his body harshly he stood up, despite his body's own protests against the action. Staring down at her sitting on the edge of his bed, he finally exploded in anger. 

"Kai, Kai, KAI it's all about KAI isn't it?! The fans love him better, the managers like him better, the choreographers like him better, the crew like him better! He gets picked to dance solo in all the performances, he's known as the dancer of the group, he IS better than me I GET IT! I'm just invisible! Why do you all have to shove it in my face? He's so PERFECT, so Y, so insanely amazing and you seem to absolutely LOVE him and his dancing don't you? At this rate I bet he'd be the better boyfriend too JUST DATE HIM INSTEAD! Why don't you - "

A resounding slap echoed through the room and into the hallways. Minah's eyelids fluttered shut as his left cheek reddened and he glowered at her. Slowly, tears managed to leak from her fluttering eyelids even though they were closed. Lay's anger subsided almost immediately as he saw her tear tracks glisten mockingly on her cheeks. Guilt filled him to the core. Her eyes flickered open and she held in them a betrayed look.

"I love you Yixing. We've been through a lot for each other and you know that best," she murmered softly, trying to hold back her tears. "Are you really saying this to me?" 

Yixing rubbed his face in exasperation and drew her in by the wrists into a gentle hug, letting her rest her cheek on his shoulder where he could feel the wettness of her tears burn his skin. 

"No, I'm not. I'm sorry Minah, I didn't mean to lash out at you. I'm just really tired and sick and, yes I admit, jealous of Kai. It drives me insane that I've sacrificed as much as he has, worked as hard as he has but I don't get as much recognition as he does...It's really hard to hear you know?" he rocked her from side to side in his embrace. 

"For the past 2 years I've just heard praise for Kai and honestly it's wonderful, knowing that my teammate and the rest of EXO is being recognised but sometimes I wonder, if I left, would the fans even miss me? Would it be hard to fill the space where I sing or dance? Because I feel like I'm invisib - "

Another hard smack resounded through the room. And another. Minah yanked away from him and started smacking him upside the head repeatedly with a furious look on her face.

"Ow, MINAH! DON'T -"

-smack-

"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO NURSE THE PATIENT NOT KILL HIM!"

-smack-

He toppled back into the bed startled whilst Minah climbed up next to him and leaned into his face, glaring her standard glare.

"Yixing are you ting me right now?"

"Huh?"

Minah sighed. She was a terrible girlfriend wasn't she? She should have noticed a long time ago. Crossing her legs, she gently lifted his head onto her lap and played with his hair while looking into his chocolate brown eyes. He lifted his hand up to meet her long hair, playing with the ends.

"Yixing, I'm sorry. I should have realised how you felt before." He tried to cut her off with his own insistent cries of, "it's not you it was me," but she was having none of it, continuing over his weak arguement. "I get how you feel now and I know it's hard but really how can I not be angry at you? Have you stopped for 1 minute EVER to look at yourself?"

Picking her phone up, she flicked up the lock screen and changed the camera view to front camera and held it up above his face for him to see himself. 

"What do you see Yixing??" she challenged. "You know what I see?" she continued over his blabbing. "I see a y, handsome and cute man with all the charms in the world. I see a man with a goal and a man who works so hard for himself and for his fans. I see a great boyfriend. I see a loyal teammate. I see a skilled dancer. I see a man who is so engrossed in worrying about his worth that he doesn't hear his fans all the way in China cheer for him just as loud as they do for anyone else. I see a man who isn't confident enough to realise that his popularity is growing exponentially in Korea. I see a man who doesn't realise he has other attributes that contribute to making him the amazing idol he is. He can sing, dance, beatbox, compose and play the guitar. I see a funny, thoughtful man. I see a man who is so kind and is thanking others so much for their own hard work that he doesn't hear the compliments that are for him. I see a man who can't see himself shine."

She sighed and he fell silent. 

"I see someone who doesn't realise he is priceless to EXO, to his fans and to me."

With those final words, Lay burst into quiet sobs in her lap, this time with a bittersweet feeling of understanding, muffling his face with his hands. Minah shifted herself away from underneath him and lay down next to him, prying his fingers away. Her chest clenched, seeing him in pain twice today, once physically and once emotionally. Cupping his face with her hand, she wiped his tears away with her thumb and kissed him, on the forehead, the nose, the cheeks, the chin and finally, on his lips. 

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(2 hours later)

Cuddled in bed, each with a cup of hot chocolate, the two sat quietly for the first time in forever, just appreciating eachother's presence. Lay turned his head and kissed her on the cheek, causing her to smile widely and lay her head on his shoulder. An unsaid thanks was passed on in that kiss and she knew it.

Now in a better mood, Lay shuffled back to sit up straight against the headboard with a sly smile on his face.

"I didn't know you felt that way Minah."

"Huh?"

"Handsome. y. Cute. Hm?"

She reddened in shyness, ducking her head under the sheets and then popping out again in exasperation, remembering her words quite well. Lay laughed and rubbed her arm soothingly, both of them knowing he wasn't going to stop reminding her of her expressive words, which in her defence (the both of them thought), were sorely required in the moment.

"You didn't see the last thing in your man Minah."

"What didn't I see?" 

"A man who's a great kisser."

Dipping his head down, his lips met hers with a loving touch and she pulled back giggling.

"Mmmmm chocolate...DEFINETLY the best kisser." They both settled into laughter, needing nothing in that moment except for each other.

"I love you Minah."

"I love you too Yixing."

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Oh geesh I don't even know what I wrote...this is me procrastinating on my Chemistry exam studying.

I hope you enjoyed this oneshot and if you did, please upvote and subscribe to me as an author and definetly comment on if you liked it! I always love hearing feedback~

I do have a few other fics floating around somewhere so please do be sure to check them out!