pairing: BaekLay
length: 1589 words

He only takes his eyes off of Lay for a moment. But it’s the worst time Baekhyun could have possibly chosen to look away. Because the sight that passes before him causes his blood to freeze and his heart to stop as he helplessly watches something—he can’t tell what it is from how far away he’s currently standing from the Chinese member—launch towards Lay’s face.

And even though Lay bows down in the nick of time by pure coincidence as the item smashes onto the floor, Baekhyun finds himself unable to breathe until the older male quickly finishes his bow and runs to the back of the stage where the other members are. Even though the harrowing incident takes place for just a few seconds, they’re the longest seconds that Baekhyun has ever experienced in his life and he doesn’t even realize that his hands are slightly shaking until Chen tightly squeezes his shoulder while giving him a comforting look. It takes all of Baekhyun’s self-restraint to not immediately run across the floor to take Lay into his arms and whisk him away from the stage, because the group is in the middle of a concert and he knows such impulsive actions will make sensational headlines that will only negatively impact the group’s image.

So he presses his lips together in a thin line and tries not to jump on Lay the instant he joins the other eight EXO members at the back of the open stage. The Chinese male notices the concern etched in Baekhyun’s brown eyes and gives the younger male a reassuring smile that perfectly showcases the deep dimple on his right cheek. “Ready for the next song?” he asks cheerfully as he dabs away some sweat from his glistening forehead.

Baekhyun nods slowly, his eyes still scanning over Lay’s lean form for any sign of injury. As much as he loves the fans, the Korean male is appalled that someone had the gall to brazenly throw something at Lay, who avoided being hurt through pure luck and his innate politeness that drove him to bow to the fans in the first place. And since Baekhyun knows that Lay has hordes of anti-fans and their group itself has dozens of OT8 fans, it magnifies the horrifying feelings of the moment because what if that object was thrown with malicious intent instead of misguided affection?

He doesn’t like worrying about this. Not when they’re at a concert performing for their beloved fans that have spent hundreds of dollars, traveled from all over the world, and waited in atrociously long lines just to see these nine boys on stage. It should be a joyous occasion, filled with only the best memories that he can fondly reminisce about in the future. So Baekhyun forcefully tears his gaze away from Lay, who is running his fingers through his midnight black hair while gulping down some ice-cold water, and refocuses his mind on the next songs in their set list. But in the very back of his mind, that horrifying scene is replaying itself over and over again.

--

The second their manager leaves their hotel room to make sure the other members are settled in their booked rooms, Baekhyun pounces on Lay, ignoring how sweaty and smelly they are after performing non-stop for three hours. “Baek, I need to shower,” Lay admonishes, his voice slightly faltering from a combination of exhaustion and having to deal with the small Korean male's sudden weight. “I’ll play with you once we’re both clean, okay?” The Chinese male beams again, causing thin wrinkles to appear at the ends of his eyes.

Even though Baekhyun is reasoning in his head that what he has to say to Lay is much more important than some trivial shower, he can tell how utterly fatigued the older male is and reluctantly lets Lay head to the bathroom to wash up first. Several agonizing minutes pass, during which Baekhyun fiddles around on his phone and checks his SNS accounts to keep his mind occupied so that he doesn’t go crazy over Lay’s temporary absence, before the bathroom door opens and copious amounts of steam pour into the bedroom.

“Your turn, Baek.”

“But I don’t wanna—”

“Well, I’m not going to share this bed with you tonight if you don’t,” Lay answers matter-of-factly as he towels his hair dry.

And Baekhyun absolutely cannot have that happen, so he scoops his pajamas into his arms and dashes straight for the shower at light speed. The water is warm when he turns the dial and he scrubs down the day’s grime from his body as quickly as possible. Once he finishes wiping away the water and throws on the complimentary bathrobe hanging near the shower, almost tripping on the slippery tile floor in his haste, Baekhyun grabs another clean towel to dry his hair and scampers back to the bedroom to join Lay in bed.

“All clean now?” the Chinese male asks merrily as he places his songwriting notebook on the bureau next to him.

Baekhyun nods obediently, tucking himself securely next to Lay while rubbing away at his damp hair.

“Need some help?” Lay angles himself so that he can take the soaking wet towel from the younger male’s thin hands and massage Baekhyun’s head with several strong movements.

It feels good being cared for by Lay, whose ministrations are rhythmic and calming in an almost mesmerizing manner. Baekhyun almost forgets his previous anxiety as he relaxes under the older male’s hypnotizing touch, but then the image of something flying through the air towards Lay causes Baekhyun to involuntarily stiffen in place as his worries return.

Lay feels the Korean male’s body abruptly become rigid, so he stops patting Baekhyun’s fluffy hair dry and sets down the towel beside him on the bed. “What’s bothering you, Baek?” There’s a pause before Lay continues knowingly, “Is it what happened at the concert today?”

“How can people be so irresponsible and throw things at you?!” the hot-blooded Korean male then bursts out with his hands curling into fists at his side. “You could’ve been seriously hurt!” Even though this isn’t the first concert where gifts have been thrown towards the stage, it still makes his blood boil when he thinks about how lucky Lay was to not get hit. But Baekhyun also knows that he’s somewhat guilty of encouraging gifts to be brought into the concert venues in the first place due to how he plays with the gifted objects during concerts. So some of the anger that he's expressing is also directed at himself, because maybe this was actually his fault?

Lay can see the metaphorical gears turning in Baekhyun’s head and immediately presses a finger to those thin lips that he’s traced several times since meeting the Korean male. “But I’m not hurt,” he reminds Baekhyun with a sweet smile. “No one got hurt tonight.”

“But that—”

“I’m sure that fan didn’t mean to hurt me,” Lay says kindly. But Baekhyun can see the slight tremors in the Chinese male’s arms. “She might’ve been too excited and just threw it without thinking.”

The Korean male crosses his arms as he gives Lay a reproving look. “You’re too nice,” Baekhyun states before his hands reach over to steady Lay’s arms. “This isn’t something we can just brush under the rug like it’s nothing. This is serious.”

“I know, Baek. I know. But I don’t want to talk about this right now,” Lay responds as the smile drops from his face. “I’m too tired and what’s done is done. Besides, I’ve dealt with worse before,” he adds with a grimace.

The evident lack of vigor in Lay’s voice scratches at Baekhyun’s heart and the younger male promptly encircles his arms around the Chinese member, who gratefully accepts the warmth and comfort. They sit there in companionable silence, nestled in each other’s arms and listening only to each other’s heartbeats. This is how Baekhyun wants every moment to be. For there to be no fear of harm coming to Lay whom he treasures with his life. For Lay to always feel at ease and loved by all instead of hated and ridiculed for things that are out of his control.

“Let’s sleep?” Lay finally hums into Baekhyun’s chest as waves of lethargy wash over him.

“Okay,” Baekhyun agrees as he reaches over to flick off the bedside light, plunging the hotel room into darkness. Keeping his arms securely wrapped around Lay, the younger male snuggles under the thick duvet and nuzzles his head in the crook of Lay’s neck. “I’m sorry if it seemed like I was being pushy earlier,” he whispers. “I just never want to see you get hurt.”

Even though Baekhyun can’t see him because it’s pitch black at the moment, Lay smiles and answers softly, “I know. I really appreciate how much you care about me, Baek. And I never want to see you get hurt either.”

Baekhyun’s grip tightens and he exhales loudly before pressing a light kiss to Lay’s smooth neck. Despite the upsetting memory of the heart-stopping incident earlier, there’s now a sense of peace that gently wreathes around the two members sharing the same blanket on this starry night. Baekhyun’s eyelids soon begin to flutter close and he feels Lay’s breathing gradually begin to slow as well. “Just as long as you’re safe and sound,” he trails off as sleep claims the two of them in the shadows of the hotel room.

♈♈♈

A/N: And then Lay was never seen at an EXO'rDIUM concert ever again. OTL

On a more serious note, I really hope fans learn that throwing gifts on stage is not the best way to show love to idols. Yes, it's fun to see them play around with the fan gifts (i.e. Chanyeol playing around with a Deadpool mask, an owl mask, and a set of tiny hands and feet, and Baekhyun wearing a pink crown while everyone sang Happy Birthday to him at The EXO'rDIUM in LA), but then you have situations like a fan throwing a bag of candy/snacks during The EXO'rDIUM in Hong Kong and then the fandom goes into uproar because it looks like a glass bottle being aimed at Lay before shattering on stage. While I'm glad the issue turned out to not be as serious as it was originally made out to be, hearing the news still gave me a heart attack when I thought of what could have happened to Lay, especially because of his condition. If anything, the best ways to tangibly show your love and appreciation for your idols are to buy their albums and attend their concerts, because this money goes directly into their pockets, and to attend their fan signs where you can directly interact with them in a safe environment.

Anyway, if anyone went to The EXO'rDIUM in LA, let me know what your experience was like! I'd love to hear more fan accounts to compare with my own! ^^