pairing: ChenLay
length: 1269 words

As soon as they returned to the safe space of their dorm where there were no cameras, Chen and Lay disappeared into their shared bedroom.

“Ah, I’m so tired,” the younger male trilled dramatically as he let himself free-fall onto his inviting bed. The sheets smelled wonderfully fresh, since Xiumin and D.O had done the weekly cleaning and laundry in the morning before the group’s schedules that day. Chen’s eyes closed as he began snuggling with his pillow, even though he knew he had to shower and change into his pajamas for the night. His stomach was comfortably full with warm food and his blankets were calling to him on this frigid winter night.

Seconds later, Lay joined him on his bed and wrapped his arms around Chen, who turned and slightly opened his eyes to look at his roommate. “Me too,” the Chinese male agreed with a deep dimpled smile before flipping his long, light brown fringe from his face so that his hair wasn’t covering his eyes. His gaze then flicked to the wooden bureau by his bed, which was at the other side of the bedroom, and landed on the thin black wallet that he had forgotten to bring with him that morning. “Oh, that’s where I left it!” Lay exclaimed as he abruptly let go of Chen, who unceremoniously fell back onto his mattress with a high-pitched whine, to cross the narrow bedroom and grab his wallet.

“Lay!”

“Oops, sorry.” The older male quickly grabbed the wallet before returning to Chen’s bed and smiling down at his slightly disgruntled roommate. “But look! Now I can pay you back for the fish cakes that we ate earlier today from the convenience store!”

Chen pulled the Chinese male onto his bed so that they were at the same level again, since it was making his neck ache as he looked up at Lay from his current position. “I already told you that it’s fine. You don’t have to pay me back. It was our first time going out for street food since we debuted, so think of it as a treat from your favorite younger brother,” he answered with a wide grin.

“But I promised I would pay you back,” Lay insisted as he began trawling through his wallet for several bills. “I don’t want to owe you anything, because that’s not fair to you. Besides, Xiumin and Lu Han won’t trust me anymore if they find out that I haven’t paid you back. And EXO has to have trust,” he repeated from earlier that night when he had apologetically asked Chen to pay for their midnight snacks.

“They won’t find out,” Chen answered reassuringly as he laid his head on Lay’s chest. The older male made for a decent pillow, especially since the two idols were still wrapped up in the padded thermal jackets that they had worn to combat the freezing temperatures while they were filming outside for EXO’s Showtime that night.

But the Chinese male shook his head and continued to diligently count out the creased, colorful bills from his wallet. “I have to uphold my promise. Man’s honor.”

“Seriously, I didn’t mind paying for everyone earlier,” Chen said, still trying to dissuade his roommate from taking out the precious, hard-earned money from his wallet. The Korean male moved his head from Lay’s chest and blinked sweetly at the Chinese male. “I only suggested that we play rock-paper-scissors and punish the loser with paying for our food since we were being filmed by so many cameras at the time, and I knew our fans would like watching it happen.”

“And what will they think when the broadcast airs and word later gets out that I haven’t paid you back?” Lay argued back, oblivious to Chen’s actions as he focused wholly on making sure he was counting the correct amount of won that he owed to his roommate.

“Our fans are less likely to find out than Xiumin and Lu Han are, if that’s the case,” Chen pointed out with an amused smile.

But no matter what he said, the younger male couldn’t stop Lay from stubbornly insisting that he return the money used to buy the fish cakes. “Here.” The Korean male sat up and held out a fistful of bills to Chen. “Take it.”

“But I told you—”

“Please, Jongdae?” Lay gave the younger male such a beseeching stare that it could almost pass for a pout, especially with his full lower lip jutting out even more than it usually did.

Chen immediately felt himself weaken at the combination of his real name being used and Lay’s adorable expression, so he sighed good-naturedly as he plucked the colorful won bills from his roommate’s hand and leaned to the side to place them on his own bedside dresser. “You’re so stubborn,” he commented with a lopsided grin as he tucked himself against Lay again, who had carelessly tossed his wallet onto his bed across the bedroom now that he was done using it.

“But for a good cause.” The Chinese male beamed while patting Chen on the head before pushing himself up from the younger male’s bed.

“Where are you going?” Chen whined as he followed suit and sat up, running his thin fingers through his tousled hair.

Lay began ping the thick thermal jacket and slipping his arms out of the sleeves as he replied matter-of-factly, “Shower.” As he pulled his jacket off, the older male continued, “I’ll be quick, so you’d better get ready for your own shower now too.”

With a loud groan, Chen heaved himself off of his soft, comfortable bed and began peeling off his outer layers as well. As much as he’d like to be lazy and forgo the shower tonight since he was exhausted, he knew Xiumin and D.O would have a mini heart attack if they found out. Not to mention, Lay would probably chastise him as well and withhold cuddles for the night, which would be an absolute travesty.

“I’ll be out in five.”

“Wait, Lay.”

The Chinese male paused, his hand on the doorknob to the bathroom that was connected to their shared bedroom, and looked at Chen questioningly.

“We’re still on for that coffee date that I mentioned earlier, right?” The younger male grinned brightly as he continued cheekily, “You did promise on camera that you’d buy me a cup of coffee, since I paid for the fish cakes earlier.”

Lay beamed back just as brightly as he nodded vigorously. “Of course!” He then turned back to his bureau to scribble on a scrap of paper with a pen that had been lying on top that he usually used to compose songs. “Here you go! A free Coffee Date with Lay coupon to be cashed in whenever you’d like,” the older male explained as he cheerily presented the small piece of paper to Chen, who laughed out loud when he saw the hastily drawn doodle of a lamb holding a cup of coffee next to the sloppily printed words. “There’s no expiration date.”

“Then I’ll save this for the perfect day,” the younger male said as he carefully folded the coupon and placed it on his dresser next to the wad of bills. That silly rock-paper-scissors game had certainly given him much more than he had ever expected from it. Even though he had ended up having to pay for fish cakes for the other EXO-M members sans Kris and Tao, the opportunity to go on a coffee date with Lay made Chen feel much richer than a full wallet ever could.

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