Genre: Fluff/Angst (more angst in this part omg)
Warnings: angst, very mildly mentioned , basically nothing.
Pairing: Reader x Yixing/Lay
Wordcount: 2730

It was late, and you had just finished your graphic design homework, closing your laptop as your phone rang. The tell-tale sound of FaceTime. You practically leapt towards the bed where you had left it, picking up without looking at the caller. You knew who it was. Only one person face timed you. 

“Hey baby.” Yixing smiled at the screen. He was in bed, bare shoulders peeking out above the sheets as he laid on his side. His eyes were swollen and heavy with sleep, tiredness, exhaustion. 

You smiled. “Hey there handsome.” 

He smiled wider, and yawned. “I’m sorry for calling in this late. But I see you were still awake. Homework I guess?”

“Yeah, I just finished. Shouldn’t you be sleeping Xing?”

“Yah, Lay-hyung, I thought you were calling your girl not your mom.” A voice sounded in the background and your eyes grew wide. Fear creeped into your veins.

Your boyfriend saw it in your face immediately. “It's Jongdae, we’re sharing a room here. I had to pry him away from Minseok just so I could call you tonight.” 

You calmed down and a face appeared behind Xing’s, wide smile, but equally tired eyes.  “Hey y/n!” Jongdae waved at the camera and went back to whatever he was doing, soft voice singing in the background. 

“You scared me!” you stated. 

Yixing chuckled and closed his eyes. “I just, I haven’t called you in over 2 weeks because we’ve been so busy. We’re leaving for Japan tomorrow, and I wanted to hear your voice. See your pretty face.” 

Coughing was heard int he background and you laughed. “I miss you too, you know that right, every moment. But you should sleep, you look so tired baby. Please do not call me when you’re this tired. I don’t know what I’ll do if you faint again Xing.”

“Baby I won’t, I’ll sleep and we’ll get coffee, and then i’ll sleep on the plane. It’ll be fine.” He said, blinking a few times, eyes slipping closed slowly. He shook himself awake. “Sorry.” 

“Hang up Xing, go to sleep. I’ll be okay.”

“I love you y/n.” he whispered, and there was something resembling sadness in his eyes. 

“I love you too Yixing, so so much. And if you remember that, you don’t have to call me, just come home to me.” 

“I will y/n, I promise.” he said, voice dropping, a little hoarse. 

“Bye xingxing, good night.” 

“Night stuffy.” he made a kiss sound and hung up the phone.

You got dressed for bed, wearing his old shirt with your hair in a lose braid. Rid your face of makeup, and got under the warm covers. Truth be told that if you sleep with someone in bed regularly, it’s always cold alone in bed. You hugged his sheep plushy close to your chest, the fans had gotten it for him once, and he left it here for you. By the amount you’d slept with it it wasn’t as soft anymore as it was at first, and it didn’t really smell of him. But it was nice to have something to cuddle up to in bed.

That night you didn’t get much sleep, you were worried sick, to the point where you actually went and threw up. He had looked pale, and tired, and like he was about to faint. You knew you shouldn’t always think of the worst scenarios, but after it happened once on a tv show, you were always worried about it. He had lost weight too, not that you told him that when he came over, but you noticed it. The way his jeans were just a little more loose, or how his collarbone was just that tiny bit more visible. 

You cried that night, something you didn’t do often. But it happened. This time you weren’t sure why. Whether it was just because you missed him, or maybe because you were scared for him, or even out of frustration maybe. 

The next morning your eyes were a little puffy and irritated, nothing uncommon after you’ve cried yourself to sleep and slept for 2 hours. It was busy in the train, and even busier in the bus. You were pressed up against other people, bag pressed tightly against your side. At school your friends had asked if you were okay, and you had mumbled something about not being able to sleep. 

“Hey, you know EXO is flying to Osaka today for the concerts right?” your friend asked beside you at lunch. “I wish I could go.” she mumbled.

You smiled lightly. “Next time they’re here, I’ll come with you.” To be honest you didn’t really want to go, as much as you wanted to support your boyfriend. Something felt wrong about going while you knew that their company was making them slaves over it. Yixing might not even be there because of his separate schedule. 

“Really?” She exclaimed, excited, and hugged you. “Thank you, thank you! What made you change your mind though. You always said you didn’t like them.”

“It's not that I don’t like them.” you said with a shrug. “I'm just not a fan of concerts and stuff, but you want to go so badly, I’ll come.”

She looked like she was about to cry from happiness, and you shook your head. “You are the best friend ever, you know that right?”

With a hand over your heart you said; “Oh trust me I know.”

Your friend was quite the EXO fan. She kept up with their schedules, and what they were doing, new songs, new hair, funny things on stage. Everything. And since you weren’t as skilled in finding that information you had told her that the only member you really liked was Yixing, not really a lie right? But she would every now and then fill you up with information. You remembered how she had called you in the middle of the night when he had released his single Lose Control, and she would’ve called you for What U Need. However, that was Xing’s birthday, and he had found a way to come home and stay with you and his family. 

Classes dragged on, history, technique, graphic design. It seemed endless until you were finally allowed to go home. You loved to do what you did, studying photography and graphic design, but it was tiresome nonetheless. With your bag over your shoulder you were walking towards the bus until you heard your friend call your name out over the school yard. 

“Y/N!!” she yelled, running after you, grabbing onto your jacket. “Wait. Did you hear?” there was frantic fear in her eyes, and she was panting. 

“What? Are you okay?” you asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. 

She nodded. “Yeah I’m fine. But Yixing.” she panted and your stomach dropped, vision wavered for a second. Please don’t let her say it. “He collapsed in the airport before they left, they’ve taken him to the hospital.”

Bile came up, it burned your throat, and you weren’t sure what happened but you felt like your knees were about to give out. 

“Whoa, you okay?” Your friend steadied you, hand behind your back. “Let’s sit down.” She walked you over to a bench and you sat down, leaning your head back. “What happened? Do you want something to eat?”

Your hands were shaking. “I’m alright, probably low blood sugar. I haven’t eaten much and didn’t get much sleep either.” 

She went through her bag and fished out a pack of oreo’s. “Here, eat these.” 

The chocolate made you a bit more nauseous but you didn’t feel as lightheaded. “Thank you.”

“Do you want me to walk you home?”

“No, it’ll be okay. But what were you saying, Lay collapsed? Is he okay?” you tried to keep your voice steady and not seem too interested. 

She shrugged. “No idea, I just know he’s been taken to the hospital, the other members were already boarding when it happened. Their company will probably release information later on today. I hope he’s okay, it’s not the first time he fainted.”

You nodded and stood up, still a little shaky. “I'll get going, thanks. Let me know when you hear more.”

“Of course.” she winked. “I know you have a weak spot for this beautiful Chinese boy.” and she took off in the opposite direction. 

If only she knew….

You took he bus home, fidgety and shaky, not knowing what to do. Checking social media, anything to try and find out whether he was okay. You even debated calling him on his regular phone, but you’d expose yourself, his manager probably had his phone right now. 

As soon as you closed your door behind your, you had tears in your eyes. You slid down with your back agains the wall, not even three feet from the closed door. Running your hands through your hair, knocking your head against the plaster. With your phone in your hand you let the fear consume you, you cried, tears streaming down your face. 

Not just because he wasn’t okay, because everything. Because you should be able to call him and see if he was okay. He should be able to come home and rest after this. You two should be able to be together, and not have to tiptoe around the world. Around his friends, your friends, your lives, your love. 

With a shaky breath you unlocked your phone, trying to calm down. You had never done this, never needed to do this. It probably wouldn’t work, he wouldn’t know, but it was the only option. 

You went through your phone, to the number stored under the deer emoji. 

There was doubt, a lot of doubt, this could get you into trouble. He said you could call him, anytime, but that was when he was still part of the group. But you know he never lost his contact with Yixing, they were still friends. Just like you and Yixing couldn’t be out in public together, neither could he and Luhan. 

In the rush of the moment you dialled the number and put your phone to your ear, still sitting on the floor. There was the tone…once…twice…three time…

“Hello?”

“Luhan?” you said, almost stuttering, there was silence on the other end, the sound of a door, footsteps. You waited. Waited.

“Y/n? Is that you?” he said, keeping his voice low. 

You let out a relieved sigh. “Yeah…I…” you started.

“I saw it, online, I’m so sorry. But, I can’t help you. I don’t know anything.” There was audible regret in his voice, it pitched a little. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah. I just…What if he’s not okay?” you said, more tears falling. 

Luhan sighed. “He’ll be okay, they’ll take good care of him. I’m sure.” 

“Luhan, he’s not okay. He hasn’t been since the release of his solo.” you remember seeing the colour not in his cheeks, the shine away from his eyes. “He’s loosing weight, and it’s almost as if he doesn’t sleep.” 

“Y/n, i wish I could tell you anything, I do, but I can’t.”

“I just want to know if he’s okay.” you whispered, voice cracking. 

There was more silence, tapping on the phone screen. “I need to go soon, I was in the recording studio when you called. Don’t any of the other members know?” 

“Chen knows.” 

“Minseok doesn’t know? “

“No, Chen figured it out on his own, Yixing didn’t tell him.”

Luhan sighed again, but didn’t speak. 

“Do you…maybe have Chen’s number. I wouldn’t ask this, but I can’t do this. I need to know if he’s okay.” 

“I don’t. I just have Minseok’s and Junmyeon’s. I can’t y/n, I’ll get into trouble. You’ll get into trouble. They’ll know.” Luhan sounded worried, and you heard the sound of the door again. 

You wiped the tears from your face. “Okay…I’ll just wait. Thank you Luhan.”

“I didn’t do anything, but you’re welcome. I'm sorry.”

“It’s okay, I shouldn’t have called.” you whispered. 

“Bye y/n, stay strong, don’t let him go.” 

“Bye.” 

He hung up and you threw your phone across the hall, it landed on the carper with a thud, and you sobbed into your knees. Something rational in your brain said that he had to be okay, he just fainted, but the other part was making disaster scenarios in your brain. Maybe he was sick, or maybe he got hurt when he fell. Maybe he wasn’t waking up. 

Your phone signalled a message, soon followed by another. You picked it up, it was your friend. 

<3 The Best Person <3: hey, I got some info online, they say he collapsed. But he wasn’t waking up, which is why they took him to the hospital. SM is not releasing any information, and neither have the members. There’s pictures online, but I don’t know if you want to see.

<3 The Best Person <3: are you feeling any better?

You didn’t open either of the messages, not wanting to talk to her right now. But you could read them without going online. Right now you needed to be alone, to just, eat something and sleep. If he was better he’d call you, soon. You were sure of it. Maybe he was already awake but couldn’t call because of his managers. Yeah, that sounded right. 

Too tired to cook, you ordered pizza, and the delivery came fairly quickly. You gave the guy a tip, too aggravated and done to wait for him to find the change. And you didn’t want him to stare at you puffy face anyways. 

Suddenly you got another message. 

*deer*: I will give you Minseok's number, if you’re willing to risk it, call him. He will know or Jongdae will probably be somewhere near. 

you: Thank you, I’m sorry for dragging you into this. 

*deer*: It’s okay, you’re welcome.

You stared at the number on the screen, was it worth it? The exposure, the risk of the company figuring out. Maybe you should wait for a little longer, sure there would be information soon right?

So you waited, and you waited, and you texted your friend to see if she knew more, but she didn’t. She said the fandom was up in antics because of it, everyone wanted to know what happened and if their precious Yixing was okay. Some people even said it was became he might be leaving the group. But you know he would never, he cared too much about them.

You were ready to go to bed, convincing yourself it’d be better to see if anything showed up in the morning, when you got another text. 

<3 The Best Person <3: Omg SM just stated that Lay’s not well enough to perform at Osaka the next two days. I hope the poor babe will be okay. He’s too precious for this, SM needs to get their priorities straight. 

Damn they did, you thought. And dialled the number without thinking it through. The person on the other hand picked up almost immediately. 

“Hello? Kim Minseok.”

You hesitated, maybe a beat too long. 

“Hello, is anyone there? How did you get this number?” He said, and there were muffled voices in the background. 

‘Hyung, just hang up! We’re not supposed to take calls from unfamiliar numbers!”

“Who is it?” The last voice you thought might’ve been Chen. 

“Please, no, please don’t hang up.”

“Do I know you?”

“Minseok-hyung, give me the phone.” another voice said. 

“I…This is going to sound weird, but I’m Yixing’s girlfri-“

“This is sick, how did you get my phonenumber?” he snapped

“Hyung! Hang up!” “Hyung what is it?” “Is it a fan?” “Hang up the phone!” different voices came through, but you didn’t recognise them. 

“It’s a girl, she claims to be Yixing’s girlfriend, probably a crazy fan.” he said, obviously not to you. “Listen I will trace your number, our managers wi-“

“Minseok, give me the phone!” Jongdae suddenly blurted out, he was close, his voice clear. 

“Yah, Jongdae-yah, what is it?”

“Just give me the phone, please.” he pleaded, and you hoped he would. 

“I’m hanging, up this is crazy.” Minseok said. 

“No please, don’t. She’s not lying.” Jongdae said, and then he halted, everything was silence. Waiting, thinking, realising.