My Neighbor? || LAY

Part 1

Gracie's POV

"Lay, will you be ok?" I grip his shirt nervously. "Seriously, this could get personal."

A caring smile forms on his face. "Princess, I'm fine. It was a long time ago. I'm over it and she is too."

"Ok, fine." I go on my tippy toes and kiss his dimple. "I love you, Angel, I don't want you getting hurt like that again."

"Thanks for worrying, but you don't need to. Let's just relax and forget about the past."

I nod. "Ok."

Mark and Wendy join us on the picnic blanket outside.

"Oh, this looks good! Can't wait to eat it." Mark says.

Wendy nods. "Did you make all this, Gracie?"

"Yes, I did. I have a thing for cooking." I say, trying to break the painful tension going on.

Lay pulls me onto his lap and rests his head on my shoulder. "Yeah, she is my own personal cook."

Wendy laughs and intertwines her fingers with Mark's.

"What's the story with you two?" Mark asks.

"Well," Lay chuckles. "She became my maid for a few months to help us around the house. It was my mom's idea, I just went along with it."

"Didn't you argue about it?" I ask.

"Yes, but I was convinced after a while." Lay says.

I nod. "That's true."

There was another painful silence between the four of us. Just us glancing around the group, looking for hope.

"Well, let's dig in." I say, breaking the silence.

Wendy and Lay give each other glares before eating. I sigh in defeat.

Lay leans over and pecks my cheek. "Want to try my salad, princess?"

Wendy snickers very quietly after hearing what Lay called me.

"Uh, Angel, I have the same salad as you." I whisper to him. Embarrassing him was the last thing on my mind.

"...oh yeah..."

"No, no, let me see what yours taste like. You have a different sauce than me." I quickly state before opening my mouth.

The dimple on his cheek makes an appearance. He gently stuffs his salad in my mouth.

"So, anyways, how did you two meet?" I ask them. "What's the story of Mark and Wendy?"

Mark opens his mouth to talk, but Wendy beats him to it.

"We met in Korea 2 years ago. It was at a local park, no special place, and I was alone because my friends were running late and Mark came over because he saw me all alone, and asked me if I was ok."

"Uh, I was walking in the park while texting and I almost walk into her. That's how she got my attention." Mark mumbles.

Wendy starts giggling and pushes Mark over slightly. "You funny man, you."

I look at lay and raise my eyebrows, trying to give him a message.

"So after that, we went out for lunch and ended up having a fun time. We exchanged numbers and eventually started dating." Wendy continues.

Mark nods slowly while pressing his lips together. "She was pretty clingy."

Wendy laughs again. "Only because I liked you a lot, Oppa."

Mark smiles and looks away.

Lay puts his arm around me and leans in close to my ear. "Are you hearing what I'm hearing?"

"Yixing...it's ok." I whisper back.

"We started dating for a year, then he proposed to me on Christmas Eve. We spent all of Winter, including Christmas Day, on our honeymoon." Wendy kisses Mark's cheek.

"Whoa? Proposed and honeymoon?" I ask, shocked.

Lay let's out a small laugh and shakes his head.

"We didn't want a bug huge party. So we just had a very small and easy one with family."

"Yup, one year strong!" Mark cheers and we all laugh politely. "So, Yixing, I heard you auditioned for a company and already had a few concerts in South Korea."

Wendy shoots her eyes at Lay. "Auditioned? Concerts? Korea?"

Lay nods. "Yes, I auditioned with one of my friends, Wu Yifan."

"AKA Kris." Mark yells.

They both laugh.

"Yes him! Fan?" Lay smiles.

Mark scoots closer to him to talk. "Yes, I am a fan. Your dancing is amazing!"

I notice his cheeks turning pink.

"Thank you, I still have room to improve. You should see my friend, Kai, dancing." Lay says.

They continue to talk and get to know each other. I scoot over to Wendy who was weirdly listening on their conversation.

"Wendy? Hi." I greet awkwardly.

"Hey, Gracie."

"Um, so, what do you do for a living?"

"So Yixing told you the story." Wendy says, ignoring my question.

I lean back in confusion. "Story? What-What story? I don't know what you're- Ok, yes, he did."

Wendy sighs and buries her face in her hands. "Aishh, this is stressing and so embarrassing."

"Wendy, it was the past, it's fine! I don't think any different of you right now." I comfort her. "People make mistakes."

She shrugs. "I know, but I just feel so horrible..."

"Why?"

"He found someone so amazing and is amazing TO him...You. Every time you two do something romantic like kiss each other's cheek or something...it looks right. You two are meant for each other." Wendy grabs my hand and smiles at me.

My cheeks start burning. "I know. What about you and Mark?"

"The spark's there, but compared to you two-"

"Hey, don't do that. Each of us have our own moments. We're on our honeymoon, it's usually suppose to be romantic."

"You're on your honeymoon?" Wendy lets go of my hand.

"Yes...did I not mention that?"

"No, but excuse me." Wendy grips Mark's shirt. "Mark, I need to talk to you."

Wendy's POV

That little dog thinking she's so perfect for MY YIXING. She's thinks she can make him happier than I can, I bet. She thinks she's a know-it-all after hearing one side of the story. Well, I'm a different person now. I know Yixing, I know what he likes and I know that...Gracie girl isn't satisfying enough. You could tell...Yixing is mine and we both know it! He was meant for me, hello! No one can make him satisfied like I can. All that clinginess back then, that was to strengthen him. And it did, so now I know he's a better person now and I swoop in and get my reward finally.

I just need to get her out of my way.

Somehow...