Lay It All On Me • Chanrosé

13

Was he gripping his steering wheel too tight?

Why were his hands sweating so much?

Had Chaeyoung noticed?

Chanyeol never got nervous really. There were times his stomach felt twinges of it, like on his first day of enlistment or the second his mind decided to kiss Chaeyoung on the Farris wheel, but never the amount he was feeling right now.

She asked him to meet her parents. Minjee's grandparents.

Chaeyoung asked him to join them for her father's birthday dinner over the weekend as they laid in bed—naked— after he had ravaged her, lovebites and all. His sudden spout of lust was due to the sweet words that came from her mouth. She was sure about him, and that had been all he needed to hear from her to settle his anxiety about them in the mist of the stress.

He hated to admit it, but when the random man stopped them outside of the coffee shop, a part of him knew. Minjee had the same thick brows. Chanyeol knew it had to be the little girl's father and it worried him, settling just how attached he had gotten to Chaeyoung and Minjee. They had just started to feel like a family, a real one, the one he had dreamed of the minute he saw them. Thinking of all the what if that could happen made him feel guilty and selfish, he wanted them. He wanted to protect them. He would never leave. And as he drove Minjee to school that morning, his heart shook.

But he stayed as calm as he could, trying his best to continue on with his day. Chanyeol wasn't going to let very rare insecurities get to him and make matters worse. He couldn't even imagine adding to Chaeyoung's stress. It already worried him enough to see the look on her face when she turned to and saw Junhoe.
Her sighs told Chanyeol that she had no idea what to do. All he wanted to do was just help her, seeing her so stressed, but this was something she had to decide, there was no room for his opinion.

Forgetting about his own nervousness, Chanyeol grabbed her hand and intwined their fingers. It pulled her gaze from the outside as she gazed out the window. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah," Chaeyoung responded softly, giving his a small but reassuring smile. "Are you okay? Your hand is a little sweaty." She giggled.

Chanyeol turned his head back towards the road as the light turned green, shaking his head and grinning in slight embarrassment. "I'm fine, just nervous."

"I know they are going to love you. Everyone swoons in your path, Chanyeol."

"Oh, swoons huh?" He teased, "Did you?"

She smiled, making his heart sigh in relief to see its brightness again. "Possibly."

But there was one thing that was stopping him from letting the brightness consume him like normal as he tried his best to return her smile.

Chanyeol hadn't told her yet, he couldn't find the words but her parents weren't the only ones who were aware that they were dating. He told his own this morning, feeling like it was time. As the line rang, Chanyeol felt a sense of pride mixed with excitement when calling his mother to tell her about the radiant woman he was dating. However, the second Chanyeol spoke of Minjee, his mother went silent.

He urged her to respond but he wish he hadn't.

His mother began lecture him about the situation, bringing up everything that could go wrong and even questioning Chaeyoung and her lifestyle which he fiercely defended. The disappointment in his mother's voice made anger and discomfort rage in his stomach. She even brought up the idea of her future grandchildren never happening, that maybe Chaeyoung wouldn't want more children. Chanyeol never thought his parents would be against anything he did, nor had he ever heard his mother judge someone like she was.