Chapter Text
"So...you think you're actually developing feelings for Chaeyoung?" Jihyo asks.
"...yes..." Tzuyu sighs, admitting it out loud was so much different than in her head.
"You owe me five bucks," Sana says to Momo and the slightly older girl scowls, takes out her wallet, and hands the giddy girl the money.
"Well, what are you going to do about your feelings?" Nayeon asks, "Are you going to ask her out? if you are, I'm the perfect person to consult about women."
"What? No! It's me!" Sana argues and Dahyun snickers as her girlfriend stands up in protest.
They're all in Tzuyu and Jihyo's house one winter evening. It's been a month since the movie theater outing between Tzuyu and Chaeyoung. It's been a whole three months since Mina's rejection of Chaeyoung's feelings. Chaeyoung is on a weekend trip with her family and turns out Mina is dating Jeongyeon so the two are on a date. It was kind of funny how the others discovered the two's relationship, luckily, Chaeyoung was mostly over Mina by then. The couple had made individual excuses as to why they couldn't do their monthly karaoke night so the others decided to go to the mall to do an escape room. As they were walking around, they spotted a familiar pair in a fancy restaurant and all collectively gasped. Everyone looked worriedly to Chaeyoung but the girl looked more shocked than disappointed. Tzuyu put an arm around her and the shorter girl just hugged her back; looking a little confused but overall, OK. They collectively decided to try and give the two a heart attack by sitting at a bench outside of the restaurant and look at a menu as if they were going to go in to eat. Since there was only one bench only four of them could actually sit on it while the other three would have to sit on someone's lap. Funnily enough, that issue resolved itself quickly. Sana sat down next to Jihyo and pulled Dahyun into her lap. Nayeon made Momo sit down on the other side of Jihyo as she sat in her lap. Tzuyu sat down on the end and looked to Chaeyoung, who was already on her way to sit on Tzuyu's lap. Jihyo took out a menu that she had retrieved from the inside and they all pretended to look over the pamphlet with all of the appetizers, main courses, side dishes, drinks, and desserts. At some point, Momo had forgotten they were just pretending and asked if they had enough money because she didn't bring enough money to buy the 'Sea's Harvest', a culmination of all kinds of seafood from lobster to crab, to tilapia, to shrimp with a side of clam chowder and white rice. Nayeon laughed her loud laugh and Jihyo reminded the older girl that they weren't there to eat before promising to get her jokbal before they go to the escape room. Anyways, after about twenty minutes of waiting, the couple exited the restaurant entranced with one another but when they faced forward, they froze on the spot.
"Oh, hey guys!" Jihyo greeted as she folded the menu neatly, "Fancy seeing you here, I thought you had to go to your sister's house to celebrate her landing a role in a movie that has not been announced yet, Jeongyeon-ah. Miss Myoui, I thought you were going to your brother's college football game which would determine if he would get that scholarship to that college he wants to go to."
"We, um, uh, we actually-" Jeongyeon was pale as she tried to explain but Mina just put her hand on her girlfriend's shoulder.
"Okay, we lied," Mina said, trying to be confident but she was shaking, "But...we had a reason."
"We're not mad, Minari," Sana smiled her endearing smile as she rested her chin on Dahyun's shoulder, "But we would like to know how long you've kept this secret from us."
"Well...we've been dating for a month now," Jeongyeon said, "We didn't want to say anything yet because...we were afraid of how Chaeyoung would react."
"Me?" Chaeyoung blinked and didn't notice Tzuyu's arms around her waist squeeze a little tighter.
"Yeah, you confessed to me Chaengie and I really didn't want to hurt your feelings," Mina said as she fiddled with the hem of her shirt, "It's only been two months since you confessed to me and we thought it would be best if we didn't tell anyone."
"It's okay, Minari," Chaeyoung smiled, her hands subconsciously rested on Tzuyu's hands, said action made the unnies frown at their hands. "I'm okay, so long as you're happy."
"Thank you, Chaengie," Mina bowed and so did Jeongyeon.
"You guys can carry on with your date," Nayeon chuckled, "We just wanted to mess with you."
"Tzuyu you owe me five bucks and a chocolate bar," Dahyun said cheekily and the taller girl sighed as she leaned into Chaeyoung's back.
"You betted on them?" Chaeyoung asked in shock and Tzuyu sulkily nodded as she takes one hand out of Chaeyoung's grasp to take out five dollars from her pocket.
"Never thought you would ever get involved in betting," Jihyo frowned at her sister.
"Yeah, just this once," Tzuyu sighed, "It's obvious I'm not very lucky, I'll buy you a chocolate bar later."
"Yes!" Dahyun swiped the five dollars and put them in her pocket.
"Damn," Chaeyoung chuckled, stood up and helped Tzuyu stand up. "Anyways, we'll go back to what we were doing."
"Oh, alright, um, see you guys on Monday," Jeongyeon smiled and the couple walked away.
"That was very mature of you Chaeyoung," Nayeon ruffled the younger girl's hair.
"Am I not mature?" Chaeyoung asked with a frown.
"Only physically apparently," Tzuyu snickered and the others laughed.
"YAH!" Chaeyoung pushed the taller who only went back to her and swung an arm around her shoulder.
Back then the others suspected something but were still unsure as they were before because they always act like this.
But now, they have confirmation that Tzuyu likes Chaeyoung.
They're ecstatic.
"When you two start dating," Jihyo starts, "I better not hear any funny business going on in this house."
"What?" Tzuyu frowns, confused as the others snicker but quickly realizes what she means, "Yah! We're not like that!"
"Not yet," Nayeon teases as she sits on Momo's lap, "You two are already joined by the hip of friendship, you'll only get closer."
"That's if she likes me back," Tzuyu says and Nayeon shrugs.
"Chaeyoung probably likes you back," Dahyun says, "I should know, she's my bro."
"Eh, but she's my best friend too," Tzuyu frowns, "And no, I will not bet on this."
"Suit yourself," Dahyun shrugs as she leans back into Sana, "But I give you a 100% Dahyun guarantee that she likes you back."
"Whatever," Tzuyu sighs louder and falls back onto the couch.
"Do you want us to help you get the girl?" Jihyo asks and Tzuyu vigorously shakes her head.
"No, stay away," Tzuyu says, "No offense, I need to figure this out on my own but I do want to know a few things from you guys."
"Alright then, shoot," Momo says as she pops a chocolate covered almond into her mouth.
"So I watched a movie with Chaeyoung a month ago about some girl that likes her best friend but her best friend likes some popular girl that later rejects her," Tzuyu starts, "And I realized then that I might be feeling something but I don't want to confirm what I feel over a movie and various other TV shows and movies I've seen this past month."
"Ah, you want to know if the movies describe it for real, hm?" Sana giggles excitedly, "That's so cute, Tzuyu-ya."
"Shut up, so how do you guys feel when you're with someone?" Tzuyu asks quickly, "Like, how do you feel when you're with Dahyun-unnie, Sana-unnie?"
"When I'm with Dahyunie it feels like every day is friday no matter what day of the week it is," Sana nuzzles her head into Dahyun's back as she hugs her tighter. "She makes already awesome Saturdays feel amazing."
"What about you, Dahyun-unnie?" Tzuyu asks and when she turns to face her, Dahyun's face, usually light in complexion, is crimson red.
"Uh, um, well," Dahyun clears her throat to regain composure as Sana giggles, "Every day feels like a lucky day when I'm with Sana-unnie...her energy and her silly antics just make every day feel good..."
"Aww, you're adorable," Sana squeezes her girlfriend tighter as Dahyun's lips press together in the way it does when she's embarrassed.
As the couple gets lovey dovey and the other people in the room tell them to stop before they start stripping right then and there, Tzuyu stares back up at the ceiling, lost in thought. When she's with Chaeyoung, she feels those waves of feelings and they feel good. Her feelings make her a little nervous and at times make her do dumb things. Like that time this past week when Chaeyoung called her a goddess while practicing Archery in the range and she completely missed the target, instead, knocking down an outdoor lamp above the target. The two Maknae's jaws dropped and Tzuyu immediately called her mom who, surprisingly, wasn't mad. Since her mom checks what she buys with her credit card, she wanted to tell her mom beforehand so that her mom doesn't have to find out on her own later. Long story short, Tzuyu paid for the lamp before they left and Chaeyoung promised not to tell the others that she actually completely missed while practicing for once in her life. Her feelings made her do dumb things but she still liked how she felt.
She felt special.
She felt lucky.
Just like Dahyun described, she felt lucky. She felt not only like she could do anything but she also felt lucky that she had the shorter girl in her life. She also understood what Sana meant when she said that everyday feels like Friday when she's with Dahyun. Everyday, Tzuyu wakes up eager to meet up with her best friend as they walk to school with Jihyo and her friend Sejong. Tzuyu is normally unexpressive and feels pretty bored most of the time when but Chaeyoung, who catches her breath, also catches her attention.
"So are you not going to ask Momo and I about how in love we are with each other?" Nayeon's voice cuts through her thoughts and she almost scowls but she catches herself and instead rolls her eyes.
"Alright then, Unnie," Tzuyu sighs as she turns to the girl with a crazed bunny smile, "How does it feel for you two?"
"Well, for one, I too feel what Sana and Dahyun feel but with Momo," Nayeon says in a matter-of-factly tone, "She's my four leaf clover, ya know? But I also feel thankful for her existence because it makes me feel a whole lot better existing. I used to feel like I'm trying to hard and living life wasn't worth it at times but Momo came along and everything just feels so much more exciting and colorful...like a rainbow."
"Um," Momo starts and tries to think but everyone in the room can tell that she's too flustered to think properly so they give her a moment, "When I first started getting closer to Nayeon it felt as if the stars were aligned. Now that may sound exaggerated but I fell pretty hard, almost as hard as when I fell down the main stairwell in school. I also feel like I would wait forever for her or do just about anything for her."
"Aww, I remember you sprained your ankle when you fell down the stairs," Nayeon hugs Momo, "I hope that when you fell for me, it felt like you broke everything and just melted."
"What?" Everyone collectively asks.
"What?" Nayeon asks innocently and they all just shake their heads. Her ego is at it again.
"I guess, I do feel everything you guys feel but for Chaeyoung..." Tzuyu says quietly and looks up at the ceiling again.
I really am in love with Son Chaeyoung, huh?
A few days have passed since Tzuyu finally confirmed her feelings and things feel different.
When she notices that when she sees Chaeyoung, everything just suddenly becomes vivid in color. When Chaeyoung looks up at her and smiles in greeting, it's as if she glows or someone upped the brightness on just Chaeyoung in Photoshop. Sometimes she just has to glance at the back of Chaeyoung's head and her heart skips a beat. She was right. Her feelings for the shorter girl did get strong. So strong that her heart, guts, and various other organs don't just squeeze or wrench but they ache. Her mind is just filled with Chaeyoung as her body reacts to the girl.
She can't take it anymore.
Christmas is coming and she knows that she wants to get it all out.
So, she invited Chaeyoung to come over while Jihyo is out with Nayeon and Jeongyeon for their '3MIX Night,' which is essentially them getting drunk off of beer with the richest girl in the school, Jennie Kim, and her friends. Tzuyu ordered take out so that it would arrive ten minutes after Chaeyoung arrives because she knows her best friend gets hungry at around 6PM.
Chae-casso
Hi, I'm outside :]
The tall girl's heart skips a beat when she reads the text. She makes her way to the front door to let her in and when she does, her heart just stops. Chaeyoung looks so cute. She's clad in an oversized sweater she decorated with drawings of flowers and gray joggers. Her short, blonde hair is swept to one side and she isn't wearing any makeup but her skin shines from whatever lotion she put on before coming there.
"Hey," Chaeyoung smiles at her, a deep dimple peeking out.
"Hi," Tzuyu smiles, if anyone else was there, they'd describe the look in her eyes as enamored.
"What'd you want to do today?" Chaeyoung asks as they walk to the couch and sit down.
"Well, I was thinking we can either binge watch movies or play games or just do whatever," Tzuyu says, "I ordered takeout so it should be here soon."
"Oh okay, cool," Chaeyoung says and turns on the TV.
The food arrives right on time and the two decide to watch All Hail King Julien on Netflix because they heard Momo saying the show is weird but funny. As they watched more episodes and ate their food, they found themselves seeing how dumb yet entertaining the show is. Especially the little lemur named Mort, who is adorable yet...different.
"I swear, Mort could take over the world if he wanted to," Chaeyoung says shaking her head as she watches Mort's inner voices creepily laugh and one of them say, 'Oh we understand, we understand everything.'
"Yeah I bet but he's a cute little guy," Tzuyu smiles.
"You think anything small is cute," Chaeyoung quips.
"Yeah, like you," Tzuyu thinks out loud but when she realizes what she said, her jaw drops and her eyes widen.
"You think I'm cute?" Chaeyoung asks lowly and Tzuyu looks at her.
Chaeyoung's face was reflecting the light from the TV because they turned off the lights when they finished eating and briefly brushed their teeth but something was telling her that Chaeyoung was blushing.
"Yeah, you know that," Tzuyu says softly as she references that conversation months ago on the day Chaeyoung skateboarded by while crying.
"I-I...erm, w-well..." Chaeyoung stutters but Tzuyu speaks faster.
"I like you," Tzuyu blurts out and Chaeyoung's eyes widen as she looks up to her best friend.
"You...like me?" Chaeyoung asks and Tzuyu nods a little too quickly.
"Y-yeah, I like you a lot, pretty sure if I described my feelings to the others they'd tell me I'm in love but I don't know," Tzuyu rambles nervously, "I mean there's a lot to like about you from your personality to your attitude to how you make me feel. But- OH! Um, it's alright if you don't like me back ya know...I know you might still be in some phase where you're getting over Mina-unne and figuring out if you li-"
Chaeyoung giggles and the sound was like music to Tzuyu's ears, it also made her shut up.
"Relax, Tzuyu-ya," Chaeyoung smiles so hard, it hurts, "I like you too."
"You do?" Tzuyu uncharacteristically squeaks which just makes Chaeyoung, somehow, smile harder.
"Yeah," Chaeyoung says, "It took Mina rejecting me to make me realize that you've been here all along; I was looking all over when the person who was right for me was already right here."
"You think I'm right for you?" Tzuyu asks, she felt like melting on the spot.
"Yeah, don't believe me?" Chaeyoung asks cheekily as she sits closer.
"Maybe," Tzuyu whispers as her eyes flicker from Chaeyoung's large, sparkling eyes to her full lips.
"Then...I'll make you believe," Chaeyoung whispers as she leans forward, successfully closing the gap between them.
The kiss is soft and a little weird because it is their first time but those fabled fireworks proceed to go off inside of Tzuyu. Her mind and senses are just filled with a cloud named Chaeyoung that prevents her from doing anything other than kiss back. She feels Chaeyoung's head shift slightly to the left so she shifts to the right so that their next kiss would be at a better angle and their lips reconnect, once, twice, three times, over and over again at a slow pace. There's nothing to rush. Only something new to adapt to and enjoy as time goes on.
When they pull away from one another for air and a moment to process what just happened, they smile at one another with overwhelming happiness and excitement. Tzuyu was trying to find words but she couldn't. All she could do as stare at Chaeyoung until those three cliche words came into her head.
"Son Chaeyoung..." She starts but then stops herself to rethink.
"What?" Chaeyoung asks with a smile but a slight eyebrow raise at Tzuyu's hesitance.
"Sorry, I needed to rephrase what I wanted to say..." Tzuyu chuckles but takes Chaeyoung's hands and squeezes them. "Will you be my four leaf clover and paint skateboards with me?"
"What?" Chaeyoung laughs but then realizes what the taller girl means, "Of course, I will if you be mine."
"Only yours," Tzuyu smiles. Yeah, she'll never be this soft with anyone except one Son Chaeyoung.
For the seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, and years to come...Nayeon can and will always confirm that statement.
End :)