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Chou Tzuyu hated Chemistry. No, saying that was an understatement. Tzuyu absolutely despised it. To her, balancing equations and those endlessly long reaction chains were no different from some dark, evil spell, and that certainly said a lot about her terrible mood during this afternoon's class.
"Chou Tzuyu, this content is quite easy to understand if you actually pay attention to my lecture. When adding a strong acid to a strong base, the equivalence point is located at…"
On the board was an acid-base titration graph with meaningless, zigzagging curves. Tzuyu stood perfectly straight at her desk, arms hanging loosely at her sides, blankly staring at the drawing with her usual clueless expression.
"I don't know."
"Then can you tell me where the buffer region is?"
Tzuyu carefully evaluated that bizarre curve for a long moment. Then, she pointed toward the most convoluted, wavy part of the graph. "Over... there?"
"You are testing my patience, Chou Tzuyu," Ms. Lee snapped. "Step down to the corner of the class and cross your arms immediately."
Tzuyu pushed her chair back and trudged toward the back of the classroom. Along the way, she accidentally caught the sympathetic (and slightly amused, trying-not-to-laugh) gazes of her classmates. She mumbled a tiny phrase under her breath, just loud enough for herself to hear: "Chemistry is garbage."
The corner of the classroom wasn't as empty and quiet as Tzuyu thought. Right at the very last desk against the wall, someone was sleeping soundly, completely isolated from Ms. Lee's high-pressure academic world. She frowned, taking a step back to maintain a safe distance from this lazy slacker. But her presence in that area alerted the teacher.
"Kim Dahyun! Do you treat my classroom as your bedroom?"
Dahyun sluggishly lifted her head, scratching her messy hair, her eyes squinting against the light streaming in from the window. She let out a soft yawn before lazily standing up.
"Answer the question I just asked Chou Tzuyu. If not, go stand in the corner with your friend immediately." Ms. Lee gave a challenging half-smile.
Tzuyu stood nearby with her arms crossed, the edges of her lips twitching up into a smirk. She thought to herself that this sleepy idiot would definitely join her in the corner-standing club soon. How could a half-asleep fool decode that crazy graph anyway?
"Miss, for a strong acid and strong base titration reaction, the equivalence point is at pH 7, located right at the steepest part of the curve. As for the buffer region..." Dahyun thought for another moment before continuing, "...you're testing the class, aren't you? There is no buffer region in a reaction between a strong acid and a strong base."
"Not bad," Ms. Lee cleared her throat. "Sit down. Don't let me catch you sleeping again."
Tzuyu froze. That drooling sleeper could rattle off a bunch of horrifying Chemistry theories as fluently as reading a lunch menu?
After the incident in Chemistry class, Ms. Lee asked their homeroom teacher to move Tzuyu to the seat right in front of Dahyun, under the pretext of "helping her academic progress." And he agreed. Tzuyu found it genuinely baffling, because sitting in front of a lazy-but-genius Kim Dahyun wouldn't magically make her grades go up. And the other girl wouldn't even pay any attention to her anyway. Sighing, she glanced at her friends with a gloomy expression.
"See you after soccer practice," Park Jihyo said, then turned to Yoo Jeongyeon and asked, "Want to go get shabu shabu tonight?"
"Of course," Jeongyeon replied.
"Knock it off, I'm not rich," Tzuyu said weakly. Her wallet would be "screaming" in agony for the next few weeks, and she was absolutely not going to ask her mom for more allowance. She muttered a few curses and walked straight toward the back of the class.
"It'd be better if you kept quiet. I'm the one who has to suffer from sitting behind you," Dahyun spoke up as Tzuyu sat down and tossed her bag onto the floor.
"Do you have a problem with me?" Tzuyu asked. "We've known each other for two years even though we've never really talked. But it seems like you often badmouth me to your friends."
"Badmouth?" Dahyun repeated, her voice a bit nasal from drowsiness. "Who did you hear that fake news from?"
"Don't deny it." Tzuyu tried to maintain the imposing aura of an interrogator. "Don't you always complain to your club friends about how annoying I am?"
Dahyun blinked a few more times, seemingly rummaging through her sleep-deprived, ruined memory. Then suddenly, she let out an "Ah," her facial muscles relaxing as she leaned back in her chair with a nonchalant look.
"If you consider me complaining that 'I have to sit behind someone as tall as a broadcasting tower, who completely obstructs my line of sight, shields all the morning sunlight, and cuts off the breeze from the ceiling fan' as badmouthing... then yes, I did say that."
"Wha... what?" Tzuyu stammered. "Just because... of that?"
"What else did you think it was for?" Dahyun sighed. "You're 1.70 meters tall, Chou Tzuyu. In my eyes, you're a giant obstacle invading my habitat. I was complaining about a disrupted ecosystem, it's not like I have the free time to hate you."
The tips of Tzuyu's ears started burning with embarrassment. She had imagined all sorts of dramatic reasons: from Dahyun being jealous of her beauty, to her disliking her cold attitude. Who would have thought the reason would be this ridiculous?
"Crazy weirdo," Tzuyu mumbled softly, pretending to take out a book and flip through it to hide her fluster.
From behind, a lazy voice rang out monotonously: "Shift to the left a bit, you're blocking my breeze again."
For the next few days, Tzuyu swore she deliberately sat as straight as possible to block all the wind from the annoying person sitting behind her. The sheer mortification of her own narcissistic delusion that the other girl was jealous of her made Tzuyu desperately seek an opportunity for revenge.
A few days later, under the glaring sun, the P.E. teacher announced the physical fitness test for the beginning of the year: a 1500-meter endurance run. Accustomed to running the pitch for 90 minutes as the school’s soccer captain, Chou Tzuyu considered this nothing more than a light warm-up. She tied her long hair up high and easily took the lead right from the first lap, leaving the groaning crowd far behind.
To Kim Dahyun, whose life motto was to never stand when she could sit and never sit when she could lie down, this was an absolute death sentence.
By the third lap, Tzuyu breezed past Dahyun. Unlike Tzuyu's composed expression, the Chemistry genius currently looked as battered as an oxygen-deprived fish. Dahyun's face was flushed red, her legs dragging with heavy steps on the slope, her breaths as ragged as an asthma patient's.
Tzuyu intentionally slowed her pace, jogging alongside Dahyun. "What's the matter? Your heart rate graph right now probably looks even more tangled and desperate than that curve from the other day, huh?"
Dahyun shot Tzuyu a death glare, but she was too exhausted to clap back. Her lips moved, murmuring something that sounded like "Stupid long-legged jerk," before completely collapsing onto the grass by the track, officially waving the white flag on the test.
Tzuyu's smugness didn't last very long. At the end of the school day, while the classroom had mostly emptied out, the atmosphere in the back corner was thick with tension. Tzuyu frowned at her recently returned 15-minute Chemistry quiz, marked with a 20 in bleeding red ink. At the desk behind her, Dahyun was also miserably staring at her communication book, where the P.E. teacher had neatly written a remark: "Poor physical stamina, at risk of failing the subject if no improvement is shown in next week's re-test."
Tzuyu bit her lip, stealing a glance at the person behind her. The enemy of an enemy is a friend, and in a situation where both were standing on the precipice of their report cards, pride wasn't something you could eat.
"Hey," Tzuyu cleared her throat, tapping her pen lightly on Dahyun's desk. "Want to make a deal?"
Dahyun looked up from her communication book, one eyebrow raised. "What deal?"
"You tutor me in Chemistry. Help me pass the wicked Ms. Lee's class." Tzuyu got straight to the point. "In return, I'll train your stamina so you can pass next week's P.E. test. Furthermore..." Tzuyu took a deep breath, seemingly steeling herself for a massive concession. "...during all our classes, I will sit with my back perfectly straight, acting as a wall to block the sun and the teachers so you can sleep. Deal?"
Dahyun's eyes lit up when she heard the word "sleep." She rubbed her chin, evaluating this bargain. "Sounds tempting, but it takes a lot of brainpower. One carton of chocolate milk every morning, deal?"
Three dark lines appeared on Tzuyu's forehead. Her wallet was already screaming in agony as it was.
"My family doesn't mint money, Kim Dahyun." Tzuyu gritted her teeth in reply. "Soy milk made by my mom every morning. Take it or leave it."
Dahyun looked slightly disappointed but nodded anyway. "Fine."
Chou Tzuyu didn't hold a grudge against Biology the way she loathed Chemistry. At least the water cycle or the anatomy of a frog's heart were things she could visualize, unlike those invisible and unreasonable damn electrons. But that didn't mean her brain was willing to cooperate with this thick pile of theories.
Sitting opposite her in the library, Kim Dahyun was leisurely sipping from a carton of warm soy milk (made by Mother Chou herself, of course). She took a long sip, her cheeks puffing out like a squirrel's, her eyes still half-closed but her tone was extremely alert.
"Your face right now looks exactly like a dung beetle staring in despair at an oversized ball of dung." Dahyun tapped her pencil against the Biology textbook. "It's this easy and you still can't tell the difference?"
Tzuyu glared daggers at her. "Could you use a cleaner example to illustrate my predicament? And it's not easy at all. Why do we have to separate Commensalism and Mutualism when someone benefits either way?"
"Because their nature is different, you musclehead with a brain on strike." Dahyun stretched and began her lecture. "Listen carefully. Last week, I hid behind your broad back to sleep, enjoying the shade that blocked the sun from my face. I benefited, while you got nothing out of it except losing a bit of the ceiling fan's breeze. But basically, it didn't affect your survival. That is Commensalism - one side benefits, the other is neither helped nor harmed."
Tzuyu pouted, muttering. "Are you sugarcoating it? It's obvious my ecosystem was damaged..."
Dahyun ignored her complaint, holding up the soy milk carton and shaking it. "And right now? I'm drinking your milk, and in return, I'm cramming this pile of knowledge into your head so you won't get crossed off the competition roster for academic neglect. You improve, I get a full stomach and a peaceful place to sleep. We both benefit and are forced to rely on each other to survive this semester. This right here is Mutualism."
Explained like this... it really was easy to absorb. But with her competitive nature, Tzuyu would never accept defeat so readily. "Then hypothetically... you drink my milk, you make me block the sun for you, but in the end, my test score is still below average, then what?"
Dahyun nonchalantly replied, "Then at that point, I am a parasite draining your vitality, and you are the pitiful host waiting for the day you wither away. That is a Parasitic relationship. Quite similar to a blood-sucking tick on a dog."
Tzuyu's face darkened. She had just been compared to a dog with ticks.
"Kim Dahyun!" Tzuyu gritted her teeth. "Do you want to go out to the field and run 10 laps this afternoon?"
"Come on, host," Dahyun pushed the workbook toward Tzuyu. "Time for a knowledge check. Fill in the blanks before I get sleepy again."
Tzuyu grabbed the pen but didn't forget to shoot the other girl a glare. "You better watch out. During P.E. class tomorrow, I'll show you what it means for a 'host' to exploit the labor of a 'parasite.' Prepare yourself mentally to drag your lazy body out to the soccer pitch."
If this artificial turf pitch were to be compared to a harsh ecosystem, then Chou Tzuyu, with her backward cap and perfectly straight posture, was undoubtedly the apex predator of the food chain. In stark contrast, Kim Dahyun, right at her feet, was currently melting like an ice cream cone left out in the sun. The sit-up test seemed to be draining the very last drops of vitality from the lazy genius.
"Get up, genius Kim." Tzuyu lightly tapped the toe of her shoe against Dahyun's pristine white sneakers. "Next week's sit-up test requires 40 reps in 2 minutes. You've only done 7, and you're lying there panting like a stranded catfish."
"Ten..." Dahyun raised both hands in protest, though her arms were trembling violently. "I swear I did 10."
"For the last three, you only lifted your head while your back was still glued to the mat." Tzuyu squatted down, grabbing Dahyun's ankles and pinning them to the pitch. "Keep going. A parasite needs to have enough stamina to cling tightly to its host, too. What if the host runs too fast and you fly off?"
Dahyun opened half an eye to glare at her enemy. She used all her remaining strength, bracing her abdomen (or whatever resembled the abs she delusionally thought she had), and pulled herself up. Dahyun's pale face was now flushed red, sweat beading and soaking her bangs.
"You... capitalist... exploiting my labor..." Dahyun managed to force out word by word each time she pushed herself up.
"Stop complaining. I'm helping your muscle cells increase their respiration." Tzuyu brought out the entirety of the previous day's Biology theory to retaliate. "Exhale steadily! Do you want lactic acid to build up, cause muscle fatigue, and make you drop dead out here? I memorized the muscle physiology lesson you taught me the other day."
Dahyun's stomach hurt, and she was furious. This long-legged jerk normally had the memory of a goldfish when it came to studying, so why was her memory for grudges so incredibly sharp?
By the 15th rep, Dahyun officially went on strike. "No... no more sit-ups... Unless you plan to kill me... to seize my assets, which is tomorrow morning's carton of soy milk..."
Tzuyu looked at the person taking weak, ragged breaths at her feet, and the corners of her lips finally couldn't help but curve into a satisfied smile. Getting payback on a genius truly felt refreshing. She pulled a chilled bottle of mineral water from her sports bag and pressed it straight against Dahyun's cheek.
"Ah! Cold!" Dahyun jolted, sitting up to grab the water bottle.
"Drink up and rest for 5 minutes." Tzuyu stood up, then silently took a half-step back so her tall shadow fell over Dahyun, completely blocking the glaring sunlight beating down directly on her face.
Dahyun took a gulp of the ice-cold water, feeling as if she had just been resurrected. She blinked, looking up. From this angle, Tzuyu's figure was backlit, the edges of her shirt glowing with golden sunbeams. She looked foolish, but also very much like someone you could rely on.
"Is this Commensalism again?" Dahyun gently nudged Tzuyu's calf with the water bottle.
"No," Tzuyu shrugged, her gaze shifting elsewhere to hide her slightly reddening ears. "This is called the host preserving the parasite's life. This weekend, I still have a whole stack of Chemistry study guides waiting for you to decode."
Dahyun laughed out loud. A rare, radiant smile, completely devoid of her usual laziness or sarcasm, lit up a whole corner of the grassy field. Tzuyu looked down, suddenly feeling her heart skip a beat. Perhaps she really needed to ask the genius Kim Dahyun to check... whether a sudden irregular heartbeat was a symptom of standing in the sun for too long.
Kim Dahyun liked the gentle summer breeze wafting through the air, bringing a sense of tranquility on her way to the self-study room. In short, it put her in a good mindset for the hours of studying ahead. But when she opened the door, the first thing she noticed was Chou Tzuyu sitting rather comfortably on one of the front chairs, her feet propped up on the desk in front of her.
"Chou Tzuyu."
Tzuyu craned her neck to look, groaning when she saw it was Dahyun. "I know no one wants to be here, so make it quick. Show me your notes on the titration curve and stuff like that."
"I am sacrificing my precious time for someone who can't manage her own studies, and you still have the nerve to tell me what to do?" Dahyun gripped the doorknob loosely, as if ready to turn on her heel and leave at any moment. "Put your feet down. Sit up straight. And add the word 'please' to your sentence. Otherwise, deal with that pile of equations by yourself."
The pride of a soccer captain told Tzuyu to stand up and walk out of there, but the image of Ms. Lee's bleeding red 20 pinned her to the chair. Finally, she took her feet off the desk, stretched, and reluctantly adjusted her posture into a proper sitting position.
"Please," she mumbled, the volume so low it seemed only a fly could hear it, averting her eyes to hide her annoyance.
"Good girl."
Dahyun leisurely walked over, tossing a blue-covered notebook onto the desk. Tzuyu sighed, slowly opening the first page. However, just three seconds later, her eyebrows furrowed together so tightly they almost touched.
"Kim Dahyun... are you taking notes in alien hieroglyphs?" Tzuyu pushed the notebook slightly away as if it were an unidentified object. "Why did the formula suddenly jump here? And this line... is this the word 'equivalence' or a dying earthworm?"
"You're blind." Dahyun rolled her eyes in sheer exasperation.
Dahyun pulled up a chair and sat right next to Tzuyu. The distance between the two suddenly narrowed so much that Tzuyu flinched, slightly tensing her shoulders. Completely ignoring the stiffness of the person beside her, the lazy genius leaned in, using the back end of her pencil to tap on the paper.
"Look closely. This steep section is when the pH changes abruptly. This abbreviation is the Equivalence point. And..."
Dahyun's clear voice rang in her ears, but Tzuyu's brain suddenly couldn't absorb any more equations. Instead of looking at the convoluted titration curve, her gaze unconsciously slid off the page, landing on the face of the person beside her. At this close range, Tzuyu discovered that Dahyun's skin was truly flawless, so pale it almost glowed under the study room's lights. Her small nose, her eyelashes fluttering lightly with each breath, and her lips pressing together as she meticulously explained each formula...
"Are you even listening, Chou Tzuyu?"
Dahyun turned her head abruptly. Their gazes collided at a distance of barely a handspan.
Tzuyu jumped, hastily gluing her eyes to the notebook as if she had just found the truth of the universe inside it. "Yes. I'm listening. Steep curve. Equivalence point. Keep going."
Dahyun narrowed her eyes at the other girl's slowly reddening ears, but then clicked her tongue and let it go, continuing the lecture.
Beside her, Tzuyu's heart skipped another beat. Chemistry was indeed absolute garbage, but it seemed... afternoon tutoring wasn't as terrible as she'd thought.
According to Tzuyu, life was about taking every situation as it came, one step at a time. However, the case of Kim Dahyun was an anomaly that shattered every rule she had ever known. Was it coincidence or fate that her heart kept skipping a beat so unreasonably lately?
"Damn it, I hate Kim Dahyun," Tzuyu declared in frustration during lunch. She kept muttering something along the lines of 'Kim Dahyun, you're an annoying jerk and I hate that you keep lingering in my head so much it kills me' before throwing her chopsticks onto her tray and groaning loudly. "Yeah, my grades suck, but I can study well on my own and prove everyone wrong without her interfering!"
Sitting opposite her, Park Jihyo calmly picked up a piece of kimbap and popped it into her mouth. "Do you hate her because she forces you to study, or do you hate her because she accidentally sat too close, making our great captain blush furiously and flee for her life from the library?"
"I didn't flee for my life! And I wasn't blushing!" Tzuyu argued defensively, even though the potato on her food tray had been stabbed into mush.
"Yeah, I know. You hate Kim Dahyun, okay?" Yoo Jeongyeon stabbed a straw into her milk carton. "Hate her so much that this morning I saw you deliberately leaning your back against the window, sacrificing your precious body to block all the sunlight just so the person-you-hate could sleep soundly during Physics class. Your way of expressing hatred is truly profound, Chou Tzuyu."
"I... I didn't..." Tzuyu choked on her words. Her face started to burn up. She was about to salvage the last shred of her dignity with an argument that sounded less like a lame excuse, but before the rebuttal could escape her lips, her gaze locked onto a corner a few tables away.
Kim Dahyun was walking to clear her tray, but she wasn't alone. Walking beside her was Minatozaki Sana. The girl from the next class, famous for her outgoing personality and sweet smile, had her arm draped casually over Dahyun's shoulder, occasionally leaning in close to her ear to whisper something highly intimate. And that person-Tzuyu-hates, instead of showing her usual sleepy face, actually let the other girl drape an arm around her shoulder, the corners of her lips even curving into a very happy response.
The poor potato on the tray was pierced straight through by the tip of Tzuyu's chopsticks, scraping against the bottom of the stainless steel tray to create a piercing screech. The burning sensation on her cheeks from moments ago instantly morphed into a flare of irritation, a sour jealousy churning in her chest.
Noticing the unnatural silence and the murderous aura radiating from the person opposite them, Jeongyeon and Jihyo simultaneously followed Tzuyu's line of sight.
"You're right, Tzuyu," Jeongyeon smirked. "You really do hate her. But I bet right now you want to chop Sana into pieces, not that potato."
The tip of the ballpoint pen in Kim Dahyun's hand glided along each equation on the practice test paper, occasionally stopping and tapping against the desk as if she were trying to find an error to nitpick. After a moment, she clicked her tongue and pushed the paper back across the desk.
"Not bad," Dahyun said, her tone a bit reluctant but unable to hide her surprise. "You missed exactly one question in the precipitate mass calculation section."
Tzuyu snatched the test paper, her eyes quickly skimming over the score circled in bright red at the top. She leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms over her chest, and glanced at Dahyun with an expression of supreme smugness. As it turned out, turning anger (and a whole barrel of sour jealousy) into motivation to study really yielded outstanding results. Tzuyu realized that whenever she felt agitated, instead of mashing poor potatoes in the cafeteria, she just needed to vent her frustration on balancing these chemical equations.
Seeing Tzuyu's invisible tail about to wag in the air with pride, Dahyun pulled a thick stack of papers from her bag, and without blinking, shoved it straight in front of the smug athlete. "Drop the delusions, this is only the basic test. Finish this stack of advanced mock exams before you start patting yourself on the back."
Tzuyu let out a groan in her throat, but immediately grabbed her pen and buried her head in her work, determined not to give this arrogant girl another chance to look down on her.
They maintained this routine for several consecutive weeks leading up to Ms. Lee's unit test. It was a long string of days with Dahyun patiently explaining theories, assigning homework, and grading; in return for regular cartons of soy milk every morning and Tzuyu's effort to the point of chewing the caps of her ballpoint pens.
Chou Tzuyu's progress became clearly visible with each passing day, from her initially frustrated scribbles to perfectly drawn geometric isomers.
Looking at the girl opposite her, who was diligently punching numbers into a calculator to the point her forehead was beaded with sweat, the corners of Dahyun's lips unconsciously curled into a soft smile. She would never admit it out loud, much less let that long-legged jerk know, but right now, a surge of indescribable pride was truly welling up in her heart.
Of course, the genius Kim told herself, she was only proud of her own outstanding teaching results. Absolutely not proud of Chou Tzuyu. Definitely not.
"Chou Tzuyu." Ms. Lee's voice rang out, with a slight, completely unexpected pause, drawing the entire class's gazes toward the back corner of the room. "85 points. An improvement... that could be called a miracle."
Tzuyu stood up, walking up to the teacher's podium with the leisurely swagger of someone who had just scored the winning goal in the 90th minute. Returning to her seat, instead of putting the test paper in her bag like everyone else, she slapped the paper face-down directly onto the desk of the person sitting behind her.
"Open your sleepy eyes wide and admire this, Genius Kim."
Dahyun shifted her attention from the window frame to look down at the glaring red number sitting proudly on the paper. The corners of Dahyun's lips twitched, clearly trying to suppress a proud smile, but outwardly she maintained her nonchalant look.
"Passable." Dahyun used her index finger to slide the paper back toward Tzuyu. "Good thing you didn't embarrass your tutor. My skills are indeed no joke."
"Don't be so quick to take all the credit like that." Tzuyu turned her chair completely around, propping both hands on Dahyun's desk. "I exceeded the quota. Don't you think you should offer a token of appreciation to celebrate?"
"Hold on, what kind of logic is that? I burn my brain cells tutoring you, you get a high score, and now you turn around and demand a reward from me?" Dahyun let out a disbelieving scoff. "Chou Tzuyu, did that Chemistry score make you lose your mind?"
"Not at all," Tzuyu smirked. "The original agreement was to help me pass the subject. But 85 is the score of an excellent student. This is premium service, Kim Dahyun. And premium services require a worthy reward to be maintained until the midterm exam."
Dahyun was rendered speechless. Since when did this long-legged idiot become so smooth-talking and know how to corner people like this?
"Fine, fine, you blood-sucking capitalist. What do you want? Strawberry milk instead of soy milk for a whole month? Or do you want me to copy down your Biology homework for you too?"
"This Saturday. At six in the evening." Tzuyu lightly tapped her fingers rhythmically on the desk. "You have to treat me to a meal at the BBQ joint down the street."
"What? Don't have the guts?" Tzuyu lowered her head slightly, her tone full of provocation, but the tips of her ears peeking out from under her ponytail were burning bright red, betraying her confident facade.
Dahyun looked at those blushing red ears, the smile on her lips suddenly softening a few degrees. She reached out, taking her ballpoint pen and tapping it lightly against Tzuyu's forehead. "Alright then. But you better prepare some extra cash in your wallet, because if you eat too much, I'll leave you behind to wash dishes to pay off the debt."
At half-past four on Saturday afternoon, Chou Tzuyu's impeccably tidy bedroom officially turned into a battlefield. Clothes were strewn everywhere, from the bed all the way down to the floor. In the epicenter of that mess, Tzuyu stood running her hands through her hair in frustration, staring into the wide-open wardrobe with a look of absolute despair.
Sitting cross-legged on a beanbag chair in the corner of the room, Yoo Jeongyeon pinched a blinding neon sports t-shirt between two fingers, her face contorted in disgust. "Chou Tzuyu, I'm asking you seriously... are you planning to wear this fluorescent shirt to dinner? Are you afraid Kim Dahyun might go night-blind and miss her beef slices or something?"
"So what? It's moisture-wicking!" Tzuyu argued defensively, though she still snatched the shirt back and tossed it aside.
"You're going out to eat Shabu Shabu, not run a marathon. Why do you need moisture-wicking clothes?" Park Jihyo stepped up, pushing Tzuyu aside to personally salvage the situation. "Step back. With your fashion sense revolving entirely around soccer jerseys and sweatpants, Kim Dahyun will think you invited her to the gym tonight."
"I told you this isn't a date!" Tzuyu groaned, resting her head against the wardrobe door. "This is just... a transaction. I'm paying her back for helping me get an 85 in Chemistry. That's it!"
"Did I say the word 'date'?" Jeongyeon smirked, unwrapping a piece of chewing gum and tossing it into her mouth. "You even went out of your way to wash your hair twice and blow-dry it all bouncy and voluminous. This transaction sure requires a lot of grooming, doesn't it?"
Tzuyu was left speechless, unable to argue back. She had indeed stood in front of the mirror for nearly an hour just to style her bangs so they looked as natural as possible.
"Done." Jihyo pulled out a well-fitted pair of light blue jeans from deep inside the wardrobe, pairing it with a plain white t-shirt and layering it with a black bomber jacket that was boyish yet stylish. "Put this on. Simple, active, totally your style, but it won't make you look like someone who just crawled off the soccer pitch."
The shabu shabu joint at the end of the street was so crowded and noisy at six in the evening that it made Chou Tzuyu frown slightly the moment she stepped through the door. However, the person walking beside her had the exact opposite reaction.
Kim Dahyun, who usually sported a "chronically sleep-deprived" default mode, now looked as if she had just been injected with a dose of adrenaline straight into her veins. When the plates of bright red, beautifully marbled beef were brought out by the staff, her sluggish eyes suddenly lit up like car headlights.
"Right now, you look exactly like a starving wolf eyeing a lamb," Tzuyu remarked sarcastically, reaching up to neatly roll up the sleeves of her bomber jacket.
"Don't insult my love for beef," Dahyun retorted, her hands already holding her chopsticks, resting her chin on them in full anticipation. "Hurry up, my stomach is protesting, demanding to be recharged right now."
Though her mouth muttered complaints about being a reluctant waitress, Tzuyu's hands very naturally picked up the tongs. She grabbed the paper-thin slices of beef and dropped them into the bubbling hot pot broth. The moment the meat turned a light brown, perfectly cooked while still retaining its tender juiciness, Tzuyu scooped it out, dipped it lightly into the roasted sesame sauce, and neatly dropped it into the bowl right in front of Dahyun.
Dahyun had absolutely no intention of being polite. She immediately picked up the meat and popped it into her mouth. In just a split second, her expression changed drastically. Her cheeks puffed out as she chewed happily, thoroughly enjoying the meal. She looked so blissful that her monolids slightly crinkled into two curved crescent moons.
Tzuyu's movements unconsciously slowed down. The warm steam rising from the hot pot slightly blurred her vision, but the image of the small person opposite her eating so enthusiastically that a tiny smear of sauce got stuck on the corner of her lips was vividly etched in her mind. Obviously, Tzuyu had demanded the other girl to treat her, but watching that enthusiastic chewing and swallowing, she felt so happy that she was ready to empty her wallet just to keep that person satisfied.
"Are you planning to just watch me eat instead of having your own meal?" Dahyun swallowed the meat and glanced over, catching Tzuyu still holding the tongs and staring at her in a daze.
"I was just wondering if your stomach is shaped like a truncated cone or something to have such a terrifying capacity," Tzuyu jolted, hurriedly retracting her smile and clearing her throat to cover up. She reached out to grab a napkin. "Wipe your mouth, you eat like a three-year-old."
Dahyun grumbled, crumpling the napkin to wipe her lips, but didn't forget to jut her chin toward the plate of meat, signaling for her makeshift waitress to continue working.
Tzuyu shook her head in defeat, randomly picking up a piece of enoki mushroom and popping it into her own mouth to distract from the embarrassment rising within her. The mushroom had only been boiled in the clear broth, without any dipping sauce, but as it slid down her throat today, it carried a strange sweetness.
It must definitely be because Ms. Lee graded leniently that she was in such a good mood, Tzuyu told herself. It was not because she was starting to get addicted to taking care of the snarky person sitting opposite her.
The whistle signaling the end of practice had just blown, and Chou Tzuyu immediately collapsed onto the artificial turf like a felled tree, ignoring the sweat plastering her bangs to her forehead and her soaked jersey clinging to her back. Her chest heaving, she let her gaze drift up to the sky, which was slowly transitioning into the orange-purple hues of twilight.
Tzuyu's muscles were protesting fiercely after two hours of grueling drills, but even this exhausting fatigue wasn't enough to extinguish the chaotic thoughts in her head. The ball she had just struck had tucked perfectly into the top corner of the net. Unfortunately, the trajectory of her mind these past few days hadn't been nearly as accurate. She ran, she tackled, she drained herself completely with only one single hope: to force her brain to go on strike. Just for one minute, so she could temporarily forget the image of those puffed-up cheeks and the smear of roasted sesame sauce lingering on the corner of a certain someone's lips. But she failed miserably.
A leather ball bounced right into her ribs, making Tzuyu flinch. She cracked her eyes open, grumbling as she looked up. Park Jihyo stood with her hands on her hips, blocking the sunset, looking down at her with a knowing smile. Yoo Jeongyeon, standing next to her, was leisurely juggling another ball on her foot.
"Trying to hatch an egg there, Captain?" Jihyo teased. "Or was your stamina drained dry by someone today?"
"I'm resting to recover my muscles." Tzuyu scoffed, turning her head away.
"So scientific," Jeongyeon laughed, nudging Jihyo's shoulder. "I thought you were so busy being lovesick that you planned to become one with the artificial turf."
"I'm not lovesick over anyone!" Tzuyu argued defensively. She frustratedly flipped face-down onto the turf, burying her face into her crossed arms to hide her ears, which were burning red from being called out so accurately.
"Hi, Tzuyu."
Rolling over, Tzuyu saw Im Nayeon smiling at her, the sunlight illuminating her face like an angel descending from heaven as she offered her a water bottle.
"Thanks." Tzuyu sat up and took the water bottle from her classmate. While drinking, she noticed Nayeon was still standing there, looking like she had something to say but was holding back. Tzuyu gulped down the cold water, lightly wiping the corner of her mouth. "Do you have something to say, Nayeon?"
Nayeon bit her lip slightly, her cheeks suddenly flushing a very adorable light pink. "Um... Tzuyu, lately I've seen you... studying with Dahyun a lot. I wanted to ask..." Nayeon hesitated, stealthily glancing around before lowering her voice. "...Do you know what Dahyun likes to eat? Or... do you have her phone number? I... I want to get to know her."
Tzuyu choked, coughing violently until her face turned bright red. A few unlucky drops of water shot up into her nose, making her eyes sting. The "radiant angel" illusion from a moment ago shattered into tiny fragments, scattering all over Tzuyu's mind in the blink of an eye.
"What... what did you just ask?" Tzuyu patted her chest, glaring at Nayeon as if the girl had just spoken an alien language.
"I want to ask for Dahyun's contact info," Nayeon shyly repeated. "The other day I saw her sleeping... she looked so cute. She rarely uses social media, so..."
Tzuyu suddenly found Nayeon's radiant smile to be a complete eyesore. Her mind's trajectory had just been entirely derailed by that "parasite," and now an "angel" pops out of nowhere, planning to jump in and steal that person's attention? Not a chance!
"You can't," Tzuyu hurriedly waved her hands, her facial expression instantly switching to dead serious. "Listen to me, Nayeon, she might look fine at a glance, but Kim Dahyun... is terrible."
"Huh? Terrible?" Nayeon blinked in confusion.
"That's right!" Tzuyu nodded emphatically. "She's so lazy she can sleep standing up like a horse! Sharp-tongued, always treats me like a portable sunshade. And she eats a lot! Her appetite is exactly like a cosmic black hole; your wallet won't be able to feed her. Basically, don't get involved!"
Nayeon blinked her big round eyes, arguing back, "But... but her sleeping a lot proves she's very innocent and carefree. Moreover, a girl eating well just means she has more vitality, right..."
This wasn't good; this angel was too blinded by Kim Dahyun's pale, pretty exterior. "In short, I don't have her phone number!" Tzuyu hastily grabbed her sports bag, deciding to take the coward's way out: running away. "She doesn't use a phone, she lives in the prehistoric era. I have to go shower, bye!"
Saying that, Tzuyu ran as fast as her legs could carry her toward the locker room, leaving a bewildered Im Nayeon holding the water bottle in the middle of the pitch. While running, Tzuyu indignantly ruffled her already sweat-plastered hair. Damn Kim Dahyun, sleeping like a log in class yet still managing to attract an "angel"!
The next morning, upon entering the classroom, instead of slumping on her desk to catch an extra fifteen minutes of sleep before homeroom like usual, Chou Tzuyu sat perfectly straight like a sculpted statue. Tzuyu straightened her back to its maximum height, her eyes constantly scanning a two-meter radius around the desk in the back corner of the class.
And Kim Dahyun was still face-down on her backpack, breathing evenly, completely unaware that she had just been promoted to a "museum artifact" needing strict protection.
During break time, a male student from the next class peeked in at the door, timidly approaching the back of the class intending to borrow Dahyun's Physics workbook. Before he could even open his mouth to call the genius's name, a giant dark shadow loomed over him, blocking all the light.
"She's sleeping." Tzuyu lowered her voice. "Her brain is in the recovery process after solving a pile of Chemistry equations. Do not disturb."
The male student hurriedly nodded frantically, then quickly turned around and fled. Tzuyu gave a cold scoff, sitting down smugly. Defense line number 1: A resounding success.
"You're too loud, you wind-blocker."
Kim Dahyun slowly lifted her head, rubbing her bloodshot eyes, a red crease still indented near the corner of her mouth from pressing her face into the backpack for too long. She stretched with a loud groan, looking at Tzuyu with a gaze that was three parts resentful, seven parts sleep-deprived. "You can stand guard like a bodyguard, but please turn down your volume. You interrupted my REM cycle."
Tzuyu felt a bit guilty, but her sky-high ego quickly pulled her back. "What the hell do you do that you're always in a state of oxygen deprivation to the brain? Your sleep in one day equals three days of a normal person combined, Kim Dahyun."
Dahyun let out a yawn so long it made her eyes water, lazily tousling her hair that wasn't messy to begin with. "I study at night," Dahyun replied nonchalantly.
"At night?" Tzuyu's eyes widened. "You stay up all night to study?"
"Did you think the pile of knowledge in my head just magically fell from the sky?" Dahyun looked at Tzuyu's dumbfounded expression. "It's noisy as hell at school during the day, but I fall asleep easily. But at night, it's quiet, cool, and most importantly... there's no 1.70-meter-tall person hovering around obstructing my line of sight. My brain operates at full capacity from midnight to three in the morning."
"Three in the morning?!" Tzuyu's voice unconsciously pitched up an octave. "No wonder your P.E. grades are always abysmal! Sleeping during the day and grinding at night like this, how are you supposed to build any muscle? Your biological clock is completely messed up!"
"In exchange, my grades in other subjects are saving the whole class." Dahyun shrugged, not bothering to pay attention to Tzuyu's health lecture. "Therefore, please fulfill your duties as a host properly. Block the sun and keep quiet. This afternoon I still have to draft your Biology study guide in advance."
This reasoning sounded ridiculous, but thinking about the fact that Dahyun had to stay up late grinding to prepare materials to tutor her, Tzuyu's irritation suddenly vanished into thin air. In its place was a slight twinge in her chest. So, that lazy, sluggish appearance that Nayeon praised as "innocent and carefree" was actually paid for with sleepless nights.
"Go back to sleep," Tzuyu mumbled, her tone softening a bit, no longer as snappy as before. "Just for today. This weekend it's my treat, I... I'll feed you something nutritious to make up for the neurons you lost because of me."
From behind, Dahyun's even breathing slowly resumed. It was unknown if the lazy genius had truly fallen back asleep, or if she was just smiling, hiding her face in her backpack. All Tzuyu knew was that the promise about the weekend suddenly made the atmosphere in the back corner of the classroom strangely warm.
Tzuyu stabbed the tip of her ballpoint pen hard into the scratch paper, letting out a long, heavy sigh. "I give up. This is it. 80 points is the absolute limit for a single-celled organism like me. 90 points is a pipe dream, unless I suddenly become as smart as you."
Dahyun, who was sipping from a yogurt carton, stopped when she heard that. "Does the soccer captain give up this easily? If your team is trailing on the pitch, are you just going to roll around on the grass and say, 'Whatever, let's give up'?"
"Soccer is different, Physics is different!" Tzuyu argued defensively. "Soccer requires stamina and tactics, while this... this is some sort of dark sorcery!"
"Wanna make a bet?" Dahyun suddenly leaned forward. "Next week's midterm exam. If you surpass the 90-point mark, I will grant you one request, whatever it may be."
Tzuyu's heart suddenly skipped a beat. Whatever it may be?
"And what if I don't get it?" Tzuyu asked warily.
"Then from now until graduation day, you must voluntarily act as my sunshade, fan me, and supply my morning milk. Without a single word of complaint." Dahyun smirked. "What? Chicken?"
Tzuyu slammed her hand on the desk, ignoring the librarian's annoyed glare. "You're on! But prepare yourself, Kim Dahyun. If I get 90 points, I want you to..."
Tzuyu paused for a moment, her gaze sweeping over Dahyun's long, untidy hair that always covered most of her face whenever she slumped on the desk to sleep. "...First, you have to come watch my soccer championship match next Friday. Second..." Tzuyu pointed at the other girl's hair, the tips of her ears starting to turn red. "...you have to tie your hair up in a neat bun when you come to the stadium. I'm extremely sick of looking at your messy bird's nest."
Dahyun froze slightly. She hated crowded, noisy places the most, hated the scorching sun of the soccer pitch, and hated even more having to fumble with a hair tie to put her hair up instead of just leaving it down for the convenience of sleeping. But looking at the arrogantly defiant face of the tall girl in front of her, Dahyun burst into laughter.
"Alright then. Deal."
In the days that followed, the entire high school witnessed a Chou Tzuyu acting as if possessed, simultaneously practicing soccer and muttering a bunch of Physics theories.
"She's gone crazy," Yoo Jeongyeon said in horror, pointing toward the field.
"Just ignore her, the doctor said to let the illness run its natural course," Park Jihyo shook her head in exasperation, stuffing the last piece of bread into her mouth.
Her obsession with the number 90 turned Tzuyu into a study machine. She chewed three ballpoint pen caps to pieces, staying up until her dark circles could rival a panda's. But Tzuyu wasn't fighting alone.
On Tuesday morning, when Tzuyu sluggishly slumped onto her desk, she found a glaringly bright yellow sticky note attached to her milk carton: "Don't forget the formulas. Memorize them, or prepare to be a sunshade for the rest of your life, idiot."
"Chou Tzuyu." The Physics teacher's voice rang out. "Your progress is highly commendable. 88 points."
The whole class erupted in cheers, but Tzuyu's shoulders slumped. It was a fantastic number compared to her bottom-of-the-class past, but it was a bitter defeat compared to the 90-point goal of their bet. Tzuyu trudged back to her seat, placing the test paper on the desk of the person sitting behind her.
"I lost," Tzuyu sighed. "From tomorrow on, do you want your soy milk hot or cold? And I will voluntarily act as your sunshade until graduation."
Kim Dahyun looked at the dejected face of the tall girl in front of her. The corners of her lips twitched slightly, as if she were trying to suppress an emotion. "Warm, less sugar. And remember to sit up a bit straighter, your wind-blocking has been a bit lacking lately."
Tzuyu nodded, quietly turning back around. Bleacher A would probably be empty tomorrow afternoon.
The school stadium on the afternoon of the finals was packed with people. Tzuyu was standing in the middle of the pitch warming up, her eyes unconsciously sweeping over the Bleacher A area. Of course, she lost the bet, so why would someone who hated the sun and noise like Kim Dahyun bother coming out here?
"Tzuyu! Focus!" Jihyo yelled loudly from the goal box, tossing a ball to her.
Tzuyu chested the ball down, preparing to swing her leg when suddenly, a blinding flash of light reflected off the aluminum railing on the stands and shone straight into her eyes. Tzuyu squinted, looking up.
Right on the aisle steps of Bleacher A, a girl was slowly walking down. She was wearing a pristine white uniform shirt, one hand holding a mini fan aimed straight at her face with a look of extreme annoyance at the heat.
However, the thing that made Tzuyu freeze in her tracks was Kim Dahyun's hair. It was tied up neatly into a high bun, a few stray hairs fluttering in the wind, exposing a pale white nape glowing under the sunlight. Dahyun had no obligation to do this; Tzuyu was the one who had lost the bet. Yet, her presence created a scene so breathtaking that Tzuyu felt as if someone had just volleyed a shot straight through her heart. Amidst the vast sea of people, her eyes couldn't focus on anyone else besides that girl scowling at the heat.
As if sensing the intense stare from the pitch, Dahyun stopped. She located Tzuyu's position amidst a forest of numbered jerseys. Catching the dazed gaze of the captain, the tips of Dahyun's ears suddenly turned bright red. She awkwardly cleared her throat, then pretending nothing was wrong, cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone and yelled down:
"What are you looking at?! You still owe me soy milk, so play properly, you idiot!"
Tzuyu snapped back to reality at the starting whistle. Blood raced through her veins as adrenaline flooded every muscle. Her smile widened to a new height. She had to win today!
The distinct smell of rubbing alcohol assaulted her nose, making Chou Tzuyu wince slightly. Lying flat on the bed, she hissed in pain as she tried to shift her right ankle, which was swollen to the size of a baseball. Outside the window, a sudden summer downpour had started. The sound of rain battered against the glass pane, washing away the sweltering heat of the championship match from earlier.
Tzuyu's team had won the championship, but at the cost of their great captain being carried straight to the infirmary after sacrificing her body to save a ball in the final minutes of stoppage time. She had shooed Jihyo and the others back out to the pitch to receive the trophy on her behalf, leaving her alone in this room.
The bone-deep pain in her ankle was real, but if given the choice again, Tzuyu swore she still would have run with all her might to block that ball. Because at the exact moment she fell to the pitch, through the corner of her sweat-blurred eyes, she had managed to see someone jump up with an expression of sheer panic.
"Idiot," Tzuyu muttered to herself, the corners of her lips unconsciously curling up into a goofy smile.
The infirmary door was violently pushed open, slamming against the wall with a loud bang that made Tzuyu jump. Kim Dahyun, who usually complained about walking more than ten meters, was now panting heavily. Her white uniform shirt was speckled with rain, clinging to one shoulder. Her previously neat hair now had a few soaking wet strands sticking to her cheeks.
Before Tzuyu could even open her mouth, Dahyun took long strides straight to the bedside. Her usually sluggish eyes now flared with angry fire. "Are you crazy, Chou Tzuyu? Is your brain made entirely of muscles and straw? It was just a casual school match, yet you threw yourself into blocking the ball as if you were competing for the World Cup? Do you have any idea how much a sprained ankle hurts, you brainless long-legged jerk?!"
"I..." Tzuyu hesitated, stealthily trying to retract her swollen foot a bit, but the pain made her hiss softly.
"Sit still!" Dahyun snapped, glaring at Tzuyu before spinning around toward the nurse's supply cabinet.
She fumbled around searching for a moment, then brought over an ice pack and a tube of pain-relief gel. Pulling a stool over to sit next to the bed, Dahyun didn't bother looking at Tzuyu's face, directly pulling the other girl's leg to place it on her lap.
"Ah! Gentle... gently, Dahyun," Tzuyu grimaced and cried out.
"Serves you right," Dahyun scolded, but the movements of her hands completely betrayed her words. She carefully squeezed some gel onto her hand, using her soft fingers to gently rub it evenly around Tzuyu's swollen ankle. The pressure was controlled so perfectly that Tzuyu only felt a cool, soothing sensation without any pain.
Tzuyu sat up straight, bowing her head to stare intently at the top of Dahyun's head. Dahyun's shoulder was still wet, and a few raindrops lingering on her delicate forehead looked as if they were about to fall. She clearly hated noise, hated physical activity, and hated getting wet in the rain the most, yet she had sprinted all the way here from the stands just for the loser of a bet.
"You're all wet," Tzuyu's voice unconsciously became incredibly tender.
"Isn't it all because of you, you idiot?" Dahyun reached for the ice pack and pressed it lightly against the swelling. "If I catch a cold, there won't be anyone to draft your exam study guides for you."
Tzuyu reached out, brushing away a raindrop clinging to Dahyun's cheek. This sudden, intimate gesture made Dahyun's hand movements freeze. She slowly looked up, their gazes colliding across a distance of merely an arm's reach.
"What are you smiling at?" Dahyun furrowed her brows, but her ears had already started rebelling, flushing red. "You really are an idiot. Incurably stupid."
"Yeah. I'm an idiot," Tzuyu didn't argue back at all. "But I'm an idiot, which is why I noticed a sharp-tongued, grumpy person who always treats me like a sunshade... like you, Kim Dahyun."
Dahyun's hand holding the ice pack trembled slightly. She hurriedly lowered her face, shoving the ice pack into Tzuyu's hands as if it were a scalding hot roasted sweet potato. "Do... do it yourself. Always getting so used to relying on others."
Tzuyu held the ice pack, leaning her back against the headboard. Her ankle was still throbbing in waves, and outside the rain was still pouring heavily, but looking at the person awkwardly tidying up the medical cotton and bandages in the corner of the room, Tzuyu felt as if a brilliant sun was shining right inside her heart.
Mr. Kang's History class was always considered the most stressful period in school. But for the back corner of the classroom, it was the ideal time to host a miniature tea party. Under her desk, Chou Tzuyu was peeling the wrapper off an energy bar without making a single sound, while Yoo Jeongyeon stealthily passed a bag of spicy grilled squid chips from across the aisle. Right behind her, Kim Dahyun kept her face buried behind a propped-up textbook, but if one looked closely, her mouth was rhythmically chewing the gummy candy Tzuyu had handed her earlier.
Everything was going incredibly smoothly, right until Jeongyeon accidentally misjudged her throw, sending the bag of chips flying straight into Park Jihyo's head. It landed right in the aisle between the two rows just as Mr. Kang was walking down.
"Park Jihyo! Yoo Jeongyeon! Chou Tzuyu!" Mr. Kang's voice boomed like thunder, his wooden ruler smacking sharply against a desk. "You dare throw a feast during my class? You sports team girls are always like this, empty-headed and only caring about eating and playing. Do you think having a few athletic achievements means you can flout school discipline?"
Getting caught sneaking food was one thing Tzuyu would admit to, but having the entire sports team dragged through the mud and insulted was something her ego couldn't swallow. She was just opening her mouth, ready to snap back, when an incredibly ill-timed noise rang out.
All eyes, including Mr. Kang's and Tzuyu's, simultaneously snapped toward the very last desk. Kim Dahyun slowly set down an empty carton of soy milk, pulled a white wireless earbud hidden beneath her disheveled hair out of her ear, and looked up at Mr. Kang with her signature sluggish gaze.
"Kim Dahyun!" Mr. Kang turned red with anger. "You saw your classmates breaking the rules and didn't call them out, and you even casually listen to music during my class?"
Instead of panicking, Dahyun merely blinked and replied with absolute nonchalance: "Sir, I didn't call them out because I'm an accomplice. I just ate Tzuyu's gummy candy. Furthermore, I wore my earbud because your voice was a bit too loud when you were scolding them, and it was slightly bothering me."
The whole class dropped their jaws, turning around to stare at Kim Dahyun. This genius had gone crazy! Not only did she admit to sneaking food, but she also confessed to slacking off and even criticized the teacher for being noisy!
"Out! All of you! Go out to the middle of the schoolyard and do 100 frog leaps for me! Right now!" Mr. Kang roared, pointing straight at the classroom door.
If doing 100 frog leaps under the ten o'clock morning sun was just a muscle-taxing exercise for Tzuyu's sports crew, then for Kim Dahyun, it was a literal death sentence. Barely at the 20th rep, Dahyun's legs were trembling like willow branches in the wind, and sweat was pouring down, plastering her bangs to her pale forehead. She let out labored, heavy breaths, gritting her teeth as she dragged herself forward half a meter at a time.
Tzuyu, who was leading the line, glanced back and saw the pitiful state of her "parasite," and proactively slowed her jumps. Her ankle had completely healed since the finals last month, but in her head, she was using this flimsy excuse to gradually drop back toward the end, aligning herself parallel with Dahyun, using her tall shadow to block the glaring sunlight beating straight down on the other girl.
"Crazy weirdo," Tzuyu muttered. Every time she leaped, she sneakily reached out to support Dahyun under her elbow, easing the burden of gravity for her. "If you had just stayed quiet, the teacher would've let it go. Why'd you randomly provoke him?"
"You think... I wanted to?" Dahyun replied with difficulty, relying on the support from Tzuyu's hand to stand up and squat down. "He was too noisy... I just stated the truth."
"Truth my foot! Look at your legs, they're about to turn to jelly!"
By the 50th rep, just as Mr. Kang turned his back to step into the shade for a drink of water, the whole group seemed to share telepathy, simultaneously collapsing onto the artificial turf.
Dahyun flopped down right next to Tzuyu, lying spread-eagle on her back. The clear blue sky drifted past her eyes, her chest heaving violently, her lungs feeling as if they were on fire. But strangely enough, instead of being grumpy like usual, the corners of Dahyun's lips slowly pulled up.
"Turns out... being a delinquent student is this tiring," Dahyun turned her head to look at Tzuyu, her monolids curving into two beautiful crescent moons because of her smile. The beads of sweat on her forehead reflected the sunlight, making her face glow. "But, rebelling a little bit from time to time... is actually pretty fun."
Tzuyu lay on her side, propped up on her elbow, staring blankly at the smile of the person beside her. Her heart had just been beating erratically because of the frog leaps, but now it was pounding even harder for a completely different reason. She only hoped that right now, Yoo Jeongyeon and Park Jihyo would continue to ignore them, so she could fully savor this moment.
"Kim Dahyun," Tzuyu reached out to brush away a blade of grass stuck to the other girl's cheek. "Next time you want to be a bad student, I'll protect you."
Dahyun blinked, the smile on her lips faltering slightly as the tips of her ears began to flush red under the sun. She awkwardly turned her face away to look at the sky, scolding her under her breath: "You cheesy long-legged jerk. Nobody asked you."
The bitter north winds of early winter howled through the bare tree branches outside the schoolyard, bringing a bone-chilling cold. The Suneung exam was less than a month away.
On the podium, Ms. Lee was going over the Chemistry mock exam. Down below, students buried their heads in thick stacks of materials, no one daring to look up. Except for one person.
Chou Tzuyu turned around, staring intently at Kim Dahyun. For three days now, Dahyun hadn't slumped onto her desk to sleep like usual. She sat with her back straight, engrossed in solving mock exams with a frantic intensity. But her slender back beneath the uniform sweater kept shuddering in faint waves, and her breathing was so heavy that Tzuyu could hear it clearly.
"Stop solving them. Take a break." Tzuyu used the back end of her ballpoint pen to lightly poke Dahyun's shoulder, lowering her voice to a whisper.
Dahyun didn't answer. The pen in her hand kept moving, but her handwriting had started to become distorted, veering off the lines. Suddenly, Dahyun's hand slipped completely, the pen rolling onto the floor. Before Tzuyu could bend down to pick it up, Dahyun's entire body swayed and collapsed onto the desk.
"Kim Dahyun!" Tzuyu cried out, disregarding the fact that Ms. Lee was standing on the podium. She hurriedly rolled Dahyun over by her shoulder. The genius's face was now pale as a sheet, her lips dry and cracked, and her forehead, when touched, was radiating heat like a furnace.
Without saying a word, Tzuyu whipped off her oversized jacket and draped it over Dahyun. She wrapped her arms around the girl's legs, easily hoisting her feather-light frame onto her back.
"I'm taking her to the infirmary!" Tzuyu tossed a curt explanation at Ms. Lee before rushing straight out the door.
The winter hallway was freezing cold. Dahyun lay on Tzuyu's back, her ragged, burning breaths brushing against Tzuyu's ear. Her small hands unconsciously gripped the hem of Tzuyu's uniform tightly, an instinctual search for an anchor. Tzuyu gritted her teeth, taking the longest strides possible, her heart pounding heavily in her chest.
When Dahyun painfully fluttered her eyelids open, she was met with the familiar stark white ceiling of the infirmary. The faint smell of rubbing alcohol mixed with... a very familiar, soft, sweet scent.
Chou Tzuyu was sitting in the chair right next to the bed. Her giant puffer jacket was still covering Dahyun. Meanwhile, Tzuyu was only wearing a thin sweater, her two hands tightly cupping a paper carton of soy milk to preserve its warmth. The school's great captain looked incredibly battered right now: her hair was a mess, the dark circles under her eyes were prominent, and the bridge of her nose was flushed red from the cold.
Noticing the person on the bed moving, Tzuyu immediately shot up, her eyes overflowing with anxiety as they hastily locked onto Dahyun. "You're awake? Do you still feel dizzy? Are you thirsty?" Tzuyu fired off a barrage of questions, her hands clumsily poking the straw into the soy milk carton before bringing it close to Dahyun's mouth. "Drink up, my mom just brought it in a while ago, it's still warm."
Dahyun obediently took the straw into her mouth. The warm, sweet milk flowed down into her stomach, slowly reawakening her exhausted senses. She glanced at the wall clock. Four in the afternoon.
"Did you skip soccer practice?" Dahyun's voice was weak. "Today is the final roster selection for the Sports University team, isn't it?"
"Soccer my foot!" Tzuyu snapped, but her hands still carefully tucked the edges of the blanket around Dahyun. "Are you planning to become the valedictorian of the medical school as a dried-up corpse, Kim Dahyun? Do you have a death wish or something?"
"I have to get into the medical school in Seoul." Dahyun bit her lip, her voice so soft it seemed like it would shatter in the air. "The cut-off scores went up this year. If I slack off for even a second... I won't make it."
She looked up at Tzuyu, those usually proud and nonchalant eyes now harboring a heartbreaking vulnerability. "It's fine for you, you've already secured a direct admission spot to the Sports University. As for me... if I pass, I'll have to move up to Seoul. We... won't be studying together anymore."
The atmosphere in the infirmary suddenly fell into a heavy silence. The trajectories of a future doctor and a professional athlete... seemed like two parallel lines that would never intersect again after this graduation ceremony.
Tzuyu's hand holding the milk carton trembled slightly. But then, instead of pulling away, she placed the carton down on the table, reached out, and gently gripped the corner of Dahyun's uniform sweater.
"Idiot. Just keep running. Keep running to the medical university of your dreams. Become the most outstanding Dr. Kim."
Tzuyu's thumb lightly stroked the back of Dahyun's freezing hand, transferring her warmth to her. "As for me, my legs are this long, aren't they? Whether you're in Seoul or anywhere else, I'll run fast enough to catch up to you. Just go, Kim Dahyun. Whenever you turn around, I will always be right behind you. I promise."
Dahyun stared blankly at the tall person in front of her. Her nose stung, her vision unconsciously blurring with a thin layer of mist. All the pressure, all the fear accumulated over the past months was suddenly and thoroughly soothed by that foolish promise.
She turned her face away to hide the tears threatening to spill, but her hand obediently let Tzuyu hold it. "You talk a big game. Then you better practice running faster, you sunshade."
Thanks to the progress of technology, Tzuyu kept in touch with Dahyun for the first few months of college. However, as expected, their workloads increasingly piled up, and communication started to strain under the pressure of time. Gradually, the messages became sparse, and by the end of their freshman year, their exchanges ceased entirely. No official goodbyes were ever said. The distance between them just quietly widened, filled with the lingering regrets of youth.
There were nights when Tzuyu won a gold medal and picked up her phone, intending to call and brag, only to realize it was already 3 AM. And there were snowy afternoons in Seoul when Dahyun finished her shift and started typing, "It's so cold in Seoul today," before hesitantly deleting it, afraid to disturb the other's packed competition schedule.
Eleven years slipped by through sweltering summers and freezing winters. Kim Dahyun completed her residency at a top-tier hospital, while Chou Tzuyu, after her peak competition years, retired to become a fitness coach.
One late autumn day, a pink and gold wedding invitation arrives in Tzuyu’s mailbox, accompanied by a familiar, threatening text from Park Jihyo: "If you don't show up, I'm rallying the old high school soccer team to flatten your gym."
Tzuyu looks at the card, a faint smile playing on her lips. She sets aside her training plans and reaches for her coat. This trip isn't just about celebrating a dear friend; deep down, she knows exactly who her heart has been waiting to see.
Park Jihyo’s wedding is held at one of the most luxurious venues in Seoul. Amidst the melodious music and the clinking of glasses, the table for the high school clique is as chaotic as ever. Tzuyu wears a tailored charcoal grey suit that accentuates her tall frame and long legs. She sips her wine, smiling as she listens to Yoo Jeongyeon complain about work. Everyone at the table is accompanied by a partner.
"Sorry I'm late. There was an emergency at the hospital."
Gone is the ink-stained uniform and the messy hair. The twenty-nine-year-old Kim Dahyun wears an elegant navy blue suit, her hair pulled into a neat bun that reveals her porcelain neck. She pulls out the empty chair right next to Tzuyu and sits down.
"Still tall as a radio tower, aren't you, Chou Tzuyu?"
"And you still look just as sleep-deprived as you did in high school," Tzuyu retorts, trying to keep her voice steady even though her heart is screaming to break free. "Is Dr. Kim too busy to find a date for a wedding?"
"My boyfriend is busy with hospital duty," Dahyun shrugs nonchalantly, picking up a piece of salmon.
Tzuyu feels her chest tighten. A sour, bitter ache rises in her throat. So the girl she once chased belongs to someone else now. She forces a polite smile, about to offer some hollow congratulations, but Dahyun continues:
"I'm kidding. We broke up ages ago. No one can stand my weird lifestyle. What about the great Captain? Don't tell me you’ve been sleeping with a soccer ball all these years?"
"I..." Tzuyu stammers, her ears turning bright red just like they did years ago. "I was busy competing."
Suddenly, Jihyo is on stage, tossing the bouquet. The crowd cheers and pushes forward. By a reflex carved into her very bones, Tzuyu steps aside, using her broad shoulders to shield Dahyun from the jostling guests, creating a small, quiet pocket of air just for the two of them.
Dahyun looks up at Tzuyu’s steady back. No matter how many years pass, this idiot still reacts instinctively whenever she's surrounded by noise.
"The weather in Seoul has been strange lately," Dahyun suddenly says.
"What?" Tzuyu turns back, confused by the random remark.
"The sun is often harsh, and I always forget to bring my umbrella." Dahyun blinks, the corners of her lips curling into a familiar teasing smile. "Besides, years ago, a certain long-legged idiot made a bold promise that she would run fast enough to catch up to me. Yet here we are, and I still had to show up at her best friend's wedding myself just to remind her. Turns out, is that all the speed you've got?"
Tzuyu's ears immediately flush red. She opens her mouth to retort, but finding herself completely at a loss for words, she only manages to let out a foolish stammer: "I... I..."
Looking at Tzuyu's flustered face, Dahyun's eyes soften. "So I guess I have no choice but to find my 'host' myself. That contract from back then... is it still valid?"
Tzuyu's heart skips a beat, then instantly begins to pound stronger than ever. Completely ignoring the hundreds of guests, Tzuyu decisively pulls Dahyun into her arms.
Dahyun is slightly startled, but feeling the warmth and the rapid heartbeat radiating from the other's chest, she relaxes, leaning her full weight against Tzuyu’s shoulder.
Tzuyu buries her face into the crook of Dahyun's neck, tightening the embrace. Her deep, warm voice murmurs right by Dahyun's ear, melting into the romantic background music: "You're right. I've been slow, so you can hold me accountable for the rest of my life. Valid forever, Kim Dahyun."