Family Complex | TWICE!FamilyAU

Ch9

Dahyun frowned at the obscene amount of leftovers they had in the freezer. Her father went on a cooking and cleaning frenzy, something he only did when he was stressed. Things had been tense around the house lately, especially with the boys always out late at night.

She tried to lighten the mood, but she had been busy and was too tired when she got home. The only consolation was that Tzuyu didn't seem affected at all and was seemingly preoccupied with her own thoughts.

She sighed and made a mental note to hand out some of the food to their neighbors. She grabbed a water bottle on her way out and turned the lights off.

She carefully traversed up the stairs. The house was completely quiet, with very little light provided by the moonlight. Everyone was already in their rooms except for Jihyo and Chaeyoung, who weren't home yet.

Jihyo refused to leave the office without finishing every piece of paperwork that was given to him. He'd been doing that for days now. Even their mother, Nayeon, the one who gave him such a workload in the first place, was getting worried.

As for Chaeyoung, the young cub was spending most of his time in the library. Not just a library, but the library. What's so special about this one? Apparently, it's open 24/7.

Dahyun doesn't really understand, but it seems like he's taking his studies more seriously now. Yippee?

Just as she was about to open the door to her room, a quiet voice was heard.

"Unnie..."

"HOLY SH—" A firm hand was suddenly covering her mouth, preventing her from screaming. It was Tzuyu. The tall maknae immediately let her go just as she started turning blue from the lack of oxygen.

"Jisoos, Yoda! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Dahyun hissed, scolding the tall girl. She pressed a hand against her chest, trying to calm down. "Jumpscare much?"

"Sorry for scaring you, unnie. But could we talk? I need to ask you something..." Tzuyu mumbled sheepishly, her eyes flicking down to Dahyun's. She stood there awkwardly with a guilt-ridden look on her face.

"Uh, sure," Dahyun waved her off before slowly swinging the door open. She made a beeline for her bed and placed the water bottle on her nightstand. She flopped onto the bed and then patted the spot beside her. "So, what's up?"

As Tzuyu sat down, she noticed the tall girl's hesitation as she began to fiddle with the hem of her pajama shirt. "I couldn't sleep. Something came up at school..."

'Wait, is this—'

It took a moment, but Dahyun felt herself smile, and that smile widened into an impossibly huge grin. She coughed, trying to hide it.

Was Tzuyu trying to initiate a girl talk? Smart, tall, goddess-like, savage Tzuyu? 

If that jumpscare earlier didn't wipe the sleep out of her eyes, then the possibility of bonding with her ever-brooding younger sister definitely energized her now.

What a wonderful time to be alive!

"You're an alumna of my high school, right?" the maknae asked slowly.

She nodded, pretending to be nonchalant about the tall girl’s question, but internally she was screaming in happiness. Tzuyu never talked about school before; when asked, she would normally just nod, shrug, or give monosyllabic answers. This was already a step in the right direction. "Both Eomma and I went there. Why? Did they change some policies or something?"

"Uhh, no? I just—Dahyunnie, you have friends, right?" She rubbed her neck before continuing, "Girl friends."

"Of course, Tzu." Friends? Tzuyu has friends?! A possibility of an actual social life? Dahyun kept herself calm despite how her curiosity was literally clawing at her. She summoned all her strength, trying not to say anything that might scare the tall maknae away.

Tzuyu had always been closed off from everyone outside of their immediate family. Perhaps it was because she was so independent and mature for her age that it made other people's expectations of her set a little too high.

That was also the reason why everyone in their family doted on and babied her. But Dahyun felt that they were stunting her growth.

"I have this friend from school, and she's very touchy with me." A friend. Singular. But it was proof of life. The tofu-like girl clenched her hands until they formed fists, already trying to suppress another smile. "Is that normal?"

Dahyun found solace in this newfound discovery because having a social life outside of their family would help Tzuyu have a better perspective of the world. "Skinship between girls is normal. Why?"

"It's making me feel weird..." Tzuyu's voice comes out in a whisper.

"Good weird or bad weird?" Dahyun blinked, her smile dropping.

The tall maknae flailed her hands around, trying to find the right words before ultimately shrugging. Tzuyu had always been bold and to the point. She only says something that vague when she has absolutely no idea how to convey her thoughts.

"You should tell her to stop if it bothers you; I'm sure she'll understand. Probably." The tofu-like girl frowned as the maknae mumbled something she could barely hear.

"Pardon?"

"I said I don't want her to stop..." Tzuyu glanced down at her lap for a moment before looking at her sister with an unreadable expression. "Does that make me weird?"

'Oh...'

"Oh wow, okay... listen, Yoda. A little skinship with your friends doesn't hurt. You've seen how eomma is, right? Now, that's just being attached." Dahyun reached out and grasped Tzuyu’s bicep, giving her a small squeeze of reassurance.

"I see... so it's okay for me to touch her too?" Tzuyu asked, a small smile curling at the edge of her lips.

Dahyun stared at the maknae as her brain short-circuited, trying to process what she had just heard. She was dumbfounded. It was one thing to be okay with touching; the tall maknae tolerated it when it came to their family—sans Nayeon. But Tzuyu touching another human being... on purpose? Without being forced to, but because she wanted to?

'She must've really liked this friend, huh...'

"Yes, as long as it's consensual." Setting her emotionally confused internal battle aside for now, she tried to joke, resorting back to humor, but it went over Tzuyu's head.

"Okay. Thank you, unnie." She nodded, utterly content. The tall maknae stood up and went towards the door. She looked back just before exiting.

"I'm really thankful, unnie. Talking to you really helped me a lot." She smiled sincerely before slipping out of the room and heading back to her own, leaving Dahyun alone with her thoughts...

She blinked after a moment, wondering if all of that actually just happened or if she had hallucinated it all. Tzuyu opening up to her about school and a friend. She sagged onto her bed, flopping face down onto the pillow and screamed, 'Oh my gosh, Tzuyoda has a friend!'

What a wonderful time to be alive, indeed!

All that excitement tired her out, so she immediately started to prepare for bed. Removing her makeup, washing her face, brushing her teeth, changing into her pajamas, and thanking the gods up in the heavens for blessing her eyes with Momo's abs—a totally normal night routine. But somehow, in the back of her mind, Dahyun couldn't help but feel like there was some context being deliberately left out during their conversation.

She just shrugged it off. Baby steps. They'll get there someday...