Curious [Twice Fanfiction]

IV

Sign Language. That was what she was reading the next day and eventually, the entire month.

No matter what she was reading, Tzuyu always found it interesting, even if it was something that would've bored her to death.

Even though her usual greetings which stopped after the embarrassing fiasco (which Tzuyu still had no idea why the bookworm was the embarrassed one) saddened her a little, watching her attempting all the sign languages with her hands still proved to be a hilarious fit and that cheered her up.

There were times when her forehead would crease in confusion or surprise, and times when her hands and fingers would flail around wildly. That entertained Tzuyu when she had enough of her music for the day.

Perhaps she's learning them for the sake of the deaf children who lives in the orphanage downtown. How nice of her, Tzuyu had thought.

Then again, who was she kidding? She was a kind person.

—————

She wasn't at her usual reading spot when Tzuyu came. An oddity within the perfect timing in which she often kept just for the sake of her. A flaw in her perfect attendance.

But Tzuyu was not worried. Perhaps she was sick. After all, the weather seems to be chilly these days. Fall is coming; she could hear its faint song in the atmosphere, those faint echoes of breeze in the air.

Tzuyu had figured out that that day would be rather uneventful and it would just be her, music and a whole lot of staring into space so she put her earphones on. She was about to let herself be lulled to a sojourn in fantasy when she saw those familiar Vans walking towards her.

She came.

“Hello.” After an entire month of not greeting her, after an entire month of missing that voice that she came to adore so much, she finally greeted her again. Even with her earphones on, she could hear her since she stood right in front of her. Tzuyu was about to respond to that greeting when she was silenced by the goddess's index finger.

An electrical spark. That was what Tzuyu felt when she placed her finger on her lips. A spark that ignited another flame of warmth in her. Their first touch. Their first real connection.

Eventually, she removed her finger from Tzuyu's lips, and Tzuyu found herself craving for that connection once more. She watched the finger that touched her lips as it hovered in the air, creating weird gestures. Tzuyu's face contorted in puzzlement, wondering what on earth she was doing.

Then it struck Tzuyu.

“Hello.” For the first time ever, she was able to say it back to her. Her voice had somehow came out raspy but it didn't matter more than the significance of that moment. She tried again. “I can't read sign language, sorry.”

That elicited a gasp from the reading goddess.

“You can talk; you're not mute! And not deaf too! Dear lord, you never respond to my hellos and I must've made a mistake the other day. I'm so sorry!” She did that 90° bow that Tzuyu finds amusing.

At least now she had the courage to talk to her. “You learned sign language for me?” Tzuyu had to stifle a laugh at the situation.

“Well, when you tried to respond the other day but couldn't, I thought that, you know, perhaps you're mute...” The bookworm admitted all that embarrassingly.

But for Tzuyu, it was nice of her to learn sign language for the sake of communicating with her even after finding out that Tzuyu couldn't even read it. She wasn't even offended in the slightest bit.

“It's fine. It's really amazing of you to learn sign in a month for someone who can't even read it.” And Tzuyu meant it. Give her a guide on sign language and she would take forever to master it.

Tzuyu noticed that she was still embarrassed about it.

So she let her courage speak for her. “My name is Chou Tzuyu.”

She called upon her lionheart and stuck out her hand, which the bookworm instantly accepted. She was warm, much like her personality.

Then she proclaimed a name Tzuyu will never forget from thereon.

“Im Nayeon.”