young & wild | chaeyu

third ; thanks

third ; thanks

1240

She had long, black hair tucked back behind her ears and a natural beauty to her style. Her eyes were entrancing, and she had an overall charisma Chaeyoung yearned for.

"Hello," she said shyly, glancing down at the floor. "Sorry to be in your way. My name is Chou Tzuyu, I'm from the Taiwanese branch."

Chaeyoung couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face at the sound of the lilting, gentle accent. "Nice to meet you," she said. "I'm Chaeyoung. I work here as a staff member."

Tzuyu smiled with uncertainty. "I'm a model," she told Chaeyoung. "In Taiwan. And now here."

Chaeyoung wasn't surprised. Tzuyu was incredibly pretty, and her height and graceful posture would make her look like a model in any kind of circumstance. Speaking of height, Chaeyoung felt incredibly small. The height difference between them was probably about ten centimeters, so not too unusual for the smaller girl, but it was intimidating.

"You look beautiful," complimented Chaeyoung. Tzuyu couldn't hide her small smile from the compliment. She was aware of her beauty, she was a model, and it wasn't unusual for people to comment on her beauty. But it still felt odd, for someone to just see her as beautiful within moments of meeting. Tzuyu wasn't complaining about it, it was nice, but she also felt as if she was being overlooked. She'd come to YW with the hopes of becoming a singer and an idol, not just a model.

But Tzuyu didn't want to think about that right then. She wanted to concentrate on the fact that she was talking to a nice person in Korean-- she was glad that her studies had at least allowed her to hold a simple conversation without sounding too stupid. The last thing Tzuyu wanted was to be seen as some kind of dummy with a pretty face.

"Thank you," responded Tzuyu, her eyes darting down to the floor. She felt the smaller girl's gaze remain firmly on her, and she felt a flush of embarrassment. What was Chaeyoung thinking? Did she think that Tzuyu wasn't beautiful enough to be a model? Was she unable to understand what she was saying through Tzuyu's accent?

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" asked Chaeyoung, concern in her voice as she noted the way Tzuyu wouldn't meet her eyes.

"No, I'm fine," Tzuyu reassured her, offering a small smile that made Chaeyoung want to melt.

Before Chaeyoung could say anything more, Jeongyeon had made her way over to the pair. She seized them up for a second, a calculating look on her face. "Chaeyoung," she asked, her voice level and serious. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Of course, Miss Yoo," agreed Chaeyoung, thought not without a cold edge to her voice. She liked Jeongyeon, she always had. Despite having little time together, due to Jeongyeon's job as manager of foreign models-- people like Tzuyu, Chaeyoung realized-- the pair had always got along well. She, along with Nayeon, had been like the older sisters Chaeyoung had always wanted to have. She'd liked her ever since Jeongyeon told her a terrible joke that was exactly Chaeyoung's style. Whenever Jeongyeon was out of the country, Chaeyoung had sent her silly jokes to cheer her up. But ever since she broke things off with Nayeon, Chaeyoung hadn't had the heart to send any more. She couldn't be mad at her, there were probably elements of the relationship that she never knew about, but it left a bitter feeling in her chest.

Jeongyeon led Chaeyoung out away from the chaos.

"Alright, I know you're probably upset with me," Jeongyeon began. "And I can't blame you for that, but I promise I have my reasons. But I have a favor to ask of you. With everything that's going on, I can't tutor my foreign trainees and artists. I'm trying to split up who's being trained by who, and it seems like you and Tzuyu are getting along. Can you help her learn more fluent Korean? She's smart, and she's already got the ropes of the language down, so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle." Jeongyeon had an almost desperate look on her face, and underneath her professional aura, Chaeyoung could sense her exhaustion. The change of location and recent split with Nayeon was a lot to handle at once, but she did hide it well.

Chaeyoung hesitated. She wasn't opposed to helping out Tzuyu, but she didn't know the girl well enough to make a serious commitment to her. And something deep within Chaeyoung wanted to say no to Jeongyeon just to spite her and inflict some of the stress Nayeon had felt from their split. She wouldn't act on that part of her, but it was still there, and Chaeyoung couldn't ignore that, as much as she wanted to.

"Please," Jeongyeon asked softly. "I can't pay you more now, but when the company gets back on its feet, I promise I'll try to give you a raise. And if I can't do that, I'll just pay you from my own pockets. I'm just busy trying to figure out a bunch of stuff, and trying to find people willing to help the girls is just-- it's hard, Chae."

"You don't need to pay me," Chaeyoung told her. "I'll help out Tzuyu willingly, and if any others need help, I'll try to help them too. I'm just a little upset with you right now. I'm trying not to be, it's not my business anyways, but I just care about Nayeon a lot and you really hurt her. But I'm not taking that out on Tzuyu."

Jeongyeon breathed out a smile of relief. "Thank you so much, Chaeyoung. I needed some good news right about now."

The younger girl smiled back, although with a bit of uncertainty.

Jeongyeon led Chaeyoung back to Tzuyu, who had shrunk to the side of the large entrance room where people mingled with one another, exchanging pleasantries and catching up with friends. She was, Chaeyoung assumed, a fairly new idol that hadn't been around when their only building was located in Seoul. It didn't help that the branch she was from was tiny-- probably only a handful of employees and enough trainees to count on one hand. Chaeyoung wouldn't surprised if she was the only active idol from there. And if she was more introverted by nature, that would make things even harder. Suddenly, Chaeyoung felt a flare of protectiveness within her. She wanted to help Tzuyu. She wanted to teach her and befriend her and make her feel supported and appreciated.

Cut it out, Chaeyoung scolded herself as she and Jeongyeon closed the distance between them and her. You only just learned her name, don't be dramatic.

"Tzuyu," began Jeongyeon, before explaining the situation in Mandarin. Chaeyoung could hear just from listening that she spoke choppily, and with an accent, but it wasn't like she had a bunch of time to study. Besides, Tzuyu listened attentively, and was likely used to the way Jeongyeon spoke, seeing as Jeongyeon was her main manager.

The secretary watched as a shy smile broke out on Tzuyu's face. She turned to Chaeyoung and bowed her head in thanks. "Thank you, Miss Son."

Chaeyoung's eyes widened. "No, no, no. Please, I'm just Chaeyoung. I'd rather be your friend than your teacher."

The smile on the beautiful model's face widened. "Thank you, Chaeyoung."

a/n: what is your favorite ship within twice? i don't really have a favorite romantic ship, but i love the leader/maknae dynamic between jihyo and tzuyu a lot! maybe i'll incorporate it into this story too ;)