young & wild | chaeyu

seventh ; greeting

 Truthfully, Chaeyoung couldn't believe how quickly she adjusted to seeing the foreign trainees every day. Besides the small group of Korean ones she was used to seeing around, including Dahyun, she was now in the presence of the newly moved-in foreign artists, such as Tzuyu.

And as for Tzuyu, neither of the girls had tried to have a full conversation with each other since the slightly awkward meeting at the cafe down the street. But it was chewing Chaeyoung up inside, reminding her that Jeongyeon had asked a favor of her, and that was to help Tzuyu adjust to the different language and culture. It shouldn't have been hard to just walk up to the taller girl and ask if she wanted to practice her Korean skills. But it was. Tzuyu was just too beautiful, too tall, and too intimidating. And whenever Chaeyoung finally could build up the nerve just to go say hi, she'd start worrying about how Tzuyu had seemed somewhat uncomfortable in Chaeyoung's presence-- and the last thing Chaeyoung wanted was for Tzuyu to be upset because of her.

It was already clear from the small outburst that Tzuyu had on their way to the cafe only a few short days ago that she was already harboring quite a bit of self-consciousness and guilt. Chaeyoung didn't want to do anything to make Tzuyu feel unwelcome. Still, wouldn't it be better to at least talk to her a little bit?

Chaeyoung was contemplating this when she heard the tell tale footsteps and laughter of the approaching female trainees. She turned her gaze towards the source of the sound right as the door from the hallway to the lobby opened, a group of girls pooling out in a large group, Dahyun in the thick of the group, hanging off of... Was that Momo? Chaeyoung blinked in surprise. She hadn't seen the Japanese dancer exit with the regular crew in the several days she'd been there, which made sense as she was on a different level and spoke a different language than the majority of the tight-knit trainees. Understandably, there was a dazed look on Momo's face, likely from the barely-comprehensible and foreign chatter. Chaeyoung watched in surprise as Dahyun leaned against her, whispering something in her ear. At the movement, Momo tilted her head towards the Korean trainee, her expression relaxing noticeably.

Now, Chaeyoung knew that Dahyun was outgoing and bold, but she really hadn't expected her to be that close to Momo, or whisper that gently, or to see Dahyun's hand drifting to Momo's back. Chaeyoung knew that the interaction wouldn't mean the same thing for Dahyun as it would for Chaeyoung-- Dahyun was a straight girl getting to speak with her idol and inspiration, so it was no surprise she wanted to feel that Momo was really real. If Chaeyoung was ever in such a position, she knew it'd mean something very different to her, as she didn't really idolize anyone like Dahyun did, and also unlike her friend, she could love anyone-- for Chaeyoung, she didn't really care about their gender, just their personality. And while Dahyun liked to touch people and feel close, Chaeyoung often felt uncomfortable even when her family hugged her.

Clearly, what might mean a lot to Chaeyoung didn't apply to Dahyun, as they were two very different individuals. But even as Chaeyoung reminded herself of that, she couldn't help but shake the look on Momo's face as Dahyun spoke to her, and the way Dahyun had touched her-- so delicately, so carefully. Wistfully, Chaeyoung wondered what it would be like to have a significant other. She'd been single all her life, as the people who asked her out weren't her type, and the people she asked out weren't interested in her.

The small girl sighed heavily, ruffling her own hair and running her fingers through it, as if untangling her brunette locks would also straighten out the thoughts in her mind. Now filled with a sort of inexplicable regret (for what, she didn't know), Chaeyoung figured that talking to Tzuyu wouldn't be wise in her current state of mind. Tzuyu was already distracting enough, she didn't need both her own mind and Tzuyu's presence to trip her up.

Of course, right when she made the decision to stay quiet yet again, Tzuyu approached her first.

"Chaeyoung?" asked a soft, nervous voice from behind the distracted employee. Surprised, the older girl nearly jumped in her seat from the unexpected greeting. She whirled around in her spinny chair almost fast enough to give herself whiplash.

Chaeyoung shouldn't have been surprised to see Tzuyu standing hesitantly in front of her, she'd even recognized her voice when she'd spoken and Chaeyoung had just been thinking about her. But she was still surprised.

"Oh, h-hi Tzuyu," managed Chaeyoung, her hands subconsciously raking through her hair, cut just above shoulder length and slightly messy from Chaeyoung's refusal to brush it that earlier morning.

The model, often shy and hesitant to make eye contact, let alone stare, didn't take her eyes off of Chaeyoung for a solid three seconds. Momentarily, the shorter girl felt as if she'd forgotten how to breathe.

"W-what is it?" Chaeyoung asked, voice trembling. Normally, she didn't ever feel this nervous-- around anyone-- but she couldn't help it in that moment.

Tzuyu exhaled. "You can stop messing with your hair," she finally said. "It looked nice before."

Immediately, Chaeyoung dropped her hands into her lap, feeling a blush of embarrassment rise onto her cheeks. And maybe she was reading too far into things, but it sounded as if Tzuyu had noticed her hair before she started messing with it, and not in the negative way Chaeyoung would expect. She'd called it nice, even.

"Oh," murmured Chaeyoung. "Thank you. I guess. So, uh, how are you doing? Do... Do you need any help or...?"

Tzuyu shrugged. "I am feeling happy today, thank you for asking. And you looked troubled. I was going to ask if anything was wrong."

"I'm good," responded Chaeyoung, the note of appreciation in her voice clear as day. A ripple of warmth filled her at the sudden thought of Tzuyu noticing her, and caring. Chaeyoung had been feeling lonely for weeks. She had been craving human interaction from someone other than Dahyun and Nayeon-- not that she didn't love and appreciate them, but because she felt like her clinginess was a burden to them. Because of that, Chaeyoung didn't hangout with her friends very often. And her family didn't live close enough to visit regularly, to Chaeyoung's great disappointment.

"That's good." Tzuyu said, shuffling her feet uncomfortably. Suddenly, Chaeyoung came to the abrupt realization that she was sitting in the only chair at the desk.

"Oh, I'm being rude," Chaeyoung said aloud, quickly standing. Behind her, the chair hit the desk, so she had no room to move backwards without falling back into the chair. And in the moment, that sounded unusually appealing, since when Chaeyoung had stood, she'd found her only a mere foot away from Tzuyu.

For a long second, neither girl said anything. Tzuyu watched her with a curious glint in her eye and Chaeyoung felt her heart begin to race so fast she felt as though it might just up and run away from her body.

So close, Chaeyoung couldn't help but look at Tzuyu-- at her dark eyes, smooth skin, and lips that looked as though they'd be the softest thing Chaeyoung ever touched. A sudden wave of confidence overcame Chaeyoung, and she felt her own mouth curve into a playful smile.

Tzuyu quickly stepped backwards, as though the brief spell they'd both been under had been broken by that stupidly attractive smile of Chaeyoung's.

"Well, I..." Tzuyu looked at a loss for words, the roles of nervous and confident suddenly switched. "Glad to hear you're okay... Bye, for now."

And before Chaeyoung could prevent her from leaving, Tzuyu spun around and walked off quickly.

Seconds later, the disappointed girl was greeted unexpectedly from behind for the second time that day.

"What was that all about?" asked Dahyun curiously.

a/n : i decided to scrap the original chapter 7, so this is a bit messier than i'd like- sorry about that! how are you guys? i've been pretty stressed with all the homework i've been given, but i think it's getting better.