young & wild | chaeyu

fourteen ; stepping

 "Nayeon told me that Jihyo's gonna have a comeback really soon."

Tzuyu stopped walking. She turned to face Chaeyoung, an unexpectedly surprised look on her face. "You talked to Nayeon? She told you that specifically?"

Chaeyoung nodded slowly, a quizzical look on her face. But she was still smiling-- how could she not, when Tzuyu's eyebrows were scrunched up like that and her lips were parted ever so slightly. "Why?" she asked curiously. "Does it matter?"

Tzuyu gave her a look of exasperation. "She's the founder. She's important."

"And what, I'm not?" teased Chaeyoung indignantly. "I'm kidding, Tzuyu. We're just friends. Plus, she hired me. And you shouldn't be talking like that, you're close with Jeongyeon and she's a founder too."

Tzuyu shrugged. "Not really. She's very busy, and... well, this isn't very kind of me to say, but she favors certain idols."

"Does she?" asked Chaeyoung with surprise. "I used to be pretty close with Jeongyeon, we even texted quite a bit whenever she traveled abroad, but I never realized that. And I'd favor you over any other foreign trainee."

Tzuyu got shy at the sudden compliment, her right hand drifting to her cheek as if to cover a blush. The tall girl melted into her baggy hoodie as if to hide herself, but Chaeyoung still caught her pleased smile.

"You don't know any other foreign trainees," pointed out Tzuyu, quietly. Chaeyoung laughed quietly.

"Even if I did, I'd still like you more," Chaeyoung answered, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around Tzuyu.

Not having anticipated Chaeyoung's sudden actions, Tzuyu stiffened as though uncomfortable at first. But after a second, the tension left her and she wrapped her arms around Chaeyoung as well.

The weather that day was brisker than normal, and because of that Tzuyu had been shivering just seconds before. But now, even if her body was still chilled from the light gusts of wind that buffered the pair, she felt much warmer.

After baking with the older girl, Tzuyu had been arriving at the company building later in the morning to train so she could meet up with Chaeyoung to walk there, and it had been worth it. Tzuyu didn't mind training later than everyone else if it meant she could spend a guaranteed few minutes with the sweet and insightful girl in her arms. Especially if this hugging thing became a regular occurrence... To Tzuyu's surprise, she really, liked it.

"We need to start walking again," mumbled Chaeyoung, her head resting in the crook of Tzuyu's neck and shoulder. Tzuyu felt a chill run through her spine at the feeling of her breath against her neck.

"Why?" Tzuyu whispered, feeling bold.

Chaeyoung laughed, pulling away from the hug. A strange emptiness consumed Tzuyu. "Because we'll be late to work, silly."

A flush of embarrassment came over Tzuyu. "Oh. Right. Of course." Now self-conscious, Tzuyu found herself stumbling over Korean basic enough that she'd mastered it months ago.

Chaeyoung's playful expression softened and she sighed. She'd meant to just joke around, but there she'd gone again, upsetting the girl she wanted to help so much. "Sorry, Tzu. That was insensitive of me."

Tzuyu shook her head. "No. You were right. We should go now." Tzuyu took a few steps further down the street, pausing and looking back when Chaeyoung didn't follow.

Chaeyoung opened her mouth, looking concerned. But whatever she was thinking went unspoken, and she just shook her head as if dazed. Tzuyu waited for Chaeyoung to make up the short distance between them, and they continued along the route to the company building.

"You know..." Chaeyoung started talking again in a quiet voice. "You're making a lot of progress."

Out of the corner of her eye, Tzuyu saw Chaeyoung glance up at the taller girl, but Tzuyu kept her gaze firmly on the ground in front of her. They were almost there, with a couple minutes to spare. Tzuyu hoped that meant Chaeyoung wouldn't go straight to her desk and instead talk to her for a while, like she'd done the day before.

"Progress," repeated Tzuyu, without even meaning to. Sometimes she instinctively repeated words, a habit she'd picked up from having to learn Korean so quickly.

"Yeah," laughed Chaeyoung softly. "And not just with learning Korean. I talked to Nayeon about quite a lot of things, and I asked her how you were doing. I wasn't going to tell you this, and I still probably shouldn't because it's insider info or whatever, but you're doing really good." Chaeyoung spoke quickly, as if she had a lot to say but no time to say it in. "And you're making good steps in the right direction."

"Steps?" questioned Tzuyu softly, stealing a glance towards the brunette.,

"Yeah. Like... movements. We're taking steps right now, physically. Walking. With steps." This, for Chaeyoung, was the most difficult part of being with Tzuyu. Trying to teach her, when Chaeyoung's mind just went blank and empty.

"I think I understand. Like, we are taking steps to get there. And I am taking steps to be a better singer. And dancer. And speaker."

Chaeyoung nodded vigorously in confirmation. At least Tzuyu was smart, or they'd never understand each other.

"Anyways, you're making a lot of progress and are improving noticeably now that you're redoubling your efforts towards music. I haven't heard you sing yet, though. Or dance. But this is what Nayeon told me."

Tzuyu grinned. "Nayeon said that?"

Chaeyoung nodded, pleased that Tzuyu looked so happy.

"Can you tell Unnie thank you?" asked Tzuyu hopefully. "I'm very grateful that she said that about me."

"Of course," agreed Chaeyoung.

"Steps," mused Tzuyu under her breath. She probably thought Chaeyoung couldn't hear her, but she did, and it brought a smile to her face.

"We're here," Tzuyu announced suddenly.

Chaeyoung nodded, a bit surprised. She'd been so concentrated on just talking that she hadn't even noticed they'd arrived. She shivered a bit in her light cloths, suddenly grateful that the building was right there, and would be warmer than outside, without the slight breeze that caused her to feel so much colder.

"Today," announced Tzuyu as she held the door open for Chaeyoung. "I will make more steps towards being better."

Chaeyoung smiled. "Good. But don't work too hard, yeah? Small steps are important too. Improvement doesn't have to be huge to be important."

"Of course," agreed Tzuyu, though she was still processing what exactly Chaeyoung had said.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"...Yeah. See you tomorrow."

"Text me if you need anything!" Chaeyoung called back to her, already headed in the direction of her desk. "Bye, Tzuyu!"

"Bye, Chaeyoung." Tzuyu sighed and headed to the stairs that would take her to the practice rooms. "And thank you." But by that point, Tzuyu knew there was no way Chaeyoung could hear her quiet words of thanks.

a/n 14: so, happy happy and breakthrough came out a few days ago... what do you think? i love them both, but prefer breakthrough just because it was so unexpected from them.