young & wild | chaeyu

twenty-one ; bonding

"Chaeyoungie, stop moving around," Tzuyu giggled softly. Chaeyoung couldn't suppress a smile at her soft words.

And, of course, she didn't dare disobey her.

So, Chaeyoung sat perfectly still , her back against the couch and Tzuyu sitting on the low apartment couch, her long legs tucked neatly beneath her as she leaned down to braid Chaeyoung's dark brown locks. It wasn't very long, so Chaeyoung knew she had to be close to done, but she didn't want her to be done. They'd stayed at Momo, Sana, and Mina's apartment for over an hour by then, and Jihyo's new single, "NEW DAYS" was on repeat.

Truthfully, it was a nice song. The music video was a lot better than Chaeyoung had anticipated... Nayeon had offhandedly mentioned that Sunny, who was loosely in charge of most finances had decided that they'd need to give Jihyo low-budget music videos until the company got some more change in their pocket. The scandal-not-to-be-spoken-about had really shaken the company's already fragile reputation significantly.

"Done," mumbled Tzuyu, tying the bottom of the braid together with a hair band. "Where did the others go anyways?" After all, the room was empty and quiet, except for the music video playing over and over on the television screen.

Chaeyoung shrugged. "The kitchen? I think Momo wanted a snack, and so did Dahyun. I guess Sana and Mina just followed them."

Tzuyu slid down off the couch and beside Chaeyoung, leaning back against the couch. Chaeyoung looked at their legs next to each other, subconsciously smiling at how their height different was so prominent even when they sat.

"Remember the cafe?" Tzuyu asked out of the blue, tilting her head to look at Chaeyoung beside her.

"Of course I do," Chaeyoung said with a smile. "You were so shy and cute."

Tzuyu ducked her head immediately, her shoulders creeping up and her hair falling over the sides of her face at the abrupt movement. Even so, Chaeyoung saw the pink blush and small smile.

"What about the cafe?" prompted Chaeyoung gently, bumping her shoulder against Tzuyu's in a gentle and comforting motion.

Tzuyu exhaled. "I was thinking about how you agreed to perform your audition song for me. And I know that I told you I'd remember that."

"Technically, I think you said you'd hold me to it, but close enough."

"Anyways, it's about time you show me your song, isn't it?"

Chaeyoung looked at her, eyes widened in a dramatic and comical manner. "You do not want to hear that trainwreck," she said, overexaggerating teasingly.

"I do!" declared Tzuyu loudly, smiling widely.

"Woah, woah, woah," a third voice laughed. The two girls looked up to see Sana and entering the room, followed by Mina. "It's a little early to be saying our marriage vows, now isn't it?"

Chaeyoung turned the color of a tomato, but Tzuyu just blinked.

"What?" she asked. Evidently, marriage vows wasn't a phrase Tzuyu had studied, logically, and to Chaeyoung's immense relief.

"Just a stupid joke," Chaeyoung said quickly, shooting a glare at Sana, who was shaking with silent laughter. Mina was smiling, but when she saw Chaeyoung's irritation, quickly put her poker face back on. Tzuyu, now looking at Chaeyoung with suspicion, saw none of that-- Sana's laughter, and Mina's changes in expression.

Tzuyu shrugged after a long second, shrugging. "Whatever, I guess. But Chaeyoung, while you've escaped the topic this time, I'm still gonna hold you to it."

Sana raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Hold you to what?" asked Mina. Her voice was soft and smooth and melodic. It was clear to Chaeyoung that Mina's singing voice would be very beautiful.

"Chaeyoung's gonna show me a project of hers," Tzuyu answered, poking Chaeyoung. "Right, Chaeyoung?"

The older girl blinked. "I... Yes. Sure. Maybe. Perhaps."

Sana laughed again. Sana laughed a lot. Now that Chaeyoung was more comfortable, she liked her cheerful demeanor, but earlier she'd been bothered by that same attitude. God, I need to get myself together, she thought with frustration.

"Hey gang," Dahyun shouted loudly as she and Momo reentered the room, snacks in both of their hands. "How's it rolling?"

Tzuyu, Sana, and Mina all gave her looks of confusion, while Momo laughed and Chaeyoung rolled her eyes, used to Dahyun's playful antics and cheesy slang.

"I guess I just don't understand anything today," Tzuyu sighed, smiling slightly. Even so, Chaeyoung could tell she felt a bit discouraged. She slide her hand over a few inches, and rested her hand atop Tzuyu's on the floor, wanting the tall girl to never feel bad.

"It's okay, I barely understand the weird slang Dahyun uses either," Momo says with a smile. "And I practice with her almost every day!"

Chaeyoung nodded encouragingly. "Yeah! I've known Dahyun for a year and known Korean all my life, but that doesn't mean I always known what the heck she'd talking about." Tzuyu smiled a little more, and her hand laced into Chaeyoung's, squeezing tightly as if to thank her.

"Okay," Dahyun said with a mock frown on her face. "I get you guys are being nice and helping Tzuyu feel better and stuff, but this feels like slander against my brand, my name, my reputation," she declared with a dramatic flare.

Momo grinned. "What reputation?" Mina snorted loudly, covering her large smile with her hand.

"Hey!" shouted Dahyun, as though offended, but she was smiling. "Though Momo's really the only person that can make that joke."

Chaeyoung stiffened. Dubu, you forgot someone, she wanted to tell her. Dubu, please don't make her feel like she's not enough, she already does that to herself. Dubu, correct yourself. But Dahyun didn't notice Chaeyoung's attempts at telepathy, nor did she remember that Tzuyu was a debuted model.

Sparing a glance at the tall model's face, Chaeyoung noticed that she did look visually sad. Chaeyoung squeezed her hand, wanting to express all her rolling emotions in that one movement.

"No," Momo said suddenly. "Tzuyu can too, she's a model, remember? But she probably only got coverage in her country, so it's easier to forget-- I kinda maybe sorta got international backlash, including a bit in Korea."

"Those people are stupid," Dahyun declared. "Momo is the best dancing soloist I've ever seen. And Tzuyu is the most beautiful girl in Asia! People just need to wake up and notice what they've got right in front of them."

"Thanks, Dahyun," laughed Tzuyu, and Momo nodded, smiling.

Chaeyoung smiled at the sight of the other five girls. She was glad she knew them, and glad that she'd calmed down enough from her earlier nerves. Over the last hour, she'd become more relaxed and comfortable, and at this point, she was thoroughly enjoying being with the fun trainees. Oh, how she wished that she was a part of this group, dancing and singing and rapping, but it was good enough just to work in a music company-- maybe Nayeon would even let her help with music production if all went well.

Tzuyu leaned closer to Chaeyoung, and Chaeyoung smiled, music playing in the background and her friends talking with each other. She was content. Nothing could spoil that moment for her. Nothing at all.

a/n 21: well, for the actual songs, i decided to title them and just allude to their concepts and styles, etc.

this is pretty fillerish, so sorry about that :/ but it does have some nice moments i think?

do you like hanging out in large or small groups of friends? i like to be in groups of three to five :)