Fool Me Twice

Picnic

"BOO!" A loud shout from behind us scares both Tzuyu and I to bits. A pair of hands slam unto my back adding to the scare factor. I immediately jumped off of the bench. Tzuyu screeches from the top of her lungs.

"Fucking Hell..." Tzuyu sighs, her hand grabbing her chest as she regains her composure. It was Nayeon and Jeongyeon playing a prank on us.

The two were giggling like toddlers seeing their prank being a success. Giving eachother a highfive before saying sorry half-heartedly. "What took you guys so long?" Tzuyu asks, her tone still slightly annoyed.

"We brought some snacks!" Nayeon says, holding up a grocery bag filled with stuff. "Let's go." Jeongyeon says, gesturing us to move away from the bench.

"Aigoo. How could our manager leave us for such a despicable reason. He's such an angel. I wonder who corrupted him?" Nayeon jokingly says as she locks her arm with mine. She stares at Tzuyu, referring to her.

Tzuyu scoffs. "Whatever." She says before walking with us somewhere. Nayeon was more touchy than I remembered. I never expected her to lock arms with me.

"Mwoya? What do you think you're doing?" Jeongyeon says from the side in disgust. We were all walking in an horizontal line down the park pathway.

"Ah. He's single now, you guys." Nayeon says, catching me off-guard. I stop from my tracks, causing the others to stop walking too.

Is that how they interpret it? It didn't feel like Dahyun and I broke up...

"Ya. What about Dahyun? And... Her?" Jeongyeon says, pointing her chin at Tzuyu who was on my other side.

Tzuyu looks away in embarrassment. "Can we move on already?" Tzuyu says softly. Nayeon turns to Tzuyu, peaking over my chest. "Hol- You started this mess." Nayeon says with a slightly frustrated stance.

"Fine! Okay! How many times do I have to say sorry?! Do I have to live like this everyday?!" Tzuyu bursts out in anger. Tossing her bag to the ground, her stuff spilling out on the pavement.

Fuck... Is this the way they've been treating her since I left? I feel awful. It wasn't her fault at all. I was the one who didn't held back..

Tzuyu marches away, leaving her stuff behind. She struts towards the end of the pathway, disappearing into the shadows.

"Tzuyu!" I called for her but she didn't turn around. Moving Nayeon's hand away from my arm, I picked up Tzuyu's stuff off of the ground.

"You guys shouldn't treat her like that." I said, patting away the dirt off of her bag.

"You went a little overboard there, Nayeon-ah." Jeongyeon says, stepping aside to look at her.

"Wh- Wha... You did too!" She says, trying to defend herself.

"You both don't treat her well." I said, my look of disappointment haunting them as they look away in shame. I let out a big sigh, seeing how much the members have changed after I've been gone. "Let's go find her." I said, walking forward without waiting for the others.

I hear their footsteps creep up to me as they soon lined up while we went looking for Tzuyu.

Oh god... I didn't expect the members to turn on her like this. I should fix this before things get worse.

"Tzuyu!" "Dongsaeng!" "Tzuyu!!" We all called for her in the empty park. It was pitch dark and nobody else was there but us.

"This is hopeless. Can't you call her?" Jeongyeon asks. "Her phone's in the bag." Nayeon says, pointing at the bag I was holding.

Where did that girl go? I was getting progressively worried.

We got to the river near the end of the pathway.

"Tzuyu!" We all called for her, seeing Tzuyu standing the fence of the bridge. We ran towards her. She was sobbing, covering her face as soon as she saw us.

"Ya! Why'd you run off like tha-" Jeongyeon was about to scold her but stopped as she sees Tzuyu's state. She's... In such horrible state. What have I done?

I pat her back, trying to comfort her with the best of my abilities. "Mian. (미안)" I said, patting her back. I pulled her in to hug her as she bawled her eyes out unto my chest.

"I- I never wanted it to be like this-" Tzuyu says while crying.

I pat her head as I held her close to me, letting her let out all the tears and sorrow that I presume has been building up since I left.

"Tzuyu..." Jeongyeon and Nayeon were blank-faced. Unable to move as they just stared at us. It was like their tongues were cut off.

"I'm sorry, Tzuyu. I truly am." I say to her ear. "Tzuyu.. I was just joking- I'm sorry. We're sorry." Nayeon grazes her hand on Tzuyu's back. Jeongyeon soon follows in at starts to pat her back gently.

"I'm sorry. O-Okay? I never wanted to hurt anyone." Tzuyu says, her voice starting to calm down from sobbing.

"It's okay. You don't have to apologize." I said, stroking the back of her head. "You're okay."

Jeongyeon hands me a tissue from her bag. I gave it to Tzuyu, letting her wipe her tears away as she hides her face behind my chest.

"You could've told us you didn't like it when we joked around. We're just being playful that's all." Nayeon says, stroking Tzuyu's back.

"Ya! Now's not the time to say that!" Jeongyeon scolds Nayeon quietly. "What am I supposed to say?!" She whispers back.

"Let's get off this bridge, guys." I said, still holding Tzuyu in my arms. Tzuyu finally stops sniffling. I let go of her, my hand still around her neck. She was looking down at the ground.

Jeongyeon and Nayeon started to feel emotional, seeing Tzuyu in such a vulnerable state. Jeongyeon was the first to run and hug Tzuyu with Nayeon following after.

I left the three to hug things out.

"Ahh... Why did you have to be such an ass?" Jeongyeon subtly scolds Nayeon. "What do you mean? You're the one who keeps joking around at the dorm!" Nayeon retaliates.

Tzuyu laughs a little, seeing the two argue once again. But this time she was in between both of their arms.