Satzu - Backup dancer [COMPLETED]

twenty-fourth chapter

Tzuyu POV

It feels good to just have her beside me. As in fear, she would leave as far as she came here, again, my hand tightens its grip around hers, making Sana smile. No one says a word.

She observes the place, letting her gaze wander over white walls, dark wooden doors and posters of dancers. I feel as if I am not able to stare at the surroundings any further. It takes all my concentration to just keep walking and not to stare at her all the time.

I still can't believe that Sana came here to find me. The certainty of her thinking I am worth to be found resonates with the thought. I steal a glance at her. Nearly invisible traces of tears that just had run over her cheeks minutes ago make me feel the sudden want of crying. Even though I actually never do so.

I want to be happy that she is with me but there are so many questions that I don't dare to ask, in fear of the answer. Didn't her boss make clear in the conversation he had with me, that he wouldn't hesitate to make her regret finding out about his plans? How could she find out in the first place? I shake my head swiping the thoughts away.

"How do you stay here actually? I mean, do you have a hotel room or something?" my voice sounds a bit hoarse because it had kept quiet all the time.

"I just came here and directly saw your advertisement", she shakes her head a little, "consequently I had no time to book one. But I guess, I am going to do that. Jeongyeon provided that I might sleep at her friend's house but I don't know. I don't want to bother anyone."

The name feels kind of familiar. I don't really think about what she was talking about but this name.. Jeongyeon...

Jeongyeon is the woman who I met at the JYP office! "How comes that you know her?"

Sana's left, perfectly shaped eyebrow raises. "Didn't I tell you, she was the one who told me about your leaving because you were forced to? Gosh. That's important. Why do I forget to say important things so often?"

I smile. She's so cute. But at the same time something inside of me feels warm and happy. I didn't even knew Jeongyeon that well but she legit decided to give me my happiness back.

Our steps get silently resounded by the hallway, making me remember why I have been so nervous all the time. We're on our way to Irene's office. Dancing on one of her stages has been a fun experience and I might have continued working here, just for the money if my girl hadn't found me.

Sana made more than clear that she is not okay with me making money this way. Sana even said she would rather pay me twice the amount I would get here every month just so I would never make a step into a strip club again.

I don't really get why she makes such a big deal out of it. I mean, it's just dancing but I don't want to argue about that. To be honest, I didn't know she was that rich so that she could pay me but I am never going to take her money anyways.

My memory is actually pretty good but at the moment I am not totally sure in what part of the big building Irene has her office but I feel as if I remember the stairs at the end of the hallway.

Just in the moment where I think about that I definitely have to meet Jeongyeon for thanking her, loud voices are noticeable from a contiguous room. Or better, two loud voices and one calm, quiet one. Seconds later, the door opens in a sudden movement, revealing two man who leave, looking angry and Irene whose eyes soften as she sees Sana and me.

The woman looks back and forth between us and nods subtly. "Chou Tzuyu, you have the potential of becoming one of the best. I should keep you" Her eyes rest on me for a second and look to Sana then who still holds my hand. "but well, I guess there is no demand anymore?" before I can answer, nods softly, as if she answered the question by herself. "I wish you the best. But your performance was really good for a beginner. If you ever want to begin working here again, contact me." she hands me a business card, turns around and leaves without a single word.

"Thank you" my voice is not as loud so that she would have heard me but I still wanted to thank Irene. Not for the card but for wanting to help me as I saw no opportunities. Without her, I wouldn't have met Sana again. Or not that easily.

The latter clears her throat and glares at me in a way that has the capability to become as scary as Irene's if she would keep practicing. "Okay, okay. I'll give you the card." I chuckle a bit and look on the ground then.

Suddenly, Sana's phone rings three times until she picks up. Whoever called her must have had great news because she smiles a bit. "Okay. See you later." After I look at he, questioning, she puts her phone into her pocket again and nods enthusiastically. "Momo and Mina have come to Taiwan!"

2yeon's not anymore travel but still diary:

The nightly air is cold and clear, making Nayeon nearly forget that she's leaning at the balcony of a house which is located in the center of a big city. It's the kind of air which is only existing at night, hours before it would turn into heavy smog again, burying the city underneath.

Nayeon closes her eyes, breathes in, opens her eyes again and breathes out. It's not really winter anymore. She can tell from the cold air which doesn't, as in winter usual, appears biting and freezing in her lungs but slightly cooling and caressing them.

Her eyes roam around, admiring the view. Tainan at night is beautiful. The glowing advertisements, flashing headlights and the lighted windows are everywhere. Nayeon compares them to stars in her mind.

In general, the city doesn't seem to ever rest. There are many people on the streets even though her bracelet watch informs Nayeon that it's already past midnight. The woman shakes her head in disbelieve. It feels so weird that she spend hours alone on the balcony, in the cold without having noticed the time going. And she feels as if she could still stay there for hours.

The brunette is just about to close her eyes again as she feels someone's eyes looking at her. Nayeon stifles the feeling of needing to turn around and closes her eyes anyways. Standing like that, facing the railing of the balcony, she waits for the younger woman, who is indubitably standing behind her, to talk.

Jeongyeon doesn't really think about doing so. But after a few minutes, her feet make, as automatically, a small step closer to Nayeon, still leaving distance between both of them.

After a few more minutes, they match up their breathing, still watching the city at night as if that was the only reason for them to stand together on the balcony. Fifteen more minutes pass without one of them saying a word until Nayeon gives in, accepting the fact that if she wouldn't start talking they would stay like that for several hours.

"I miss you." Nayeon notices that the next breath that Jeongyeon takes gets inhaled sharply. A little smile plays around her own lips, still not wanting to turn around. But as the short haired woman still keeps quiet, even after her statement, she squares her shoulders with a sigh.

"I hate, you ignoring me. And I hate that you seem to be afraid to talk to me and I hate that we aren't like back then anymore." Without giving Jeongyeon the chance to respond in any way, she keeps talking. "But I still said, I miss you and I mean it. But I just realized that we are fitting great together."

She could nearly hear how Jeongyeon raises her eyebrows. "But we don't do so as girlfriends. As we already noticed. But I miss you as a friend. I miss texting you for hours at night, talking about everything without someone getting jealous, wearing these cute little friendship bracelets.. I want you to be my best friend again like you used to."

Silence.

Nayeon screws up her eyes, reflecting if she should regret saying that or not. She is about to finally turn around and to yell at Jeongyeon for just keeping quiet as the latter finally responds: "I miss you too. And yeah, being best friends again sounds amazing. I am not sure if that would work out immediately again but we should try and.. no, we never wore these cringey friendship bracelets and we're not going to do that."

Nayeon snorts, eventually turning around. "They are not cringe but cute. But okay. Let's try being friends again." She smiles, showing her bunny teeth and hugs the other one. Jeongyeon hugs back, having the same kind of happy smile on her face.