Drowning
Leader X Maknae: A Series of JiTzu OneshotsSummary: Cold. Dark. Wet. She doesn't remember how she got herself into this mess.
Cold. Dark. Wet.
Tzuyu doesn't remember how she got herself into this mess but she has to find a way out if it. She's already lost track of how long she's spent in the waters. And every second she wastes is another step closer to her watery demise.
She remembers standing alone by the shore, safely away from the much powerful larger waves, only close enough for her to feel the tiny ones lapping at her feet. The older girls were running about further up the coast, their cheers and laughter filling up the usually peaceful beach.
Tzuyu however, doesn't join them, preferring to be on her own to savour the bliss of the moment. In all honesty, she has never been very fond of the sea. She's heard stories growing up, enough to know how terrifying the blue waters could actually be. But never in her life had she expected to get a first hand experience of how true those stories actually were.
All it took was one misstep before an unseen force tugged at her ankles. Rip current, she realises a second too late as she's suddenly dragged out into the open sea by the underlying currents. Paralysed by shock as the waves fought to overcome her, she couldn't even bring herself to call for help and she soon found herself drowning. Her biggest fears realised.
Drowning in reality, she soon realises, was nothing like the movies, where the poor victim could still scream and flail over the waves and some attractive looking hero, or at least a lifeguard, would come swooping in to save the day and carrying the damsel in distress back to shore.
No, it isn't anything like that, she thinks. She could barely manage a whimper. How was she suppose to scream loud enough for those on the shores tens of metres away to hear. And forget about waving her arms, they were too busy trying to keep her alive.
She's bobbing along with the waves, trying her best to keep her head out of the waters. Panting and coughing as the briny waters pour down whenever she tries to take a breath. Her arms and legs kick out in an attempt to keep her afloat, but it doesn't make much of a difference. It was a known fact that she couldn't swim and she knew her younger self was right to fear the seas.
But she isn't planning to go down without a fight.
Soon, she prays. They will notice, they will come, she tries to convince herself. She has complete faith in her members. Surely one of them will spot her struggling in the middle of the sea. Mina unnie or Dahyun unnie most probably, she thinks, knowing how observant the two usually were. And although a part of her doubts this (she probably appeared as no more than a mere dot in the sea from this distance after all), it's all she has left to hold on to. A small glimmer of hope that all she has to do is hang in there for a bit more.
Her body however, says otherwise. Seconds begin to feel like hours. Her muscles burn, her limbs were like lead. Despite all the dancing she's done, she's still a little low on stamina. The weight of her own body was going to pull her under. She takes a quick glance around but there's nothing for her to hold onto; and a sudden cramp in her legs causes her to go under. Pure instinct forces her to hold her breath, as she prays and waits for a miracle.
She's soon lightheaded and her lungs begin to burn from the oxygen deprivation. There's a war within herself, between her lungs and brain, as she struggled to survive. One tells her that she needs to breathe, the other stops her from doing so, knowing what awaits her.
Eventually, her lungs surrender and she inhales, hoping to take in air; except there isn't any. Only pure salt and water flood her systems which she chokes on, prompting the entry of more and more fluids. There isn't much fight left in her at this point. And this time Tzuyu knows she isn't going to make it.
The movies were right about one thing; her life does flash across her eyes as she slowly succumbs to her watery grave. She sees her family, her parents and siblings waiting for her at home with open arms. Her friends come next sitting around joyfully as they shared a joke. Magenta and apricot fill her thoughts as she thinks of the fans cheering for her. The sight of eight of smiling faces appeared last, the pain and happiness they've gone through together leaving a large impact in her pretty short life. But it's the vision of one particular individual that sends her heart pumping.
Jihyo unnie, she whispers the name one last time, a smile gracing her features at the thought of her leader.
Jihyo who's warm and caring and has always stayed by her side through all her troubles. Jihyo who's secretly a softie that cries with her members when they're in pain and loves them more than she could ever love herself. Jihyo who has unknowingly robbed the evil maknae of her heart. Tzuyu had always tried to downplay those feelings wth jokes and savage remarks and now she's left to die with her regret. The regret that she's never gotten the chance to tell Jihyo about how she truly feels about her.
But it was a bit too late for that now.
Black and red splotches fill her vision. Her body is numbed from the cold. The last thing she sees is a dark figure barely a few metres away from where she lay, swimming closer and closer. But shes too weak to do anything and she knows it's too late. Bubbles escape her lips; the last of the oxygen in her body. Passed out on the sea floor, she allows the sea currents to pull her into a watery embrace.
Cold. Dark. Wet.
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Cold. Dark. And full of dread.
Jihyo curses herself for not noticing earlier.
There are only seven girls — not counting herself — running about on the shore. She must be mistaken, she thinks. After all, Twice is and will always be nine; no more, no less. She counts over and over again, but she always comes up one short. Her heart sinks at the thought and her mind suddenly goes blank. One of her members is missing and with a mere glance, she could immediately pick out which one.
She can feel the adrenaline pumping in her veins, her heart beating rapidly. It just had to be Tzuyu. Jihyo has always had a soft spot for the youngest; and sometimes said girl can really have an effect on the judgement of the young leader. It's a fact she can't deny. So she begins her search, keeping the news to herself as to not alert the others. She doesn't plan on telling the others just yet, not until she's sure, to avoid causing a panic. She might be wrong.
No. She hopes she's wrong.
Retracing her steps, she returns to where she had last seen the younger girl. There isn't a single sign of the maknae. Maybe she went to the washroom, she concludes. She turns on her heels, planning to go ask the managers if they had any idea where Tzuyu could be. That was until she spots a figure out at sea and her world came crashing down on her.
No way.
She prays that she's wrong, that her eyes were just playing tricks on her, but the head of brunette hair is all too familiar. I really never learnt to swim, she remembers Tzuyu telling her once before after their 'date' with Dahyun at the aquarium. The younger girl had wanted to apologised for her response earlier although Jihyo held no hard feelings and had even promised to teach Tzuyu whenever they got the chance. A chance that came too late. And nothing else mattered at that moment.
Kicking off her shoes, she runs into the water, ignoring the sounds of the members and staff calling out after her. There isn't any time for explanations. Tzuyu needs her.
But Jihyo had to admit. Despite being a decent swimmer, having taken lessons back when she was younger and even with all the work outs she had to go through, no amount of training could prepare her for this.
The waves which she had viewed as calm earlier were in fact a lot stronger than they seemed, and she could feel them working against her, trying to bring her under. Fear begins to creep up inside her but as she sees Tzuyu go under, it only prompts her to swim faster, pushing aside her worries for the sake of her maknae.
Diving into the water, she can barely make out the figure of the youngest through the dark waters. The pressure begins to act against her as she swims deeper and deeper, trying to squeeze the air out of her. She reaches the maknae just as she begins to lose air. Trembling hands ghost over the unconscious girl's face, slapping her cheeks softly in an attempt to wake her. But Jihyo is merely greeted by a lack of response.
Wrapping an arm around Tzuyu's slim waist, she immediately swims to the surface. The shore seems so far away. She's exhausted and her muscles hurt but she has to do this. With superhuman effort, she swims, dragging both their bodies towards the shore, struggling to keep Tzuyu's head above the waves.
She's lucky however, halfway through the journey, someone on the shore tosses her a buoy, which she barely manages to grab hold off, and the duo were towed back to dry land.
The members come running towards them with Nayeon in the lead. The eldest was fuming, ready to scream at her best friend for her recklessness. "Jihyo," she hisses," what in the world were you think—" her voice falters as she sees the unconscious girl in the leader's arms and the fear in the leader's large eyes.
"Unnie," Jihyo manages to croak out, her mind only set on Tzuyu's survival. "Call for help." Her heartbeat is weak. She's not breathing. Her mind races as she notes all these. "Please."
But Nayeon could only stand there frozen from shock, the others not any better. And Jihyo upon seeing this, realises that she has to take things into her own hands.
Laying the younger girl down on the sand, she begins pressing down on her chest. 1, 2, 3... She counts mentally in time with the compressions. 28, 29, 30. At thirty, she tilts Tzuyu's head back and presses their lips together. She delivers the rescue breaths and focuses on that alone, forcing herself to ignore how soft the youngest's lips feel against hers or how the fans' cameras begin to flash behind her as she does so.
It's a never ending cycle — compress, tilt, breathe, repeat; but Jihyo kept going, having the mindset that if she stops for even a second, she may lose the maknae for good. So she presses on and her efforts do not go to waste.
It took several tries before Tzuyu splutters, coughing up seawater with every breath she takes. Eyes fluttering open, she catches Jihyo's watchful gaze through her haze. "Jihyo unnie?" she unconsciously calls out, voice coarse from the seawater. "It's ok. You're safe now," Jihyo tells her, voice cracking as she sobs and Tzuyu barely nods before slipping back into unconsciousness just as the paramedics arrive with a stretcher.
"You did well Jihyo-ya," Jeongyeon praises the younger girl as the members stand aside, watching the paramedics load Tzuyu into the ambulance. She waits patiently for a response before turning back out of worry when she doesn't get one. "Jihyo?" She tries again and all eyes were on the leader.
Under the many blankets the members had wrapped her in, Jihyo visibly shakes, shivering from the cold as her adrenaline fuelled high dwindled away. Exhaustion sets in and everything else becomes a blur. She doesn't even have the time to warn the others before it happens.
"Jihyo!" she barely hears the members scream as her vision darkens and she collapses, hitting the floor before the others even had time to react.
Cold. Dark. But at least the dread has receded.
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Cold. Dark. But no longer wet.
Tzuyu's mind was still stuck in survival mode when she stirs hours later.
She awakens with a jolt, coughing violently. The burning sensation is still ebbing away at her chest and her temple is throbbing. She opens her eyes and it takes all her willpower to not throw up then and there. Soothing hands rub circles on her back and soft voices tell her to calm down, tell her that she's safe.
She listens obediently, taking long, deep breaths until her mind clears and she realises that there is nothing left for her to fear. The voices continue their attempt soothe her; and only once she's calmer does she notice that the voice was not speaking Korean.
"Mama? Papa?" Tzuyu says in surprise when she looks up, only to see her parents watching over her, worry present in their eyes. Only then does Tzuyu realise how close she was to death. She doesn't even realise she's crying until her mother wipes her tears away, her own beginning to stream down her face. Her parents embrace her as she sobs, and she's never been more grateful to be alive.
Moments pass before Tzuyu finally manages to calm down and she sits there wrapped in her parent's arms. "Do you remember what happened?" her father asks softly, brushing the stray hairs covering her face and she nods, albeit a bit unsure.
Her eyebrows furrow as she recalls the events. Though blurry, she could still picture the currents and how they had dragged her away. Next came the sight of water, the surface metres above her as she lay on the seabed, the sun barely shining through it before she's shrouded in darkness. Last came the image of a familiar pair of brown eyes, the feeling of strong arms tightly clutching onto her and the sound a reassuring voice telling her that she was safe.
Jihyo unnie.
She sits up a little at the thought of her leader. Where is she? Is she alright?
As if summoned, said girl comes crashing in through the doors, dressed in similar hospital garbs. Regaining her balance, she looks up, eyes widening as she sees Tzuyu with the rest of her family. "I-I'm sorry for disturbing," she stutters out in embarrassment, a blush coating her cheeks as she slips out again. There's a moment of silence before her parents burst out in laughter and even Tzuyu smiles a little at the scene.
"She really does care for you, doesn't she?" her mother comments, stifling her laughter behind her hand. Tzuyu unconsciously nods, her smile growing slightly at the words. "She would make a great daughter-in-law," her father adds, "Though we always thought you had feelings for Sana instead." Tzuyu chokes on air, coughing violently as her cheeks burned.
She stares incredulously at her parents, not believing her ears. "What? We're your parents. Did you really think that we wouldn't find out?"her mother scoffs and Tzuyu is left speechless, unsure of what to say anymore. "Anyways, we should be getting back to the hotel for a while. Surely, you'll be in good hands right?" Tzuyu whines and her parents chuckle, assuring her that they'll be back tomorrow before they take their leave.
Through the gaps between the curtains, she could see her parents speaking to someone behind the door (and she doesn't need to be a genius to figure out who). She hears a faint "take care of our Tzuyu" before the door opens and Jihyo walks in, closing the door behind her. Tzuyu hears her phone ring and she picks it up to see that she has received a text.
Brave, caring and she speaks Mandarin too. You have good taste. We like her already. - Mama.
Tzuyu groans inwardly, fighting the urge to facepalm but in actuality, she's secretly glad that her parents approve of her crush, who now stood by the door, shuffling awkwardly as they stared at each other. "Hi," came Jihyo's only response and Tzuyu could sense the older girl's nervousness as she fidgeted with her shirt.
"Come here unnie," the Taiwanese girl calls out with arms spread and it's all it takes for Jihyo to throw herself into her embrace. "Never scare me like that again," Tzuyu hears the leader mumble against her shoulder, her tears soaking the fabric of her shirt. It's all it takes for Tzuyu's own tears to spill and she tightens her hold on the older girl.
They lay side by side once they've pulled away from one another and Tzuyu takes the opportunity to take in the sight of the older girl, frowning at the slight discolouration on her cheek. "You're hurt," Tzuyu nags at her a little, fingers ghosting over the bruise, pulling her hand away when Jihyo winces. In return, the leader sends her a sheepish grin.
"It's nothing. I just hit my head," she argues in an attempt to brush away the maknae's worry. She gives Tzuyu a look when she tries to fight back and the maknae decides against it, choosing instead to continue to scan Jihyo's face. She stops at the leader's eyes, slightly puffy from all the crying.
Staring into Jihyo's large eyes, she could feel them pull her in like the currents had. Even the sight of her somewhat chapped lips seemed inviting; and she leans in.
Tzuyu finds herself drowning once again when their lips meet and she's out of breath.
But this time she did not want to be saved.
Warm. Bright. She's no longer afraid.
A/N: Hmm... I personally feel like my stories haven't been really good lately. What do you guys think?
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