At the age of 17, both of them were in their final senior year before they left for college and Tzuyu was regretting the decision to make a deal with Jihyo about their dating lives. She’s never regretted anything in her life as much as she has when it came to that one choice. She might have been 16 and people must think that it’s impossible to know what love is at that age but Tzuyu understood that she loved Jihyo.

The heart fluttering, the invasion of butterflies in your stomach, the sweaty palms, the stuttering, the wanting-to-impress behaviour change, the goal to put a smile on her face, not being able to spend much time without her before feeling the need to call her or hear her voice, thinking about her when she wasn’t around – Tzuyu had experienced them all and so much more. So it was enough for her to admit to herself that yes, she was in love with Park Jihyo.

Though, the admission came with a lot of other things, such as the fact that she never knew if it would be reciprocated. Jihyo was at no time clear with what she felt and it came to a stage where Tzuyu would get annoyed of how clingy she would be because she couldn’t decipher if it meant anything. Sometimes her hopes would be raised, other times they would fall to the ground like ashes.

Tzuyu wished that she hadn’t ended up falling in love with Jihyo because the deal was a pain. She thought that it’d be easy to go through with the deal but she was already regretting it. She always wondered what possessed Jihyo to make such a deal when she was totally against the idea being in a relationship with your best friend.

Of course, if that idiot of a best friend would make such a deal, it was obvious that she also had some sort of lingering feelings for Tzuyu but they were left unsaid. It’s not that she thinks it’s incorrect or wrong, she just feels like it would ruin things between the two of them so she decided to seek someone to replace the thoughts of Tzuyu that plagued her brain.

So now, Tzuyu knew she was going to be stuck in this supposed one-sided love while her best friend went out and dated all the possible boys she could find. All so that she could make her dream come true about the so called ‘knight in shining armour’. Tzuyu found that absolutely stupid. Where was it ever written that a knight had to be a guy? And why was Jihyo even choosing from the selection of boys who hadn’t even hit puberty yet? At this stage, she hadn’t even started dating the girls so Tzuyu was highly glad for that. She didn’t know what she would do when Jihyo started dating girls too.

Yes, Tzuyu did like Jihyo a lot – okay never mind, the term like would never be accurate; she loved Jihyo – but she wasn’t one who was going to ruin her relationships, as much as she wanted to. Boys always screw up in their teens, it’s bound to happen sooner or later. But who was going to convince Jihyo that the situations would always be like that? If Tzuyu wasn’t able to change her mind, no one else could, the entire school knew that.

So, at this age and after a series of about 3 boyfriends – in a span of a month, Tzuyu was quite glad that Jihyo had finally settled on one. Going by the name of Kim Dong Young – otherwise known as Doyoung for short, Tzuyu wasn’t surprised by Jihyo’s choice. Like all the previous types, he was tall, popular but there was something unique about him and that was his love for trot.

Now Tzuyu could list all the possible things wrong with this boy as soon as she laid eyes on him but god forbid that Jihyo could see the same. He used the same, repetitive pick-up lines you’d hear from the other boys yet still somehow flattering Jihyo, making her blush. He pretended to be polite, pulling out a chair for Jihyo while not caring about Tzuyu. Additionally, he liked to randomly belt out and sing. This wasn’t a problem, but rather, it was more of a manipulative attempt at wooing Jihyo. Jihyo had a weakness for trot, so it was unsurprising that it was being used so well, heart eyes being sent to Doyoung as he sang for her.

Tzuyu would never say anything about Jihyo’s boyfriends until she asked and she never in unless she knew it was bad. Seeing that Jihyo was happy, going on dates and returning all smiley and giddy, Tzuyu panicked thinking that maybe Jihyo had found the one. There was something about Doyoung that seemed suspicious – he was too perfect and perfection was a complete lie in Tzuyu’s dictionary.

It was about three months into their relationship when Tzuyu couldn’t take it anymore. It was annoying her that things had changed from the start. Doyoung used to be more doting and patient with Jihyo but it all seemed to change after the second month. Jihyo failed to notice this because she was so smitten with him and Tzuyu wanted to smack some sense into her. She wanted to figure out what Doyoung was up to so she did what first came to mind.

She totally didn’t follow the boy after school silently, trying to pick out on what his plans were because that was totally creepy and not useful. Either the group were idiots, oblivious or they were deaf because they failed to notice Tzuyu behind them. Not invading their privacy at all, Tzuyu had switched on a voice recorder for backup.

“So, when are we going to change tactics? I’m sick of acting like a lovesick boyfriend. How has she not picked up on my disinterest.”

“Look, it won’t take much longer to embarrass her in front of the school. The fair is right around the corner.”

“But why are we doing this anyway?”

“The question isn’t why, it’s why not. Who says we can’t have a little bit of fun?”

“Whatever. Let’s go.”

Tzuyu remained behind, seething in anger and also frustration in terms of Jihyo’s blindness. The fair was only two days away so she had to act fast. She cycled all the way to Jihyo’s house, bursting inside her room quickly. Unlucky for Tzuyu, Jihyo was changing and she whipped around just in time but she wasn’t fast enough to prevent the blush from creeping up her cheeks.

“You know, I have a door for a reason.” Jihyo mumbled, chucking a pen at Tzuyu’s head.

“You can’t go to the fair.” Tzuyu demanded, surprising Jihyo.

“I have to go, I’m in charge of a booth there Tzuyu.” Jihyo replied, frowning.

“I’ll take your place, you just stay home please.” Tzuyu pleaded.

“Tzuyu, what is it?” Jihyo asked in concern.

“Please? I have a bad feeling about it!” Tzuyu explained.

“Will you tell me about it later?” Jihyo sighed, knowing her best friend wouldn’t suggest such things unless she had a reason.

“I promise.” Tzuyu nodded, grinning at Jihyo to soothe her worries.

--

The day of the fair had finally come and Tzuyu dropped by Jihyo’s house in the morning, leaving a USB with the contents of the audio recording she created earlier on her computer desk. She hoped Jihyo listened to it properly before she ended up running up to the fair instead.

Additionally, she hoped that whatever those idiots planned wasn’t extreme. Everyone knew not to get on Tzuyu’s bad side – why? Because she can really pack a punch when she wanted to hurt someone badly. She can’t hold her anger well at all, unless of course, Jihyo is by her side. But she knows that won’t be the case so she needs to try her best to calm herself or else she’ll get Jihyo upset later.

Her dressing for the day was to look somewhat like Jihyo. She was meant to replace her at the booth so she had to look the part as well. She really hoped the plan didn’t backfire because she wanted to expose what the idiots had planned for Jihyo. She also hoped that Jihyo wouldn’t misunderstand the situation into thinking that she was jealous or doing this to ruin her relationship, because she wasn’t; she just wished she would believe her.

As soon as Tzuyu heard the low snickers behind her, she knew that something was going to come up soon. Why were they being so noisy if they were trying to be sneaky? Where was the logic in that? Never mind, these boys probably didn’t even have logic. They were about to walk into a lion’s den, and the lion inside was wide awake.

A burst of laughter escaped someone’s lips as the gooey substance hit Tzuyu’s back. The students around them whispered to each other in hushed tones as Tzuyu turned her open palms into fists. She wiped off some of it from her jacket and her hair, slipping out of it before she rolled up her sleeves. With ease, she jumped over the edge of the stall, watching on as the group of boys’ laughter had died down upon seeing Tzuyu.

Doyoung stood rooted to the ground, mouth hanging open as the rest of his friends left him behind. He cursed his luck, backing away slowly as Tzuyu neared him. He was going to die today, he knew it. He cried out, begging to be forgiven but Tzuyu wasn’t going to have any of that. In quick strides, she was in front of him, collar fisted in her right hand as she glared at her.

“You dare to try to embarrass my best friend?” Tzuyu seethed, kicking his shin. Doyoung fell to the ground, gripping his foot in pain. She followed it up with a punch to his jaw, basking in the sound of the crack as it came into contact.

“You abused the trust Jihyo had for you, but why? Why did you go to all these lengths to do this to her? What had she ever done to you?” Tzuyu demanded, grabbing his collar again.

“She’s just a loser. She’s a pathetic human.” Doyoung smirked, watching the anger rise in Tzuyu.

Tzuyu kicked him again, closer to his ribs. The anger was not subsiding within her. But before Tzuyu could land another punch on him, she was pulled back harshly and all she could do was flail her arms as she wanted to escape the hold.

“Tzu, calm down for me.” A soothing voice spoke in Tzuyu’s ear. Tzuyu listened, breathing slowly adjusting to normal.

“What the hell are you doing here? I thought I told you not to come!” Tzuyu said angrily.

“Why are you such an idiot? You could’ve told me! Are you insane?” Jihyo scolded, not getting intimidated by her best friend.

“I didn’t want you to go through with it because this would’ve happened.” Tzuyu sighed, pointing at her clothes.

“Tzu, you don’t have to fight my battles for me.” Jihyo muttered.

“Mhmm.” Tzuyu responded, looking down.

“Let me show you.” Jihyo smirked, walking over to Doyoung. “You know, I really liked you. But it’s a pity that that things ended up this way. You shouldn’t have planned any of this and also, you shouldn’t have tried to embarrass us.”

A loud scream echoed through the fair and Doyoung’s curled up position was enough for Tzuyu to be sent into a fit of laughter. She couldn’t believe Jihyo sometimes and the ideas she had in her mind. She skipped back to Tzuyu, pulling her along to her car.

“Next time you do something stupid like this, I’ll smack you harder than I did with him.” Jihyo muttered.

“I would never.” Tzuyu chuckled, shaking her head at Jihyo.

“Now come on, let’s get you out of whatever the hell they spilled on you. Gosh, so disgusting.” Jihyo shuddered, scrunching up her nose.

A/N: I laughed quite a bit at the end akjdvbkvbd
I'm sorry for taking a while to start this but I hope you like it!