Tzuyu and Chaeyoung are making kimbap today.

 

Or rather, they were supposed to be making kimbap today.

 

Tzuyu forcefully squishes another roll of the stuff together, trying her best to suppress her displeasure. Chaeyoung is late to their kimbap-creating session, and Chaeyoung is never late to anything.

As time passes, Tzuyu has finished cutting all the ingredients, fried the eggs, and made enough rice to last herself for the next two days (hopefully her mother is hungry tonight). Gucci, her dog, seems to be laughing at Tzuyu as he trots to and from the kitchen to the living room of Tzuyu’s spacious house. Tzuyu scowls at the pet.

 

Her door opens thirty minutes later and a slightly disheveled Chaeyoung rushes in. “S-Sorry Tzuyu, I was at something and it took longer than I thought it would.”

 

Tzuyu tries her best to hide her sulking, but she’s never been the best liar and Chaeyoung is more perceptive than she lets on. “Where were you?”

 

“At Sana unnie’s house.”

 

At the mention of their weird and unpredictable senior, Tzuyu can't help but flare a little. “Sana? Minatozaki Sana?”

 

“What other Sana do you know?”

 

Tzuyu frowns. How strange. As far as she’s concerned, Chaeyoung doesn’t have any other friends- she has Tzuyu and the conductor sometimes (all teachers tend to love Chaeyoung) and that’s about it. So what was she doing at the house of one of the most popular girls at school?

 

She voices her question and Chaeyoung looks like she wants to die.

 

Turns out Sana wanted to treat Chaeyoung to coffee and biscuits to apologize for the ‘great net incident’, as everyone who had attended the cleaning then now refers to it as. It’s the talk of the school these days- now Sana is even more famous, Momo’s some sort of hero, Mina’s still Mina (cool smart and just so chill) with more admirers, and Chaeyoung is a random kid caught between the entire mess.

 

Tzuyu is both surprised and unsurprised- she’s surprised that Sana is hanging out with Chaeyoung despite all this, but she’s not surprised that Chaeyoung is just ‘that random kid who got caught in the mess’. Chaeyoung is a shy kid- Tzuyu knows this well- and she generally keeps to herself (which kind of explains her lack of friends). She’s kind of a nerd too, which doesn’t bother Tzuyu but generally repels others from her. It’s sad, really; Chaeyoung is a wonderful person who’s always keeping Tzuyu in line. She’s a terrific best friend who will always listen to Tzuyu’s complaining and offer practical, hardy advice that actually works ((she’s the only person in band who didn’t strike Tzuyu as an immediate moron).

 

The world is definitely missing out by overlooking Chaeyoung.

 

“Well, were the biscuits any good?”

 

Chaeyoung nods as she rolls up her sleeves and scans the ingredients before her on Tzuyu’s counter. “Yeah. She made them herself this morning.”

 

“Huh.” Tzuyu muses to herself. “That’s nice. Pass me the crab?”

 

Chaeyoung leans over to grab the bowl of crab to hand to Tzuyu. It’s fresh, or course- Tzuyu is very adamant about the food she puts in her body. Her whole family is organic and all about that pasteurized meat life, so of course they had to use fresh-caught crab from the local market. It’s all very admirable and extremely extra to Chaeyoung but she would never say that out loud. The Chous are a formidable force and she’s still too young to die.

 

“How many rolls do you think we’ll be able to make today?”

 

Tzuyu is quiet for a bit as she smashes more rice together. “Maybe twenty? Thirty?”

 

“Thirty??”

 

Tzuyu nods. “You can have some to go.” She can’t quite bring herself to admit that the excess of ingredients came from waiting for her short friend.

 

Luckily, Chaeyoung doesn’t question her. “Alright then. Thirty it is.”

 

They continue rolling kimbap with soft classical music playing in the background (they’ve never been ones for conventional teenage standards), and soon enough the pile of kimbap grows to a sufficiently large stack.

 

Chaeyoung eyes the small mountain warily. “I think that’s enough.”

 

Tzuyu shrugs and claps some rice grains off her hands. “Okay.” Gucci passes by the kitchen and Tzuyu swears the dog is laughing at her. She glares at her furry companion quietly before turning back to Chaeyoung, who’s already started cleaning.

 

“Do you want to have dinner?” Chaeyoung looks over to her as she scoops the leftover rice into a container.

 

A quick glance at the kitchen wall clock tells her it’s almost 6 o’clock. “Sure. Kimbap?”

 

“Sounds delicious.”

 

Tzuyu’s parents are working this weekend (as usual), so it’s just Tzuyu and Chaeyoung in the spacious Chou residency. They say little more as they begin to clean up their experimental mess. They had long established that their friendship didn’t really need that many words to survive; Chaeyoung was a quiet soul by nature, as was Tzuyu. The difference between them really only laid in their extroverted aspects (and heights), in which Chaeyoung avoided confrontation at all costs and wasn’t easily approached, while Tzuyu spoke freely when she felt the need to roast someone or to defend herself (and Chaeyoung). But they both love music, both stray to art and music as hobbies, and they were only a few months apart in age.

 

“Chaeyoung.”

 

“Hm?” The shorter girl looks over from where she’s washing the dishes that held their kimbap ingredients.

 

Tzuyu bites her lip. “Can I ask you something?”

 

“You already did, but go ahead.” Chaeyoung laughs at her good-naturedly, tossing her braided hair back over a slender shoulder.

 

Tzuyu considers her next words carefully. “Umm…”

 

“Tzuyu!”

 

Tzuyu turns around, startled at the sudden voice behind her. Mina is standing behind her, waving. “Hey Tzuyu, can I ask you something?”

 

Tzuyu nods hesitantly, awaiting the older’s inquiry. Mina takes a breath. “Are you single?”

 

“Huh. Deja-vu.” Tzuyu muses as she stares back at the other girl who is looking at her expectantly.

 

“I am, but I’m not sure why you’d be concerned about that.” Tzuyu voices her thoughts carefully, unsure where this conversation is going to lead her.

 

“Oh! Great, so what do you think about dating someone older than you?”

 

Tzuyu blinks. Mina is unfazed.

 

“I don’t really mind an age difference, as long as there’s mutual attraction.”

 

Mina looks delighted. “Do you like flute players?”

 

This is getting weirder and weirder. Poor Tzuyu looks at Mina, feeling slightly aghast. She didn’t sign up to be grilled about her love preferences, especially not by one of the most unattainable people in the entire district.

 

‘I just want to be left alone.’

 

Her saving grace comes as she’s racking her brain for an answer to the odd question (from the even odder person). Before she can say any more, she is interrupted by the creaking of door hinges and the slamming of door on wall.

 

“I TOLD YOU TO BE DISCREET!”

 

A sudden shriek comes from somewhere close-ish to them and both Mina and Tzuyu jump, frightened. Sana, Momo, and three of Mina’s other friends spill out from a nearby janitor’s closet. Tzuyu gapes at the scene before her.

 

Sana is first to regain her bearings, slamming a hand on a winded Jeongyeon’s back to hoist herself up from the ground. Her face is pink with rage. Mina blinks at the girl. “Aren’t you supposed to be hiding?”

 

“I AM. BUT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE DISCREET. IS THIS WHAT YOU CALL DISCREET, MINA-CHAN? HM??”

 

Mina looks very confused, almost as confused as Tzuyu feels. “What?”

 

Sana huffs indignantly at Mina, the most worked-up Tzuyu thinks she’s ever seen the bubbly flutist. “UGH! You know what, never mind! Come on Mina-chan, let’s go!” Sana promptly marches over to snatch Mina’s arm and proceeds to drag her away. She seems quite flustered, Tzuyu observes- she thinks she might’ve even spotted a hint of a blush on Sana’s cheeks as she and her entourage of friends drag Mina away from Tzuyu. Mina looks over her shoulder and waves cheerfully with her other arm at Tzuyu, smiling apologetically. Tzuyu is left standing there, confused, disoriented, and stared at.

 

(She hasn’t forgotten an earlier conversation she had with Mina, about the dating status of a certain Son Chaeyoung. She already suspects that Chaeyoung’s situation and schoolgirl feelings towards a certain y saxophonist may not be as hopeless as she’d initially thought.)

 

Chaeyoung is still looking at her expectantly as she balks, blinking through round frames. Tzuyu swallows and chuckles nervously; she doesn’t think she can do this. Not to Chaeyoung.

 

Goddamit, Tzuyu.

 

“Um, do you want to go to the community college’s band concert on Friday?”

 

Chaeyoung looks up, surprised. “Yeah, of course. Didn’t we already say we were going to go? You brought it up two days ago.” She says, giving her tall friend a weird glance. Tzuyu is sure she has an absolutely constipated expression on her face right now.

 

“Ha. Ha ha! Did I? Gosh, I can’t seem to remember.” Tzuyu forces a laugh from that probably has her looking like something straight from a horror house.

 

Chaeyoung must be thinking the same thing because she looks really concerned now. “Yeah, you did. During French, remember? After the quiz and stuff.”

 

Tzuyu doesn’t know how to handle this situation, mainly because she never messes up. Well, that’s a bit of a stretch- more like, she’s the type of person to never forget a due date, never forget her daily agenda, and never be late. Chaeyoung knows this well, so Tzuyu isn’t surprised that her friend is a little suspicious, but suspicion leads to questions and questions-

 

“Tzuyu, are you alright?”

 

Dammit. Tzuyu plasters on an awkward smile as she stiffly nods. Chaeyoung is eyeing her weirdly. “I’m fine! It must’ve slipped my mind, that’s all.” She concludes awkwardly and quickly averts her gaze to their task at hand. Chaeyoung frowns but doesn’t say any more, and they finish washing in relative silence.

 

“I’m looking forward to Friday though.” Chaeyoung seems to forgotten about the earlier weirdness as she wipes her hands on a dish towel and smiles up at Tzuyu happily.

 

Tzuyu grins back. “Me too.”

 

To any other high schooler, attending a local, outdoorsy-fall type of evening event is something that the old people and their parents would do. To Chaeyoung and Tzuyu though, it’s a chance to simmer down from the hassling school week and rejuvenate with music. It’s just the type of event the two of them would attend together.

 

Chaeyoung absently crouches down to pet Gucci as the pet trots back into the kitchen. Tzuyu watches on silently. It’s kind of cute; Chaeyoung smiling fondly at the puppy as Gucci pants happily in front of her. Tzuyu again feels that familiar twinge of sadness for her misunderstood, small, overlooked friend.

 

Hopefully it would get better.

 

---

 

It’s lessons day again, and you know what that means.

 

As usual, Nayeon is first to get moving. “My life is so boring.” She groans, slumping over her stand as she tries to resist the urge to take a nap.

 

Jeongyeon looks up incredulously. “What? You were just attacked by-“

 

“That was yesterday! This is today! Today is boring!”

 

Jeongyeon balks, looks at Nayeon like she’s grown a third head, then turns and shakes her head exasperatedly. Everyone else sweats nervously.

 

What on earth would possibly have the nerve to attack someone like her?

 

It’s evident enough that Nayeon is indeed bored though, when she pushes her head off the music stand and begins to look around the room. “Momo, teach me how to play the cymbals.” She demands upon seeing the large, gleaming disks in the back. She’s actually awake now, ditching her tuba and clambering over to the back where the percussionists linger about.

 

Momo grins, delighted. “Okay! Can we switch then?” She hands Nayeon the unnervingly large pair of cymbals and Nayeon grabs a spare mouthpiece to give Momo. Momo attaches the piece to Nayeon’s tuba and plops down on one of the spare chairs in the back, as Nayeon takes a moment to marvel at the large, shiny disks in her hands. Her eyes are practically gleaming at the new apparatus currently at her disposal.

 

Jihyo comes in the room next and sees Nayeon holding the cymbals, grinning like a creep. “Ooo, I want to try too!” She throws her horn case down on her seat and trots over with eager eyes. Momo reaches over the tuba in her lap to grab a pair of bongos, handing them to Jihyo. She hands the tuba to someone to hold for a moment as she demonstrates to Jihyo a simple way to hold the bongos without a table. Jihyo does a fantastic manspread (good thing she’s wearing pants today) and is successfully able to secure the bongos between her legs. Momo approves and retrieves the tuba, Nayeon clashes the cymbals together for the first time, Jihyo’s palm meets the surface of the bigger bongo, and is it really band class if it’s quiet? (Answer: no, never).

 

Tzuyu comes in next, but she’s unfazed by the racket coming from the awful collaboration. She’s used to it at this point and nothing really scares her anymore (last week’s war being the only exception as of this year.) She sits in her normal seat, goes through her normal meticulous lining process, makes sure her reed is sufficiently saturated, and begins her warmup- today, it’s an excerpt from Symphony No. 2 by Rachmaninoff. It’s very classical and it’s very Tzuyu and she at the very least sounds good so no one bats an eye.

 

Sana has heard the racket of Nayeon and Jihyo’s horrendous percussion skills from way down the hall, so she comes in expecting and excited, but then she catches Tzuyu sitting in her spot diligently practicing and quickly decides to try and calm down a little in an attempt to raise Tzuyu’s perception of her. Dahyun is feeling good today so she decides to sing along to Momo’s tuba cover of some Demi Lovato song. It’s honestly surprising she’s able to get that much out on the foreign instrument. Jihyo sings along as she bats away at the bongos, and Nayeon- well, at least she’s having fun.

 

Someone starts a clap to what has been identified as ‘I Really Don’t Care’ and it’s soon an entire sing-along with an incorrect soundtrack. Jeongyeon’s trombone has taken the melody, assisting Momo’s awful tuba skills, and some of the others have joined in on their respective instruments. Dahyun starts to dance and Sana can’t really resist anymore, so she joins the sophomore and waves her flute precariously in the air to the beat. Jisoo starts to samba, Dahyun’s got a small conga line going, and suddenly everyone’s chanting OH OH OH I REALLY DON’T CARE WOOOOOO.

 

Tzuyu takes in the scene around her, disinterested as usual. She sees the upperclassmen acting like idiots (as usual), Dahyun causing a scene (as usual) and Sana, well she’s-

 

As she’s looking around, she catches Sana’s eye from across the room as the older girl is swaying her hips to the beat of Jihyo’s bongos and Nayeon’s steady cymbal clash. She looks right into Sana’s dark eyes so full of light, catches sight of that smile genuinely happy, so carefree and transparent and Sana’s expression morphs to something soft that has something in Tzuyu shifting up. It’s so strange- it’s so strange because the freshman has never thought anything of anyone around her who didn’t understand her, never bothered trying, and it’s just-

 

Tzuyu always hears talk of moments in time where everything just stops. The world, time, people, objects- it’s like, where everything would freeze, would cease in a way even when it really didn’t. Those were little pockets of something almost magical, what they were all talking about. And she never believed them- why would she? To her, this all just sounds like a big scoop of bull. Because it’s just not possible to have that experience. Science says so, logic says so, and it makes no sense for everything to just stop like that because there are so many factors and- that’s just how she lived. How she still lives. She still lives like that, and she doesn’t believe in these little pocket freezes that everyone always talks about.

 

Yet somehow, some way, something so strong moves in Tzuyu in that moment- and she doesn’t like it. She stares back at Sana blankly, calm and kind of dead on the outside but inside, her mind is racing to make sense of what’s going on, her body going even a little haywire to try to remedy this situation.

 

Sana’s attention is drawn away eventually by someone screaming loudly and the rave continues- and just like that, the moment’s gone and over and Tzuyu is left with an increased heartbeat, sweaty palms, her heartbeat in her ears, and a confused mind (she’s never really believed too much in ‘heart knowledge’- why would she, when her brain tells her everything she needs to know?)

 

As she regains her bearings, she spots Mina on top of one of the brass lockers (Tzuyu doesn’t even want to know how she got up there) fully immersed in the chaos of her fellow seniors. Momo is on the other side of the room, struggling to blow into the tuba and dance at the same time, Jihyo and Nayeon are really into their respective percussive contributions, and everyone else is just living it up (except for her and a couple other underclassmen; this is just too much).

 

The conductor walks in a few minutes later, as things are really in full swing, and he just facepalms. The underclassmen dutifully go to sit in their seats, as do the juniors (because they secretly all want to be in his good graces for a shot at a better seat next year), but the seniors pay him no mind- Mina’s still on the lockers, Sana’s still dancing, Jeongyeon is swinging her trombone around in the air precariously, and Nayeon is smashing the cymbals together like there’s no tomorrow.

 

“Alright, let’s settle down now!”

 

Dahyun finally goes and plops down in her chair, a little sweaty but smiling brightly. No one else even hears him though.

 

“Class, sit down! We’re starting soon and we’ve got a lot of music to go over today!”

 

Nothing.

 

“Im Nayeon, if you don’t put those cymbals down right now I’m giving you all gym cleaning duty! Again!”

 

At this, the girl gasps and instantly drops the cymbals with a clang. Momo squawks a little at the impact. “My cymbals!” She runs over to the site of the accident, shoving the tuba back into Nayeon’s arms to kneel over the shining disks. Nayeon pays her no mind and just trots back to her seat, flopping down with a small huff.

 

The party’s pretty much over at this point, and Jihyo’s went back to her French horn as well. Momo and Jeongyeon are helping Mina down from atop the lockers, and when her feet are finally back on the ground, the conductor sighs and relaxes a little. Order is restored.

 

“Thank you, ladies. Now, everyone take out Mars and look at measure 35…”

 

It’s just another day in band.

 

---

 

Friday evening is shaping up to be a good one; it’s warm, sunny, autumn hasn’t really settled in yet, and it’s a lovely day to be outside.

 

Tzuyu’s older brother drops them off at the site of the concert and he pulls off with a wave and a ‘Call mom when you’re done’. With that, the sophomores are left to their own devices.

 

“This is nice.” Chaeyoung smiles. People are milling about, mostly people their parent’s ages, talking and eating and there’re refreshments on a nearby table and plenty of nonalcoholic beverages. Kids even younger than them are running around chasing each other, and there isn’t a high schooler in sight. Just the way they like it.

 

“It is.” Tzuyu agrees as she takes in her surroundings. There are a bunch of chairs set up on the grass before an area obviously meant for the band. There are balloons tied to tables and microphones, and the entire thing is just so wholesome and nice. Tzuyu feels something in her settle contently. It’s just her, the locals who don’t know them, small children, and her best friend. Not too shabby, considering her status as ‘new girl’. This is exactly how she’d envisioned her Friday evening to go. Exactly how she’d wanted it to be. It’s perfect- it really is.

 

Until six very familiar figures tumble out of a Jeep that has haphazardly screeched to a halt in the gravelly parking lot of the park.

 

Unfortunately, Tzuyu recognizes the first one (and hears her too). “I thought you said Nayeon is a good driver!” Momo is leaning on the side of the vehicle like her knees would give out at any time.

 

Mina hops out next to her. “She is! You don’t think so?”

 

Momo sends her a glare that would have anyone else reeling into tomorrow, but Mina just laughs and runs a hand through her brunette hair.

 

Nayeon has heard the remark and scowls at Momo. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m a great driver!”

 

“Yeah! Great!” Jihyo backs her up, and the two exchange the most enthusiastic high-five Tzuyu has ever seen.

 

Jeongyeon rolls her eyes from the side. “Honestly, I think we’ve just all gotten used to it by now.” She pats Momo on the back and goes on ahead to join Mina in her one-way march to the refreshment table.

 

Sana, however, is completely unfazed. “That was so much fun! You should invite me more often!” She gets out of the car happily, trotting after Jeongyeon and catching up with Nayeon and Jihyo.

 

Momo looks at her incredulously. “Is running through three red lights in a Jeep blasting Kendrick your idea of fun?!” 

 

“Don’t forget the cop chase!” Jihyo helpfully adds from the side. Nayeon looks kind of proud.

 

“I hit sixty-five on the local roads today!”

 

Momo rolls her eyes. “Right. How did I leave that out?”

 

Sana just beams. “It felt like a rollercoaster! I love rides, you know?” She says cheerily.

 

Tzuyu stares at the new arrivals dumbly. Chaeyoung hasn’t noticed their arrival yet and is happily conversing with one of the locals with a child in one of the local elementary schools.

 

“Why are they here?!”

 

“Tzuyu?”

 

She turns back to her company, slightly startled, to find the nice lady and Chaeyoung looking at her expectantly. “We’re in the high school band, right?”

 

Tzuyu swallows. “Ah, that’s right. I play the clarinet.” She smiles awkwardly, trying to contribute to the conversation.

 

The lady clasps her hands together. “That’s wonderful! I’ve always wished that Ciara would pick up the clarinet…”

 

They continue on with the chat, and Chaeyoung is smiling and nodding to something the woman is saying, but Tzuyu just can’t tear her eyes away from the crowd of six who have just discovered the refreshments table. Mina must’ve been hungry today- she’s got a plate of brownies almost as tall as Chaeyoung and she’s eating like she hasn’t seen food for a month. Momo is always hungry- so is Jeongyeon- and they’re hovering over the sandwich plates. Jihyo has demolished two jugs of lemonade and is moving onto her third, and Nayeon is working through a couple of complementary burritos.

 

The band begins to file onto the stage, and Chaeyoung nudges her arm. “Tzuyu, I think they’re starting soon. Want to sit down?”

 

Tzuyu snaps back to attention and nods hastily. “Oh, yeah. Let’s go.” They bid the nice lady goodbye and make their way to the seating area, where people have already started to make themselves comfortable. They decide to sit somewhere in the safe middle, not too close but close enough to get the full experience. Tzuyu almost forgets about the newcomers, but then she feels Chaeyoung stiffen next to her.

 

“Tzuyu!”

 

Chaeyoung nudges her with a sharp elbow and they both look over a couple aisles over, where Nayeon, Jihyo, Mina, Momo, Jeongyeon, and Sana have made themselves at home, each girl with a large plate of comestibles in her hands, talking very loudly and laughing obnoxiously. No one’s really paying them any mind except Tzuyu and Chaeyoung though- they technically aren’t doing anything wrong, and they’re not really disturbing anyone since everyone is used to noise, with their small children and all.

 

Chaeyoung balks for a moment. “What are they doing here?” She hisses quietly to Tzuyu, who can only shrug helplessly. 

 

“I don’t know! I didn’t think anyone from school would be at an event like this!” She whispers fiercely back to her small friend. Chaeyoung just sighs a little.

 

“Well, I guess this is a public event. They’re not bothering us anyway.” She says resignedly, turning her attention back to the front and disregarding their seniors’ presences. Tzuyu can only do the same.

 

On the other side of the event, Momo nudges Mina’s ribs harshly. “Look!”

 

Mina almost chokes on her brownies. “Ow! What, Momo, what??” She bites back, cupping a hand over her ribs. 

 

Momo juts her chin to the right. “Isn’t that Chaeyoung?”

 

At the mention of the small girl, Mina’s head snaps to the direction Momo’s looking. She doesn’t immediately see Chaeyoung, but she does see a tall figure with wavy purple hair sitting next to her. That must be Tzuyu, she reasons, and sure enough next to her is a smaller girl who looks absolutely adorable. It is indeed Chaeyoung- Chaeyoung and Tzuyu, in fact, and she’s pleasantly surprised.

 

“Oh. Would you look at that, it is.” She muses, munching on the remnants of her chocolatey snacks.

 

Momo smacks her shoulder at the placid response. “Yah, stop being an idiot. You should talk to her!”

 

Mina doesn’t stop chewing but she doesn’t shoot down the idea either, so Momo eggs her on. “This is your chance to get closer to her- when do you ever see her in school anyway? She wouldn't want to talk to a loser like you!”

 

Mina swallows the last of her brownie bites and is apparently convinced by Momo’s suggestions. “You’re right. I’ll definitely talk to her after the concert!” She’s easily swayed, and Momo claps at her determination.

 

Nayeon pokes her head out to look over at them. “Talk to who?”

 

“Chaeyoung. You know, from school? She’s sitting over there with Tzuyu.” Momo responds, gesturing to where Tzuyu and Chaeyoung are seated side-by-side. At the mention of Tzuyu, Sana’s attention is rapt and her head shoots up as well.

 

Nayeon frowns in confusion. “Oh. Are you friends?” She asks Mina, but before the girl can say anything, Momo replies for her.

 

“No, Minari just has a little crush on her.”

 

Everyone’s jaws drop at the same time and Mina cringes. Momo is blissfully unaware of everything and she just smiles and looks between their shocked expressions confusedly.

 

Jihyo is intrigued. “Why, Mina! You didn’t tell us about this! Who is this Chaeyoung person you speak of?” She asks excitedly, eyes widened to full capacity and hands clasped delightedly.

 

Mina looks at her incredulously. “You were the one berating me for not knowing her when you broke into my house-”

 

Nayeon clears and raises a finger. “That was me, Minari.”

 

“Why do you assume Tzuyu’s good at music because she goes fishing? What if she just practices a lot?” 

 

They look genuinely stumped at this question. Mina waits patiently, looking at them expectantly.

 

“Well,” Nayeon begins hesitantly. “She seems like she’s pretty smart.”

 

“She’s friends with Chaeyoung at least, so she must be a little smart by default, right?” Jeongyeon mumbles thoughtfully.

 

Dahyun nods. “Yeah. Chaeyoung’s super smart. She’s a good musician too.”

 

“Who?”

 

They blink at her. “Chaeyoung. That really small sophomore who plays oboe in band?” Nayeon asks, giving Mina the most condescending look.

 

“The only oboe player?” Jeongyeon adds pointedly. “You must know her.”

 

Ah. Mina rubs the back of her neck sheepishly. It was Nayeon after all. (And Jeongyeon, for good measure).

 

Sana tsks at her disapprovingly. “I can’t believe you didn’t know who Chaeyoung was. That’s so rude, Mina-chan.”

 

Mina splutters indignantly. “I didn’t-”

 

“I agree, that’s totally not cool. I mean, it’s not you don’t see her like oh I don’t know every single day in band class or anything-”

 

“I don’t really-”

 

“Yeah, that’s so rude Mina.” Jihyo shakes her head disapprovingly and Mina has no words.

 

“I am deceased.” She declares, slumping down into her seat. Momo pats her shoulder comfortingly.

 

Jihyo shrugs. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. But I totally support your crush on Chaeyoung!”

 

“Do you even know who she is?”

 

Jihyo huffs. “Of course I do! The internet is a great thing, you know?” She proudly shows Mina her phone screen, where she’s got what seems to be Chaeyoung’s instagram profile pulled up. The profile is private- but it’s more than enough to make Mina nervous.

 

“Jihyo-”

 

“Too late!” The hornist crows happily, tapping the ‘request’ button. Mina wants to die.

 

“Did you just request to follow Chaeyoung on instagram?” Jeongyeon asks, more amused than anything as she casually looks over Jihyo’s shoulder at the glowing phone screen. Jihyo nods, apparently quite pleased with herself.

 

“Ooo, can one of you get Tzuyu’s profile up for me? I can’t seem to find her.” Sana says from next to Jeongyeon, eyes fixed on her own phone with an upset frown.

 

Nayeon whips out her device. “I’m an expert at internet stalking, I gotchu.” Sana leans over eagerly, hands clasped on Nayeon’s shoulder as the girl works her magic.

 

“Here it is!” Nayeon declares a few moments later, holding up her phone screen for all to see. Mina and Momo both find themselves leaning forward to look.

 

Jeongyeon is impressed. “She has so many followers!”

 

“But she has like, no friends?” Nayeon frowns, confused.

 

Mina shrugs. “Isn’t she from Taiwan? Maybe she had a lot of friends there.”

 

Momo nods her agreement. “That would make sense. And, she’s super pretty!”

 

Sana whips her head around to glare at Momo. “Don’t even think about it, Hirai.”

 

“Huh?” Clueless Momo is confused.

 

“She’s mine! Mine! Got it?! I don’t want you or any of your ripped muscles anywhere near her!”

 

“Oh my.” Momo mutters saltily to herself, holding her hands up in mock surrender. Sana gives her one last glare for good measure, and makes the ‘I’m watching you’ sign before turning back to Nayeon, intrigued.

 

“So should I follow her or…”

 

Mina tunes out the rest of Sana’s conversation in favor of focusing on her own issues right now. Jihyo is grinning like a creep, Momo evidently doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with the current situation, and Jeongyeon doesn’t seem to care much about anything. Before she can say anything else though, the band members start to file out onto the stage and everyone’s attention is directed toward them.

 

An administrator of the program steps up to the mike as the band’s getting themselves assembled and starts some sort of welcome speech that everyone knows will end in asking for donations. Unfortunately, none of them high schoolers can afford to empty their pockets right now (Momo eats too much to spare any, Nayeon needs gas money and a lot of car maintenance money, Jeongyeon pays too much for TV and comic books, Sana likes buying clothes more than listening to band music, and Mina- well, let’s not talk about Mina. She still needs to buy groceries.)

 

Tzuyu and Chaeyoung pass the basket to the next people over. “Do you think they’ll stay the whole time?” Tzuyu asks Chaeyoung, looking a little afraid.

 

Chaeyoung casts a wary glance at her phone, and then at the six in the back. “I don’t know. But Jihyo just requested to follow me on instagram.” She holds up her phone for Tzuyu to see, and they both balk a little bit at the notification.

 

“Whatever.” Chaeyoung mutters to herself, deleting the notification and focusing her attention back on the stage. Tzuyu’s heart twinges a little for her friend.

 

The concert is pretty good though- the musicians play some swing, some marches, and some covers and it’s honestly just a good time. As it goes on, Tzuyu and Chaeyoung both find themselves loosening up a little, getting into the rhythm and enjoying the pieces.

 

But, it’s hard to ignore the six hurricanes-waiting-to-happen on the other side of the outdoor venue.

 

“Ooo, this is my jam!” Nayeon starts to bob incessantly to the strong beat of one of the marches.

 

Sana’s arms are twitching a little. They all know she just wants to jump up and rave. Sana and Mina share a quiet glance, and the normally composed girl is also starting to feel a little twitchy. It quickly just turns into a competition of who can stay still longer than the other (both are faring horribly, but still in the running).

 

About halfway through the catchy song, the conductor does some sort of ‘let’s include the community members’ thing, and he gestures to the audience members to start clapping. Tzuyu and Chaeyoung join everyone else, clapping politely to the beat. Sana, unfortunately, has other plans.

 

“IT’S LIT!” 

 

Tzuyu and Chaeyoung both jump at the sudden shriek and whip around. Sana and Mina have both risen from their seats and are dancing like maddened birds. Momo doesn’t hesitate to join them (she’s got dance in her DNA), Jihyo yanks an old person from out of nowhere to salsa with, Mina starts twerking, and suddenly the entire area is filled with dancing old people and screaming children.

 

Tzuyu and Chaeyoung stay frozen in their seats and watch the scene, slightly horrified. They see Jeongyeon leap onto the stage and start swaying madly with the clarinetists. Nayeon is raving with a couple senior citizens to their left, Momo’s started yet another conga line with the small children, Mina’s head-banging to the tuba pulse and flailing around with Sana.

 

How could this happen?!

 

“So much for a quiet Friday evening.” Chaeyoung awkwardly comments as the song eventually comes to an end. The community members start cheering enthusiastically and clapping in delight as the band exits the stage, and then everyone mills off to talk again in their own little circles.

 

Tzuyu nods stiffly beside her, and they just kind of sit there. From further away, Momo punches Mina.

 

“It’s your chance! Go!”

 

Mina hisses at the strike and is about to fight back, but then she looks up to where Momo’s stabbing her arm through the air. “Oh. Oh! I got it I got it.” She scrambles to her feet and stumbles off with a smack on her behind from the percussionist for good measure.

 

“Chaeyoung!”

 

The two underclassmen look up, startled to see Myoui Mina stumbling towards them. Chaeyoung blinks.

 

“Hi.” Mina reaches them, a little breathless, and offers a smile. Tzuyu and Chaeyoung hesitantly return the gesture, wondering what she could possibly want.

 

Mina just stares at them a little, wondering what she should say next. Clearly she didn’t think this through.

 

“Good evening sunbaenim.” Chaeyoung awkwardly dips her head. Tzuyu’s just impressed Chaeyoung actually managed to say something to the girl, and she takes a small step back in hopes of getting Chaeyoung to say some more.

 

Mina straightens again, having caught her breath. “Hey! I saw you guys from over there and I wanted to say hi.” She smiles at them with a little wave and gosh she’s so pretty- Chaeyoung looks nervous now. She’s clearly not in any position to say anything, so Tzuyu steps forward to intervene on her little friend’s behalf.

 

“Did you come to watch the concert too, sunbae?” She asks politely. Chaeyoung doesn’t say anything but Tzuyu can practically feel the gratitude radiating from her.

 

Mina waves a hand. “We went over this- drop the honorifics.” She smiles kindly at them both. “And yeah, Sana saw a poster for it earlier in the library today so we came with her to check it out.”

 

Tzuyu blinks. “Oh. That’s- well, that’s nice.” She offers lamely, honestly taken aback that Sana was the one to instigate the whole thing.

 

Mina nods. “Yeah, it sounded like fun so we agreed to come. I’m glad we did though- I really liked the second piece.”

 

The second piece was a traditional American swing featuring an impressive trumpet solo and layers of saxophone harmonies. “I liked it too.” Tzuyu agrees, allowing a small smile before she pinches Chaeyoung lightly from behind. This jerks the younger girl out of her frozen state, and she jerks just a little in surprise at the contact.

 

Mina’s looking at Chaeyoung expectantly, all glorious smile and pearly whites. “What about you, Chaeyoung?”

 

Chaeyoung stares at Mina looking a little terrified. “I- um, yeah. I liked the music today.” She mumbles softly, looking down as she tries to hide behind Tzuyu.

 

“Hey, I wanted to thank you for lab the other day too. Thanks for letting me work with you.” Mina looks genuinely grateful to her. Chaeyoung doesn’t know what to do.

“It’s no problem.” She replies in the same quiet voice that both Mina and Tzuyu find themselves straining to hear. Mina looks like she’s about to say something else, but then-

 

“CHAEYOUNG AH! IS THAT YOU?”

 

Sana is waving frantically from a few yards away, before she breaks away from her company to run over. “You guys! What’s up?” She asks in her usual energetic way, beaming a smile. It’s Tzuyu’s turn to stand stiffly as Chaeyoung blinks up at the older girl.

 

“Hi unnie.” She says, still soft, but not nearly as frightened. She’s not trying to hide behind Tzuyu in front of Sana like she did with Mina,- Mina is a little ruffled at the observation.

 

Sana beams at her. “You look so cute today!” She says happily, reaching out to brush some hair from the younger girl’s forehead. Large eyes gaze up at her, unafraid. Mina can only wonder.

 

“Hi Tzuyu!” Sana’s perky voice addresses the tall girl.

 

Chaeyoung turns to Tzuyu expectantly (she’s always been the bolder between the two) but to her surprise, Tzuyu just waves awkwardly.

 

Lame.

 

Chaeyoung internally sighs. “Did you enjoy the concert, unnie?” She asks, turning back to Sana.

 

Sana beams. “I did! I’m glad we all came today, I had a lot of fun.”

 

“Yeah! Fun!”

 

To everyone’s horror, Nayeon and Jihyo have materialized beside them and have taken a green light to enter the conversation. They’re looking at Chaeyoung and Tzuyu with these creepy grins and Tzuyu just feels uncomfortable now.

 

“Sana, Mina, who are your friends?” Nayeon asks purposely, eyeing the underclassmen.

 

Sana doesn’t really sense the weirdness, although Mina is a little shook. “This is Chaeyoung, and this is Tzuyu! Guys, this is Nayeon.” She gestures to the tubists, “and Jihyo! I think we’re all in the same band class.”

 

Chaeyoung and Tzuyu automatically duck a little. “Good evening sunbaenim.” They say in unison. Nayeon looks a little shocked.

 

“Jihyo! They’re so polite!”

 

Jihyo is fascinated as well. “Right? That’s crazy- we were never this polite when we were underclassmen.”

 

Mina chuckles lightly. “Didn’t you throw acorns at that one senior because she yelled at Jeongyeon?”

 

Nayeon laughs fondly. “I remember that. But hey, no one yells at Jeongyeon and gets away with it! Except me, of course.” She adds proudly as an afterthought.

 

Momo loops up to join them. “Gets away with what?” She asks, leaning an arm on Mina’s shoulder. She makes a silly face at Chaeyoung and Tzuyu in greeting, who smile gratefully at the kind older girl.

 

Mina turns her head a little to fill her in. “When we were sophomores, a senior in band yelled at Jeongyeon for never bringing valve oil and always being unprepared for class.”

 

“It was serious! Jeongyeon almost cried!” Jihyo interjects quickly, looking solemn.

 

“Yeah- we couldn’t just let her get away with it.” Nayeon adds matter-of-factly, crossing her arms beside Jihyo.

 

Mina just looks amused. Sana looks very interested (they had yet to meet at that point, so she doesn’t know what happened). “What did you do then?” The other Japanese girl asks.

 

“Why we had to avenge our dear Jeongyeon!” Jihyo says. “So, we went and threw acorns at her until she apologized.”

 

Mina snorts at that. “She didn’t even get to apologize- you two literally knocked her out!”

 

The story-listeners clearly weren’t expecting that. “What?” Sana asks, confused.

 

“You heard me. They knocked her out with the acorns- like, out. Cold. The gym teacher got so scared, he thought she died on his watch from exhaustion or something.”

 

Momo blinks. “Well- I mean- did they get in trouble for it?”

 

“Nope. No one even knew. It’s a mystery to this day.”

 

Nayeon smiles nostalgically. “Our first hit-and-run. Those were the days, huh?” She and Jihyo get this weird, faraway look in their eyes as they gaze out at the lights.

 

Everyone else looks a little nervous. Momo coughs awkwardly. Tzuyu and Chaeyoung don’t even dare to move.

 

“Anyway!” Sana claps her hands together to dissipate the silence. “I’m glad everyone had a good time! It’s really weird to see other people from our school at an event like this, especially on a Friday you know?” She smiles at them all.

 

“Right.” Nayeon says flatly.

 

“We should probably get going though.” Tzuyu finally speaks up, taking a quick peek at her phone.

 

“How are you getting home?” Mina asks.

 

“My mom’s coming to pick us up.” Tzuyu replies, gesturing to herself and Chaeyoung. The older girls nod understandingly.

 

“Lucky.” Momo groans from Mina’s right.

 

“You got a problem, Hirai?” Nayeon barks, shooting an icy glare her way. Momo backs down, but she isn’t deterred from crossly mumbling something crass under her breath.

 

The younger ones look on awkwardly. “Well, we’re going to get going then. Have a good evening.” They receive enthusiastic waves as they go to the parking lot where Tzuyu’s mom has just pulled up.

 

Mina’s mood instantly turns 180 degrees. “Guys! You ruined it!”

 

“Ruined what?” They all blink owlishly at her.

 

Sana is supporting her. “Tzuyu didn’t even say anything to me! Minari, what do I do!” She wails, collapsing into the other girl’s arms. 

 

“Ha! Chaeyoung said one sentence to me!” Mina crows triumphantly, fist-pumping victoriously. Sana just groans and rolls over in Mina’s arms.

 

Nayeon rolls her eyes from the side, crossing her arms. “Whatever, losers. Anyway, we should get going- I need to sleep by 10:30 tonight.”

 

They all turn to look at her. Jeongyeon comes up besides Jihyo with a plate full of food, the last of the refreshments. “That’s so early?”

 

“I have a meeting tomorrow.” Nayeon states matter-of-factly.

 

Momo looks like she has a question on her tongue but decides against it. Sana accepts the statement readily. “Oh, alright! We should get going then!” She leads the way to Nayeon’s Jeep, with a reluctant Momo dragging behind.

 

Hopefully this time would be better.