“Tzuyu? Can I come in?” Jihyo called, rapping her knuckles on the door to the younger girl’s room.

“Fine,” came the curt reply from inside. The older girl poked her head into the room cautiously before stepping inside and shutting the door behind her. Tzuyu was sprawled out on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

“Hey, what are you doing in here all alone? The girls said you stormed off. How come?” Jihyo started, sitting down on the corner of the other girl’s bed.

“Why don’t you ask them? It’s their fault anyway,” Tzuyu huffed.

“I already asked them. They said that they asked you to step out because they were going to talk about things you shouldn’t participate in, and you got angry and left.”

“It’s just not fair!” Tzuyu bolted into a sitting position, startling her leader. “It’s not like I don’t know what they’re talking about. They’re going to talk about dating and . I know that. So why do I have to leave just because they all want to be erts?”

“Tzuyu, you’re still so young—”

“So is Chaeyoung! But you let her participate in things because she’s ing Dahyun! Just because she has a girlfriend and I’ve never dated, she gets treated like more of an adult than me! How is that fair?”

“That’s not the case—”

“Yes it is! It’s like dating someone gives you a whole new status and set of privileges in this group. And the only one who gets left out is me. Nayeon and Jeongyeon are together, Chaeyoung and Dahyun, and even the J-line have their weird . And you—” Tzuyu abruptly cut herself off, glancing away from Jihyo.

“And I what?” Jihyo probed, head tilted in curiosity.

“Nothing,” Tzuyu grumbled. “My point is that it isn’t fair.”

There was a long stretch of silence where neither girl spoke. Tzuyu was still fuming, glaring at her hands in her lap. Jihyo, on the other hand, was contemplative. She watched the younger girl, debating internally whether or not she should go ahead with what she had planned.

“Tzuyu,” Jihyo finally said, drawing the younger girl’s gaze. “Would you like to go on a date with me?”

***

Tzuyu was nervous. No, she was more than nervous—she was neurotic. Why? Because Jihyo had asked her out on a date. And, like the idiot she was, she had said yes. If it had been anyone else, Tzuyu would have called them ridiculous and immediately denied their offer. But it hadn’t been just anyone, it was Jihyo. Jihyo, TWICE’s hard-working, motherly leader. Jihyo, who was unimaginably beautiful, with both woman-like charms and childish cuteness. Jihyo, who treated Tzuyu like she was the most precious human being, and who had gained a deep admiration from the younger girl. And now Tzuyu was going on her first date ever with the only one of her members who could make her feel both perfectly comfortable and incredibly nervous at the same time.

“Tzuyu, if you keep pacing you’re going to leave tracks in the floor,” Chaeyoung commented from where she was sitting on her bed, snuggled against Dahyun’s side. The two girls were watching their youngest roommate as she walked back and forth, wringing her hands.

“Geez, you’re acting as if you actually like her or something,” Dahyun teased. Tzuyu looked up at her for a fraction of a second before quickly looking away, biting down on her bottom lip. Dahyun and Chaeyoung both sat up straighter.

“Oh my God, Tzuyu, do you like Jihyo?” Chaeyoung demanded.

“I-I don’t,” Tzuyu stammered.

“No way! You totally do like her!” Dahyun practically shouted, causing Tzuyu to harshly shush her.

“Shut up!” the maknae hissed. “I… I don’t know, okay? I admire her a lot and of course I care about her. But there’s just something about the way she treats me and the way she takes care of me… it makes me feel something I can’t explain.”

“Awwwww,” the older girls cooed together.

“Stop it!” Tzuyu whined. “It doesn’t even matter anyway. This is a pity date. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“You don’t know that. It might mean as much to her as it does to you,” Dahyun pointed out. Tzuyu didn’t get a chance to answer, however, because there was a soft knock on the door.

“Tzuyu? Are you ready to go yet?” Jihyo’s voice rang out clearly through the door.

“Coming, unnie!” the maknae called back. She turned to her unnies, glaring at them in a way that was a silent order for them not to do or say anything stupid, and they held their hands up in surrender. Satisfied, Tzuyu rushed to grab her jacket and purse, checking her hair in the mirror and smoothing her skirt one last time before she went to open the door. When she did, she was sure she stopped breathing for a moment. Jihyo looked beautiful. Well, Jihyo always looked beautiful but… wow. Tzuyu’s jaw dropped as she took in the older girl, with her hair parted to the side and her bangs pushed away from her face. Her large, round eyes were bright and there was a wide smile gracing her face. “Jihyo unnie, y-you look… you look so beautiful.”

“Yeah, you think so?” Jihyo asked, her smile growing wider when Tzuyu mutely nodded. “Thanks, Chewie. You look pretty damn gorgeous yourself.”

“I d-do?” Tzuyu stammered. She glanced down self consciously at her outfit.

“Yes, of course you do. Gosh, you’re so cute.”

“I-I am?” Tzuyu could feel her cheeks burning and she knew she probably looked and sounded like an idiot right about now, but it was so hard to act otherwise with Jihyo throwing compliments around like that. In response, Jihyo simply giggled. She gently took Tzuyu’s hand in her own.

“C’mon, let’s go. I don’t want to keep you out too late.”

“Oh, you can keep her out as late as you want, Jihyo. All night even,” Dahyun commented from inside the room, a smirk on her face.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? So you and Chaeyoung can have the privacy to do… God knows what you little s do,” Jihyo replied, choosing not to comment on the fact that Dahyun had forgotten to use honorifics.

“You know exactly what we do,” Dahyun said, rolling her eyes.

“Well, you have until eleven to do whatever you want because that’s when I’m bringing back my little Tzuyu.” Jihyo smiled up at the maknae, who was still blushing furiously, both from the short but suggestive conversation between Dahyun and Jihyo and from the fact that Jihyo had just called her “my little Tzuyu”. Jihyo seemed not to noticed how flustered Tzuyu was, or at least she pretended not to notice. Instead, she tugged on the younger girl’s hand. “Let’s go.”

“Hey, don’t do anything you shouldn’t, Jihyo. She’s still a minor,” Chaeyoung called as the pair turned to leave.

“So were you when you lost your ity,” Jihyo shot back without turning around. She led Tzuyu away by the hand before Dahyun or Chaeyoung could say anything else. It was silent between the two as they made their way out of the dorm and climbed into the car that was waiting for them. Once the car was in motion, Jihyo turned to Tzuyu. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I know you’re informed about and all that but still…”

“Wh-What are you talking about?” Tzuyu asked, trying to keep her voice even but failing. Jihyo reached out, placing the back of her hand gently against Tzuyu’s cheek. The maknae felt herself freeze and her eyes widen slightly at the touch.

“You’re blushing,” Jihyo noted. “I thought maybe it was because you were uncomfortable with the conversation.”

“O-Oh… Oh, no, unnie. I wasn’t, don’t worry. I’m just…”

“Nervous?” Tzuyu nodded. Jihyo smiled sweetly. “You don’t have to be. I’ll take care of you, I promise. And if there’s anything you don’t like or you don’t want to do, just let me know and we’ll do something better.”

“You don’t have to. I’m sure I’ll love whatever it is that you have planned.”

“I sure hope so.” Jihyo’s hand moved to Tzuyu’s hair, tucking a strand behind her ear as she added, almost as if to herself, “I want your first date to be perfect.”

“It already is perfect because it’s with you,” Tzuyu blurted before she could stop herself. She immediately felt ridiculous for saying such a thing and her cheeks, which had just cooled down, heated up once more. Jihyo, on the other hand, beamed brightly at the comment.

“You’re so sweet, Tzuyu,” Jihyo hummed. She brought their intertwined hands to her lips, pressing a kiss to the younger girl’s knuckles. By that point, Tzuyu was sure that she looked like a flustered tomato. This was confirmed when the older girl chuckled, smiling beautifully at the girl she had managed to fluster. “You’re so adorable.”

“Unnie,” Tzuyu whined, removing her hand from Jihyo’s in order to hide her face behind her hands. She almost instantly felt a pair of hands wrap around her own, pulling her hands away from her face.

“Don’t hide. I want to be able to see your pretty face,” Jihyo whispered. Tzuyu was starting to feel like she’d never stop blushing, at least not while she was with Jihyo. Thankfully, the car came to a stop just then and Tzuyu was able to climb out and get some fresh air, the cool evening breeze hitting her feverish cheeks. Jihyo stepped out of the car after her, thanking the manager for driving them. And then her hand was holding Tzuyu’s again and she was guiding the younger girl into a restaurant. They had a room all to themselves and it looked like Jihyo had called ahead of time because there was already plates of steaming food waiting for them.

“Wow,” Tzuyu breathed out. She was frozen in shock for a moment, surprised by the romanticism of the gesture and the fact that this looked like a real date, what with the slightly dimmed lighting and the rose and candle sitting in the middle of the table.

“You like it?” Jihyo asked. Was that a hint of uncertainty in her voice? Tzuyu looked down to see that Jihyo was biting her lip nervously as she waited for the answer.

“I love it. It’s a lot like how I imagined a first date to look like, except better,” the younger girl finally replied, somehow managing to say it all without stuttering. She thought at first that maybe she sounded to cheesy or something, but the grin that came over Jihyo’s face made her think otherwise. The older of the two proceeded to tug her date towards the table, pulling out a chair so that Tzuyu could sit before finally seating herself.

“Eat up, Chewie-ah,” Jihyo said, the slightest bit of aegyo seeping into her voice. Normally, Tzuyu would have cringed. But there was nothing normal about this situation, and instead she found herself grinning like an idiot as she picked up her chopsticks and began to eat.

“Mmm, this is so good,” she mumbled after her first bite. “Did you ask them to have this prepared ahead of time?”

“Uh-huh. I didn’t want my little Tzuyu to have to wait. I figured you’d be hungry,” Jihyo replied. There she went again with her “my little Tzuyu”, making the younger girl go red in her cheeks for what had to be the hundredth time already that night.

“T-Thank you, unnie,” Tzuyu stammered.

“You know you can drop the honorifics, right?” The maknae nearly dropped her chopsticks at that, swallowing hard and trying not to choke on her rice.

“Wh-What?”

“It’s just the two of us here, and we’re on a date anyway.” Jihyo shrugged. “You’re not just the maknae, you’re my date tonight and I want to treat you like a princess, so there’s no need to use honorifics.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re very good at making people flustered?” It was the only thing that Tzuyu could think to say. Her mind was shutting down from all of Jihyo’s unexpected behavior. This was just supposed to be a pity date, right? So why was it that Jihyo was doing such a good job of making Tzuyu feel like this was something real?

“You know, I don’t think that’s usually a compliment,” Jihyo laughed. “But it is tonight because that means I’m doing my job right.”

“Have you been on a lot of dates before? I didn’t think you had because you were a trainee for so long, but you seem so calm and collected and confident, as if you’ve done this a hundred times.”

“I’ve only ever been on a few dates. Once with Nayeon unnie, but that was a long time ago. And two with Eunha. I’m just very good at making it seem like I know what I’m doing.” Jihyo chuckled at herself, but Tzuyu didn’t react the same way. Instead, her eyebrows were slightly furrowed in confusion and something a little like… jealousy?

“Eunha? GFriend’s Eunha?” the younger girl asked. Jihyo nodded.

“I’m not sure if you remember, but Nayeon and Jeongyeon, and some of the other members of GFriend, thought it would be a good idea to set us up on a date. And then on a second one.”

“But you guys are friends now and get along well. So why didn’t you continue dating her?”

“We were both a bit shy and awkward on the first date so we didn’t talk about as much as we should have. But we were much more comfortable the second time, and it wasn’t long before we confessed to each other that we actually liked other people and had agreed to the dates only to please our members. We decided then only to remain friends.” Jihyo leaned forward, dropping her voice to a whisper. “Don’t tell anyone, but Eunha has since confessed to SinB. They’ve gone on a few dates and Eunha is gonna ask SinB to be her girlfriend. Romantic, isn’t it?”

“Mhmm,” Tzuyu hummed with a nod of her head, unsure what else to say. She wanted to ask who it was that Jihyo liked, but she figured that the older girl would have given a name without prompting if she had wanted Tzuyu to know. So, instead, the maknae asked a safer question. “What about you and Nayeon unnie? I know you said it was a long time ago, but what happened there?”

“Well, it was way back in our trainee days, before there was anything between her and Jeongyeon. She and I were close, you know, and we spent a lot of time together. We developed feelings for each other but we didn’t really act on them because we were scared about what that might mean for us. Neither of us outright told each other, but we both pretty much knew, we just kept it to ourselves. And then one day she asked me out. She told me that she knew I liked her and that she liked me too, but her feelings were beginning to fade and that she’d like to take me on a date at least once. So we did.

“She took me to a movie and then out for ice cream, and she paid for everything. She was sweet and attentive, and the matureness was clear in her even then. It was a wonderful first date to have, in all honesty. And it ended the way I assume everyone wants dates to end. Nayeon unnie kissed me at the end. She was my first kiss.”

“Seriously?” Tzuyu’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “But I thought her feelings for you were fading. Why did she kiss you?”

“She said that she’d always wanted to be my first kiss because she believed I deserved to have my first kiss with someone who truly cared about me,” Jihyo explained, a wistful smile on her lips. “She asked me if I’d allow her the honor to be my first kiss, and of course I said yes.”

“That’s actually really sweet,” Tzuyu admitted, somewhat grudgingly. There was a lapse in conversation as the girls focused their attention on their food. After a while, however, Tzuyu couldn’t control and blurted, “Why did you decide to do all of this?”

“Huh? Do all what?” Jihyo asked, setting her chopsticks down and giving the maknae her undivided attention.

“This. The date I mean. You didn’t have to take me out in the first place, and you definitely didn’t have to go through so much trouble for me. It’s just a pity date after all.” The look of confusion—and… was that hurt?—that came over Jihyo’s features immediately made Tzuyu regret what she said.

“Is that really all you think this date is? You don’t think it means anything to me?” Jihyo asked. She didn’t sound angry just disappointed, and that was honestly worse.

“No, I just… I don’t know. Since you asked me when I was complaining about being treated differently because I’ve never dated I just thought… maybe you felt bad for me and that was why you did it. But… then you went all out and… I’m not sure why…”

“These are the moments when your mature image disintegrates and I can see the clueless maknae underneath.” Jihyo was smiling now, and that just served to confuse Tzuyu further. Seeing the expression on the younger girl’s face, Jihyo chuckled lightly before reaching out and taking Tzuyu’s hand in her own. “Tzuyu, I like you. Like, a lot. I’ve been wanting to ask you out on a date for a very long time, I just could never figure out how to bring it up. But since you were talking and complaining about never having dated, I figured that it was a pretty perfect opportunity to ask. I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong idea.”

“You… You like me?” Tzuyu’s eyes were wide, her cheeks flushing a bright pink.

“Why do you seem so surprised? Half of the world is in love with you. Is it really that hard to believe that I’m one of those people?”

“But… W-Why?” Tzuyu blinked as if coming to a realization. “Wait. When you talked about your date with Eunha, you said that you both liked people. Was that… Did you like me even then?”

“Of course. This isn’t a recent development. And to answer your previous question, I think you’re very smart and mature for your age, but you’re also very sweet and shy. Well, sweet when you aren’t being a total savage.” Jihyo beamed when that comment made Tzuyu laugh.

“For the record,” Tzuyu spoke when the laughter died down, “I think I like you too. I’m not sure because I don’t really know what it feels like, but I know I feel something different and special when I’m with you. You make me really flustered, but also really happy.”

“You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that,” Jihyo said with a huge grin.

“Please, who could ever say no to God Jihyo?” Tzuyu teased.

“Well, I am quite a catch.” Jihyo flipped her hair over her shoulder and Tzuyu rolled her eyes, causing both of them to burst into giggles.

Later, back in the car as they drove to the next stop on Jihyo’s planned date, Tzuyu snuggled against the older girl’s side, leaning into her and allowing Jihyo to run her hands absentmindedly through her hair.

“Jihyo?” Tzuyu murmured.

“Hmm?” Jihyo hummed in response.

“When I feel like I’m ready, would you… would you be my first kiss?” Tzuyu asked, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. Jihyo’s hands stopped moving for a moment due to shock.

“Really?” the older of the two whispered, too surprised to formulate any other words.

“Well… yeah. I want it to be with someone I care about and who cares about me. And there’s no one who fits that description more than you.” All of a sudden, there was the soft press of lips against Tzuyu’s temple.

“I would love to. Anything for my little Chewie.” Tzuyu wasn’t sure if she was blushing from the gentle kiss or the “my little Chewie” thing again, but she found herself smiling like an idiot as she pressed herself closer Jihyo as she realized that this was already beyond perfect for a first date.

Okay so this was supposed to be for comeback but I fell really behind. Whoops. Anyway, Jihyo and Tzuyu were killing me this comeback so I thought that I'd honor them. Plus, they're one of the cutest, most underrated ships in TWICE. LOOK AT THAT ADORABLE HEIGHT DIFFERENCE!

~unsungpoet ^-^