It's nearing one in the afternoon, it's Friday, and of course, Chaeyoung is still asleep. Really though, it isn't her fault; she did stay up until four last night trying to study last minute. College really hasn't been working out for her, or rather, it hasn't been as easy as it was for Jeongyeon her first year.

Quite often, Chaeyoung finds herself eating ramen late at night, for breakfast (unless she gets lucky and she can stop by the bakery that Jeongyeon works at part time), and the few times that she can actually settle down for lunch. Which then, she isn't even settling down because she's still writing notes as neatly as she can and flipping through countless pages trying to process whatever information the class at that time is desperately trying to shove into her mind. She accidentally spilled ramen on one page of notes once, but she won't mention that to anyone.

And Dahyun definitely doesn't complain. She's not as busy as Chaeyoung most often, but she still eats ramen like her life depends on it. It makes Chaeyoung mad that, yes, her roommate could definitely afford some better food for both of them with that rich girlfriend of hers, but Dahyun helps Chaeyoung when she's stressed, so she can't get too mad.

Today is a day that Dahyun could have helped Chaeyoung, but she had classes all day up until two when she could finally rest for a bit. So naturally, when Chaeyoung wakes up, taking one quick glance at the digital clock by her bed, she jumps up as quick as possible. Her hair is still kind of messy, her socks are definitely mismatched, but hey, they match her dirty converse (one's red and the other is yellow). She forgoes her morning ramen in favour of brushing her teeth as quick as possible before darting out the door with her (Jeongyeon's) old skateboard; it's faster than walking.

She's halfway to her class with only six minutes left to go, and she realizes that, , she left her damn canvas that she spent three messy hours on last night along with her old sketchbook that's missing some pages. With her thoughts still jumbled up together, she totally forgets to swerve around an oncoming man, so of course, she tries jumping off, her feet unsteady as she tries stopping herself. She yells an apology, but the universe deems her kindness as nothing short of worthless as she feels herself collide with a body. It's long, but small at the same time, and as Chaeyoung swears over and over, both cursing at the skateboard and herself, the girl apologizes profusely. 

With one look, her bruised knees, and scraped elbows, Chaeyoung knows she's so ed.

"My bad! I wasn't looking where I was going," the girl begins, her cheeks pink, and her eyes wide. "Are you okay?"

It takes Chaeyoung a good ten seconds before she can stutter out, "You're pretty!" Mentally, Chaeyoung isn't even mad. Physically? She's so mad she's turning red, starting from her toes and ending at her ears. The girl laughs, and it sounds so delightful that Chaeyoung silently reminds herself to remember her face. She was going to anyway, but the way the girl laughs is so beautiful that there's no way in hell she'll let herself forget her. So she asks her name, apologizes about seven more times, and then proceeds to get her number. Chaeyoung suddenly doesn't even care that she's so late for class she might as well not go.

Jihyo is extremely angry with her. Since the first day of Chaeyoung getting into college, she learned that every Friday, Jihyo and her friends would make plans to order whatever type of food they were feeling, and maybe drink some pricey alcohol that Chaeyoung could only afford in her dreams. She met Jihyo through Jeongyeon, the pair having started dating not long after Jihyo met Jeongyeon in the bakery. It's a touching story, one that makes Chaeyoung gag from how sweet it is.

When she arrives at Jihyo's dorm room, the first thing she's met with is Jihyo's stern voice reprimanding her for skipping classes, but when Jihyo notices the scrapes and bruises, she immediately pulls her into the room, yelling for Nayeon to get the first-aid kit. And it's kind of way too late for that, but she still lets Jihyo bandage her up before kissing her forehead and apologizing for yelling. Chaeyoung thinks Jihyo will be a great mother one day.

Dahyun is settled between Mina's legs as Mina rests her chin on the younger girl's head. It almost makes Chaeyoung gag because, seriously, who allows these couples to be so sweet? A bit later, Nayeon finds herself stealing Jeongyeon away from Jihyo, only stopping when there's multiple loud knocks at the door. Jihyo gives Nayeon a look over as she stands up, striding over the door, and when the door is open wide enough for Chaeyoung to look, she nearly chokes. 

There's three girls, one looking way too excited to not be on something, another looking bewildered, and finally the one that quite literally takes Chaeyoung's breath away, "Sana, Momo, Tzuyu! Glad you could make it. We're not doing a lot, but I hope we won't bore you too much."

"Bore me? Darling, look at them! They're so cute," one beams. "Mina! Finally, I can meet your girlfriend. She's so adorable, just look at those cheeks!" And she just doesn't stop.

"This is Momo," Jihyo motions towards a girl that's only slightly taller than her, and Chaeyoung's jaw almost drops from the girl's arms; she's toned, alright? She knows Tzuyu (not well, but still), so the other girl that's so excited it's practically radiating from her must be Sana, she thinks. And they both must know Mina because they're surrounding her in no time. Tzuyu is quieter, only waving to them when Jihyo introduces her, "And this is Tzuyu. As you can already guess, that's Sana. Please protect the younger ones from her."

"No! I won't do anything," Sana pouts, refocusing her attention on Jihyo. It doesn't last long at all though because she gasps when her eyes land on Chaeyoung. "Oh my God! You're so pretty, you know? Your eyes are so gorgeous- Are they blue?"

"Contacts," Chaeyoung stutters once again, her face turning red under the attention. She clears , trying to seem more confident, "they're contacts, so they're not blue."

"Either way, you take my breath away." She winks, and Chaeyoung finds herself a complete mess of a girl; she's really never been flirted with. Was she flirting? Chaeyoung's so screwed with Jihyo's new friends.

"Sana, please." Jihyo sighs deeply, going on to introduce all of them to Sana, Momo, and Tzuyu. Tzuyu finally sits down, but it's next to Chaeyoung, and the poor girl cannot breathe at all. The night goes as normally as it can, with Chaeyoung choking on expensive alcohol each and every time Tzuyu laughs. She refrains from drinking, so Chaeyoung thinks she should, too. But alcohol in her system means she won't choke as much. Okay, maybe not, but if she can convince herself this, it'll work well enough.

Chaeyoung learns that Tzuyu wants to major in language, and that she speaks two languages already. She's learning Japanese from Sana, Mina, and Momo, too. Chaeyoung guessed that she wasn't native, but she's still surprised to learn that Tzuyu's from Taiwan. She absentmindedly thinks that she'd like to learn whatever Tzuyu's mother tongue is. 

Chaeyoung doesn't have any classes whatsoever with Tzuyu, and that's a bit disappointing because she really, really wants to spend more time with her. So they meet up often after Chaeyoung's art class or in the mornings that she has more time than usual (which isn't too often). Tzuyu always, always buys Chaeyoung whatever it is she wants to eat and drink that day. It's endearing, but embarrassing because Chaeyoung should be able to get a job and work. But how could she do that when she can barely handle herself now with no job?

Most often it's the bakery that Jeongyeon works at. And Tzuyu gets a discount because, well, Jeongyeon works there. Through Chaeyoung's protests, Tzuyu simply shushes her, and promises her that she can make it up to her somehow if it bothers her that much. Really, it doesn't bother Chaeyoung at all unless she thinks too much of it. As she's eating her honey bread (poor choice, but she likes it, and she's an adult) right before her morning class, she almost chokes. Tzuyu looks so ethereal that the bread gets caught in . When she's finished choking, she starts laughing because Tzuyu is looking at her so worriedly that it makes Chaeyoung's heart flutter. Tzuyu laughs with her soon after and Jeongyeon teases her.

It makes sense that Jeongyeon teases her; she must see how Chaeyoung stares at Tzuyu. It's nothing short of infatuation. No, maybe not infatuation. Chaeyoung doesn't see this as a quick fling, simply because of how wonderful Tzuyu is when she talks about her home, and her dog, and her favourite places in Tainan. Chaeyoung has never really felt anything like this since the ninth grade when she first met Nayeon. She was much older than Chaeyoung. Not really, but enough to be jokingly called a grandma.

It's the striking beauty that Nayeon wielded then that drew Chaeyoung in, and of course, the girl used it to her advantage, constantly bribing older men and women out of their money, and maybe a couple of outfits here and there. Chaeyoung wished she could do that. She kind of still does, but not so much now that she has Tzuyu.

Chaeyoung likes going to the park when she isn't studying or rushing through a quick sketch or painting. It's the rare times that she has a break, most often being Saturday night. It doesn't bother her because she prefers going at night. It's not as busy, and you can see the stars really clearly at the spot by the pretty pink tree Chaeyoung wishes she knew the name of. 

She doesn't like to dabble in cigarettes, but sometimes she likes feeling free, and even though she chokes over the smoke, she feels more light. She'll regret it later on when her lungs feel disgusting, and the taste is left in no matter how many times she brushes her teeth. Nayeon got her started on them, having recommended one the night she stayed over at her college dorm in the eleventh grade. Chaeyoung doesn't believe she's addicted because she really doesn't crave them like the actress does, and she kind of really hates them. Still, the freedom that floods her mind is what she likes.

"You know smoking is bad for your lungs," Tzuyu says, voice a bit lost. Chaeyoung shrugs, and laughs. "And also the environment."

"All the stress I'm dealing with is terrible for all of me," she jokes, and Tzuyu rolls her eyes. Chaeyoung finally relents, dropping the cigarette and bringing her shoe down onto it. She coughs once, twice, and then sighs. "Why are you here?"

"I saw you."

"Stalking me, are you?" It's another joke, but Tzuyu doesn't smile. She shakes her head, looking straight at Chaeyoung.

"Not intentionally. But you looked pretty, so I thought I should come talk to you." Heat rises to the shorter girl's cheeks, and she laughs once again, but this time it's more nervous sounding.

"Me? Pretty? Yeah, those two don't go well in the same sentence. What's the real reason?"

"That is the real reason. But obviously you're stressed, so maybe you could talk to me?" When Chaeyoung takes a little bit longer to respond, Tzuyu continues. "And it'd be like practice for me. You know, Korean and all."

"I'll be a burden, you know."

"No you won't."

"Bet you'll regret it," Tzuyu shakes her head once more, a laugh finally leaving her lips. Chaeyoung feels so warm inside at that laugh. She wants to hear it over and over again, so she considers recording it, and playing it over and over again. But she's sure that would be creepy, so she settles with a soft compliment, "When you laugh like that... It makes me so happy. You sound so wonderful."

"Are you sure you're not studying anything for writing?"

"Studying, yeah. But majoring in? I don't think so. I'm not so good with words."

"Could have fooled me." The light banter makes Chaeyoung's heavy heart feel more at ease. She refrains from allowing herself to worry Tzuyu because she knows that if Tzuyu knows that she's so stressed she's kind of not eating right or taking care of herself, she'll worry the younger girl to death.

And Chaeyoung invites Tzuyu to stay over that night. It's not a completely logical decision, but hey, she'll blame it on the heat of the moment. Luckily, Dahyun stays over at Mina's dorm, so she doesn't have to try and fend off any teasing that Dahyun may have directed her way. Tzuyu sleeps in Chaeyoung's bed with her, though there's a completely empty bed just across the room. Chaeyoung barely sleeps at all due to her pounding heart.

And the next morning when Tzuyu has to leave before Dahyun returns, Chaeyoung offers her some clothes. She'd hate to see her have to leave in dirtied clothes (they aren't that dirty, but still). They're not exactly the same size, but they're close enough that Chaeyoung hopes it'll work. And as Tzuyu sits on the bed, and Chaeyoung rummages through her closet that she shares with Dahyun, she can only groan.

"You like colour, don't you?"

"They're nice, yeah. But you only have black jeans," Tzuyu laughs, and Chaeyoung mentally curses at herself for getting so distracted at the sound. "Are you still in your emo phase from the seventh grade?"

"How'd you know I went through an emo phase?"

"Everyone did." Tzuyu smiles, and Chaeyoung finally gives in, placing a pair of jeans in her lap. 

"You're in luck with my shirts. They have lots of colour." 

Tzuyu looks good in black jeans, Chaeyoung notes. She looks good in everything, but there's something about her wearing Chaeyoung's clothes that makes her heart skip a beat. And it only gets better because when she looks down, she notices that the jeans are above her ankles. It's damaging to her pride, but amusing to the rest of her. So her face turns red, and she still has trouble breathing after she's finished laughing. 

The shirt fits better than the jeans, and when Chaeyoung rolls up the sleeves of her old flannel, she nearly melts because how can a woman look this beautiful? She goes to tell Tzuyu that, but the words get caught in , and the words that fall out of are, "You look kinda gay." Now she wants to die. But Tzuyu simply bursts into a laughing fit, and it's not so bad.

"These are your clothes," she manages through shaky breaths, still laughing here and there. Chaeyoung bites her lip, and shrugs.

"You look good, I mean."

"Not gay?"

"Still gay."

"Hm," Tzuyu pauses, her face still red from laughing. "Is that bad?"

"Not at all!" Chaeyoung is quick to reassure her, trying her best to walk over the mess in her floor, but failing in her haste, her feet colliding with a pair of shoes. She falls forward, and suddenly she doesn't even have a pride anymore.

"Thank God you're not Momo," Tzuyu breathes as she steadies Chaeyoung. "You wouldn't survive in dance."

"It's those stupid shoes!" Chaeyoung turns to kick the yellow shoes, but stops because she's sure her pride will somehow become even more damaged. "I'm not so clumsy, I swear!"

"You fell the first day we met," Tzuyu states. "And you collided with me. Are you sure?"

It takes a good fifteen seconds of silence before Chaeyoung grins.

"So I fell for you."

Two months pass, and Chaeyoung's crush is still going as strong as ever. She hates calling it that because she isn't a little kid, but she's not in love or anything, and- Damn feelings. But clearly Sana has no trouble with them because Nayeon announces that they're dating Friday night at Jihyo's dorm room. They look good together, but Chaeyoung finds herself a bit jealous. She kind of wants to be dating Tzuyu, but also not because college is too much, and a relationship might distract her-

it. She might need a distraction.

So when they have a break, Chaeyoung checks in with the school's policy on pets. She gets lucky because not so many places allow pets, but this one? Chaeyoung can't stop grinning as she asks Sana about good places to adopt from because oh hell yeah, Tzuyu is gonna be so happy.

She starts a debate with herself as she tries deciding on whether or not to get Tzuyu another Chihuahua. She misses Gucci a lot, so maybe she could try- Wait no. That would seem like she's trying to replace Gucci. Or would it? God. Eventually with Sana's help, she adopts a Shiba Inu, having to deal with Sana begging Chaeyoung to name it after her as she drives her back to the campus.

The dog isn't as wild as Sana had hoped, but Chaeyoung loves how calm the dog is. She hopes Tzuyu will love it too. She asks Sana to keep an eye on the dog as she runs into a bouquet shop on campus that she's never really noticed before, which really, why is there a ing bouquet shop at college? She won't question it much because it provides Chaeyoung with a pretty set of... What did the man say they were? Really, Chaeyoung doesn't care because they're pretty, and they're yellow, and Tzuyu should love them.

After some begging on Chaeyoung's part, Sana finally leaves, but not without the promise of letting her visit the dog later. She knocks rapidly on the door before cringing because was that too much? Is it noticeable that she's excited? She shrugs it off, grinning brightly when Tzuyu opens the door in Chaeyoung's shirt, and some really pretty pink shorts. Honestly, she forgot that she gave Tzuyu the shirt, but if it looks this good on her, she might as well let her keep it.

Chaeyoung simply allows the dog the jump onto Tzuyu's legs, the girl immediately gasping and dropping down to pet him. She's sure that Tzuyu stays on the ground, letting the dog and climb all over her for a good hour (an exaggeration, but it sure feels like it). But she can't complain much because Tzuyu quite literally glows, and she's smiling and laughing, and Chaeyoung really, really likes her.

When Tzuyu finally regains some of her composure, she invites Chaeyoung in. Her dorm isn't that much bigger than her own, but it look nicer. She silently wonders who her roommate is (it ends up being Mina). Chaeyoung hands her the yellow flowers, and Tzuyu's cheeks are surely hurting now because she hasn't stopped smiling since Chaeyoung arrived.

"What's all of this for?" She questions, and Chaeyoung shrugs.

"You're special, so I should, like, give you things."

"Aren't you broke?" Tzuyu mentions, and yes, that's definitely true, but Sana helped her pay for the dog, and all of his essentials. She's so in debt she might not make it out of college alive, but if that means seeing Tzuyu glow, then it's worth it.

"Kinda." A lot.

"Why'd you do this?" She repeats, smiling even wider, if it's even possible, as she continues petting the dog. "And where did you find this cutie?"

"I'll tell you in a minute, promise," and Chaeyoung's nerves are kind of bothering her now, but she promises herself she can get rid of it before telling Tzuyu. "And, um, he's, like, yours? I adopted him for you."

"Me?" Tzuyu freezes, her jaw dropping before she laughs softly. "Why me?" Before Chaeyoung can open , she notices a tear falling from Tzuyu's right eye. She reacts so quickly that she almost pokes Tzuyu's eye (luckily she doesn't), her thumb wiping at the tear.

"Told you why," Chaeyoung mumbles, smiling up at Tzuyu. "You're special to me." Tzuyu sniffles and Chaeyoung swears she couldn't fall any harder for the girl.

"You're- Chaeyoung," she cuts herself off, and Chaeyoung laughs.

"Yeah, I'm Chaeyoung," it's another one of her world famous jokes. "But can I tell you why you're special?" Chaeyoung isn't the type for sentimentality, considering it's hard for her to really express herself. But she'll try for Tzuyu. She'll do everything and anything for Tzuyu. When the younger girl nods, Chaeyoung drops her hand, laughing nervously. She's sure she's laughed dozens of times in the last five minutes, but it's hard not to when you're around Tzuyu.

"Bet you're not ready," Tzuyu pushes Chaeyoung's shoulder softly, and her smile grows. "I fell for you." Another shove to the shoulder, and Tzuyu is crying again. It's endearing, really, so Chaeyoung lets her cry into her shoulder. And she definitely doesn't stop her when she pecks her cheek, her own cheeks tinted a pretty pink. They remind her of the tree that Chaeyoung likes.

"God, you're a complete idiot."

"Right," she bites her lip, shifting her weight onto her toes and then her heels again. "So, um, wanna, like, go on a date?"

"As long as you don't fall over anything."

Chaeyoung can't promise anything.