Here With All of You

Eight people. Tzuyu realised that she was in love with eight different people. Her eight members. Eight girls who were willing to go to hell and back if it meant protecting Tzuyu and the cute little dimpled smile that she began wearing more often when she was around them.

And little by little Tzuyu realised that she would gladly do the same for them.

Seeing how happy she is with the members now, it was hard to believe that there was a time when Tzuyu felt like she didn’t have a place in Twice. It didn’t help that she was a last minute addition to the group, added to the original total of seven because of her ‘popularity with the public’ which was essentially a nicer way of saying that she only got in because she was pretty.

She had been so afraid back then, had so many worries running through her mind.

What if they don’t like me?

What if they feel that I don’t belong here?

What if they think that someone else deserves my place?

And it was like she didn’t have anyone to lean on. Nayeon, Jeongyeon and Jihyo had done everything together for years, the Japanese members found their home in each other, even Dahyun and Chaeyoung had trained together and could rely on one another. She didn’t have that luxury and even though they were kind to her and tried to make her feel at home, she just felt like she didn’t fit in.

Then, that happened; and she had never been more afraid in her life.

It shouldn’t even have been an issue in the first place, but luck had never been on her side. Bad timing and unfortunate circumstances had caused one thing to lead to another and it just happened. And Tzuyu had been so sure that her members would hate her, despise her even, for destroying their careers before they could even begin.

But they didn’t. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

From the moment the news broke out, all they did was worry about her wellbeing. When she returned to the dorm after hours of taxing meetings, she wasn’t given a cold reception like she was expecting. Instead, her members had snuck out to get her favourite foods. They didn’t pester her about how things went, they only spoiled her, giving her so much affection that she cried in front of them for the first time since they debuted.

The Japanese members embraced her, cuddling with her until she stopped sobbing. The two eldest had made sure she wouldn’t read any of the threats she was being sent. She had conversations late at night with her roommates until they fell asleep. There were even rumours that Jihyo had stormed into JYP’s office to demand that she stayed in the group.

And it just hit her, how foolish she had been.

They had always cared for her, right from the moment they met. She was just so busy worrying that she had blinded herself from the obvious. And even now they were going the extra mile to keep her happy.

It was her birthday today. She was legally an adult in Korea now; no longer the starry-eyed child who stepped into this foreign land for the first time six years ago and far from the fearful teen that debuted three years ago. Twice was a success and were busier than ever but she couldn’t be happier.

However, it also meant that she didn’t have the time to celebrate her own birthday.

They had just returned from Japan, having ended their promotions for ‘Wake Me Up.’ That however, didn’t mean that they had the leisure to do what they wanted. In a few days, they’ll have to fly again, this time to Singapore for their concert, and when they’re done with that they have to prepare for their next comeback in a few weeks.

There barely was any time for them to eat or sleep, much less a birthday party and yet, her members had done whatever they could to make sure she had a birthday to remember.

In the morning, Tzuyu was dragged out of bed by her two grinning roommates who decided that the best way to wake the younger girl was to pounce on her and sing the birthday song into her ear then pulled her out to the kitchen where she was also greeted by a mess and a bowl of seaweed soup made specially for her. Sure, it wasn’t the best soup she’s ever tasted but it made her feel warm inside knowing how much effort they put into making it.

However, breakfast in the Twice household is never peaceful. As soon as she sat down at the table, the members had bombarded her with kisses and they would have continued if Jeongyeon and Jihyo hadn’t swoop in to save her, pulling the older girls away by the collar, eliciting a round of laughter from around the table.

They spent the rest of the day in the JYP building, practicing and going through every single one of their choreography until their feet hurt. Tiring - yes, but it was always worth it in the end.

Apart from that the members were also making sure to remind Tzuyu and everyone present that it was her birthday by randomly bursting into song or sneaking up to her to give her kisses much to her embarrassment and the delight of the others.And because of that,Tzuyu was also sure that every member of the JYP family had greeted her ‘Happy Birthday’ before the day ended.

Sometime during the day, Tzuyu found herself alone with only Sana as company, the other members having left for a sudden ‘emergency’. She didn’t think much about it. Instead, she continued to train even in her members absence or would have been training if Sana hadn’t decided to kidnap Tzuyu and take the younger girl to a nearby park where they had their own little ‘date’ until they finally returned to the dorm when the sun was down and the moon was up.

When the duo did arrive at their front door, they were greeted by chaos. There was a weird odour coming from behind that she’s positive was smoke and a lot of shouting.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Sana facepalm before giving her an apologetic smile and Tzuyu couldn’t help but chuckle. She took hold of the door knob and pushed the door opened to see the remaining girls, staring back at her in surprise.

Jeongyeon was holding what appeared to be the burnt remains of a birthday cake while Jihyo stood in the kitchen with her arms crossed as she glared down at the Nayeon and Momo who each wore guilty and sheepish looks. Mina and Dahyun were in the living room with a balloon in each of their hands and there was a banner with her name on it, clearly designed by Chaeyoung.

“So this was your emergency?” Tzuyu laughed and the members joined her, running up to her to pull her into a group hug.

“Happy Birthday Tzuyu!”

In the end, they decided to bake another cake together, one that turned out way better than the first and they ended her birthday with a party complete with all her favourite food and alcohol that caused them to receive a twenty minute lecture about safe drinking from the leader and ironically the best drinker of the group.

Now, she was lying in the middle of her sleeping members who were all being a bit too close for comfort, most of whom had probably drank more than they could handle.

It wasn’t the most comfortable place to be. The close proximity was heating up the already stifling summer night. There was hair that wasn’t hers on her face, an arm was hooked around her waist and a face buried into her neck, but she couldn’t help but smile; it was nice being surrounded by the people you love.

It made her a bit emotional thinking about it and she could feel her tears prick at her eyes. She tried to move her arm to rub at her eyes but was instead startled by a voice coming from the person lying closest to her.

“Tzuyu? You’re still awake?”

Peering down, Tzuyu saw her leader’s warm eyes staring sleepily up at her as she rolled off Tzuyu’s torso and onto her back to give the youngest some space to breathe.

“Yes unnie,” she answered before her eyebrows furrowed in worry, remembering how much the older girl had drank earlier. “Are you okay? Do you have a headache? Did I wake you?” she asked feeling a little guilty at the thought of disturbing Jihyo slumber.

“No no no, you didn’t. I’m fine. A lot more sober than you think actually,” Jihyo chuckled, earning a relieved sigh from the younger girl. They lay there together in silence staring up at the ceiling, the only sound they could hear was the loud snores of the other members. But when Tzuyu was beginning to think that Jihyo had fallen back asleep, the older girl spoke.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t do much give you a great birthday,” she apologised but Tzuyu shook her head. “It was great to me,” she told the leader, keeping her gaze on the ceiling above as she did. “I’m happy to just celebrate with all of you.”

“Well, then I think you’ll be glad to know that you won’t be getting rid of us that easily,” Jihyo casually stated, unaware of the effects her words had on the youngest. “You’re going to be stuck with us for a long time.”

And that did it; Tzuyu’s tears broke through the dam keeping them in.

Just those few words that the leader had spoken to her was enough to put any worry, any doubt of her place in the group to rest.

“Tzuyu… are you crying?” A softer voice spoke this time followed by the rustling of blankets as Mina got up to check on her. She felt the ballerina wrap her arms around her while the leader tried to wipe away the streaming tears.

“Crying? Who’s crying?” Another voice asked. And slowly, one by one, all the members began stirring awake, some groaning painfully as they did. But the moment they saw their youngest in tears, it was like a switch was flipped and they were suddenly very awake. At once, they took their youngest into their arms hoping to soothe the sobbing girl.

“Thank you unnie…” she said in between her sobs, holding tightly onto the members. “For loving a maknae like me.” She continued to weep for few more minutes then she pulled away slightly to wipe away the stray tears. “I’m sorry for crying,” she apologised but buried her face into Jihyo's chest out of embarrassment causing the older girls to coo at her adorable reaction.

“You don’t need to apologise for crying,” Jeongyeon said as they laughed, reaching over to ruffle Tzuyu’s hair. The members agreed with Momo even adding to Jeongyeon’s point. “It’s alright to cry. You’re our maknae after all,” she said, repeating what she has told Tzuyu before with a comforting smile.

Yes. Yes, she is. She’s their maknae. Her place is here, with Twice, and nowhere else. All of the members meant too much to her.

She had Nayeon to pamper her.

She had Jeongyeon to rely on.

She had Momo to look out for her.

She had Sana to shower her with care.

She had Jihyo to guide her.

She had Mina to understand her.

She had Dahyun to make her smile.

She had Chaeyoung to speak her mind to.

And Tzuyu had grown too attached to every one of them.

“Now let’s sleep. My head hurts,” Nayeon yawned, dragging Sana down with her so they could sleep. The members didn’t bother to argue, all greeting each other good night as they snuggled together. Tzuyu joined them, finding a spot between the 97-line members who held onto her tenderly.

Tzuyu loves eight people and she knows they love her too. She doesn’t need to worry anymore.

This is where she belongs.