"I don't express that much, but I am always grateful of you. I love you so much”

It is not entirely true actually. Chaeyeon would not say the leader has not expressed much about her feelings; they just seldom put it in words.

When Yujin found herself working with two good dancers recognized by tutors and trainees for the stage of Sorry Not Sorry, she was thrilled and nervous.
How could she not?
It came with unquestionably high expectations, and she would need to pay extra efforts to catch up. At the same time, ability come with creativity. All of them tried to brainstorm the most significant moves they could think of, and their group leader Eunbi unnie would try to fit them into music.

'Girls, do anyone of you happened to know the "fish dance"?'  
Sensing her members seemed lost, Eunbi kneel on the ground and demonstrated the move. She folded her whole body and did a backward roll while keeping her legs straight. Pushed her palms on the ground and sat upright after that, Eunbi fiddled her hair waiting for the girls' feedbacks.
There was a moment of silence, right before outburst of cheers.
'Daebak unnie!' We are going to make a legendary stage together, she was unprepared for a hug from Chaeyeon.
One arm on her shoulder and the other at waist, Eunbi could almost feel how the younger girl delightedly laughed; contagious as it could be, Eunbi also smiled into the air and proceeded to encircled Chaeyeon by her shoulders. Slight height difference made them placed their chin above each other's shoulder;
Eunbi decided that she liked this feeling,
cozy, comfortable and secure.

Who could believe this? Kwon Eunbi could not, not to mention Lee Chaeyeon herself.
After the dance evaluation, everyone praised Chaeyeon for her charismatic high kick during the chorus part, Sakura even shouted 'Jjaeyeon! Jjayeon!' in front of her when she begged the dancer to perform the song for her again backstage.
All of them would have expect her rank to sky-rocket, it is not even surprising to predict Chaeyeon having a chance to compete for top 3; so when her name was being called when it was only the 17th place, they were all shocked – or even disappointed.

Stood up from her seat, Chaeyeon heard someone has called her name.
'Chaeyeon ah' 
Instinctively she turned back and saw her group leader opened her arms for an embrace. In search for some support, Chaeyeon did not hesitate to lean in.
Due to the seat arrangement, it was rare for her to hug Eunbi unnie in a lower position. Her arms found the waist of her unnie while Eunbi unnie pressed a palm over her head firmly,
'Chaeyeon ah, congratulate for surviving in this round, trust me your rank does not represent your true talent, your existence means so much more to us' 
How their distance has been reduced to zero in such posture provided just the right amount of protection, connection and intimacy Chaeyeon needed. They do shared something special, it was being left unsaid but deep down she believed Eunbi unnie knew also.

Hugs could convey excitement, hugs could convey reassurance, hugs could also convey comradeship.
There was the time when the twelve of them debuted under the name of izone and guested on Weekly Idol. Idol programs are unavoidably cliché, especially for a group with more than one outstanding dancer – though they always claimed that Chaeyeon is definitely the one-top when it came to dancing.
There went again; so-called dance battle between Eunbi unnie and her based on other idol sunbaenim's songs.

Opting for a more variety-suitable performance, Eunbi unnie pretended to turn her attentions on attracting the audiences (aka their members) than focus on dancing to the exact choreography. Laughter flew around the enclosed studio, and the glory of 'Dancing Queen' reasonably went to Chaeyeon who has put in all her efforts in immersing her dance in vibes as usual.
As a silent gesture of 'you have worked hard', Chaeyeon extended her arms to her unnie and the two shared a hug after MC Shinyoung has announced the result. Hands constantly patting on others' back with another hand held the embrace, it was their own secret code to express encouragement.

In special occasions, people celebrated the feeling of joy with intimate skinships.

It was simply a surge of happiness that led Chaeyeon to sprint towards their last runner in ISAC relay race and engulfed her into a sincere hug.
Witnessing Eunbi unnie - their reliable leader - once again led their team to another achievement at the nearest spot possible, how the elder ran pass the ending line, how she stopped and turned around to greet her members with a blinding smile, Chaeyeon just could not help but be the fastest one to threw her whole body onto the leader - she knew she could always rely on her.
Eunbi was apprarently unprepared for the sudden gesture; but she reacted quickly holded the younger by a side hug with the hand that still holding the relay torch.
Chaeyeon is a mature kid, but she remains a baby in my heart.  Eunbi unconciously smiled into the clingy act, she encircled the younger above shoulder as a shield and placed the other arm below chaeyeon's armpit for closer contact, She was acting protective, maybe even over-protective at the moment, but if Eunbi could, she would want to baby the girl forever.
Both of them needed to be dependable as the unnie line, but somehow there were times Chaeyeon just wished to laid everything down - just like how she did with laying her body balance on the elder. Her trust in the leader never fade.
'As expected from our bunny general unnie! Never disappoint our expectation~'

Some times the unnies went way too serious for a live broadcast. Chaewon almost could not believe how blunt her Woolim unnie could be. The elder is always so subtle yet so easy to understand.

'Chaeyeon ah, thank you for always helping me out. You are really a great dancer and shined so brightly on stage, I am always so proud of you, love you~'
You seriously could not blame her and the other members for cringing hardly at the back;
who would say these phrases that sincerely in a vlive? Chaewon was almost glad to know the leader did not continue what she had said the night before during the 'girls talk night' Yujin suggested in celebration for Chaeyeon's birthday.
How the always so self-standing leader actually hid her face into the crook of the neck of the birthday girl and arms tightly circled the younger above shoulders have been cheesy - sorry for ruining the touching moment. Treasing aside, Chaewon found it cute and heartwarming, but how the whole embracing lasted for nearly half a second was a bit too much for her to see.

First a brief hug intiated by respectul leader Kwon when Chaeyeon seemed to be teary as a gesture of comfort, then forming hearts above head with their arms, next went in for another hug with lots of snuggles from one side to another (ft. Chaeyeon's hand smoothing the back of Eunbi up and down).
When she thought the hug was going to end at the moment Chaeyeon spoke up, complimenting Eunbi unnie for being a great lead to the group, her hand reached for the leader's. The eldest in their group kept rubbing her palm on the Chaeyeon's wrist, leading to the final round of hugging which both tilted to lay on each other's shoulders.

Why I was always there to witness my members sweetening affections showcase...
As if asking for some comfort, Chaewon turned to Minjoo and went in for a hug also.
Everyone was soft for Biyeon at the moment, so she was there to deliver some 2Kim moments as side distraction.

Yena questioned if their leader has a radar to sense whenever Chaeyeon was closed to tears.
After IZ*ONE Japan debut showcase, they held a vlive again for sharing the happiness to debut in Japan and show their gratitude to wizones. Yena knew Chaeyeon - in contrary to her tough appearance - is actually a soft-hearted kid. When the girl started sharing Yena has been ready to offer some sources of jokes for uplifting the mood.

She observed in awe that their leader has s her arm around the girl chattting to the camera right before the latter's eyes started to shimmer. Immediately everyone turned to Chaeyeon and Eunbi unnie beat all members for gently wiping the non-existence teardrops - Yena was quite sure there was nothing since she was the second closest to the sentimental girl.  
When Chaeyeon collected herself and continued talking, Yena seriously could not understand what was the need for their leader to suddenly give a hug. Distracted by Hyewon playing with her lips, Yena missed how Chaeyeon has leaned into the hug with Eunbi's face totally hidden while casually looking into the camera and talked.

When she was back from getting teased by Hyewon and Yujin, it was already time for her and Yujin to gang up and did what they were good at -
teasing their leader Eunbi to the fullest, Yena smirked secretly.

Embraces.
Embraces are one of the most powerful ways to showcase faith, support and trusts.
Forgotten where has she read this from, hugging is an extended form of a fundamental human need: touch, it yields important physical and psychological comforts.
There were many times when she and her Eunbi unnie collided - be it physically or emotionally - and truth to be told, Chaeyeon had always been smoothed by these interactions. (No, she is not Miyawaki Sakura so it has nothing to do with the infamous  "jinja nice body" of her beloved unnie)

a/n: poorly edited pic to show the mentioned hugs in the text xd

by far the longest chapter I have written.

I tried to make this biyeon/kwonchaeng not so identical to the prev ones I wrote (they stayed as my 2picks so it's hard to change the style of describing them as so gentle and perfect(!) lmao), plus some research and lookbacks have been done... costed quite some time to finish, but my heart felt full after this.

Hopefully you will like it also >_<