Dahyun is the first person to tell Tzuyu, “I love you.”

After one of their practices, Dahyun approaches Tzuyu with trepidation and a false face of confidence.

“Wo ai ni.”

The quiet girl furrows her eyebrows together and tilts her head in confusion.

Who is this girl?

Just coming from Taiwan, Tzuyu could barely talk in Korean, nonetheless, make friends with Korean trainees.

Dahyun sends finger hearts her way, a bright smile, and a gesture of motivation before leaving with her arm hooked around a girl a little shorter than her.

As the week passes on, the girl with the bright smile always catches Tzuyu’s eyes.

(Really, she would catch anybody’s eyes. Her pure energy and genuine intentions to make people laugh are enough to make her stand apart from everybody else.)

Tzuyu hears Korean all around her, and naturally, she cannot compute what anything means but she figures the girl’s name is Dahyun when she whips her hair around when her shorter friend calls for her.

Dahyun becomes a reason for Tzuyu to smile, especially every time before leaving, she throws a “wo ai ni” paired with her megawatt smile towards her.

Perhaps it is odd for a stranger to be telling her “I love you” and under normal circumstances, Tzuyu would be weirded out (granted she is), but even more so, she can’t help but to find Dahyun incredibly endearing.

Somehow, in the chaos of training, learning, and adapting, Tzuyu finds Dahyun to be a great home for motivation and comfort.

(Nonetheless, they don’t become friends until Sixteen. But, Dahyun has this thing about her where any person and every person could find solace in her despite never ever being close to her.

It’s the pureness of her heart that pulls everyone in.

Tzuyu is no exception.)

~

Emotions are easy. Expressing them is another battle. Tzuyu could say “thank you” a billion times to fans, staffs, and members, but she always finds it hard to express just how much. No Korean in the world, or Mandarin, could put into words just how grateful she is for the opportunities and love she has been given.

Tzuyu could say “I love you” to her members with more coaxing. She still doesn’t quite have the words to say just how much, but, they know just how much her heart beats for them. For them, they don’t need her words. Her simple way of caring, her attentiveness, and her relentless habit in self-care are enough to indicate just how she feels.

Tzuyu has told Dahyun “I love you” before. She says it at night before sleeping, after Dahyun places a bowl of steaming ramen in front of her after a busy day, when she offers her her shoulder for Tzuyu to sleep on in between schedules.

Dahyun always says it back.

Tzuyu can’t quite put a finger on when her “I love you’s” turned from platonic into romantic. All she knows is that Dahyun makes her heart race with her sweet words and reassurance, makes the stress and weight on her shoulders disappear when she hugs her, makes her feel less homesick when Dahyun watches Mandarin films with her at night.

Every time Tzuyu says “I love you,” she means it in the way a lover would tell their partner. She means it in a way where she wants to spend a “forever” with her heart in Dahyun’s hands. She wants to protect her, cherish her, and love her the way romantic movies depict.

It frustrates her to no end that Dahyun sees it as something less.

Not to her fault, however. As clear as day, anyone could see that Twice loves each other very much. Just as much as there is teasing, there is love. (And there is a lot of teasing. Momo would know. But, Momo also knows how much her members treasure her.)

In between all of them, there is a vast and endless abyss overwhelmed with support, love, and companionship. From self-knitted hats and scarves (thanks to Mina and Jihyo), endless supplies of kisses and hugs (Sana never runs out), masterpieces of art on clothes (Chaeyoung still has to paint something for one of Nayeon’s canvas shoes), steadfast reassurance (Nayeon is always one to brag about her members’ abilities), genuine reactions (no matter how tired Momo is), random appearances of eyedrops (Jeongyeon still leaves batches for Dahyun in her drawer), blunt confessions (Jihyo cried once when Tzuyu suddenly praised her for her leadership abilities) to indulging (Dahyun allows for Sana to drape herself all over her despite not caring for skinship), they all love each other in their own ways.

When Tzuyu buys Dahyun chocolate in an attempt to woo her, Chaeyoung buys her Chocopies too. During one of their VLives, Tzuyu cuddles into Dahyun’s side. It doesn’t take long for Nayeon to throw her arms over the both of them, laughing her baby-ish giggle. When Tzuyu attempts to cook ramen for Dahyun, Momo asks her if she could make her a bowl too. (Tzuyu ends up making four bowls more.) When Dahyun settles down at the piano in their company building, Tzuyu occupies the seat next to her, quietly singing along to songs. Jihyo soon joins and sits down next to Dahyun on the piano bench. During one of their shoots outside in the cold, Tzuyu opens her jacket for Dahyun to find warmth in (which she does). Soon enough, Jeongyeon is hugging them, wrapping her large blanket over the three of them to keep them all warm. When Tzuyu invites Dahyun to watch a movie with her, Mina catches her on the side and asks if she could join just by looking at her with her gentle eyes and her stuffed penguin tucked in her arms (and saying “no” to Mina is absolutely impossible). During the very little break they have in between comebacks and flying to Japan, Tzuyu asks Dahyun to join her at a dog cafe. Sana pleads to tag along with her puppy dog eyes and pout. Sana is very persistent when she wants to be; there is no way she isn’t going to come along.

And Tzuyu loves her members, she really truly does. She loves how they love. But for once, she wants to share one special thing with Dahyun. She wants to be able to buy her chocolates, make her food, invite her places, care for her, and be beside her in a way that her members can’t.

Tzuyu is usually a selfless person, but for this, she finds herself to be especially selfish.

~

Nayeon knows people. She knows how to gauge their personalities, their interests, and quirks. For that, she prides herself on her relationship between the multitudes of people that she meets. Personable, adaptable, and open-minded, Nayeon evolves into someone that Tzuyu could talk mindlessly to. With a sharp tongue, witty comebacks, and jabbing insults, Tzuyu knows that Nayeon would be able to see the best of it. Nayeon takes her teasing attitude and plays along.

(She knows that this means that Tzuyu is comfortable around her and trusts her. Nayeon doesn’t it take for granted.)

It isn’t long until Tzuyu’s tongue becomes loose around her. Naturally, the eldest member becomes her confidant and she is the first person to know about Tzuyu’s feelings for Dahyun.

Nayeon, being Nayeon, squeals at Tzuyu’s confession, squishes her cheeks, and spiels on about her baby growing up. Tzuyu’s red cheeks, flittering eyes, and poorly contained smile makes Nayeon pull her into a hug--a hug in which Tzuyu relaxes into.

Nayeon may fool around (quite often, at that) and have no qualms about looking funny and childish, but she also knows when to regard her members’ wellbeing with the utmost consideration and sincerity.

Just as much as Nayeon allows herself to let loose, she knows when she needs to be that role of comfort and affection.

She knows that just as much as Tzuyu teases her, she respects her as much, if not more.

Nayeon also knows that Tzuyu confiding in her is more than just a confession. It is a grain of a mustard seed and having Tzuyu choosing to plant it for her to see is a great privilege. Nayeon won’t take it for granted.

(Nayeon promises to be Tzuyu’s wingwoman.

Tzuyu never asked for her to be one but Nayeon can be extremely insistent when she wants to be. There would be no sense in peeling the title away from her.)

~

There is something off about Nayeon and Jeongyeon is quick to pick up on it. It’s not like she is obvious or anything, it’s just, Nayeon is just that much quieter, that much more observant, and more shifty. When Jeongyeon confronts Nayeon on her behavior, her words don’t say much but her eyes show something more.

“I’m sorry, Jeongyeon. I want to tell you, but, it’s not in my place to.”

Jeongyeon understandingly accepts her answer and tugs Nayeon into a headlock before walking with her to the living room where the rest of their members are.

Jeongyeon is nothing but reliable and consistent. She is caring, nurturing, and warm when she needs to be. Silently, Tzuyu reveres her as someone she could always depend on.

She tells Jeongyeon she likes Dahyun randomly in the morning as Tzuyu sat eating her breakfast at the dinner table, nuzzling her head into Jeongyeon’s chest. A second passes. Jeongyeon caresses her hair and smiles fondly down at her.

“Dahyun is lucky to have your interest.”

Tzuyu sighs in relief and nuzzles deeper into her.

“I think I’m lucky to love her.”

When Jeongyeon tells Nayeon she knows about Tzuyu’s feelings, the tension in Nayeon’s body eases and she heaves a sigh large enough to expel all the stress in the world away. She tugs Jeongyeon into her room, just barely grabs onto Tzuyu’s arm on the way there.

(No doubt, she is going to talk their ears off on her future wingwoman plans.

Jeongyeon quickly enrolls herself as one too.

Tzuyu just accepts their eagerness as whole-hearted support.

Her heart can’t help but to be fond of them.)

~

Chaeyoung could easily consider herself to be one of the members closest to Tzuyu. The same-age bond was one of the first things that pulled them together. As time passed, Tzuyu’s hidden mischievousness complimented well with Chaeyoung’s rebelliousness. In random impulses of decisions and actions, Tzuyu is always the first to support them.

(When Chaeyoung told Tzuyu that she was going to her hair like Kristen Stewarts’, Tzuyu requested that she would FaceTime her during it. She does and when she sends a picture of her after the haircut, the members’ shocked compliments give enough laughter for her to giggle throughout the day in random moments passing.)

In viral videos to random miscellaneous questions, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu build a friendship out of genuine interest and companionship.

When Tzuyu decides to pick up a pen and write for their next album, she asks Chaeyoung to help her write lyrics.

(She chooses well. Chaeyoung seems to have words flowing the moment she puts her pen to paper.)

When Chaeyoung asks Tzuyu what she would like to write about, Tzuyu laughs awkwardly to hide her shyness and proposes love.

“What about love do you want to write, Tzu?”

Her mind buffers.

“Um, I don’t know.”

She pauses.

“Maybe crushes or something like that.”

It is clear to Chaeyoung that Tzuyu doesn’t want to write anything else but that. In normal circumstances, she would lightly friend but her intuition tells her not to.

“Okay, we can do that. How do you feel about crushes? Maybe, if you’ve had one, you can tell me what it felt like and we can figure something out.”

Tzuyu opens and closes it like a fish, her mind, no doubt, searching for all the words she knows to talk about her feelings.

(Once again, emotional expression is always a difficult battle for her.)

“At first, it feels like listening to an upbeat song you really like and you just want to dance to it. Like, jumping around and mindless twirling, kind of dancing. And then, it kind of feels like wanting to tape your mouth shut because you want to confess but the fear of rejection is terrifying. And after that, the need to confess is like the need to breathe. And now, it feels like I’m waving my arms for her to look at me and she just waves back without coming to me.”

Unintentionally, Tzuyu’s tongue let loose a part of the secret she was keeping. When she looks at Chaeyoung, her friend’s eyes are kind, gentle, and patient. Chaeyoung has always been excellent at listening and waiting for her to talk and explain what she feels.

(Tzuyu is transparent to the right person, at the right time. Chaeyoung just happens to almost