Tzuyu’s head rests on Jihyo’s lap as she watches television. Above her, Jihyo is reading a book and wearing those round specs Tzuyu absolutely adores. She finds herself watching her girlfriend instead of the television, liking the sight a whole lot more than the endless reruns of shows Tzuyu never really watches with any interest.

She sighs softly, closing her eyes for a few moments. This kind of day off is nice. Where Jihyo isn’t frantically running around and herding them to the van to go to their schedules. She likes the peace and the comfort, the relaxing feeling of being able to lay down without having someone rush her to be the next one to take photos.

And, she gets to spend time with her girlfriend.

Which is probably the highlight of their breaks. Cuddling Jihyo, suffocating her with kisses and hugs and her clingy nature. Jihyo always welcomes her with open arms, even when she’s busy. But, Tzuyu tries to do that less often because she doesn’t want to distract Jihyo all the time. A few times here and there are definitely okay.

In her distracted state, Tzuyu doesn’t realise that Jihyo puts away the book that she’s reading. Jihyo is smiling at her girlfriend in amusement, feeling the need to annoy her. She pulls on Tzuyu’s right cheek, Tzuyu squealing from the pain and surprise.

“Where did you go?” Jihyo laughs when Tzuyu holds her reddening cheek.

“I was thinking about you.” Tzuyu speaks truthfully.

Sometimes, Tzuyu’s forward speaking is the death of Jihyo.

Case and point, right now. She can’t help the tint of pink that spreads quickly over her cheeks from Tzuyu’s bold words. Well, they weren’t really bold, but, to Jihyo, any form of Tzuyu’s flirting is bold. The girl can say she likes Jihyo and it’ll fluster Jihyo.

“Oh, really? And what about me were you thinking about?” Jihyo clears as Tzuyu smirks in her direction.

Tzuyu totally knows her words affected her. Great job, Jihyo. Now, she’ll definitely go into her teasing mode.

“Hmm. I was thinking about how you don’t mind when I hug or kiss you when you’re busy.” Tzuyu grins.

Jihyo rolls her eyes at her. It’s true, however. Even when she has a deadline and Tzuyu wants a hug, she’ll drop everything and attend to her. Yes, you can say that she’s whipped. She gets teased by the other members all the time. But she gets the brunt of it. Is it because she’s the leader?

When Nayeon is with Dahyun, no one bats an eye. Dahyun is almost always in Nayeon’s embrace wherever they are. And if Jihyo sees all the wandering hands of the eldest, she’s sure everyone else can too.

Jeongyeon and Mina are relatively reserved and almost always in one of the rooms together. Jihyo just hears all about things she never wants to hear again from Jeongyeon. She wishes she could bleach her ears.

Momo and Sana. It would help if they didn’t make out every two minutes of their free time in front of everyone’s faces. It’s come to the point where they’re basically ignored anyway. Jihyo hopes it doesn’t escalate further.

Perhaps Chaeyoung is the only one ever on her side. That’s because she gets the teasing from Red Velvet members instead. She understands. That’s what happens when you date the youngest of another group.

“Maybe I like hugging you.” Jihyo crosses her arms. What’s wrong with that?

“I’m not saying it as a bad thing. I love that you accept it. I just hope I don’t annoy you too much because of my clingy side.” Tzuyu refuses to make eye contact after her declaration.

“Hey.” Jihyo frames Tzuyu’s face in her hands. “You’ll never annoy me, no matter what. I thought you knew.”

“Knew what?” Tzuyu frowns.

Jihyo laughs, kissing the frown away before pecking Tzuyu’s nose. “Don’t you know? I’m whipped for you?”

She might as well embrace the label, no? Jihyo almost gasps when Tzuyu raises up to kiss her, pressing her soft lips against hers. She holds onto Tzuyu’s grey shirt, feeling the need to anchor herself. Her mind is fuzzy and she feels disorientated when she pulls away.

“Are you guys seriously canoodling on the couch?” Nayeon’s disgusted voice echoes from the kitchen.

“As if Sana and Momo haven’t done more here!” Jihyo throws a cushion at Nayeon that hits her square in the face.

She turns back to her girlfriend who has the biggest grin on her face. Jihyo is taken off guard. Does she really have to show off her dimpled grin out of nowhere? Have some mercy on her heart, please!

(She forgets that Tzuyu only grins like that when she wants something)

“It’s a nice day for the beach today.” Mina speaks out of nowhere. Everyone turns towards her and she gets flustered with the sudden attention.

“Mina. Why would you say that in front of everyone?” Nayeon groans.

“Beach?!” Dahyun comes running from her room.

“Who said beach?” Sana and Momo pop their heads out of their laundry, looking extremely dishevelled.

“I love you!” Chaeyoung comes rushing in as everyone but Jihyo, Tzuyu and Nayeon grimace at the hug. Poor Mina. “Can Yeri come along too?”

“Ask her first. And tell her to talk to her manager!” Jihyo scolds when Chaeyoung runs off immediately.

She sighs heavily and Tzuyu shakes her head, pulling her in for a hug. “It’ll be fine. They’re just excited now.”

“Didn’t you want to go to the beach too.” Jihyo squints at Tzuyu. She spoke about it a few days ago, whining about how long it’s been since they last travelled together for something fun.

It clicks in her mind, then.

Tzuyu’s dimpled grin moments ago.

The whole thing seems like it was already planned beforehand. She probably just messaged Mina to say it in front of everyone. What a devil! That’s why she’s hugging Jihyo right now and comforting her with words of support.

How can she ever be mad at her own girlfriend?

“Did I? Oh, I did. I guess it’s a shared thought with the other members.” Tzuyu smiles widely again.

Jihyo takes her off-guard when she squishes her cheeks. “You’re lucky I love you so much, that I don’t say anything when you do sneaky things like this.” She places a kiss on Tzuyu’s lips.

“…”

“Also, make sure you put on sunscreen lotion because you always turn red in the sun. Go get ready.” Jihyo pats Tzuyu’s head and sends her sulking girlfriend towards her room.

“I love you too.” Tzuyu shouts back, bolting to her room.

Jihyo chuckles at how hyper Tzuyu becomes when they go out as a big family. She’s a complete softie at heart and Jihyo loves every bit of her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Nayeon staring at her with a teasing grin on her face. Jihyo decides it will be wise to ignore it. She’s not going to acknowledge it. She’s going to walk past Nayeon as if her whipped nature didn’t just come out–

“Hello whipped Jihyo.” Nayeon casually throws her arm around Jihyo’s shoulder.

“Please tell me, you’ve washed your hands.” Jihyo grimaces, shrugging her hand off her shoulder.

This should work. Please work. Save Jihyo from the torture.

“It’s not like it goes anywhere.” Nayeon huffs.

“Other than everywhere.” Jeongyeon’s voice pipes up from some room.

“Oh, shut up! It does not!” Nayeon runs after the younger girl, leaving Jihyo to sigh in relief. Mission accomplished.

Jihyo takes this time to get ready, stumbling to find a suitable outfit for the beach. She has to kick Momo out of their room so that Sana can at least finally start getting ready. She’s pacing around the entire dorm, hollering about making sure to put on sunscreen and grabbing their hats and their bottled water. She gets ready in record time, Mina following her to the kitchen.

“Since you and the devil decided to make the deal together, help me make some sandwiches.” Jihyo basically blackmails Mina into helping her.

“It’s not like I’d make you do it all on your own anyway. And are you finally admitting Tzuyu’s a devil?” Mina chuckles when Jihyo threatens her with a knife. She finds the sight oddly endearing. Jihyo can never look harmful anyway.

One of their managers peek their head inside the dorm to check on progress and rolls her eyes when she sees only three of the nine girls ready.

“Hey Chae, can you smack these pots together outside all the doors and tell them to get ready quicker?” Jihyo hands Chaeyoung two metal pots and she swears Chaeyoung’s eyes light up in glee.

She forgets about Chaeyoung’s current interest in drums. She bangs the pots so hard, Jihyo’s scared for her own eardrums.

But, the second youngest is effective in her call, managing to get another four members out of their rooms. It’s easy to guess who hasn’t come out and Jihyo grumbles. She clearly kicked them out of the same room for a reason.

“Tzu, pack the lunches in the box, okay? Don’t let Jeongyeon near them.” Jihyo stares at the tall girl who’s reaching for a slice of meat from one of the sandwiches Mina is making.

She leaves Tzuyu with the task and heads to her own room, kicking it open. The two girls inside break apart upon the intrusion, fearing for their lives when Jihyo glares at them. Momo and Sana bolt out of the room and head towards where the others are sitting, Jihyo chasing them there.

“Alright, everyone. Let’s go.” Jihyo announces, a unison of cheers following.

Jihyo sits at the back of the van and Tzuyu follows. She feels guilty for planning the whole thing when she notices Jihyo’s heavy sighs. Their holidays are meant to be a break from their usual chaos, but today is just the same as any usual day. Jihyo closes her eyes for a few moments and relaxes, before opening them to be greeted by Tzuyu’s concerned glance.

“What’s wrong?” Jihyo’s worry spikes and she sits upright immediately.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think this through. I thought we’d have fun…” Tzuyu pouts, chasing away Jihyo’s tiredness.

Jihyo laughs and pulls Tzuyu into a hug. “Why are you apologising? If family won’t be chaotic, how else will we have fun?”

Tzuyu smiles and hugs Jihyo tighter, kissing her cheek in gratitude. Even with the noisy car ride, the duo feel at peace sitting at the back of the van, in their own world.

When they reach the abandoned beach miles away from home, six of the girls run to the ocean immediately. The remaining three roll their eyes at their excitement. Jihyo is surprised to see Tzuyu still with her. She knows Nayeon’s never really been a fan of the water, so she’s not shocked to see her by her side.

“Tzu? Didn’t you want to go in the water first?” Jihyo asks as she pulls out some of their belongings from the van.

“I’ll help you set up and then go. And plus, it’s not like I’ll be swimming or anything, I just want to get my feet in there.” Tzuyu grins, holding the esky in her hands.

“Make sure you’re not in the sun for long.”

“I know, I’m sensitive.”

Nayeon looks between the two girls and is about to say something about how cute they are when they both whip their heads towards her.

“Don’t.”

She laughs and agrees, carrying the picnic basket to a shady area on the beach.

Jihyo rolls out a blanket, keeping things on the corner so it doesn’t fly away. She opens her own beach towel and lays down on it, sighing as she faces the water. Tzuyu smiles and kisses her head before running off to the edge of the water. Nayeon sits next to her and they both relax in the quietness, the laughter of their members fading in the distance. She sets a timer on her phone because she really doesn’t want to get a deeper tan than she’s out here for.

About an hour later, she feels someone join her side and smiles at the familiar touch on her shoulders.

“Did you have fun?” Jihyo mumbles, in bliss.

“Mhmm. I want to spend some time with you too.” Tzuyu rolls on her stomach and sidles up next to her.

Jihyo squints in the sun, not wearing her sunglasses. She leans forward to kiss Tzuyu tenderly, sighing softly. She’s comfortable with Tzuyu by her side, running her hands through her hair.

“Thank you. For bringing us out here.” Tzuyu smiles and kisses Jihyo’s arm.

“Anything for you, really.” Jihyo confessed, peeking a little bit to see Tzuyu’s blushing face.

Hours later, they travel back to the dorm with a lot of disappointed groans. They had too much fun at the beach and wanted to stay longer. Jihyo appeases them with a promise of coming again in the near future and they all settle down. Tzuyu falls asleep on the ride back, snuggling against her girlfriend.

Some girls knock out as soon as they shower and get rid of the ocean water out of their ears. Momo’s talking too loudly because her ears are semi-blocked and Jihyo has to force her into the shower. She doesn’t care if Sana has to go with her.

Tzuyu comes out first and Jihyo almost has a heart attack when she sees her. Her face is extremely red.

“Tzuyu! Didn’t you put on sunscreen?” Jihyo fusses over her girlfriend, rummaging around for the aloe gel she keeps for their burns in the kitchen.

Tzuyu has the audacity to smile, Jihyo not looking impressed at all. She pulls Tzuyu to sit in front of her.

“See, there’s a reason I told you not to stay out in the sun so much!” Tzuyu hisses as Jihyo spreads aloe vera gel on her cheeks. “You’re always over-sensitive when it comes to the sun!”

Tzuyu grumbles because Jihyo is right. She always gets sunburnt when she’s in the sun for too long without lotion. She thinks it’s incredibly unfair though.

Jihyo’s tan looks gorgeous when she sunbakes, why does Tzuyu end up looking like a red tomato. She just wants to have a successful tan, once. For the love of god.

“You look pretty.” Tzuyu looks up at Jihyo. “The tan suits you.”

“Well, I wish I could say the same about your sunburnt cheeks! Next time, I’m making sure this on you before we go.” Jihyo shakes her head.

Tzuyu grins, nodding enthusiastically. If Jihyo does it, maybe she’ll sit still.