Tzuyu slowly opened her eyes and looked at her alarm clock and groaned in tiredness seeing that she had slept past her usual wake up time. She sat upright as she stared at her wall and smacked her lips a couple of times, before getting out of bed and checking her phone.

 

She noticed the piling of notifications in the Chinese Organization group-chat, which was blowing up with texts from the older kids.

 

Mark Tuan: Where are the god damn lanterns?

 

Xuan Yi: You were supposed to buy them you nimrod

 

Mark Tuan: How was I supposed to know… I was drunk.

 

Jackson Wang: I got them… it’s fine. Who has the other decorations? People in the Main Square are supposed to have them

 

Xuan Yi: Weren’t you supposed to get them!?

 

read by Jackson Wang 11:20 AM 

 

Xuan Yi: DO NOT LEAVE ME ON READ YOU IDIOT!

 

Tzuyu was chuckling to herself as she was making her way to her restroom and bumped into her mother in the hallway, “Sweetie what are you laughing about?”

 

“Oh nothing,” Tzuyu said as she pocketed her phone, “Just some friends.”

 

Her mother, Chou Fei, was a stunning woman that Tzuyu had truly adored and looked up to, but when she had divorced her husband, because of a false accusation on an affair that her husband had, it had really affected the way Tzuyu had viewed her mother. This led to Tzuyu not believing her mother most times and having trouble trusting her.

 

Tzuyu’s dad, Chou Chang, was still living in Taiwan and would write to Tzuyu regularly. She had loved her dad, he had introduced her to the world of soccer, finding out that she would be moving away from him really disheartned her. She was really happy about the letters as well, since he would also send pictures of her dog, Gucci, when he would send them.

 

Tzuyu was about to enter her bathroom, when her mother stopped her and held out a letter for her, “It’s from your dad.”

 

She widened her eyes in happiness as she took the letter with glee and went back to her room to open the letter. When she opened the contents of the letter, two pictures had fallen out of the envelope

 

She grabbed one of them and smiled seeing Gucci… being held by another girl? Tzuyu narrowed her eyes in confusion and grabbed the other photo that was on the floor and looked at it seeing a woman and two other kids, one a teenage boy and the other being a younger girl sitting on her mother's lap.

 

The tall girl sat on her desk as she opened up the letter. All of her dad’s writing was written in Chinese and this is what it read:

 

To my daughter Tzuyu,

 

I hope Korea has been treating you well and you’re making new friends. Just like things had been changing for you, some things have changed with me as well.

 

The girl furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she was reading his letter and continued.

 

Now that you and your mother have moved to Korea, things here in China have been lonely… and recently I have met someone truly special to me.

 

The two pictures that you have received is my new family. The woman is my girlfriend Jia, we’ll be getting married in a few months and hope that you and your mother will make it for the wedding ceremony.

 

Tzuyu’s heart had shattered a little bit, seeing that her father had already moved on from them. She felt betrayed a little bit.

 

Don’t worry this doesn’t mean that you and your mother are inferior or anything, it’s just that Jia is now my main priority, including the two kids

 

The two kids you see are Yiren and Yan An. They’re sweet kids and hope you will be able to be close with them soon once you visit. Yan An is a big soccer fan too so you guys might get along pretty well.

 

Don’t take this as a misunderstanding that I am replacing you… I truly love you with all my heart and would do anything to make sure that you are safe, so please understand.

 

I’ll still write to you and update you on everything… and don’t worry Gucci loves Yiren and she’ll take care of him with all of her heart.

 

I love you Tzuyu.

 

From,

Chou Chang

 

After closing the letter, Tzuyu didn’t know what to think, she didn’t know if she should feel frustrated, jealous, or even happy that her dad had found someone. While she was in a state of confusion, her mother knocked on her door frame, making Tzuyu stare at her with angry eyes.

 

The tall girl looked at the woman and asked, “How long have you known?”

 

“Known what?” 

 

Tzuyu crumpled the letter in her hand and yelled in frustration with tears streaming down her face as she showed the picture of her father’s girlfriend, “That Dad had found someone else!?”

 

The woman widened her eyes seeing her daughter crying and the frustration that was building up in Tzuyu. She tried to be calm and said, “I-I knew as soon as we left for Korea… I told you he had an affair with someone… and that person is her.”

 

The Taiwanese girl didn’t know what to believe, she had always thought her father wasn’t a cheater, a respectful man that had morals, she was confused as to why her mother just didn’t tell her the full truth, she felt like her entire life was just a lie. 

 

Tzuyu's mother could sense that there were too many emotions swelling in the seventh grader to handle, so she tried to calm her down and hold her, but the daughter quickly moved away and said, “Can you leave please?”

 

Her mother didn’t know what to say, but she granted her daughter’s wish and closed the door softly. Tzuyu was gripping onto the letter, then crumbled it and threw it in the trash can harshly.

 

She picked up the two pictures and shoved them in the bottom of her drawer hoping she would never see those pictures ever again. Tzuyu flew onto her bed and checked her phone again to see the Chinese Organization group chat booming again.

 

Xuan Yi: Where are the kids? We need all the help we can get for this event.

 

Vivi: Elkie, Cheng, and Pinky had to help Elkie’s mother with some decorations on her street, so they’ll be a bit busy.

 

Xuan Yi: So where are the others?

 

Vivi: Kun and WinWin are with me right now helping take care of kids in the main square and I’m pretty sure Minghao is helping his grandma with food.

 

Xuan Yi: And the youngest ones?

 

Tzuyu: Sorry… I’ve been dealing with some stuff. What’s happening?

 

Xuan Yi: It’s fine… China Town is preparing for the Mid-Autumn Festival, so us in the Chinese Organization are trying to help around.

 

Tzuyu: I’ll try and head there to help out.

 

Xuan Yi: You don’t have to… I know that you live pretty far from us

 

Tzuyu: It’s fine… might help around to help clear my head for a bit.

 

Xuan Yi: Your choice Chou… now where the hell is Yuqi and Lucas?

 

Tzuyu turned her phone off as she wiped the tears that were still on her face and changed into more comfortable clothes. She grabbed her skateboard from her closet and walked out of her room and bumped into Seolhyun.

The older girl raised an eyebrow, “Where are you going?”

 

“I’m going to China Town,” Tzuyu said trying to get around Seolhyun.

 

But the older girl wouldn’t budge and said, “Uh… Mom told me to make sure you wouldn’t go there.”

 

“Why?” Tzuyu said with an angry look, “It’s not like she’s your real mom… why do you have to listen to her?”

 

Seolhyun chuckled, “Even if she’s not my real mom… I still listen to her, because I know she cares about me.”

 

Tzuyu rolled her eyes 'A parent that actually cares... how funny' she was finally able to get around Seolhyun and made her way downstairs, luckily her mom wasn’t anywhere in the kitchen or living room, so she quickly made her way out her house and put her ear buds in and skated down the street.

 

-

 

The Taiwanese girl had made it to China Town seeing the chaos and decorations that were trying to be put up. The girl got off of her skateboard trying to dodge the people and moving out of the way for others that were carrying stuff.

 

The girl was trying to make her way to Elkie’s place, but the crowd of people had made her lose her sense of direction. While she was struggling to get through the crowd someone had swiped her skateboard out of her arms making her yell, “Hey!”

 

She saw the culprit running through the crowd and was beginning to chase them down. She had apologized to bystanders as she pushed them over trying to get her skateboard back.

 

The tall girl was able to get out of the crowd and saw the thief running into an alleyway. Without thinking she ran into the alleyway and was met with a bunch of kids sitting on trashcans and leaning on walls.

 

“Hendery? Who the hell did you bring?” One of the boys said raising an eyebrow.

 

The boy named Hendery was holding her skateboard said, “Damn… I wasn’t expecting her to follow me.”

 

Hendery tossed Tzuyu’s board to the first boy and said, “What do you want to do with her Renjun?”

 

The boy shrugged and eyed Tzuyu, “I don’t know, but with a beauty standing in front of me I think I deserve her number.”

 

Tzuyu internally gagged at the boy's attempt to flirt and said, “Yeah… no thank you… I just want my board.”

 

“You can get your board,” Renjun said as he was looking at Tzuyu’s skateboard, “If I get your number.”

 

Tzuyu rolled her eyes and was about to say something, but a familiar voice had shown up and yelled, “Renjun give it to her.”

 

Tzuyu turned around seeing Yuqi and Lucas walking together with their hands full of candies. Renjun whined and said, “Come on Yuqi… let me get her number.”

 

Yuqi grabbed the board out of his hands and tossed it to Tzuyu, “Don’t mind him… he’s just being desperate for girls.”

 

“Am not,” the boy said with crossed arms.

 

Yuqi rolled her eyes as she turned to Tzuyu with a smile and hugged her, “I haven’t seen you since summer ended… how have you been?”

 

The tall girl laughed and said, “I’ve been amazing… I visited a few weeks ago, but apparently you and Lucas were stuck in detention.”

 

Lucas laughed as he was handing candies out to the other kids and said, “That prank was amazing by the way… should’ve seen the look on that teacher’s face.”

 

Tzuyu gave a small chuckle and asked Yuqi, “Who are all these kids?”

 

“Ah,” Yuqi said, “Most of them are apart of the Chinese Youth Group… just a bunch of kids who act like delinquents. Mostly kids in middle school.”

 

“Wait… then how come me, you and Lucas aren’t with them?” Tzuyu asked with confusion, “Why are we with the older kids?”

 

Yuqi shrugged as she finished her candy, “In all honesty… I have no clue. I mean Elkie picked you up by chance and figured you wouldn’t be a bad addition to the Chinese Organization.”

 

Tzuyu was still confused, “In all my time with hanging out with you guys… I still have no clue what the Chinese Organization is.”

 

“Really?” Yuqi said with raised eyebrows, Tzuyu shook her head making the other Chinese girl explain, “The Chinese Organization was run by Mark’s parents a few years ago to help Chinese immigrants into Korea and settle down for a bit.”

 

“Mark’s parents would eventually hand down the Organization to him, since they moved to Canada or something.”

 

 Tzuyu had given a weird look to which Yuqi said, “Yeah I don’t know why they moved to Canada, but that doesn’t matter right now.”

 

Yuqi continued, “Mark wasn’t the best with handling the Organization, since there was such an influx of Chinese immigrants coming in so he got Jackson to help him out, but he wasn’t any better either. Eventually Xuan Yi came into the picture to help the two idiots out, since she was the most mature and level-headed, plus she owed Mark’s family for helping her out when she ran away from home.”

 

This was shocking news to Tzuyu, she never knew the older girl had ran away, but Yuqi was almost finished, “So… those three have been running the organization for the past year now and have been recruiting teens like us to help around in China Town, since the adults have to deal with their own problems.”

 

Tzuyu nodded, that explained a lot as to why Xuan Yi kept asking around for help today and would also explain why she was being uptight with everything. Tzuyu asked, “So… does the Chinese Organization represent all of China Town?”

 

“Basically,” Yuqi said as she handed Tzuyu a candy, “If the Chinese Organization was to fall, then the entirety of China Town would fall as well.”

 

Tzuyu was putting the candies in , while Yuqi asked, “So what are you doing here in China Town? Here to watch the festival?”

 

The tall girl shrugged, “Xuan Yi needed help with the festival… so I came to help.”

 

“Well first of all,” Yuqi said with a laugh, “You’re on the wrong side of town. Xuan Yi is probably at the CCA building in the main square.”

 

“CCA?”

 

“The Chinese Culture Association,” Yuqi said, “Usually where they plan out all the festivals and events. Come on I’ll bring you there.”

 

Yuqi turned to Lucas and said, “Make sure they don’t do anything stupid or else I’ll tell Xuan Yi.”

 

The boy nodded his head as Yuqi and Tzuyu had departed from the alleyway and disappeared into the crowd of people.

 

-

 

Yuqi and Tzuyu were chatting with each other as they were making their way to the CCA building. When the arrived there was a large amount of people going in and coming out of the building with supplies, while there were some Chinese Organization members in the main square helping out.

 

Vivi and Kun were trying to handle all of the little kids in the square, while WinWin was struggling to help a little girl get her kite out of the tree. Yuqi and Tzuyu laughed at the sight and walked over to Vivi.

 

“Vivi!” Yuqi called, “Is Xuan Yi in the building?”

 

Vivi was carrying a kid and said, “Yeah, but she’s got a lot to take care of… so I wouldn’t bothe-“

 

“Alright cool,” Yuqi said as she dragged Tzuyu into the CCA building without even letting Vivi finish what she was saying.

 

Yuqi and Tzuyu entered the CCA building and were met with chaos. Adults were running around with decorations and lamps, while some were trying to set up decorations in the building.

 

While the two were watching the chaos a familiar face had approached Tzuyu, holding boxes of lanterns. The soccer player smiled at the person, “Pinky.”

 

The older Chinese girl smiled at Tzuyu, “Hey Tzu… what are you doing here?”

 

“Look for Xuan Yi,” Yuqi said.

 

“She’s probably in the main office right now helping organize this mess,” Pinky said with a small laugh, “If you’re here to help… you can help me get these decorations to Mrs. Chong’s laundromat.”

 

Tzuyu looked at Yuqi, “You can go now… thank you for helping me out.”

“Anytime,” Yuqi said as she patted the taller girl on the back and walked out of the building.

 

The soccer player turned back to her older friend and said, “So what do you need me to do?”

 

“Just help me bring these boxes,” Pinky tilted her head to a few boxes behind her, then smirked, “If what the rumors are saying about your soccer skills, then I think you can manage.”

 

Tzuyu was getting the two boxes and put them on top of each other and raised an eyebrow, “What are you talking about?”

 

As the two were walking out of the building, Pinky laughed, “Rumors about your soccer scrimmage with Yongha traveled all the way to China Town… everyone was talking about it.”

 

Tzuyu blushed in response, “Really?”

 

Pinky nodded with small hum and asked, “Were the girls there cute?”

 

The Taiwanese girl stammered at the out of the blue question, “I-I… U-uh… I-I guess?”

 

“What are you being so embarrassed about?” Pinky said with a teasing tone, “You don’t find girls attractive?”

 

Tzuyu didn’t know what to say, she was so caught off guard from the question, “No… I-I think girls are very pretty… I just don’t have any feelings for them… y-you know… I mean it I have feelings for them, just not in the lovey way.”

 

“Woah slow down there Tzuyu,” Pinky said with a chuckle, “I was just kidding… why did you get so defensive?”

 

Tzuyu didn’t want to say anything as she continued to follow Pinky from behind. The two were trying to avoid the crowds, but Tzuyu had lost the older girl and peaked her head around the boxes and said, “Pinky?”

 

The older girl wasn’t there and she groaned in frustration as she placed the boxes down and sat on the curb. She pulled her phone out to call the girl, but then someone had tripped on the boxes causing all the decoration to fall out onto the street.

 

Tzuyu gave an annoyed sigh as she looked at the person on the ground and narrowed her eyes in confusion, then widened them in shock, “SANA!?”

 

-

 

The rest of the girls were sitting in Jeongyeon’s backyard laying around or sitting in the tree house. Jihyo was bouncing a volleyball against the tree and asked, “Jeong? Where’s Nayeon?”

 

The softball player shrugged as she handed cold drinks to the girls, “She told me she’s gonna be locked up in her house for a few weeks.”

Dahyun who was throwing grass at Chaeyoung raised an eyebrow, “What did she do?”

 

Jeongyeon remembered the incident a few days ago, but didn’t think it was the right time to expose that event yet, so she shrugged, “I don’t know… she didn’t tell me.”

 

“Seems pretty serious if her parents are keeping her from hanging out with us,” Sana said as she sipped the cold liquid.

 

Jeongyeon gave a nervous laugh and thought ‘Yeah she dumped water on Luda… how crazy can you get?’. The front gate opened revealing Mina and Momo bringing in some food.

 

Jihyo widened her eyes at the food, “What’s all this?”

 

Momo shrugged as she placed the food on the table, “My Mom may have cooked TOO much food for us, so she told us to bring the leftovers for you guys.”

 

All of the girls stopped what they were doing and rushed over to the table seeing the Japanese cuisine in front of them. Dahyun yelled, “I call dibs on the sushi rolls!”

 

“Idiot there are only sushi rolls,” Chaeyoung said with rolled eyes, while grabbing one of the Japanese snacks.

 

As Momo grabbed one and whispered to Jeongyeon, “Where’s Nayeon?”

 

The two freshmen girls had decided to make amends with each other after the Sorn incident, so they were on talking terms as of right now. Jeongyeon looked at Momo and whispered, “She’s grounded.”

“For what?” Momo said with wide eyes.

 

Jeongyeon didn’t know if she should tell the Japanese girl on what happened, but Momo also knew about Nayeon’s past actions so she said, “Momo dumped water on one of my classmates at my dad’s restaurant.”

 

Momo had choked on her sushi roll and said loudly, “WHAT!?”

 

All of the other girls turned their heads from the loud noise from Momo. Jeongyeon rolled her eyes at the Japanese girl, who was giving an apologetic look and whispered again, “Why did she do it?”

 

Jeongyeon shrugged as she put a piece of sushi in , “I don’t know.”

 

Momo nodded trying to figure out the source as to why Nayeon would do something like that… again. She turned towards Nayeon’s house and thought ‘You’re such an idiot.’

 

While all of the girls were eating, Tzuyu’s mom had walked out of their house and turned to the girls, “Have you guys seen Tzuyu?”

 

All of the girls looked at each other, then shook their heads. Tzuyu’s mom cursed to herself and whispered, “She must be in China Town.”

 

Sana stood up from her spot and asked, “Is Tzuyu ok?”

 

“Yeah everything is fine,” Tzuyu’s mother said with an awkward smile, “I just wanted to make sure she was with you guys.”

 

The mother was about to walk inside, but something in Sana’s gut told her that she knew something wasn’t right so she ran to Tzuyu’s mother, “W-Wait Mrs. Chou… o-or Mrs. Kim. I don’t know what to call you by.”

 

“Either one will be fine,” the woman said with a motherly smile as she turned to the young girl, “Do you need something?”

 

“Where is Tzuyu?”

 

The Taiwanese mother gave a small sigh, “I don’t know, but she’s probably in China Town… it’s just down the road, so I’m not too worried about her.”

 

Sana nodded as she gave a bow to the woman and watched her close the back door. The Japanese girl quickly ran back to the rest of the girls and asked Jeongyeon, “Where’s your bike?”

 

Jeongyeon raised an eyebrow, “Uh… it’s in the front lawn? Why?”

 

Sana didn’t even answer the question and ran to the front of the house and spotted the bike. She quickly got on as she pedaled onto the side walk. The rest of the girls ran to the front as well with raised eyebrows.

 

Jihyo asked, “What’s up with her?”

 

“Who knows,” Dahyun said with a small shrug, “She’s unpredictable.”

 

The Japanese girl didn’t know what she was doing… she just acted on impulse ‘What am I doing? I’ve never been to China Town… let alone going by myself to a random place.’ but she was excited to see Tzuyu again even though they see each other at school a lot.

 

The girl continued to pedal down the road and started noticing that the characters on the signs were starting to change into a foreign language, she thought ‘I guess I’m in China Town.’ 

 

When she had arrived she was met with a crowd people trying to set decorations all over the streets, there were kids running around with toy dragons and confetti all over the ground. Sana looked with amusement at the chaos that she was witnessing.

 

She quickly got off the bike and when she turned around the bike had vanished. The Japanese girl looked in shock and tried to see where it had gone, but she couldn’t get sight of it, “Jeongyeon’s going to kill me.”

 

The girl gave one last sigh before she ventured through the crowd of people… she should’ve may be thought this through, because she had no clue where she was.

 

When she tried asking people for directions, they would all just raise an eyebrow at her or completely ignore her existence. The girl had eventually gave up after the sixth try and started to wander around the place.

 

She was fascinated with China Town, she had never seen anything like this in her entire time of living in Korea. There were many buildings with shops and stores, people looking out their windows setting up decorations.

 

While she was admiring the place, she had accidentally tripped on something and fell onto the ground, scraping her knees.

 

“SANA!?”

 

The Japanese girl had looked up at who called her name and widened her eyes seeing the Taiwanese girl with a confused expression, “What are you doing here?”

 

Sana had no clue how to answer that, she just wanted to see Tzuyu, but she was not going to say that. The Japanese girl stammered, “U-Uh… your mom was looking for you.”

Tzuyu rolled her eyes at the mention of her mother, “Don’t even talk about her.”

 

Sana furrowed her eyes in confusion, while she watched Tzuyu pick up the decorations that was all over the ground. The older girl had helped pick up the decorations and put them back in the boxes.

 

When Tzuyu had put the last few items in place she looked at Sana’s knee and said, “Is your knee ok?”

 

Sana hummed in response as she looked at it and said, “Yeah… it’ll heal eventually.”

 

Without saying anything Tzuyu picked up the boxes and looked at Sana, “Follow me.”

 

Tzuyu had guided Sana through the crowd of people and made sure not to lose the Japanese girl in the sea of humans. They had finally made it to a more desolate part of the street and arrived at a little, outdoor restaurant.

 

Tzuyu placed the boxes at an empty table and pointed at one of the seats, “Wait here… I’ll be back in a second.”

 

The tall girl had gone into the restaurant leaving Sana to look at the bustling streets of people, then someone had tapped her shoulder, thinking it was Tzuyu she said, “Wow… that was really fa-“

 

But when she looked up there was a woman wearing an apron and was scowling at her. The woman was talking to her in Chinese making Sana panic, “I-I’m sorry… I can’t understand you.”

 

The woman was getting angrier and slammed her hand down on the table, which made Sana even more scared, but luckily Tzuyu came running in and yelled in Chinese, “Mrs. Zhou… that’s my friend.”

 

The woman turned back and said, “She is?”

 

Tzuyu nodded, while the woman turned around and said to the soccer player, “She’s really pretty… girlfriend?”

 

The Taiwanese girl widened her eyes in shock and stammered, “G-Girlfriend??? H-How do you assume that?”

 

“Really Tzuyu?” The woman said with raised eyebrows, “Don’t have to hide it from me.”

 

Tzuyu defended herself, “She’s not my girlfriend… nothing more, nothing less.”

 

The older woman gave a deadpan expression, “Whatever you say Tzuyu… if you need anything just call for me.”

 

Tzuyu nodded as the woman walked back into the store and the tall girl approached the table carrying a small med-kit. 

 

Sana watched as Tzuyu opened the box of medical items and asked, “Who was that?”

 

Tzuyu had switched back to Korean and pulled out a small rag and rubbing alcohol, “It’s one of my friend’s mom… she own this restaurant.”

 

“What are you doing with that?” Sana asked looking at the rag.

 

The soccer player placed the rubbing alcohol onto the table and said, “I’m cleaning up your knee… you don’t want to get it infected.”

 

“I-It’s fine,” Sana stammered with blushing cheeks.

 

Tzuyu still ignored her and placed the rag onto her injured knee, Sana flinched feeling the sting making the younger girl ask in concern, “Sorry does it hurt?”

 

Sana shook her head, while Tzuyu continued rubbing on the injured knee. The Japanese girl’s heart was beating irregularly seeing such a caring side to Tzuyu, you would mostly see the aloof and blunt side of her.

 

After cleaning up the small wound, Tzuyu placed a band aid on her knee and said, “That should suffice for now, but check it when you get home.”

 

“Are you leaving me?” Sana said with a worried look.

 

Tzuyu chortled as she pulled a chair out and sat down at the table, “No… why would I leave you in a place where you can’t even communicate with others.”

 

Sana nodded in agreement and finally got to ask, “What’s with all the decorations and ruckus?”

 

“Ah,” Tzuyu said with an opened mouth, “In China they celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival and that’s today so it’s pretty hectic with all of the decorations and preparations for this event.”

 

“It’s beautiful,” Sana said admiring the decorations that were finally put up, “It must look amazing in the nigh time.”

 

Tzuyu nodded in agreement, then someone yelled behind them, “TZUYU!?”

 

The tall girl turned around and saw Pinky with Elkie trailing behind her. Pinky sighed in relief and spoke in Chinese, “Thank god you’re ok… I’m sorry I didn’t know I left you behind.”

 

Elkie also spoke in Chinese and held Tzuyu’s cheeks and said, “Are you ok?”

 

Sana did not like that a random girl was touching Tzuyu’s cheeks, but luckily the Taiwanese girl moved the girl’s hands off her face and responded in Chinese, “Yeah I’m fine Elkie… don’t need to baby me.”

 

“You know how the boys in China Town get… I was just worried,” Elkie said, then looked at Sana and raised an eyebrow, “Who’s this?”

 

Tzuyu turned around and said, “This is Sana… one of my friends at my school… uh… she’s just checking out China Town.”

 

Elkie walked towards her and leaned forward with a glare, then turned back to Tzuyu, “You do know outsiders aren’t treated well here?”

 

Tzuyu gave a nod, “Yes I know… that’s why I’m here to make sure she doesn’t go missing.”

 

The tall girl turned back to Sana and gave an awkward smile and switched to Korean, “This is Elkie and Pinky… they’re some of my friends in China Town.”

 

Pinky had given a smile while waving her hands and Elkie just kept staring at the Japanese girl. Pinky took a closer look at Sana and said, “Damn Chou… you really caught yourself a nice one.”

 

Tzuyu and Elkie just stared at the girl in disbelief, while she raised her hands in defense, “What is she not your girlfriend?”

 

“NO!” Tzuyu yelled in frustration, “Why is it that you and your mom think she’s my girlfriend?”

 

Pinky again was slightly frightened and said, “Tzuyu calm down… I was just kidding.”

 

Sana was really confused as what was going on, but she could sense the tension and awkwardness in the air and by  tone of all of the girls’ voices.

 

Elkie eased the tension and said, “So you going to meet up with us later to watch the lanterns?”

 

“Probably not,” Tzuyu said and pointed to Sana, “I’m gonna stay with her for the rest of the day.”

 

Elkie didn’t seem pleased with that and the three other girls had noticed it. Elkie nodded and said in a monotone voice, “If it’s ok with you, then it’s ok with me.”

 

The Chinese girl then started walking away from them making Pinky give an apologetic look as she chased down Elkie.

 

Tzuyu had given a small sigh in annoyance as she sat down at the table and spoke in Korean, “Sorry about that… uh don’t mind them… they’re a bit… excessive at time.”

 

Sana gave a small nod in response. They both could sense the awkwardness in the air, so Tzuyu said, “You want me to give you a tour around?”

 

The Japanese girl gave a big smile and said, “Sure.”

 

-

 

After touring the Japanese girl around, Tzuyu had brought the girl to one spot where it was sparse and no human beings around.

 

They were walking up a small hill with a cherry blossom tree standing at the top of it, there was also a small lake nearby with some people in boats. 

 

Tzuyu and Sana sat down and leaned onto the cherry blossom tree. Sana smiled at the pink petals that were falling on the ground, “How do you know about this?”

 

The Taiwanese girl shrugged, “Uh… it was a while back when I first moved here. I was exploring China Town and accidentally discovered this spot when I got lost, so I was always come here when I want to relax.”

 

Sana nodded along as she listened to Tzuyu’s story, “Me and my family used to have a cherry blossom tree growing in front of our yard in Japan.”

 

“ that me and my mom had to move out,” The Japanese girl said with a somber tone.

 

“Your parents are divorced too?” Tzuyu said with a curious tone

 

Sana nodded in response making Tzuyu say, “Yeah mine are too… it really .”

 

The older girl gave a lopsided smile and said, “We’ll both get through it.”

 

Sana thought about her father that had been staying with her and her mother for the past few days, she could see that her dad was really trying to find a new job. 

 

Tzuyu was thinking about her father and the betrayed feeling she was having in her heart, she was wondering how her father could just do that. She knew that it was his life and he could do what he wanted, but it was just so sudden for the young girl.

 

The sun was beginning to set, while Sana and Tzuyu were staring at the skies the younger girl stood up and said, “Wait here for a second… I’ll be right back.”

 

Sana watched as Tzuyu ran down the hill and disappeared from her sights. Now that Tzuyu was gone, she realized how lonely it was without the girl… it felt cold and dark without her, she had so many mixed feelings with the Taiwanese girl, she didn’t know if she really liked the girl or she was just being reckless.

 

While Sana stared at the sky that was turning black she noticed a small glint in the air flying towards the sky… then more started to follow and start filling the night sky with a bright light. She stood up to get a better look at the lights, figuring out that they were lanterns.

 

While the girl was in awe of the bright lights someone had approached her and smiled seeing Tzuyu holding two lanterns in her hands, “This is the best part of the festival… I can’t miss this.”

 

The soccer player had handed her one of the lanterns. Tzuyu had gently pushed the lantern into the sky letting it glide into the night sky, while Sana did the same thing watching both of their lanterns bump into each other in the sky.

 

Sana was giving a soft smile at the sight, then turned to Tzuyu who was also giving a smile. The Taiwanese girl looked at Sana and stared into her chocolate brown eyes, the older girl noticed the stare and was blushing madly and trying to hide it by backing away.

 

Tzuyu didn’t know what she was doing, she was acting on impulse and was closing the gap between the two of them. With Sana backing up she had bumped into the tree making her trapped between Tzuyu and the cherry blossom tree.

 

Sana could literally feel Tzuyu’s warm breathe on the top of her lip and Sana’s mind was going rampant and not being able to focus on anything, her heart was beating fast, her insides were feeling warm, she had never felt like this before.

 

The Japanese girl was getting ready as she saw Tzuyu closing the gap between them, she closed her eyes hoping that Tzuyu would plant a kiss onto her lips, but instead she felt Tzuyu’s forehead touch her forehead with a soft tap, then the tall girl whispered, “I-I’m sorry… this is wrong.”

 

Tzuyu got off of Sana, but the Japanese girl was not letting her get away, so she grabbed the younger girl’s wrist and said, “What’s wrong? The fact that we’re girls and have feelings for each other?”

 

“It’s not the fact that we’re girls” Tzuyu said in a shaky voice, “It’s the fact that I don’t know if I like you or if I’m acting on impulse.”

 

Sana widened her eyes in realization seeing that Tzuyu had been facing the same problems as her… not knowing if they were being their true selves or just doing it just because.

 

The Japanese girl wanted proof that she wasn’t doing this to be noticed or it’s just a phase, so she pulled Tzuyu closer and planted her lips onto the younger one’s.

She melted when their lips had touch, she could feel that Tzuyu had tensed up a little bit, but had relaxed after a few seconds. When they parted lips Sana said, “Does that answer your question?”

 

Tzuyu stood there frozen for a few moments, before giving a small nod and letting the tears flow out of her eyes.