SON CHAEYOUNG'S POINT OF VIEW

Right after celebrating New Years' Eve with my family, Mina and I have decided to go back to the dorm and spend our time together there. It was only the two of us for days, we were there just enjoying each other's company. We had to grab the opportunity anyway since the others weren't going to be here until a week later. So Mina and I enjoyed the dorm to ourselves and of course, as the saying goes, 'when the cat is away, the mice will play'. I never thought I would ever compare us to mice but yeah, it's pretty accurate. We both knew we can't be acting all clingy when the others are around, so we just had to grab our chance.

It was fun, it was like I was living with her. I never thought we only needed e few minutes of conversation to actually fix the problems we had. I remember getting so heated right after kissing her in my room that she had to remind me that my parents and brother were in the house too. That was mainly one of the reasons why we had to bid goodbye the next day. Well, other than that, another reason why we decided to go back to the dorms the next day is that we needed to make up for all the time that we've lost. We both were too busy being dumb that we didn't realize all we had to do was sit down and talk about the problem. 

Our problem

We were lucky enough to spend more than a week together, I guess I was also lucky that she's decided not to go and book a flight home for New Years. The days we've spent together were pure bliss. There were times when we'd sleep in and just lay in bed all day. Most of the time we'd stay in her room but it didn't really matter since all the rooms were empty anyway. We would cook and fool around in the kitchen since no one else was there except us. We'd be wearing loose shirts and only underwear and nothing else for our bottoms. There would be times when we'd watch television and we'd end up cuddling each other, we'd talk about the things we like and things we don't like. We were getting to know each other and I've never felt this happy before. 

"Wait a damn minute." I turn to her, we were in the middle of watching a movie. We just had dinner.

"What is it, babe?" She turned to me and gave me this confused look. 

"Don't call me babe." I warned her, she shrugged and paused the movie we were watching. 

"Oh god, what is it this time?" She was confused but she still her hand around me.

"What are we? We're a couple, right? We can't be doing all this together if we're not. I can't let that happen again." I tell her honestly. She was sipping some water when I said this, she almost choked.

"What? Of course, we're a couple. Why the hell would I call you babe if we're not?" She had this wacky smile when she said this and I just had to stare for a bit. "Oh, god. You're such an idiot, it was day one when you kissed me in your room ma'am." She laughed and hit play. 

"I was just making sure!" I complain. 

"Jeez, you need to learn how to pick up social cues. We've been practically living together for days and you're just asking me now if we're a couple?" She laughs, her eyes on the screen while her hands on my head. She's gently rubbing my head. "You're an idiot." She whispers, it was followed by a chuckle. 

"Correction." I chuckle, I then put my arm around her neck, pulling her closer to me. I then plant a gentle kiss on her cheek. "I'm your idiot. You can't get rid of me now." I laugh, now trying to give more attention to the show we're watching. 

"Anyway, I hate that the others are going to be here soon." She jokingly reminds of the impending surge of people in the dorms. 

"Well, that means we'll have to be careful then." I tell her what I think.

"Do you think we should tell them?" She asked, she was staring at me. 

"Do you want to tell them?" I ask her, I was obviously taken aback by her question. She stared at me, she seemed confused too. "You see, I don't want to rush into things. What about you?"I ask her, it's true. It just feels like rushing into things would make our relationship shaky.

"I like that. I don't want to rush into things either." She smiled, her hand slid down to my hand and I feel her holding it. I feel her lightly squeeze my hand. "Let's just cross the bridge when we get there." She smiled. 

As expected, the next day, the first person has arrived from her Holiday. Mina and I were preparing breakfast in the kitchen when the doorbell rang. I was glad that we both decided to wear proper clothes because Chou Tzuyu wasn't waiting for anyone to open the door for her. The girl was so impatient that she opened the door for herself. Because of this, Mina and I immediately broke apart the moment we heard footsteps. 

"Huh! You're home!" Sighed Mina, it was obvious that she was taken aback. She had this dazed look on her face which made me want to laugh. But of course, I had to restrain myself from laughing at my girlfriend. 

"Welcome home, giant." I smile at her. She had this blank look plastered on her face which made me suspect that she's thinking about something. "Join us, we expected you'd be the first come back anyway." I smile at her, motioning to the spread that Mina and I made. 

"Didn't you guys hear me come in?" She asked, she walked towards the sofa and placed her things there. She seemed indifferent though. "I rang the doorbell thrice. Were you guys busy or something?" She asked. 

"Ah, Tzuyu-ah. So many questions." Says Mina as if she's disappointed. "Didn't you miss me at all?" She tries to steer the conversation. This made me chuckle, horrible acting. 

"Pabo, we weren't busy. The doorbell's probably broken or something." I try to steer the conversation too. Then spread we made catches my attention so I immediately grab Tzuyu to the table. I wanted her to not ask anything more. I don't want to raise suspicion. 

"Dude, I clearly heard the doorbell go ding dong." She seemed really suspicious, her eyebrows were raised and she sounded impatient. 

"What does Ding dong sound like?" Asks Mina. This made Tzuyu and I stare at her. The confusion was strong. 

"What?" Tzuyu asked immediately. 

"Exactly." Says Mina as if she actually proved a point. "Eat your breakfast. Stop asking so many questions." She seemed serious when she said this. 

"Listen to her, Tzuyu-ah. We'll help you unpack your things later, okay?" I add and just like that, we made her not ask any more questions. 

It didn't take long for the others to get back to the dorms and just like that everything became chaotic again. The silence that Mina and I basked in was no longer there but it didn't really matter. There were times when we'd just sneak into each other's room when we're sure that everyone's asleep. We'd usually just wake up extra early to play things off. 

After that, our classes started again. This meant we were busy doing our own thing again. Of course, we had readings and tests that we need to do. Tzuyu and I were once again busy with the hopeless case of the School Festival. The girl and I even had a conversation about not participating in it the next year. The truth is, it is such a thankless job that we don't feel any satisfaction in volunteering at all. 

As for Sana unnie, she's decided to be re-located at another convenience store location. It was cool since the place where she's relocated is quite near our University so Tzuyu and I would constantly visit her during lunchtime and just eat there. According to her, she still hasn't had the courage to tell her parents what she's done. However, she's decided that it was best for her to re-enroll next school year. I guess she's really decided to become a doctor. 

Nayeon unnie and Jeongyeon unnie has become increasingly more affectionate, of course, there would be times that they would bicker but we knew it wasn't that serious. Since our Christmas party, everyone has come to an understanding that the two of them are a couple and that nothing is wrong with that. There would be times when Jeongyeon unnie would come over and there would be times when Nayeon unnie wouldn't be home since she's in the dorm next door with Jeongyeon. That's mainly one of the reasons why Mina and I have decided to not tell everyone about our relationship yet. It's not that we're afraid, it's just that we don't want to make it seem like our dorms are a breeding place for couples. 

"Chaeng-ah." Tzuyu taps my back. Of course, I stare at her.

"Yeah?" I ask her. We were both working through the event. It's lunchtime and the seniors have taken their 'break' which is bull because they didn't even do anything, to begin with. Those nasty seniors are just lazy. 

"Do you want to grab lunch?" She asked me, of course, I had to take a quick glimpse at my watch to make sure we were good to go. I didn't want to make Haesoo mad again. Her ing just makes me want to rip my ears out. 

"Yeah, sure. It's twelve-thirty anyway." I reply and we then pick out stuff up and just go. 

For today, we didn't really have a class since it's the weekend. But the seniors were insistent on making us go to University and make us do some things for the Festival. I honestly felt cheated because it really baffles me how the seniors don't even help out. It's just unfair since they're the ones who get all the credit. Anyway, Tzuyu suggested that we visit Sana unnie's workplace and have lunch there. I mean, I can't complain. Convenience store food is cheap and it's good. Plus I get to hang out with my two good friends so why not?

"Jeez, you guys are always hanging around here." Sana unnie makes it sound like she doesn't like that we eat at her workplace all the time. But she was smiling when she said this so I knew she was just joking. 

"Don't be too confident. We're sick and tired of you too." I jokingly tell her. 

Tzuyu and I were seated in the seats where customers are supposed to eat. It was almost 1 pm when we started eating. This location is supposed to be very busy during lunchtime but for some reason, the business was sort of slow at the moment. This allowed Sana unnie to sit with us and chit-chat for a while. 

"Yah, unnie. have you eaten yet?" Tzuyu asks the older girl out of nowhere. 

"I haven't." She nonchalantly replies and then she proceeds to grab Tzuyu's cup ramen. "You don't mind, right?" Asks Sana, Tzuyu just became quiet and nodded. Sana then proceeded to eat some of Tuzyu's food like it's something she does every day.

"Here you go, have some of this." I give her some of my triangle kimbap which she happily ate. "Yah, unnie. How come you always forget eating on time?" I ask her. It's because whenever we visit her, she would always ask to have some of our food. 

"Yah, this is called being sweet!" She tries to explain her situation. 

"Getting ulcer isn't sweet. It's a step closer to death. If that's your standard for a happy life then your partner's going to be one troubled person." I say this without even pausing, this made Sana unnie look at me like she wanted to murder me. 

"Jesus, when did you become such a smart mouth?" She asks. I just stare at her and shrug proudly. I guess Mina is rubbing off on me. I'm starting to sound like her. 

"Unnie, we already know your situation." Says Tzuyu, she had this look on her face which I couldn't quite describe. 

"Your point?" She tried her best to sound tough but Tzuyu and I are capable of seeing through that thin sheet of 'toughness' she had. 

"We can help." Tzuyu replies. This time it felt like I wasn't in the conversation at all. It felt as if I was just there as a third person. It felt like I was floating. Sana smiled softly at Tzuyu and I knew that meant something. I can't quite tell what it was but I knew that Tzuyu and Sana are closer. 

"Tzuyu-ah, stop making me feel useless." Laughs Sana, and even though her response did not seemed pained, her eyes convey otherwise. 

"I'm not trying to make you feel useless." Replies Tzuyu and then the air between us suddenly became awkward. I was just there, I was squished between the two of them. Honestly, I'm starting to feel like I don't want to be in here. 

"Look." I try to break the growing tension between them. "I'm getting indigestion because of all this bickering." I jokingly tell them, but I tried to make it seem like I'm serious. They became quiet for a few seconds. 

"You gotta eat more vegetables, shorty." Says Sana unnie out of nowhere, this made me chuckle. 

"Drink something for indigestion then, you're blaming innocent people." Adds Tzuyu as if she wasn't having any of my nonsense.  

"Look, Sana unnie will ask us for help if she needs any. Right, unnie?" I look at Sana unnie and she nods enthusiastically. "Stop worrying so much about her, she's a big girl. I'm pretty sure she can handle herself." I try to console Tzuyu. 

"Anyway, stop worrying about me." Said Sana when all of a sudden we hear someone walk in. Sana unnie immediately looks at the entrance and she stands up. "I've got to work guys." She then hurriedly jogs back to the counter. 

"Yah, why did you side with her?" Whispers Tzuyu. 

"You're acting like she's younger than you. You have to acknowledge that she's older than you. You also have to respect her decision. She'll ask for help when she needs to, okay? Please don't worry so much." I whisper back to her, she just stared at me. It seemed as if what I had said didn't really register to her but then again she can process my words as long as she wants to. 

"Did I sound mean?" She asked. 

"A little." I tell her honestly. "Chill, dude. Don't get too worked up." I scoot closer to her and gently tap her back. She then stared at me and just nodded.

CHOU TZUYU'S POINT OF VIEW

Going home to Taiwan for the holidays was a great way to detach myself from all the stress that we've encountered. Everything seemed gloomy before Minwoo got caught. Many things happened including Nayeon unnie's departure for the countryside. That event specifically made me realize how grave the situation we are in. 

Things are becoming easy now ever since Minwoo got imprisoned. The weight on our Chests has been lifted off, but the truth is everyone is still scared for their lives. Minwoo is still awaiting trial and because his father's company brings South Korea pride, we're scared that the government would let the guy go. If you're a big name in Korea, it's difficult for you to be charged. It's honestly better off if he's dead. If only we're in Taiwan then we can easily hire someone to dispose of him. But we aren't and that's another problem. 

But that doesn't matter, in time things will be solved. I hope so. 

Later that day, I decided to go and visit Sana again. It's not something that I had planned for a long time, in fact, the idea just came to me. Of course, I feel like I had to follow through with the idea, the plan seemed alright. But that's the thing with me, I know when things are good or bad for me. But the outcome doesn't influence my action, I'm that type of person.

For example, when I was in high school, I had a fight with a classmate. You know, instead of thinking clearly and planning how to get back at her, my went on and picked a fight with her outside of School. I know that sounds terrible but after the catfight, I made up with that classmate. It was sort of a stress reliever per se. But I know better now, I got a lot of scolding from my parents after that happened. 

But anyway, the story is not the point. The point is I am the type of person who doesn't care about the outcome. My love immediate gratification and that is what makes me do bad decisions. For my situation right now, my immediate gratification is seeing and talking to Sana. God knows what this might lead to, I don't really care. I just want to talk to her right now. That's it. 

"Oh? Tzuyu-ah. What brings you here?" her shift is done and I'm lucky enough to have caught her on her way out. 

"I was meaning to talk to you." I smile at her and of course, she smiled back. 

It didn't really take that many words to invite Sana to dinner. We've hung out so many times that all I have to do is give her a certain type of look. Maybe that's how our relationship works? I was never the type to say much while she's the complete opposite of me. She's confided in me so many times and there was never a time that I never listened to her. Sana loves pouring all these stories to me. I can't complain because, through those stories, I got to know her. Maybe that's the reason why I grew to like her. Her stories gave me an idea of her and I also liked the fact that I was the one she confided to. 

I guess I wanted to feel like somebody needed me. 

"I missed this, I haven't really hung out with you in a while." Sana smiled, our food was just served and we were just talking about a bunch of things. We were basically catching up and asking all these questions. It was cool and nice to actually see her again.

"Yeah." I smile at her, I didn't really know how to talk to her. I guess I lost that ability.

"So like, how have you been? Have you been active in the dating scene lately?" She casually asked me, she's working her way through her food. She stared at me, waiting for me to answer her. 

"I uh..." I trail off, I couldn't really answer her directly. "Is your food good?" I try to steer the conversation, I was smiling when I asked this. 

"Yeah! It's good, good thing you came to pick me up at the right time." She smiled. 

"Yeah, that's my thing!" I laugh nervously. 

We became silent after that, it wasn't the type that was an awkward silence. It's the silence that was comfortable, the type of silence that wouldn't make me worried about the next thing I should add to the conversation. Dinner came and went by quickly, maybe it's because I enjoyed her company. We decided to then walk to our dorm. I was used to this, we usually walked back to our dorm when I used to pick her up from work. 

"You never really answered my question." She broke the silence, we were still walking at this point. 

"What?" I asked her, I knew what she meant but I refuse to give in. I guess, the outcome won't be as good as I think it would be. I then see Sana slowly walking towards a bench, it was right below a street light where there was a shed that protected us incase it snowed. "What are you doing?" I ask her. 

"Well, I haven't really conversed with you in a while. I just thought we could talk, you know?" She says this with ease, she then sat down and stared at me. She was obviously waiting for me to sit next her. "Come sit here, I can't really hear you when we're walking." She shrugs. 

"Yeah? That's cool too." I reply, this time I was already sitting next to her. "What do you want to talk about?" I ask her, realizing I just dug a grave for myself. 

"Have you like been active in the dating scene lately?" She asked me. I have to pretend to chuckle before I actually answer her. 

"You see, why would you even ask that dude?" I chuckle, hoping that my response would faze her.

"Well, you haven't really been around lately." She whispered when she said this, which made me think she actually doesn't want to say it. 

"What do you mean?" I ask her, pretending like I didn't understand what she's saying. 

"I meant like seeing me. You know? Like picking me up." She makes what she meant clear. I just had to stare at her, it's because I didn't know how to answer her question. "That's why I thought you've been dating, it's because I haven't seen you in a while." She repeats.

"No, I'm not really in that place right now." I tell her the truth. "I've been just busy, that's all unnie." I smile at her, hoping she'd drop it off. "Why are you looking for me anyway? That's strange. Isn't Dahyun unnie the one who's like been picking you up lately?" I suddenly blurt this out, she then gave me this stare that I couldn't explain. 

"That's..." She trails off. "How do you know that?" It sounded as if she was taken aback. 

"Why? Is that something I'm not supposed to know?" I sarcastically ask her, expecting she'd laugh with me. She just gave me this look that seemed like I wasn't supposed to know anything. So I had to tell her something. "You guys can't be more obvious." I lie through my teeth. It's because I've always known they have a thing, but I'd rather make it seem like they're obvious so that she doesn't question where I got the information. 

"Well, I guess I can't hide it from you now." She seemed sorry when she said this. 

"I guess you don't." I reply, wishing they would hide it from me. I don't want to see any of it. "Anyway none of that is important." I blurt out, realizing the bitterness in my tone. 

"Why the hell aren't you freaking out?" She asked me, she had this confused look all over her face. 

"Freak out about what?" The only thing I'm freaking out about is that I'm talking about this to you. Damn.

"Chou Tzuyu, I meant Dahyun and I have a thing." She said this slowly as if she's easing me to the information. "Why aren't you reacting?" She asked. 

"What? Do you want me to like cry or some ?" I replied and I knew I'm not filtering any of my sarcasm anymore. 

"Wait, this whole is not strange to you? Like, you don't care that we're both girls?" She asked me this as if the question is funny. 

"No." I reply immediately, she still looked very confused. "It's because I'm into girls too." I add. 

I saw how various emotions wash over her face in a few seconds and I expected that. I know coming out to her when she came out to me isn't really conventional per se, but it is what it is. I stare at her, expecting her to act all extra. But she stared at me. It was quiet and cold outside, we were wearing our winter clothes and I just wanted to go home. 

"Should we go home now?" I jokingly ask her. 

"How come you didn't tell me?" her tone suggests that she felt betrayed. I stare at her and I knew how stupid her question was. 

"I just knew, okay?" I tell her the truth. "It's not like I've always known this whole time." I add. 

"How recent?" She kept on pushing. 

"A little after I moved to Seoul." I tell her the truth.

There was this uncomfortable silence that followed after I spoke. Good thing it wasn't snowing, though I admit it is very cold. She just gave me this look that I can't specifically read. I couldn't say much as well since I'm not the type of person who'd say something in situations like this. I've never seen Sana like this, like deep in her thoughts. She looked serious. 

"Who's the person, Tzuyu-ah?" She carefully asked. 

"It's none of your business." I knew I came off as a little harsh because I didn't really want to go there. But I know her, she won't stop unless she gets the answer. "You don't have to know, okay?" I try to make it seem like I wasn't really that mad.

"Why not? What would happen if I knew?" She asked me, this time she seemed eager. 

"I just don't want to talk about this." I tell her. 

"I should've known." She replied, she had this sad look in her eyes. "All those times you picked me up from work, all the meals you paid for me, the money, the offers, and the help." She continued. I knew where she was going, she wasn't going to easily make me confess. She's going to squeeze a confession out of me. 

"Stop. I don't want to talk about this." I plead. I didn't want her to go on because I do not know what might happen next if we don't stop here. 

"Is it me?" Sana asked, and I knew that she had cracked the code. I couldn't really speak, I just stared at her in disbelief. "Chou Tzuyu, do you like me?" she asks me. 

"Is that a crime?" I ask her back and this time she just became silent. "Look, I've given up on you a long time ago. I know that I wouldn't stand a chance against Kim Dahyun. That's something that I've told myself thousands of times, you don't have to worry about anything." I smile at her, but even though I see this conversation as a closure, why does it still hurt?

"I guess I never knew." She whispered. 

"And that's okay." I smiled, not really looking at her. I was sort of staring at my shoes. 

"I just never saw you that way." She huffed. "You've seen all my hardships and I've always been pitiful in your eyes. You've helped me with everything and I can't articulate enough how much I feel indebted to you." She adds.

"I like you and that's all I know. Helping you does not have anything to do with my feelings." I tell her the truth and I see her look at me with those pitiful eyes. Is it pity? Is it distaste? I do not know. 

"The truth is, I don't think you like me because you like me. I think you like me because to you, I am someone who constantly needs you. Maybe to you, I am someone who is imperfect, clumsy, and pitiful. Maybe you like me because you feel that you could fix my problems including me." She adds. 

I stare at her and realize how right she was. 

"But that's the thing. Even though you're there for me, and how much you care for me, my heart can only beat for Dahyun and no one else." She says this slowly as if trying to lessen the pain. "I don't see you that way. I'm sorry, I should've prevented all of this from happening, I couldn't believe I never noticed a thing." She sounds really sorry.

Her words were painful. Maybe she's right and all this time I just wanted to feel like somebody needed me? Maybe Sana did make me feel needed. Is that such a bad thing? To feel like somebody needed me?

"I don't regret anything," I tell the truth. "I've discovered something wonderful about me and I don't think it's that bad." I smile at her. She stared at me. I then stand up and just gave her a smile. 

"Where are you going?" She asked me. 

"I wish to go home separately." I was a little heartbroken, but that's okay. "I just thought I should at least let myself have some pride." I add, still smiling at her.

"Okay, I'll hail a cab for you." She stands up and waves down a cab which amazingly caught on immediately. 

"I guess this is the last time I'll be picking you up from work, unnie." I smile at her as I get inside the cab. 

SON CHAEYOUNG'S POINT OF VIEW

It's been a while since I've hung out with Mina, ever since the others came back from the holiday I barely got the time to lay down and just talk to her. We were currently in my room, she was playing on her switch while laying flat on her belly. Of course, I had nothing else to do but lay beside her while I scrolled through my phone. 

"You didn't really tell me how your day went." Mina mumbled under her breath, she was still playing on her switch. I then carefully lay my head on her back. 

"It was alright, really. Tzuyu and I worked our off---" She cut me off.

"Well, I better see results." She jokingly said this without even turning her console off. 

", that's not the point you idiot." I laugh, still scrolling through my news feed. Suddenly, she turns her switch off and places it beside her. She just stared at me and I stared back. 

"What are you waiting for? Come and hug your idiot then." She smiles which exposed her gums. Of course, I didn't hesitate, I immediately crept beside her and gave her a light squeez. I hear her chuckled, I then feel her plant a kiss on my forehead. 

"How many days has it been?" She asked. 

"What do you mean?" I ask her back, I didn't understand what she was talking about. 

"Since we spent a night together?" She asked, my arms were still wrapped around her. I refuse to let go. 

"It's probably been three days, babe." I answer her. 

"Well, it feels like a very long time." She chuckles, I didn't really say anything, I just cuddled with her. 

We spent quite some time in silence after her response, but all of a sudden the peace in my room was shattered when a rowdy Chou Tzuyu flung my door wide open. This happened not more than ten minutes later. I was taken aback not because Tzuyu was there but because my door wasn't locked. 

"You didn't lock the door?!" I blurt out as I immediately sit up, trying to button my blouse that's been ed halfway through.

Don't ask me why it's ed, ask Mina. 

"Damn it." I mumble under my breath as I stare at Mina.

"I'm so sorry." whispers Mina as she wipes . I wanted to cover Mina's mouth but it was too late. Even though Tzuyu seemed dazed I can see the way she reacted when she saw me hurriedly buttoning my blouse up. I expected Tzuyu to turn around and walk away but she surprisingly walked towards us and comically fell on our laps without saying a word. She emitted this strange smell from her. 

"Are you drunk?" Asked Mina, she was asking the wrong question since Tzuyu is obviously drunk. 

"Tzuyu-ah, what's wrong?" I asked, and then that's when we hear her sob. It was just a restrained sob, it was as if she didn't want the others to hear her. I just stared at my girlfriend, I was confused and she seemed confused too. 

"Yo, I just did the worst confession ever and I came here..." Tzuyu suddenly stood up groggily and pointed to me. "Expecting that you'd be alone but then I see you with her!" She sobs while pointing at Mina. "How the hell is everyone dating in these dorms while I'm here just being all sad and single?" She was getting loud and obnoxious so Mina had to stand up and lock my door, we know sober Tzuyu would've wanted that. 

"Tzuyu-ah, can you tell me what's wrong?" Mina suddenly became soft and this made Tzuyu stare at her, her eyes looked broken and her hair was all over the place. 

"Sana squeezed a confession out of me but then she told me she's never going to like me back!" Tzuyu exclaimed and I just had to cover . I look over to Mina and she looked worried. 

"We need to do something about this." Mina whispered.

That night, Mina and I decided that it was our responsibility to take care of Tzuyu. It was difficult at first because of all the sobbing, but it eventually became easier when she started getting sleepy. It was such an unexpected thing but what can we do? She needs us and comforting her is the least that we could do. That night, Tzuyu ended up sleeping on my bed while Mina and I slept together in a sleeping bag on the floor.