For the first time in four weeks, Jihyo doesn’t find a note in her locker.

She’s already emptied her locker twice in search of a new note, or for anything at all but the senior finds nothing. Closing her locker with a small huff, Jihyo’s suddenly face to face with an obnoxiously smirking Nayeon. 

“Nothing today, Hyo?” Nayeon snickers. Sana’s equally annoying face pops up from right behind her.

Jihyo can’t help but roll her eyes, the slightest tint of pink dusting her cheeks, “It’s not like I expect her to be able to do this everyday, you know.”

“Mhm, like you didn’t just clean out your locker twice just to make sure you didn’t miss your admirer’s little note,” Sana says with a wide grin as she rests her head on Nayeon’s shoulder.

Before Jihyo can even think of a reply, their school bell rings. Jihyo sticks her tongue out at both of her friends before scurrying away to her first class.

“Yah! Park Jihyo!” Nayeon yells over the ringing of the bell.

“Aww, she’s no fun. We’ll get her next time,” Sana pouts and pulls Nayeon with her towards their classroom.

Later that day, the seniors are called once more to have a joint PE class with the juniors. This time, the sport to play is basketball. While Jihyo does understand their teachers’ intentions to help the juniors improve their games and hopefully influence more of the younger ones to join their varsity teams, Jihyo still thinks that these ‘friendly’ games are still quite unfair for the younger students.

Sighing, the student council president gets rid of her thoughts and takes a seat on one of the bleachers. After all, Jeongyeon-- their team captain-- has already chosen the starting lineup for the seniors. Jihyo’s eyes briefly look through each member of their team. She’s slightly worried for the juniors-- all of Jeongyeon’s picks so far are already basketball varsity team members such as Hirai Momo and Kang Seulgi. Their fourth member, Myoui Mina, isn’t in the basketball team, but she is the captain of their soccer varsity team.

Jihyo sighs once more. Jeongyeon really doesn’t want to make the game easy for their underclassmen.

Looking over at the last member of the seniors’ lineup, Jihyo nearly chokes on her spit when she sees Nayeon-- the girl who can barely even do a push up-- on the starting lineup. 

“Sana, are you seeing this or do I need some sleep?” Jihyo loudly calls for her friend, her eyes trained on one Im Nayeon, her dearly beloved, idiot of a best friend who only watches their schools’ basketball games for one (very dense) Yoo Jeongyeon.

“Yeah,” Sana plops right beside Jihyo on the bleachers, “Maybe Jeongyeon listened to your advice to not give our dongsaengs such a hard time?”

“But Nayeon?” Jihyo can’t help but massage her temples, “She’s a walking safety hazard,” She comments and silently hopes for the best.

"But at least she's got the spirit?" Sana tries, but both of them end up laughing at the idea of Nayeon attempting anything at basketball. Especially with her crush on the court with her.

When their conversation dies down into comfortable silence, Jihyo looks over at the juniors' starting lineup. She immediately notices someone missing in their team and heads over to investigate, ignoring Sana’s whines about abandoning her.

"Chaeyoung-ah, where's your team captain?" Jihyo asks once she's made it to the other side of the court. She’s pretty sure that a certain someone should already be quite excited to go head to head against the seniors for a game of basketball.

Jihyo's own worry increases when she sees Chaeyoung with a frown on her face.

"I don't know, unnie. Tzuyu didn't come in today and hasn't answered her phone," Chaeyoung says, concern evident in her features, “I even left a voice message pretending to be excited about basketball today. Unnie, I hate basketball!” She rambles, huffing as she flips through her small sketchpad.

With the same concern creasing her brows, Jihyo realizes a very important detail.

"Doesn't Tzuyu live alone?" She asks.

"She does, that's why I'm a bit worried," Chaeyoung says, "But I also know Tzuyu never checks her phone, and she has a bad habit of waking up late, so it could just be that. It wouldn't be the first time it happened,” She shrugs.

Jihyo sighs worriedly, she can tell that even Chaeyoung isn’t convinced with her own reasoning.

"I see. I'll go ask your homeroom teacher about this and see if I can check on her," Jihyo tells Chaeyoung, but her mind is running a mile a minute while her feet are already bringing her out of the gym and into the teachers' office.

Tzuyu feels like .

From the moment she woke up until now, her head feels like it’s on fire while her body feels like it’s been submerged in ice. Shivering, she weakly brings the blankets tighter around herself and takes a deep breath with some difficulty. Her nose is definitely clogged and feels sore. Tzuyu knows she’s definitely missed her alarm just by squinting at the wall clock but the tall girl can’t find the strength to move at all.

Closing her eyes and mustering as much strength as she can, Tzuyu turns over to face her nightstand. Locking her sights to her phone resting on top of her drawer, she slowly reaches out for it. When Tzuyu finally reaches her phone, she whines loudly when she realizes it’s run out of battery.

Sick and starving with no way to contact anyone.

Great.

She supposes this is how she’ll die.

Without any strength left in her body, Tzuyu falls right back to sleep.

When Tzuyu wakes up, she feels something damp resting on her forehead. 

Groaning, Tzuyu tries her best to sit up with her eyes still closed, already feeling the ache in her empty stomach. Reaching for the thing resting on her head, she realizes that it’s a damp towel. She doesn’t remember being able to get up at all today to be able to even put this on her forehead.

“Take it easy,” A voice murmurs softly as the damp towel is taken out of her hands, “You’re temperature still hasn’t gone down that much.” 

“Mmh,” Tzuyu groans and rubs her eyes, blinking only to meet Jihyo’s worried gaze.

“Unnie, what’re you doing here?” Tzuyu asks with a hoarse voice, surprised. With the little strength she has left, she tries to fix her hair that she’s sure is an absolute bird’s nest.

“You didn’t show up at school and even Chaeyoung couldn’t contact you… So I asked your homeroom teacher which dorm you stayed in so I could check up on you,” Jihyo explains, “You must’ve been really out of it since yesterday since you left your dorm unlocked. Then I found you like this, and good thing no one else tried to get in here, who knows what could’ve happened--”

Jihyo’s words are cut off when Tzuyu suddenly starts to violently cough. The younger girl feels Jihyo closing the distance between them, rubbing her back.

“Here, have some water. You look like you haven’t eaten anything either,” The older girl says as she watches Tzuyu finish the glass in one go.

“Couldn’t get up,” Tzuyu replies, immediately feeling bad that Jihyo’s probably missing classes because of her, “‘M okay now, though,” She continues, mumbling as she tries to stop herself from sneezing.

Jihyo simply raises a brow at Tzuyu, staring her down.

With a sigh and a sniffle, Tzuyu avoids her gaze.

“Okay, I’m not,” The younger girl suddenly sneezes and Jihyo’s quick to hand her a tissue, “But I don’t want you to miss out on classes, unnie,” Tzuyu says honestly, trying her best to hide the fierce blush spreading on her face the longer that Jihyo keeps staring at her so intensely like that, “I know how important they are to you, especially now that you’re graduating too.”

“I can just read the material and attend class next time,” The older girl shakes her head, taking Tzuyu’s hands into her own, “But there’s only one Tzuyu. So let me take care of you, okay?” Jihyo says, staring earnestly into Tzuyu’s eyes.

Tzuyu unconsciously leans in closer to Jihyo, staring at her bright eyes.

“...Okay,” Tzuyu relents as she takes in a deep breath, struggling to keep herself together.

Jihyo smiles contentedly.

“Good. Now I made you some soup so try to sit up a bit straighter so you can eat,” Jihyo says as she gets up to get the younger girl a bowl of soup from the kitchenette adjacent to her equally small bed.

Tzuyu’s heart feels like bursting at the seams when she looks around her tiny dorm room, noting  that Jihyo must’ve been here for a while. Everything from flu medication to the damp towels had already been prepared on her nightstand. On her small study desk lies her phone plugged in and charging too. She frowns a bit when she realizes that she’s left her desk a bit messy with pens and little shiba inu shaped notes scattered across her desk top.

From across the sick girl, Jihyo’s wearing her corgi-themed apron while scooping up some hot soup from the pot, humming as she does so. Tzuyu can barely smell anything, but she can already smell the aroma of the chicken noodle soup her unnie had prepared. Watching Jihyo, she can’t help but go back to the older girl’s words despite knowing that she was definitely just joking.

Tzuyu thinks that she definitely has to prove that she can show her affection to Jihyo for more than just once a year.

...But maybe not today, Tzuyu thinks as she blushes up a storm at Jihyo’s approach. She profusely rejects her unnie’s offers to spoon feed her, and despite the adorable pout on Jihyo’s face as she hands the bowl to Tzuyu, the sick girl knows she might not live another day more if her unnie stays too close to her while she looks like a disaster.

When Jihyo arrives home after taking care of Tzuyu, she can’t help but think of the possibility that her secret admirer could be her.

A lot of the things in Tzuyu’s dorn were dog themed. From her apron to the oven mitts and some of the stationery on her desk were dog themed, much like the notes her secret admirer would leave for her in her locker. But unlike most people, Jihyo isn’t one to quickly jump to conclusions. Anyone could own dog-shaped post-it notes given its popularity, and Jihyo doesn’t know what Tzuyu’s handwriting even looks like to be able to compare it to the notes she’s received.

But even if she were to assume that Tzuyu’s her secret admirer, the younger girl has never seemed interested in her in that way anyway… Unless she just would like to be closer to her? 

Jihyo’s not entirely sure. 

Sighing, Jihyo shakes her head and snuggles further into her blanket. She blindly reaches for her phone and types up a quick message.

Jihyo:  Are you guys awake?

Sana:  :o Jihyoooo!!!! did u just break your sleep schedule to talk to us? <3 <3

Nayeon:  did something happen? do i need to kill someone???

Jihyo:  It’s… about my admirer

Sana:  I feel loved, I feel so special

Jihyo:  I don’t want to assume, but I think it might be Tzuyu?

Sana:  oh… nvm :(

Nayeon:  do u think it’s Tzuyu or do u want it to be Tzuyu SKSKSKS

Jihyo:  why did i bother asking

Sana:  well you could try flirting with her to get a reaction???

Jihyo:  Nevermind. Good night.

Closing her phone, Jihyo feels her phone vibrate rapidly. She feels more than hears the notifications from Nayeon and Sana. Turning her phone off completely, she tries to get some rest.

Jihyo sleeps restlessly as her mind is filled with Sana’s ridiculous idea popping back up in her head again and again. She can't believe that she may actually be considering it.

“Tzuyu-ah! Are you okay? Jihyo told me you were really sick yesterday. Shouldn’t you still be resting?” Jihyo hears Nayeon’s booming voice calling Tzuyu over before she even sees her.

Jihyo closes her locker and turns around, as does Sana. When the two of them follow Nayeon’s worried gaze, they spot Tzuyu lugging herself around the school halls looking like a sick puppy. Jihyo breathes in deeply, gathering herself. The senior is one step away from telling the younger girl off on why she shouldn’t have gone to school today and then usher her back to her dorm until Tzuyu raises a shaky hand up to stop her from even starting.

“No, I’m still sick,” Tzuyu replies hoarsely, looking like a zombie when she arrives in front of the three seniors who are looking very worriedly at her, “I was just… going to get some things from my locker then talk to my homeroom teacher before heading back to the dorms… I don’t want to miss out on too much,” She explains while her voice remains muffled by a face mask. 

“I know I could’ve asked Chaeyoung or someone else to get my things for me,” Tzuyu adds once she notices the look in Jihyo’s eyes, “But I didn’t want to bother anyone when midterms are coming up…”

The air Jihyo’s gathered in from earlier escapes from her lungs as she softens, looking at the hardworking girl with a gentle gaze. Tzuyu’s just too good for this world, and sometimes, Jihyo just wants to bundle her up and protect her from the world despite knowing that the younger girl is taller and stronger than her.

"Why did you come in so early if you were just going to get some things?" Sana asks as she notices the time, “But… you’re feeling a bit better now, right?” Sana adds worriedly, tilting her head.

Jihyo bites her lip as she watches their interaction, with a really bad plan in mind. She thinks it's probably her worst one to date... Which says a lot since none of Park Jihyo's plans ever go wrong.

Here goes nothing.

Mustering up her courage, Jihyo takes two strides towards Tzuyu, pulling her into a one armed hug. She tries to ignore how jumpy Tzuyu’s initial reaction is, and moves forward with her (Sana’s) plan.

“Yeah she is feeling better, because unnie’s her medicine,” Jihyo musters up all the aegyo she has in her body, squeezing herself closer to Tzuyu while looking into her eyes for a reaction.

“This is why I’m still sick,” Tzuyu says with a blank face as she moves away like she’s been burnt. She not just walks,, but she power walks away from all three of them as fast as possible.

Jihyo didn't even know that was possible in her state. Tzuyu's still too sick to move that fast!

“Pfft!” Nayeon chokes on her own spit, wheezing, "I can't believe you followed Sana's advice!" She cackles, falling to the ground as she guffaws.

"Jihyo darling, you have a lot to learn when it comes to aegyo," Sana is a lot more calm than Nayeon, but Jihyo can tell that she's on the verge of laughing her off, "Your attempt was good, but… Tzuyu's reaction was better," Sana finally gives in to her own laughter, crouching down on the ground to slap the floor.

Jihyo's face is tinged red as she leaves both of her friends on the floor, grabbing everyone’s attention with their hysterical laughter. When she takes a look back, she isn't surprised to see their schoolmate Rosé kneeling down on the ground to check on them.

Despite her failure, Jihyo's not giving up just yet.

So Jihyo tries to make some more advances. She barely has time for herself outside of classes, so she has to make due during the few classes she and Tzuyu share together. Despite being in different years, Tzuyu is not only an athlete, but is one smart cookie herself. It’s quite a convenient coincidence that Jihyo is Tzuyu’s classmate for all of the advanced classes that the junior has.

It’s a little bit too convenient, Jihyo thinks. It’s like someone meant for it to be that way... But Jihyo won’t look a gift horse in the mouth. An opportunity is an opportunity and after all, the notes in her locker still continue. That has to mean something if Tzuyu's the sender… right?

Advanced Chemistry

"You know Tzuyu, I like gold, but the A is silent," Jihyo shoots her shot in the midst of mixing solutions in a test tube. It’s not an ideal situation, but the older girl knows how to work with what she has.

Tzuyu stops writing on their lab report and without even looking, replies, "...There's no A in gold, unnie."

"I meant Au, gold, the element, um... just remove the letter A and then it'll be--" Jihyo stutters as she tries to explain, only to find that Tzuyu's already on the other side of the laboratory to submit their paper.

Jihyo nearly slams her head onto the test tubes.

P.E.

"Tzuyu-ah, if I drown will you save me?" A third attempt. Jihyo tries for a more direct approach as she hugs Tzuyu's arm with both of her own, looking up at the younger girl cutely (or at least, she thinks that she is... looking at her cutely).

"I can't swim, unnie," She replies bluntly, staring fearfully at the pool despite being almost as tall as the deepest section of the water.

Jihyo’s only victory is when she pushes one cackling Yoo Jeongyeon into the pool before their class starts, the latter having overheard Jihyo’s poor attempt at flirting and guffawing like she wasn’t right there to see it.

Mandarin

"Do you think I look pretty?" Jihyo tries to read the translation of 'You look pretty today’ in Mandarin. She isn’t sure if she got the words or the pronunciation right, knowing how awkward Google Translate can be.

"...I don't think you know how beautiful you are, Jihyo,"  Tzuyu replies smoothly, using complicated Mandarin that Jihyo isn't familiar with.

The older girl only recognizes her name within the whole sentence, and she doesn’t know what to do. Tzuyu stares at Jihyo quite intensely, waiting for a response.

Retreating with an awkward nod and wave at the undecipherable gaze Tzuyu sends her, Jihyo escapes to the bathroom.

She really should've studied up on Mandarin!