You've got my Attention (And my dog)

Oh! You've got my attention!

“She’s staring at you again,” Dahyun said, bringing them out of their spell of silence, “Two o’clock”

 

Chaeyoung sighed and looked towards her, it seemed like she was being watched every second that she was at school and she didn’t exactly appreciate it. She and Tzuyu’s eyes met, Tzuyu looked away, Sana laughed at Tzuyu. It was routine now, she knew it better than the art on her arms. 

 

“I swear to god they’re just ing with me again.” She took a bite of her apple in just about the most aggressive way someone could take a bite of an apple. She wouldn’t mind the constant staring if she didn’t already have a past with that team. It was stereotypical for her, the gay kid, to have beef with the cheer squad, she knew that, she didn’t ask for this to happen. Tzuyu didn’t do anything to her, she wasn’t even there when everything happened. Technically, the rest of the squad didn’t do anything to her either.

 

“Tzuyu’s not like her. I heard she’s pretty sweet.”

 

“People probably thought she was ‘pretty sweet’ too.” Resentment bit in her voice at the mention of her in the same way that the cold of the cafeteria bit at her arms, sending a chill up her spine. Curse the school air conditioning.

 

“You’re right, sorry.”

 

The conversations about the incident never lasted long. Neither liked to dwell on the subject, Chaeyoung especially. 

 

She suddenly stood up, Dahyun looking up at her as if she knew exactly what she was about to do, they knew each other too well for her to not. 


Chaeyoung needed to get out of there for a moment.

 

“I’m going to ditch,” She stated as she had many times before, “You don’t wanna come with?”

 

Dahyun nodded. “Grades man, grades.” She said, disappointment lacing her tone. Chaeyoung always thought Dahyun might want to come with her but to each their own. “But hey, draw me some nice things, will you?”

 

“Sure thing.” She gave her a salute as she walked away, Tzuyu watching her as always. 

 

And that’s how Son Chaeyoung ended up on the roof for the third time this week. 



 

Chou Tzuyu hated the lunch period except for one reason, Son Chaeyoung. She didn’t have a crush on the girl or anything, she’d never even exchanged a word with her, she’d never even had a crush before, but god were her eyes drawn towards her like a magnet.

 

The sound of the cafeteria made her on edge, that paired with the white lights was the perfect recipe for disaster in the form of sensory overload. Thankfully for her, she had headphones. Unfortunately for her, she had to deal with the rest of the squad ridiculing her behind her back for the things that made her Tzuyu. She was hanging onto that squad by a thread and that thread was a 5’5 Japanese lady who had a bit of an issue with volume control, it wasn’t an issue with her most of the time because of her earbuds. Sana was her only friend in the squad, she felt she had no right to complain. 

 

She’d followed Chaeyoung with her eyes as she left the cafeteria. She left often, though Tzuyu had no clue where. It wasn’t always through the cafeteria, sometimes she’d leave to go to the bathroom with a hall pass and not come back, sometimes she’d leave between periods, sometimes she wouldn’t show up at all. It was a wonder how she wasn’t expelled already, but Tzuyu was thankful she wasn’t. 

 

She was brought out of her thoughts when Sana lightly jabbed her with her elbow. “Hey,” Tzuyu turned her head to look at her, her gaze was previously resting on the doorway. “Eye candy left again?”

 

Tzuyu rolled her eyes, “Chaeyoung’s a person, not eye candy. She just happens to be very pretty.”

 

“Wow, so protective of your girlfriend.” She teased, poking her arm. Sana was… touchy. She didn’t mind now, but it took a while to get used to. 

 

“Not my girlfriend,” Tzuyu grumbled. “We’ve never even talked.”

 

“You could talk to her, you know. I know where she goes to when she ditches if you wanna trail her.”

 

Tzuyu shook her head, her lips drawing inwards toward her teeth. “She probably wants her privacy.” 

 

Tzuyu wanted to maybe be friends with Chaeyoung. Sure, she was pretty, exactly Tzuyu’s type in the looks department. She had a perfect blend of feminine and masculine features, every feature fit her face perfectly in Tzuyu’s opinion. She’d had a streak with changing her hairstyle apparently, she’d only been at school for the long black hair and the short blonde hair, but she figured Chaeyoung would look good in any style she tried. 

 

You can’t base a relationship on looks, platonic or romantic. She had the slightest idea of what Chaeyoung was actually like. She knew that she liked art, she drew little things on her arms every day (unless they were tattoos, though she didn’t know how a seventeen-year-old would get tattoos.), she constantly carried around a sketchbook, her hand was more than likely to be smudged with graphite at any given moment, and she drew cute little doodles in her notebook during chem. Tzuyu knew that last bit of information because Chaeyoung sat in front of her in said class, she wasn’t too hard to look over from Tzuyu’s perspective.

 

Sana hummed to herself, twirling the ring on her thumb. She always made a lot of noise while thinking, not that Tzuyu minded, it was just Sana. 

 

“I’m okay with the way things are right now, you know.”

 

“Hmm… But are you?” Sana mused, her head cocked sideways in a teasing manner. 

 

Tzuyu shrugged, “Yeah, why else would I have said it.” 



 

The ride home had been quiet. Ken didn’t talk as much as he usually did, not like he was a talkative guy, but they usually carried on a conversation on the way home. It helped Tzuyu unwind a bit. They skipped small talk, she couldn’t stand it. Instead, the chauffeur would think of a random dog breed and ask Tzuyu to tell him all about it. Her brain was like a treasure trove of information about dogs at this point, she could probably spin a wheel of breeds and name at least three facts of the breed it landed on. 

 

Not today though, today he asked her how her day was and the conversation stopped there. She wasn’t complaining, it was just weird. Sometimes she liked those little conversations that they had together, but she knew that he had his own life and she shouldn’t push him to listen to her dog facts.

 

Time passed fast in the car, she’d been listening to her music the entire time, a curated mix of soft indie music she’d put together for the day in fifteen minutes. It wasn’t long until they pulled in. She’d approached the door with a pep in her step, excited to see Gucci running towards her. Of course, she loved Kaya and Butter, but Gucci had always been her baby.

 

The door creaked open, they had to fix those hinges, Kaya and Butter were present. Only Kaya and Butter. Her head moved in each direction, searching for Gucci, but he was nowhere to be found. 

 

A seed of panic had planted itself in Tzuyu’s chest at that point, she quickly pushed it down. He was probably just sleeping, he’s old, she reasoned.

 

The seed would be taken only to be replanted again by her mother. Usually, both of her parents were at home when she arrived home from school, they usually greeted her when they knew she was home, they usually greeted her. Her mother had an unreadable expression on her face. 

 

She tried to push it down again, not everything could go according to routine all the time, especially when it included other people. She’d been taught this, she’d developed coping strategies for changes in routine, but something felt wildly off and she couldn’t ignore it. 

 

The seed started to sprout when her mother guided her to the table without a word and handed her what she assumed was freshly baked brioche bread with an egg on top, the yolk set and edges crispy. Just the way she liked it. 

 

That was the final nail in the coffin, something was wrong. 

 

“Honey-” Her mother began before Tzuyu cut her off. 

 

“What’s going on?” She asked, her voice quiet. “Where’s dad? And Gucci?” Her palms struck her thighs softly in rhythmic succession. 

 

Her mother in a breath and Tzuyu’s worry only grew. “Gucci he-” She stumbled over the words, trying to find the right thing to say. Tzuyu’s hits only grew faster, her eyes focused on anything but her mother, tears starting to well up as she knew where this was going. “He ran away.” She gently set her hand over her daughters as she continued her assault on her leg, trying to make sure she didn’t bruise herself. “Your father has been looking for him, Gucci has short legs so he couldn’t have gone too far.” She said, attempting to reassure her. 

 

A kiss was placed on her forehead as hot tears spilled down her face one after the other. She shook her hands at her sides, trying to find a better way to release the emotions as she tilted her head up and breathed. She didn’t want to believe it, she couldn’t believe it. This was a dream, she fell asleep in the car, she hadn’t gotten out yet, this wasn’t real, it wasn’t real, Gucci couldn’t be gone. 

 

Gucci was her best friend, she didn’t care if it sounded lame to other people it was true. Gucci had been there for her when all of the kids at school were taking turns bullying her, Gucci had been there when she had meltdowns, Gucci had been there for her when she’d moved to an unfamiliar country and had to learn a new language and completely change her routine, Gucci had been there for her when she felt she couldn’t get out of bed, Gucci had been there for her when she felt she had no one. Gucci couldn’t be gone. She wouldn’t know what to do if he was gone, she didn’t know what to do now. 

 

Her mother her hair, her hands now free as Tzuyu’s shook at her sides. “I’m going to look for him too, okay? That way we can find him faster.” 

 

“Can I go too?” She looked up at her mother, still her hair. 

 

“I don’t think you should go out right now, sweetie.” 

 

She nodded in defeat. Kaya had noticed she was crying and attempted to get in her lap, she wrapped her in her arms and nuzzled her face in her fur, attempting to calm herself. She ran her fingers through her fur as a replacement for her flapping. 

 

Another kiss was placed upon her forehead. “I’ll be back soon, call me if you need anything, I love you.” 

 

She didn’t even completely register that her mother had left until the door shut with a soft click.



 

Chaeyoung wasn’t expecting to play with a random dog that was wandering through her neighborhood, but here she was,  a twig periodically entering her hand as she threw it over and over to a surprisingly nice small dog. In her experience, most small dogs were little ankle-biters, like Boo. 

 

She didn’t even realize it had a collar until her seventh throw. She’d reached down to pet it, her hand snagging on a piece of leather. It was covered by its soft fur. She thought the dog was a stray, or maybe kicked out, she should’ve known better as the dog was a pomeranian and probably crazy expensive. 

 

She parted the fur over the golden tag to reveal the possible information. “Whoever you belong to is probably missing you like crazy right now, little guy.” 

 

A phone number, an address, and a name. 

 

Gucci. Fitting. 

 

She attempted to turn her phone on to no avail, only now remembering it had died. 

 

A sigh escaped her lips, that address wasn’t that far away, but she wasn’t sure if the dog was going to allow her to carry it. 

 

So she tested it out, her arms outstretched. 


Gucci walked in like the good doggy it is and allowed for Chaeyoung to pick it up. Now, Chaeyoung wasn’t even religious anymore, but she was rejoicing to any god that was up there as the dog sat calmly in her arms when she got up. She brushed the loose grass off of her jeans with her free hand and headed in the direction of this poor puppy’s house. 

 

She didn’t expect to be returning a dog today, but plans change. Not like she had any plans for the day.



 

She’d gotten to her destination relatively quickly, only taking around ten minutes of walking. The dog sat happily in her arms as she rang the buzzer, a voice answering her within seconds. 

 

“ Hello?” The voice on the other end was watery, their throat sounded tight as they pushed out the word. She cleared before pressing down on the buzzer to speak. 

 

“Hey, I think I have your dog, Gucci.” The dog perked up at its name being spoken, it didn’t take long for the front gate to open. The front door following suit. A tall woman ran out, she couldn’t make out her facial features since she was far away, but she was going fast. Chaeyoung placed the dog on the pathway since it was begging to be let down, pawing at her shoulders and staring at its owner. Gucci was quickly picked up by its owner-

 

Tzuyu.

 

She was in hysterics, holding her dog close to her chest, trying to hold back a fresh wave of tears but failing. Mandarin that Chaeyoung didn’t understand was falling out of Tzuyu’s mouth as she looked at the happy and oblivious dog before she switched to Korean, turning her attention, or just her eyes, toward Chaeyoung. 

 

“Thank you I-,” She drew in a breath, trying to compose herself. “I don’t know what I would do without him, thank you so much.”

 

“He would’ve found his way back without me, you seem close.” 

 

It was Tzuyu. The Tzuyu who she thought had been attempting to mess with her for the past few months. The Tzuyu who was friends with the people who made her life hell. 

 

Tzuyu who was clearly in distress after nearly losing her dog. 

 

“Do you like bread? I have some inside, you need payment, please.” She pleaded, her eyes mirroring Gucci’s, intentionally or not. 

 

“It’s okay, I promise-”
 

“No,” Tzuyu interrupted. “I insist, please. I’ll feel guilty if you don’t take something after this.”

 

Chaeyoung didn’t expect to end up on the couch of Chou Tzuyu with a slice of still-warm brioche, but things change. 

 

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LoonaTheAeong
My tumblr is @mitangmyoui if you would like to send asks or check in on me :).

Comments

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NikkiTheNetherqueen #1
Wow, I just ground this story today and already it has me hooked! Great writing and characterization. It was especially moving reading about Tzuyu and Gucci (rest in peace).