• playing with fire | chaeyu au

• chapt. 15 | where is she?

it was a week later when chaeyoung decided to approach tzuyu. she was going to apologize for not confiding in the older girl and planned on telling her that she just needed some space to think after her and mina's break up.

speaking of mina, she was back in town. the other girls had missed her so they were taking her out on a dinner date. chaeyoung refused, telling them that she had to do some homework for math since she is actually interested in the topic.

that wasn't true, of course. she just couldn't handle seeing mina, at least not yet. sure, she felt something strong for tzuyu, but that doesn't mean it masks the pain on how she felt those past few months when she and mina spent most of their time together. chaeyoung just couldn't let herself cry anymore, and to her, being with tzuyu took her mind off of everything, even if it was for those stupid tutor sessions.

during the school day, chae waited anxiously for tzuyu to show up in english, but she didn't. she watched sana and dahyun walk in happily together and wondered what the hell was going on with their groups. she didn't feel like questioning it, she just wanted to look for the tall brunette and tell her that she was sorry. she tried again in math, hoping that tzuyu had just arrived late, but she had no luck. she didn't even think to look during choir, i mean whats the use? who would come when they only had one more period of school? tzuyu didn't show up that day, and chaeyoung's heart sunk.

she waited the next two days following that same pattern, but the brunette was not in any of her classes. chaeyoung was stunned, she did not think that she had seen tzuyu miss school in her whole life of knowing the brunette. she couldn't help but feel like something was entirely off, and she needed to find out why.

after math, she made her way over to tzuyu's lunch table. momo and nayeon were flirting (per usual) and sana was texting away at somebody on her phone. jisoo and rosé were away in the lunch line getting food so it was just the three of them sitting at the table. they didn't know chaeyoung was right in front of them until the smaller girl cleared her throat.

"ahem," she said, leaning her hands down on the table. momo was the first to look up, and she glared once she saw the red headed girl.

"what do you want, chaeyoung?" she asked with sass.

having heard this, chaeyoung stood back and crossed her arms. "i am looking for tzuyu, where is she?"

sana scoffed and put her phone down. "and why would we tell you that?"

"yeah, you still trying to mess with her?" nayeon butted in.

"no, that is the farthest thing from my mind right now," chaeyoung said as she rolled her eyes. a silence fell between them as chaeyoung stared down at the table. she sighed before looking up at them. "look, i'm just... i'm just worried okay? she hasn't been here for three days. i just need to know if she is okay."

the group all raised their eyebrows. chaeyoung, the bully of innocent tzuyu, was asking if the brunette was okay? nayeon looked up at momo to see if she had anything to say to that, but the blonde was just as in shock as the rest of the group.

as you know, momo hated chaeyoung. she hated how the girl thought she ran the place and how she treated everyone, but something about the look in her eyes and the way her voice cracked when she said her last sentence made her words seem sincere.

the blonde sighed before saying, "she's okay. tzuyu told us she was sick and not to worry, she'll be here tomorrow."

having heard this, chaeyoung shut her eyes for a moment as a small smile appeared on her lips. strange. she gave them all a nod and thanked momo before rushing off towards her lunch group.

once the younger girl was out of the way, sana put her phone down and gave momo a glare. "look, i am all for hating chaeyoung, but did you really have to lie to her like that?"

"what?" momo replied. "that's the same lie that tzuyu told us on monday. i'm just passing it along."

"yeah, but we all know that what tzuyu said was not true," the blonde sighed in frustration. they knew the real reason why tzuyu wasn't here the past few days, even without the younger girl telling them, or at least they thought they did. they just couldn't bring themselves to say it out loud.

"i'm sorry okay. its just... i don't exactly trust chaeyoung all that much, you know that," momo replied.

nayeon placed her hand behind her girlfriend's back. "i get that babe, but i agree with sana, chaeyoung really did seem like she meant it when she said she was worried about tzuyu. i don't think it was a good idea to lie to her."

"well what was i suppose to say? that her father is a complete and utter snob and that tzuyu just sometimes had to get away from him?" momo exclaimed, clearly pissed. she sighed once she saw nayeon remove her hand and back away a little. "look, i'm sorry okay? i just hate the situation that tzuyu is in."

"we all do," sana interjected. "and remember, we are working out a way to get her out of that place as soon as possible."

the group fell into an awkward silence before jisoo and rosé arrived with their food. rosé had two soft tacos on her plate while jisoo had spaghetti. momo made a big deal about how much she was hungry as she stole a taco from rosé.

"no no no momo that has tabasco-" was all she could say before the blonde took a bite and started to tear. nayeon laughed as she gave momo some of her tea. as momo was gasping for air, sana took out her phone and recorded everything on snapchat.

"what did we learn?" rosé said teasingly.

momo rolled her eyes. "that i hate you," she replied jokingly.

*•*•*•*

hello reader!
i would just like to give you a heads up, something major happens in the next chapter (; i am not going to say whether its a good thing or a bad thing, but i will say that things will be forever changed afterward. we are almost to the climax! as always, please vote on your favorite chapters and comment any constructive criticism or any criticism for that matter.

till next chapter,
the author