• playing with fire | chaeyu au

• chapt. 30 | people can surprise us

it was now thursday and tzuyu has still not really spoken to chaeyoung. the brunette had a really good reason of course, but didn't want to talk to anyone about it. that was until during study block when she went over to the library to try and get away from chaeyoung. the smaller girl had been desperate, leaving small notes in tzuyu's locker and trying to get her attention during english and math. chaeyoung thought she had been better off just not handling the subject anymore, but she was wrong. the need to talk to tzuyu was growing stronger, so she confided in her best friend because she had no idea what to do.

"leave it to me, i got this," was all they said.

so when tzuyu walked into the library and went over to the back of the room to work on a project for ap human geography, dahyun made sure to make it seem like she was looking for a book in the mystery aisle.

the older brunette watched as tzuyu took the rubber band off of her poster and brought out a few colored pencils and markers. she looked busy, but dahyun knew this was the only time she had alone with the younger girl without the annoying shadow of everyone else. she made her way over to the bookshelf and started toying with some james patterson novels, sighing when tzuyu didn't think to look up.

"hey, tzuyu," she said while walking around to the other side of the book shelf. the younger brunette looked up and nodded for her to continue. "what do you think is a good book to get here?"

tzuyu just shrugged as she looked at the section of the books. "i don't know, i don't usually read mystery novels," the other girl responded back, placing her marker down.

"me neither," dahyun said with a chuckle, "but sana has been talking about them lately, and i kind of just wanna see what's so interesting about the genre."

the other girl nodded as she began to read the other names on the spines of the books. "hmm, get something from agatha christie, she loves her," tzuyu replied, beginning to return to her work on the project. dahyun just rolled her eyes and grabbed a random book off the shelf not even bothering to check the name or the author. dahyun came here for one purpose, and one purpose only. she then went over to sit across the younger girl as she looked up from her work station. "yes?" tzuyu asked with a hint of sass.

"what's going on tzuyu?" dahyun asked, getting straight to the point. study block was only so long and she knew she had already wasted time just toying around with the books and waiting for the other girl to look up.

the other brunette furrowed her brow. from what she knew, she was perfectly fine. "what?"

dahyun looked around discreetly before leaning closer towards tzuyu. "you know, you and chaeyoung," she whispered while slightly biting her lip.

tzuyu just looked at the girl and shook her head, an angry short giggle erupting from her mouth as she sat back in her chair. she should have expected this. "you noticed," the girl stated as she put the cap back on her marker. she then sighed before looking up at the older girl again.

"we all did," dahyun responded back, her voice slightly raising. "it's really not that hard to miss." the first one to notice the pair not really talking was ironically momo. she had grown accustomed to seeing them together practically all the time, and even though she still did not like the smaller girl, she still noticed that something was really wrong about them.

"okay well, i'm fine, leave me alone," tzuyu said back seriously, her eyes beginning to grow with irritation. she wasn't in the mood to be questioned about her decisions and she certainly did not want to talk about it with the girl sitting across from her.

dahyun sighed, "i know you are not fine. tzuyu, you can talk to me about it." she was beginning to grow impatient on how stubborn the other girl was. she couldn't help but notice how this reminded her so much of chaeyoung herself.

"i don't need to talk to anyone about it. there is nothing going on," the taller girl replied back. she folded her arms and started bobbing her leg up and down to calm her nerves. they were still at school and tzuyu knew she shouldn't be getting into fights now - not fist fights but more like arguments.

the other girl folded her arms too. "so if there is nothing going on, explain to me why you and chaeyoung haven't been talking," dahyun said, staring into tzuyu's brown eyes. there was something there that dahyun knew tzuyu was holding back more information than she lead on.

she looked away, taking a deep breath and licking her lips slightly. "i'm just doing what i can to ensure that i won't get hurt," tzuyu revealed as she leaned down to hold her head in her hands.

dahyun furrowed her brow as she stared at the other brunette in shock.  "what do you mean?"

it took tzuyu a couple seconds to compose herself. she couldn't break down, not here, not in front of dahyun. she took a deep breath while looking up at the other girl with pleading eyes. "chae kissed me at the party, dahyun. she did that after mina probably rejected her," tzuyu said softly. dahyun let her shoulders hang low, understanding where the brunette was coming from. "since she couldn't have her first choice, she ran back to me. i don't want to be anybody's second choice, okay? she's only trying to toy with me to get back at mina," after getting that off of her chest, tears began to form in the younger brunette's eyes. she sighed as she attempted to blink them away.

"that's-that's not true," dahyun responded back, her hand reaching across the table to grab tzuyu's wrist. the other girl looked back at her and shook her head.

"oh yeah? what makes you so sure? i mean you saw her at the party too," tzuyu replied, a tear leaving one of her eyes. "she looked pretty into mina if you'd ask me." dahyun bit her lip.

"because she-" the older girl stopped herself. no, that was not her information to reveal to tzuyu. that was reserved for chaeyoung to say. the younger girl looked at dahyun, waiting for her to continue her sentence. "because she just isn't that kind of girl," the brunette settled on simply saying that.

tzuyu shook her head, slipping her hand off of dahyun's grip. she began to wipe a few loose tears away. "yeah, well people can surprise us," the brunette licked her lips and closed her eyes. she needed to get control now.

"tzuyu come on just please understand-"

"understand what? that she can throw subtle hints that she likes me one minute and then go after mina when she gets bored?" tzuyu cut dahyun off with a raise of voice. "no thank you. look, i know she is your best friend and everything, but honestly i don't think i would be able to do it anymore. can you just go away?" the brunette asked, this time, her voice cracking slightly.

dahyun nodded as she got up from her seat. "just give her one more chance," was all she said before taking off. tzuyu exhaled sharply as she leaned back into her chair.