An imagine derived from "2WICE의 데이2 (2WICE's DATE) ep.미챙 (MICHAENG)"
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Chaeyoung's POV
"Ugh. What am I going to do?!" I ask in a mix of frustration and nervousness. "Tomorrow's my date and I still don't know what to do!"
"What do you mean what do you need to do?" Dahyun Unnie scoffs at me. Me whining like this for an hour now could be starting to thin her tolerance on me. "What are you? A rookie? How many times do I have to remind you that you just need to follow the general script and be natural with whatever topic comes off while you're in the location!"
We are at our condo slash apartment slash dorm unit.
Tzuyu has been holed up in her own room for hours now, maybe already fast asleep. That maknae always puts her health first for beauty reasons. On the other hand, Dahyun Unnie is busy browsing from her laptop some new products on a beauty site she represents. While me? I'm having a nervous breakdown on our carpeted floor.
"I know that already! But, it's just— it's just—" I wiggle my legs like a kid throwing a temper tantrum, even bopping my head against the couch where our slightly annoyed Unnie is. "Arggghhh! I hate this!"
"Ya." Our lead rapper clicks her tongue. "You already went on a date with Sana Unnie. Why are you making a fuss about this one?! It's not like this is the first time you will—"
"But it's Mina Unnie!"
"So?" She answers me quickly without looking at me. This girl. She is obviously not taking my arguments seriously. I deserve more attention! "Chaeyoung, for the record, you and Mina Unnie have been in a girl group for seven years now. What's with this commotion? You two will do it well. Period. Act your age and act like a proper idol."
Ugh. This tofu girl just doesn't understand!
I heave in a deep breath then purse my lips. It's not her fault anyway. I should actually be thankful that she is still here in our living room, trying to listen to my whining. I just need to clear things up with this tofu. "Unnie, this is because— It's because— With—with Mina Unnie, I— I—"
I can't say it!
I'm not sure if I should tell her just for the sake that she could understand me more. She is indeed close to me and I know she is a good person but this is something that is really personal to me. Argh. "Umm—" I still tried to finish my statement though. "Dahyun Unnie... The thing is— With— with Mina Unnie—"
Like she has sensed my ongoing struggle, which I think is obvious from my stuttering anyway, Unnie folds down the screen of her laptop. She exhales sharply and looks in my direction, finally paying actual attention to me. Now, we're going somewhere. "What is it, Chaeng? Spill it."
"I— You know I—"
"Oh, come on!" She suddenly yells. Oops. Maybe I got her more frustrated than ever. "You're a rapper for goodness sake! Speak clearly and fluently like you should, will you?!"
"F— fine." I let out a sigh. I can do this. When the next split second passed, I just mindlessly concluded that I will tell her. This is Dahyun Unnie here. She will never judge me. I looked to the floor, closed my eyes, and spoke in utter nervousness. Okay, here goes nothing. "I— I have a crush on her!"
I feel that my cheeks are starting to burn. I never told this to anyone! This is the first time I am saying it out loud like I really mean it. Because I do. I continued to keep my eyes closed, bracing for some weird, overreacted response from our lead rapper.
But it was silent. There was utter silence. Dahyun Unnie was staying silent.
Why the hell am I not hearing anything from her?
If I didn't know her that well, I would've been grateful, thinking that she will just shrug this off. But I know the members! This is not a thing that any one of them will just hold their silence for!
When I decided to open my eyes, I slowly looked in her direction. She is just blinking and is currently wearing a blank expression on her face which somehow made me freak out instantly.
"I— PLEASE—" I flail my hands everywhere in the air because I don't know what else to do. I already said it! "PLEASE DON'T TELL THE OTHERS! ESPECIALLY MINA UNNIE! PLEASE! I KNOW THIS IS WEIRD AND—"
Then, she suddenly bursts out into loud chuckles. Huh? "What— Dahyun Unnie! Why are you laughing? I'm serious here!"
"Chae— Chaeyoung-ah." She tries to calm herself from the sudden wave of joy she is experiencing that I'm certainly not sure why. "I— I can't believe you're saying that now!"
"I know, I know." I began fiddling with my fingers. So she really is weirded out. "That is why you should never tell anyone else about this. I trust you that—"
"You have a crush on Mina Unnie?" She began laughing oh-so loudly as if she has now gone crazy. If I'd be honest, this is starting to irk me right now because I just told her something out of my heart and here she is making fun out of it. "Daebak. That— That is news to me, Chaeng-ah."
Did I just make a wrong judgment of character out of her?
Dahyun Unnie even holds her stomach now, still chuckling. Not as loud as earlier but is still apparently making fun of me which was clear when she continued to talk. "And what do you mean I shouldn't tell the others? Jincha, Chaeng. That's hilarious! I can't believe you!"
"Unnie!" I scrunch my eyebrows at her. Now I'm not sure what she is referring to. "Where are you going with this? I just told you—"
"Son Chaeyoung." Dahyun Unnie clears her throat and straightens herself on the couch. She suddenly tries her best to make a serious expression as she leans over to place the laptop on our center coffee table. This is kind of scaring me. Is our Dahyunie going cray-cray? "Listen to me. I have to tell you something."
I gulped before responding in heightened nervousness. "And that is...?"
She smiles at me so softly as if she is a totally different person from the one who was making fun of my sudden confession earlier. Warm gaze. Now, this is the Dahyun Unnie I was expecting. "Everyone knows."
Huh?
Wait— Huh?
"What are you..." I was expecting a comforting statement from her but... Huh? I scrunch my eyebrows more than before. "Everyone? Every... one... knows? Unnie, what— What are you— Huh?"
"Ugh. Jincha." Dahyun Unnie rolls her eyes. She looks directly into my eyes with an unamused expression. "Are you being serious right now?"
"Of course I am! But— but what do you mean— Unnie, I'm not— Everyone? Everyone knows?"
She then lets out a huge sigh and shakes her head. "You're too bad at hiding your own emotions, that's why everyone already knows that you have a crush on her. Everyone already thinks that you like Mina Unnie since who knows when."
"Huh?"
"Uh huh."
"Like—" I wave my hand in circles to pertain to the other members of TWICE. "Like everyone in our group? All the members? Eight of you?"
Dahyun Unnie nods with beaming confidence. "Hmm. I'm sure all of us know."
"How about—" I wave my hand again in bigger circles this time. "How about the people outside our group? Like the managers or the staff?"
She snickers at me. "I'm not sure about the other people but Michaeng's popularity with the ONCE's should mean a thing or two, right? Our editors are kind of making gold out of those Michaneg crumbs in our videos."
Then, she looks at me like someone who she should pity. "Aigoo. Our baby beast. I'm sure there are people who are much less dense than you, Son Chaeyoung."
Oh, my gosh. "Re— Really?!" I look at her unbelievably. "I— I didn't—"
"You are one absolutely hopeless cub." Dahyun Unnie massages her temples dramatically and begins enumerating her cherry picked reasons why everyone apparently knows. I still can't believe it. I mean— How could I? "You blush way too easily when Mina Unnie does something for you no matter how simple it is." What is wrong with being shy in front of your crush?! "You respond way too soft to her gestures like the kisses and hugs we do even if we all know it should just be for fanservice." This is Myoi Mina! Anyone will be soft for her!
She continues to blabber her observations that are starting to register as facts in my head. "You're also extra protective of her, especially those few instances where you cover her with a blanket or pull down her top to not expose her stomach too much." Of course I'd be protective! I love all the ONCEs but— I don't know. There's a part of me that doesn't like it when she's revealing too much skin! "You smile like an idiot when she chooses to sit beside you in the van or in the plane." Oh, come on! I'm a naturally cheerful girl! "Your eyes could basically twinkle when she does something that we all think is cute." You just said it's cute. Of course, I'd twinkle my eyes for that. "You could sit beside her all day without doing anything and you'd still say that you're enjoying your day. Oh, and did I mention you blush way too easily when it's Mina Unnie who—"
"Wait, wait, wait." OH, MY GOSH. I wave my hands all over in the air to quickly dismiss her. "STOP! Stop it! Stop! I get it. I get it, okay?" I lower my voice as I feel my cheeks start to burn. "I get it, Unnie. You don't have to ramble nonstop with all of those things. Arasseo. I get it now."
"Good." She smirks at me. "I could've enumerated every single thing, you know. I assure you that I thought in my head that I could do that all night."
"Oh, please—"
"Chaeyoung-ah." Dahyun Unnie flashes a sincere smile at me and moves her right hand to give my head a soft pat a couple of times. Now, she's babying me. "Don't worry too much about your date tomorrow. Just be yourself and enjoy each moment. I'm sure Minna Unnie already appreciates you more than you think you know."
"Ugh. I really hope I can—"
"Hey, you two."
Dahyun Unnie and I darted our eyes to the tall figure of Tzuyu who was rubbing her eyes as she walked towards us on the couch.
Unnie and I both replied to this sleeping beauty at the same time. "Hey, Tzuyu."
Our lead rapper scoots closer to me to make space for our maknae to sit on the couch beside her.
Tzuyu starts in still her sleepy state. "What are you two up to?"
I quickly made eye contact with Dahyun Unnie. I glared at her and gave her that look which I'm sure screams 'Do. Not. Tell. Her.'
"Ahh." Unnie chuckles and turns to Tzuyu. "We were just talking." Good answer.
"About what?" Our tallest member pursues. Ugh. Please drop the topic, Tzuyu-ah! "And just so you know, you two were kind of loud."
"Mianhae." I watch Dahyun Unnie as she tries to explain further. "We kind of... got excited with... stuff. Anyway, did we wake you up with our noise?"
Thankfully our maknae just nods after that and leans on our lead rapper's shoulder, closing her eyes in comfort. She is still sleepy after all.
Haha! And the topic was dropped!
There was a moment of casual silence and I assumed peace has now fallen upon this apartment unit.
But I was wrong.
Dahyun Unnie whispers to the sleepyhead beside her a question. "I have something to ask for you though, Tzuyu-ah."
Our maknae just hums with her eyes still closed. "Hmm?"
When our lead rapper glances at me and smirks before throwing her question to our youngest member, the gears in my head turned and I knew what she was up to so before she could speak I tried to stop her by grabbing her dangling leg on the floor but she quickly folded it up on the couch. Argh! You quick and flexible tofu!
"Tzuyu." Dahyun Unnie began while looking at me with a teasing smile. Andwae! "Which of our members do you think has a crush on another? You know... something like a harmless girl crush. Just that."
I rolled my eyes at this pale girl since I can't do anything more than that to stop her. I will just get back at her for this some other day.
Although... if I'd be honest, I'm curious as to what Tzuyu will say. I wonder if everyone in the group really thinks I have a crush on Mina Unnie like how Dahyun Unnie just told me.
I subtly scoff while attentively listening and waiting for Tzuyu's response. I'm sure she'll say otherwise.
"Umm..." The sleepyhead flutters her eyes and her sight slowly finds my face. "Except for the obvious Chaeyoung who has a crush on Mina Unnie, I think Sana Un—"
"WHAT?!" I yelled in surprise. I glance at Dahyun Unnie and she is showing one of the most cheeky smiles I have ever seen on her. "What— what— what did you just say?!"
Tzuyu looks at me in pure wonder. "Why do you look so surprised?"
"I— be—be— because— Me— with Mina Unnie— I— I—"
"Oh, come on." Our maknae scoffs and stares at me dead in the eyes. "Chaeyoung-ssi, everyone knows."
EVERY— Oh, my gosh. SERIOUSLY?!