It was a week before Sana saw Tzuyu again. Sana thought about her every day for those seven days. Why hadn't she seen her at the library before? Was she new to National City? Where did someone with an interest in electroanalytical chemistry, of all things, work?
Since she'd opened up the library that morning, every time the door had slid open Sana had eagerly looked up from her computer screen, hoping it was Tzuyu, only to be disappointed when it was a college student cramming for finals, or a mom bringing her baby to the kids corner for story time.
It was one o'clock, and Sana was reorganising the shelves in the romance section when the sound of the automatic door opening caught her attention, followed by the gentle thud of books being placed back in the return box.
Sana peered around the end of the bookshelf to see who the new arrival was, but was disappointed again when she saw it was just one of the college students on their way out. She sighed as she pushed the trolley back up the aisle, picking up the next book and crouching down to slide it back into its place.
As Sana stood back up she found herself staring into the same eyes she'd been dreaming about all week. Tzuyu Chou stared back at her through the bookshelf, a smile slowly spreading across her face. Trying to mask her surprise at seeing her, Sana smiled back at Tzuyu, ducking her head down as she felt her cheeks flush with excitement.
"Oh, it's you again!" Tzuyu said, sounding a bit surprised to see Sana.
"I didn't see you when I walked in," she continued, walking around the bookcase to stand in front of Sana, "I was wondering if you could help me, I'm looking for something."
Sana nodded enthusiastically, her smile widening. She was still a little bit in awe at how beautiful Tzuyu was, and the fact that she was here, again!
"I'm looking for any books you might have on pathogens and viruses, particularly airborne ones," Tzuyu said as Sana nodded, gesturing for her to follow.
As Sana led Tzuyu over to the science section of the library, she snuck little glimpses at her out of the corner of her eye, biting her lip to hide a smile when she realised Tzuyu was doing the same thing. They wound their way through the bookcases, until Sana stopped in front of a shelf and started pulling out books about pathogens and viruses.
One by one she passed them up to Tzuyu, feeling a thrill pass through her body when Tzuyu's fingers touched the back of her hand. She looked up and felt her face turning red when she realised how close Tzuyu's face was to hers. She awkwardly ducked her head, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, as she picked up the rest of books and stood back up.
"Thank you so much for your help! You're a lifesaver," Tzuyu gushed, as another smile spread across her face. Sana's hands fluttered at her sides, making half formed signs as she acknowledged Tzuyu's thanks with a dip of her head.
They slowly walked towards the end of the aisle, carrying a pile of books each. Tzuyu led them both over to the counter, waiting as Sana walked around, and sat behind her desk. Slowly, Sana began to scan each book, as Tzuyu leant her elbows on the counter, her chin resting on her interlocked fingers.
"You don't talk much do you," Tzuyu mused, her lips turning up at the corners.
Sana closed her eyes, and exhaled through her nose as a gentle sigh. She opened her eyes to look in Tzuyu's piercing eyes, a faint smile playing on her lips.
'I don't know if you understand sign language, but I don't talk because I can't'
Sana's fingers flitted through the familiar signs, watching Tzuyu's face as her playful smirk was replaced with a shocked and slightly embarrassed expression as she realised that Sana couldn't talk.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry, I'm such an idiot, I had no idea you were deaf, I've been talking to you this entire time and you probably have no idea what I've been saying-" Tzuyu rambled on, as Sana suppressed a laugh.
Reaching for the notepad and pen she kept next to her desk, Sana quickly wrote out 'I'm not deaf, I just can't talk' before holding it up for Tzuyu to read. Still halfway through her tirade, Tzuyu stopped when she realised Sana was holding up the notepad. With her elbow still propped up on the counter, Tzuyu placed her face in her palm, her long, dark hair spilling across the counter.
"Well now I'm even more embarrassed," Tzuyu laughed, looking back up at Sana, who was scribbling away at the notepad.
'No problem, I get it all the time, everyone thinks that the only people who need sign language are deaf people'
Sana held the notepad out for Tzuyu, exchanging it for another one of the books. She smiled down at her desk as she scanned the barcode on the backs of the rest of the books, placing them back on the counter in a neat pile.
"I'll remember that for next time-" Tzuyu said, breaking off midsentence. "Sorry, I don't know your name," she said sheepishly, waiting as Sana picked up the notepad again.
'My name's Sana, it's nice to meet you'
Tzuyu smiled again, her eyes gently crinkling at the corners. She extended one of her delicate, pale hands towards Sana. After subtly wiping them on her trousers, Sana shook her hand, the tingly feeling in her stomach making her heart race.
"I'm Tzuyu, it's nice to meet you too Sana."
---
Later that night, Sana knocked on the door of Mina's apartment, ready for 'sister plus Chaeyoung' night with pizza's in hand.
It was Chaeyoung who opened the door, flashing Sana a dimple smile.
"Hey Sana! Need a hand?" Chaeyoung beamed at her, opening the door wider and grabbing a pizza box off the top of the pile.
Moving further into the apartment, Sana spotted Mina sat on the sofa in her pyjamas. Handing her a pizza box, she flopped down next to her, taking a slice out of her own box.
"Hey, I was starting to think you were going to bail on us," Mina said through a mouthful of pizza.
'And miss an episode of The World Of Married Couple? Not a chance'
Sana signed back at her, her pizza slice clamped between her teeth.
Chaeyoung carried over three beers, and cuddled in next to Mina, reaching over to Sana to hand her one.
"Anything exciting happen at the library today?" Mina asked, pressing play on the latest The World Of Married Couple episode. Sana felt her face going red as she toyed with her bottle of beer, wondering whether she should tell her sister about Tzuyu. Freeing up her hands, she started to sign her answer.
'I met someone today. We've met before, but today we actually talked. It's nothing big, but they're really nice'
"Wait, you met someone?" Mina exclaimed, choking on her mouthful of beer. "Like someone you like?"
"Wait, what" Chaeyoung asked, "I only got like half of what you said, you know I can't keep up when you sign that fast."
"She met someone, someone she likes, Sana actually talked to them," Mina replied, filling Chaeyoung in on what she missed.
Sana rolled her eyes and gestured to get their attention.
'Hello I'm right here! I don't like her, we've only talked once, but she's nice and kind, and she didn't even get scared off when I started signing'
Mina and Chaeyoung shared a knowing look, before turning back to Sana. She nervously pushed her glasses up her nose and took a bite of her pizza.
"So what's her name?" Mina asked.
'Tzuyu Chou'
"TZUYU CHOU?!" Chaeyoung yelled, "like THE Tzuyu Chou?"
Sana gave her a confused look and shrugged her shoulders, wondering what the big deal was, and if her Tzuyu was in fact THE Tzuyu Chou, as Chaeyoung put it.
"Her brother's Dylan Chou, he's serving 3 life sentences for setting off a bomb in congress last year, apparently his sister just moved here to take over as CEO of the company," Mina explained, "they're in the middle of rebranding Chou Corp, they lost a lot of investors after what Dylan did."
"You might want to be careful there, Minatozaki," Chaeyoung cautioned, reaching across to give Sana's knee an affectionate pat, before turning back to the TV.
Sana sat there dumbfounded. She weighed this against everything she knew about Tzuyu, which wasn't much beyond her taste in books. Now that she thought about it, the obscure topics made sense for the kind of research and technology Chou Corp had produced in the past.
Then there was the fact that Tzuyu seemed so eager to get Sana to talk to her. Sana didn't want to read into it too much, especially after learning that Tzuyu had just moved to National City. It struck Sana as quite odd that the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company would want to talk to a librarian, and then it hit her.
She's lonely.