Seoul

Chaeyoung didn’t hesitate to book the first flight out to Seoul after the call ended. She explained to Mina what happened, and her girlfriend didn’t think twice about letting her fly back home to be there for Tzuyu.

It was more difficult to explain things to Yukiko since she started crying, worried that Chaeyoung wouldn’t come back. After holding the teen for a while, she assured her that she was going to be back and that she just needed to be there for a good friend of hers. Even promising her to bring her a gift when she came back home.

Her work was happy enough to let her take a leave until she came back as well. Seemed they were still apologetic about the accommodations mishap, and they immediately approved her leave. As they should, if she wanted to be completely honest. Dahyun would have said the same thing. 

Mina rode a taxi with her to the airport that morning. Hugging Chaeyoung tightly and kissing her goodbye when she had to get to the boarding area already.

This would be their first time away from each other ever since they started dating. Chaeyoung couldn’t help but feel like there was a part of her that was missing when Mina wasn’t going to be there.

But their love was strong, and she knew she was going to be back in time to get another kiss from her girlfriend. Cheesy, yes, it was. But it kept her going.

Though, Chaeyoung admitted that she missed her home. The sight and smell of Seoul was nostalgic, and she was happy to see the familiar buildings again. Not to mention she could freely speak Korean again.

She made a stop at her mom’s house first. She texted Tzuyu she would meet her on the next day so she could spend some time with her mom before she headed to her friend's place.

Her mom didn’t hesitate to wrap her up in a big hug when she got there. Her brother was too shy to admit he missed her, but they hugged it out anyway. Over dinner she told her mom everything about Japan, then about Mina and Yukiko.

To no surprise, her mother couldn’t hold in a squeal when Chaeyoung showed her a picture of Mina. She was giddy about the fact that Mina was beautiful and most importantly that she knew how to cook. Her mom kept telling Chaeyoung to bring her to Korea the next time so they could finally get introduced. All of it made Chaeyoung happy. At least her mother loved Mina already and she was excited to tell Mina that.

When the next day came, Chaeyoung told her mother that she needed to spend the night at a friend’s place and took a taxi to Tzuyu’s apartment.

She stepped inside the building, greeted the concierge and the doorman, then made her way to Tzuyu’s floor. Chaeyoung punched in the new code that Tzuyu told her, since her friend was trying to make sure Se-Ri didn't try to come in uninvited. After she did, the door opened, and she noticed that it was dark inside.

She peeked her head in. “Tzu?” she called out. But there was no answer. She quietly went through the threshold and turned on the lights to the living room. Her eyes went wide with the current state of her apartment.

Papers were scattered everywhere, clothes were thrown in different parts of the room and a picture of Tzuyu and her girlfriend was broken on the floor, glass shards shattered all over.

Chaeyoung took off her shoes by the entrance and immediately found the vacuum, she cleaned up the mess before an accident was going to happen. At least there was no blood.

Tzuyu was probably inside her room.

Before she entered she grabbed her phone and saw Mina sent her a couple of messages.

8:32 AM

Mina: Hi, baby. Did you eat breakfast already?

Mina: Yuki said she misses your kimchi. I tried making it myself last night, but she said yours was better. :(

Mina: I miss you.

Mina: But I hope Tzuyu is okay. Update me when you can, okay? I love you.

10:57 AM

Chaeyoung: Hi, baby. Yeah I ate breakfast. Mom cooked for me before I left for Tzuyu's. I’m in her apartment right now and it’s kind of a mess. I think they had a big fight and probably didn’t bother cleaning up after.

Chaeyoung: Tell Yuki I’ll bring her the real kimchi when I get back. She’ll probably go bonkers for it. I miss her.

Chaeyoung: I miss you the most. Can’t wait to see you again. I’ll message again after I talk to Tzuyu. I love you!

She pocketed her phone and knocked on Tzuyu’s bedroom door.

“Hey, Tzu. It’s me.” She paused to hear a response, but it was still quiet. “I’m gonna come in okay?”

With that, she slowly turned the knob and opened the door. The room was also dark so she had to use her hands to find the switch. “I’m gonna turn on the lights, Tzu.” She didn’t wait for a response and switched the light on.

To her surprise her bedroom wasn’t as much of a mess compared to the living room. But it was obvious that Tzuyu ripped off most of her pictures with her now ex-girlfriend and most of her stuff was on the floor.

She heard a noise coming from the bathroom and she walked closer to listen. Her heart twisted when she heard Tzuyu sobbing inside. She knocked on the door.

“Tzuyu, it’s Chaeyoung.”

“Chaeng?” Tzuyu managed to call out, her voice hoarse from all the crying. “Can you come in? I can’t get up.”

She immediately opened the door and found Tzuyu sitting on the tub, naked, while the shower was on and water was falling on top of her head. Her eyes were red, and her face was all puffed up. “Hi,” Tzuyu greeted her, trying to smile but it broke into crying again.

“Oh, dude.” Chaeyoung removed her jacket and went over to turn off the shower and hugged Tzuyu tightly. “I’m really sorry this happened to you.”

Tzuyu didn’t answer but just let herself cry more on Chaeyoung’s shoulder and gripped her shirt tightly.

It turned out that Tzuyu got really drunk when she woke up that morning, thinking that two bottles of soju was gonna help her forget about what happened. But because of her drunken state she slipped and fell in the tub and just cried her eyes out until Chaeyoung arrived.

Chaeyoung got her to stand and wiped her off. Then helped her get some clothes on and brought her to the bed. She slipped out for a bit to make her some soup and fed her while she blanked out on the bed.

“Do the others know?” asked Chaeyoung.

“I guess. I sent them a message when you were on the plane,” Tzuyu said in a low voice. Her eyes were staring blankly at the wall in front of her. “I told them not to come since you were on the way.”

“I’m glad I made it sooner then.”

She looked at Chaeyoung and her eyes welled up with tears again. “I’m sorry I took you away from work and from Mina.”

Chaeyoung placed the bowl down and rubbed her cheeks. “Dude, you don’t have to say sorry for that. You’re one of my best friends, I’ll do anything for you.”

Tzuyu started crying again and her head leaned on Chaeyoung’s hand, fighting the urge to not sob again. “I-I don’t understand, Chaeng. I thought she loved me.”

Chaeyoung wanted to be her usual self and bad mouth the girl. But she knew that Tzuyu didn't want her to say that. It wasn't going to help anyway. She was hurting. “I know, Tzu. I wish I can take the pain away,” she said instead.

Tzuyu couldn’t get any words out of her mouth and cried again, hugging Chaeyoung tightly.

After she managed to calm down, Tzuyu tried to distract herself by asking her friend about Mina and what was the update about their relationship. To Chaeyoung’s surprise, Tzuyu suggested that they get on a video call so she could meet Mina already. It was obvious that Mina wasn’t expecting to see Tzuyu’s face on the screen but didn’t skip a beat to greet her happily.

They talked for a while, Tzuyu already started telling her embarrassing stories of Chaeyoung back when they were still kids and as much as it pained her to go through all of that, she didn’t want to miss seeing Tzuyu smile again.

Unfortunately, Mina had to end the call so soon because Yukiko came home from school, and she needed to make dinner for them. So they bid their goodbyes and Chaeyoung decided to get up to make dinner for them.

Tzuyu froze on the spot when someone rang the doorbell, and she was terrified to check who it was. Thinking it was her ex-girlfriend again.