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The night air chills into Chaeyoung so deeply that she feels the bones in her bare hands freeze. Her cigarette sits between her stiff fingers, smoke warming her lungs with each heavy puff she pulls in. The sky twinkles in scattered patterns as Chaeyoung rubs a frozen hand across her drooping eyelid. Her feet dangle off the edge of the picnic table that she sits on and she sucks in a breath of chilly air just as bright headlights round the corner and force her to squint.
She pushes off the table anyway, one hand up and shielding her eyes as her sneakers crunch against the snow and her lips pull into a smile.
“Are you insane?”
The first words she hears as the engine cuts and the lights go out and she sees stars in more ways than one. The car door slams twice and then there’s a blanket draped around her shoulders and Tzuyu is looking down at her in bewilderment.
“Hi,” Chaeyoung hums, leaning against Tzuyu and shivering at the warmth.
And Tzuyu tries, Chaeyoung knows. Tries to be stern and tries to scold her every time she does something stupid, but Chaeyoung still feels familiar arms wrap around her as she’s led to the car.
“You’re insane,” Tzuyu says again once they’re both buckled in. She says this as she flips the heat on to max and turns Chaeyoung’s seat warmer on and tucks the blanket tighter around her. “I assumed you were waiting inside a building, like a normal person.”
Chaeyoung beams. “When have I ever done things like a normal person?”
Tzuyu’s lips are still pursed in a frown, eyes scanning the road as they pass tree after tree along the quiet street.
“You smell like cigarettes,” Tzuyu mumbles petulantly because she needs something to be mad about and it’s always easy to scold Chaeyoung for harming her body.
Chaeyoung winces, slumps deeper into the warmth of her seat. “Sorry,” she says. “And I’m sorry I made you stop studying to pick me up.”
Tzuyu sighs at the words, eyes flitting over to Chaeyoung for just a moment. “I told you to call me if anything,” she says as she pulls one hand from the steering wheel to curl around Chaeyoung’s slowly thawing one. “And I can study once you inevitably pass out when we get back.”
“I’m not wasted,” Chaeyoung scoffs, but her lips turn up into a smile at the teasing.
“Sure,” Tzuyu hums, “you can barely speak.”
“Not even!” Chaeyoung whines, pulling her hand out from Tzuyu’s to cross her arms over her chest as the girl next to her laughs hard enough for her car to swerve slightly. “Oh, now you’re gonna kill us,” Chaeyoung huffs. “Nice one, Chou.”
Tzuyu flicks her leg gently as her smile sits on her face. “Want to stop for ice cream?”
Chaeyoung purses her lips. “Yes,” she says through a pout, side-eyeing a grinning Tzuyu.
“Why did you want to leave early anyway? What happened to the girl you went with?” Tzuyu asks as she slows to a stop at a red light.
Chaeyoung squirms a little when Tzuyu turns to look at her, shrugging slightly. “Momo’s… a nice friend, but she was sucking some girl’s face off and I didn’t want to get in the way of that. Remind me to never go to a party without you ever again.”
Tzuyu laughs again, a small snort that makes Chaeyoung smile involuntarily. “Why?” Tzuyu prods. “Because you know I’d never find someone to ditch you for?”
“Are you crazy?” Chaeyoung asks with a roll of her eyes. “People would be all over you if you didn’t bounce between clinging to me or hiding in the corner.”
“Gross,” Tzuyu grimaces, nose scrunching at the thought. “Making out with people at a party is kind of…” she trails off, making a gagging sound in lieu of an explanation and Chaeyoung grins. “No offence to your friend.”
“She’ll live.”
Tzuyu laughs gently as she pulls into the drive-thru. Chaeyoung falls silent when Tzuyu orders for both of them, something warm and familiar fluttering in her stomach when she thinks about how well they know each other. It’s something as small as ice cream, she thinks, but there’s an ease in the way Tzuyu understands her, the confidence she feels in knowing just what Chaeyoung wants even if Chaeyoung herself doesn’t quite have it figured out. She sighs, head pressed against the cool window as she watches Tzuyu pay. She’s so lucky, she thinks.
“What?” Tzuyu asks through a confused smile as she hands Chaeyoung her ice cream.
“What?” Chaeyoung echoes.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Chaeyoung shrugs, humming to herself as she opens the bag that sits between them and pulls out a few fries. The alcohol from earlier is still milling around in her blood, head a little bit hazy from sleepiness and liquor and Tzuyu is so kind that it’s so easy for her to say, “I’m just lucky to have you.”
Tzuyu coughs a little bit. “So suddenly?” She asks through an embarrassed laugh. Chaeyoung knows it’s embarrassed because she knows Tzuyu inside out and she feels that warm fluttering again at the thought.
“Just want you to know,” she says through a mouthful of ice cream and fries in a way that’s probably very unappetizing, but it’s Tzuyu. Tzuyu who has seen her sick and snotty, hungover and puking. Tzuyu who calls her pretty anyway.
“I’m lucky to have you, too,” Tzuyu mumbles, almost shy as she turns back out onto the road. “Want to go for a drive?”
“Aren’t we already on a drive?” Chaeyoung asks cheekily, smiling when Tzuyu narrows her eyes.
“I want to go to the park.”
And because it’s Tzuyu, because Chaeyoung would do anything she asked, it’s the easiest thing in the world when she says, “okay.”
Her phone buzzes frantically in her lap while Tzuyu reaches to turn the stereo volume up. “Who’s that?” Tzuyu asks, and it’s not invasive or overbearing—it’s just Tzuyu.
“Momo,” Chaeyoung laughs. “She’s asking where I went.”
“You didn’t tell her?” Tzuyu asks, looking slightly bewildered and slightly amused.
Chaeyoung shrugs. “I told you, she was attached to some girl. Plus, I didn’t have time to tell her after I slapped some asshole and dipped.”
“You what?” Tzuyu screeches.
“In my defence,” Chaeyoung starts, the same way she starts every time she tells Tzuyu about some stupid thing she’s done. “He was being homophobic.” Tzuyu glares at her weakly and Chaeyoung pokes her cheek. “What?” She asks. “He deserved it!”
Tzuyu blows a heavy sigh between her lips. “I’m not saying he didn’t. But… you’re small,” she says quietly. “Slapping homophobes isn’t safe. Especially with alcohol involved.”
And then there’s this sinking guilty feeling that slips from Chaeyoung’s throat to her stomach and it’s so bitter in contrast to the ice cream that it follows. She swallows, taps her fingers against the cup in her hands. “I know,” she says. “I wasn’t thinking.”
And then Tzuyu’s lips lift into a gentle half smile as she looks sideways at Chaeyoung. “Don’t go around slapping men unless I’m with you,” she says, holds her pinky out until Chaeyoung wraps her own around it.
“Oh,” she laughs, “because you’re so intimidating?”
“Hey!” Tzuyu whines. “I am. People tell me I have a bitch face all the time.”
“Until you open your mouth,” Chaeyoung giggles.
Tzuyu pulls up to the park and turns to glare at Chaeyoung once the car is stopped.
“Scary,” Chaeyoung whispers teasingly. Her smile turns to a gaping hole as she watches Tzuyu unbuckle her seatbelt and slam the car door shut behind her as she trudges onto the fresh snow. “What are you doing?” Chaeyoung shouts through the closed window.
“Come out!” Tzuyu calls, hands cupped over her mouth and brows set in determination.
“Are you crazy? I just warmed up! I thought we were staying in the car!”
Tzuyu narrows her eyes at her before her shoulders raise in a shrug. She crouches down and packs snow into a ball before hurling it at the window, Chaeyoung yelping when it hits just where her face is. “Come out,” Tzuyu challenges again, eyebrow raised and lips curled into a smirk.
“Oh, you’re on, Chou!” Chaeyoung calls as she pushes herself out of the car.
Tzuyu is already leaning down to pack more snow and Chaeyoung takes the chance to throw a half-assed snowball at her form, watching it break apart before it can hit.
“That was terrible,” Tzuyu giggles, the sound cut off when Chaeyoung throws another that hits the side of her neck. “Ow,” she winces. “Ow, that actually hurt,” she whines, and Chaeyoung immediately drops the snow in her hand to hop through the snow to her side.
“Are you okay?” She asks. “Was there something sharp in—”
And then she feels her mouth go numb, face both icy and on fire as her eyes clamp shut when she feels the snow against the lower half of her face.
“I’m so sorry,” Tzuyu whispers, but her mouth is pulled into a permanent smile when Chaeyoung opens her eyes and Chaeyoung feels warmth spreading to her toes at the sight.
“You’re a terrible person,” Chaeyoung says, teeth chattering as a heavy wind blows against her.
“You said I’m not intimidating.”
“Because you’re n-not,” Chaeyoung stammers out.
Tzuyu raises an eyebrow at her. “Do you want another facewash?”
“No!” Chaeyoung shrieks, already trying to hop her way back to the car and grimacing at the snow that slips into her sneakers. “You’re super intimidating, please unlock the car!”
She exhales in relief when the car door unlocks and she slips onto the seat that still has residual warmth. Tzuyu plops into the driver’s seat, dusting snow from her hair with a brilliant smile on her face.
“You’re crazy,” Chaeyoung mutters, holding her hands up to the car heaters.
“You rubbed off on me,” Tzuyu shrugs, taking her shoes off so she can pull her feet onto her seat, tucking her head against her knees. And then, quietly, “and I wanted your night to end better than slapping some dickhead.”
Chaeyoung feels the warmth boiling in her chest, threatening to spill over at the words, at the tender look in Tzuyu’s eyes. “All my nights are good if I end them with you,” she blurts out, feels her cheeks burning when Tzuyu’s eyes widen in surprise.
“Cheesy,” Tzuyu whispers. “But, me too.”
Chaeyoung swallows heavily, suddenly aware of every minuscule thing she feels every time Tzuyu looks at her, every time Tzuyu says something that makes Chaeyoung feel loved and wanted and—
“Tzu…” she mumbles, heart pounding against her ribcage.
Tzuyu hums, encouraging her to continue and Chaeyoung feels frozen, unable to pull her eyes away from Tzuyu’s curious expression.
“Can I kiss you?” And she feels like the words come out without her permission, a sudden, dreadful feeling filling her stomach when Tzuyu’s mouth opens in surprise. “Sorry,” she mumbles, “I don’t know why I—you don’t have to answer that. We can just go—”
“Yeah,” Tzuyu breathes quietly. “Yeah, you can.”
“What?” Chaeyoung squeaks. “Oh. Oh, okay.” She sucks in a heavy breath. “Okay.”
The warmth burns heavily in her stomach, twisting and turning when Tzuyu untucks her legs from beneath her and leans forward, almost subconsciously with how slow she moves. Chaeyoung swallows, eyes falling shut just before their lips meet and then, almost like she’s been waiting an eternity, she breathes out a sigh of relief.
“Wow,” she whispers, pulls back just enough to be able to look into Tzuyu’s dazed eyes. “Can I do that again?”
Tzuyu doesn’t answer, just leans forward again, hands reaching up to hold Chaeyoung’s face still as she presses their lips together again. Chaeyoung feels her heart curl into her throat, eyes squeezed shut so she can remember the exact feeling of Tzuyu’s lips against hers.
Tzuyu presses their foreheads together once she pulls back, eyes still shut as she mumbles, “you were right.”
“About what?” Chaeyoung asks just as quietly.
Tzuyu’s eyes flutter open gently, dimple showing as her smiling grows. “I’m crazy. Over you.”
Chaeyoung pauses for a moment, entranced by Tzuyu’s grin before the words settle in and then her head is thrown back in a laugh that fills the car with warmth. “Oh, wow. That was terrible.”
“But you like it,” Tzuyu teases, and then a short pause. “…right?”
Chaeyoung doesn’t even have it in her to tease, letting out a stupidly admiring sigh as she nods. “Yes,” she breathes, “I really do.”
“Thank God,” Tzuyu sighs. “I like you, too. If that wasn’t obvious.”
“That cheesy line didn’t give it away at all,” Chaeyoung hums, grinning when Tzuyu rolls her eyes. She yawns as Tzuyu pulls away from the park, curling into the seat so she can watch Tzuyu as she drives.
“Sleepy?” Tzuyu asks.
“Mhm,” Chaeyoung nods, yawning again as the fatigue settles in from her long night.
“Okay, let’s go home.”
Chaeyoung hums in agreement, eyes fluttering shut until Tzuyu connects her phone to her stereo, suddenly wide awake when she hears the first notes of the song.
“No,” Chaeyoung says sternly, already reaching to change the song.
“Yes,” Tzuyu whines, slapping Chaeyoung’s hand away. “This is my car.”
“That’s not an excuse to play terrible music,” Chaeyoung grumbles, trying to hold her frown even as Tzuyu turns the volume up and begins singing along.
“Come on,” Tzuyu coaxes, voice raised to match the volume of the music. “You know you want to sing.”
And maybe it’s the way Tzuyu smiles at her, or the way that Chaeyoung can finally put a name to the fluttering in her stomach, but she sucks in a deep breath as she sits up in her seat, watches Tzuyu giggle in anticipation and Chaeyoung feels dizzy with happiness.
“ I’m a blonde bimbo girl, in a fantasy world… ”