Thion 3XQ: Journey [ON HOLD]

Sana held the necklace in her hands, she ran her thumb across it and thought back to the moment Chaeyoung gave her it. Truthfully, she hadn’t thought about the girl for a few years now. Sure she felt a little guilty about the break up but she did what she thought was right and what was best for her. The necklace had some sentimental value to it but overtime Sana had rid her mind with thoughts of the younger girl. She never really took it off, it sat around her neck as if it was engraved there. Not only had it reminded her of her dreams, she thought the necklace was beautiful and expensive. She found it difficult to just throw away or give it away like Momo had advised her to.

She then thought of Momo and the rest of her friends. She hoped they were okay. They just needed a little more time to get some help and Tzuyu was being no help at all. Well she did keep them safe but she was really being so annoying right now. She took one last look at the necklace, maybe she should just give up on wearing it..

She had stormed out of Dahyun’s room and aimlessly walked throughout the sewers until she found a quiet sewer hole that looked abandoned. The gates that locked the hole were rusty and some her broken off and there was minimal light seeping through. But, it was good enough for her, she wanted some alone time.

“Ugh stupid Tzuyu” She groaned in annoyance as she put the necklace back on around her neck. She zipped her hoodie up as she tiredly walked back to Dahyun’s room. She had changed into her (now clean) clothes she wore before. They both couldn’t spend any more time here, they had to come up with something soon. She’d hope Tzuyu came up with an idea already.

-                                                                                                     

It had been a few minutes since Sana was gone and Dahyun wasn’t sure if she should go after the girl or not. She then thought she should give Sana some space and would only go after her if she took too long to come back. She’d felt a bit of guilt but didn’t know if she should butt in or not. So she simply slipped into the other room and began working on a radio that she hadn’t finished fixing, but her mind was on the two girls.

Tzuyu had been aggressively wiping her weapons ever since Sana left. She didn’t understand why the latter was making a big deal about it or why she had still kept it. She should’ve thrown it out or something. Amongst her thoughts of Sana, she had been thinking of a way for them to get out of Dahyun’s room and the sewers. She was undoubtedly tired and quite frankly very irritated about being here. She felt like she was suffocating and they were wasting time just by being here doing nothing. She needed to contact Jihyo as soon as possible. Dahyun had already agreed to show her the way to the communication center, and she’s pretty sure there’d be Thions around the place. She’s positive that there’s Thions’ out there looking for them now.  She could-

Her thought were interrupted when Sana walked in. Both their annoyance had subsided a little.

“So what’s the plan?” Sana asked monotonously.

“Huh? You’re staying here. Remember?”

“No” Sana crossed her arms. “I coming whether you like it or not”

Tzuyu sighed. “Sana, we’ve been over this. You can’t-“

“Wait, I think I have a way for all of us to go” both girls turned their attention towards Dahyun who’d enter the room. She heard the two talking again and was slightly relived.

“What do you mean?”

Dahyun lifted her shirt “With this” she revealed her Thions symbol on her abdomen. It resembled a tattoo but it was like it was engraved into her stomach; every Thions was born with it. “I know a Thion that can draw symbols realistically, for a price of course”

“Wait but how will they see it if it’s under our clothes”

Dahyun pondered for a few second before she said “Wear only your jackets over your bras so they can see your stomach. Then they’ll think your Thions too. I can loan you both some of my dad’s old caps”

“That’s brilliant!” Sana beamed. It sounded like a good plan to her.

Tzuyu thought the idea was a little crazy but it still might work. Though she still did not want Sana coming with them because it was risky. “Okay, let’s say we’re following through with this plan.. Sana you’re still not coming”

“Well why not?”

“It’s too risky. You should stay here and wait for us to return”

Sana groaned and rolled her eyes at the latter “I’m coming and that’s it” she walked out of the room with arm crossed.

Tzuyu sighed in annoyance. Sana was being so difficult. Couldn’t she realize she was trying to protect her? She knew the older girl would keep insisting so she just let her have her way this time.

Tzuyu mumbled a “Let’s go” towards Dahyun who simply nodded as they both followed Sana outside.

-

Dahyun took them to a room where they could get the symbols marked on them. It wasn’t too far from where her room was but it took them about 5 minutes to walk there. The Thions that was going to mark them was sitting on his desk carving what Tzuyu assumed to be some kind of animal or something. Sana recognized it as a Plegus which was sort of like a native bird of this planet. Apparently he had a lot of carvings of different species of animals. Yang didn’t resemble a human, his skin was blue, his eyes were purple and his hair was a bright yellow and messy.

“Yang” Dahyun said.

“Mmm..” the man replied as he continued to work on his carving. He hadn’t bothered to look up at them. Dahyun got a bit closer and motioned for the two to stay behind.

“I need you to do me a favor... a really big one” she whispered.

He finally looked up at her and then carefully looked at other two girls in the room. Sana was looking at the carvings while Tzuyu was trying to get her attention. He noticed they weren’t speaking Ogsic, but they were speaking the forbidden language, Villari.

“Tzuyu look! This one’s a Slopper. It’s so cute” Sana giggled as she pointed towards an animal that Tzuyu thought resembled a possum.  It definitely did not look cute. “Yeah that’s great Sana, but can you stop” Sana didn’t hear her as she was excitedly looking at the carvings on the shelf.

He then turned to Dahyun again and said in a serious tone “What are they doing here? Why did you bring them here?”

Tzuyu turned to the direction of the Thions when she heard him speak. She clutched the gun in her holster in case he tried anything funny. She didn’t know what they were saying but she didn’t like his tone.

“Hey Sana, what are they saying?” she nudged the girl for her to listen.

“Relax, they are trying to get home. I need your help”

He shook his head. “No, I won’t get involved in this. Find someone else” He sat up and tried to push Dahyun to leave.

“We have money” Sana spoke up in Ogsic as they all turned to look at her. Yang had a confused expression in his face. How could this human speak Ogsic?

“Quick Tzuyu, give me the money. How much do we have?”

“Uhh” Tzuyu rummaged through her pocket to find the wallet. She opened it and took a peek inside “About 130” Sana grabbed the money and showed the Thion. “Here we’ll pay you. This is all the money we have”

Yang looked between all three of them, he was a bit hesitant at first but ‘money is money’ and he really needed some. Though 130 Thionens wasn’t that many, it was still enough for him because he’d sometimes barely make 20 Thionens with his carvings.

“Okay. As long as it’s nothing dangerous, what do you want me to do?” He asked Dahyun.

“We need you to carve the symbol on their stomachs so that they can go to the communication center freely”

He knew doing that was very illegal and there’d be severe consequences if he ever got caught but Dahyun reassured him that, that wouldn’t happen. Sure he sometimes did art on other Thions but he also only ever drew the symbol on paper, not even on another Thions. Now he’d have to make it seem realistic on human skin? He’d never seen a human up close or even touched one. Interacting with Zanerthean humans were illegal so he wasn’t sure what Dahyun were doing with them. He shook his head trying not to get himself too involved in their business, he’d do this one thing and that’s it.

“Okay. I can try to do it”

Both Sana and Dahyun had smiled and said ‘Thank you’ to him. While Tzuyu was just standing there looking a bit lost. She didn’t fully understand what exactly they were saying but it must’ve been good news since the two other girls were smiling.

“When do you want it for?”

“Right now? The sooner the better”

“Hmm.. okay. I’ll go get my things” He walked to the side in a little corner of the room to retrieve his ink and ink gun.

“What did he say? Is he going to do it” Tzuyu asked as she eyed the Thion who held the ink gun in his hand. “Is it permanent?”

“Yeah he agreed to it and no I don’t think it is” Dahyun answered.

“You think?” Tzuyu scoffed.

Sana was looking at the needle that Yang had begun putting inside the gun. She started getting a bit uneasy. She hated needles. Ever since she was a child she hated going to the doctor because she hated getting injections.

“Alright who’s first?” Yang announced. He had everything set up aready.

“Woah Sana are you okay?” she asked when the latter showed visible signs of uneasiness.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine”

Tzuyu eyed her. “Sana I told you that you should sit this one out. Dahyun and I can do it ourselves”

“No! I can do it. I’m fine. J-Just you go first”

Tzuyu rolled her eyes as she sat down on the chair, he reclined the seat a bit back so that she was slightly lying down now. She only took off her jacket halfway and slightly lifted her shirt up to expose her abdomen. Yang lightly touched around her skin to know where exactly to start marking but Tzuyu thought otherwise. She quickly batted his hand away and pulled out her gun, ready to shoot at him. He quickly stood up with his hands in the air in defense.

“Tzuyu calm down, he’s just figuring out where exactly to put the symbol” Dahyun hurriedly intervened before Tzuyu did something stupid.

She looked between the two before she lowered her gun back down and placed it back in her holster. He looked between Dahyun and the girl who had just tried to shoot him. Dahyun urged him that it was okay for him to continue. He slowly placed his finger again and he could feel Tzuyu tense up. He was a bit nervous touching her so he quickly estimated where the symbol should be. He then turned on the ink machine and got to work. Tzuyu thought he’d stick the needle in her but she noticed it was more like a light that seeping through the tip of the needle. It hurt a little but it wasn’t sever, it felt similarly to how a needle would. He spent about 30 minutes carefully marking the symbol in great detail. Tzuyu was a little impressed at how realistic it looked. She ran her fingers through it as it healed in an instant after he had finished. Now, it was Sana’s turn.

She nervously laid down on the seat. It wasn’t a needle he used, but she was still nervous nonetheless. Tzuyu was walking away when she felt herself being pulled back by Sana who was gripping the end of her jacket.

“What are you doing? Let go of me”  

“Please..Stay” her voice barely above a whisper. She turned to look down and saw Sana’s pleading eyes, she felt a bit bad for her. Sana swears she heard Tzuyu softly mutter an “Okay” before she stood next to her. Yang did the same thing he did to Tzuyu, she could feel the latter’s grip get tighter the more he went on and they both prayed it would be over soon. Then finally, he had finished. Sana let out a sharp exhale “Oh thank god that’s over” she let go of Tzuyu’s jacket. She peeped down to look at the symbol and it was indeed identical to Dahyun’s. Maybe this plan was genius.

Yang stood there looking satisfied with his work as Dahyun handed him the money. “Also, don’t tell anyone about this or them. Okay?” she whispered.

“You have my word.” Was all he said as he counted the money and put it in his pocket. This would feed him well for the next two weeks.

“So how are we going to show it?” Sana asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You know they can’t really see it if we have our clothes on”

“Ah you’re right” Dahyun thought for a second “How about you guys take your jackets off and tie your shirts up so it’ll show your stomachs”

Tzuyu shook her head. “I need to take a gun in case something goes wrong. I’ll need the jacket to hide the guns”

“Good point” Dahyun thought again “Well how about you guys just wear the jackets over your bras?”

“Don’t be ridiculous” Tzuyu scoffed.

“I think it’s a great plan” Sana cheered. Tzuyu sighed and muttered “Of course you would”

“Well then it’s settled. If any of the guards are around there, they won’t recognize you guys with the symbol and cap. Alright let’s go”

“Wait, I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while but why are you helping us?” Tzuyu had been wondering why the Thions was being so nice to both of them, they were strangers. Zanerthean strangers as a matter of fact.

“Because you saved me”

“No, besides that?”

Dahyun thought for a moment. “I don’t know-I guess you guys remind me of my mom… I’ve never met other Zanertheans before and you guys were nice to me. I don’t know, I guess I’d want to go there sometime, I’ve always been fascinated by it whenever my mother told me stories.” Dahyun was rambling now. “Is it true there’s people who are called King and Queen and princesses?”

Sana chuckled. “Well, where we live we have our own King, Queen and princess. There’s King Hendery and Queen Siyeon. They have two kids, Princess Mia and Princess Jisun”

Dahyun seemed amazed, she wanted to ask Sana more questions about Zanerth but Tzuyu interrupted them that they needed to get going. They walked back to Dahyun room and both girl took off their shirts. Tzuyu made sure she was facing the wall so she wouldn’t look at Sana. Once they’d both put on their jackets and caps on, the duo followed Dahyun who told them she could take towards the manhole that was closest to the communication center. Sana was a little nervous but she’d never tell them because Tzuyu would get mad.

When all three climbed out of the hole, with Dahyun leading the way and making sure no one was around, it was already dark out. Most Thions had night vision so Dahyun could clearly see their surroundings.

“Alright. The place you guys need to get to is on the second floor. That’s where the main base is, its kinda prohibited so you’ll have to sneak in. I’ve never been up there but I’m sure it’s not hard to find. The first floor is where the locals use” Dahyun whispered, they were all peeking out from a wall. Tzuyu looked around the are making no guard was around or anything, she then said “Okay. We’ll walk in and you and Dahyun will remain on the first floor to keep a look out while I sneak into the second floor. If something happens” she then turned to the purple haired Thion “Come and get me okay? It shouldn’t take too long”

Sana cleared her throat “Excuse me, I’m coming with you”. Tzuyu looked at her and shook her head. “No Sana, I already let you come with us and now you’re staying on the first floor with Dahyun”

“No. I’m coming with you and that’s final”

Tzuyu groaned. “Why are you doing this now? Sana I-“ But Sana had already begun crossing the street. She knew she couldn’t argue with Sana inside the building because that would draw attention to themselves and they’d be caught.

Tzuyu groaned in frustration as she followed Sana, with Dahyun following behind. They all gave each other a knowing look before entering the building. Not too many people were inside, the area wasn’t too big either. There were 3 rows filled with screens. Sana saw a few Thions dragging their hand across the screens as if they were looking for something. She thought, maybe that’s how you use the screens, since there weren’t any buttons or anything. One of the Thions eyed them suspiciously and she watched as their eyes went towards her abdomen then back to her face, then the Thion went back to doing what it had been doing before. She felt a bit of relief, the symbol had come in handy.

Dahyun nudged Tzuyu and used her chin to point towards the door on the far right. That must lead to the second floor. Dahyun sat on one of the seats closest toward the door that led to be on the lookout, she pretended to be looking at something in the screen.

Making sure no one was looking, Tzuyu and Sana went through the door. They stepped on the escalator that would take them to the second floor. “When we get to the top, stay close to me okay” she whispered while Sana only nodded. Tzuyu could see the light as they were getting closer to the top. She gripped the gun in her pocket. As the got to the top she pushed Sana along with her to the wall. She had seen someone pass by on the far end of the hall. She peeped from the corner when she thought it was safe. She slowly moved from the wall when she thought it was safe to move.

There were many doors with signs along the hall, she couldn’t read what they said since they were in Ogsic. Sana was scanning when the signs when her eyes landed on a sign that read “Control” which she assumed to be the control room. Tzuyu had an inkling feeling that the last door on the right was the control room. However, Sana pointed towards the third door on the right. She figured that Sana could read the signs so she agreed to follow her. She heard voices growing closer, so she quickly pushed Sana and herself into the door and closed it. It was dark and very small. With only a dim yellow light illuminating the room. Tzuyu could hear them outside the door, they were talking but she couldn’t understand or hear what they were saying. Great. Not only were they in the wrong room but now they were stuck in here.

 Sana’s heart was beating hard, not all because of the fact that they almost got caught, but because Tzuyu’s hand was plastered across her mouth. Tzuyu’s ear was towards the door while she was holding Sana close. She’s clutched her chest wondering why it was beating so hard, she was a little afraid the latter would hear her.

Tzuyu let go of Sana as the voices became more distant. She sighed. More people could be coming so they’d have to wait a bit before they headed outside again. She turned around to scan the room, it looked like a kind of storage room. Sana must’ve mixed up the signs.

“Sorry, I thought it read ‘Control’ instead of ‘Storage’” she heard Sana whisper. She wasn’t sure if it was because she was frustrated or if it was the close proximity or what but Sana looked really attractive in this yellow light.

“Sana” Tzuyu’s voice was barely above a whisper as she softly stroked Sana’s cheek with the back of her hand. They were standing so close to each other all that could be heard in the room was there breathing. They were staring at each other for a few seconds before Tzuyu’s eyes trailed down Sana’s face and landed on her lips. She started leaning in and Sana slowly closed her eyes, but before anything happened, Tzuyu noticed the necklace around her neck. She quickly came to her sense and pulled back, walking a bit away from Sana.

Sana opened her eyes when she felt the latter move away, she wasn’t sure what happened or what was going to happen. She wondered what they were doing. “Tzu-“

“Let’s go” She heard Tzuyu say in a cold tone. She began opening the door when she felt Sana pull her back, “wait I-“ but Tzuyu cut her off again. “They’re gone and we need to go, now.”

“Can you listen to me for once?”

Suddenly the door opened and a Thions looked at them both with wide eyes. Tzuyu knew he had heard them speaking in Villari, he was about to yell for help when Tzuyu punched him the throat. He gasped for air as she pulled him inside the room and then punched him the face knocking him out. They had to leave now. Or else more of them would be coming soon. They had to abort the mission for now. She mentally cursed because they were so close to contacting the Captain but Sana had to ruin it.

“Let’s go. Now” She pulled Sana and began sprinting down the hall towards the escalator. She was hoping nobody would be using it right now.

“Wait what about the plan?” Sana asked.

“We can’t, we already made a scene and more would be coming. We have to try again later”

“But we-“

“No Sana. Stop” she pulled them both on to the escalator as they both went down and through the door. Luckily, Dahyun was the only one to see them come out. She noticed Tzuyu looked angry and Sana had this look of confusion. That must’ve not gone well. Tzuyu bolted out the door with Sana and Dahyun following behind. She looked around to see if anyone had been following them or if there were any guards around, once it was safe she crossed the street and walked towards the manhole. The other two simply followed. The walk back to Dahyun’s room was awkward for her. She could feel the tension but she was afraid to ask them what had happened.

When they arrived the room, Tzuyu took the gun out of her pocket and slapped in on the desk. Both Sana and Dahyun jumped a little at the noise. Tzuyu began to chuckle and mutter “We were so close..”

“What was that?” Sana asked.

Tzuyu turned to look at the girl. “We were so fucking close but you had to ruin everything like you always do”

“I-I didn’t do anything”

“Yes you did, I would have found the control room on my own if you hadn’t come along. I told you to stay here but you’re too stubborn.”

“Look, I told you I’m sorry okay? I read the signs wrong. It was an honest mistake”

Tzuyu shook her head. “Well that mistake cost us a lot. I could’ve contacted Captain Park by now!” she was starting to raise her voice and Sana was beginning to get upset.

“I tried my best. Okay? We’ll get it right the next time we go back?”

Tzuyu scoffed. “No. Next time, you’re not going. You’re staying right here. Even if I have to tie you to a fucking chair, you’re not leaving this room. We may not even get a next time” 

“Why are you being like this?”

“Like what?”

“Why are you being such an asshole right now? I said I was sorry.. I’ve done nothing to you, yet you treat me so cold and mean”

Tzuyu scoffed. Sana was being so irritating right now, she couldn’t even stand to look at the girl right now. “It’s because of you. I don’t like you, I never did. From the second I met you I’ve never liked you” Tzuyu knew she was only half telling the truth. “It only got worse when you started dating my best friend.”

Tzuyu was irritated, it was as if she’d been holding this in for a while now and just let it all out on Sana. “Do you know she’s happier now? She took a whole year and six months to finally get over you. You broke her so bad it hurt to see her that way you know? But now she’s so happy.. She has a girlfriend of three years now. Mina’s the best thing that ever happened to her and you.. You were the worst. You know she hates you” Tzuyu chuckled. “She hates you so much…”

There were tears in Sana’s eyes and an insane amount of guilt. She wasn’t sure what set Tzuyu off like this but that didn’t stop the latter.

“You think you’re so better than everyone else but you’re not. You’re some spoiled little girl who gets everything she wants. Everything you have has been handed to you by your father. You’ve haven’t had to work a day in your life. You don’t know what it’s like”

Sana tried to wipe her tears. “Y-You don’t know me”

Tzuyu chuckled bitterly. “Ohh I wish I hadn’t. I wish Chaeyoung never fell in love with you. I wish I never met you! My life would be a little more better if you didn’t fucking exist”

She could see the hurt in Sana’s eyes and it stung a little but she wasn’t sure why she was so angry at her right now. She just wanted to hurt the girl.

Sana took one last look at her before she said “Fuck you” and stormed out.

Dahyun wasn’t sure what just happened. They were yelling at each other and then the next thing she knew is Sana stormed off. This time, she went after the girl. She jogged a bit to catch up to Sana “Sana, wait”

Sana wiped her eyes, not really wanting Dahyun to see her crying. “I’m sorry Dahyun, I just really want to be alone right now” she then walked away. Dahyun stood there watching her as she seemed to be heading in the direction of the bathroom. She was a little mad at Tzuyu for having upset Sana. She went back to her room and sat at her table. She decided to work on a radio to try and occupy her mind. She could hear Tzuyu in the next room angrily grumbling and mumbling to herself.

After about 20 minutes Tzuyu had managed to calm down. She was no longer angry at Sana but more at herself, she just felt really bad. She felt bad about treating Sana that way because the girl didn’t deserve it. During their time in high school she’d never been that mean to her, they’d quarrel about a few things but none of them ever raised their voices at each other. They only ever spoke to each other when Chaeyoung was around. It was the first time she’s ever said something so mean to her, and it was the first time she saw Sana cry like that in front of her.

She thought back to how Sana’s always been sort of nice to her. Well, Tzuyu’s always the one to be sarcastic and annoying at her first. “God Tzuyu you’re so fucking stupid” She angrily whispered to herself. She was sitting on the bed with her legs to her chest. She groaned in frustration. You always ruin everything. She thought to herself. She knows she has to apologize to Sana and a big part of her wants too but her ego’s telling her to not do it.

In the midst of her thought, Dahyun came rushing into the room. She looked out of breathe.

“Tzuyu, I-I can’t find Sana”

Tzuyu’s face became serious as she quickly stood up. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve searched everywhere and I-I can’t seem to find where Sana went. What do we do?”

Tzuyu suddenly felt her chest get tighter. What if Sana ran away because of her? What if when Sana ran away she got captured? It would be all her fault and she’d never forgive herself. After her team, she doesn’t think she could bear to lose someone else. So many people she’s lost she thinks she should be numb by now but she can’t. (What Tzuyu didn’t know, was she had the biggest heart).

She quickly walked out of the room with Dahyun following behind. “Let’s split up. We’ll search again. I’ll go this way and you go that way”

“No wait, I’ll go that way and you go this way okay?” Dahyun patted her on the back as she sprinted away. “Huh.. okay” she had no time to respond to the latter who had sprinted off. That was weird but I guess it doesn’t matter.

It took Tzuyu about 10 minutes to find Sana. She didn’t know the sewers were so big and so utterly confusing. Sana had been sitting near an abandoned sewer hole. She was glad to see the girl and ran up to her.

“Sana..” she panted out of breath. “I’m glad… you’re.. safe”

“Oh are you?” Sana said coldly. She didn’t really want to talk to her. Her anger had subsided a little but she started getting angry again as she saw the younger girl.

“Yes.. Dahyun said she couldn’t find you and we thought you got captured or something”

“Well I’m fine so you can go back now”

“It’s not safe here”

“Oh? I thought you wanted me gone. I thought you wished I didn’t exist, I thought you didn’t want to see me. Well good news you don’t have to. I’ll find some way to rescue my friends on my own. I don’t need you”

“Don’t be ridiculous you-”

Sana shook her head. “No. Go away. I don’t want to talk to you or want you to be here. Aren’t you tired of you tired of hurting others, of hurting me?” She sighed deeply when Tzuyu didn’t reply. Tzuyu felt like she deserved whatever outburst Sana was going to give her, but it never came.

 “Do you hate me?” Sana’s voice sounded so small and Tzuyu felt so guilty.

“I don’t hate you I just…” she sighed. “It’s complicated”. She sat down across from Sana, and brought her knees to her chest and leaned her head against the wall. “Whenever I look at you I get so irritated and angry”

Sana scoffed.

“No wait that came out wrong! Uhh When I look at your face, I’m reminded of the bad things that happened in my life” Tzuyu paused for a second and realized what she just said “Ugh wait that came out wrong again!”

Sana scoffed again. “Am I that ugly?”

“N-No you’re not. You’re really pretty. I’m just really bad at this” Tzuyu groaned. Sana was very amused to see Tzuyu struggle to apologize and be nice like that.

 Tzuyu sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. “It’s just-growing up, it was just me and my mom. We were really poor and she did everything she could to make sure we’d survive. My dad was there too for a while but he’d come home drunk and beat my mom to a pulp every night. Sometimes when my mom wasn’t around he’d beat me too, whether he was sober or not. It was hard”

Sana noticed Tzuyu gripping the side of jacket very tightly, her full attention was on the girl. “Then one night, these men barged into our house. They told my mom that my dad was dead and that he owed them a lot of money and well, someone had to pay the debt.. It was like a constant nightmare my mother lived through. She worked longer shifts and we barely had any money for ourselves. It was like she was working her way to her own grave” Tzuyu gulped trying her hardest not to cry. “When I was about eight years old I tried to steal for the very first time from some kids at the park. I was trying to and get some extra cash for my mom and I but I was caught. They really beat the fuck out of me that one time”.

“That was the day I met Chaeyoung” Sana felt guilty again hearing her name while Tzuyu slightly smiled before she continued. “She thought the kids were bullying me but, I deserved it. After that, I kind of just stuck around her. She had just moved in a couple blocks away so I’d always go to the park everyday just to hang out with her. At first she didn’t like it but I guess I grew on her eventually” she chuckled. “Her parents employed my mom as a full time babysitter since they were gone on business trips for a lot of the time. Within a year, my mom eventually paid off my father’s debt” Sana noticed her smile now faded. “She got sick when I was ten and well she died the year after” She could hear Tzuyu’s voice slightly crack.

“Tzuyu I’m-“

She shook her head, clenching her jaw to fighting back the tears. “No-It’s okay” she cleared her throat to continue. “Chaeyoung’s parents hired a new babysitter and they let me stay with them. I basically grew up with her you know? Her parents were the ones who sent me to school. They’re the sole reason I even went to Frane High School. They paid for everything and I owe so much to them… I worked hard throughout school to not disappoint them. So when you got the scholarship to study at”Zletin University.. I don’t know. I guess I was jealous? I think I’ve always been since you were the Dean’s daughter and seemed like were privileged I guess.”

“So you treated me like shit all these years because you were jealous?” Sana asked.

“Hmm.. I guess? And well you know the best friend girlfriend thing” Tzuyu said sheepishly

“Tzuyu, you’re so stupid”

“I know” Tzuyu sighed.

“You’ve got it all wrong though. I’m not really privileged”

“What do you mean?”

Sana sighed. “Well, my dad had abandoned my mom and I when I was young. I was six years old when he went out to get some gas and never returned. We weren’t rich either, my mom was a science teacher at a nearby primary school. Mom was broken when he left, I could hear her crying every night” it was Tzuyu’s turn to have her full attention on Sana. “When I was about fourteen, he randomly appeared one night at our house.. and my mom she just forgave him. Just like that”

“He said he left for us. He wanted to try and better our lives so he came back for us. He was the dean of one of the most prestigious high schools in the city. My mom believed him but I just couldn’t.. I couldn’t just pretend that nothing happened you know? He made us move and well, he sent me to the school. After that he tried to buy my affection” She scoffed. “He bought me so many gifts but I ended up either throwing them out or burning them. Eventually, I decided to use it to an advantage and started asking him for anything and everything I wanted” She smiled a little but that only lasted a few seconds. “But I still resented him… even now, I still haven’t forgiven him fully buy I’m working on it..”

“However, I worked and got that scholarship all on my own. It’d always been my dream to see the stars and travel the universe”

Tzuyu smiled. “That’s always been my dream too.. to see the stars and travel the universe..”

“Is that why you joined the Vesta Base?”

Tzuyu nodded. “I figured since I couldn’t get into any fancy school, this was the next best thing”

They both chuckled and stared at each other for a few seconds. Tzuyu felt like a massive asshole, she had judged Sana’s whole life without even knowing the whole story.

“Sana-I’m sorry. I’m really sorry for everything I’ve done and said to you. For everything I’ve done and said in high school up until this point. I misjudged you and I really am genuinely sorry” she was staring at Sana with pleading eyes. She hoped Sana would forgive her.

“Well, apology accepted” Sana smiled. “And I’m sorry too. I’m sorry about your mom, I’m sorry about everything I’ve said to you too, I’m also sorry about Chaeyoung” she was serious.

“It’s okay it’s not like it’s your fault my mom died. And well, Chaeyoung.. why did you break up with her anyway?” Sana never really gave Chaeyoung a reason.

Sana scratched her head. “Ah well, I guess we just had different career and life paths? I don’t know. I did really love her once though. I guess I owed her an explanation about that”

“Well yeah.. but that’s years ago so don’t beat up yourself too much about it” Tzuyu tried to reassure her. She knows she should be mad at her for leaving her best friend and she was, for years she’d been mad too but right now she couldn’t bring herself to me mad about it again.

“If I ever meet her again, I’d want to apologize though”

“Hmm well if we do ever make it out of this planet alive, I can take you to see her”

Sana slightly smiled. “That would be nice”

Tzuyu smiled back. For a few seconds, they sat in a comfortable silence just staring at each other. Sana’s nose was slightly red from earlier when she was crying. Tzuyu thought it was adorable.

Sana cleared her throat. “What are you staring at?”

“N-Nothing. We should get back. Dahyun’s probably worried” Tzuyu quickly sat up and Sana followed. As they were walking back Tzuyu asked “So.. are we good?”

Sana giggled. “Yeah we are”

Tzuyu smiled and put her first out for the latter to bump it. Sana looked at it and rolled her eyes as she fist bumped her back. Tzuyu just smiled. Sana thought her smile was adorable as her dimples would appear every time she did. She could get used to seeing her smile.