Chaeyoung let out a sharp breath that resembled smoke in the cold morning air. Sweaty palm was tightly clasped around the pencil in her hand, shaky and unsteady as she drew on the paper.
Chaeyoung was nervous. She was going to talk to the girl, but how could she? She felt it might go terribly wrong. She was awkward and had a hard time expressing herself properly when she was nervous. She lifted her gaze, getting a quick glance over at the girl.
She had drawn the girl. It was a messy sketch. She let go of her pencil. She opened her mouth to speak, but she froze. She couldn’t mutter out even the smallest sound.
She clenched her fists, counting to four as she took deep breaths. She was going to talk to her now.
Just then, the bus rolled up to the side, and Chaeyoung’s body subconsciously moved up behind the girl. She couldn’t do it, Chaeyoung told herself. She felt hopeless.
She sat behind the girl. She couldn’t just tap her on the shoulder and start speaking, could she?
The bus ride lasted seven minutes. She could get up and converse in those seven minutes.
She hesitated before standing up, then sitting back down. She couldn’t. But she wanted to have something to tell Dahyun, something exciting.
What was her motive? Getting to hear the girl’s voice? Or know her name? But was it worth the effort?
Chaeyoung shivered at the thought of messing up. But she really wanted something interesting to tell Dahyun at school.
She forced her legs up, she was going to talk to the girl. She exhaled a deep, shaky breath, making her way to the girl’s seat.
She stood there, awkwardly gripping onto a poll to avoid losing her balance. The girl, only just noticing her, jerked her head up, eyes wide with curiosity.
Chaeyoung smiled. Awkwardly. The girl returned it. A smile Chaeyoung could never forget.
The curve of her lips highered her cheekbones, accentuating the apple of her cheeks. She had such a pretty smile. Chaeyoung got butterflies in her stomach.
"I was just wondering, what’s your name?" She stuttered. "I see you often." She explained, nervously tugging at her sleeve.
The girl’s gaze softened. "I’m Tzuyu." Her voice was sweet and gentle.
Tzuyu, Chaeyoung repeated over and over in her head. The name suited her. The name is completely fitting to the girl’s pretty appearance.
"I’m Chaeyoung." She said nervously.
The girl looked directly at her. Her dark brown irises were dull. Should she have told the girl her name? It was likely she didn’t care at all.
"It’s nice to meet you." Said Tzuyu politely.
Chaeyoung gave her a firm nod in response, turning around frantically to sit back down.
Her heart was pumping rapidly, hands shaky as she attempted to bring herself to scribble a few lines in her sketchbook. She did that when she was nervous or agitated.
She had done it. She had spoken to the girl, who happened to be named Tzuyu. She had fallen for her, fallen for Tzuyu, the cute girl she saw every morning.
.
.
"Hyun." She slammed her sketchbook down in front of the other who had been engrossed in eating her meal, a pizza with too much cheese.
"What’s up?" asked the confused girl, almost dropping her pizza.
"I did it." She declared, feeling pride. "I spoke to Tzuyu."
"Tzuyu?" Confused, Dahyun raised an eyebrow,
"The bus stop girl’s name!" She exclaimed.
"What!" Her eyes widened. "That’s great, Chaeyoung-ah!" She smiled widely. "Are you going to talk to her more?"
Chaeyoung thought, "No." She said, looking down, "I’m too awkward and shy."
Dahyun furrowed her eyebrows. "Fuck that! You like her, bro, so you should get to know more about her. Befriend her."
Chaeyoung thought about it. Maybe she should.
