7pm || Jitzu

Chapter 4

Tzuyu rests her head on Jihyo's shoulder and falls asleep. She is tired after all that kissing and crying before. Jihyo can't sleep now; she needs to go to work in an hour so she stays awake watching Tzuyu sleep and caressing her hair, thinking about how to approach the shop owner and their possibilities if the plan goes wrong.

"Tzuyu!!!!" Jihyo screams entering the apartment. "He said yes! I explained everything and he said he will help us! He wants to see you tomorrow. Don't worry, I will be there with you." Jihyo yells running to where Tzuyu is. "Tzu, I'm so happy! It's going to work out well!". She says excitedly and then picks up her phone and starts writing everything again so Tzuyu doesn't miss a single word she said.

Tzuyu smiles and hugs Jihyo after reading the message but hides her worries. She's not all that convinced that it will be this easy. What if he asks her questions? How is she going to answer?

Tzuyu has a hard time sleeping and the next day wakes up already nervous. Jihyo lets her borrow a black suit she has for special occasions and it suits her perfectly. They arrive at the store and stop at the entrance. "You only need to nod, ok? I will talk for you." Jihyo says. Tzuyu nods and they enter the store.

Tzuyu is amazed at Jihyo's convincing aptitudes. She convinces the manager to hire her in 5 minutes. When the manager asks Tzuyu something, Jihyo re-words it making sure the answer can be a simple yes or no so Tzuyu only needs to move her head. They are lucky the owner is in a hurry and tells her to sign the contract right there. He leaves telling Tzuyu she can't be this shy with clients and to talk to them well to which Tzuyu nods and smiles. Once the door closes they look at each other and start laughing and jumping. They can't believe the plan worked.

Tzuyu starts working at the store and Jihyo is there every single day next to her, answering the questions clients have. The contract lasts 8 months which is what was left on Jihyo's one but it's enough to renew Tzuyu's visa.

Working together is easier and the time passes faster but Jihyo is still tired every day. She has 3 more months left to graduate and is extremely busy with her final project which is to create a fashion brand. Her idea was to mix modern and traditional Korean style but after meeting Tzuyu, she decided to change it to a mix of traditional Korean and Chinese fashion but modernizing it so people can wear them on a daily basis. There is no brand doing this so she has to create everything from scratch and do a lot of research. It's a risky project but Tzuyu is very excited every time Jihyo creates a new item and that gives Jihyo a lot of confidence.

After work, most days they go straight home but some days, like today, they sit on a bench right outside the store looking at the Han river and talking through the phone until it gets really dark. There is no one there this late at night and Tzuyu holds Jihyo's hand. Jihyo doesn't hold her back but also doesn't move from where her hands are. Tzuyu can sense she is uncomfortable and after a few minutes, when they hear a sound probably from some leaves moving with the wind, Jihyo puts her hand away. They don't say anything but Tzuyu is hurt. It's not the first time this happens. It's only been 12 days since they kissed and Tzuyu thinks the reason they have not kissed again since that day is because Jihyo is really tired when they arrive home but during nights like this, Tzuyu wonders what's wrong. They have not talked about what happened and at home, nothing much has changed. Jihyo lets her hug her every night and they keep their regular routine. Jihyo spends her mornings at the University or in her studio while Tzuyu goes to Korean class, and in the afternoons and evenings, they work at the store. Tzuyu knows she can't kiss her in public but nothing is happening in private either and now she starts to wonder if Jihyo thinks what happened was a mistake and that's why she's acting as if it never happened. She does not think Jihyo would ever kiss her just to test if she likes girls so that's the only explanation she has for it.