Imperfectly Perfect 2

41 : Relationships

"Here, babe." Nayeon holds out a water bottle she was holding to her girlfriend who just jogged towards the picnic mat where she, Sana, and Chaeyoung are comfortably sitting.

"Thanks, babe." Jeongyeon reached out to it and consecutively almost half of it in one go.

Except for Mina, the council girls together with Chaeyoung and Nayeon agreed to have some picnic on the open field. They also brought their usual frisbee disc to have something physical to play with. It is Sunday, approaching the last week of February.

"Where's Pres?" Jeongyeon asks while wiping her lips.

Chaeyoung answered while lying flat on her back on the grass. She has been quiet for a while now, simply watching the clouds floating in the sky. "Minari said that she has to meet someone today."

"Who?" The council treasurer raises an eyebrow. "It's Sunday. It can't be school related."

The smaller girl lets out a sigh. She answers without looking at her roommate. "Who knows? That's also something I want to know. I asked her yesterday afternoon if she's free today because we'd—" She pauses to glance at Sana. "I wanted her to meet a friend of mine but she simply said she will be busy meeting someone. When I asked who it might be, she simply said that it's someone I don't know."

"I see." Jeongyeon nods her head a couple of times. She then turns to Sana's direction. "Hey, hamster. Do you know where Pres went?"

"Nope. She just told me it's something important." The cheer captain nonchalantly answered while munching some chips. "Why? Do you need her for something?"

"Nah." The council treasurer shrugged. "Just curious."

"Maybe it's from that person who called her early yesterday morning?" Sana continued to speak. "We were in the middle of a really important discussion but she still decided to pick it up. I assume it's something much more of value by the look she was wearing when—"

"Wait." The council treasurer cuts in. "Yesterday?"

"Yeah."

"That was early morning yesterday?"

Sana nodded her head in confirmation. "I had a massive hangover then but I was sure it was around that time and day."

"Isn't that..." Jeongyeon turns to give Chaeyoung a knowing look.

"Ugh." The soccer ace just paid her roommate an unamused glance and shook her head furiously. "Nuh uh. My Minari's not one to—"

"OOOH." Nayeon perked up in a tease. "Maybe Minari has a secret lover?"

The soccer ace rolls her eyes. "Way to go, Chou Nayeon. What a very smart conclusion you have there."

"I'm just kidding!" The soccer manager chuckles. "Why so sensitive, huh?"

"That's because I already teased her about it yesterday, babe." Jeongyeon also comments. "Maybe because it's true and she just can't accept it. Perhaps... Pres finally got tired of all these complications that Son Chaeyoung has to offer and opted for a love life that is oh-so simple."

"Hey!" Chaeyoung abruptly stands up from the grass. "MINARI WON'T—"

"HEY, YOO JEONGYEON!" Dahyun shouts loudly, a few meters away from them. She was Jeongyeon's playmate before the taller girl ran away saying she needed some water. "What's taking you so long?"

"Sorry!" Jeongyeon casually kisses Nayeon's cheek before promptly jogging towards the council secretary's direction. "I got a bit fixated on some love affair investigation!"

Chaeyoung immediately glared at her and shouted. "HEY! I TOLD YOU THAT'S NOT—"

"Hey, Chaeyoung!" Dahyun cuts her off by yelling again. "Get your lazy ass over here and play! Show us your athletic moves!"

"It's hot!" The soccer ace sits down again. "And my body's a bit sore from soccer practice yesterday!"

Jeongyeon chuckles and comments. "This might shock you, Dahyun. But, our soccer team's ace actually sucks at frisbee."

"Hey! I can hear you!" Chaeyoung stands up again from the grass and points to the girls who just started throwing the frisbee disc again. "And that is not true!"

"It is true!" The council treasurer fuels the already annoyed smaller girl. "That's why she's not playing. She's too shy to let another soul discover it!"

"You know that's not—" The soccer ace pursed her lips. She glared daggers at her roommate before finally starting to walk to them in almost stomps. "Wait over there and I will make you eat your own words back, Yoo Jeongyeon."

Dahyun flashes a knowing smile to Jeongyeon who just winked at her. "Alright! One new player was acquired!"

"Does Tzuyu know that?" Nayeon quickly asks the cheer captain as soon as it is just the two of them on the picnic mat.

"Hmm? What? Which?"

"She will freak out when she hears that you got drunk. Scratch the fact that she wasn't the one who picked you up from the party, you should've at least told her, Sana."

"Ah— ahh." Sana awkwardly laughs. "You think so?"

"Not like 'I think so'." The soccer manager confidently states. "More like I am one hundred percent sure that Tzuyu would lash out at you. My younger sister doesn't let it show but that kid thinks you're a baby that she has to take care of."

Sana scoffs. "She is the baby between the two of us."

"Sana." Nayeon looks at her in the eyes with pure sincerity. "You and Tzuyu both have immaturities. You both have to accept that if you want your relationship to work."

The cheer captain looks to the ground. "Is that how you and Jeongyeon are making it this far?"

"You could say that." Nayeon looks at her girlfriend who is laughing with the other girls after tossing the frisbee disc to nowhere in the field. "A relationship doesn't need to be perfect to succeed. It's not like you both have to be perfect because you surely can't. A good relationship needs two people who do their best to understand each other."

Sana heaves in a deep breath. She stays silent as she plops herself onto the picnic mat.

The soccer manager continued to speak. "Your flaws and imperfection shouldn't form a gap in between you two. Your imperfections should be filled out by the love of the other person so that there won't be unnecessary space in your relationship. That way... you can't be separated by what you don't have because you'll always be connected with what you have."

The cheer captain glances at Nayeon, then back to blankly staring at the sky. The soccer manager also lays on the picnic mat with her. The two girls stayed silent for a moment.

"Sana."

"Hmm?"

The soccer manager glances at her. "You were shocked about the deal, weren't you?"

"At— Just at first." Sana glances back, a bit startled by the sudden topic. She clears her throat before continuing. "But... as Tzuyu spoke about it... I became more shocked at how your little sister didn't know me. I felt like she doesn't trust my feelings for her."

Nayeon smiles at her with concern. "That kid may look like a walking full package of beauty, brains, and talents but... she actually has a lot of trust issues in herself."

"I know. It's just— I just want her to—" Sana ended up letting out a sigh. She pursed her lips and went back watching the clouds moving in the sky above them. "Nayeon."

"Hmm?"

"Am I being too cruel to her?"

"Yeah." Nayeon immediately answers in a bit of a chuckle. "I think you are. And I'm not saying this just because I'm her older sister."

The cheer captain faintly smiles guiltily. She inhaled generously once again and went silent afterwards.

"Look, Sana." The soccer manager shifts in her position to face the cheer captain's direction. "Tzuyu takes care of you a lot even when you were kids because she likes to act tough. She wanted you to know that even though you are older than her, you can still lean on her. But Sana... we both know that Tzuyu's new to this. She never experienced any romantic relationships before. And guess whose fault it is why Tzuyu stayed loyal to that childhood crush of hers all these years?"

"Ugh!" Sana suddenly facepalms herself. "I'm so conflicted right now!"