Imperfectly Perfect [Chaelisa]

four

When she hears three consecutive knocks on her front door, Lisa practically dives down the stairs to stop her mother from answering it before her. She unlocks the door and opens it, surprised when she sees Chaeyoung stood on the doorstep by herself.

Apparently, she hasn't even noticed that Lisa has opened the door; she's too busy staring at the potted plants on the porch. "Chaeyoung?"

Chaeyoung blinks and looks up in surprise, but it isn't long before she looks back down at the floor. "Hello."

It comes out more like 'hallo' and Lisa has to stop herself from smiling. So. Adorable. "Aren't you coming with the rest of the girls? Jisoo told me that she's giving Jennie and Somi a ride here at six."

Lisa glances over at the clock - it's just past five, which means that Chaeyoung has arrived an hour earlier than she was supposed to.

"No." Chaeyoung shakes her head as Lisa ushers her inside. "They're not here with me now. My mom dropped me off after she picked up Alice from soccer practice."

Lisa thinks that Chaeyoung just assumes she knows who Alice is. Chaeyoung seems to assume she knows a lot. "Oh, okay. Well, you're a little bit early."

Chaeyoung blinks. "I am?"

"Yes. I said to come at six." Lisa reminds her. "It's five minutes past five."

"Oh." Chaeyoung frowns to herself, and turns on her heel as if she's about to leave. "Okay. Sorry. I will go for a walk and come back at six."

"No- Chaeyoung," Lisa grabs her arm and pulls her back, immediately noticing the way Chaeyoung seems to tense up. "I don't want you to leave. Stay here?"

"Yes." Chaeyoung nods, and sits down on the stairs. She unties the laces of her shoes before she pulls them off, and then stacks one on top of the other by the front door. "I'm staying."

Lisa smiles. "Good. Do you want to meet my parents now and get it out of the way?"

Chaeyoung's eyes widen and she shakes her head quickly. "No. I don't like new people. They look at me funny."

"They won't look at you funny, Chaeyoung." Lisa assures her. She sits down next to Chaeyoung on the stairs and sends her a warm smile. "My parents are nice. I promise. And I can bet you now that my little sister will love you."

"I have a little sister." Chaeyoung looks up at the ceiling. "And a little brother. Kai and Alice. I love them a lot."

Lisa nods. "That's cool. My little sister name is Julia, but we call her Jules. And my-"

"Lisa!" Lisa hears her mother's voice call out, and footsteps coming from the lounge. "Who was at the door?"

"Oh, uh," Lisa flashes her mother a nervous smile as she comes to a stop in front of them. She would be a little more worried about her parents' opinion of Chaeyoung if she hadn't already explained how she was to them. Of course, there's the first week she spent ranting about how rude Chaeyoung supposedly was, and Lisa was kind of hoping Amy had forgotten about that. "Mom, this is my friend Chaeyoung. Chaeyoung, this is my mom."

Chaeyoung starts tapping her fingers against her thigh. "Hello, Lisa's mom."

"You can call me Amy, Chaeyoung." Amy gives her a soft smile. "Lisa's talked about you a lot."

This seems to pique Chaeyoung's interest, and she looks up with curiosity shining in her eyes. "She has? What does she say? Are they good things? I hope they're good things, because I tell my mom and dad good things about her. I think she's wonderful."

Amy laughs at Chaeyoung's enthusiasm, but Lisa just blushes and looks anywhere but the other girl. She really hopes her mom doesn't say anything about that first week where she only had negative things to say about the other girl.