Imperfectly Perfect [Chaelisa]

fourteen

Chaeyoung wiggles her fingers between Lisa's as she waits for the door in front of them to open, her heart pounding through her chest. While she knows she trusts Lisa, she's incredibly nervous for her to meet her art class friends, because she doesn't know if it'll go well. She's never faced this situation before and has no idea what to expect.

"Rosie?" Lisa seems to sense her nerves, and Chaeyoung hums in acknowledgement, her eyes looking over the patterns carved into the door in front of them. "Don't be nervous, honey. All that's going to happen is I'm going to meet your friends."

"I don't know how it'll happen, though." Chaeyoung tells her. "That's what makes me nervous. It's not you."

"I didn't think it was me," Lisa is quick to assure her, and Chaeyoung's worry melts away. "I just want you to be comfortable, Rosie. I can always go home if you're not ready for me to meet your art class friends."

"No, don't go," Chaeyoung keeps a tight grip on her hand in case Lisa decides she's going to leave anyway. "Ashley wants to meet you. And Hyeri and Irene, and I guess Irene's girlfriend Seulgi, but I don't know if she's here. Sometimes she doesn't come and hang out with us."

"Okay," Lisa nods as the door in front of them swings open, and her thumb traces patterns over Chaeyoung's knuckles, probably in an effort to calm her down.

"Chae," Ashley sends her a wide smile, and Chaeyoung looks up for a moment to return it, before looking down at her shoes. "This must be Lisa? She's told me lots about you, actually- it's really cute. Come in!"

At the prompt, Chaeyoung enters Ashley's house, still holding onto Lisa's hand. She takes her shoes off and then looks up at Ashley, pointing to Lisa. "Ash? This is Lili. She's my girlfriend."

"I know, Chae," Ashley laughs, but Chaeyoung doesn't know what's funny. "You told me she was coming with you the other day when you texted me. Irene and Hyeri are in the lounge if you want to introduce them to your girlfriend."

"Is Seulgi here?" Chaeyoung asks as she grabs Lisa's hand again, tugging her towards Ashley's lounge. "I want Lili to meet her too."

"Nope, she's not," Ashley tells her, "but maybe you and Lisa can go on a double date with Irene and Seulgi. Then they can meet."

Chaeyoung looks up at Lisa with hopeful eyes, because really, that's the best idea she's heard all week. "Yes! Lili, can we go on a double date with Irene and Seulgi?"

Lisa shrugs. "If you want, I guess."

"Okay," Chaeyoung nods and sits down on the couch next to Irene, making sure that Lisa is next to her. Then, she kisses her girlfriend on the cheek and announces to the room, "This is Lisa, she's my girlfriend. Isn't she pretty?"

Lisa blushes, presumably at Chaeyoung's compliment, as her friends greet her. Chaeyoung tunes out a little bit as Hyeri takes Lisa into conversation, but smiles when she feels someone take hold of her free hand and she turns around to see Irene.

"Hi," Chaeyoung lets go of Lisa's hand and holds her fist out for Irene to bump, their usual greeting, as Irene doesn't like hugs unless they're from Seulgi. "You weren't at art class on Wednesday. Why weren't you there?"

"I was with Seulgi." Irene replies and starts fiddling with Chaeyoung's fingers. Chaeyoung doesn't mind it, because she knows it's one of Irene's stims. "She asked me to skip. Would you skip if your Lisa asked you to?"

"No," Chaeyoung shakes her head quickly, because art class is part of her usual routine and she doesn't want to ruin that. "I would never miss art class. Maybe one day Lisa can come with me to it, but she's not good at art. She drew that picture on my wall that's like a stick person with blonde hair."