Imperfectly Perfect (MiChaeng SaTzu)

51 : Drunk Cub

After Mina and Chaeyoung finally exited the soccer party's place, they slowly walked towards the direction of the sophomore dormitories.

"Okay." The council president guides the soccer ace to sit on a bench. They are now in front of the dorm building. "Now, before we go inside, where is your ID card? I will show it to the guard if ever we see someone and ask why I'm there at this hour."

"ID? My..." Chaeyoung squints at the sky, trying to think. "My ID is in my bag."

"Chaeng, you didn't have a bag when I picked you up at the party earlier."

"Really? Hmm..." The soccer ace is now looking really sleepy. "Then, I don't have my ID."

"Tsk." Mina annoyingly looks at her. "Please tell me that you at least have your dorm keys with you in one of your pockets."

"Dorm keys? My... My keys are in my bag."

"What— Ugh! This is why I hate drunk people." The council president looks up and scans the dorm building. She glances at the soccer ace. "Your room is 203, right?"

Chaeyoung simply nods.

Mina lets out a frustrated sigh. "The light is out. Don't tell me Jeongyeon is also not home right now." She fishes her phone from the front pocket of the hoodie she is wearing and promptly dials the council secretary's number.

The other line just continuously rang without anyone answering. "Is she asleep already?" Mina mumbles to herself while tapping her phone again to quickly redial Jeongyeon's caller ID. Again, the line went on and on beeping until the call automatically dropped.

The council president promptly glares at Chaeyoung who is sitting on the bench, looking back at her and smiling like nothing wrong is going on. She contemplates what to do for about a minute.

"Ahh. Let me try her girlfriend." Mina quickly tried calling Nayeon this time.

"Ugh! Why doesn't any one of them answer?" The council president is now starting to be visibly annoyed. The attempted call to the soccer manager only goes straight to the answering machine.

Mina dramatically massages her temples for about a minute. Then, she turns to stare at the drunk cub in front of her. She heaves in a deep breath and loudly groans in frustration. "Hey, Son Chaeyoung! Why did you let yourself be drunk like this in the first place, huh? You should've stopped when you knew you couldn't handle the alcohol."

Chaeyoung's facial expression is now slowly changing. She is now starting to look sad and anxious of the girl that is currently nagging her.

"I would like to remind you that you're still a girl. Shouldn't you be more careful about yourself? What if someone takes advantage of you, huh? You're one popular student here. Look at that flirt aggressively trying to make moves on you earlier. What if I didn't come on time? What if I—"

"Are you mad at me again?" The soccer ace looks at the ground while visibly pouting. "Please don't be mad at me, Minari."

"YES, Son Chaeyoung. I am mad and annoyed and disappointed at you. Why in the world are you acting like this?" Mina continues to scold the smaller girl." Yes, you had drunk moments in the past but you never got to the point that you were playing with an ice cube like some regular ping pong ball! You have obviously drunk more alcohol than you could handle."

"I— I just wanted to forget the pain for a bit." Chaeyoung's eyes are now starting to water. "I wanted to be numb. Just for a while, I— I wanted to forget how hard it is when you're not talking to me... when you're avoiding me... when you're mad at me like this. Mi— Minari... please don't be mad at me. I— I promise I will be a good girl from now on."

"Chaeng—"

"I will behave from now on. I will not let any other girl be near me. I— I will not let them kiss my cheeks! I will run as fast as I can when they come to me!" Chaeyoung's tears started to fall. "I promise I will tell you everything. Every single thing that you want to hear."

The council mumbles with sadness, "I don't think you will remember that promise tomorrow when you're sober."

"And— And... Please believe me when I say I don't want to lose you again. Just— Please, Minari. It hurts. It hurts so much when I think about it. Please, please, please. Just give me one more chance to be in your life again, Minari."

Mina pursed her lips and simply stared at the soccer player.

"Do I have to kneel? I will kneel if I have to." Chaeyoung sluggishly moves from the bench to kneel on the ground right in front of her. "I will—"

Mina quickly walked towards the drunk girl and pulled her up. "What are you doing?" Her voice is now calmer and is evidently laced with concern. She guides her again to sit on the bench. Her eyes also start to water as she hugs the crying mess of a girl in front of her. "Chaeng, you don't have to do that. Don't be like this, please. I hate seeing you like this."

Chaeyoung continued to cry in silence, sobbing from time to time as Mina patiently pats her back for comfort. They stayed like that for a good couple of minutes.

After making sure that the soccer ace has finally calmed down, Mina lets out a sigh and grabs one of the smaller girl's arms to put it on her shoulder.

"Wait, Minari... Are we going somewhere?" Chaeyoung stands up and confusingly looks at the council president.

"You don't have your keys. You also don't have your ID. Jeongyeon is not answering my calls. The light to your dorm room is not turned on. Sana and Nayeon are also not responding to me."

"So?"

Mina glances at her wrist watch. "And the most important thing is that it is almost time for the university curfew."

"So...?"

The council president rolls her eyes. "So I don't have a choice but take you back with me to my dorm room and sober you up there and— and..."

"And...?"

"And let you—" Mina heaves in a deep breath. "And let you sleep in there. Come on, let's go."

The council president moves and takes her step but is halted because Chaeyoung is not moving her feet. The soccer ace is standing still, flat on the pavement, slowly blinking her eyes.

"Ugh. I really hate you, Son Chaeyoung." Mina mumbles as she starts to force and yank the drunk cub, this time to the junior dorm building.