Imperfectly Perfect 2

1 : Nostalgia

It is past four in the afternoon of the Monday of Valentine's week. Mina is comfortably sitting on one of the benches lined along the university's jog path.

She is silently reading a book with her school bag placed right to her right while there is a tumbler and a face towel to her left.

There are some students passing by while the others are simply loitering and chit chatting on the benches. The yells from the soccer team members are also heard as they are doing drills at the center of the open field.

The council president looks at the far side of the field. She finds a certain girl she knows so well in athletic attire, energetically dribbling a soccer ball towards a guarded goal.

Mina automatically smiled at the sight and mumbles under her breath. "This is so nostalgic. When we were in high school, I would also go sitting in front of the soccer field after my classes, waiting for you to finish practice in the hope that we can hangout somewhere later."

Right after Chaeyoung scored a goal, like she knew she was being watched, her eyes immediately darted to the council president's direction. She flashed a really wide, proud smile that fully displayed her dimple. She consecutively started waving her arms.

Mina slowly widens her eyes, not sure if the attention she might be receiving in the middle of the general student public is really for her. She quickly looked around, scanning her right and left side, and even to her back. Lastly, she turned to look again at the field, finding Chaeyoung still flailing her arms cheerfully.

When the council president finally realized that it is really her who the soccer ace is waving to, she softly smiles and waves back with her cheeks faintly blushing.

That simple scene automatically earned some looks from the students who were loitering around the area. There are some who glared at Mina while others rolled their eyes at Chaeyoung. Another portion of the students simply shrugged it off while there were others who murmured at each other and giggled in joy, finding chemistry in their two student figures' interaction.

When the soccer ace was pulled back to their practice game again, Mina simply continued watching her from the bench.

Then, she smiles to herself as she recalls some sweet moments and developments in her and Chaeyoung's relationship for the past months.

—— Memories in Mina's POV ——

We were traversing the jog path near the soccer field's area that is between the dormitories. The path was lined with warm lighted park lamps.

Chaeng spoke in a tone that was filled with sincerity. "Right now, all I care about is you."

Then, she slowly walked towards me, all the while not breaking the gaze we were both holding.

With the way she was seriously looking right into my eyes, that one meter in between us felt like a kilometer to my world. Everything unbelievably felt like it was in slow motion while the beating of my heart was fast forward.

She stopped right in front of me.

"Tell me to stop, Minari." She uttered as she started to lean in closely to my face, glancing at my lips.

I bet she was expecting that I would protest, push her hard, and walk away. But instead, when she was just an inch away from my face, I simply closed my eyes.

And so, Chaeng closed the remaining distance between us. She softly pressed her lips against mine.

It was our first kiss.

It was the first time she made a bold move that literally confirmed her romantic feelings for me. And it was the first time I made up something in my mind after those four years of doubting while we were apart.

It was when I realized that I was still in love with her.

The council president suddenly facepalms herself while memories keep flooding her head.

She quickly looks to the ground, trying her best to hide her now blushing face from the students passing by the path in front of her.

Then, she smiles some more as another memory from when they were in her dorm room plays in her mind. It was that morning when the soccer ace got drunk from a party the night before.

—— Memories in Mina's POV ——

"But, Chaeng... I think my past insecurities suddenly resurfaced when the cheer girl from our High School appeared and— and talked to you like—"

I wasn't able to finish my sentence because Chaeng suddenly leaned in and placed her lips on mine. It was a chaste, quick kiss.

I think she likes the idea of shutting me up like that, but I don't think she is also aware of how much I love those rude interruptions from her.

"Minari..." She looked at my lips, then back to my eyes. "That one was to stop you from talking because I, even for one second, did not think that you were wrong for acting like that on that day... And this one..."

She glances again at my lips. I had an idea what she was about to do and I had no intention of stopping her.

"This one is because I can't hold it in anymore. I missed you, too. So, so much."

And Chaeng leaned in again to capture me in a kiss.

That second kiss was definitely nothing compared to the first one, nor even to the other simple kisses we had in the past.

That is because of that second kiss, Chaeng passionately started to move her lips.

And of course, I promptly kissed back.

To be honest, I wasn't caring about anything anymore at that time. I just felt like I wanted her, all of her.

Seconds after, I instinctively moved my arms to grip her waist.

Chaeng seemed to like the contact because I felt that she pushed herself impossibly closer to my body, making me softly lean against the kitchen sink. All the while, her lean arms were trapping me on both my sides.

I knew there wasn't anything else that was separating our bodies except for our clothes, but I felt like I still wanted to pull her so much closer.

I never wanted the kiss to stop but I was forced to break our lips apart when I felt the need for some air. We were both panting really hard when Chaeng spoke in almost a mumble in between her heavy breathing.

"Myoi Mina." She heaved in a deep breath and looked deeply, straight into my eyes. The intensity of her stare made me feel like she was looking right into my soul but at the same time willingly baring all of herself for me to see.

The next statement she proclaimed made my heart do multiple somersaults, frantically beat like crazy, and reverberate to an upbeat tune that indicates the climax of a romantic movie.

"You are the only girl that I love and care for and would trade the whole world for. I love you, Myoi Mina. I love you so much."

"Wait, wait, wait." Mina rapidly shakes her head. She mumbles to herself. "What the hell am I thinking in this broad daylight?"

She ruffles her hair and abruptly looks once again at the far side of the open field where Chaeyoung is, running like there is no tomorrow towards a soccer goal. She squinted at the soccer ace's figure from afar. "UGH! Son Chaeyoung. You're making me go insane."

The soccer ace is seen laughing from afar, unaware that she is also running in the mind of a certain council president right now. She high-fives with her peers as soon as the soccer ball she had kicked found an open spot away from the goalkeeper, cleanly scoring a point for her current team.

Then, like on some kind of practiced cue, a group of girls sitting on the grass, not too far from Mina, loudly squealed and cheered Chaeyoung's name.

The council president immediately glanced at the direction of the girls with an unamused look and dramatically rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that sounds right. Hearing those fangirls do their thing right now surely made the nostalgia even much more realistic."