Imperfectly Perfect (MiChaeng SaTzu)

74 : Postlude

"Come here." Chaeyoung grabs Mina's hand and carefully drags her inside the building after a moment of just flatly standing in front of the junior dormitories.

The council president was saying her goodbyes and tried to get her bouquet of flowers from Chaeyoung's hand but the latter is not permitting any of those things to happen. Both the goodbye and the handing over of the flowers.

"Wait— Where are you— Chaeng."

As soon as they reach a slightly secluded area in a corner near the stairs, the soccer ace lets go of Mina's hand and consecutively squints at her.

"What is it, Chaeng?" The council president slightly tilts her head at her. "You're acting weird."

Chaeyoung harshly ruffles her hair and starts whining. "ARGH! This is so hard, Minari! Why is this so hard?"

"Huh? What is...?"

The soccer ace lets out a sigh. "I still want to stay longer with you today."

Mina faintly chuckles at her. "Chaeng, you're officially too clingy right now."

Chaeyoung simply glared at her.

"Okay, okay. Sorry." Mina raises both her hands playfully as a sign of surrender. "Hmm... Then, how about I sneak you in my pocket and take you with me to my room? I could let you out when it's already lights off and it is time for bedtime. That way, Sana won't notice that I have you with me in my bed."

"Yes, please." The soccer ace nods energetically like the joke could actually happen. "Take me with you. I like that plan!"

Both of them immediately burst into laughter for a couple of seconds.

Mina speaks again, shifting back to her calm, soothing voice. "It really is time to say goodbye for today. You know that we'll still see each other tomorrow, right?"

"But, still!" Chaeyoung pouts and sulks, looking to the ground.

"Aww." The council president flashes her gummy smile. "My baby cub is acting all pouty again."

"You said it again." The soccer ace pops her head up with excited eyes. "You called me by that name again."

Mina smirks at her expected reactions. "I did. Now, will that finally convince you to part ways today?"

"Let's see..." Chaeyoung pauses for a moment before continuing in a grin and challenging tone. "One more time. Why don't you try calling me out like that one more time?"

"Again?"

The soccer ace softly nods, staring directly at the council president.

"It's a bit— a bit awkward when you ask for it and look at me like that."

"Come on." Chaeyoung spoke again, this time in a low voice, automatically shifting the atmosphere into something that made Mina's cheek begin to faintly flush. "Just one more time, Minari."

"B—" The council president shyly glances at the ground, then back to her. "Baby cub."

The soccer ace slowly puts both her arms behind her, conveniently hiding the bouquet of flowers to her back and cleanly out of the way in between her and Mina. She started walking closer to her while continuing to communicate in a low voice. "Don't leave the possessive pronoun at the start."

"W— Why?" Mina takes a step back because Chaeyoung stopped awfully close to her to the point she can feel the smaller girl's breathing. "Does that make a difference?"

"Yeah. A whole lot different." The soccer ace took again another step to close the space in between her and Mina. She is now back standing right next to the council president. "I like it when you imply that I belong to you."