Imperfectly Perfect 2

38 : Best Friends

"Good morning, Sana." The council president greets her best friend from their dorm room's mini kitchen.

"Good morning, Mina." The cheer captain rubs her eyes while sluggishly sitting on the bed, still groggy from just waking up.

"How are you feeling?"

Sana rolls her eyes. "Ugh! Finally experiencing a hangover for the first time in my life. How did I..." Her eyes slowly widened after looking around and realizing on which bed she was all night. "MINA!"

"What?"

The cheer captain looks at her in shock. "Why am I in your bed?"

"Well, you insisted on sleeping beside me and since my energy has been too drained to argue with your drunk self last night... I just let you do what you want."

Sana stares at her roommate seriously with obvious excitement in her eyes. "Please tell me something happened."

"Huh?" Mina scrunches her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Please tell me you took advantage of my drunk self and my sexy body and did something to me that could pass as sexual harassment."

"What— Why in the world would I do that?" Mina looks at her with a disgusted face. "Of course, I did not!"

"Ugh!" Sana plops herself back on the bed. "You're boring. My best friend's boring."

The council president stifles a chuckle. "Thanks. Now get up. You never got drunk like that ever before so I'm not sure if you'd finally get sick in the morning after partying all night. Come here and eat. I got you a hangover soup and some medicine."

"Really?" The cheer captain sits again on the bed enthusiastically. "Is that soup the same as the one you bought when Son Chaeyoung got a hangover?"

Mina paused a bit, not sure how to answer, then slowly uttered. "Umm... This is from the same cafeteria so... that may count as the same? Why? Does that matter?"

"Yep!" Sana smiles and stands up, consecutively walking towards their dining table. "At least you take care of us the same way."

"What's with you two?" The council president raises an eyebrow at her. "Chaeng is also acting like that sometimes. You know, like you're some kind of rival to her."

The cheer captain scoffed. "Lovers and best friends are sometimes destined to be rivals."

Mina looked at her in confusion. "I... never felt about that with Tzuyu. I mean— when I think that she's your lover and I'm your best friend."

"That means you clearly love me less."

"Huh? What kind of logic—"

Sana cuts her off and points a finger to her. "And why are you saying that stupid girl's name early in the morning when I'm finally having a massive headache!"

"You mean that tiger—"

"No!" The cheer captain suddenly acted annoyed. "The other girl!"

"Ahh. Tzu—"

"Don't! I don't want to hear her name early in the morning."

"Okay, okay." Mina raises both her hands in the air. "Got it. Sorry." She then walked towards their coffee maker. "Do you also want some coffee?"

"Of course. What kind of question is that?" Sana smugly says while scooping some soup from the container her roommate has prepared, carefully transferring some to her bowl. "Coffee is what has been running in our veins ever since we started college three years ago."

The council president simply chuckles and nods at her in agreement.

The two girls went silent for a while. Nothing was heard in the room but the gurgling of the almost drained water from the coffee machine.

"Umm..." Sana clears her throat. "Mina."

"Hmm?"

"Thank— thank you."

Mina glances at her and smiles. She is now pouring some coffee on the two mugs she prepared. "That's nothing. We both know that even in the middle of a fight, there's no way you wouldn't take care of me when I need you."

"Nah. What we both know is that you're the one who's more mature and collected between the two of us."

"That... I won't argue." The council president proudly comments as she walks back towards their table. "But... you also have to thank Dahyun big time. Make sure to tell her that later."

"Oh, Really?" Sana squints a bit, trying to recall some events from last night's party. "My memory's still blurry. But I think it'll all come back later."

"You were a mess last night, Minatozaki. Dahyun's the one who carried you all the way back here. I didn't even have to ask her. She volunteered to do... mostly the 'taking care' part of you."

The cheer captain slowly nods. "Then... I will make sure to thank her later."

"You were lucky she was there." Mina continued to speak. "She was so caring and gentle in handling you like you were some delicate glass that could break at any moment. If it was me, since we're still in the middle of an argument, I would've just tossed you around, breaking a bone or two in the process."

"HEY, MYOI—"

Mina suddenly bursts into laughter. "Just kidding."

"Tsk." Sana playfully squints at her best friend, but then also joins in chuckles short after.

After a few sips of her freshly brewed coffee, the council president awkwardly clears her throat, getting her best friend's attention. She starts with a very unsure tone. "Umm... So... With— with the name that can't be said..."

"Ugh." Sana promptly glared at her roommate. "You really don't know when to shut up sometimes, do you?"

"Still not a good time?"

The cheer captain let out a deep sigh and slurped some of her soup. "Before anything else... I'm sorry about last... last night's fight."

Mina reaches out to give her best friend's hand a squeeze. "I'm sorry about that too."

Sana faintly chuckled. "And you know what? Thinking about it now... Dahyun was right. We acted like immature teenagers."

"Yeah." The council president also chuckled with her. "Totally."

"So going back to the elephant in the room..." The cheer captain pauses and heaves in a deep breath. "The truth is... I wasn't annoyed by the fixed marriage per se. It really did not faze me one bit. When Tzuyu told me about her being engaged to Chaeyoung... in my head, I was like 'okay, noted'. Just as nonchalantly as that. I mean, I know how stupid those fixed marriages are. And I trust that Chaeyoung and Tzuyu don't like each other one bit, so there's no way they would have agreed to it wholeheartedly. I know it's just a stupid business arrangement that they can't help but comply with for now. But— but what really annoyed me was what— what Tzuyu— what that stupid girl told me next."

Sana paused for a moment. Mina is just attentively looking at her, patiently waiting for her to continue. "She— Chou Tzuyu. She told me about this stupid deal she made with her dad. I— When I heard it, I can't help but feel like—"

The cheer captain purses her lips and facepalms herself. She heaved in a deep breath. She once again paused for a moment, then looked back directly to her expecting best friend in a now calmer stature. "Mina, listen carefully to what I am going to say. This deal that Tzu made with her father... it will affect all of us. And, in order for the deal to be fulfilled, Tzu asked me to—"

And Mina's phone suddenly rang, stopping the cheer captain's story telling.

The council president quickly picks it up and checks the caller ID. She hesitated for a second but eventually looked at her roommate apologetically. "I'm so sorry, Sana. I have to take this call. This is from someone who's really important."