Imperfectly Perfect 2

59 : Sana to Tzuyu

Sana pauses after holding on the knob to her dorm room. She stepped out of her and Mina's room after answering the sudden short call from Chaeyoung.

The cheer captain composes herself and heaves in a very deep breath before carefully twisting the thing she has been holding on and pushing the door open awfully slowly making a creaking sound like those in the horror movies. "Hey."

"Hey." Tzuyu shyly replies while sitting on Sana's bed. Both her hands are neatly placed on top of her lap. She just faintly smiled, glancing at the older girl for one second, then lowered her head to look at the floor, staying silent after.

Sana softly smiles. She slowly walks to sit right beside the other girl. "Your two Unnies definitely gave me a hard time earlier."

"I— Believe me. I never asked them to—"

"It's fine, Tzu." The older girl reaches to hold Tzuyu's hand. She flashes a reassuring smile and speaks in a very calm tone. "They were just doing that for you."

"Tsk." The younger girl rolls her eyes. "They didn't have to do that. They still treat me like a kid. I'm already a second year college girl for heaven's sake. Why do they have to go and meddle with this?"

"Tzu." Sana gives the hand she is holding a squeeze. "They didn't mean any harm. I'm an only child so I don't know a lot about the drama in between siblings but I have a best friend who meddles as much as she can with what has been happening in my life for the past three years. People do that out of pure concern. Do you know what's important at the end of the day?"

Tzuyu finally looks at the other girl in the eyes. "What?"

"No matter what the other people around you say or do. Whether it's bad or good. Whether it is for your sake to push you up or bring you down..." Sana further elaborates. "The only thing that matters is that you make sure that every decision you make is purely out of your own will and want. It is still you who drive your life Tzu. You're the only one who holds that steering wheel."

The younger cheer captain lets out a deep sigh. She looked down again and simply nodded in response, staying quiet after.

Sana let a moment of silence pass by before deciding to speak again. "Tzu."

"Hmm?"

"They kind of gave me a background of what is currently happening between you and your father."

"Ugh." Tzuyu shakes her head a bit. "I've got everything under control, Sana. Don't worry about it."

"Really?"

"Yeah." The younger girl answers with a bit of annoyance.

Sana nods her head slowly and repetitively a couple of times. "So you're not going to tell me anything, huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're not going to complain or... ask for help or—"

"Why would I ask for help?" Tzuyu squints at her. Her voice is now starting to raise. "Sana, this is all on me. I don't want to drag you into my messed up situation."

"Tzu. Listen to me—"

"No! I'm not a baby!" The younger cheer captain bursts into yells. "Why does everyone look at me with those adorable eyes like I'm some kind of a newborn puppy that needs babysitting all day?"

"Tzu." Sana maintains her composure and tries to calm her down. "You know that's not—"

"That's what everyone has been thinking! Dad thinks I'm not mature enough to be so hung up on you. Jeongyeon Unnie thinks that I need you tonight. Nayeon Unnie even thinks that there was a need for her to talk to you herself."

"Tzu. Wait. Could you please—"

Tzuyu just kept on talking. "Even Chaeyoung thinks that we need Mina in order for this to be resolved. Why does everyone think that I can't do this?"

Sana lets out a huge sigh. She decided to stay quiet after being cut off a couple of times. When she was sure that the younger girl had stopped speaking, she looked at her clearly unamused. "Are you finished now?"

"You also gave me a no to that question."

"Oh, gosh!" The older cheer captain massages her temples, sensing that she was wrong with her assumption and Tzuyu still has a lot to say. "I don't even know what to say to you right now."

"Sana—"

"Come here."

"Huh?" The younger girl scrunches her eyebrows, not sure what the sudden invitation was.

Sana rolls her eyes. In a swift movement, she extends her arms and pulls Tzuyu in a hug. She shifts her voice onto something soothing and calming like how it started the conversation earlier. "It's hard, right?"

"Hu— Hmm? What is...?"

The vice president started tapping and caressing the younger girl's back. "You've been in a hard place for a long time now, huh?"

Tzuyu, who was talking nonstop minutes earlier, has now suddenly shut up. She knows exactly what Sana means and the other girl's soothing touch is not making it any easier for her to not break down. She is trying her best to not let a completely different emotion she is beginning to feel take over her.

"It's okay." Sana continues to speak in an incredibly soft voice. "It's fine to act tough in front of other people, Tzu. But don't you dare give me that facade when it's just the two of us. There's no way I'm buying that act."

The younger girl bites her lower lip with her eyes starting to redden, still deciding to not make even a peep.

However, after another minute, Tzuyu wasn't able to hold it in anymore. She slowly moves her arms to reciprocate the hug she is receiving. Right then and there, the young cheer captain held on to Sana like her life depended on it.

And soon enough, the dorm room was filled with nothing but stifled sobs.

Sana softly smiles. "That's right. It's alright." She can feel her shoulder starting to get really drenched. She just continues to gently tap Tzuyu's back, comforting her. "I'm going to be here for you. Just let it all out with me, Tzu."

Tzuyu did not reply. She just continued to lean on the other girl's shoulder, trapping the vice president in her embrace in complete silence.

"When it's hard, tell me. When you need help, just ask me." Sana speaks again. "When you're with me... I want you to remember that you can cry like there's no tomorrow even on the smallest of things, you can whine like a kid who wants a candy so bad you would sit on the floor, and you can even walk up to me when you just got out of bed and your hair is a complete mess. You can do all of that and more and I assure you that it will never change how I see you. Nothing could ever change the way I see you."

Tzuyu was just staying silent, attentively listening to all these reassuring words that the older girl had been showering her with. Her eyes are closed while she continues to snuggle her head on the crook of Sana's neck, occasionally sniffing the latter's skin whose smell always brings her inexplicable comfort.

Sana then pauses to place a sweet kiss on the younger girl's temple. She equally tightens her embrace on her as she hovers her head over Tzuyu's shoulder, placing another chaste kiss there before eventually leaning on it. "I'm not your opponent, Tzu. I'm not on the other side of the fence. I'm with you here. We're in this together. I'm willing to be with you with whatever you're going through so let me be with you."