Imperfectly Perfect (MiChaeng SaTzu)

41 : Wins and Loses (2)

"Mina!" Chaeyoung was cut off when Momo called for the council president.

Momo slowly walked towards the two girls. She glances at Chaeyoung first who is obviously glaring at her. Then, she looks at Mina and smiles shyly. "Hi, Mina."

"Hello, Momo." Mina mumbles in confusion.

"Umm... I— Ca— Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"NO." Chaeyoung holds Mina's arm and intensely glares at Momo. "There's no way I'm letting you be any more near to her."

Mina softly tugs the soccer ace's shirt. "Chaeng..."

"No!" Chaeyoung swiftly pulls the council president closer to her side. "You're not talking with her, Myoi Mina."

Mina just purses her lips. She looks back at Chaeyoung, then lets out a sigh. She slowly faces Momo with an apologetic look, "Momo... I'm sorry. Please go. I don't want Chaeng to—"

"CHAEYOUNG!" Another group of girls squeal at their side.

One of the girls from the group says, "Ca— Can we take a picture with you?"

"Umm..." Chaeyoung awkwardly smiles at the girls.

Mina instantly rolls her eyes and shakes the soccer ace's grip on hers, obviously looking annoyed. She suddenly faces the soccer captain again who was just silently watching what is happening. "So what do you want to talk about, Momo?"

"Minari!" Chaeyoung quickly protests but this time the council president didn't even bat an eye.

The soccer player quickly glances at the group of girls, then to Mina, then back again at the hopeful girls grinning widely at each other in anticipation of her. She heaves a deep breath before eventually walking towards the girls, leaving Mina and Momo at the one side of the field.

"Mina—" Momo starts.

"Don't get me wrong. I was really about to reject your request. Talk now before Chaeng gets back here. I don't want her to be too agitated like last time."

"You really care for her, huh?"

Mina simply looks at the soccer captain unamused.

"Okay, okay." Momo awkwardly chuckles, "I understand. I'll just say it quickly."

"Then start now."

"Mina... I—" The soccer captain suddenly flashes a smile with sincerity. "I just wanted to say thank you."

The council president slowly raises one of her eyebrows. "Hmm? For what?"

"For this." The soccer captain is currently holding their team's bronze trophy. "I want to say thank you for giving me the chance to hold this. We both know that— that I wouldn't be here today if you... If my actions that day on our first soccer game were reported to the board."

Mina faintly smiles at what she is witnessing. "Momo."

"Hmm?"

"We have known each other since our freshman years and I witnessed how you grew to be the team captain you are today. We both indeed started small in our separate clubs. And... look at us now. Look at you, finally having the right to hold the team's trophy during awarding ceremonies."

"You really know how to flatter me, huh?" Momo blushes at the compliments she is hearing. She looks down and sweetly smiles.

"Momo, even though we're not close friends, I still respect you as a fellow leader of another student club here. And that tiger cub over there..." Mina glances at Chaeyoung who is blankly staring back at them while the girls around her are trying to fit in the picture they are taking. "Even though she—"

The council president halts her statement. Her facial expression suddenly turned into something painful.

Momo quickly notices, "Mina, what's wrong?"

When the camera in front of the soccer ace started clicking, one of the girls from the group stole a kiss from Chaeyoung's cheeks. It took another moment before the soccer ace realized what happened since she was so engrossed in observing even the tiniest movement of Momo from afar.

When Chaeyoung realized what one of the girls did to her, Mina had already started walking away from the open field.

"Minari." The soccer ace mumbles as she instantly runs as fast as she can to try and hold onto the retreating figure of the council president.

Momo also tried to run after Mina but promptly stopped when she saw Chaeyoung pass by her.

"Minari!" Chaeyoung caught Mina's arm. "Hey... Let— Let me explain what you saw. Okay?"

Mina stayed silent. She was just looking at the ground.

"CHAEYOUNG?" A girl, who is in a cheer uniform from another university, calls out the soccer ace and slowly walks up to them.

Mina tried to free her arm but the soccer ace carefully held on to her.

"You're Chaeyoung, right?" The cheer girl asks. "Son Chaeyoung? The one with the soccer team in Senior High School?"

"That description suits me. I guess?" The soccer ace awkwardly smiles. "I'm sorry. Do I know you?"

"I was on the cheer team! The same Senior High School you went to."

"Ahh. That was a few years ago so I kind of forgot. Sorry about that."

Mina perked up at what she just heard. She promptly stares at the cheer girl who doesn't notice her due to being so focused on Chaeyoung.

"It's fine!" The cheer girl chuckles and playfully taps Chaeyoung's other arm that is not currently holding on to Mina. "Oh my gosh. I still can't believe I'm seeing you here! We missed you at our parties when you went on hiatus back then!"

"Ah— Umm—" Chaeyoung clears her throat. She forces a smile, "I'm sorry I wasn't able to get back at all of you back then. It— It was... umm..."

"Hey! How about you hang out with us again? The people from the soccer and cheer team back at our Senior High days would be so excited to know about this! Give me your contact info."

"I'm— I'm sorry. I'm kind of in the middle of something right now." Chaeyoung glances at Mina who is now staring at the far side of the field.

"Oh— She..." The cheer girl squints at the council president. "When I saw her at the registration booth, I thought she was familiar. Now that I think about it... I think I really saw her somewhere before."

Chaeyoung quickly answers, "Maybe— maybe you saw her in our school. She also went to the same Senior High School we went to. She was actually my classmate when I was a freshman."

The cheer simply nods but is still staring at Mina. Then, her eyes slowly widened, "AHH! Now I remember!" She points a finger at the council president in clear excitement. "You were the girl that was frantically looking for Chaeyoung everywhere that time, right? The one who also bugged the soccer team members? Now, I know why you look awfully familiar!"

Mina just awkwardly smiles and nods at the girl.

"She..." Chaeyoung asks, "She did what?"

The girl answers in a chuckle, "She went to the cheer lockers a couple of times just to ask random cheer girls if they know where you might be. Some of the rude students even called her a stalker. I clearly remember her because she even had the guts to tail the coaches to try to get some answers. None of us tried to do that because we know how the adults could be brutal in their words sometimes."

Mina continues to awkwardly nod in agreement when the girl glances at her.

Chaeyoung glances at the council president. "Thi— this is the first time I'm hearing this."

The council president mutters under her breath for only the soccer ace to hear. "That is because you never cared to ask about it."