Imperfectly Perfect (MiChaeng SaTzu)

29 : All Over Again

"Wow. The renovations obviously have gone well." Tzuyu states as she enters the smaller room, following her older sister.

Nayeon sits at the bottom edge of the bed. "It surely did. The place looks so modern now. You'll never suspect that it was so worn out when dad bought it."

"Hi, Tzuyu." Jeongyeon lazily speaks. She is lying flat on the bed with one of her arms covering her eyes.

"Hi, Unnie. You're tired already?"

Jeongyeon roughly removes her arm that is covering her eyes and consecutively glares at Tzuyu. "You don't know how much I was worried about you!"

"Aww." Tzuyu flashes a genuine smile. She quickly throws herself on the bed to lay beside Jeongyeon and snuggle with her.

"Get away from me, you energy sucker." The council treasurer pushes the younger Chou playfully who just laughs at her in response.

"Nayeon Unnie, what did you want to talk about?"

"Ahh. Tzu, I just wanted to remind you. This is supposed to be the first time that you are directly interacting with Sana in person, right?"

Tzuyu simply nods.

"Aren't you being too obvious that you care for her that much?"

Jeongyeon adds, "Scratch that, babe. She is definitely way too obvious!"

"I— I didn't mean to! I was just so concerned about her. I— I just can't help it."

"By the way, Tzuyu." Jeongyeon pulls herself up to sit on bed. "After all these interactions, haven't you noticed anything from Sana that might indicate she somehow thinks you're familiar?"

"Umm..." Tzuyu pauses and stares at the room's ceiling to think. "I'm not sure. I think she acts perfectly normal for someone who should assume that we just met personally today."

"Really?" Nayeon follows up. She moves to and lays her head in Jeongyeon's lap. "Like anything weird she did for a few seconds or something that seemed off when you did those clingy things?"

"Hmm... Now that I think about it, Sana was in a daze when I found her on the road earlier. She even mumbled some things that were incomprehensible to me."

Jeongyeon promptly laughs.

"Babe, why are you laughing?"

"That's just normal." The council treasurer explains, "I think anyone who would see Tzuyu for the first time would be in a daze. She is just that pretty. And knowing Sana... Yep! She would absolutely be breathless for Tzuyu."

"You— You think Sana really thought of me like that?"

Nayeon looks at Tzuyu and stifles a smile, "Tzu."

"Hmm?"

"You're adorable. You're blushing right now."

"Really?" Tzuyu quickly cups her cheeks.

Jeongyeon promptly chuckles in teasing. "You already blushed at that? Wow. Looks like Sana got you real good."

Nayeon just knowingly stares at her sister. "But Tzuyu, please keep in mind that even if you perfectly remember who she is. We still don't know if she recognizes you. Take it slowly, okay? One step at a time. You know for sure that the last thing you want to do is push her away by weirding her out."

"I will try, Unnie. I— I just really can't help it. I was also reminding myself about that constantly but— but it just shows naturally how much I care for her."

Nayeon reaches out for her younger sister's hand. "I know. I understand, Tzu. Just be careful, okay?"

Tzuyu softly nods.

The room stayed quiet for a bit.

Then, three knocks were heard on the door. It was slowly opened, followed by Mina's head peeking inside.

"Jeongyeon."

"Yes, Pres?"

"We're cooking our dinner now. Chaeng told me that you specifically instructed her to call you out when we're about to grill the meat."

"Ah! That's right!" Jeongyeon lightly taps the girl who is still comfortably laying on her lap. "Babe, I have to go downstairs. I will help in grilling the meat."

"Minari. You're taking my Jeongyeon away?" Nayeon pouts and tries to act cute. She repositions her head against the bed as Jeongyeon has now stood up from it.

Mina just rolls her eyes at the soccer manager. After Jeongyeon walked out of the door, she pulled it to close but halted abruptly right before shutting it.

Mina swiftly opens the door again and pops her head over the small space she created.

"Tzuyu."

"Yes, Mina?"

"Sana fell asleep. She said earlier that she only feels a faint pain now from her hurt ankle." The council president flashes her gummy smile. "Just saying, in case you wanna know."

Then, Mina finally closes the door to the small room shut.

"Tzu."

"Hmm?"

"I think Mina knows you like her best friend."

"Ugh!" Tzuyu roughly grabs a pillow and hugs it really tight. "Did I mess up, Unnie? You think Sana will be weirded out after this?"

Nayeon instantly chuckles. "No. Definitely not! I heard from Chaeyoung that Mina is protective about Sana. If Mina is teasing you like that, then it might be a good start."

"Should I befriend Mina to get on Sana's good side?"

"Hmm..." The older Chou looks at the ceiling, contemplating as she lightly taps her fingers on the bed repeatedly. "That may be a good question but you are asking the wrong person."

"Ugh. Chaeyoung will definitely not like it." Tzuyu rolls her eyes. "It's like I'm hearing her nonstop ranting right now."

"I know, right?" Nayeon also picks a pillow and hugs it. "When I accidentally met Minari in person at our university, I had to bear with that tiger's complaints for about an hour! Mind you, it was just an accident!"

"Ahh. That's right, I remember that. She still nagged you about it even though she should perfectly know that you never intended it because that's not what we agreed upon."

"Exactly! Ugh. I hate her sometimes." The soccer manager dramatically rolls her eyes.

"Same."

The sisters knowingly looked at each other and softly chuckled. The room went in comfortable quietness for a moment afterwards.

"Unnie." Tzuyu smiles sweetly as she breaks the silence.

"Hmm?"

"I saw the keychain. Sana... she still has the keychain. I— I saw it dangling on the bag that Mina opened when she asked earlier for a change of clothes."

Nayeon lets out a small sigh. "Jeong's right. That cheer captain really got you real good, huh?"

"Will you believe me if I deny it?"

The older girl dramatically rolls her eyes and shakes her head. Then, she smirks naughtily before asking, "So... Tzu, how was it?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"How was it!" Nayeon nudges her little sister. "How was meeting Sana again in person after... all these years of helplessly looking out for her?"

"I think..." The cheer captain's dimples are now showing. Her cheeks are noticeably blushing. "I think I just fell for her all over again."