Imperfectly Perfect (MiChaeng SaTzu)

66 : First Reason

"So..." Chaeyoung decides to break the comfortable silence she and her date today have been holding. "Minari, do you want to hear my story?"

The two of them are still sitting on the local park's grass near the Senior High School that both of them went to when they were freshmen.

Mina turns to look at her with concern. "If you're ready, then yes. I will hear whatever you have to say." She looks at her hand that the soccer ace is still holding. She slowly moves it to intertwine with Chaeyoung's hand. Then, she looks back in full attention to the girl in front of her.

Chaeyoung heaves in a deep breath. "Minari... There are two reasons why I disappeared that year and why I wasn't able to contact you ever since. The first one... when you hear it, it is something that might cause you to care more for me while— while for the second one... when you hear it, it is something that might cause you to hate me."

She looks at the council president with sadness. "And that is what I am afraid of the most."

Mina softly squeezes the soccer ace's hand and smiles at her. "Just trust me that I am willing to accept whatever situation you have right now, Chaeng."

Chaeyoung softly smiles back and nods. She once again heaves in another deep breath. "Okay! Here I go. The things that I'm about to say may shock you in some way or confuse you, but— but please bear with me. I will try my best to tell you everything."

The council president simply nodded at her, patiently looking and waiting for the soccer player to continue.

"Umm... The truth is... my family's in chaos right now. I'm not on good terms with my dad." Chaeyoung scoffs. "That man and I would always take the chance to bicker at each other at the drop of a hat. Minari, I seldom go back to our house because I don't feel like it's a home anymore for me to come back to. As a matter of fact, every single time I go back there..."

Chaeyoung's eyes start to water. "Every single time I enter that house... I feel suffocated... I— I feel like— like every part of my body doesn't want to be there. Like my whole being rejects the air I breathe around that house. And—" Her hold on Mina's hand tightens. "And all of this... all of this trouble that my family is going through right now. All of this started when... when— when my mom died. I— Minari, I—"

Tears suddenly started to freely fall from Chaeyoung's eyes. She momentarily stopped whatever she was trying to say to compose herself from the sudden burst of emotions.

Mina quickly wiped the soccer ace's cheek carefully with her free hand, since the smaller girl is still holding on tight to their intertwined hands like her life is currently depending on it.

The council president stayed silent for a moment, letting Chaeyoung calm down first before speaking again. "Chaeng, it's okay. I'm here. But if this is too hard for you to say—"

"No, Minari." Chaeyoung shakes her head. "I want you to hear everything. I'm done hiding things from you."

Mina looks at her with genuine concern. "Okay."

"Just— just don't let go of my hand."

"I will listen to you and I will never let go of your hand." Mina smiles reassuringly. "I promise."

"Thanks." The soccer ace closes her eyes and inhales generously, holds it in for a second, then opens her eyes and slowly exhales. "So that is my first reason, Minari. Four years ago, that year when we were classmates in Senior High School, I— I lost my mom."

Chaeyoung pauses again and looks to the ground.

Mina is just silently staring at her in concern, patiently waiting for the other girl to continue whenever she is ready to speak again.

"Umm..." The soccer ace clears her throat. "That first day when I suddenly didn't go to school, my mom got into a car accident. She was on her way to a business trip when another car that beat the red light hit her vehicle on a crossroad. She was immediately brought to a hospital and went directly for emergency surgery. I was so shocked when my dad told me the news. I— I didn't know what to do. Right then and there, I rushed to the hospital that he told me about. Nothing else mattered to me at that moment, I just wanted to see my mom and I— I just wanted to know that she's okay. The surgery went on for hours... My dad and I waited outside the operating room without eating or going anywhere... And when the doctors went outside... the— the surgeon told us that my mom will be in a coma. A week after that... she— she passed— she passed away."

Chaeyoung started to break down and sob while Mina promptly pulled her in a hug.

The council simply stayed silent again. More than promised words, she opted to comfort the soccer ace in a tight embrace, softly tapping her back from time to time.

"Minari, during that week that we were waiting for her to wake up, I didn't care about anything else. I never picked up my phone. I never checked the time. I lost track of day and night. I— I just wanted to be right beside her." The soccer ace tightens her embrace. "This is the first time I'm telling someone about this. It was already four years ago but the pain still feels like it just happened yesterday."

"Chaeng, even your close friends don't know about this?"

"They know that I no longer have my mom but I never talked about the details of how I lost her. It's like— I feel like I'm accepting her loss if I tell this to someone."

"Chaeng..." Mina softly breaks the hug and gazes at the soccer ace in the eyes. "I— I am so sorry to hear about what happened to her. And... Thank you so much for telling me about this."

Chaeyoung softly shakes her head. She softly smiles. "No, thank you for listening to me."

Mina simply nodded and smiled back at her.

They both stayed in comfortable silence for a moment until Chaeyoung chose to pursue the topic at hand.

"Minari..."

"Hmm?"

"That first week I suddenly disappeared from school, it was when my mom was hospitalized. The succeeding week that I was still unreachable... it was her interment." Chaeyoung composes herself once more and reaches out for Mina's hand. "But, I already told you that I have two reasons, right?"

Mina softly nods. "You did."

The soccer ace looked at the ground and heaved in a deep breath. "While the first one was the reason why I suddenly stopped going to school and was unreachable for about two weeks... the second reason was the one that stopped me from contacting you ever again for the succeeding years. The— the second reason is also the main reason why I tried my best to hide things from you."