Dae Lee x Tyler

[seriously though ur perfect]. End message.

Dae Lee stared at the text message on her phone a lot longer than she intended to. It held a lot of…perhaps hidden meaning? Her parents always told her how she was the perfect daughter, her teachers said she was a perfect student, and even her currently employer says she the perfect employee. She doesn’t complain, she does her job, and she walks away with what she needs to move on. However, in this case, this was different. 

He wasn’t referring to her perfect record of being a seemingly perfect human being. The words from she heard earlier that day still rang in her head like a song stuck on repeat. 

---

“You look good in a friendly way,” he complimented. A crooked smile formed across his face, brief yet warm. She could sense the slight embarrassment but immediately broke eye contact when the words registered in her brain. She felt her face get hot. *’Don’t take that compliment to heart’* she thought to herself. *‘He’s just being nice. In a friendly way.’*

“Than----thank yo-“ Before she could finish another participant grabbed the gentlemen over to play one of the games over in the center of the floor.

“Tyler! C’mon! You’re missin’ out on the games, man! Partaaaay!” exclaimed the clearly alcohol induced individual. Looking over passed Tyler, the participant made eye contact with Dae Lee. “Yo! Wanna join? Loads and loads of fun over here, ya know!!”

“I’ll pass,” Dae Lee quietly declined, politely holding a hand up. “I’m sure you all are already having enough fun. I…I like watching…for now.”

“Suit yourself!” The drunkard explained. “You though-” turning back to Tyler, “-are coming with me!”

Confused, Tyler looked around as they started walking away, trying to glance once more at Dae Lee. “Um, wait, I wasn’t-“

“Too bad so sad! Let’s have a good time!” the person slurred loudly into his ear.

Dae lee watched with wide eyes as Tyler was unwillingly dragged into the center of many other participants, quietly trying to find a new place to sit down and briefly rest her feet. She was glad she at least put some effort into her attire for this event. Normally, dress code isn’t a thing to worry too much about when suited up to be harassed by little children and becoming a living jungle gym for those that barely reached her waist. Maybe she should go shopping more, once she gets paid of course. Maybe she’d ask for some tips from someone more…presentable. Or what would he like?

---

Her hair was as it normally was, curly and going awry, never styled in the neatest order. Her face was practically makeup-less as she already had the natural “dewy” look of her skin and just the smallest tint of chapstick. She’s tall, lanky even, thin and yet.

[…perfect].

She tightly closed her eyes and held her phone between her hands as she planted it against her forehead, cradling the case as if it suddenly became a treasure. […perfect]. *Me? Ugh. This is confusing.* she thought. 

She started to type, starting with “[No u lols]”. *No, that doesn’t feel right.* 

“[Hahaha okay yeah you too!]” . *noooooooo*. 

Should she just send a meme? Send a picture of a whale and call it a night? Dae Lee backspaced for what felt like the millionth time and tried again. “[Are you serious right now? Haha]”. *Ugh. Why did you have to say that? Why did you have to press send?* Dae Lee internally groaned. She slowly fell on the side of her bed, resting her head on the edge as she cradled into the floor. This wasn’t it. She wasn’t perfect. Not right now.

Right now, she became a girl rolling in the mud of her emotions as a little compliment from one of her new acquaintances caused her too feel breathless, even for a split second. It made her feel ecstatic. Overjoyed. Appreciated. And suddenly, in the most serious way, she regretted the parts of her that were hard to unravel and make sense of.

She turned on her phone screen again and continued to stare at Tyler’s message. 

[ : ok _ hand: ] sent at 2:37 AM.