“Ah, Mr Park chose the solo dancer,” Mina said, settled comfortably in her beanbag with her phone in her face.

“Did you get it?” Nayeon asked, clicking on her laptop. The tinny speakers played Candy Crush sounds as she apparently got a ‘Sweet’ combo while clearly writing her essay on the hanbok.

“No, Momo-chan did.”

“Oh,” Nayeon said, looking over at her strawberry blonde friend. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, of course. Momo deserved it.”

“You’re… really fine? I mean, you wanted that part a lot.”

“I guess I did,” Mina said, tilting her head as she scrolled through her emails. She looked over at Nayeon when she worked it out, grinning. “I can’t be mad at Momo-chan, though. As expected, I’m head over heels for her.”

Mina hugged her phone to her chest and looked up at the ceiling dreamily.

“Uh huh,” Nayeon said dryly.

“Oh, how did Jungyeon go? Did she show up? I wasn’t paying attention at the party.”

“Yeah, she showed. It was awkward, but I think she wants us to be friends again.”

“Why’d you stop being friends in the first place?”

“I don’t know. She just went distant on me, and we started getting into fights over weird things, then we just… stopped talking.”

Mina nodded calmly. “So she got a crush on you and didn’t know what to do.”

“No, obviously n-” Nayeon paused, suddenly looking both disturbed and deep in thought. “Actually, uh, maybe.”

“That’s obvious crush behaviour. Have you ever read a romance book?”

“No,” Nayeon said. “They’re a waste of time. I just watch dramas and they only go awkward after the kiss.”

“Oh! Maybe Jungyeon dreamed a kiss! That’d be decent plot development.”

“I’m confused,” Jihyo said from the doorway. Excitedly, Mina stood, beaming over at her.

“Nayeon’s getting a girlfriend!”

“No, I’m-”

“Anyway, I’ve gotta go. Lunch date with Momo-chan, featuring third wheel Minatozaki Sana.”

Nayeon just sighed as Mina rushed out of the room.

Mina had caught them sitting beside each other outside the cafe and nearly ran into the glass table. Quickly regaining her balance, she struck a pose, grinning.

“I’m here!” she said, sitting down before the embarrassment kicked in too hard.

“When you strike the flawless leader pose, you need to commit, Myoui Mina!” Minatozaki Sana said. After a second her eyes flickered to Momo, and then she stood. “Here. Like this!”

She spread out her arms, looking up at the sky, and in complete silence Mina and Momo looked up at her. Birds sang in the background. The sun shined. Everyone in a 30 metre radius stared.

“You’re embarrassing Momo,” Mina said eventually, snapping Sana out of it. Minatozaki Sana pouted as she sat back down.

“Speak for yourself,” Momo said, chuckling. “Did you order?”

“Oh… no, I didn’t,” she said, glancing over at the counter and then back at the two girls whom she couldn’t leave alone. “Would you mind accompanying me, Momo-chan?” She grinned, but already she was getting tired of aegyo.

“Uh, sure,” Momo said, standing. “I’ve been meaning to ask for more fries anyway.”

Together they stood, and Mina threw a casual smirk in Sana’s direction. They made their way to the line, where they stood awkwardly for a second.

“So, what do you think of Minatozaki Sana?” Mina asked, hoping to find a way to nudge in another victory.

“Oh, she’s nice. I really like your friendship with her, it’s great. How long have you known each other?”

Uhhh. Mina suddenly forgot both the languages she spoke. It wasn’t an answer she’d expected – especially the part where Momo turned it into a Mina-Sana situation.

“We’re not friends,” Mina said the moment she remember Korean. “She’s my arch-nemesis.”

“Oh,” Momo said, blinking at Mina and then blinking at the next person ahead in line. “Okay.”

They were silent until they ordered, and then they returned and Mina and Minatozaki Sana exchanged more lightning glares and they continued pampering Momo.

Mina tried to keep a tally, but she lost track. In the end she felt like it was a sort of 60/40 situation for victories of Momo, in Minatozaki Sana’s favour.

That was why she was lying face-down on the sofa the next day, making loud sad noises at Nayeon while she played more Essay Crush.

“It’s not a big deal,” Nayeon said. “And I just don’t get why it’s so hard to write down that the hanbok shape was first found in the 3rd century BC. I mean, I can’t just type that...”

‘Delicious!’ her computer announced happily as sparkles indicated the crushing of candy.

“It’s not working out, Nayeon.”

“I know. This assignment is due tomorrow night.”

“I mean with Momo.”

“Isn’t it? You seem to have a cute little trio going.”

“It’s not meant to be a cute little trio! It’s meant to be me winning!”

Nayeon laughed. “Beggars can’t be choosers.”

“I’m not begging,” Mina grumbled, and when Nayeon didn’t answer she rolled over, calming herself and staring at the ceiling. “I don’t stand a chance against her, do I?”

“Mina, it’s not the end of the world.”

“Why would I stand a chance? She’s so gorgeous without even doing anything. Her nose is adorable.”

“Her… nose? What?”

“It’s just tiny and upturned and fits her face so well. I hate it.”

“Right,” Nayeon sighed, clicking around a bit more on her laptop. “Sounds like hate. I’m going to actually write this essay now.”

“Okay,” Mina answered, sliding her phone out of her pocket. Quietly, as Nayeon typed and grunted and backspaced and groaned in the background, Mina checked Instagram.

It was all the usual stuff of faces in bright yellow lighting at perfect angles. She liked a few as she scrolled, read the descriptions, and then slid right past something that made her stop.

Slowly she scrolled back up to it. Sana and Mina, cheeks pressed against each other with their eyes closed and stupid happy little smiles on their faces.

Momo unnie~, the description read, followed by a star emoji and a heart emoji.

“Minatozaki Sana!” Mina snapped at her phone, glaring at the girl in question, and Nayeon made a noise like a cat startled by a toaster. Silence reigned for a second before Nayeon ventured into conversation.

“Mina...”

“What?”

“...tozaki Sana. Heh. Your name’s in her name.”

Mina sunk further into the sofa. “I can’t believe they’d go out without me.”

“Instagram selfie?”

“Mmhm,” Mina whimpered. Nayeon tutted.

“Maybe Sana is winning.”

“This isn’t a joke! I wouldn’t go hang out with Momo without her.”

“Wait. You’re upset at Sana for this?”

Mina looked away from her phone, at Nayeon, who was squinting back at her suspiciously.

“I’m just upset! I can be confusing!”

“Sure. You’re being tortured over your love.”

Mina sighed and began desperately wriggling her way out of the sofa. “I’m going to eat out.”

“Oh!” Nayeon eagerly snapped shut the laptop. “Take me with you!”

Mina laughed, waiting as Nayeon stood up and then looking at Nayeon’s pajama trousers until Nayeon realised and ran off to change. With a sigh, Mina looked at her phone again, examining the offending picture.

She should comment. She tapped the comment slot, staring at the keyboard for a moment before switching to emojis.

It was time for an eye emoji. Mina wasn’t sure how many eyes – she added more until it looked right, and then counted four. Good enough. She hit comment and hid the phone in her pocket before Nayeon returned.

Minatozaki Sana, her brain said to her spitefully.

“So how’s Jungyeon?”

“Fine. I still can’t believe you might be right about her liking me.”

“Do you like her?”

Nayeon looked at Mina blankly for a second, then looked away. “It doesn’t matter,” she said quietly. “How come you can just pick something like that up and then be so terrible with your own feelings?”

“I’m not terrible with my feelings,” Mina argued as she followed Nayeon without paying any attention to her surroundings.

“You know what you sound like, Mina?”

“What?”

“Denial. Hi, I’ll have a chicken wrap please.”

Mina looked around, shocked to realise they were at the counter. “Uh, make that two,” she said, flashing a smile to the nodding waiter as Nayeon grabbed her elbow and shifted her to a nearby table. “I do not sound like denial,” she said once she was certain she was sitting. “I have everything worked out.”

“And she denies it,” Nayeon said pointedly.

“Are you telling me that the only way to not be in denial is to tell you that I am in denial? There’s no winning here! And now my head hurts!”

Nayeon reached out, patting Mina’s hair. “Poor head. It must not get used often.”

“Oh, you be quiet,” Mina said, noticing the way just for a second Nayeon’s eyes were looking at something a bit to the side. She turned to see what it was – and there, if she believed her eyes, were three girls sitting (or standing) by a table.

One of them didn’t really matter. The telltale coloured dip-dye hairstyle gave her away as that dip-dye girl from dance class who only really seemed to attend for the fun of it and also never seemed to practice. Her hands rested on Momo’s shoulders, and she and that blonde looked at a certain Minatozaki Sana brand of blonde opposite them, both laughing at whatever she’d just said.

“I can’t believe this,” Mina said, pouting and watching her rival.

And then Momo’s hand reached out, lightly taking hold of Minatozaki Sana’s nose, playfully trying to pull it from side to side as Sana scrunched up her face and giggled.

“Dahyun looks about as happy as you do at this turn of events,” Nayeon said thoughtfully. Mina wasn’t looking at dip dye girl, though.

“I’m going,” she said. “You can eat my wrap.”

a/n- I got so close to ending this chapter with a cliffhanger, but I held back. I'm proud of myself, because I'm worried I'm getting addicted to them lmao. Anyway, again, I had loads of fun writing this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it! :)