"What time do I pick you up, Miss Mina?"

"Six. Right here. See you, Jae!"

Mina entered the library, but once she saw that the car went off, she quickly left and headed to the venue of the dance competition. She had lied that she was going to study - it was the only way she could go and support Momo.

***

"Hey," Momo ran towards them, her hands automatically finding Mina's.

"Oh Chewy ah, Momoring doesn't even want to hold my hands anymore!" Sana exclaimed dramatically, her comment making both Mina and Momo blush.

"I'll hold them instead," Tzuyu replied, taking Sana's hands in hers and holding them tightly. Momo chuckled at sight - it was funny yet cute.

"Congrats, Momo," Mina said in the ever-soft voice. Momo, as expected, won both the group and individual category. She beamed as she thanked Mina.

"Let's go have a good meal to celebrate, shall we?" Sana suggested.

That was when Mina looked at her watch and started panicking. She did not have much time to rush back to the library. "Sorry, I got to go first!"

Momo frowned, wondering where Mina was rushing off to. She shrugged, celebrating with Sana and Tzuyu worked well too.

***

"Mina," Mrs Myoui called, and with the tone Mina knew it was not anything good. "Jae told me just now he saw you coming from elsewhere and not the library. Where did you go?"

Mina gulped. She could not tell the truth, she knew her parents would stop her from hanging out with Momo. "I needed to buy some things.." She tried to be as vague as possible.

"You told us you were studying."

"Yes, I'm sorry Mum.."

"We'll see your next test." As Mr and Mrs Myoui left the table, Mina let out a breath that she had been unconsciously holding. She did not know that Jae had seen her coming from elsewhere. She sighed. She had to do well for the upcoming test.

When the results of the next test were released, once again, Mina was the top student. As the scripts were given out, Mina felt extremely nervous - even more so than usual. She slowly flipped over the script that was faced down. Once she saw the marks, she rested her head on the table and closed her eyes.

***

"Minari," Momo called out, sitting down on the bench that they were so used to sharing. 

"Minari?"

"Yeah, I came up with the nickname. You... dont like it?" 

"I do, I love it." Mina quickly scooted over to Momo's side, hugging Momo from the side. "Momo, can I stay over at your house tonight?"

Momo held Mina tight. She did not know why Mina was being touchy, but she knew that the latter probably needed the comfort, plus it's not like Momo did not like it anyway. "Sure, what's the matter though?"

"Nothing, I just want to be with you." Mina knew she changed ever since she got close to Momo. She changed... more to be like herself. She was someone who loved skinship, who loved letting the ones she treasured know how much she appreciates them.

Momo, however, could sense that it was not nothing. She knew something was wrong, but she decided not to force it out of Mina.

The two went straight to Momo's house once school ended. Mina had a hard time finding an excuse for not staying back, for she pretty much did so every day. However, she knew she could not stay back. If she had followed her usual routine, Jae would be here to pick her up and she would not be able to escape. 

Mina was aware that what she was doing was wrong - or by her family standards, at least. She was also aware that once she returned to her home, she would get it, perhaps worse than if she returned now. But if she could delay it by one day, and spend a day with Momo, she was up for it, regardless of the consequences she would have to face later on.

"Feel free to make yourself at home, Minari." Momo was more than glad to welcome Mina, other than the slight worry that she might have a nightmare tonight. She was not ready to let Mina know about her secrets.

Mina was really interested in knowing what kind of house Momo lived in, and so she explored every corner of the house. Reaching the balcony, she saw cigarette butts in the ashtray. She hesitated, contemplating if she should ask about it.

"Yeah I do, once in a while." Momo was standing at the balcony door, following Mina around. She mentally cursed at herself for not getting rid of the cigarette butts, but she knew Mina wanted to ask and decided there was no point in lying anyway. 

"It's unhealthy," Mina commented, heading back into the living room.

The owner of the house chucked at the familiar comment. "Yeah, I know, that's what Sana told me too."

"Mmm, try to cut down a little, okay?" Mina looked at her and smiled. Momo was surprised at how casual Mina sounded, how Mina was not probing at anything deeper, how Mina seemed fine with the idea of her smoking.

***

Momo stared at the girl who had just came out from the shower, and she wondered how it was possible for the girl to look even prettier than before. Mina blushed under her gaze. "Stop looking at me like that."

At that comment, Momo immediately looked away, her face red from being caught. "O-Oh, by the way, your parents called just now. In fact, your phone has been ringing several times.."

"Is that so? Oh, don't worry." Mina walked over to where her phone was placed and shut it off, leaving Momo slightly shocked at what she had done. Mina would have to get ready for what was awaiting her when she got home, but since she was going to escape for a day, she might as well do it entirely, right?

"I'll go and bathe first." Momo excused herself, thinking that maybe Mina wanted some time to herself after the mention of her family. Afterall, she did have some clue that Mina's family was not the ideal happy family everyone wished for.

When Momo stepped out of the bathroom, she found Mina at the balcony, sitting in one of the chair and staring into space. It was already quite late, and given the atmosphere and all, perhaps it was the right time to talk about slightly deeper issues.

"Hey, what's up?" Momo settled in the other chair. The current situation reminded her of the previous time Sana was here.

"Momoring..." Momo smiled at the nickname, but she knew it was not the right time to even say anything about it.

"Momoring," Mina said again, and this time as she looked over, Momo could see her eyes watering up. "Can you let me try smoking?"

Mina had been wanting to release her stress for a long time now, crying alone at night did the work but was not quite fully effective. She had been thinking the entire time Momo was showering, perhaps smoking could be the effective way that she had been looking for.

"No, it's unhealthy and no good," Momo replied, getting out of her chair and walking towards the one that Mina was sitting on. "I won't let you do something that harms your body."

Momo squatted down in front of Mina and looked up, wanting to make eye contact with her. Right at the moment when their eyes met, it was as if that was a cue for the tears that had formed in Mina's eyes to fall. The squatting girl stood up and moved closer, embracing the crying girl with one hand and wiping her tears away with the other hand.

Momo did not know what made Mina so upset, nor did she want to know. At that point of time, she just wanted Mina to let it all out.

A/N: Just some buildup here + MiMo for y'all (:

Thanks for reading, subscribing, commenting, just everything~!