Summer

The rain came in a storm that summer day. It was not the usual day of heat and perspiration and going out in sandals and sleeveless shirts. People had their umbrellas on and their jeans and their jackets. The weather was substantially cold—and so was the ambiance inside the JYP practice room.

Momo was heading the practice. She was the main dancer and one of her responsibilities in the group was checking everyone’s steps if they were doing it the way they should. It would always be so simple. The years they had on record honed their dancing skills to perfection but somehow, most of the girls weren’t doing it right and Momo was having none of it.

“Seriously?” Her voice raised so loud that employees would stop by to look at what was going on. “You’re all acting like a bunch of idiot trainees!”

Out of the 9, it was Momo who had to keep up with expectations in choreography. She had to deliver the best and make everyone to the same. So far, the first one had been an ease to accomplish. As for the second, not everyone could reach even half.

“We’ve been at this for the past hour!” She yelled.

All the girls looked more exhausted than she was. Their clothes were drenched in sweat and they all looked like they couldn’t move for another minute.

“Why don’t you shut the up, Hirai Momo?” Jungyeon stood up, still panting from the quick-paced dance steps Momo had made them polish. “Dancing may be easy for you, but you aren’t a solo artist! This is a goddamned group comeback!”

The younger members tried to calm Jungyeon down.

“Unnie,” Tzuyu said to her.

“Momo,” Jungyeon pointed. “What kind of demon got into you and why are you doing this to all of us? You’re too much!”

Momo stormed from the center to where Jungyeon was, but gladly there was Mina to block her way.

“Momo, don’t.” She said. Her voice held her down, as it always did. “Don’t do this. Don’t start a fight.”

“Fine!” Momo was still at the peak of her patience. “Why don’t we all take a ten-minute break? For the third time this afternoon alone.”

The members were breaking from their positions and one by one left the practice room. Jungyeon strode with Nayeon, Tzuyu, and Sana following her, asking her if she was alright. Mina stayed with Momo. She looked at the girl empathetically but also disappointed at how she acted in front of their members who were doing their best.

“What you did wasn’t nice, Momo.” Mina said.

Momo picked up the water bottle from the floor and fixed her hair in front of the mirror, disregarding the expression on Mina’s face. “I don’t care. I’ve had it with slackers.”

“Nobody was slacking off, Momo. Don’t be self-absorbed. It was not an easy choreography. Even I had troubles.”

Momo turned around and eyed her fiercely. “It’s the ing title song, Mina. In a month, we’ll be out of this room and in front of a million people. We need to get this done! We’re the Nation’s Girl Group, for Christ’s sake.”

“But still…” Mina walked to her and embraced her, soothing whatever strain there was inside Momo.

Since they had been together, nothing was perfect. It was not the kind of ending Momo wanted for the two of them. It was tense, being aware of everything that happened before hand. It wasn’t what Momo had imagined years ago. Being with Mina had its imperfections.

“I saw Rosie when I stopped by for coffee this morning,” Mina said.

“And?” Momo broke away from the sound of the name, her heart was still repentant over breaking up with her, lying to her, and pretending she was committed to herself with all of her soul.

“She looked great,” Mina said. Momo was almost relieved of her remorse. “She said she was working on her solo debut. Rea