"She's my girlfriend this time."

Wordcount: 3299

 

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"Momo, have they notified you about the next theme?" Momo's dance teacher, also TWICE's dance teacher, asked, wanting to prepare.

"Yes, this time round is 'This Love'..." Momo drifted off towards the end. As much as she felt honoured to be casted in Hit The Stage, being pit against other amazing dancers stressed her out greatly. She knew she was lacking a lot, and had a lot to learn from them.

Her uncertainty and lack of confidence did not go past unnoticed by her dance teacher. Afterall, she had been teaching Momo for the past four years. she walked over and put a hand on the idol's shoulder. "Come on, this time it will be better. In fact, you did great the last time too! The audience just don't know much about dancing."

Momo looked up and smiled, feeling slightly reassured by the dance teacher's words.

"Let's just focus on preparing for the next concept alright? I've got an idea already."

 

 

 

For some reason, when Momo heard her dance teacher's idea, she thought it was brilliant. Well, it definitely was, until her dance teacher decided to tell her that she even had the ideal partner for her in mind.

Mina. When that name - two simple syllabus - came out from her dancer teacher's mouth, Momo choked on her own saliva and almost died from it. Of all the girls in the world, or even out of the eight other members of hers, why did it had to be Myoui Mina, the girl who drove her crazy at every instance?

Nonetheless, there was no decent reason that Momo could think of to reject the idea, so she agreed to it. A week or two won't hurt, she thought. It would be bearable. Besides, they already had to practice together for JYPNATION concert anyways.

 

 

 

The very first practice they had was just a day or two after she had agreed to the idea and subsequently asked Mina for the favour. It was only the first, yet from the moment they started the practice, Momo realised her mistake. She was wrong. A week or two would hurt, very badly in fact. And it was going to be far from bearable.

Myoui Mina was someone who causes Momo to be unable to think straight. From waddling around like a penguin to her y expressions that came out during performances and whatnot, every single action of hers drove Momo crazy. For every moment that Momo was within a few metres radius from Mina, it took her every bit of her effort to hold herself back from just walking up to the girl, confess and lock lips with her. Yes, Hirai Momo is deep in love with Myoui Mina. In fact, she had been since the very first time she had met the girl.

For the past two years, she had thought that living with Mina and seeing her around all day was the hardest thing to do. This thought of hers was definitely proven wrong when she had been told that she would be performing with Mina for JYPNATION concert, and they would be covering Sunmi's 24Hours. Seeing the younger girl dance to something so y in close proxmity made it really difficult for the poor lovesick girl.

And just as Momo thought that would be the hardest thing to do, she was proven wrong once again.

 

 

 

"Momo, you need to put your hand on Mina's cheeks. We have talked about the storyline and went through the details, haven't we?" Their dance teacher was getting moderately fed up. It was already the sixth time that they had to stop and restart the dance moves because Momo missed the beat during which she was supposed to cup Mina's cheeks. 

"I'm sorry, unnie." Momo apologised, looking down. She knew she was wasting everyone's time. However, she also knew it was really risky for her to do that move, because she might just be unable to hold back and smash her lips against Mina's.

"Let's take a short break. Momo, come with me for a while?" Their dance trainer knew something was wrong, and frankly speaking it would be pointless to keep trying if Momo did not get it solved first.

She brought Momo into one of the vocal practice rooms so that no one could hear them. "What's wrong, Momo? You've been distracted the whole day. You aren't being like yourself."

"Unnie, I.." Momo hesitated. Her head was hung low, with her eyes fixated on the ground.

"You like Mina, don't you?"

When Momo looked up with her eyes wide with surprise, the answer was already obvious. "H-h-how did you know?"

"You're terrible at hiding it, Momo," her dance teacher chuckled. "All the other girls probably know too. Well, maybe except Mina herself, she's really quite dense when it comes to stuff like this."

"Unnie," Momo called in a weak voice. Her eyes returned to looking at the ground. She was afraid, it was the first time she had ever spoken to someone about her swinging that way. "You don't think I'm disgusting?"

"Momo, why would I? Everyone has someone they love. You just happen to love someone of the same gender, and I want you to know that there's nothing wrong with that. Besides, you are like family to me. As long as you are happy, I will support you regardless." Her dance teacher walked closer and gave Momo a firm pat on her shoulder. "And on that note, I'm sure the girls will be fine with it as well. After all, I'm pretty sure some of them are just like you."

Hearing that, Momo's eyes welled up with tears. She was overwhelmed, it felt amazing to be accepted by someone, albeit it being just one person. She knew not everyone would react the same way, but it still felt great being accepted by someone whom she considered family as well. "I'm sorry for not focusing, unnie. I'm just scared that I might lose control of myself."

"It's okay, I get it. But we've already started on this plan so we got to go ahead with it. I don't know how, but you've got to overcome it."

The idol just nodded sadly. It was almost literally painful to be so close to Mina and have all the skinship. She had to stare at Mina through the mirror for 24Hours, and now she had to stare straight at Mina herself, with skinship included in the package.

 

 

 

Practice resumed, and Momo tried her very best to do all the moves as if she was not struggling internally. In truth, every bit of the dance was causing her to be insane. Whenever they were close to each other, Momo dared not look at Mina in her eyes. That might or might not have been the right choice, for Momo would find herself staring at Mina's lips instead. They looked really really kissable, and the older girl just wanted to try it right there and then. 

Momo did all these subconsciously, and she was unaware of what she had been doing until she accidentally glances towards their dance teacher and their teacher gives her a teasing grin. She would then blush so hard, her face turning as red as a tomato. It was truly painful and embarrassing, but she knew she could not pull out of this idea right now.

Every day, Momo faced the same internal struggle, same agony, and same embarrassment. It was really pushing her to the edge, especially when she had to be with Mina only for most of the day, and worst still even dance y dances and have skinship with her. Even still, Momo held back the urge to just shout in Mina's face and confess to her. She was not going to risk anything, one wrong step and the friendship would turn awkward. Their unity as a group would be compromised as well.

 

 

 

One day, just two days before their filming (also known as the day that would put Momo's misery to an end), Mina asked a question that sent Momo into panic. It was during their extra practice at night, when everyone else had gone back to the dormitory.

"Momo unnie, why don't you ever look at me when we're dancing?" The younger girl was genuinely curious, she had not meant to cause any harm with her question.

But she did, to Momo's mind, and Momo was sure that it was the first time that her mind was working so quickly. She hurriedly searched for answers. "Erm..."

"I know! Is it because I'm too pretty?" Mina joked, positioning her hands to make her look like a flower as she said that.

"Huh, if that helps you to sleep at night," Momo remarked. Yes, Mina was extremely beautiful, too excessively so if Momo would say. On top of that, Mina was also adorable and most importantly, irresistable. But Momo was not going to admit to either of these. She would probably be seen as a creep.

Her comment got Mina pouting, and Momo mentally cursed at herself for making that remark. Sure, she got to see Mina's pout, which was one of the cutest thing on earth in her opinion, but she had to force herself to look away before she went on to kiss the pout away.

"L-Let's continue pracitsing, Mina." Great, stuttering was totally the best way to hide that the fact that she was flustered.

After Mina asked that question, Momo tried to look at her while dancing, but not once was she successful. She could feel that Mina felt rather hurt at how she never looked at her in the eye, but she really could not help it.

 

 

 

It was finally the day of filming. The two girls, together with the rest of the idol who were part of the cast, had just finished their rehearsal and were in their respective waiting rooms, resting a little before the actual recording. Mina and Momo were sitting next to each other, both using their phones.

Suddenly, one of the PD came in with a camera man. "Momo-sshi, is it okay if we have a really short interview now?"

"Yeah, sure." Momo stood up immediately and went to a corner, not forgetting to pull Mina along with her.

"Okay so we just have one question. For this round's concept 'This Love', could you give a little hint on what you are going to do?"

"Eyy~ That's a secret." Momo looked over to Mina who was next to her and smiled knowingly. For now, it was their little secret.

"Can't you just give a little bit of hint? Just a really small one? The viewers will surely be very interested to know," the PD pushed.

"Okay fine." Momo turned and pulled Mina close to her, engulfing the girl in a tight hug. "She's my girlfriend this time."

Mina had never felt more thankful than the moment when the PD was satisfied with Momo's hint and left the waiting room. Momo's short and supposedly harmless statement sent Mina's heart racing. She felt her face heat up, and could only hope that her face was not getting too red. If it did and Momo noticed, it would have been hard for her to explain.

The thing is, Mina knew Momo said that only for the sake of the show, because the PD insisted on her giving a hint. However, deep inside, Mina wished that it was true. She wished that she was not just acting as Momo's girlfriend for the performance, but actually become Momo's official girlfriend. But she knew it was impossible. Why would Momo, such a beautiful, talented and naive girl who probably has a whole long queue of suitors, fall for her, the boring and quiet girl who was average at everything?

On Momo's part, when she said it, she was looking at Mina to see her reaction. She noticed that the girl's cheeks turned pink, but perhaps she was just so desperate that she imagined it. Whatever it was, she loved the sound of it. Labelling Mina as her girlfriend. It sounded so smooth, so true, so right.

 

 

 

The actual recording eventually started, and the two of them had been sitting there, looking at the other idols perform. Mina felt nervous watching, all the other idols were so great she felt pale in comparison. It was even to the extent that she was afraid she would be dragging Momo's performance down. Momo, on the other hand, was experiencing a mixture of feelings. She was nervous, more so than the previous filming because she was last the previous time and she was extremely worried that it would happen again. She was also a little upset, because sitting at the side and watching other people perform reminded her so much of SIXTEEN. All the confidence she lost because of that stupid survival show and the painful few weeks that she suffered while preparing for it and even more agonising ones after she was eliminated. She was truly a mess back then. Yet, at the same time, she also felt happy and excited, because right next to her was Mina. She was not competing against Mina, but performing with her. With Mina by her side, everything just felt better. Everything felt like it was going to be okay, and it was all going to turn out well.

Time passed really quickly as they watched people dance. Each and every performance was amazing, particularly since dancing was the common interest of everyone present there. Passion and talent put together always produced an excellent piece of work.

Before they knew it, they were next and had to go down to change and prepare. It was then that both of them felt the nerves coming to them. Well, more so for Momo than Mina, because the girl tends to overthink and doing that made her feel like this was her way of coming out to the world and admitting that she, indeed, was not straight.

They were at the corridor of the backstage, the one that led straight to the stage. The familiar feeling came back to Momo once again, the one that had her heart beating so fast as if it was going to come out, the one that she had felt several times during SIXTEEN, during debut, and even sometimes after that. It was exactly how she felt last week, during the filming of the first concept.

"Mina," she calls out shakily. Other than her members who seemed like family to her, Momo would never express her nervousness so openly. Mina, after hearing her name, looked over and pulled Momo into her embrace immediately. She caressed the older girl's hair, hoping to calm her down a little. "It's going to be alright, Momo, we'll do well."

If it was any other instance, the close distance between them would have sent them both going crazy. Now, they were too preoccupied with going through the dance steps in their head and calming themselves down.

"Next, we have TWICE's Momo, who will be performing with her fellow member, Mina!" They heard the emcee announce, and they quickly got into their positions. It was starting, all their hours of hardwork put together for this moment.

Momo took a last look at Mina before getting entirely into the mood, only to realise that Mina was looking at her as well. They made eye contact and Mina initiated a small smile, making the other girl respond with one too. At that very moment, Momo made an extremely important decision - to finally look at Mina during the performance.

And she did. For the first time ever, Momo looked straight into Mina's eyes during the performance. Those beautiful brown orbs seemed to her in, as she felt herself constantly looking at the girl even when she was not supposed to. For that time span of two minutes or so, even though so many people were watching them, Momo only saw Mina. It was a world with only the two of them. Their world.

 

 

 

Momo could not process what everyone commented about their performance. She could not care less about anything that went on after those two minutes, and she was really glad that she was one of the last.

The filming ended soon after, and while everyone went back to their waiting rooms, Momo pulled Mina into corner again. It was not the corner they had their interview at, not just any other corner, but one that Momo was sure that no one would walk past. She had actually pulled Mina and ran quite a distance for that.

"What's wrong, Momo?" Mina asked as she tried to regain her breath. She was confused, one moment she was walking off the stage preparing to end her day and the next moment she was far away from where she should have been, in a part of the building that she, too, knew that hardly anyone went to.

"I," Momo took a deep breath, "I've got something really important to tell you."

Momo had never expected herself to be doing this, but sometimes when the moment just feels right, you just have to do it.

"Yes?"

The older girl looked down, her expression was that of one as though she had done something shameful. "I l-like g-g-girls, Mina."

Mina was actually slightly surprised at the revelation. Well, she did have some clue that the girl was not entirely straight, but she had not expected the girl to tell her that, and particularly not now. At the same time, she also felt a little hopeful. Maybe she had a chance.

"And?" Really, that sort of reply was not the ideal kind of response to give to someone who had just confessed something like that, but Mina read Momo pretty well and was certain that the girl had more to say.

"A-and, I don't want you to be my girlfriend just for this time. Mina, w-will you be my girlfriend e-everytime?" 

Mina found the way Momo was stuttering so cute, so adorable that she forgot that the girl was waiting for her reply. That sent the main dancer of TWICE into panic. She glanced at Mina before darting her eyes everywhere but towards the girl, then started rambling in their native language. "E-erm, you know, it's okay if you say no, don't need to feel obliged. Oh gosh, this is so embarrassing. What was I thinking about? Can we just pretend I never said that? I hope our friendship doesn't change just because I said that. You're really precious to me, Mina, and I don't want to lose you. Let's just remain as close friends?

"No, I don't want to."

Mina watched as Momo lowered her head. Hurt was what she saw in the girl's eyes.

"Momo, look at me?" Mina cupped her face and directed the girl's vision towards her. She could see tears in the older girl's eyes, and felt slightly guilty for giving a vague answer. 

"I don't want us to just be close friends," Mina paused, looking around to ensure there was no one before placing her lips on the other girl's. She parted only when she ran out of breath. She chuckled when she saw the girl standing there, not moving at all, probably due to the shock.

"I want to be your official girlfriend, Momo." Mina leaned closer again.

"Every." She pecked Momo's lips once.

"Single." Another time.

"Time." She did it once more, and this time Momo finally knocked out of her stunned sate. Before the younger girl shifted away, she quickly wrapped her arms around the girl's neck and deepened the kiss.

 

What she had been waiting for all these while,

she had finally got it.