It happened sometimes. She would wake up in the middle of the night because of the rumbling of her stomach. Most times she’d just ignore it and go back to sleep, but this time she could not ignore it. They were all under a strict diet because of their comeback coming up and it was hard for all of them, specially for Momo. So, that’s why she snuck out of the room, trying to be as silent as possible, and got to the kitchen. She rummaged the fridge and found some leftover jokbal. The blonde smiled to herself and took it out, she was about to get a fork when she heard a sniffle coming from the living room. At first she wasn’t sure she heard right but when a second sniffle came, Momo started walking towards the sound. It was pretty dark, the only light coming from the streets illuminated a figure on the couch.

“Mina?” the blonde approached slowly to her friend who was hugging her legs and had her head between her knees. Mina quickly looked up, a bit startled. “What’s wrong?” Momo left the plate of jokbal on top of the table next to the couch and sat besides Mina.

“It’s nothing, it’s just... It’s stupid.” the brunette whispered, shook her head and looked down. She didn’t want Momo to know the reason behind her tears.

“Whatever it is, I’m pretty sure it’s not stupid.” Momo replied in a whisper too, they did not want to wake up their members. The blonde put her hand on top of Mina’s knee, reassuringly. Mina stared for a moment at Momo’s hand and then she looked at her friend.

“I just miss my home.” Mina finally said after a while, her head was down again. A single tear rolled down her cheek and she held back a sob that wanted to break free. The other japanese girl completely understood her situation and without a word, Momo extended her arms. Mina just let herself fall into the blonde’s arms without hesitation. Flashbacks of their pre-debut days came to both girls’ minds, whenever they were feeling homesick they would comfort each other, including Sana. The three of them were having the same experience, the same culture shock and most importantly they had the same dream, because of this they have an unbreakable bond. It to be away from home, away from their families and friends. But at least they had each other, right?

Momo couldn’t help the rapid beating of her heart because of Mina’s close proximity. Truth is, she had a little crush on Mina but she made sure that Mina didn’t know. Perfect timing for you to speed up, uh heart? Momo thought. The blonde was pulled out of her train of thoughts when Mina’s sobbing started to increase. “Hey, hey it’s okay, it’s okay.” Momo adjusted herself, resting her back on the arm of the couch, Mina was now on top of her. The blonde rubbed Mina’s back, drawing big circles. She didn’t know what else to say so she just closed her eyes and kept silent. After a few moments, Mina was just sniffling. The brunette pulled away a little bit, her hands on Momo’s shoulders. The moonlight was shining on her, and Momo could’ve sworn she had never seen something more beautiful.

“Don’t you miss it?” the brunette asked and rubbed the back of her hand over her cheeks, trying to dry her tears.

“Of course I do, but I just try to enjoy where I am right n-” Momo couldn’t finish her sentence because she had to sneeze. She scrunched up her face, put her hand over her nose and sneezed. This, for some reason made Mina laugh out loud and for a moment she forgot about how sad she was. Momo smiled and put her finger over her lips, signaling Mina to be quiet. Mina put both her hands over , eyes wide but you could still see a big smile on her face.

The blonde felt another sneeze coming up, she scrunched up her face once more but then... nothing. It was one of those frustrating false sneezes.

“Damn,” she cursed, and again Mina laughed, her homesickness completely forgotten now. “I don’t understand why you’re laughing at my misery.”

“You just look adorable when you’re about to sneeze, has anyone ever told you that?” Mina replied and put her hand over her stomach, it was already hurting from laughing so hard. The brunette could have sworn she saw Momo’s face reddening but because of the darkness she was not sure. Momo, on the other hand felt a few butterflies in her stomach when she heard what Mina said. She just hoped the girl didn’t see her blush. Why does she gotta be like this?

“No, not really,” the blonde whispered and shyly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, suddenly aware of how loud they were being and worrying one of their members could just step into the room. What would they think? They both should be sleeping right now because of their early schedule.

“Well, you do.” Mina replied and with her hand under Momo’s chin she made her look up. I-is she flirting with me? Oh God, what do I do? Why does she have to be so pretty? Momo’s heart was beating like crazy now. They both stared at each other for quite some time until they realized the situation. This time it was Mina’s turn to blush, she suddenly got off of Momo. “I’m sorry, I should go-”

“No,” the blonde held Mina softly by the wrist. “It’s okay. Stay.” Even Momo was startled by the words that came out of . It took Mina a few seconds to process the request. Without a word, she slowly got back on the couch, under Momo’s arms just like minutes ago when she was comforting her.

“What if the others see us?” Mina whispered, embracing the blonde by the waist and accommodating herself between her legs.

“I don’t care.” was the blonde’s reply before closing her eyes. For some reason this made Mina feet safe, she realized in that moment that, for her, Momo was home.