A/N: I don't know if you guys like listening to music while you read, but if you do, I prepared a playlist for this chapter. Please, enjoy it! <3

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDzW2oaCi5umTLljOM9vLBoI2UfM5ropF

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Jungwon opened the door with a confused look on his face.

"M-Momo."

"Jungwon. Sorry, I didn't tell you I was coming."

"It's okay! Come in."

Momo gave him a small smile and stepped in. Her heart wanted to jump out of her chest, and she hadn't said a word yet. Jungwon grabbed her hand and lead her to sit in the couch.

"Are you alone?" She asked.

He nodded with a smile, sitting closer to her and pulling her into a hug, kissing the top of her head.

"I didn't think you'd come so unexpectedly, but I'm not complaining." Jungwon caressed her hair.

Momo found herself staring. He was so gentle, so sweet... And her heart felt heavy, hurting her chest with each thump. Why was he like that? Why did it hurt so much to look at his eyes, the ones that used to her in and make her aware of how much she loved him? Now, she could only feel pain and guilt.

He leaned slowly and captured her lips with his. Momo kissed him back, searching her heart one last time for the butterflies she used to feel when they kissed. But the only thing she found was her love for Mina. It was so overwhelming, it shadowed everything else. Her stomach twirled, realizing she wished the lips touching hers were Mina's.

A hand came to rest on her neck as he tried to deepen the kiss, but that was enough. She pulled her face away and removed his hand from her neck.

"What is it, baby?" He asked, looking at her avoidant eyes.

Was it time? The moment where she would put an end to it? How would she find the courage to do it, though?

"N-Nothing. I just don't feel like it."

"You've been saying that for a week."

"H-Have I?" She laughed nervously.

"Yes."

Momo prayed he wouldn't ask why, and at the same time she wanted him to, so she could lift the weight off her shoulders once and for all.

"It's her, isn't it?"

Her head jerked towards him to meet his eyes for a second, before looking down at her hands. She bit her lip, thinking of what she would say, but before she found an answer, he spoke again.

"I knew it. I was such an idiot."

Momo widened her eyes at him.

"I thought I could make you happy, Momo. I really wanted it. But it seems like someone else is in charge of it already."

"Jungwon, I-I'm sorry-"

"Don't you dare!" His voice became louder as he shot up from the couch and looked at her with a tensed forehead and his eyes burning with rage. "Why did you lie to me?! Why did you pretend you still loved me?! So you could hurt me again?" Now, the voice lowered to a whisper, as he fought back the tears and turned his back to her. "I just wished I knew what I did wrong..."

Momo got up and grabbed his hand, but he stood still with his back facing her.

"You did nothing! It's not your fault! I know all of this is wrong and makes no sense, and I swear, if I could do anything about it, I would choose to love you! You're the best person I've ever met, you always treated me so much better than I ever deserved... I don't understand this either, Jungwon, and believe me, I've tried really, really hard, but... I can't keep my promise. I can't make you happy anymore." Momo laid her heart out in the open for him, tightening the grip on his hand as she found it harder and harder to speak without letting her tears pour along. "I won't ask you to forgive me. I don't have the right to."

Jungwon slowly turned and met Momo's eyes. His eyes were teary and his lip trembled.

"You love her. You love Mina."

Momo gulped and looked away from his hurt eyes.

"I should have known this would happen... You said you loved me, you said you would never leave me, and I trusted you. How could you say that to me when you knew what you felt all along? I'm not a toy, Momo. I have real feelings, apparently, unlike you." He let his throat cry out the words, as the tears he held in began to fall.

If it was possible to die over a broken heart, Momo was sure she would have collapsed at that same moment.

"I'm sorry." It was the only thing she could say. "I'm really sorr-"

Jungwon released his wrist from Momo's grip and took a step back.

"Leave." He said.

"Jungwon, please-"

"LEAVE!" He pointed to the front door.

Momo took in the disturbing sight in front of her once more before walking towards the door. There was no turning back now. She left without one more word, leaving pieces of her heart behind.

---

"MOMO, FOR 'S SAKE, WHERE WERE YOU?!" Sana shouted, running to the entrance as soon as she heard the door opening. "I was worried sick, you left without your phone, were you out of your mi-" Sana was interrupted by Momo hugging her with such urgency it was as if they hadn't seen each other in years.

Momo buried her face on Sana's neck and released all her feelings, worries and pain in tears.

"S-Sana, what do I do..." She sobbed.

"What happened, Momo?" Sana wrapped her arms around her.

But Momo couldn't fight her sobbing long enough to form a sentence.

With much difficulty, Sana led Momo to the couch, sitting with her and never breaking the hug. Sana waited for Momo to calm down and explain.

"It's over, Sana. And now I don't know what to do..."

"What do you mean it's over? Did you break up with Jungwon?"

Momo nodded.

"He hates me now. I can't blame him, I hate me too."

Sana cupped Momo's cheeks and looked straight into her eyes.

"Please, don't hate yourself for it. You know it had to be done."

"But it hurts!" Momo cried again. "It ing hurts! How am I supposed to go after Mina, knowing how much I hurt him? I don't deserve to be happy after I did something like that. I don't even deserve Mina. She is worthy of so much better than the horrible person I am!"

"Momo, listen to me." Sana pulled her sister into another hug, gently caressing her hair. "I know you feel bad for him, and you know the mistakes you made. But you can't blame yourself for it your whole life. You did the only right thing you could do to fix it. You have to move on, now."

Momo kept silent, her sobs slowly coming to a stop.

"You may have hurt Jungwon, but humans hurt each other all the time, and that's just how life is. That doesn't mean we're all bad people, we're just flawed. You can't deny yourself happiness just because you did something wrong. Tell her how much you love her, Momo."

---

When Momo laid down to sleep, she found herself rolling around, the thoughts in her mind keeping her awake.

Even though Momo knew her sister was more than right, she still had a hard time forgiving herself. And without doing so, there was no way she could move on. She was fighting herself, and she didn't know how to win.

When she opened her eyes the next morning, after struggling with her thoughts all night long, the first person on her mind was, as expected, Mina. Momo found herself with yet another inner battle to work through – did she want to see her, or would the pain of seeing her, knowing she would still ignore her, pain her more than ever?

But something in her heart was different. Now, for the first time, she would try to allow herself to love Mina. And that left her with an uncontrollable need of seeing her face, no matter how cold she acted. Because if she had the privilege of even taking a look at her, she could feel happy.

Unfortunately, Mina was nowhere to be seen all day. The universe was surely trying to play a tasteless joke on her. Last week, she'd seen her every single day, when she wished she wouldn't have to look at her. And now that she needed to see her, she couldn't.

Gladly, Momo had Sana to spend her Friday with. An afternoon of watching movies, playing video games and dancing with her sister was what she needed to keep her mind occupied. At least until it was time to sleep. Fearing another night of tossing and turning, Momo simply let Mina be in her mind. And as easy as that, she fell asleep, hoping the next day would be better.

She hoped. When Momo and Sana arrived at the academy for their Saturday morning practice, Momo's eyes found Mina sitting outside - with Nayeon. Talking and laughing about god knew what.

Momo's feet glued to the ground, forcing her to keep staring at the scene she so desperately wanted to run away from. Part of her wanted to run away and let her eyes cry out, and the other part of her tried to run towards Mina, pulling her away and taking her all for herself. To finally tell her how much she loved her, so she could know for sure that Mina felt the same way.

But how could she do it, when Mina leaned her body towards Nayeon, when she laughed that genuinely with her, when she saw in Mina's eyes the caring, intense, hypnotizing gaze she swore was only for her? She couldn't be sure anymore. What if Momo had been too late? What if she had made her suffer so much she found in Nayeon the solace, the comfort Momo could have never given her before?

Noticing Momo bite on her lower lip so hard she could draw blood, Sana grabbed her hand and lead her to the locker room.

"It's too late, Sana..." Momo did everything to stop her tears from falling, as she let her body collapse into the empty bench and buried her face in her hands.

"Momo, don't jump into conclusions!" Sana kneeled in front of her and grabbed her hands, forcing her sister to look at her eyes. "I'm sure there's nothing between them. How would Mina forget you so easily?"

Momo felt so jealous of Nayeon, and on top of that, she was angry about being jealous. Nayeon was a nice girl, yet Momo couldn't help but resent her. Because she could spend time with Mina, talk with her, laugh with her, hear her voice and look at her smile.

"I hurt her. I abandoned her. How wouldn’t she forget me after what I did? How wouldn’t she fall for someone who was there for her, when I wasn't?"

"Because you don't just forget the person you love like that. You know that better than anyone else, don't you?"

Momo drifted her gaze away.

"How do you know she loves me?"

"Well, I don't, and neither do you. So you need to go and find out."

---

Momo had become terrible at not letting her emotions affect her work. During practice, she only thought about Mina smiling and laughing about something Nayeon said, the image looping in her mind endlessly. At the same time, her sister's words haunted her. Could she be right? Could Momo truly find the courage to confront Mina after she saw her with Nayeon?

When practice was finally over and Momo tried to rush out, Victoria stopped her, saying she had something to say to her.

Yes, Momo was unfocused, she forgot her positions and segments, her movements were floppy and lazy and her face showed that something was wrong. Momo didn't need Victoria to tell her that.

"I'm worried about you, Momo. From your injury, to what happened last time... And today you seemed way below your game." Victoria said. "Is your knee still hurting? Was I too harsh with you and you're mad at me? Is there something you'd like to discuss?"

"N-no, Victoria-sensei. That's not it at all, my knee is fine and you were completely right last practice. I guess I just haven't been doing a very good job at following your advice."

Victoria nodded and rubbed Momo's shoulder. "You know, we're really all human. It's okay to let yourself crash from time to time, but in the end it's all about how you pick yourself up. If you feel like you need to clear your mind, you could take a break and---"

"NO!" Momo interrupted, then apologizing for her rudeness to her superior. "No, sensei. Dancing is everything for me. It's what keeps me alive during hard times. Stopping doesn't feel... natural to me. Thank you so much for your concern. I swear I'll keep trying my hardest not to disturb the group's activities. You have my word."

Victoria smiled warmly and dismissed her.

When she got to the locker room, Sana and Tzuyu were about to leave for the mall. Mina was missing once more. She wanted an opportunity to talk to her, nothing else. Was she asking for too much?

When Momo stepped outside the academy building, she found Mina outside the main gates. With Nayeon, again.

Momo clenched her jaw. Why did it seem like everything was against her, now that she was set on making things right?

After a couple seconds, a car stopped in front of the girls. Nayeon took a step closer to Mina and kissed her cheek, waving her goodbye before entering the car. Momo's jaw clenched even harder, along with her heart and her fists.

The car drove off, leaving Mina alone.

That was it. That was Momo's opportunity. The one she couldn't let escape, or else it could be too late.

But her ing legs wouldn’t move! It was as if there were hands sprouting from the ground holding her ankles in place.

Shortly after, Momo heard another car approach. She observed as the car slowed down, stopping in front of Mina.

It was over. Another lost opportunity.

Momo frowned when Mina took a step back, instead of going inside the car. Wasn't that her mother's car?

It wasn't.

Momo's breath got stuck in . That couldn't possible be Mina's father getting out of the car. He was supposed to be in jail.

Momo blinked and shook her head, then looked again. It was him. Mina took another step back as he approached her.

No. He wasn't going to do anything to her, because Momo was there.

A jolt of adrenaline ran thought her whole body, releasing the invisible grip on her legs as she mindlessly ran towards Mina. She promised she would protect Mina, no matter what. Even though she had no clue what she would do when she reached her.

Momo's heavy steps caught their attention, just as Mina's father was about to grab his daughter's arm.

Without slowing down, Momo grabbed Mina's hand and used the other arm to shove him out of the way. He stumbled backwards, hitting the car with his back. When he collected himself, Momo and Mina had already took a turn and gotten too much of head start. He'd missed them.

Was Momo doing the right thing? Was she being reckless and assuming things? What if Mina was in good terms with her father, and she was actually waiting for him to pick her up? If that was the case, she wouldn't be backing away from him, right?

Her mind tried to figure where she should take Mina, never even slowing down or looking back. She knew the best place to take her. Her father didn't know where Momo lived, right?

Who knew it only took 5 minutes from the academy to her house if she ran? Momo unlocked the door after a few tries, her trembling hands making that simple task much more difficult. She pulled Mina inside and slammed the door shut.

Momo supported herself in her knees, taking quick breaths. She looked up and found Mina's widened eyes on her. Was she in panic?

Even though Momo's lungs were in a desperate need of air, she stopped breathing. What would have happened if Momo wasn't there? Was Mina going to be kidnapped by her own father? What if he had hurt her? What if Momo would never see her again?

Losing control of her own legs again, Momo launched her body towards Mina, catching her in her arms. Mina, taken by surprise, stumbled backwards until her back hit the door.

Momo wrapped her arms around Mina's neck, as if her life depended on it, as if that would be the last hug she would ever get. Mina stood motionless.

The emotions in Momo's heart let loose in tears. She sobbed, her face buried in Mina's neck.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Momo muttered, over and over again, between her sobs.

Then Momo felt her body being squeezed back by a pair of arms around her waist, and a face also buried on her neck. And that only made it harder to stop crying.

No words were shared in the next minutes. Neither of them knew how much they really needed each other's physical contact, until they felt it again. And then, neither wanted to break free.

"I'm sorry, I panicked, I thought your father would hurt you, and I couldn't just watch it, I'm sorry if-"

"Thank you." Mina's soft whisper cut Momo's jumbled sentence. "Thank you for saving me, once again. I thought it would be impossible, but you really heard me calling for you."

Momo slowly pulled away, just to create enough space to look at Mina in the eyes. Her hand found its way to Mina's cheek, carefully, like she was asking for permission. Mina didn't flinch, so Momo rested her palm on her cheek, caressing it with her thumb.

"I promised I would protect you."

Momo had so much more to say, but The overwhelming feelings were blocking . She let her eyes shut for a second and allowed her lungs to get a good amount of air, before letting everything in her heart out.

"Myoui-chan..." How she missed calling her name. "Please, forgive me. For the horrible week, for ignoring you, for thinking and saying bad things about you so I could forget about you. But... Why did I even think I could forget you? I'm so sorry, Myoui-chan... Even if I tried, it was impossible. You're too important for me, and when I realized... I was already too deeply in love with you." Momo confessed, never breaking the intense gaze.

"I was so scared of losing you forever... When you left, after our kiss, I thought you never wanted to look at me again. And because I didn't want to hurt Jungwon, I gave up on you. But for what? To waste time and to hurt everyone around me. I really thought I was doing the right thing, but I ended up hurting everyone. I hurt you, I hurt him, I hurt Sana, I hurt myself...  I thought I did the right thing, but I was a fool. Please... Give me one more chance. Let me show you how much I love you, how much you mean to me, and how much I want to make you happy."

Mina kept quiet, not even blinking or breathing. Her expression was unreadable.

"Y-You said you loved me. Please, don't tell me you already forgot about me, don't tell me I'm too late... Don't tell me you fell for Nayeon."

Mina closed the short distance between their bodies for good, and without any warning, she also closed the distance between their lips. Momo widened her eyes for a second, before letting them close, as she allowed her lips to move against Mina's.

The one moment Momo thought would never happen again was happening. She hoped Mina could feel through her lips how great her love for her was, even if only a tiny bit of it, because Momo would never be able to express it in words.

Momo's hands travelled down to Mina's lower back to pull her even closer to her body, their kiss deepening and becoming rough, while Mina dug her hands in Momo's hair. It felt like their first kiss, but while the first time they were confused, unsure, hesitant, this time around both of the girl's feelings were in perfect synchrony.

 Momo moved her hands to Mina's waist and, without breaking the kiss, guided her towards the living room. The back of Mina's knees hit the couch, forcing her body into a sitting position, thus breaking the kiss. Momo took the chance to take in some air. Slowly, she sat beside her, Mina's eyes maintaining contact.

Their bodies were facing each other, their faces just a few inches away. Seeing Mina's eyes drifting to Momo's parted lips, the latter leaned in for another kiss. And another, and one more, until Momo felt a tear on her cheek.

"I also promised I wouldn't make you cry, but it seems I can't, because you're a hopeless cry baby." Momo teased, her lips showing a small smile and her hand gently pushing the long bangs away from Mina's shining eyes.

Mina pouted and sniffed.

"Don't you ever do that to me again." Mina demanded, and before Momo could protest, she continued. "I know I ignored you too, and I am sorry. I thought I would ruin your relationship with Jungwon if I stayed around you, so it seems like we were on the same page about that. But it was so hard, because you've been my source of happiness since... I love you since I remember, Momo-senpai. There was no way I could stop myself from falling for you. You played hard to get at the beginning, but I knew there was something about you I was yet to find out, so I never gave up on you. Then you showed yourself the most caring, sweet and talented person I have ever known. The way you looked at me, the way you always protected me, to the point you got hurt, made me believe you felt something different, bigger for me. Even knowing you had a boyfriend, I always wished and hoped you would love me back. And I felt horrible for that. This week was absolute torture, and I just wanted things to be the way I wanted them to be, but I still stayed away. I guess we were both fools for thinking we could live without each other." Mina smiled. "I'm sorry for Jungwon... I still feel guilty for him. But I'm selfish because I want you only for myself."

"You're not selfish for fighting for love. That's what I came to learn. I felt like the worst person alive with how I made him suffer, but there was nothing I could have done to avoid it. I kept being drawn to you no matter how hard I fought it."

"Let's promise to just be honest about our feelings from now on, okay?" Mina cupped Momo's cheeks. "I love you, Momo-senpai."

"I promise. I love you too, Myoui-chan." Momo's lips showed a smile brighter than she ever thought possible, judging from the past week.

"Who's the cry baby now?" Mina giggled, using her thumbs to wipe the tears that had formed in the corners of Momo's eyes.

Mina's giggle made Momo return her gaze to her.

"What is it now?" Mina asked when Momo sobbed.

Momo held Mina's stare for a bit before pulling her into another tight hug.

"I missed you so much, Myoui-chan... Your smile, your laugh, your voice... I want to hear it all day, every day. There's nothing in the world I want more. And maybe you're right. I am the cry baby."

Mina grinned and kissed Momo's head.

"It's okay. We can be a cry baby couple."

Momo's eyes widened with Mina's words. A couple. She wanted to be a couple. It didn't feel like reality just yet.

Momo pulled back so she could face her. She looked into her beautiful eyes and let her fingers trace every Mina's features. Starting by her jawline, to her shaped and soft lips, her nose, her cute moles, her eyes and eyebrows.

"What are you doing?" Mina smiled, feeling her cheeks warm up under Momo's touch.

"I'm making sure you're real, because there's no way a human can be this beautiful."

Mina looked away, the heat reaching her ears.

"Then what are you?" She also traced Momo's features, enjoying her reaction to her soft touch.

"I'm..." Momo pondered for a bit. "In love with you."

Mina's hand crept into Momo's neck as she pulled her gently to feel her lips once more.

Momo couldn't be grateful enough for that moment. Even after hurting so many people around her, she was, after all, worthy of happiness.

"As much as I love being here, I should go... My mom is probably worried. I told her I'd go home immediately after academy practice, after all." Mina said, sadness washing over her face.

"No." Momo whined, tightly wrapping her arms around Mina to immobilize her. "I want you to stay with me. Just 10 more minutes? Or an hour? Or two? Or twenty four?"

Mina smiled and touched the tip of Momo's nose.

"Not even twenty four hours would be enough."

---

A/N: First of all, I am so sorry for the long wait. Second, omg. Third, I hope you liked the last chapter, and I hope it wasn't disappointing or underwhelming. I'm not going to hide it – there's gonna be an epilogue keke C:  I'M SORRY AGAIN You'll have to wait a bit more for it, because I'll be flying to the States tomorrow, where I'll be staying for the next two weeks and I'm going to KCON IADIFUVADILDBGIADBFIUSD :DD

I'm seriously so grateful to everyone for supporting this story ;--;

Thank you SO MUCH and I'll see you guys in the epilogue! <3