Momo remembered Sana's words about Mina. 

"Are you judging her like that just because she didn’t show any expression seeing your dancing? You have no idea what was going through her mind while she was watching you! And why did that bother you so much? I thought you had a thicker skin."

She was kinda right. Momo was thinking too harshly of Mina when she only just met her, so she decided to give the red haired girl a chance. Maybe she wasn't that bad. 

But even if she was willing to give her a chance, she was glad she didn't have Project class on Tuesday. Then she remembered she would have academy class later, after school, and Mina was going to be there. Momo put her brain to work for a little and got to the next conclusion: the only days of the week she didn't have to see/dance/be with Mina were Friday and Sunday. Because they had Project class together on Monday and Wednesday and academy class on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Great.

But as if that wasn't enough, Tzuyu 'surprised' them by inviting Mina to have lunch with them. And since she already knew Momo, she wouldn't be alone. Just... Great.

So, the scenario was: Tzuyu and Sana sitting in front of each other, in their own world, Mina in front of Momo and Pinky next to her with her eyes on her phone. It was... awkward, to say the least. Mina didn't dare open , unless someone asked her something. She barely knew Momo and she had just met Pinky, so she had no idea what to say. 

Momo could feel Mina's eyes on her, but whenever she crossed her eyes to the red haired girl, she would look down at her food in light speed. And again, she couldn't read her at all. Why was she looking at her, why couldn't she look her in the eyes? Gladly, lunch was over with just a few words exchanged between Momo and Mina.

It was time for the girls to go to the dance academy. And since Mina was going to have class with them, why not go all together? Tzuyu really wanted Mina to feel comfortable around them because for sure she would be spending lots of time with them.

Normally Sana went with Momo on her moto, but she had a better idea... How about Mina went on the passenger seat of Pinky's car, so Sana could go on the back seat with Tzuyu? Perfect!

Pinky was glad they didn't leave Mina uncomfortable and kept their couple interactions limited to cuddling. But even so, Pinky noticed Mina's cheeks slight redder than before. Maybe she felt uncomfortable after all. It was hard to tell. Pinky was yet another person who couldn't read Mina's face.

Momo arrived first and while she waited for the others to arrive, she wondered what Mina would be doing at the academy today since it was her first class. Because they were supposed to record the cover they had been practicing for the two last weeks. Maybe Victoria should have told her to skip that day and just show up next practice. Or maybe she had something else prepared for Mina. Momo had no idea, but she was indeed curious.

It was class time now and Mina was as clueless as Momo. Victoria, the teacher, and also Tzuyu and Pinky's mother, entered the dance studio.

"Hello everyone! I hope you didn't forget that we're recording today. As for Myoui-san," she looked at the said girl. "For today, you'll be just observing. I want you to see how we work and how we dance. Is that okay for you?"

"Y-Yes." She answered quietly.

"Perfect. Everyone, stretch! We're gonna do the whole dance twice to practice first okay?"

So, after all, Mina was just going to watch. That meant staring. Judging. That was Momo's interpretation of the situation. And she was not fond of it in the slightest.

As they started to stretch, Mina was feeling a bit out of place, but she didn't know where she could go either. Should she sit on the floor? Or should she just wait for Victoria to say what she should do? But it was actually Tzuyu that came to her rescue, telling her she could sit wherever she wanted. Since there were no benches or whatever, she ended up sitting on the floor, next to a corner.

They hadn't even started practicing and Momo could feel Mina's eyes on her already. Maybe she was imagining things? Because she peeked through the corner of her eye and Mina had her head down and her eyes on her phone. Maybe Momo was starting to become delusional.

But why did Momo keep her stare on the red haired girl when she should be stretching? Much to her relief, Victoria announced they would be going through the first practice round. Momo shook her head and went to her position, thinking why the hell was wrong with her.

Momo was super excited about covering 'Fire', from BTS, so she was ready to give her best to that dance. Yes, it was hard, but challenging at the same time. And Momo liked that.

The one thing she didn't like, though, was Mina's presence. But at least she was showing some kind of expression when Momo caught a glimpse on the girl. She seemed impressed by the way her eyebrows were high on her forehead.

"Okay, I think you're ready. Just do it like you just did for the recording and we're done!" Victoria said, confident about the girls' performance.

Momo always felt more pressure with the camera in front of them, but it never stopped her from doing good in videos. Being in the videos meant she was, along with the group, representing the image of the academy. That was a great responsibility and she was happy to do her best.

First try: Momo did a small mistake before the first chorus. No problem, no pressure. It's normal. I mean, no one can film a dance video in one try, especially with seven people dancing a choreography as hard as Fire, right?

Second try: After the first chorus, Sana bumped into Pinky while moving in formation. She apologized and Victoria cheered them on.

Third try: Momo forgot where she was supposed to go after the second chorus. That take was perfect until she made that mistake. Momo was feeling guilty for ruining it but it can happen to anyone. Thing is, out of three tries, in two of them Momo had been the one to mess up.

Victoria told them to take 5, to drink water and breathe for a little. They came back to their initial formation, ready to slay the video. Just before the music started playing, Momo's eyes, almost involuntarily, decided to move in Mina's direction. And there she was. With that expression of hers. Those emotionless eyes, the straight lips. That expression that Momo hated above everything else in her, even if it was a small, petty thing to dislike. That expression that she couldn't read at all, but made it seem that she was judging everyone, really hard. And that pissed Momo off, of course. Was she judging because she made two mistakes already? Was she thinking she could do better than Momo? Those were the thoughts in Momo's head.

Victoria pressed play on the music player, making Momo look to the camera with the best expression she could put off. She was so ready to show what she was made of, to show she could do it and better than someone else in that room, at least. Maybe that was a cocky thought, but for Momo it translated as confidence.

So why did she mess up again?!

"Momo, you're using too much energy on your moves in the beginning. I know this dance requires lots of energy, but you have to use it wisely or you'll be tired before the end and it will show. Also, it's making your movements look too harsh and that makes the group look less synchronized. You were doing great as you were, don't push yourself just because you made mistakes, okay?" Victoria corrected.

Momo only nodded along with the others. Maybe too much confidence wasn't good, after all. Now she was feeling like an idiot. She hated being scolded. Well, Victoria didn't exactly scold her, she was only correcting a fundamental small thing, but Momo hated to be called out on her dancing, because at times she felt there was nothing about her dancing that could possibly be corrected. She also hated to be called out in front of people – but it was much worse to be called out in front of her.  Why did she always have to mess up at the times it was the most crucial that she was at her best? As if she wasn't feeling bad about herself already, now she was also frustrated.

Victoria said some words of encouragement before playing the song once again. Momo closed her eyes, breathed out in an attempt to get rid of the negative thoughts and breathed in again, telling herself that she could do it.

They were so close... But as the end of the song was approaching, Momo started feeling the adrenaline of finishing without any mistakes ahead of time, driving her out of focus. She lost track of the beat of the song at the very last sequence, rushing one of the steps and doing it a whole compass before the rest of the group. She hissed and almost cursed, taking her hands to her head in frustration. Sana approached her and placed her hand on Momo's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" She asked, genuinely worried. Momo was never like this in practice... or recording sessions.

"Yes, I am." Her voice tone came out a bit more aggressive than she intended. She looked at Sana and sighed. "I'm sorry." Then, Momo turned to everyone else and apologized again.

"Do you want to take a break?" Victoria asked.

"No, I'm fine." Momo tried to sound confident, walking to her position.

For this small amount of time, Momo actually forgot about Mina's presence. And the fact that she was seeing everything that was happening. But the reality came back as soon as the song started again. Momo was questioning why she had to remember that she was there, staring intensely at her, right when she thought she had her full focus back on. When she had to fully concentrate and abstract her mind from her surroundings.

The more she tried to focus, to shoot her fiercest look at the camera, the more her mind was drifting away from the song. She felt out of control of her own body, as if it was moving by itself. And time seemed to slow down, almost stop, when for some kind of reason unknown to Momo, her eyes drifted away to find Mina, and her body slowly stopped moving.

Mina's stare met hers. In fact, it had always been locked in Momo's direction. Momo's lips were apart, as she gasped for air after working so hard at the dance. Her eyes glued themselves on Mina, on her beautiful face with her hateful expression. Mina was frowning slightly, confused about what could have possibly happened to Momo. She couldn't break the stare because Momo's eyes were like magnets to her own. Victoria asked Momo what had happened before she could even begin to open to do the same.

"What happened, Momo?" Victoria walked towards her, worry in her face and voice. "Are you feeling alright?"

But not even someone walking in her direction, right in front of her, talking to her at the same time was enough to wake Momo up. She was so in her own little world that Victoria's hand on her shoulder startled her, making Momo jerk her head in a sudden movement towards her teacher. She could see by the corner of her eyes everyone around her, lots of raised eyebrows and exchanging looks of concern. Momo blinked fast. For exactly how long hadn't she blinked?

"I'm..." Momo let her head drop and she closed her eyes, trying to stabilize her breath, because she found out that she wasn't breathing at all.

Momo didn't know if she was alright. Well, she wasn't, but she didn't know why. She felt dizzy all of a sudden, making her instinctively grab her own head with her hands.

"It's better if we stop for today." Victoria said, calmly.

"No!" Momo rose her head again, in such speed that the only reason she was only saved from falling flat on the floor with another dizzy spell was that Victoria kept her hand on her shoulder.

"Momo, of course we're stopping, I'm not going to let you dance again today when you're clearly not okay." Victoria's voice was serious now, just like her eyes.

Momo kept quiet for a few seconds and decided to look in Mina's direction. She wasn't sitting anymore – she was standing, visibly awkward, a bit distanced from the others. For once Momo could read something in her face. By her slightly furrowed brows and the way she seemed afraid to look at her. Maybe it was worry, like the others. Or maybe it was pity.

"I need to get some air." Momo's words sounded almost desperate to get out of there.

Her steps were large and fast towards the door. Just before she opened it, she instinctively glanced at Mina through the corner of her eye. She seemed to be awkwardly shuffling her feet back and forth, as if she had forgotten how to walk. What in the world was she doing?! Was she trying to mock Momo's mistakes?! Momo clicked her tongue as she finally opened the door and left almost running, thinking how the hell could she give that girl a chance.

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A/N: Hi everyone! Things are slowly starting to happen... kekeke. I'll be only updating next week now cuz I'll be busy from tomorrow, so I'm sorry in advance and I hope everyone is liking it so far! <3