Life quickly returned to its normal calm in class as Mina was busy acquainting herself with their classmates and Momo was left to herself, sitting at the back of the room without the courage to go up and talk to Mina. She tried to ignore her and instead focused on the lesson. Ms. Kim was one of the nicest teachers in the school and Momo felt bad for making her worry. She pasted a smile on her face and listened to the teacher’s words. She eagerly awaited the end of the school day so she could return to her dance away from the monotony of school.

She looked towards Mina who was making herself at home in their class and seemed to be quite popular with the students. Mina caught Momo looking at her and flashed a smile before returning to her own work. Momo turned away, embarrassed and confused at her reaction. Her face was heating up and she could feel her ears turn red. Puzzled at how a smile could affect her like this, she was glad when the bell signalled the end of class and rushed out of class uninterrupted.

She made her way to her lockers and grabbed her change of clothes and hesitated a moment before grabbing her bag. She did this as she remembered the previous day’s incident. Looking at the still smudged mirror, she took a deep breath at the distorted reflection and jumped as she saw someone behind her. Spinning around, she heaved a sigh of relief when she noticed that it was Mina. She clutched her hand to her chest and flattened her hair as Mina smiled at her.

‘Do you want to walk home together? I heard from someone that you live near the park and I wondered if you could go with me in case I forget my way.’

‘Sorry, but I actually have something on already. I won’t be going home just yet.’

‘Eh? Then why do you have your bag?’

Feeling guilty as Mina’s smile faltered, Momo told her the truth. “I have a dance practice to go to,” she confessed. “Sorry again. Maybe tomorrow?” “Okay then,” Mina replied. “Tomorrow then. See you.”

Momo waved her off and headed towards the empty second floor and entered the deserted dance studio. She set down her mp3 and set her playlist on shuffle as she stood up and let her body flow along with the music. She worked up a sweat as she emptied her mind and moved to the rhythm of the song. Dancing across the room, her body felt light as a feather that danced to the calling of an angel’s song. Her ears didn’t comprehend the song that was being played but her body knew what to do as it danced to its utmost ability from a life of dancing. As the song faded away, Momo felt fatigue wash over her and she lay on the ground and closed her eyes as she waited for the next song to play. A love song, Evanesce, seemed to reflect her melancholy heart.

~

Momo awoke with a start and rubbed her eyes as she looked around her. The faded light from the windows warned her that night was setting. She looked down at her legs as she got up, feeling a soft fabric slide away. A blanket was lying on the floor, still warm from her body heat. She turned off her mp3 player and stood up yawning as she stretched. She packed her things into her bag and folded the blanket neatly, placing it on a nearby table. She slung her bag over one shoulder and exited the room before nearly tripping over an object placed in front of the door. She glanced down at an umbrella sprawled in front of her. Picking it up, she wondered why it would be lying there.

She exited the deserted school and climbed over the locked front gates. Walking along the lamplit streets, a sudden downpour of rain began. A familiar pitter patter echoed around as she opened up the umbrella. She smiled gratefully at the mystery Samaritan and chided herself for not bringing her own. She walked home, accompanied with the soft sound of the rain, her way lit by the flickering lampposts.

~

Momo made it home relatively dry and stood on the porch to shake the soaked umbrella. She stood it against the shoe rack to dry and took a second to marvel at the wetness of the world. She welcomed the warmth as she entered the house and said a hello to the emptiness. She set her bag down on the couch and went into the kitchen to make some ramyeon. She sat alone at the dinner table eating her meal and once again wished that Sana would quickly return from her trip in Japan. Life had seemed dull since she had left until today when a new face had shown up.

Finishing her meal, Momo decided to leave a shower until the next day and flopped onto her bed. She hugged a pillow and was disappointed that when she checked her phone, there were no new messages waiting for her. She sent a quick Kakaotalk to Sana wishing her a good night before turning over onto her back and staring up at her ceiling.

She mulled over the day’s events and hoped that Mina giving her a drink signified the start of a friendship. Her thoughts turned sour as she thought over to Jeongyeon. She would have to confront her one day and get to the bottom of why Jeongyeon seemed to detest her. She shook her head as if to shake those negative thoughts out of her mind and closed her eyes listening to the rain before welcoming the blanket of sleep.

~

Momo woke up and looked over to her alarm clock- 06:37. She decided to get up without delay and took a shower as she waited for her leftover dinner to heat up in the oven. She ate quickly and changed into her school uniform before heading off to school; not forgetting to bring the umbrella. When she arrived at school, she passed her locker bay and walked up to dance studio and peeked inside. The room was empty as expected but the blanket which she had folded when she left was gone. Wondering who the mystery benefactor was, she leaned the umbrella outside the door and feeling strangely uncomfortable, she quickly returned to her locker and then form room.

The classroom seemed to be empty as it was quite early to be at school and to her surprise, Mina was seated at her spot next to the window with an open book in front of her. She looked up when Momo entered and smiled at her before returning to her book. Momo cocked her head to the side in thought as she entertained the notion that perhaps Mina might actually be her secret admirer. She ventured forward to ask before backtracking.

‘Were you the one who gave me the umbrella and blank-’

 She stopped herself midsentence as she remembered that Mina had wanted to go home as soon as school ended. There was no reason why she would have stayed behind let alone been spying on her. Instead, she swallowed the question and answered Mina’s from the day before.

‘I’m free today. If you want, we can still walk together after school.’

Mina beamed at her and replied happily. “Sure thing,” she said. “I’ll meet you at your lockers.” Momo smiled back at her and moved back into her seat. With something to look forward to, she was able to focus on the class and suffered no scolding from Ms Kim. The rest of the school day passed without trouble and Momo found her locker as she had left it when she went to collect her bag. As she waited for Mina, she remembered the umbrella she had left behind in the morning. Hoping she would have enough time, she rushed towards the second floor before Mina who was walking towards her called out to her. She walked alongside Momo and asked her where she was going.

‘Oh, I just need to check something. I left behind something this morning and need to see if it’s still there.’

‘Really? What was it?’

‘Nothing special. You can tag along if you want.’

Mina agreed and they walked towards the abandoned rooms on the second floor. Looking down the hallway, Momo saw no sign of the umbrella she had left behind which seemed to have disappeared just like the blanket. She frowned and pursed her lips in thought before Mina got her attention. Having seen nothing, Mina looked curiously towards Momo.

‘Are you sure you left something behind here?’

“Yeah,” Momo replied. “Don’t worry. I must’ve left it somewhere else. Let’s go.”

~

They exited the school and as they walked along the streets to their homes, Momo discovered a few things about Mina. Mina had seemed quite shy at first but as she grew comfortable around Momo, she grew to be a lively and excitable girl. She liked ketchup and sweets equally and had done ballet since she was a kid. Momo also found that Mina only lived a 2 minute walk away from her own house and she was glad to be able to walk the entire way with Mina. They continued chatting as they walked and Momo found herself disappointed when they realised that they had already arrived at Mina’s house. She said good-bye to Mina and was walking away when she overheard Mina’s mum ask Mina if she had remembered to bring home her umbrella. Momo did a double-take and turned back to question Mina, but the door had already closed and the lights dimmed. Feeling invasive, she dismissed the question as an idle motherly concern and continued walking home, her way lit by a setting sun that gave hope.