At the end of the next day, as soon as the bell signalling the end of lessons, Momo rushed to her locker and retrieved her bag. She checked that no one had followed her and that the second floor was empty as ever. Walking slowly, she wondered why the school allowed the deteriorating of a whole floor of classrooms as they were. Regardless, it was her gain. This was a place in the school where she felt free, free from the leash of rules and society.

She lay her bag down and put her battered but enduring mp3 player down. Scrolling through a list of songs to play, she decided to settle on Trap; a bouncy song by an SM artist. She waited for the intro to play through before making a single step forward. She was practicing popping when she caught a glimpse of the door slightly ajar. She was certain that she had closed it completely shut before but now there was a distinct gap. Remembering previous instances of this happening, she stopped dancing and hid behind the door.

After staying still and waiting for a couple of minutes, the door opened wider and a head peeked into the room. Shocked at recognising the face of the intruder, Momo let out a small gasp. Mina instantly turned around at the sound and caught sight of Momo hiding behind the door. She immediately backtracked and ran down the stairs ignoring Momo’s calls after her.

Fearing the worst, Momo picked her bag and mp3 player up off the floor as she chased after her friend. She didn’t see Mina anywhere within the school but she knew where Mina lived so she ran as hard as she could in the direction of their homes. Luckily, she caught a glimpse of Mina just ahead of her and sprinted to meet her pace. She slowed down as she neared Mina and said nothing as they began to walk, leading the way. She ignored the few glances Mina sent her way and remained silent as she headed towards the park. She sat on the swings and began twiddling her feet. Mina stood in front of her as if to say something, but then stopped herself from speaking and sat down on the swing next to Momo.

Thinking furiously to find a reason for Mina’s actions and whether there was anything Momo could do anything to defuse the situation, she blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. “So, I have a secret admirer now?” she grinned at her shy friend. Mina playfully slapped her leg. “Don’t flatter yourself. Who would admire a pabo such as you?” she replied in response. Happy that there wasn’t any bad blood between them, Momo let out a loud laugh. Mina peeked out from behind a curtain of hair and tentatively asked, “So you’re not mad that I spied on you?” Still giddy at the turn of events, Momo gave another chuckle.

‘I’m just glad it’s my cute friend instead of an ill-wisher. It’s fine but I think I deserve some recompense.’

‘Hmm... Sounds fair. But that depends on what you want.’

Momo thought for a second before she answered. “I want you to dance for me,” she said triumphantly. “Dance? But why?” Mina asked aghast.

‘Well you saw me dance. It’s only fair that you return the favour. And I’ve never seen ballet. It’d be interesting.’

Mina pouted for a moment, before standing up and smoothing her skirt. She took a pose in the tanbark and began to dance. Momo’s jaw slowly dropped as she watched the ballerina execute perfect pirouettes, Mina pouted for a moment, before standing up and straightening her skirt. She took a pose in the tanbark and began to dance. Momo’s jaw slowly dropped as she watched the ballerina execute and perfect pirouettes, points and jeté entrelacés. Mina looked like a goddess incarnate as she twirled in the air. The sky had turned dark and Mina’s lean body was framed by the light of a thousand stars. She seemed to flow through her dance and Momo had a random thought that angels were real.

She was so engrossed in the dance that she didn’t realise when Mina had stopped and was waiting for Momo to say something. She swallowed, feeling dry. “You look beautiful. I mean, you dance beauti-beautifully,” she replied huskily, her mind a jumble. Mina suddenly bowed her head and gave a small thanks. Then she walked forward and using a single finger, she tipped closed Momo’s still open mouth. Momo looked up at Mina’s face, a shadowy embodiment of Pandora. She stared at the perfect face, shining brown eyes with that small mole on the side of her nose that made her all the more beautiful and those red lips. Then with the typical adolescent awkwardness, they jumped apart, and Momo stood up. She rubbed her face, to hide her reddening face and they began to walk back towards Mina’s house.

They walked in silence and soon reached the Myoui residence. Before Mina could find her keys, Momo spoke up. “If you want, you can just watch inside the room instead of waiting outside. I mean, if that’s what you want,” she said hesitantly. Mina beamed at her. “I’d love that. Goodnight,” she replied. Not wanting to mess up a somewhat random but perfect day, she turned around and ran the whole way home. For once the silence of the house was welcome as she was left to her own thoughts. Without changing, she collapsed onto her bed and wrapped a pillow around her head as she rolled around thinking about what had transpired and groaned at her clumsy way of handling things. At least there would be something to look forward to the next day.

~

Momo woke up early and hurriedly got ready for school. She got to school quite early and even seeing Jeongyeon didn’t do much to dampen her mood. However, she realised her enthusiasm was quite unwarranted as she entered a classroom empty of students save for the teacher. Momo was about to sit down and maybe take a quick nap before class started when the teacher waved her over. She walked to the front of the classroom, worried that she was in trouble. However, the teacher just asked her about health and how she was doing.

‘I’m doing fine. I’ve made some other friends so life isn’t as dull anymore, Ms. Kim.’

‘I’m glad to hear that. It really was disappointing that you were down but life has its ups and downs so you should be able to ride them all together. Hopefully this trend continues. Good luck with the project as well. Hopefully you will be able to show me why you are a star.’

The teacher waved her away and returned to her work so Momo went back to her seat. She slouched back in her chair and glanced over to the clock. The face read 07:28 so Momo ped her pencil case and pulled out her mp3 player. Its silver paint had long faded or been scratched away but Momo loved it all the same. It had been a gift from her sister when she had come to Korea and it had served her well in the 2 years she had been here.

She plugged in her earphones and the world faded away as she listened to the single by Miss A; Hush. She leaned back and closed her eyes at the soothing voices of Fei and Suzy, imagining them dancing in a subway carriage. Music was the only thing she could hear as students began to filter in and talking as their friends arrived. However, before she had played through two songs, she noticed Mina enter the classroom.

The shy girl was mobbed by her classmates, a surprise that Momo had not noticed before. Mina, it seemed, was quite popular though she didn’t seem as outgoing as when she was with Momo. Midway in conversation, she saw Momo looking in her direction and gave a quick wave. Momo returned the wave and noticed that a few of the girls were staring at her. She realised that being associated with a girl as popular as Mina whilst being herself seemed strange. She ducked her head, and turning over a new leaf, she grabbed her textbook and opened it, browsing the complex material.