Momo woke up to an overwhelming sense of peace. A peace that was without thought, without reason. Just a basic feeling of safety and comfort. After so many years of hardship and troubling concerns, the feeling was foreign to her. Her face was bathed in warm sunlight shining through a chink in her curtain. The window had been left open overnight and a quiet wind lifted the curtains, making them sway.

She frowned and wondered what time it was. The light in the room was still dim enough that she could fall asleep again and she rolled her body around to a better sleeping position. She froze as she had bumped into something soft and her eyes darted open as the memories of the previous night came flooding back. She looked over her shoulder and caught sight of Mina snoozing peacefully. Her features were placid in her sleep and her nose crinkled every now and then as she breathed. Her breathing was soft against Momo’s ear and slightly ticklish.

Momo wriggled awkwardly, not wanting to wake Mina up if she laughed out loud but stopped when she felt something holding her in place. She felt her hands underneath the blanket down to where Mina’s hands were wrapped around her waist, hugging her tight and flush to her body. She considered moving the hands so that she could get up and shut the window but decided against it. She was comfortable enough as it was and she worried that the movement would disturb Mina’s rest. They had stayed up late the night before and it was safe to assume that the brunette would be tired still. She left her hands resting on Mina’s and in the absence of distractions, she began to recall everything that had happened in the recent past.

Her grandmother wasn’t coming back. That was for certain. She had accepted the fact and though it pained her to think on it, she remembered the stern voice from a psychology lecture in her head. When grieving, it is a common misconception by others that by moving on, you are forgetting and disregarding your loss. This is absolutely not true. Moving on is not the same as forgetting. If you have ever dealt with grief, you will know that moving on means that you have accepted whatever it is that you are grieving for but the memory of that someone or something is an inseparable part of you. She swallowed and blinked back the tears that sprang to her eyes, wondering if she had managed to move on.

She still felt an intense ache when she thought of her grandmother but slowly, some of the ache caused by the memories was replaced with fond recollection instead. It was slight but enough to know that she was on the path to healing. She sighed again as her thoughts turned to the state of her life. She had requested a leave from university and that helped alleviate some of the weight on her shoulders but she couldn’t muster any motivation to do anything substantial even with the leave. Eating had become something she did just because her body demanded it and things she had enjoyed before just reminded her of something she had loved and lost.

She rubbed an itchy eyeball and yawned. Her sleepiness had faded away and she folded back the corner of the blanket to get up but was stopped as Mina tightened her hug. She held Momo closer than she had before, pressing her face against Momo’s back.

‘Just five more minutes.’

Momo laughed softly but pulled away Mina’s hands away from her waist, saying, “I have to get up sleepyhead. I need to use the toilet.” She wasn’t sure if Mina had heard but she released her hold on Momo, allowing her to stand up. Stretching, Momo yawned again and looked around the room, scratching her head absentmindedly. She blinked and walked to the bathroom, wincing as her thighs made contact with the cold toilet seat. She did her business then stood over the bathroom sink, her thoughts occupied. Some of her memories were still fragmented and others caused her too much pain to recall, leaving her mind feeling full of holes.

She the tap to wash her hands but let it run, her interest piqued by the swishing of the water in the wash basin. The water fell into the bowl and swirled around by its own force, creating indescribable patterns on the marble before falling through the drain. It was strangely comforting watching the flow of the water and she stood there unaware until she heard muted footsteps and looked up to see Mina standing in the doorway. She had wrapped a blanket around her body and her hair was mussed from sleep but it did nothing to hide her worried expression.

‘Is everything alright?’

Momo nodded and turned off the tap then smiled reassuringly. “Yeah. Sorry. Did I wake you?” Mina shook her head. “No. I accidentally rolled off the futon because…” Mina trailed off into silence as a blush spread over her face. She ducked her head to hide her embarrassment and Momo raised an eyebrow at the confusing action. She wondered what Mina had been about to say but the other girl waved her hand awkwardly, skipping over her unfinished sentence.

‘Anyway, I was just worried when I saw that you weren’t there so I’ll just go back to sleep then.’

Momo gave an affirming nod and watched as Mina waddled back to the futon. She took a deep breath and stared into the mirror. Her eyes were puffy from all the crying she had done but the dark bags around were still clearly visible. She had had very few uninterrupted sleeps in the past week, having been disturbed by frequent nightmares. She didn’t remember what the nightmares were about or for long they lasted but each time she awoke, she was filled with an incomprehensible loss. It was getting better but time was a slow healer.

Exiting the bathroom, Momo made her way to the kitchen and whipped up a simple omelette. She sat down as she ate, occasionally glancing at the sleeping form of Mina. After she had finished eating, she was seized by a random impulse and crawled over to her set of drawers, pulling out the lowest one. She pulled out a worn notebook that was covered by a light layer of dust and blew on it, sending the tiny motes flying. With the dust gone, the writing on the cover could be seen and she read the letters, her mind far away and remembering. She had received this notebook as a birthday present when she was still a toddler. Her parents had given it to her as a place to doodle on aside from the walls of the house.

She rummaged through her other drawers for a pencil then when she had found a suitable one, made herself comfortable in the corner of the room. She opened up the notebook and flipped through the pages, reliving her childhood through her drawings. Drawing was something she had always loved to do yet didn’t have the time for. She opened up to an empty page then began to draw. She drew from an image that had appeared in one of her rare dreams; a street in the rain; lampposts lit and gloomy darkness settled. Her hand moved over the page and the scene began to form.

She drew quickly but unhurriedly, rediscovering her love for creation of something that had only existed in her head. The drawing was halfway done when she heard light breathing behind her and turned to see Mina watching her. “Good morning,” she greeted. “You properly awake?” “Mm. What are you drawing?” Mina pointed to the unfinished drawing and Momo took a second to admire her work then closed the book. “Just something that I imagined,” she said offhandedly, setting aside the notebook. She placed the pencil on the cardboard cover then turned her body around, focusing her attention on Mina.

‘So…what now?’

~

Mina shifted uncomfortably as Momo faced her, meeting her intense gaze. She averted her eyes around the room then settled on the bags she had brought and she remembered the reason she had come to Momo’s apartment in the first place. She stood up and moved a bag to where Momo remained sitting. She opened up the bag and pulled out an assortment of boxes and cases. “We are going to be couch potatoes for the next few days,” she announced. “I have brought with me board games, colouring books, movies and full seasons of popular dramas. Take your pick.”

Momo picked up one of the DVD cases and looked it over. “A drama sounds nice but a colouring book?” She looked at Mina with a raised eyebrow and Mina grinned embarrassedly. “What? I like colouring books,” she said defensively. “There’s something about the uniformity of orderly colouring in without crossing over the lines. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. That was just one of the options. Pick out one while I order some food. Are you in the mood for anything?” Momo shrugged a shoulder indecisively as Mina went to grab her phone. She scrolled through the contact list of restaurants she ate delivery from occasionally then called one at random.

The restaurant owner picked up before the phone could ring a second time, recognising her number and knowing her to be a regular. Mina passed on her order then hung up after the restaurateur promised that he would ensure a quick delivery. Putting her phone back into her pocket, she turned around to where Momo was kneeling on the floor still puzzling over the choice of drama. She joined her on the floor and asked, “Haven’t made up your mind yet?” Momo glanced up quickly before returning to her choosing. “Truthfully, I’ve never watched any dramas before so I don’t know what to look for.”

‘Ah.’

Mina mentally slapped herself for her lapse. She had forgotten that Momo spent most of her waking hours studying and that left little time for eating and sleeping let alone watching television. She moved closer and helped Momo look through the cases, offering occasional comments on the plot of a particular drama. She had watched all the dramas in her spare time having been recommended them by her classmates. Eventually, Momo chose one that she claimed to have an interesting title. As they were putting away the rest of the DVD cases, the doorbell rang and Mina handed the DVD to Momo telling her to put it in the player as she jumped up to answer the door.

A young man with a motorcycle helmet on stood on the landing with two boxes in his arms. He handed them over to Mina asking her to return the plates when she was done then turned around and quickly descended the stairs. Mina stepped back into the apartment and set the boxes onto the kitchen bench. She opened the boxes and took out the plastic wrapped plates that were still warm. She unwrapped one of the plates and bit her bottom lip as watered.

‘Um Mina, where am I supposed to insert this? Did you bring a DVD player with you or something?’

Mina turned from her unwrapping and saw Momo standing in the middle of the room, looking hesitant as she held the DVD case. She looked around the room and her excitement at the delivered food disappeared. “You don’t have a television?” she asked. Momo shook her head and Mina paused, momentarily confused before remembering that Momo hadn’t had the same privileged lifestyle that she and most people took for granted. Having a television was unlikely to be on her priority list when she had plenty of other material concerns to worry about. She pursed her lips and tapped her chin as she thought before coming to a decision.

‘I know. I’ll just get a television delivered here. We can eat while we wait.’

Momo cocked her head as Mina stated her idea. “You can do that?” she asked, frowning. “Do people deliver food as well as televisions nowadays?” Mina laughed, waving a hand.

‘I’m pretty sure they don’t. But we should have at least one spare working television in our storage room at home. I’ll ask someone to send it over now.’

‘How many televisions do you have to be storing them?’

Mina didn’t answer immediately as she wondered if her answer would sound like bragging then reasoned that Momo had asked. “It’s not like that. Television companies like to send out televisions for test trials before they release them onto the market and since my dad has a couple of friends in the electronics sector, we get quite a few.” Momo nodded impressed and walked towards the counter to inspect the food that Mina had ordered as she pulled out her phone to send her chauffeur a text. He responded immediately saying that he would get there as fast as possible.

‘This roast duck smells amazing. I‘m suddenly in the mood for Chinese.’

Mina hid a smile as she helped Momo spread out the food on her kitchen counter. She remembered a quote that she had heard once; ‘the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach’. It seemed like that applied to women too. Sampling a piece of the duck that Momo had pointed out, Mina had to agree and the two girls lost themselves in their eating. The restaurant that Mina had ordered from had outdone themselves on the dish