For once, it's a holiday break for all the students.

Mina's grinning as she just texted all her friends that she's joining them on their trip to the beach, after the dreadful experience with Momo as her tutor and her mother finally being less strict on her after she'd gotten a good score on their latest exam. Right now she's at the convienence store, trying to buy a manual guide on how to swim without anyone catching her. She refused to learn when she was younger because it disgusted her so much that a pool was practically a public toliet for everyone. Even now she believes that but the tables have turned, she's going to snap up some hot guy this break at the pool and enjoy her life, yaddayadda.

Little did she know, a certain blonde had been standing behind her trying to look out for the latest issue of the hottest gravure idols. Her eyes travel along the aisle as she pulls out photobooks one by one on the shelves.

Nishino Nanase. Momo furrows her eyebrows. She's alright. She moves on after putting the book back, Oshima Yuko. Eh, not into her. She stuffs the book back into its' place and looks to her left. Shiraishi Mai. Oh. My type. She looks at the pricetag and sighs. Nope, can't buy it. Too expensive.

When she's done looking, she keeps in mind to bribe Jeongyeon to buy it for her the next time she's here. She turns around and accidently bumps into Mina who'd just found the guide she needed but dropped it on the ground. Of all people.

"Sorry!" Mina says, without noticing it's Momo. But right when she looks up after picking up the guide, she's not even apolgetic anymore.

"What the heck are you doing here?"

"Huh? You--" Momo arches a brow as she sees Mina would actually shop in a convenience store and notices the book in her hand. "--Don't know how to swim?"

The way she says it, sounds like she knows how to swim. But Mina knows she's not going to ask her for help because she just can't. That's a no-no.

At this moment, Mina ignores her and decides that nothing will or rather, should get in her way of enjoying a well-deserved break. It's better to ignore the negativity around her, she's already in hiberation mode. Positivity, yes.

Momo sneers, "Oh, so you can't swim afterall. Good to know." Something she's better at than Mina. 

"E-excuse me?! I do!" The redhead stutters, because why the hell does Momo always show up when she's trying to get by without anyone noticing her?

"What's your problem? Are you a stalker? Why are you always showing up everywhere I go? Were you--" Mina stops for a second. Wait a minute, maybe she's onto something here. Could it be that Momo's finally opened her eyes and actually knew who she was from the beginning? Suddenly, her confidence shot up, Momo's been trying to fool her but she's not fooling anybody now!

"You just took the words outta my mouth," Momo shoots back, "For your information, stingy Mina, I was already here!" She points to the basket full of snacks and drinks which she had been grabbing off the shelves minutes ago, "And I hope I don't see you this break!" She's stocking up for the week to hole up in her house, with Jeongyeon and the rest, Mina's absolutely not included or invited this time.

"Why, you!" Mina grits her teeth as she's trying to gather her words, because she's about to say the samething as the blonde. Mina squints her eyes, Oh no, we are totally not going to ever get along, and never will I admit we will!

"Good, see ya!" Momo's already taking her leave, she doesn't want to even see Mina's face till they're back to school next week, she's already got some places in mind to be at right there.

Mina ignores her, returning her attention back to the guidebook in her hand.

"Let's just hope this book works!" She flips through it and unfortunately, she's not understanding a word in the text.

"Proper breathing techniques...Float...Kicking...Body rotations...What the heck is this?" Mina is doomed and she knows it.

The next thing she knows, she's running up to the counter next to Momo who's about to pay for her snacks and goodies, "Excuse me, I'd like to pay for this and all these!" She tosses the book into Momo's basket, and obviously the blonde's reaction was: What the ?

"Hold up, what the hell do you--" Momo's about to ask her what she was thinking, but Mina's already answered her. She turns to Momo after giving the cashier her card, "I'm paying for your snacks."

Momo replies with an arched eyebrow, because okay, Mina's paid for her food and food's a great way to bribe her into anything, "And why--"

Mina's eyes stare into her, something that screams desperate to her, Oh boy.

"Teach me how to swim!"

-

At 6 PM, Mina's finally made up some excuses that she's going to be out later than usual because of some "tutoring" lessons with Momo who's already acclaimed to be trustworthy by Mina's mother.

Of course, she's not going to wear the new bikini that she bought the other day with her friends, she's just going to wear a plain t-shirt over her spare bikini. She sneaks in from the back of the school, where a familar blonde is leaning against the wall, gleefully flipping through the her newly obtained photobook of  her new ideal goddess Shiraishi Mai.

If Mina was going to bribe her, she wouldn't accept just food alone. However, Mina spotted something hot pink next to her. The younger girl hopes it's not what she thinks. Why couldn't Momo bring float swimming tubes or something? Why couldn't it be a penguin? Why does it have to be a flamingo?

"Got you a floatie because that's where we're going to start!" Momo smirks as she'd been waiting for Mina to show up, closing the photobook and stowing it into her duffel bag. She was wearing a black tank top and gym shorts, "Are you ready for your kiddy swimming lessons?" She grapples the top of the gates and climbs over with a grunt, before tossing her duffel bag over the other side of the school grounds.

If they get caught, they're both ed. But if Mina can't swim by Saturday, she's ed too. Either way it's do or die for her. But for Momo, she doesn't care because she's enjoying Mina's struggles. Momo just really enjoys it, maybe she's secretly a sadist or something.

Mina scowls. "Oh, please shut it," the redhead glares at her before finally taking the hand that was held out to her, "You're really crazy, you know that?" Why did she even agree on this? Actually, why did she have to turn to Momo olf all people? Why not Jeongyeon or Nayeon?

"Better than being boring, whiny and stingy," The blonde sticks her tongue out at the younger girl, "Now let's get your lessons over with, Kiddy Mina!" She grins as Mina had sucessfully climbed over the gates with her help.

"Did you really just call me a kid?" Mina rolls her eyes as the blonde shrugs. Momo is even more of a kid than her, some irony there.

"What do you think?" Momo picks up her duffel bag and the pink flamingo, "Give me your bag."

"Eww, I can carry my own stuff, thanks," Mina says, backing away from the blonde who frowns.

"Wow, I'm trying to be nice here for once. Why are you so rude?" Momo says.

Mina's about to say, 'Because I don''t like you,' but she bites her tongue because Momo would back out on her, so she'll just take on the verbal insults being thrown at her.

Soon, they reach the pool. Mina's already freaking out at the sight of it, but Momo exclaims loudly, "We're here! It's time to get swimming!"

She drops all her things on the side and waits for Mina to do the same, "Let's go!"

She's already dunked the flamingo into the waters and leaps in with a loud splash, her body clashes with the cold water. But she's enjoying it, kicking her legs in the water to move closer to the pool steps, where Mina stood and looks at her fearfully.

"What?! I don't even--" Mina stutters as Momo swam up to her feet, "Don't just go in like that and leave me out here!"

She's shivering cold, standing out there at night with Momo casually breezing by in the pool. But she's going to have to get into the pool, no matter what. She makes up her mind by thinking to test the waters, she's just going to test its' temperature by dipping her toe in it with caution.

However Momo is still floating there, waiting for her to get in the pool and quickly get over the swimming procedures. She's finding it hilarious that Mina freaks out anytime she's pushed out of her comfort zone.

"How long are you going to take?" Momo stares at the redhead, finding her just a tiny bit cute. Yeah, just a tiny.

"I thought penguins can swim, but it looks like you can't." She teases her, and Mina just grumbles a bit in response, the blonde was acting all high and mighty just because she knew how to swim a little bit.

"Stop showing off, okay! I get it, I can't swim!" She yells back, there's no need to rub it in her face.

Momo grins as she grabbed onto the flamingo float, pulling it next to her, "Was it that hard to admit ? Now c'mon here, hold onto this!"

She waits for Mina who finally gets into the waters after a few minutes of contemplation. Maybe it was a bad idea, and maybe she should turn back. But her reputation is on the line, she doesn't want to make a fool out of herself in front of her friends.

"It'll be okay, right?" She asks as Momo nods, grabbing onto her wrist to float into the water, "I'm not going to drown, am I?"

Momo rolls her eyes this time and refrains herself from saying something like, 'Yeah don't bother, you're gonna drown anyways.' She shakes her head instead. "Make yourself feel light, just relax. Inhale," Momo watches her cheeks puff up.

"Don't panic or anything, okay?" Mina is quite obedient to her, a side that Momo definietly prefers over her arrogance.

Mina is stiffly nodding as she's trying to do as Momo said but nothing is working. She's sinking to the floor like an anchor.

"This isn't helping!"

Momo shakes her head again, "Obviously not, I don't expect you to float when it's your first time."

"Ugh," Mina frowns. She's screwed after all, isn't she?

"Just tell me I at swimming, let's go already. I knew this was a bad idea," she's already sulking, maybe she should give up.

The blonde shrugs, "We'll need the flamingo's help then," she throws it over Mina's head and pulls it down to her waist, "Hold onto this, and try to practice breathing." As she continues to talk, Mina's head is spinning from the lack of oxygen, what the heck is Momo trying to say?

"This is dumb!" She hates being treated like this, like she's a kid.

Momo frowns at her continious sulking, "Patience is a virtue, you know?"

"I'm gonna kill whoever said that," Mina scowls as the blonde snickers, Mina and patience? A combination that doesn't exist--maybe in another parallel universe. Mina removes the flamingo and pushes it away, though Momo frowns at her ridiciousness to avoid the help of the flamingo float. A real spoiled brat, Momo thinks.

"I learned how to swim with a float," Momo rolls her eyes as Mina's stiff as a board, trying to keep afloat without moving, "Kick your legs already."

Because Mina's obviously an idiot for not stretching or exercising properly and skipping leg days, she's got a cramp in her left calf.

"Screw my life."

Why must she get a cramp? At this moment? She starts splashing water with her arms to keep afloat, but nothing's working because her leg is literally dragging her down, "Help me!"

"No worries, I got you," Momo says, grabbing onto Mina who finally stops flapping her arms everywhere, "I told you to keep the flamingo over--"

A flashlight shines on Momo's face and a voice suddenly shouts out.

"Who's there?! The school grounds are closed right now!"

Oh shoot, both Momo and Mina's eyes widen at the sight of a security guard squinting to get a good look at them, he was the last person they needed to see at this moment.

. Mina's body freezes because if her mother hears about this, who knows if she'll ever see the light of the day again. Her trip with her friends, and swimming lesson with Momo will go to a waste.

However, Momo shouting at her made her wake up, and that she needed to move.

"Swim, dammit! Don't ing stay there unless you wanna get in trouble!" She yells out before getting chased by the security guard. The blonde's already climbing out the pool and grabbing their belongings, damn her for being a fast swimmer!

Momo has to do something, and it needs to be done quick.

"You know--screw it!" She turns around to throw her duffel bag at the guard who braces himself for the impact. However Momo quickly trips him with her leg, making him fall into the pool. His arms are last seen flailing for balance, and a loud splash is heard.

At the same time, Mina focuses to move in the waters.

Swim. At least move those arms, Mina tells herself, relying on her instincts. Remember. She closes her eyes to imagine Momo's posture as she swam earlier, sinking the entirety of her body into the water.

Move your body like how Momo did. She opens her eyes calmly in the water, her breathing's perfectly regulated and slowly, she begins to swim.

Momo ran back to pick up both Mina's and her belongings, before planning to jump into the waters again to get Mina. But to her dismay, she finds herself staring at the sight before her.

"Hey!" She shouts while grinning widely while following after Mina, waving her arms high in the air for her attention, "You're swimming! Holy crap!"

She's got to admit, Mina has a talent for learning when she's at her limits which amazes the blonde. It hasn't even been half an hour when Mina started to learn how to swim.

At that moment, Mina's mind was filled with mixed emotions, but she doesn't care now. She's able to move in the waters and that's all she needs to know at this moment. She knows her posture isn't exactly perfect, it's still something that's in development. She beams, maybe she won't be as terrible than before at swimming for this Saturday.

"Grab my hand!" Momo's hand is sticking out to Mina as the guard is struggling to climb out the pool, but his weight and lack of buoyancy keeps him stuck in the pool.

Mina gets onto the deck of the pool with Momo's help before getting a towel thrown over her shoulders. She sees Momo throwing their belongings over to the other side of the gates, before gesturing the redhead to follow her, "Climb ontop of my shoulders!"

Mina feels a bit apologetic for needing Momo's help to get over the wall, but she's not strong enough to climb over on her own afterall.

"Here I go!" She quickly says before standing on Momo's shoulders.

"No time to talk!" The blonde replies, grunting a second before pushing Mina over sucessfully. Within seconds, Mina finds herself landing ontop of the stuff that Momo threw over.

"Nice job landing," she mutters to herself before wrapping the towel around her tightly, she has to wait for Momo now. Her heart's beating rapidly from being on the run, if they get caught red-handed, the suspension hammer is likely to swing down in full-force on their school records.

But the security guard's still kicking in the pool, screaming for help. The only thing Momo can say is, "Sorry bud!" because helping him means a quick death wish. She feels a bit sorry at the sight of him struggling so she quickly adds, "Take the flamingo! It'll help!"

The guard screams back, "What?!" Who the hell were these girls? Actually forget that, he needs help getting out of the water, he's fighting for his life right now.

"Don't leave me here! Help me!"

Poor flamingo, Momo's abandoned it, though it's not hers. She's just going to have to tell Jeongyeon that she "accidently" lost it.

Once Momo gets ontop of the walls, she sees Mina waiting for her.

"I thought you would ditch me," she says, leaping onto the ground before sneezing. Damn the cold. Oh well, first things first, she's gotta change clothes and bring Mina home then bolt back to her place, where she doesn't have to see the redhead for a week and play video games all week.

Bonza, bonza!

"What? I'm not like that." Mina says in defense, though she doesn't really like Momo, she wouldn't leave her behind.

She's offended that the blonde would accuse her like that. After Momo helped her swim, climbed over the wall and even gave her own towel to her, she still doubts her?

She frowns, noticing that she's only one with a towel while Momo's completely drenched in water plus the chilly evening ontop of that. She feels a bit ashamed for not bringing a towel, which she expected the blonde to bring for her. A spoiled lady, indeed.

A few minutes of silence passes by, until Mina finally mutters out a hushed 'sorry.'

Momo has to stop walking for a second to check that she isn't hearing things wrong. Mina apologized? For real? The tone in her voice makes her question if this is Mina's doppelganger or something.

Probably a twin. She pinches herself to see if she's dreaming or being delusional.

"Ouch!" Well, it looks like she isn't.

"Why are you standing there?" Mina turns around to wait for Momo to catch up, "I said sorry, didn't I?" She's annoyed, it seems like Momo really didn't expect much from her.

"So stingy Mina is capable of common sense? I wonder what you're apologizing for." Momo teases.

Mina glares at her, but she stays mum because she doesn't want to explain everything. Why can't Momo get the message that she's apologizing for judging her .

"Stop being thick!" Mina scowls, though Momo continues anyways.

"Mina, I really don't understand. Why are you mad?"

Every woman's favorite angle? 180 degrees from happy to mad. Their favorite sport? Jumping to conclusions.

I will never understand girls, Momo thinks, Hell, even she doesn't understand herself sometimes.

"Just....fine." Mina's the type to be silent on the outside, but judging everyone with a loud voice on the inside. She makes her point clear, that she will try to return the favor by being nice to her.

"Thanks for helping me...swim." Mina says, because she's conflicted between explaining things or judging the blonde for being unable to read between the lines. She knows it's her fault for not doing so the first time.

"Okay, okay. I get it." Momo says as she starts walking again. "Miss super-stingy-and-sheltered."

So, Mina is starting to open up now of all times? That's funny--though she can see that Mina is trying at least. She doesn't mind nor care about what the redhead thinks of her now, but she's gotta give Mina credit for somewhat being able to swim a little in such a short amount of time.

Momo can go on with the nicknames but Mina frowns, Momo is really something to be able to make her aggrivated. The thing is, why is she still here? Somehow there's always an invisble string bringing Momo to her and vice-versa, it's like she needs to cut off the string for once.

There's something she can't understand as Momo randomly asks her to eat out at a restaurant after changing into dry clothes at the nearby local park's girls' restroom.

"Hey, wanna grab something to eat on the way home?" Momo usually goes wth Jeongyeon or Nayeon, but they aren't avaliable at the moment. In a way this means Momo considers Mina as a friend and someone she would consider to be interesting conversing with (though she'd rather poke fun at her instead).

Mina snorts, "What, at McDonalds?" There's no need for her to be hostile, but she feels a bit hungry too. She's not fond of fatty foods and she was sure that was what Momo was implying.

The blonde shakes her head. She just knew Mina would say something like that. As a big food eater and pigs out a lot, she has some food standards to uphold.

"Snickers say you're not you when you're hungry," Momo replies. It's a little past 7, the time she usually eats dinner after all.

"And you're saying you're not you right now?" Mina arches an eyebrow, "What a weird conversation."

"I'd say something else, but I'll agree with you on that," she quickly turns back to focus on where they should go eat. "Hand-made noodles sound good. Does pork ramen sound good? Or pho?" She's throwing out whatever restaurants are nearby, she's too tired to walk the distance to wherever Mina wants to eat.

"If you're still on your diet or whatever, there's always a veggies-only option. A couple of carrot sticks and lettuce for you," she snickers as Mina lightly hits her arm in response.

Okay, maybe, the redhead thinks as Momo's waiting beside her, she's a little hungry after all and decides to give in after Momo doesn't wait to cross the street with her. Some manners she has.

"Fine, let's go then." Mina gives in, because there's nothing wrong with going out to eat with a friend.

A friend, she thinks again, are they? She's not strangers with the blonde, and more than just an acquaintance. They rarely get along, and both of them sitting in a restaruant is something that neither can understand. They didn't get along with each other earlier and now suddenly, they're out eating togther. What the actual , honestly.

She's interesting, Momo thinks as she slurped down her pho, finishing it in three bites before gulping down a glass of sprite. Fools Garden's Lemon Tree plays in the background as they eat in silence.

What a crappy song, the blonde thinks, and horrible lyrics that makes zero sense.

She was close to saying it out loud but she doesn't want to risk getting kicked out of the restaurant just because she was overheard by the owner there. 

Mina's quietly chewing on her noodles, contemplating on what to label Momo as. Her eyes wander onto Momo's who seems to be unaware of her stares as her whole attention is on the food in front of her, and furrows her eyebrows.

Is she a friend, classmate, or acquaintance?

So what should she call her? Or rather, what is their relationship really?

It's blurry and complicated.