The girls were pretty busy with their upcoming japanese schedules, they were not only rehearsing their songs in another language, but also were practicing sketches for multiple entertainment shows they were going to attend. It was like double the work with very few time to practice. They were asked by the company to rehearse their lines even at the dorm, especially the foreign members, which in this case kinda flipped tables because now more than half of the group would be considered ‘foreign’. That meant that the japanese girls had to help out their fellow members. 

It was Sana’s idea to hold a little ‘japanese class’ every night. The other two happily complied because why not? The korean members always helped them out so this is the least they could do. Of course, the trio would end up a bit tired after it because of the length of the scripts but they knew it would pay off in the end. Currently, they just finished another one of those ‘classes’ and they were almost ready to hit the sack. 

“I am so exhausted, guys. Could you pretty please clean up tonight?” Sana said as she lifted her arms up and stretched her back. Right on cue, she yawned deeply.

“Yeah, no problem. Mina and I will take care of this.” Momo replied referring to the papers that were thrown across the table. The blonde looked over at Mina, who was writing notes on the margins of one the scripts. Sana just smiled lazily, nodded thankfully and went to her room wishing them a good night. As they were collecting all the papers and putting them in a neat pile, Momo spoke again. “Man, can you believe we’ll be starring on a TV show we used to watch when we were little?” she asked. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mina shake her head slightly in disbelief.

“It’s surreal, I know.” she replied calmly. “I used to watch it every weekend with my dad.” Momo smiled and nodded, Mina had told her that before. The girl just liked talking about her family, it brought good memories. They didn’t linger on that topic for too long, though. Just as they finished cleaning up, Momo remembered something.

“What are you gonna do when they ask you to show them some special talent, as they always do?” The blonde asked turning to Mina.

“I don’t know, I’ll probably do the thing with my eyes in which I’ll cross them or something.” The younger shrugged a bit and with her left hand, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Momo couldn’t help but notice how pretty she looked tonight. Is it because it’s late? Is she dreaming or something?

“Oh please, can you do it?” Momo almost pleaded even though she’s already seen Mina do this a million times. She just can’t get enough of it. She finds it so cute when Mina crosses her eyes, especially when she puffs her cheeks out in the process. It drives the fanboys mad but it also drives this blonde mad. 

Mina smiled a bit and just did it. Momo giggled and felt her heart skip a beat. 

“I don’t understand how you do it, Minari!” she exclaimed and you could hear the smile in her voice. The older got a bit taken aback when suddenly the younger girl inched a bit closer to her.

“Here, look at the tip of my finger.” she said holding out her index finger and pointing it straight to Momo’s face. “Follow it.” as she said this, she started to bring her finger closer to Momo’s nose. The older did her best to do what was being told to her. But it didn’t really work out. Mina giggled covering .

“I don’t know how to do this.” the older said, practically giving up.

“Just focus, unnie.” Mina said pointing her finger to Momo’s face again. This time she put her other hand on Momo’s cheek, which made the older one hold her breath for a second. She definately must be dreaming. Momo felt her face heat up in the process. She just tried to focus on Mina’s finger. Although, it was hard because having Mina this close to her face, it made her a bit nervous. She could see her cute nose mole up close and all the little details. No wonder she’s considered one of the visuals, Momo thought. “You OK? Your face feels hot all of a sudden?” for some reason, the younger decided to lower her voice. 

“Uh, yeah, I’m fine.” the older girl turned her head away quickly, causing Mina to drop her hands and keep them to herself. It got kinda awkward as the girls got up and headed to the dorm. That night, Momo couldn’t stop thinking about Mina’s face. 

---

Sometimes it’d be like that. After dance practice, Momo would stay a few more minutes to dance on her own to whatever she felt like it. This time, the blonde suggested that Mina stayed with her, making up an excuse along the lines of ‘hey, what do you think of this song?’ and ‘let’s make a choreo to it’. But in reality, Momo really liked spending time with Mina. Of course, the younger girl complied, because why not? It’s always fun when she’s dancing with Momo, the pair had really good chemistry. That’s one of the reasons the blonde chose Mina to be her Hit The Stage’s partner. Whenever Momo had an idea, Mina would finish it. They were that good. 

So, here they were, making up a choreo to some hip-hop song Momo found online. The older girl had a rough idea of what she wanted the choreo to look like, so she explained it to Mina. The younger girl agreed on some things and then added her own insights. After some ten minutes of showing and teaching themselves the basic dance steps, the duo started to dance along the music. They were both facing the mirror. Momo noticed how Mina was getting worked up a bit, beads of sweat already showing on her forehead, breathing heavily. Ironically, the girl still looked calm and elegant. How can she do that? Momo wondered. 

“Wait, stop the music, unnie.” the younger girl said suddenly and Momo went to the speakers immediately to stop the music coming from her phone. “I think you’re doing a step wrong.” 

At this, Momo arched her eyebrows. “Oh yeah? What is it?” she asked. Mina, who was breathing heavily motioned the older girl with her hand to get closer. She then proceeded to show her the dance step and asked the older girl to do it. 

“Here, I think your right arm should be a bit higher. On the mirror, I saw that we weren’t completely in sync.” the ballerina said, used to dancing in perfect synchronization. On moments like this, Momo felt grateful that Mina took ballet for so many years. It kinda helps her see things that only someone like Mina can. As Momo froze on that pose for a few seconds, Mina got behind her. She used her right hand to guide Momo’s arm. A shiver went through Momo’s spine when she felt the younger girl’s cold hand on her wrist and she almost had a heart attack when she felt Mina’s other hand resting on her waist. But she quickly recomposed herself when she saw Mina’s face on the mirror. The younger one was actually blushing a little, her head down focusing on Momo’s body. The older one smirked to herself. 

“Like this? Is it okay now?” the older one asked in a low voice. Momo was looking straight to the mirror, waiting to lock eyes with Mina. When the younger one finally looked up, she was met with Momo’s eyes which only made her trip on her words. 

“Y-yeah, uh you got it.” Mina rapidly detached her hands from Momo’s body and cursed herself internally asking to some god why did Momo had to wear a top that would show off her abs precisely today. It was too much for her heart, honestly. The duo managed to come up with a choreo to two thirds of the song and by the end of it they were pretty much tired. Both of them were satisfied with the dance in the end. 

Now, laying on the floor side by side, the girls were catching their breath.

“It was cool, we should’ve recorded it.” the older girl said after a few minutes. As a group, they also come up with choreos to random songs from time to time, sometimes they record it. But it is the company’s decision to upload it or not to the internet. 

“Yeah. Anyways, good job.” Mina replied and lifted her right forearm, going for a high-five. Instead, Momo took her hand, lowered their hands, and linked their fingers. Out of the corner of her eye, the older girl could see Mina smile a bit but she didn’t want to comment on it this time. 

---

That same night, Mina couldn’t stop thinking about that day. She replayed everything in her head, trying to read the signs, if they were any. She decided she had to do something about it. Mustering energy to slowly get out of her bed, she sneaked out her dorm and tip-toed to Momo’s dorm. 

Luckily the door was left open, so it was easier than Mina thought it would be. She made sure the other members in that room were asleep. Mina carefully approached Momo’s bed. The older girl was facing the wall and didn’t notice the younger girl lay by her side until she felt a pair of arms sneaking around her waist. This left the older girl startled for a few seconds but then she relaxed when she realized it was Mina. Momo turned to face her.

“What is it?” she whispered suddenly concerned. Mina never does this. She can’t recall one time that the younger would come to her bed in the middle of the night, usually it would be the other way around, but Momo doesn’t like to admit that. Mina just shook her head and rested her head in the crook of Momo’s neck, getting closer. “Did you have a nightmare?” She felt Mina giggle in her neck. The younger girl faced her again and placed her index finger on Momo’s lips, signaling her to stay quiet. She then proceeded to bring Momo’s face closer to her, pulling her softly by the neck. The older girl was taken aback and a bit when she felt Mina’s hot breath in her ear.

“I just wanna be with you.” the younger girl whispered.