After Momo chases Sana who so rudely interrupted her and Mina’s moment (the “chase” wasn’t long; Momo was a faster runner than Sana), Nayeon tells the girls that her mom cooked tteokbokki for them. Momo of course drags Mina to the living room so they could eat faster. It reminds Mina of the time the brown-haired girl also dragged her at the gala when Sana told them that the food was ready.

“Thank you, ahjumma!” Momo squeals excitedly. “Minari, let’s dig in!!”

“Yes, Minari, let’s!” Sana copies Momo, laughing when Momo pouts.

“Ah, Sana, why do you have to mock me?”

“I like calling her Minari,” replies Sana. “Dahyun likes it, too.”

“I do, too!” Nayeon adds. Mina laughs at the three girls’ interaction.

“I guess I have to think of another nickname, then,” Momo finally says. “But only I can call her the new nickname I will give her.” Momo gives Sana and Nayeon the evil eye.

After eating, Momo drives Mina home. This time they sing TT which played on the radio. They sing more songs on the car until they arrive at Mina’s. Momo walks Mina to the front door.

“Ah!” Momo shrieks, causing Mina to turn to the girl suddenly. “Sorry,” says Momo, grinning now. “I just thought of your nickname.”

Mina raises an eyebrow as she tries to hide a smile. “Oh really? What is it?”

“Mitang,” Momo answers in a drawl, her aegyo voice coming out. This time, Mina couldn’t hide her smile anymore. She knows that in Japan, people use the honorific “-tan” to their special someone, and they normally don’t use it in public.

“And the others can’t know,” Momo adds.

“Okay, Momoring,” replies Mina, still smiling. They’re at Mina’s doorstep now. “Momoring, I had a lot of fun today.”

“Me too. I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.”

“Let’s do our best when we see Hunpyo seonsaengnim on Monday!”

“Yeah, let’s show him how much we’ve improved,” Momo says, smiling at Mina. She doesn’t want to go just yet, but Mina turns her back and opens the door.

“Uh, Mina?” It was sort of a reflex; Momo doesn’t have anything else to say to Mina, but she wants the latter to stay.

“Hmm?” Mina asks.

“I… Um…” Momo scratches her head. “I—”

Momo doesn’t get to continue her sentence when she feels Mina’s soft lips on her cheek. It stays there for a few seconds until Mina retracts and smiles at Momo.

“Good night, Momoring,” she says one last time as she closes her door.

Momo doesn’t wash her face that night.

—

Monday comes and Momo waits for Mina outside her classroom so they could go to dance practice together. As she stands outside, a group of young girls in high school uniform approach her. They seem shy, Momo thinks to herself.

“H—Hello Momo, can we take a picture with you?” one of them asks after what seemed to be an intense debate.

“Sure,” Momo responds. She holds the camera and takes a selfie with them.

“Thank you, Momo-ssi!”

“It’s no problem,” replies Momo, smiling at them as they leave.

“Who knew that Hirai Momo could be this good to her fans?” Momo glances around and sees that the voice came from Mina. Momo grins at the ballerina.

“Jealous?” she teases her, then she watches as Mina’s face reddens.

“What? No I’m not,” Mina answers, looking away.

Momo walks closer to Mina. “You’re cute, Mitang,” she says. “Let’s go; I want to show our dance to Hunpyo already.” Momo holds Mina’s hand, and for the first time, intertwines her fingers with the ballerina’s. Mina reciprocates the gesture, surprised at how their fingers meld perfectly with each other.

—

“That. Was. Perfect!” Hunpyo squeals after Mina and Momo dance the first part of the choreography flawlessly, the girls expressing the emotions the dance teacher had been looking for since they started practicing.

“I can definitely feel the chemistry now,” he continues, grinning. “This is great!”

Hunpyo finally teaches the rest of the choreography and they work on it during the week. The next week Hunpyo invites a few back-up dancers for the last part of the performance, and they polish the choreography altogether.

The following day they go to the high school of Mr. Kang’s friend. Momo and Mina arrive at the school together with Hunpyo and the back-up dancers following them shortly (Momo arranged a coaster for them to ride together—of course, she brought her car so she could be alone with Mina). Sana, Dahyun, Tzuyu and Jihyo are also at the school to (a) support their friends, and (b) to take a video of the whole thing because Momo asked them to.

“Sana-unnie, you’re supposed to record Momo-unnie, not take selfies,” Dahyun reminds Sana.

“I know, but I opened my phone and saw myself so—” Sana stops talking and makes a finger heart instead and smiles at her camera. “Join in, Dahyun-ah! You look pretty today. This will be perfect!”

The two keep on taking selfies and laughing at themselves. Meanwhile, Tzuyu turns to Jihyo, who in turn is looking anywhere but her.

“Look,” Tzuyu starts, “how many more lessons do I need to take so that you’ll go out with me?”

“Which lessons?” Jihyo asks, nonchalant. “Korean, or singing?”

Tzuyu narrows her eyes at Jihyo who is now smirking at her, acknowledging her victory in what seems to be a private battle between them.

A few moments after, a middle-aged man comes up the stage, introducing himself to be the emcee. He tells the audience that they have a lot of guests for the day, and then he introduces the first performer. A rock band, an acoustic band, and a dance group later, the emcee finally introduces Mina and Momo.

“You’ve heard about them on the news,” the emcee states. “A lot of people were shocked to see the Hirai Momo in a relationship. But now you’ve seen them, you ship them, so now be prepared to be dazzled by them in our next dance number from Hirai Momo and Myoui Mina!”

Excited cheers come from the crowd with Sana, Dahyun and Jihyo participating in the screams. The voices finally drown out and the music starts playing.

(A/N: I don’t want to narrate this part because, well, it’s just better if you watch it! Keke here: https://youtu.be/4rpY57eJqfM)

When the last back-up dancer leaves the stage the audience immediately goes wild. Momo makes her way to Mina who removes herself from the red cloth, accepting the brown-haired girl’s hand in helping her up. The two girls hold hands as they walk to the center of the stage where the emcee is waiting for them.

“Your face,” Mina whispers to Momo, referring to the paint on the side of Momo’s face that was added during the last part of the dance.

“It’s fine,” Momo whispers back.

“Wow,” the emcee says. “The crowd really loves you guys.”

“It was fun,” Momo answers, grinning. “It’s way more fun dancing with Mina.”

Someone among the students whistles at Momo’s statement. Momo scans the room and chuckles when she sees that it was Sana.

“And how about you, Miss Myoui?” the emcee asks.

“Momo is definitely a great dancer, and I’m glad she chose me.”

Momo slightly her head to the side at the statement. Mina realizes what she just said and adds, “To dance with her. Chose me to dance with her.”

“There you go, everyone. Miss Hirai Momo and Miss Myoui Mina. Thank you, girls! Let’s move on to our next guest!”

Momo and Mina walk to the curtains behind the stage, never letting go of each other’s hand until they’re each offered a bottle of water and they start drinking. Momo sips just a little, though, because she isn’t a big fan of water.

“Aren’t you gonna finish that?” Mina asks Momo.

“No. I don’t like water.”

“What?! Momo, you’re supposed to—”

Momo cuts Mina off by kissing her cheeks.

“Thank you for dancing with me, Mina. Dancing makes me feel alive, but dancing with you… It’s just a whole other level. Really, thank you.”

Mina blushes, unable to say anything.

“And you got black paint on your face now, too.”