The new year comes, and along with it comes the new semester. It’s been three weeks since she had last seen Momo, or heard from her, for that matter. At first she figured she’s just busy at her house again. Yes, she was in denial. But more and more days pass until she couldn’t even reach Momo’s phone. She’d stay at home more than usual, and nobody could talk to her, not even Jihyo. She’d only eat once a day, too—that is, when her mother brings up food for her.

When the semester starts, it’s the only time Mina wills herself to get out and go to school. But when she arrives it feels different somehow. Like something’s missing.

And she knows, that it’s because Momo isn’t here.

As Mina walks (rather sluggishly), she feels a hand on her shoulder. A big part of her wants it—no, needs it to be Momo, but it wasn’t. She sees her best friend with a very concerned look on her face.

“Myoui.”

“Oh, hey, Jihyo.”

“You look tired,” Jihyo observes. “It’s only the first week back.”

“Stayed up late last night,” Mina replies weakly.

“Come on. Let’s go to the lounge.” Jihyo takes her best friend’s arm, but the girl stays in her position.

“I don’t want to see them right now. I need to be alone. Or at least, as alone as I can be as a student. I’m sorry.”

Jihyo nods. “I understand. But I’m always here for you, remember that. I love you, Myoui.”

Mina forces a smile. “Love you too, Jihyo-yah.”

Jihyo returns to the lounge with a defeated look on her face. Tzuyu, Jeongyeon, Chaeyoung, Sana, and Dahyun instinctively look to her expectantly.

“So?” Jeongyeon asks as soon Jihyo comes in. “Did you find her?”

“Yes, but she doesn’t want to be with us now.”

Tzuyu takes Jihyo’s hand and rubs it to soothe her. “Let’s just give her some time.”

“Poor Mina-unnie,” Dahyun comments. “I miss Momo-unnie, too. But it must be tougher for her.” She turns to Sana who’s been keeping quiet all the time. “Hey Sana-unnie. I don’t know why I’ve only thought about this now but… are you in touch with Momo-unnie?”

“I…” Sana looks around nervously at the pairs of eyes staring at her now. “Yes, sometimes,” she admits with a sigh. “But Momo doesn’t want Mina to know where she is right now. I want to tell Mina, too! But Momo keeps on telling me I shouldn’t. I-I’m sorry, everyone.”

“Hey, it’s alright,” Dahyun assures her. “You only have your sister’s interest at heart.”

“No, it’s not alright!” Jihyo shouts. “Don’t you guys even think about Mina? Her mom tells me she’s not even eating properly anymore! Yes, Momo is your first friend, but isn’t Mina your friend now, too? And if Momo really cared for Mina, why the hell isn’t she here now?” She turns to Sana with a deadly look on her face. “Tell your sister she’s a coward.”

Jihyo walks out of the room, Tzuyu running after her. Sana’s at a loss for words; she completely understands how Jihyo is feeling. Chaeyoung, who hasn’t spoken a single word, gets off the couch and leaves the room as well.

—

During her break, Mina finds a place to stay as she waits for the next class. Her go-to place was usually the Twice lounge, but as she told Jihyo, she wants to be alone. She finds a way up the rooftop of one of the buildings. Fortunately for her no one is there. She sits in the corner and stays there, thinking. Thinking about Momo, about their happy days together, about their last night at her bedroom, about the pain Mina felt when she finally realized that Momo really is gone, just like that.

Mina couldn’t hold back the tears forming on her eyes. She puts her head between her knees and cries her heart out. That is, until she hears a voice talking to her.

“Hey.”

Mina lifts her head and sees a handkerchief being offered up to her. The other girl sits down in front of Mina. It’s Chaeyoung.

“Take it, please,” Chaeyoung says. Mina looks at it for a moment, but eventually takes the hanky, wiping her wet face with it.

“Thank you, Chaeyoung-ah,” Mina utters, still sniffing a little.

“If you want to cry, you can cry,” Chaeyoung tells Mina. “Let it all out. But after this, you can’t cry anymore.”

It doesn’t happen right away, but it does happen gradually. Mina cries less and less every day, until she only cries a few times every week. She starts seeing Jihyo regularly again, although most of her time she spends with Chaeyoung now.

“Myoui,” Jihyo says over their lunch, pausing to choose her words carefully, “is something going on between you and Chaeyoung?”

“What? Jihyo, there’s nothing. I… I’m not ready for anything yet.”

Jihyo nods at the girl. “Okay. I believe you.”

“So, how are you and Tzuyu these days?” Mina asks, taking a bite of her taco. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a mess.”

“Hey, don’t apologize for that. It must be hard for you to go through what you went through.”

“Thank you for always caring for me, Jihyo-yah.” Mina smiles at her best friend. “So, spill.”

Jihyo proceeds to tell Mina about the time Tzuyu brought her dog Gucci to Jihyo’s house and how he was shy with Jihyo at first but they end up playing for the rest of the day. As Mina laughs at every anecdote, Jihyo becomes happier to see her best friend slowly gaining her energy again.

—

Four months later, Chaeyoung and Mina are at the rooftop where Chaeyoung spotted Mina crying. It’s been a while since they’ve been here; Mina avoided the place since it reminded her too much of a certain girl whose name she hasn’t spoken nor heard in a long time. But Chaeyoung invited her, telling her that she should say goodbye to this place as a way of letting go of the past.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Mina brings out the handkerchief Chaeyoung offered to her that time. “Thank you for this.”

“Why are you giving it back?” the younger girl asks.

“Because I don’t need it anymore.”

Chaeyoung smiles at the ballerina, accepting her handkerchief. They stay like that for a while, smiling at each other.

“Uh,” Mina starts, “your boycut is nice.”

“Thank you.” Chaeyoung blushes. “I just saw this haircut somewhere and thought I should try it, too.”

“It looks good on you.”

Mina stares at Chaeyoung. Chaeyoung slowly leans into Mina who closes her eyes, bracing herself for what’s coming. Their lips finally touch each other, sharing a soft kiss. But it doesn’t last for long as they hear they sound of something falling, and they turn to see what it was—a bouquet of flowers. Then, they look up to see whom the bouquet came from.

Chaeyoung’s mouth falls open. Mina’s face turns white when she sees her. It looks as if she’s seen a ghost.

And it may as well have been. Because she thought she was gone. But she’s right here, standing in front of them. But she looks different than before. Her hair is at its shortest since Mina met her, colored with a dark shade of blue, almost black now.

“Momo-unnie,” Chaeyoung speaks. Momo—it’s a name Mina didn’t think she’d hear again. Chaeyoung steps closer to Momo. “I… I don’t know what to say—”

Momo knocks Chaeyoung to the floor with a punch. The younger girl falls to the ground but uses her hands to break the fall. Mina’s about to give Momo a piece of her mind when Momo just storms off the rooftop.