“I want to dance with my girlfriend now.”

 

“Of course,” Chaeyoung says. “I was just keeping her company, seeing as you left her all alone in this big hall.”

 

“I was talking with my father.”

 

“Yes, yes, I’m sure it was a very important conversation.”

 

Momo raises an eyebrow. “Are you mocking me, Son?”

 

“No, unnie. Like I said, just keeping Mina-unnie company. But she’s all yours now.”

 

As Chaeyoung leaves and Momo takes Mina’s hand, the song So Weightless by David Choi (https://youtu.be/nGyDc0PNcfc) starts playing. Momo puts Mina’s arms over her shoulders, while she puts her own hands on the latter’s waist. They start swaying to the song, but neither of them seem to look at each other.

 

Mina steals a glance at Momo. She feels as if Momo’s avoiding looking at her, plus she’s got that pissed look at her. Mina clears , causing Momo to look at her.

 

“Um, so what were you and Mr. Hirai talking about?” Mina asks, initiating conversation.

 

She feels Momo stiffen. “Nothing, it’s none of your business.”

 

Mina sighs. Another dead end conversation with Hirai, she thinks to herself.

 

To her surprise though, Momo starts speaking again.

 

“You know we need to choreograph a dance, right?”

 

Mina remembers. “Yah, what was that about anyway? Meeting at a dance class and whatnot. Where did you even get that?”

 

“Why? Don’t you know how to dance?”

 

“I do, but—what if I didn’t and that’s what you told them earlier? We could’ve been done for.”

 

Momo smirks as she looks down on Mina, her stiffness now gone. “Aww, you want to keep being my girlfriend, don’t you? It’s only been a day, Minari, and you’ve already gotten so attached to me.”

 

“Oh, shut up.” Mina tries to frown, but ends up chuckling at Momo’s teasing. “You’re lucky I know ballet,” she says, more serious now.

 

“Oh you do?” Momo replies nonchalantly.

 

Mina nods. “I had ballet lessons for 11 years.”

 

“That’s great. We’ll have no problem then.”

 

“You’re a dancer too, huh?”

 

Momo shrugs. “Sometimes.”

 

“Sometimes? Momo-unnie, you’re too modest,” someone says. Mina doesn’t recognize the voice. She turns and see two girls in front of her and Momo. One of them is Sana; the other, who’s smiling at them, is shorter than Sana, and her skin looks as pale as a… as a…

 

What’s the Korean word for tofu again? Mina tries to recall.

 

“Dubu!” Momo cries out. Mina’s eyes widen. Have they been too close that Momo could hear what Mina was thinking?

 

“Hey, Dubu!” Momo greets the dubu-faced girl and hugs her tightly. Mina sees this and something tugs at her chest. She does her best to ignore the feeling.

 

“Unnie, why don’t you introduce me to your partner over here?”

 

“Right,” says Momo, and Mina rolls her eyes. Seriously, did Momo forget Mina was here?

 

“Mina, this is Dahyun. Dahyunnie, this is Minari.”

 

“Ah, hi Minari—”

 

“Nope. Only I’m allowed to call her that.”

 

Dahyun grins and sticks her tongue out at Momo. Then she turns to Mina. “Mina-Mina-Minari~”

 

Mina chuckles. This girl sure is full of energy.

 

“Hi, Dahyun. Hi, Sana.”

 

“Hello, Minari!” Sana joins in. Momo groans.

 

“Anyway, as I was saying,” Dahyun starts, “Momo-unnie, don’t be so modest in front of your girlfriend here!” She looks at Mina. “Do you know what Momo’s nickname is?”

 

“You mean Moguri?”

 

Dahyun shakes her head. “That’s the cute nickname. Her other nickname is Dancing Mochine.”

 

“Dancing Mochine?” Mina blinks. “You mean…”

 

“She’s a freaking expert on modern dance! Right, Momo-unnie?”

 

Mina turns to Momo, who’s just looking somewhere else. How come Mina didn’t know that Momo’s a dancer? She and Jihyo must have missed that fact, since they aren’t really fans of Twice. That must be why she said she and Mina met through dance. Still, it was lucky for Momo that Mina’s really a dancer, too.

 

“Dahyun-ah, look, you didn’t let the happy couple finish their slow dance,” Sana chimes in, interrupting Mina’s thoughts. “And now they’ve refilled the food over there.”

 

“FOOD?” Momo repeats. Mina can tell she’s excited. “Minari, come on, let’s go!” Momo drags Mina over to the buffet table like a kid, and Mina finds it adorable. As they walk together Momo’s fingers slowly make their way from Mina’s arms to her hands; Mina shudders at the contact. Aigoo, what is this feeling?

 

“Excuse me,” Momo says to anyone they walk past. She’s really rushing to get to that table. Momo grabs two plates, hands one to Mina, and immediately starts filling up her own.

 

Mina sees Jeongyeon, who puts a finger to , signaling the former to keep quiet. She takes a stance, breathes in, and says aloud, “Momo-yah!”

 

“Ah!” Momo gasps, almost dropping the food out of her plate in her shock. She gives Jeongyeon the evil eye. “You trying to give me a heart attack, No-Jam?”

 

Meanwhile Jeongyeon is trying hard to control her laughter. “I’m sorry, you were just too focused on getting your food that I couldn’t resist. How hungry are you?”

 

“I didn’t eat all day for this,” replies Momo, snickering. “Since when did you get here anyway?”

 

“A few minutes ago. I picked up my date on my way.”

 

“Jinjja? Who?”

 

“Moguri, annyeong!” Nayeon cheers.

 

“Nayeon-ah?!”

 

“What?” Nayeon pouts. “Can’t I date one of your friends?”

 

“I didn’t say that,” Momo retorts. “It’s just… Jeongyeon? Really?”

 

“Yah!” Jeongyeon screams, hitting Momo on her arms. Mina simply watches the whole interaction, delighted at Momo and the others’ playfulness. She doesn’t join the conversation because she’s not really close with them, and she’s shy in general.

 

Nayeon notices the shy ballerina. She tugs at Jeongyeon to get her attention. “Come on Jeong, we’re hindering them from their alone time.”

 

“Huh? Oh, right. Okay ladies, we’ll go to our table now. Unlike in that Mean Girls movie, you can totally sit with us.”

 

“Hey, have any of you girls seen Tzuyu?” Momo calls out.

 

“I think she texted me earlier saying that she’s not coming,” Jeongyeon replies.

 

Momo turns to Mina, who’s already grinning at the brown-haired girl.

 

“I win,” a smug Mina says to her.

 

“Hmph. Night’s not over, Minari.”

 

Mina only chuckles. “You just can’t accept defeat, can you?”

 

“I always get what I want.”

 

It turns out, Tzuyu really isn’t coming to the gala. Momo called her after she and Mina were seated, and Tzuyu told them something else more interesting came up.

 

“Aish,” Momo mumbles.

 

“Cheer up, Momo. It’s not like I didn’t warn you—I know my best friend.”

 

Momo doesn’t respond with words; instead, she just grunts.

 

The two are seated at a round table together with Sana and Dahyun, Jeongyeon and Nayeon, and Chaeyoung—who, much to Momo’s chagrin, is sitting next to Mina. (Momo, of course, is on the other side.)

 

“Mina-unnie,” Chaeyoung starts. “Dahyun told us you’re a ballerina?”

 

Mina nods. “My parents enrolled me to a ballet class, and I never stopped for 11 years.”

 

“I should’ve guessed the moment I saw you,” Chaeyoung tells her. “You’re as elegant as a swan when we met.”

 

“Um, actually that’s what they called me in high school,” says Mina. “Black Swan.”

 

“Black Swan?” Dahyun repeats. “We’re like birds, then!”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Well, when I was younger I did a dance at our Church—an eagle dance. Like this—” she starts to flap her arms, but Sana catches them and stops her.

 

“Not here, Dahyun,” she tells the younger girl.

 

Dahyun realizes that they’re in a formal event as she looks around. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

 

Mina chuckles. The rest of the dinner continues with more small talk, mostly Chaeyoung asking Mina questions about ballet, and commenting on her hair. Momo stays silent all throughout, concentrating on her food. She only uses one hand for eating though; the other she uses for holding Mina’s hand under their table.

Mina doesn’t question it, nor does she retract; and now she’s having a hard time denying how giddy she’s feeling.