The night before her wedding day, Sana recalls how she fell in love from beyond ten years ago.

I met my soulmate the day I was born; on December 29, 1996. Nobody told me this. It's a conclusion I made. I was crying then. Mom held me like a fragile glass in her equally delicate arms. She was looking at me while smiling. That was the only instance, in my whole life, that she smiled while I cried.

The door opened slightly and there was a woman, as beautiful as Mom. She was peeking with the same smile Mom was wearing. Mom saw her or maybe, heard the creaking of the door and looked that way. She smiled to the woman and told her she's welcome in the room. The woman obeyed and the moment she revealed her whole body, I cried again for it was the first time I saw my soulmate. No, it wasn't the woman. It was the baby she was holding; with round eyes, squishy cheeks and lips that curved sweetly, smiling at me.

"Hello, tiny peach," Mom said while they were approaching, "Meet your best fried, Sana."

Tiny Peach smiled.

I cried. That was the first time I heard my name, with the first role given to me — to be her best friend.

"That will be your role until the end."

Nobody told me this. But I hoped someone did.

Mom and the woman were best of friends. So, Mom thought that it would be the cutest thing ever if their daughters, me and Tiny Peach would be best friends, too. Mom would always bring me to Tiny Peach's house. Tiny Peach's mom always smiled whenever that happened. The two of them would talk about their lives and the lives they've planned for us while they were swinging their arms that carried us. Mom said I would be a medical doctor by profession and a concert pianist by hobby. Tiny Peach's mom on the other hand told mom that she dreamed about Tiny Peach as a novelist and a dancer. They both laughed at that, maybe I laughed in my head, too. Poor Tiny Peach didn't hear those remarks. She was always sleeping during the talks. Later on, between the visits to Tiny Peach's house and Tiny Peach's and her mom's visits to our house, Tiny Peach became Momo and Tiny Peach's mom became Auntie. The talks about Mom and Auntie's pasts and Momo and I's futures continued while Momo and I practiced crawling and laughed at each other whenever we landed on our butts, while we ate our food and would eventually throw it to our faces and while we cried whenever we'd see our empty milk bottles.

The visits didn't stop. Even though Momo and I already wore trick or treat costumes while walking on the streets, hands holding each other while swaying up and down. Our first trick or treat was epic. We were Teletubbies for a day. The people in the village thought we were the real ones (I don't know how that happened or how idiot each of them was). They followed us while we walked and asked photos with us. Mom and Auntie were in our back. They were just laughing and probably thinking that we looked like superstars. That maybe, we would really be superstars when we grow up. Then a lot of trick or treats passed. We wore matching cute and innocently adorable costumes until we were eight year-olds. We became pink and violet Barneys, cutie black cats, Perry the platypus, princesses of Disney and wonderwomen. Between those years, Mom would send me to piano lessons under Mr. Park Jin Young a.k.a. Old JYP, according to Momo. But I would always find a way to escape. Old JYP is not a bad teacher, he's good, actually. Too good that he's also good at sleeping. By the time I would play what he just taught me, his head slowly dropped, that was when I would slowly walk out to the back door where Mom wasn't (she was always sitting/waiting in the front porch) and where Momo would always get my hand and we would run away to the dance studio Auntie sent her. At first, I was contented watching Momo smiled as much as she danced. She started dancing when she was three and started entering the dance studio when we were six, the same time Mom decided it's time to unleash the pianist prodigy in me. It's not that I like disobeying Mom or I don't like playing the piano or I am not good at it. In fact, I love Mom, I like the sound of each piano key under my finger and I knew I've got natural talent. It's just that I wanted to spend time with Momo and she would always wait at the back. I didn't want to make her wait so I would go with her to leave the piano, Old JYP and Mom (who scolded me every time I would arrive home and would stop if she sees Momo behind me). Some time when we were seven, while I rested from the running, leaned on the wall while sitting on the floor and watched Momo sway to a new routine, she stopped, went in front of me with a extended hand and smiled at me, "Would you like to dance with me?" I looked weirdly at her while she had a look that told me, "I'll lead you."

And so that's what happened. We danced and Momo led me. She didn't care about my feet stepping on hers, didn't care about my body being offbeat and didn't care about the first time my heart was beating like that, like an elephant walking heavily, thud thud thud.

"That was a warning."

Nobody told me this. But I hoped someone did.

The first time was followed by a second and a third and a fourth and so on. Every time Momo and I danced, my dancing became better while the thud thud thud of my heart became worse. Then, at one point, when I was eight, I no longer had to escape from Old JYP. I told Mom I enjoyed dancing, that I wanted to dance like Momo. Mom was so frustrated (and cried), didn't know what to say (to a daughter that crushed her mother's dream for her). But Momo showed from behind me and told Mom, "She's really good, Auntie. I'll take care of her and one day, she'll be dancing her way to success."

After hearing it, Mom sighed, a heavy one and wiped the teardrops with her thumb, "You're still going to be a doctor, right?" She was looking at me with hopeful eyes. I answered with a nod.

"I'll be a novelist and Sana will be a doctor. We'll both dance our way to success," Momo added to assure Mom.

"Promise?"

"Promise," Momo looked at me with that same smile of assurance she gave Mom, it was so pure and I knew at that moment why she had always persuaded Mom and softened her heart.

At age nine, Old JYP's piano room was changed into the dance studio, Beethoven became Beyonce, sonata became hip hop, Old JYP became Ms. Park a.k.a. Gorgeous Park, according to Momo. Gorgeous Park loved Momo that she considered her her protege. They would have solo dance lessons. Gorgeous Park would always be surprised whenever she sees me showing the techniques she taught Momo during our dance showcase. Momo always shared to me what she knew or discovered. We would dance to every beat and I would be bothered by my heartbeat. At school, Momo rocked English, I rocked Science. Momo would be our class' representative in every writing contest and even in declamations. I was the Science extraordinaire. We were considered campus geniuses and everyone who would discover that we were dancing when not studying always wore that shocked then amused and then admiring face. One of them was Mark, who Momo punched when he lifted my skirt between the whistles he gave me at fourth grade. The principal, Mr. Cob a.k.a. Mr. Taxi according to Momo called our parents. In his office, Mom behaved like herself, a well-educated and respected lady though she really wanted to say something harsh to Mark's mother for raising such a kid. Auntie on the other hand doesn't feel embarrassed of what Momo did to Mark, she looked proud even (of course, she didn't show it and remained like herself and Mom), thinking probably that she had Momo who would always protect the people she cared about. When Mr. Taxi asked why should Momo just punch Mark like that than talking to him calmly, she said, "Why are you even asking that? He deserved it."

"But you don't have to-"

"I have to protect Sana. I want to protect Sana."

"And Sana should protect her heart."

Nobody told me this. But I hoped someone did.

The trick or treat costumes stopped when we were twelve. While we were wearing our witch and Dracula attires, Momo said that it doesn't suit us anymore and that we weren't the ones tricking the neighborhood, we were actually being tricked by our moms. I protested at first, saying that it was always fun and adding that last year was a wonder. We were Women In Black with black suites, black shoes, black shades and black guns, real guns. I was tasked to knock on every door and Momo had the authority to show the gun and say, "I'm gonna shoot your heart!" And I would tell "trick or treat" awkwardly in front of their fainting pale faces. They would usually give us lots of candies but we made a mistake to knock on Mr. Son's door a.k.a. Abandoned Son, according to Momo. He was new to the neighborhood and a policeman. He knew those were real guns and the moment he said, "Girls, don't you know real guns are not supposed to be used to trick or treat?" we knew that we should run as fast as we could and so we did. We heard his patrol motorbike and so we borrowed a bicycle from a house we passed.

Momo drove so fast while shouting "We're abandoning you, Abandoned Son! Woooh!"

I was on the back, praying for forgiveness from the bicycle owner and praying for the safety of his or her bicycle and our lives. We were getting out of the subdivision when the guard blocked our way, with probably three patrol cars and six police officers, not to mention Abandoned Son who caught us while panting. We ended up being in the police station. I looked so nervous while the mastermind looked like a real badass. We were chained to each other, that's how Mom and Auntie saw us when they entered the police station. I gave Mom a sorry look. Momo looked proudly to her mom. Mom looked really worried. Auntie looked at Momo proudly, if she was worried, she wasn't showing it, like always. During the interrogation, Momo spoke, telling that we didn't know those were real guns and we didn't even did something wrong with it. Auntie seconded what Momo said, adding that it was terrible of her to not properly hide her husband's guns. After much talking, Abandoned Son was ready to unchain us when Momo spoke, "This is cool. We literally are partners in crime. Right, Mom?" Auntie just gave her two thumbs up.

I didn't know the thumbs up meant "Yes, you can be chained like that as long as you want."

So that was what happened. Literally, Momo always stuck with me. We ate with her fork and my spoon. On day one, we were at their house. There, we did household chores together. We washed the dishes, I held each plate while Momo rinsed it. Then Momo glanced at me and she raised her hand, I forgot about the plate I was holding and held her hand in the air, right in front my forehead, we stared at each other as if time has stopped and after a few seconds, she chuckled, "These are blocking your sight," then tucking some strands of my hair at the back of my ear. I didn't process what I had to say right there and then, simply because I couldn't. Time has stopped for the second time and Momo ruined it again with her hearty laugh.

"What?"

"You've got something on your forehead," she pointed and couldn't stop laughing.

So I touched my forehead and remembered that that was what I was going to say. That she'd get soap bubbles in my face. So, I touched both her cheeks and she did the same. When I was about to make a move again, she ran and we ran with soap bubbles in hands until they became dry.

That was just day one and imagine what happened during the next days. Hint: it was a weeklong mess.

Yes, Momo and I were tied to each other with the metal chain until the seventh day. It was the day we met Mina. While Gorgeous Park and the other people in the dance studio looked adorably at our locked hands while we were feeling the sweet beat of "Can't Help Falling In Love", a girl probably as tall and as old as Momo and I, with silky skin, fair complexion, sharp jaws, shining eyes and a visible cute mole on the bridge of her carefully-carved nose entered the dance studio after three knocks and Gorgeous Park's 'come in'. When Gorgeous Park saw her, she smiled to the innocent-looking girl and immediately brought her in the middle, she clapped and everyone's attention drifted from us to her and the girl (though Momo and I were still in the middle).

"Everyone, this is Mina, she will be a new addition to our crew," Gorgeous Park announced with an arm over Mina's shoulders.

"Hello. I'm Mina. Please take care of me," she said with that little shy voice that was almost impossible to hear.

Mina was so adorable and everyone went to welcome her with hugs and handshakes. Momo and I were the last ones to do that though we were nearest her. Momo was about to unchain us (turned out she had the key in her pocket) when I unconsciously held her left hand, she looked at me and I knew in her eyes that she understood my action.

"It was a wonder to be tied with you, Sana. And it will always be," she said and smiled then she unlocked the chain.

As soon as she did it, she held my right hand with her left, interlocking our fingers. Then she looked up and approached Mina, she extended her right hand that was once in chains, "Enjoy your stay here. I'm Momo," she said with that same smile she used with me just a moment ago. She gently pressed her thumb to my hand that she was holding, "Hello. I'm Sana. Hope we'll get along," I said and Mina smiled.

"That was the smile Momo would learn to love."

Nobody told me this. But I hoped someone did.

Mina, we discovered during and in between dance lessons, was a shy smart girl on the outside but has this cute and soft personality that made us want to protect her. She was a precious kid, no one would doubt. She became close to us. She laughed at Momo and I's dorky exchanges, played along with Momo's "ideas" and of course, danced with us until she caught her breath. But at first, that closeness only stayed in the four corners of the dance studio. She didn't walk with us home (for she had a chauffeur to fetch her), didn't go with us to school (because she was home schooling) and we didn't even know her exact address. So I was beyond surprised when one time, while mixing egg yolks in Auntie's kitchen, Momo told me this, "Mina has a crush on me."

"Is that possible? You're both girls," I said with a confused tone.

"I don't know, but don't you think it's cute?" She said and I thought I heard something in her voice that I never heard before.

I hummed, "How do you know?"

"Eh?"

"That Mina has a crush on you."

"I don't know it yet. But I feel it," she said with a shrug, "Hey! It's spilling!" She held the wrist of my right hand that was gripping tightly (without me knowing) into the egg yolk mixer, "Why do you hold it so tight? Your hand looked so tense," and she covered my fist with her hand, her palm was so warm, in contrast to mine.

She was focused in attempting to loosen up my tired hand while I was focused on admiring her features. I didn't want her to stop holding my hand, until she said, "Would it be okay if I will have a crush on her, too?"

I let go of her hand and what I thought was a perfect moment, "You're not even sure if she really has a crush on you."

I walked away from her with the bowl of egg yolk in my hands and some heaviness in my heart. It was not that thud thud thud. It was different, it made my heart ache but did not excite me.

We had never seen Mina's mom or her dad. She was always with their house servants, but Mina didn't consider them just that. She considered them her family. It was just one of the many things to admire about Mina. So I wasn't surprised that Momo had developed a crush on Mina, it was more of a shock that Momo liked girls. Because in fact, I thought she had some small liking on Mark, before the day she punched him. (But maybe I was that delusional back then.)

"I think I might have a crush on Mina now," she said while we were lying on my bed side by side and staring up the space-themed ceiling, like the words just popped up as a sudden realization before she dozed off.

I was sure it was during the summer vacation that her budding feelings for Mina grown into full bloom. Mina finally went out with us, mostly just in the park (with her bodyguards around). She would bring lots of food that it looked like a festival, instead of a picnic. There was always a special lunch box for Momo and it would make Momo smile the moment Mina opened it. The smell of each food made Momo's face looked so relaxed. The look of it made Momo feel so giddy. And every time she tasted it, Momo fell an inch deeper for Mina. There were a lot of things that Mina did in a day, and so the number of inches piled up and Momo fell so deep. Mina wasn't allowed to use her phone (other than texting her guards) or their house telephone so it was hard for her and Momo to communicate during those days when she couldn't go out of their house because her parents didn't permit her. (Sometimes, I was confused if she was treated like a princess or a prisoner.) So she sent letters to Momo and Momo did the same. There were no I miss yous or I love yous. Each letter simply contained stories from each side of that young love. I knew all of these because the constant visits Momo and I did to each other's houses didn't stop. We still did our quirks before. We were still Momo and Sana. Momo just became more Momo. She became softer, more gentle, and more caring. It was all because of Mina. She would tell me how much she liked it whenever Mina complimented how she looked or how she danced. She told me how delighted she was when Mina hugged her after she gave her a bracelet she convinced Auntie to make. She basically told me how much Mina made her happy. She told me everything and the heaviness was there every time she did. I ignored it because I knew Momo's heart was flowing with happiness... until she stopped being that happy.

One day, in the middle of Mina's performance, she touched her chest with her fist, cried so hard and dropped to the floor. We were all stunned, including Momo who was just proudly clapping seconds ago. Mina was rushed to the emergency room. Gorgeous Park, Momo and I went with her. Her dad who we found out was the hospital director was there with us, waiting on the bench. When a woman who looked like Mary with golds and silvers in her wrists and neck arrived, Mina's dad whispered harshly (a bit loud that I heard it) in her ear, "Look at what you did to my daughter," and the woman who I concluded was Mina's mom stayed still.

After a few hours, Mina woke up. Momo was about to enter the room when Gorgeous Park said, "Family first." So we waited for another hour. When Mina's parents went out looking exhausted, we went in. We saw Mina smiling but I knew she had cried. We talked freely like we were on the park or the dance studio, not in that suffocating room. Mina explained that it was simply because of overfatigue and that we need not to worry. Realizing that Momo had been holding too long on Mina's hand, I asked Gorgeous Park to go out with me, reasoning that I was hungry. That night, Momo slept beside me, telling me how worried she was of Mina and how she would surprise her the next day. The surprise never happened. For the next day, Mina didn't show up. A lot of next days passed and we knew Mina was gone, without any explanation other than "Her mom said she would pursue ballet in States" from Gorgeous Park, not even a letter to Momo. Momo still wrote to Mina until she became too tired to move the fiftieth pen, to fold the three hundred sixty fifth paper and seal the envelope it was supposed to be in. I didn't know how much Mina meant to her until she hugged me on that 'last day for Mina's letters'. She was hugging me from the back and it was so tight that her breaking heart injured mine, too.

It was Momo's first heartbreak. It was mine, too.

The next day, Gorgeous Park announced a recital that we had to do in duo. The theme was expressing extreme emotions. In their house's living room, we asked Auntie for suggestions and she randomly played songs on her old stereo. We sat with crossed legs on the sofa while listening with closed eyes. The fourth song was what Momo chose. As soon as I heard the chorus, I felt Momo held my hand.

You really know where to start...

We stood together.

Fixing a broken heart...

She positioned my arms on her shoulder, hands at the back of her neck and her own each at the sides of my waist.

You really know what to do...

And again, she lead me, telling me what I need to do, what she needed me to do. With her touch, each step and her soft voice that silenced the radio, I felt her worries, regrets and the longing. So, I obeyed.

And after all the ice cream I brought to their house, the movies we had watched with different genres, the games we had played and the cuddles we had shared on all those sleepless nights, Momo went on with her life and it appeared as if there was never Mina. But Momo would still talk about Mina. It was just that she talked about her like she was just a friend we had. She talked about her like there wasn't an "almost".

"I miss the food Mina used to bring."

"It would be cool to see Mina as a ballerina though."

"Mina would love this shirt. It's her style."

"Mina would enjoy this place."

And the talks about Mina became lesser until they didn't occur anymore.

"Maybe it was just meant to be puppy love or something," was the first and the last time I heard her talk about what she and Mina had.

During high school, we stayed to be Sana and Momo. Sana with Momo and Momo with Sana. From campus geniuses to campus geniuses and campus crushes. It came to that. We still danced but not in Gorgeous Park's studio anymore. We became members of the school dance club, after convincing Ms. Jung a.k.a. NB (No Boyfriend/No Booty) Jung, according to Momo to allow us to join in two clubs.

On the club listing day, Momo passed a paper to the Editor-in-Chief of The Shack to apply as a Feature Writer. I was there beside her, "What do you think should I apply for?" I said and Momo looked at me, "What are you saying?" The EIC looked at me or scanned my appearance, I should say. Then her sight stopped on my tummy. "We lack photojournalists this year. You want to try?" I was holding my DSLR and thinking of the best way to say yes when Momo spoke, "Sorry, she's too good for that." And she dragged me to the other side, "Why are you suddenly interested in photojournalism?" She said with mixed curiosity and confusion.

"Not much. But since I couldn't write, and the EIC suggested it, it's a good excuse to be in the same club with-"

She dragged me again, in front of a table that read 'Medulla Oblongata' and 'Where future biologists' brains' meet.' under it and 'Bio is life.' under that.

"Sign in," she said.

"But-"

"Trust me," she smiled and so I signed in to be a member of the Biology Club.

After a week, the results were out. Momo was accepted in The Shack, but as an Editorial Writer. The EIC explained that they have a bunch of Feature Writers but she didn't want to miss Momo's talent in their team so she put her in the Editorial Section. I was admitted to the MOC after Momo passed a document of all my qualifications and was even interviewed in behalf of me.

Later on, during Computer Science, after finishing my PowerPoint, I sent a secret chat to Momo.

"Hey."

I moved my head to the side, she looked behind her where my computer table was, I waved at her and pointed to her keyboard with my lips.

"Eh?"

"Eh, too."

"I know it."

"What?"

"You're either bored or bothered."

"Both. What are you doing?"

"Talking to you while Mr. Worm is trying to shut down our PCs."

" *Mr. Kim* "

"Well, his first name is Michelangelo and it is a type of worm, right?"

"Eh?"

"Not worm as in your Biology worm. The computer virus something. He mentioned it earlier. You weren'