Dahyun is the worst friend she’s ever had, Momo decides.

 

Okay, that’s obviously an exaggeration, but it doesn’t change the fact that Momo has began to dread walking home from school with Dahyun everyday. During the first few times, it was okay, exciting even, because walking with someone is definitely way better than going alone. However, recently, Dahyun has made a habit of getting ice cream on the way home. At first, Momo didn’t mind taking that small detour to the ice cream shop near their school, even more so because her friend always pays for both of their orders. It was a welcome treat back when the weather was warm to moderate. However, even now, during the coldest time of the year, Dahyun still insists on having ice cream every freaking day, and Momo is beginning to hate being dragged into this absurdity.

 

(The thought of simply cutting ties with Dahyun as a solution has crossed Momo’s mind so many times, but then she remembers that Dahyun is her crush’s best friend, so that plan is off the table. It serves Momo right for having ulterior motives, really.)

 

It’s kind of impressive, how Dahyun always manages to give Momo a different reason for eating a frozen food when the weather is so cold that Momo feels like she’s frozen herself, although all of these reasons are flimsy as heck. Momo knows the real reason why Dahyun keeps going to the shop is because she finds the girl behind the counter cute, but Dahyun still makes an effort to give Momo a whole lot of weak excuses, anyway.

 

Today is not going to be any different, and Dahyun’s wide smile as she approaches Momo’s seat once they’re dismissed from their last class makes Momo certain of that.

 

“Don’t say it,” Momo warns.

 

“Let’s go for ice cream today,” Dahyun says, ignoring Momo’s command.

 

Momo groans and buries her face in her hands, letting out a muffled, “Seriously, what is wrong with you?”

 

“It’s my treat. Why are you complaining?”

 

Momo drops her hands back onto her table before seething, “Because it’s winter. If I wanted to eat ice, I would just go outside and stick out my tongue.”

 

“Why don’t you just sit and wait while I eat, then?” Dahyun proposes. “Nobody’s forcing you to eat with me.”

 

“Because ice cream is food,” Momo answers like it’s self-explanatory, but Dahyun only stares at her blankly, making Momo elaborate, “I can’t say no to free food, Dahyun. That’s like my motto in life.”

 

“Oh, right, I should have known that by now,” Dahyun nods. “I won’t treat you anymore, then. I’ll just buy one for myself.”

 

“Or you can just save me from the daily torture by asking Sana out,” Momo suggests, bringing up the girl at the ice cream shop. “Is all of this really necessary?”

 

Poor, sweet Dahyun can only pout like she’s disappointed in herself, too. “Look, it’s not that easy, okay?”

 

“Yes, it is!” Momo claims. “Just approach her and instead of asking for ice cream, tell her you like her and ask for her number! Easy freaking peasy.”

 

“Oh, yeah?” Dahyun says, unconvinced. “Okay, then. I’ll tell her if you tell Mina.”

 

Oh, no, she didn’t.

 

Momo is about to give her friend a full-blown lecture about shutting her big fat mouth and about how she shouldn’t compare their circumstances because hers is an entirely different matter when a voice from behind Dahyun interrupts their conversation.

 

“Tell Mina what?”

 

Both of the girls freeze as both of them already knew whom that voice belongs to even before Dahyun turns around and steps aside to give Momo a better view of the voice’s owner.

 

“Ah, Mina,” Dahyun starts with a nervous laugh, “I… was just asking Momo to ask if you’re free today.”

 

At that moment, Momo wants the ground to swallow her whole because of how unconvincing Dahyun was, but Mina simply replies, “Right now? I always go to the library after the last period, Dahyun, you already know that.”

 

Dahyun, you freaking idiot.

 

“Umm, yeah, of course I did,” Dahyun says, scratching the back of her neck as she continues, “but I just thought maybe you can go with us for a quick ice cream first before heading to the lib?”

 

Okay, that wasn’t that bad of a save, Momo thinks.

 

“Ice cream? But it’s winter.”

 

“I know, right?” Momo agrees, happy to have a sane person on her side.

 

“Ice cream is my comfort food no matter the season,” Dahyun explains like she’s filming an advertisement.

 

“Really?” Mina probes with raised eyebrows. “How do you find comfort in eating something freezing cold when you’re already freezing cold?”

 

“What Dahyun meant was that she finds comfort in the presence of our beloved senior, Minatozaki Sana,” Momo translates, earning her a slap on the arm from Dahyun.

 

“Oh, yeah, I heard she works part-time at the shop around here, right?” Mina recalls, making Momo nod in confirmation, before Mina turns to Dahyun. “I’m still hurt that you don’t talk much about her with me, by the way.”

 

“Eh?” Momo exclaims in surprise. Even if Dahyun never told her directly that she likes Sana, Dahyun talked about the girl with Momo so often that she didn’t even have to admit it to Momo. She assumed Dahyun would be more open about this stuff with Mina since they’re closer, but apparently that’s not the case. “Why not?”

 

“Because the last time we passed by Sana in the hallway, Mina said hi to her, and Sana said hi back then pinched her cheeks and told her she’s cute,” Dahyun recounts as she glares at Mina.

 

“Sana-unnie is just friendly like that,” Mina assures as she pats Dahyun’s shoulder, but Dahyun just shrugs Mina’s hand off. “What? It’s not like I’m gonna steal her away from you or anything.”

 

“Well, technically, you wouldn’t be stealing from Dahyun because Sana isn’t hers,” Momo argues.

 

Dahyun huffs at the low blow as she turns her glare away from Mina and directs it towards Momo, instead. “Not yet, she’s not.”

 

“Oh, really? When are you gonna ask her out?” Momo inquires in a very challenging tone.

 

“Today,” Dahyun claims decisively, although Momo knows the confidence Dahyun is trying to show is more false than genuine, especially when Dahyun repeats more to herself than to Momo, “I’m gonna do it today.”

 

“Oh, yeah?” Momo taunts. “Are you sure you can do that?”

 

“Just watch me,” Dahyun says, adjusting her backpack straps before starting to strut her way out of the classroom.

 

Momo chuckles, and before following Dahyun, she turns to Mina. “You coming?”

 

“Are you kidding? This is going to be either a huge success or a total disaster. I can’t miss this.”

 

“Awesome,” Momo smiles as they start walking out of the room together. “I can walk you back to the library afterwards if you want.”

 

“I’d like that, yeah,” Mina says with a grin as wide as Momo’s, “but I know you get cold easily, so maybe that’s not an entirely good idea.”

 

“Nah, I’ll be fine,” Momo asserts.

 

“Don’t lie. Dahyun told me you had a fever and a cold last weekend.”

 

“I’m not lying!” Momo denies. “I’m all good now, I swear.”

 

“Really?” Mina asks before removing one of her gloves to feel Momo’s forehead. As Mina’s hands move to touch Momo’s cheek, Momo feels her face heat up. “Eh? Are you sure you’re not sick anymore? You feel a little warm.”

 

“I-I…” Momo stutters when she suddenly feels an arm around her shoulder.

 

“Momo’s not sick,” Dahyun says, tightening her hold on Momo. “She’s just lovesi—“

 

Momo quickly covers Dahyun’s mouth with her hand, preventing her from finishing her sentence, and Dahyun struggles a little but eventually manages to push Momo’s hand away. “What?” Dahyun innocently asks before going back to walking. “Let’s get going, you slowpokes.”

 

Mina looks at Momo questioningly, but Momo simply shrugs, and they both follow suit. Momo doesn’t say a word, nor does she even look in Mina’s direction throughout the entire trip. When they reach the ice cream shop, Momo feels like they’ve been walking for hours when in reality they’ve only been walking for a few minutes.

 

Mina doesn’t say anything either, not until Dahyun is pushing the shop door for all of them, and Mina whispers to Momo, “Moment of truth.”

 

They walk a few inches behind Dahyun, and finally, they reach the counter where Sana greets them cheerfully.

 

“What can I get you?” She asks, and Mina and Momo hold their breaths as they wait if Dahyun can really come through or not.

 

“I…” Dahyun starts. “I-I… umm…”

 

A full minute passes with Sana, Mina, and Momo all looking at Dahyun expectantly, but the girl still wasn’t able to get a single comprehensible word out. Momo resists the urge to roll her eyes and considers taking things into her own hands. She prevents herself from doing that though and decides to have a little faith in her friend.

 

However, when one minute of silence turns into two, Momo finally takes one step forward to stand directly beside Dahyun before finally intervening with, “Your number.”

 

Three pairs of widened eyes are suddenly on Momo, and Sana chokes out, “E-excuse me?”

 

Momo sighs and leans against the counter before clarifying, “You see, my friend Dahyun over here—you probably recognize her as the idiot who keeps getting ice cream every day even if it’s freaking winter—she likes you a lot and so can you please save all of us from this stupidity before I die of hypothermia all because of my friend’s stubbornness and just give her your number?” She says all of this in one breath, so she has to take another deep breath at the end of it before adding, “Oh, and three ice cream cones with the usual scoop of cookies and cream for me, chocolate for Dahyun, and…” Momo trails off, looking at Mina, silently asking what flavor she wants.

 

The other three girls are still in some kind of surprised daze, however, and Mina blinks before she replies, “Uhh, chocolate for me too.”

 

“And another scoop of chocolate,” Momo finishes, looking back at Sana just as the girl snaps out of her daze, too.

 

Momo waits in anticipation for Sana’s response and deflates when the reply was simply, “Umm, that’ll be six dollars.”

 

Wait, what?

 

Momo frowns in disillusionment. She thought that what she did would actually work because that’s how it usually goes in movies. Beside her, Dahyun hastily opens her wallet and pays the exact amount, determined to be out of Sana’s sight as soon as possible.

 

The silence that stretches from the second Sana takes the bills to the moment she hands the three girls their respective ice cream cones was awkward as heck to say the least. Once Momo’s hand touches her ice cream cone, Dahyun grabs Momo’s collar and drags her towards the exit.

 

They’re only halfway out of the shop, with Mina in tow, when they all hear Sana calling out, “Dahyun, wait,” making all of them turn back towards the counter.

 

Momo’s heart rate accelerates at the hope that her plan might actually work until Sana continues, “You forgot your receipt.”

 

For the second time, Momo is let down once again, and once Dahyun lets go of her to go back to the counter, Momo immediately formulates an escape plan.

 

She has already tiptoed to the door when someone grabs her wrist. Her heart stops in horror as she imagines how Dahyun is going to kill her when she sees that it’s only Mina.

 

“What are you doing?” Mina asks as if it wasn’t obvious.

 

“Saving my life,” Momo answers. “Dahyun is going to freaking end me.”

 

“I’m not going to end you,” Dahyun butts in while she’s still walking towards the pair.

 

“R-really?” Momo says in disbelief.

 

“Yup,” Dahyun insists with a smile as she holds up her receipt before turning it to show written digits.

 

“Oh my God,” Momo exclaims, seemingly happier about the development than Dahyun is. “She gave you her number!”

 

“Yup,” Dahyun says again but with more elation over her triumph, “so stop running away and thank your lucky stars for making your stupid plan work.”

 

Momo sighs in relief, dramatically wiping the imaginary sweat out of her forehead before looking over Dahyun’s shoulder to give Sana two thumbs up. The three of them choose a table at the farthest end of the shop so that, while they eat, they can give Dahyun suggestions about their date without Sana overhearing them.

 

Once they finish their ice cream, Dahyun already has her first date, as well as the next three if she’s lucky, fully planned. She tells the other two that she’ll stay behind and let Momo walk Mina back to school.

 

“I’ll just wait for you to get back here, then we can head home,” Dahyun says to Momo once all three of them are out of the now empty shop. “I’ll talk to Sana while there’s still no one else around.”

 

“Of course there’s no one else around,” Momo deadpans. “It’s. Freaking. Winter.”

 

“Whatever,” Dahyun shrugs, not letting Momo ruin her perfectly good mood. She turns back towards the shop and already has the door pushed halfway open when she backtracks.

 

“Oh, by the way, Mina,” she starts before she inhales deeply. “Momo only befriended me because I’m your best friend and also she’s the one who’s been secretly leaving chocolates with cheesy notes in your locker since freshman year because she’s truly, madly, deeply, sickeningly in love with you,” she rapidly says all in one breath.

 

She then turns to Momo with a wide grin. “Now, we’re even,” she declares before dashing back into the shop.

 

What the actual f—

 

It feels like déjà vu, the way there’s an uncomfortable silence as Momo processes what just happened. Half of her still cannot believe that what’s happening is real when Mina clears and interrupts her thoughts.

 

“So…” Mina finally utters. “Are you going to deny any of that or…?”

 

“Well… I didn’t make friends with Dahyun just because you guys are close. I mean, okay, it’s mostly that, but also because she always shares her food with me.” Momo argues with a smile as weak as her defense. “But, yeah, I’m the one who’s been slipping chocolates into your locker every now and then, and yes, I really did write those cheesy notes, and I… I’m…”

 

“Truly, madly, deeply, sickeningly in love with me?” Mina finishes for her with an amused look on her face.

 

“I wouldn’t have used that many words to describe it but,” Momo nervously chuckles. “I’m sorry.”

 

“For what?”

 

“For liking you and making this weird? I don’t know.”

 

She cannot even look at Mina as they talk. Momo is panicking, rubbing her bare hands together and blowing into them because she doesn’t know what to do with them and also because she forgot to wear her freaking gloves. She is definitely not prepared for this, and she can already feel the tears welling up in her eyes until Mina speaks.

 

“You have nothing to apologize for, so don’t be sorry.”

 

At that, Momo blinks the tears away, finally gathering the courage to look at Mina, but her voice is still small when she asks, “So it’s okay with you?”

 

“It’s more than okay with me,” Mina verifies with a reassuring smile. “Anyway, you don’t have to walk me back. You guys should go straight home and keep warm before you get sick again.”

 

Mina doesn’t even let Momo argue and only gives a quick goodbye and an even quicker wave before taking quick strides to cross the street.

 

Momo runs to follow her, however, and when Momo finally catches up with her, Mina insists, “Seriously, Momo, you don’t have to walk me back.”

 

“Of course I do. I’m sickeningly in love with you, remember?” Momo kids, and she swears Mina’s cheeks get a little pink.

 

She may have been imagining things, though, because Mina’s voice is perfectly even when she says, “Suit yourself,” and moves to walk a little closer beside Momo.

 

When Momo blows into her hands again, Mina removes her own gloves and reaches for Momo’s arms to put them on Momo’s hands instead. “Don’t even try to give those back to me,” she cautions when Momo starts to remove one of the gloves. “I just don’t want you to die of hypothermia all because of your own stubbornness.”

 

Momo obediently halts her hand movements. “But I don’t want your hands to get cold, either.”

 

“Hmm.” For a minute, Mina bites her lip and gets lost in her own thoughts, before finally, “How about a compromise, then?”

 

Momo raises her eyebrows and waits for further explanation. Instead of explaining, however, Mina simply takes one of the gloves that Momo is wearing and places it back into one of her hands. Using her other hand, she then grabs Momo’s now exposed hand, interlaces their fingers, and tucks their bare hands into her coat pocket.

 

Holy mother of—

 

“Is this okay with you?” Mina asks in concern because Momo’s body has gone completely rigid.

 

“It’s more than okay with me,” Momo says, mirroring Mina’s earlier words, although her reply is a lot shakier, partly because the cold is making her shiver, but also mostly because Myoui freaking Mina is holding her freaking hand inside her freaking pocket.

 

Jesus freaking Christ.

 

The last half of their walk goes a lot slower than the first, but when they reach the library, Momo still feels as if they got there way too soon. Mina removes her remaining glove and tells Momo to keep it before ascending up the stairs of the library. Momo is still watching Mina when the girl reaches the top of the stairs, turns around, and tells Momo to text her when she gets home, all before going through the library’s entrance.

 

As Momo starts walking back out of the school, she puts the matching glove on and reminds herself to thank a certain someone.

 

Dahyun is the best friend she’s ever had, Momo decides.

---

End note:

 

Send me prompts @ twitter.com/softswerver or up-for-anything-really.tumblr.com so I can add them to the ever-growing list of stories that I have yet to finish.