IF SANA WERE TO LOOK AROUND THE BAR and actually take the time to look and see the stage, the lighting, the people frequenting it, she would say that tonight was the first time the girls had played in a decent place. She’s not looking, though. She’s trying to calm down the electricity sparking through her whole body.

The stage does looks pretty tonight. Two nights ago it had been a tiny stage and a horrible place. The girls had barely been able to fit in all their equipment in that sketchy pub filled with thirty year-olds leering at the girls. Thirty year-olds and three teenage girls, sitting at the front, cheering on their favourite local band.

Next to her, Dahyun’s blabbering like crazy, voicing her thoughts out loud. Which songs will they play? I hope they’ll play Missing U, they’ve gotta play Missing U, how could they not? What if they look at us today? What if Jihyo sees us and smiles at us? Or Mina? Or Momo? Or--

“Dahyun,” Sana says, eyes still trained at the empty stage, “if we were closer we’d be on the set. They’ll see us.”

“What do we do? Do we smile? Do we wave? Cheer?”

“You do whatever you want, as long as you don’t scream something weird at them.”

“Okay, but how weird? Like, what’s the limit of weird I can do?”

“Just - I don’t know, Dahyun, just don’t distract them from singing.”

“They’re coming out,” Tzuyu says, and Dahyun immediately shuts up.

Chaeng comes out first, peeking her head out from backstage and smiling at the three girls once she sees them.

Sana would pay to look at Dahyun’s face right now, but Mina comes out and Sana loses the ability to concentrate on anything else but her.

God, her outfit. Maxi white t-shirt that swallows her whole frame, short black shorts, black laced up boots. On her neck is a black choker.

Sana wants to die.

Mina never wears these types of outfits at the Academy. They’re most definitely not allowed under the rules of the school, but somehow what Mina wears at the Academy and what she wears during performances are radically opposite. It makes Sana wonder sometimes.

They all walk to the stage, confidently if only a bit intimidated, and they all smile at them when they see the girls. Sana swears she can hear Dahyun hyperventilating.

Jihyo takes the mic and smiles dazzlingly at the audience.

“Hello, we’re Twice! It’s nice to be here,” her smile is huge and Sana’s heart only melts a little.

Then Jeongyeon starts playing and Dahyun almost squeals of joy.

“Baby I’m Missing U, Missing U…” Jihyo’s amplified voice comes out from the speakers, and Sana can feel the reverberations of Chaeyoung’s drum, Momo’s acoustic guitar, and Mina’s voice. Mina’s voice, soft and almost impossible to hear, voice that melts into Jihyo’s, enhances it and adds depth. It’s subtle and it’s great and even if it wasn’t, Sana would still hype it up like no one’s business. This is Mina.

Twice performs well today. Thankfully, no one messes up. Last time Chaeng had missed a beat and disappointment had painted itself on her face and stayed there the whole time they had been on stage.

The setlist is great, they play their best songs one after the other and Sana even thinks they might get one or two more fans after tonight. The atmosphere is nice and safe. Sana thinks that maybe this was their best performance yet. But like all good things, it ends all too quickly and leaves her wishing for more.

“That was it for us.” Jihyo announces. “Thank you so much for listening, and remember the name. Twice!”

The audience claps, startled when the trio up front starts cheering like they just met the hottest band in the world. Twice smiles wide at them, though, so Sana can’t really bring herself to care about what the people will think.

“That was awesome!” Dahyun’s chatter is back, and while usually Sana talks with her, talks fast and without much depth to her words other than how much she loves Twice, she doesn’t this time. She prefers to zone out and think of the evening, of Twice, of Mina. Tzuyu will deal with Dahyun this time.

They leave the bar, trying their best to look as if they definitely were over the legal drinking age. It’s not like anyone cares, though. They’ve been doing this since two years ago, when Twice - then sixteen - started performing in bars. As long as you don’t look obvious, they’ll leave you alone.

So they leave, but Tzuyu forgot her purse inside and doesn’t want to go there alone, so they backtrack to the bar. Sana and Dahyun wait outside, trying not to let the chill of the night get to them.

Some moments happen by the purest of luck, some moments last a lifetime in a memory, and some change everything.

As soon Sana as saw the door open slowly, as soon as she saw Mina Myoui slipping past, she knew this was one of those moments.

Mina was leaving, and Sana absolutely could not let her go like that. Not when this was the first time she had the chance to actually talk to her.

“You guys were amazing tonight,” Sana all but shouts at the girl. She can hear the desperate edge in her tone, kind of hates herself for that, but can’t do much to stop it.

Mina stops in her tracks and turns around. Recognition dawns across her face as she sees the two girls.

“Oh,” she says, softly. “Hi.”

Dahyun waves, and Sana smiles. “You guys always play well, but I thought today was even better than usual,” she continues.

“Really?” Mina smiles a smile so big and bright. “I’m glad to hear that. Thank you for coming.”

“Ah, it’s no problem! I’m a big fan.” How is she so calm when she talks? On the inside, she’s jumping and screaming. “I’m Sana.”

“Mina.”

“I know.”

Mina’s smile widens. “Yes, I suppose you do. Actually, I’ve seen you before.”

Sana can feel the blood rushing to her cheeks. “Well, I’m at almost every single one of your performances.”

“Oh, seriously? Wow.” But Mina tilts her head, looks at her so intensely that Sana almost wants to shy away. “I’m not talking about performances, though.”

“We also...have some classes together. Two classes.”

Mina’s face lights up. “I knew it! History, right?”

Sana nods. “And Bio.”

“That’s tomorrow,” the other girl realizes. “Guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

Wow. Okay. Don’t freak out. Stay calm, don’t freak out, stay calm stay calm stay calm staycalm-

“See you tomorrow!” She smiles. Then, she takes Dahyun’s hand and flees to the inside of the bar.

“Oh my God,” Dahyun repeats, softly at first but by the end almost shouting it.

“What happened?” Tzuyu asks, eyes wide open.

“She talked to Mina.”

“She-”

“Talked to Mina. Myoui.”

“Mina.”

“Myoui.”

“Yes.”

“Wow,” Tzuyu says, softly. She looks at Sana, who is still in semi-shock. “Wow,” she repeats.

Sana nods, cheeks still red and eyes still wide and hands still shaking.

“What am I going to do?” She whispers.

Dahyun rolls her eyes. “Well, you’re certainly not going to scream at her when she comes in for class.”

Sana eyes her and Dahyun groans. “Don’t do that, please.”

“I won’t,” Sana protests a bit too weakly.

“Sure, I’ll pretend like I believe you,” Dahyun says, before pointing a finger at her. “Just don’t come crying to me when all you did in front of her was keep your mouth open wide.”

“I won’t do that! I know how to act in a social situation.”

“Yes, but not when social includes Mina.” Dahyun smiles. “This will be interesting to see, though. A show’s about to begin. What will it be? Rom-com? Tragedy? Drama?”

Sana laughs and shakes her head. “It’ll be a monolog. Nothing’s going to happen. Now come on, let’s go back home. I’m tired.”

The walk back home is filled with excited chatter and rapid laughs, and Sana feels so damn happy in this moment. She wishes it could last forever.