They graduate. It’s a mess, and all of their parents are there and Jihyo is looking at them all with more pride than they could even imagine for a group of losers who scraped by. Sana cries because she earns a full ride football scholarship to the nearby university - and this means they can all actually go together. Mina, Momo and Jihyo had already locked in their courses, but Sana had been unsure up until the last moment whether her family’s financial situation would allow for her to attend.

  Mina looks at Sana standing in the crowd in front of her parents, her mother’s hands cupping her face while tears overflow from both of them, and she realises there and then that this is what made everything worthwhile. Sana’s smile is blindingly beautiful and Mina feels her heart crumple at the knowledge that she would do almost anything to see the girl truly happy.

  Momo had said one time that Sana was like the sun. She’s bright, and the light she casts upon them all was warm and soothing and left them feeling blissful and content. She’s so bright it almost hurts sometimes, but you couldn’t help but stare even if you knew it would ache. Even the sun needs to rest though, and Momo described this as the night time, when the moon came out to cast a softer, subdued light and millions of stars twinkled in the place of the sun.

(If Sana was the sun, then Jihyo was definitely the moon.)

(Mina ignored the fact that her and Momo were the stars.)

  They all hold their diplomas in hand as they walk into the diner, sitting at their designated table as they gleefully sipped on thick, chilled shakes and discussed their next steps. Whatever it was, they were sure as long as they had each other they could take on anything that came their way. Nobody points out the way Jihyo’s pinky naturally linked together with Sana’s at some point, or the fact that Momo’s stool had somehow moved a little bit closer to Mina’s than it was before. They’re all laughing and smiling with blissful euphoria hanging on their every word, and they’re not entirely sure what the shared feeling of warmth in their stomachs is, but Jihyo mentions it’s something akin to home and three other heads nod in blissful agreement.

  September rolls around and begins to take the warmth of summer with it. They all move in together, a small four bedroom unit within walking distance of the campus because none of them really wanted to share a cramped, dingy dormitory with a stranger who may or may not resent their existence. Things go smoothly, or as smooth as they can be for four young adults living away from home for the first time. Jihyo is unsurprisingly self-sufficient, and makes it her life mission to ensure the girls don’t just survive on a diet of instant noodles and freebies from the cafeteria (much to Momo’s delight). They learn to juggle their workload with basically just surviving and not alienating themselves from the rest of the student population - the latter being something Mina didn’t really see as a bad thing, per say, just a little… unorthodox.

(Jihyo and Sana physically drag her to a university produced play one night after complaining she hadn’t left her room in a whole week. She finds a friend in lead actress Im Nayeon and begrudgingly agrees that maybe going out once in awhile isn’t necessarily a bad thing.)

  Sana had the varsity football team to keep up with now, and much of her free time is eaten away. She whines at Momo to try out too, telling the girl that she is more than good enough and Momo finds herself running a trial at 5am on a Sunday morning all because she can’t say no to Minatozaki Sana.

(She gets accepted almost immediately, and she ignores the smug smile on Sana’s face at the announcement. She focuses on the childlike excitement brewing in her chest instead.)

  The first year passes by in an instant. They don’t win the championship. In fact they only make it to the quarter finals. Momo finds it easier to shrug off the defeat, this wasn’t her dream anymore (even if it hurt, just a little bit) and she crashes on the couch with a tired smile and a “we tried.” Sana sits on the barstool at the kitchen counter the whole night, shooting a quick, feeble smile when any of the other girls tried to pry or inquire about her state of mind.

  This was still her dream, and winning was pretty much everything she had at this point. Someone sets a steaming mug of hot chocolate down in front of her (the good kind, the one they saved for special occasions) and took a seat opposite her, not saying a word. She smiled, because of course she wasn’t going to let her brood alone.

  Maybe winning wasn’t everything anymore, especially when defeat tasted like warm chocolate and came in the form of kind eyes.

  Second year starts and already they can tell this season is going to be different. They get new teammates; a freshman transfer from Taiwan with the meanest kick Momo has seen in her whole life, and this overexcitable adorable piece of fluff who stood between the goalposts like she god damn belonged there.

  Sana had to admit she did, especially after Kim Dahyun blocks 8/10 of her shots and doesn’t even look remotely out of breath in the changing rooms after a full practice. She still looks like she’s fresh and ready for another full game and Sana spies her eagerly trying to convince the transfer, Tzuyu she thinks, to come back onto the field to play again.

  (Her and Momo walk past half an hour later to see long legs power drive the ball from halfway down the field, smashing it straight towards the goal before a tiny body hurled itself in its path. Maybe this season would be different.)

  Second year is different, but not in a bad way. They actually have to try this year, not like they didn’t try last year but they uh,  definitely didn’t exactly give it their all. Besides, Mina placed a limit on their netflix usage this year - they were only a few months into the semester and Momo’s grades have curved up substantially more than she expected. She tries to ignore the smug smirk on her face when she tells her, and the way something pathetic does a little flip flop in her stomach when said smirk turns into a full blown gummy grin.

  Im Nayeon, who by extension had mustled her way into their little group of friends after befriending Mina (not that they minded, she was wonderful to get drunk with) invited them all to a party. Nothing big, she said, with a practiced nonchalance that had Jihyo thinking maaaaybe it was a little bigger than she implied. They all agreed eagerly, because it had been awhile since they let off steam and they were all actually ahead on their course material for once, and decided to go all out for this.

  Sana, Momo decided, could positively murder someone when she decided to dress up. She spared a glance for Jihyo, who’s eyes had yet to peel themselves away from the sinfully short little one piece dress that rode up Sana’s wonderfully toned thighs with every step. They hadn’t even left their home yet, and Jihyo already looked like she might go into cardiac arrest. Mina walks into the room, putting in an earring before she stopped in place, letting out a low whistle.

  “Jesus Christ Tozaki,” she appraised, eyes sweeping appreciatively along the length of Sana’s body, “someone’s going to have a heart attack if you walk into the place like that.”

  Momo snorted, accidentally drawing attention to herself because Jihyo damn near was ready to collapse there and then. She covered it up suspiciously with a cough, and Mina’s eyes narrowed at her in jest but Sana’s gleamed dangerously.

  “You should try it some time Myoui. I have a dress just like this that would look perfect on you.”

  Momo’s cough turned into choking, because the thought of Mina in something like that had her heart racing just as fast as Jihyo’s (who at this point had sat down, half-drunk glass of something strong in one hand). Momo shuffled over to Jihyo, hand already outstretched to pour herself a glass of poison. Maybe she should rethink this night out.

  “I think I’ll pass on having sequins so close to my crotch, thanks though.” Mina smirked, finally clasping her earring in place. She looked good anyway, Momo thought. She was only wearing a loosely tucked in t-shirt and jeans, but Momo was pretty certain she could outclass any supermodel going in a plastic bag if she wanted to.

(Maybe she was a little biased.)

  “You can’t just go in thaaaat .” Sana whined, pout protruding from glossed up lips and leaning forwards to expose a dangerous amount of cleavage. Momo felt the girl next to her completely still, and she put her fingers to her neck to check for a pulse.

  “You always wear that.” Sana said, arms crossing stubbornly.

  “ Aaaand I always look good in this.” Mina retorted, walking out of the room to grab her shoes. “Don’t mess with what you know, Tozaki.” She bid farewell with a wink and a wave of her hands.

  “Oh what I know?” Sana snorted. That mischievous glint in her eyes from earlier came back with vengeance. “I know quite a few things Myoui, care to elabor-“

  Mina shot back into the room, a blur of movement and both she and Sana were tugged out the door before Momo could blink. Momo felt Jihyo’s pulse rate drop for the first time since this conversation started and though she was curious, it was ultimately for the best that they left. She was quite fond of Jihyo, and an untimely death caused by Sana’s thighs would have to wait.

   They arrive to the party, and predictably it’s a lot bigger than Nayeon implied. Heavy bass music seeps into every wall of the house, saturating every room and drowning out the shouts of the drunk students inside. Jihyo absently wonders how the neighbours haven’t called the cops yet, but then again this was Im Nayeon they were talking about - girl could talk her way out of just about anything if she tried. The four girls navigate their way inside, sliding past drunk, sweaty bodies already halfway through their night.

  Momo was very grateful for the pre drinks, because she doesn’t think she could do this sober. They gain attention as soon as they walk through the door, partly because Miss Minatozaki was at the helm of their little quartet and she turned heads without even trying - and partly because two of the star players of the football team just walked in with the president of the mathematical society and the university sweetheart, Park Jihyo.

  A lot of people knew their names. It was a little intimidating, especially at the increased interest because ¾ of them hardly ever attended big, messy functions like this. Such was the power of Im Nayeon, Momo supposes.

  They find the girl of the night dancing on the staircase, clinging a little too close to be friendly to Yoo Jeongyeon. The university band member notices them before Nayeon does, sending them an easy, natural smile before leaning down to whisper something in the party girls’ ear. Nayeon whirled around, eyes blown wide open with what Mina hoped was only excitement and not something else.

  “You guys made it!” She bellowed, somehow projecting her voice above the music. Sana leans into her, meeting the girl with a crushing hug.

  “Of course we would Nayeon, you’d never forgive us if we didn’t.” Sana rolled her eyes with her head tucked into the other girls shoulder, meeting Jeongyeon’s steady gaze behind her with a knowing smile. She squinted as Jeongyeon tried to mouth some words to her, keeping a hold of the excitable girl trying to break out of her prolonged embrace.

  “ She’s ed.”

   Oh. Well then.

  Sana let go of the girl and stepped back, holding her a little further away in her arms and took the time to examine her. Nayeon was pretty, incredibly so, and she had big, wide eyes that most of the student populace would kill for - but they’re not usually this dilated. Nayeon turned to throw herself at the other girls, almost choking Mina in her crushing embrace and Sana leaned forwards into Jeongyeon.

  “How bad?” She shouted.

  Jeongyeon shrugged.

  “It wasn’t much. I’ve been keeping an eye on her, I can handle it don’t worry.”

  Sana eyed the girl who had both of Momo’s hands in her own, making the pair of them jump up and down in excitement as she recited her most recent performance word for word into Momo’s cluele