Momo comes home more often; the number of times she brings Mina home—to meet her parents and sister, of course—increase considerably. Hana, Momo’s sister, finds out about them the first time Mina meets the Hirais after that eventful night; eventually, Momo tells her parents as well. They aren’t too surprised, though, and as a matter of fact they’re glad that it’s Mina whom they already know and not someone entirely different. When Mina’s parents come home after their lengthy stay in Japan, Mina does the same announcement during a family dinner with Momo. Mama and Papa Myoui congratulate them, but Mina’s brother Kai has a different approach altogether.

“Hey, Hirai,” he whispers to Momo while Mina updates her parents about work.

“Yeah?”

“You know I’m a wrestler, right? I know how to knock down anyone, especially anyone who would break my sister’s heart. I don’t care if you work out and have abs even though Mina says you do—and how she knows that, I really don’t want to think about—so if I hear anything from her…”

Momo smiles and places a hand on Kai’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Kai. I would never hurt Mina.”

Mina hears this, of course, but doesn’t react right away. She decides to kiss Momo senseless later (she succeeds, leaving Momo standing outside the Myouis’ doorway for a good minute before getting in her car).

They go on dates near their home in Jeonju as well as in Seoul and five months into their relationship they’ve already gone on three museum dates, watched eight movies at the cinema, and tried out numerous restaurants (that Momo keeps finding, of course). One time Mina surprises Momo by going to Seoul—even though Momo usually insists that Mina doesn’t need to and that Momo will go to her—and bringing ingredients to cook at Momo’s apartment. Both girls enjoy the food and the next day they go home to Jeonju together. On another day Momo invites Mina to go to a dog shelter and volunteer there, and while Mina’s scared for Momo because of her allergy, Mina eventually agrees and they spend a whole day the following week playing with dogs. Mina even manages to snap a picture of Momo being tackled by some of the puppies there; it was so cute, and she could feel Momo’s happiness even though she was wearing a face mask. Mina makes a mental note to print it later.

Despite telling their families the two aren’t exactly showy on social media. It’s not that they don’t want to, exactly, it’s just that: first of all, Mina doesn’t post that much since like ever and second, with grad school and teaching on her plate Momo only ever goes online anymore to post grades and announcements. And while the two of them along with Jihyo, Tzuyu, and Dahyun do have a group chat together, the messages become scarce because everyone has become busy now.  It’s only when Tzuyu graduates that semester that the chat blows up again, Tzuyu initiating the discussion by inviting everyone to come to the university to celebrate with her. And of course everyone obliges for their beloved baby Tzuyu. They agree to meet up at a bar called Heart Shaker Bar, which they used to frequent when everyone was still an undergrad. Mina and Momo arrive together and even manage to give a graduation gift to their maknae.

“Think of it as both a graduation gift and a sorry-we’re-late gift,” says Momo.

“No worries, Prof. Hirai,” Tzuyu teases, making Momo groan.

“Ah Chou Tzu, I told you to stop calling me that.”

“What? My other friends love it.”

“You have other friends?” This time Momo teases Tzuyu, who just scoffs at her.

“Do you want me to tell them embarrassing stories of you and ruin their image of their y Professor Hirai? Because I’ll do it.”

Mina turns to face Momo, raising an eyebrow. “y professor, huh?”

Momo gulps under Mina’s stare. “N-No,” she stutters. “I’m not a professor, I’m just an instructor—those are two very different things.”

“Okay, whatever, nerd,” Tzuyu scoffs. “Point is, Momo here is like one of the most crushed on ‘instructors’ now,” she says, putting air quotes with her fingers. “There, I’m politically correct. Happy?”

Momo glances at Mina who’s still smirking at her, but she can’t decipher what’s going on in the other girl’s head. They may or may not have to talk about this later.

“Okay,” Jihyo speaks up, “you girls already missed three rounds of shots so you have to keep up with the rest of yes.”

“Uh-huh, we didn’t come all the way here to meet up with a bunch of weak-, drinkers, alright?” Dahyun chides.

“Whoa, Dahyun’s gotten wild,” Mina comments.

“I guess it’s the experience of the world that made me like this,” Dahyun responds.

“Ah, but still so deep,” says Mina, and then the girl takes two shot glasses and hands one to Momo. “To Tzuyu!” she cheers.

“To Tzuyu!”

When the two latecomers catch up to the others in terms of shots, the rest resume the drinking and catching up with everybody’s their lives. Dahyun shows them the pictures she took from her travels—mountains she hiked at, animals she came across, several selfies, and pictures with the people (read: girls) she met along the way.

“This girl’s really cute!” Jihyo exclaims. “Who’s she?”

“Oh, her name’s IU. She’s so pretty.”

“Did you get her number?” Momo asks.

“What?” is all Dahyun says.

“That’s a yes,” Mina teases. “She looks Korean, too. Are you gonna see her again?”

“Um… Well... Yeah, actually…” Dahyun admits with a sheepish smile. “She’s coming home in two weeks.”

“Alright, Dahyun!” Tzuyu cheers.

Jihyo stretches her neck and eyes something behind Tzuyu. “Hey, Tzuyu, cute girls coming behind you.”

“What? Oh—” Tzuyu turns her neck as well and sees four girls walking towards her. “Hey, girls!”

“Hi, Tzuyu! Congrats on graduating!”

“You guys too! I guess you’re here in celebration too, huh?”

The girls nod. Tzuyu turns back to her friends and introduces them to each other.

“Unnies, these are Jennie, Rosé, Lisa, and Jisoo. Girls, these are my unnies, Mina, Jihyo, Dahyun, and you know Prof. Hirai—I mean, Instructor Hirai.” Tzuyu rolls her eyes when she corrects herself.

The four students then fall silent; one in particular seems to keep shushing the other three who are snickering at her, subtly glancing at Momo. Tzuyu notices this, and so she asks them, “Hey, do you want a picture with Momo?”

The girls’ mouths drop out of their jaw simultaneously, suddenly embarrassed.

“Oh come on, we’re all graduating here,” Tzuyu tells them, then turns to Momo. “Unnie? You’re alright with this?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

The four girls collect themselves around Momo who has stood up and is now at the center, with Tzuyu as their photographer. When they’ve taken enough pictures, one girl, Jisoo, suddenly says, “Miss Hirai, Jennie here wants to take a solo picture with you.”

“What?” Jennie squeals. “Oh my God Jisoo, shut up!”

“It’s true,” says Lisa. “She does.”

Jennie turns to Momo with a sheepish grin. “Um, so can I, Miss Hirai?”

“Oh come on,” Tzuyu snorts. “It’s not like Momo has a girlfriend, anyway. And if she does, so what? It’s just a picture. Right, Momo?”

“Uh…”

“Great!” says Tzuyu, not waiting for an answer. “Now Jennie, stand over there, why don’t ya?”

After taking the picture, Jennie and the rest of the girls say goodbye to Tzuyu as well as to Momo before finally leaving the group. The conversation starts again when Jihyo asks Tzuyu how Momo is like as a teacher, with a few teasing here and there from most of the girls—except Mina, who’s gotten silent, well, more silent than she usually is. Jihyo also recalls a few anecdotes of some weird and famous customers she’s gotten on her restaurant. And Mina tells the girls office stories that Momo’s already heard before, but she reacts in the same way nonetheless. She’s actually trying to get the girl to at least look in her direction but fails.

“I’m gonna go order some more drinks,” Tzuyu tells them, standing up as she does so.

“Then I’m gonna go to the bathroom if we’re having more drinks,” says Dahyun, leaving the table as well.

Momo looks at Jihyo and sees that she’s busy with her phone, so she takes the opportunity to talk to Mina.

“Mina,” she mutters.

“What?” Mina sharply turns to her, eyes glaring at Momo.

“Can we talk?”

Mina lets her glare linger for a while, but she soon stands up and goes to an area which isn’t crowded, and Momo follows her.

“Look, I know you’re mad,” Momo says.

“Mad?” Mina scoffs. “Why would I be mad?”

“Come on, Mina. It was just a picture.” Momo tries to rub Mina’s shoulder, but the latter swats it away.

“You really think this was about the picture?”

“Well, what else could it be about?”

Mina shakes her head and sighs. “Look, I don’t care if you take pictures with your students, even if it seems like all of engineering has a crush on you. It’s just a picture, I get it. But when Tzuyu said that you don’t have a girlfriend you didn’t even correct her.”

“Oh.” Momo kinda feels stupid now. “I thought we were trying to keep it discreet.”

“Yes, we were, but the fact that we’re meeting with the girls tonight had me hoping that you and I could finally tell them. And Tzuyu gave you the perfect opportunity and it’s like you didn’t even think about it—about us.”

“Mitang, I’m sorry—”

“You know what, we’re here to celebrate Tzuyu’s graduation,” Mina cuts her off. “Let’s just go back inside and enjoy for her.”

Mina and Momo go back to their table, their issue still unresolved. The three other girls are talking now, and when they see them they pour more alcohol into their glasses and resume their drinking. Momo keeps glancing at Mina who somehow manages to ignore her presence until Tzuyu notices Momo sulking.

“Hey, Momo, why do you look so sad? Do you already miss Jennie? She’s cute, right?” she asks.

Jihyo and Dahyun snicker but Mina just subtly rolls her eyes. Momo clears before she replies to Tzuyu.

“Um, I guess, from an objective point of view, she has… attractive features, one could say. But... I don’t miss her if that’s what you’re thinking, or like her or anything like that.”

“Really?” says Tzuyu. “Why not?”

“Because I love Mina.”

“WHAT?” Tzuyu, Dahyun, and Jihyo scream, shocked out of their minds.

“What?” Mina repeats the question, but this time more softly. It’s the first time either of them uttered those words. She finally looks at Momo with tenderness in her eyes.

“I love you, Mina,” Momo responds, facing her now. “And I want everyone here to know that I love you so much.”

And with that, Mina’s anger vanishes instantly.

“Momo… I love you, too.” She smiles, leaning into Momo to give her a kiss.

“Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa hold up,” Jihyo says in her loud voice, making the two lovers retract from each other. “When has this been going on, exactly?”

“Umm…” Momo scratches her head, smiling sheepishly. “Last Christmas.”

“What!” Jihyo exclaims.

“You let this go on for months and you didn’t even bother to tell us?” The intensity of Dahyun’s voice increases in her drunken state.

Momo and Mina are quick to apologize to the group for not telling them sooner, and explain how they ended up dating. They even thank Jihyo for telling Mina about what Momo had secretly done for the girl in the past. They also tell her that they want to drop by Jihyo’s restaurant sometime.

“Yes, let’s do that!” Dahyun agrees.

“And soon!” Tzuyu adds.

For the first time in a long time, the girls end up closing the bar at 4AM. Thankfully no one gets trashed and all manage to sober up before going home. Well, all of them except Tzuyu—kind of.

“I’m really glad you guys came,” Tzuyu slurs. “And I’m glad you two ended up together! Momo unnie, take care of Mina unnie, okay?”

Momo smiles at Tzuyu. “Yes, Tzuyu, I will. Look, are you sure you want to go home like this? You can stay at my apartment if you want.”

“Noooo, I’m goooooood—” Tzuyu then makes a sound as she feels herself falling, but Momo catches her.

“Don’t worry, Momo,” Jihyo says, holding Tzuyu. “I’ll make sure this girl gets home.”

“You’re driving?” Momo widens her eyes.

“What?” Jihyo scoffs. “I’m sober now. I can manage. Besides, baby Tzuyu here is always the one who gets trashed out of all of us.”

“Yeah, and usually you’re the one who stops her when she’s had too much,” Mina retorts.

Jihyo just shrugs at them. “She’s a graduate now, she doesn’t need to wake up early for like a class anymore.”

“Lucky Tzuyu,” Momo mumbles.

“Aww, it’s okay, babe,” Mina tells her, kissing Momo’s cheek.

Suddenly Momo gets flustered and touches the cheeks that Mina’s lips just touched. “Mina…”

“Aw, you guys are so cute it makes me want to puke,” Dahyun says, interrupting the moment. “But whatever, I’m happy for you.”

Momo chuckles, still grinning, saying, “Thanks, Dahyunnie.”

“Dahyun, help me with this Yoda over here,” Jihyo mutters. “I’ll drive you home, too.”

“That’s great! Thanks, Jihyo.” Dahyun turns back to the couple to hug them. “See you soon, guys.”

“Bye, Dahyun-ah,” says Mina. “Bye Jihyo. Bye Tzuyu!”

Tzuyu lifts her head suddenly and half-opens her eyes, mumbling out something incoherent and waving to Mina and Momo, then falls on Jihyo’s shoulders again. Mina chuckles at the sight. As she watches them struggle to place Tzuyu in the car, Mina feels Momo intertwining their hands and so she turns to her.

“Let’s go?” Momo asks, and Mina nods in response. They walk over to the car and Momo starts driving, but not to her apartment.

“Momo? Where are we going?”

The driver glances at Mina and flashes her a smile. “It’s a surprise.”

Just a few minutes later they pull up to a spot near Han River, and Momo guides Mina to a well-isolated area on the grass, laying out a cloth for them to sit on.

“Momo, what is this?” Mina asks again when both of them are fully seated.

“I just want to watch the sunrise with you,” Momo finally tells her, looking intently into her eyes, “so that I can watch two beautiful things at the same time.” She takes Mina’s hand and squeezes it, and finally looks to the sky with a familiar glint in her eyes.

Mina couldn’t help but smile and wrap her arms around Momo and lean on her side. There’s truly nowhere else she’d rather be because now, she’s found her soulmate and she could only hope to move forward with the girl beside her.

“I love you, Momo,” she sighs, waiting for the sun to rise.

“I love you too, Mina.”