A/N: Fueled & inspired by this song, so listen while reading!

Cover art by @wisteriamemory_, the talented MiMo shipper. 

Twenty-three orbits around the sun today, Mina thinks to herself, as she slips on a comfortable black hoodie - among many of her black hoodies in her closet. Dressing down for the occasion - a bittersweet symbol of getting older, caring a little bit less about appearances, despite the nature of her work and her current world. 

But Mina begged to differ. Her world isn't the glimmering lights or cheering crowds or signed albums. Mina's world was much different. 

---

Momo ran breathlessly (sweat glimmering), gritting her teeth as she felt the soles of her feet ache (for wearing Birkenstocks today), running through a throng of people at a local mall in Gangnam. 

She made a beeline for Billy Angel Cake Co. (fancy- dessert place) praying that the cake she was getting would still be there. She skidded to a halt in front of the glass display cases for cakes, and a young, beaming attendant (a little too preppy for Momo's disposition at the moment) greeted her chirpily. 

"Hello! Are you here to order take-out?" 

Momo breathlessly held a hand over the display case, catching her breath while scanning the inside for the cake.

"Y-yeah. Hold on, I just need to catch my br-" 

"Ohmygod wait you're Hirai Momo!" the attendant squealed, giggly. He was bobbing up and down behind the counter, and although it was a funny sight, Momo needed help right now, and this wasn't the time to dilly-dally. She checked her watch, twenty minutes past six. 

"Ohmygod i'm such a fan! I love Cheer Up the most, you were so good there, and everyone else, but you know, your dance solo was the best in LOA, I can do that, do you want me to show y--"

"Hi, sorry. Yeah, thanks." Momo smiled through clenched jaws, "I'm in a hurry, and I'd really appreciate it if you help me get this done." She pointed to a circular cake to her left, with chocolate drippings around the snow-white cake. "I'd like to get that to go, please. And a Green Tea latte, please."

"Oh, of course!" The dessert attendant squealed (this boy really should stop getting coffee, he's so jumpy) and proceeded to prepare Momo's orders. 

Momo nodded in thanks, and pulled out her card. Her phone vibrated in her back pocket, and she pulled it out. 

[VLIVE] TWICE: WATCH NOW! (20 mins ago) 

(1) Missed Call 트둥이 미탕 (TDoongie Mitang)

She paled at the notifications. She scrambled to unlock her phone and call back. 

"Miss Momo? Your card please?" The attendant popped his head from behind the glass case and startled Momo. 

"Fu-- Here you go." Momo handed him the card with one hand, and the other hand had her phone to her ear, listening for the ringing. 

"I just need your signat-" The attendant interrupted again, just as Momo was going to press redial. She signed her name on the tablet in front of her and the boy gave her the receipt. He looked like he wanted to start another conversation when Momo pressed a finger to her lips to shush him. She was getting a call from Mina. 

[please watch Mina's birthday VLIVE for this next part, I used what she was saying there. For added experience!]

"Moshi moshi?" Mina's voice had an echo to it. 

Momo almost forgot to breathe. "Hey there." Hey there? Really, Momo? 

"I'm on VLive right now." That explains it, she's in a conference room. "They wanted me to call someone." 

Momo felt like screaming in the crowded mall. Of all the people in all the places at all the possible times, Mitang called her. Or...was she up on queue? 

"They wanted you to call someone?" Momo stifled a laugh. "ONCE made you do it?" 

"They asked if I could call someone." Her voice toned a bit, apparently getting shy. Momo felt warmth gush inside of her, she wanted to hug Mitang. 

Momo hummed assuringly. "Alright, that's cool." 

"I'll put it on speakerphone then?" 

"Hai!" Yep! 

"The answer is..." Mina sounded distant, as she was on speakerphone now. 

"This is Momo!" She said, embarrasingly, forgetting she was still out in public. She picked up her orders with her hands, bowed to the chirpy cashier in thanks, and sandwiched her phone between her ear and shoulder, struggling to put the take-out latte into the cake bag. 

"Hello~" Momo said, all set now, as she spotted her bodyguard and handed him the bag. They made their way to the parking lot, and Momo was now free to talk.

She found the van and hopped in, taking the rear seat. 

"At first I didn't think you'd answer." Mina commented. 

Momo bit her lip and wanted to really hug Mina now. I was just a bit preoccupied, Mitang. "Yeah, Uhh...I just got home." She threw a wink to the manager in the seat up front, signaling for him to be quiet. The manager rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat. 

Mina didn't answer, so Momo took the opportunity to jibe. "You called someone else again, right?" 

A bit of a slur in explanations at first, but Mina firmly said, "I called you." with indignation. 

Momo felt the warmth getting warmer. She was all giggly in the backseat of their van. 

They spent a few exchanges of pleasantries and greetings to ONCE, and Momo asked Mina if she had missed anything about the VLIVE, because she saw the notification from earlier. Mina mentioned that there was nothing she was talking about, in between her laughs, and that it was awkward to do it again after a long time. 

Momo complimented her new hair, and told Mina that ONCEs were surely surprised at the change. 

"Like a foreigner," Momo quipped. To be fair, they were already foreigners in Korea, but Momo was thinking something along the lines of a pretty, Hollywood actress who maybe lived in Los Angeles, in a giant house with a pool in the backyard. She laughed at the mental image, because if anything, Mina could have been that girl, but Mina was here with them. 

Mina giggled a whole lot, and Momo sensed she was comfortable but a little jittery. Mina didn't know what to talk about, but Momo thought she was doing well. 

"Did Momo give you a kiss?" Mina suddenly said. "No." Must've been a VLIVE Comment. Thank goodness Mina or the manager couldn't see her in the dark back seat, because she was blushing hard. 

That "no" was the cutest thing Momo had ever heard, and all she could do right then was to laugh it off. 

"Sorry~" she replied cutely, to her own disgust. Mina was so cute.

"She hasn't." 

"I'll think about it later." Momo was up for some banter.

"All right." Mina said softly. Getting shy again, and maybe a little grumpy about it.

"My kisses are expensive." Momo said. And she saw her manager in the front making a gagging gesture. She raised a palm and pretended to hit him from the back seat. He laughed quietly. 

Mina feigned a gasp. "It's not easy to get a kiss from Momo." She addressed the entire nation of VLive. Momo was grinning from ear-to-ear at this blatant gesture of...flirting. When did Mina become so bold?

Momo didn't know what to say and scoffed good-heartedly. 

"I'll have to save up lots of money." Mina replied, and they both laughed at the remark. Mina was really getting playful on-air. Momo was too giddy to say anything else.

"All right," was all Momo could muster. She couldn't wait to get home, and she couldn't wait 'til Mina got home. 

"Arigato." Thanks. Mina said in her baby-voice.

Momo hummed, unable to contain the overloaded cuteness that Mina was exhuming, and the thought of it being heard and witnessed by so many on their VLIVE was a testament that Myoui Mina indeed, wanted to punish her for not giving her a birthday kiss yet. Momo deserved the public humiliation. (Out of good intentions, of course. This was their thing, jibing at each other embarrasingly, teasing each other affectionately. That's what made Momo and Mina, well, Momo and Mina.) 

"Bye bye~" Mina was already saying goodbye, and Momo sat up in the car seat. Hold up! 

"Is there anything you want to get to eat?" Momo blurted out so suddenly, without thinking. She just didn't want Mina to hang up the phone with a sad-sounding "bye bye" and make it look like she was the villain. No way, Momo wasn't going to lose this one. 

"What I want to eat? What do I want to eat?" Mina sounded unsure, and Momo made a mental note to pick out three places in advance, the ones Mina loves to eat at, and where there weren't a lot of of people. Momo had a barbecue place in mind, even as she told Mina to ask ONCE to suggest in the comments. 

"Bye bye," Momo and Mina bid each other their cutesy, cringe-worthy goodbyes, small things that meant so much to them. Bye-bye was informal, it was cute, and it was their thing. It felt a little personal to the both of them, with conversations possibly ending longer than they should because they both wanted to be the last one to bid each other the cutest "bye-bye" ever spoken on the face of the earth. 

Momo was excited to see Mina. When the phone call ended, she texted Mina hurriedly. 

Momorin 모모린: You adorable little . I'm going to drown you in kisses when we get home.

트둥이 미탕 (TDoongie Mitan): What? I thought you were at home already? Liaaaarr :P 

Momorin 모모린: I-well..I had to run some...errands. ㅎㅎㅎㅎ (laughs) 

트둥이 미탕 (TDoongie Mitan): Let me guess. Last minute gift? for someone's birthday perhaps? 

Momorin 모모린: Hmm...possibly...Yes. 

트둥이 미탕 (TDoongie Mitan): Thought so. I'll take your word for it. I'll finish up this VLIVE and I'll meet you at home before we go out to eat? 

Momorin 모모린: Hmmkay. Talk about stuff, okay, blondie? Don't bore ONCEs.

트둥이 미탕 (TDoongie Mitan): Oh, I suddenly remembered there's no more room for you at my dinner party. Your reservation's been cancelled.

Momorin 모모린: I was kidding, Mitan!!! Invite me back! I'll shower you with kisses, no charge! 

트둥이 미탕 (TDoongie Mitan): See you later, Momorin~ x

--- 

Mina's world wasn't in front of a camera; not in a million hearts, viewers, and likes; not in concerts or stages. Mina's world was a clumsy little jokester, with the biggest and sweetest of hearts, and was thoughtful in all ways. Mina couldn't wait to get home and claim her birthday kisses from the one person who mattered the most, who kept her at ease while on VLIVE. Momo's voice was always calming to Mina, and though she never disclosed it, that was the reason she called Momorin. Even if it meant paying for it, and for those expensive kisses she'd thought about the whole stream. 

Maybe nobody noticed her stupid, lovestruck grin the whole time anyway...