Sana’s bored.

Sana’s always bored.

The only time she isn’t bored is when she’s with her girlfriend, where they get to laze around in either of their dorm rooms and do absolutely nothing else the entire day. It’s considered a luxury these days, with the number of training sessions on her plate and numerous competitions her girlfriend participates in. Call them the most cliche couple on campus for all she cares; Sana relishes people knowing they’re officially together so hopefully no one has the audacity to keep flirting with either of them.  

 

baby:

[1.54pm] ur lunch is in the microwave

[1.55pm] have a good lunch baby

[2.14pm] oh and i have training today :( 

[2.14pm] i didnt get my good morning kiss

[2.15pm] make it up to me later

[2.58pm] i cant believe ure still sleeping

[2.59pm] get up, lazy bum 

 

“Don’t you have work to do instead of staring at your text messages, Sana?” 

“In my defence, I finished the cheerleading formations and sent it to Nayeon-unnie last night so I’d be freer for the afternoon. I just didn’t know Momo had extra training today… and I’m leaving for training camp in two days.”

The dejected look on Sana’s face as she says that last bit tugs on Jihyo’s heartstrings. Being roommates with Sana essentially means witnessing the latter have minor breakdowns when she feels overwhelmed, or when she feels guilty for clinging to Momo. With how their schedules never seem to match the past month or so, it’s a gross understatement to say Sana just misses her girlfriend. 

Jihyo leans over and smacks her roommate’s . “You can go to the field and watch her though. Today’s open practice.”

Well, Momo already explained that coming to practice is not exactly ideal for her stats as the best-performing goalkeeper this season. Not to say that there are no longer any sparks in their relationship, but more of Sana being a huge (unintentional) distraction even if she doesn’t do anything out of the ordinary. The last time they had concurrent practice, Momo took a ball straight to the head (for the nth time in their relationship) because she was preoccupied with staring at Sana’s legs. That was probably the first and last time Momo’s coach allowed both teams to practice alongside one another.    

“For my sanity and Momo’s reputation, I won’t. I might end up jumping her bones right there on the field. Momoring’s too hot…” Sana groans, staring at the selfie her girlfriend sent her along with the sweetest reminders. 

“You two are disgusting.”  

Sana pays no heed to Jihyo’s comment, simply sticking her tongue out in response. “We weren’t the ones caught having a make out session in Professor Im’s office, were we?” 

“If Momo came back from a two-week internship in another city, you would do the same thing.” Jihyo pummels her with the soft toys on the sofa. “And it’s not my fault Tzuyu was feeling needy.”

“Oh my God, shut up.” 

 

*

 

Retying her hair back into a tight ponytail, Momo drags a headband up to keep her bangs away from her face. She lifts her shirt to wipe her face clean of sweat, ignoring the wolf whistles from the bleachers. She can recognise some of them, belonging to her annoying teammates taking a break.

“KICK ME NEXT, MOMO!”

“I’ll kick you right between the legs, Yoo Jeongyeon.” Momo mutters under her breath. She’s already quite annoyed at getting called back for extra training since it’s one of the rare moments Sana has the entire day to burn. “I’m ready!”

Their coach stands a few metres away with her arms crossed, metal whistle between her lips. It’s always great to have the respect from a person in an authoritarian position but the pressure just keeps building before Momo gets to destress. She should be used to the extra bagging during competition season but it doesn’t mean it’s not tough. Whenever she has a tough day at training, Sana is almost always there to pick her back up. It doesn’t matter how they spend the next few hours; Sana’s presence is more than sufficient. Hell, Sana does everything for her the moment Momo comes back with visible fatigue. 

How is she going to cope when Sana leaves for camp? 

Right as Momo snaps out of her thoughts, she hears the ball fly into the net beside her. It doesn’t happen once, doesn’t happen twice - Momo allows a total of five goals before the coach officially loses it. 

Coach Kwon’s jaw drops, whistle screeching across the field. “Hirai, what are you doing? The goal was wide open!” 

“Sorry, Coach…”

There is nothing worse than disappointing your coach, who is more than willing to invest time and money to improve your skills, Momo wants to pass away. She refuses to stop training because she let one goal in but it’s pretty obvious that her mind isn’t on the pitch today. Any other day, Momo would be willing to stay back for another two hours to perfect her block rate, but today’s just going terrible. Maybe if she uses the scorching sun as an excuse… 

“Listen, I know the cheerleaders are leaving for their camp in two days and I know your girlfriend won’t be here for a week. Get your head in the game, block the shots and I’ll release the team early. I want to see my girlfriend too, so make it easier for both of us, okay?”

As the goalkeeper’s honorary best friend, Jeongyeon finds herself wanting to tease Momo for underperforming simply because she misses Sana. She snaps multiple photos of Momo mumbling to herself, a pout visible on her face and sends it straight to Sana (might very well be a huge mistake with the water droplets and eggplant emoji that comes immediately). Today must be International Simp Day or Whipped Lesbians’ Day because even Tzuyu, their icy, stone-cold midfielder has the brightest smile on her face while she types message after message. 

“Stop staring at me.” 

“Well, I can’t help it!” Jeongyeon whines, leaning her head against a very unwilling Tzuyu. “All of you are disgustingly in love, exchanging kissy faces while my girlfriend just sent me a picture of me being punished for peeing like a boy with a thousand laughing emojis!” 

“It is a funny picture; I don't know what to tell you.” 

Dahyun and Chaeyoung snicker beside Tzuyu, pretending to look in the other direction when their team captain glares at them.

Before Jeongyeon has the chance to protest, a victorious yell is heard from the goalpost. They turn to see Momo jumping up and down with her shirt over her head, making Tzuyu facepalm. 

“LET’S GO HOME!”

 

*

 

“Baby? Are you here?”

Before Momo can even shut the door, a body crashes straight into hers and her back hits the wall hard.

The talking can wait ; Momo isn’t going to pass up on the chance to give Sana the longest kiss to make up for lost time. Sana’s legs are comfortably wrapped around her waist, hands cupping her cheeks as she sighs against Momo’s lips. I can’t even remember the last time we’ve kissed like this in the past two weeks. She still tastes of peaches. Sana wants to start bawling but kissing comes first. Obviously, they’re getting too handsy in the walkway because very soon, they’re hit with a firm cushion. 

“GET A ROOM!” 

Jihyo regrets yelling at them because the moment Sana turns to face her (without attempting to even climb down the Momo tree she’s hanging from), she finds her resolve crumbling. “You’re so lucky I love you enough to leave my own room.” is all Jihyo mumbles before slamming the door shut. She had to cook up some ideas on how to ask Tzuyu to be her senior prom date anyway, even if it is two months in advance. 

Momo swears she’ll buy Jihyo a well-deserved meal one day - that is not today - for willingly giving them the dorm whenever she can. She knows the dorm layout like the back of her palm, moving them to the sofa without bumping into anything while kissing Sana. 

“That’s an amazing greeting. Hi, Satang.”

“Hi, cutie...” Sana smiles, resting her forehead against Momo’s as they catch their breath. “Thank you for lunch, by the way. Your udon just keeps getting better and better.” 

It’s the little things that matter. It’s how they last. 

A good example is today’s events; despite having practice on consecutive days, Momo still finds time to prepare heartfelt meals that Sana enjoys. She’s more than aware it’s not needed but what’s there to complain about if it makes her girlfriend happy? It’s the same logic behind Sana’s actions. She could have chosen to finish her formation slides today instead of burning the midnight oil yesterday, but she did just so they could spend quality time together today. None of these escape the other’s eyes.  

Sana is good with words, she’s articulate with her feelings, praise, sadness – you name it. Momo, not so much, but her actions always show how she feels.  

“I couldn’t have lunch with you, I’m sorry.” Momo pouts, nuzzling into Sana’s chest. 

“Not something to apologize for, but you should be sorry for coming here with wet hair.” Sana plants a swift peck on Momo’s head, getting off the latter’s lap so she can grab a towel. “Come on, let me dry your hair before you catch a cold.” 

The small living room is silent except for the sounds of Sana humming the tune of See You Again, much to Momo’s delight. She rests her chin on Sana’s tummy so she can look up at Sana comfortably, heart bursting with love at the domestic gesture. 

“What are you looking at?”

“My beautiful girlfriend. You have a problem with that?” 

The baby pink painting Sana’s cheeks makes Momo’s heart flutter. If anyone asks when she thinks Sana looks her best, it’s when she blushes because of Momo. Sana has no problem turning people down before they even attempt to ask her out and exudes confidence in everything she does, only around Momo does she turn into a bashful young lady falling in love in an endless cycle. Once upon a time, Momo thought God was punishing her for some reason by introducing an overly-excited, loud, extremely flirty cheerleader to her mundane lifestyle back in freshman year.  

 

“Pick it up, girls!”

“Come on!” 

All the yelling is distracting.

What was once supposed to be a (easy) friendly match is turning quite disastrous; Tzuyu missing passes, Momo letting goals in, Jeongyeon getting tackled successfully… and those are just three examples. When both the captain and co-captain malfunction, what hope is there for the team? 

Momo chugs half a bottle of water as she sits on the bleachers, glaring daggers at the cheerleading squad occupying the running track. It’s bad enough that they have to share the field for practice sometimes, but to have that high-pitched scream constantly scratch against her eardrums? No? Momo is done with that. 

“Hey, you! Blondie!” 

The cheerleaders stop their cheers immediately, all of them turning to stare at Momo. She almost regrets marching in with that big bravado of hers because the cheer squad are known for being extremely tight knit; God, what if they start to whack her with their pompoms? 

“Well, you’ve got my attention now. What is it, Co-Captain Hirai?” 

As to why the co-captain of the cheer squad knows her last name, Momo couldn’t care less. The annoying smirk on Sana’s face is what really sets her off; there’s no reason for her to be smug and cocky when she’s ruining the focus of the soccer team with her screaming. 

“Your screaming is distracting me.” 

“Oh, really?” Sana begins to walk towards Momo, her hips swaying from side to side as her grin only grows wider. “And why is that? Do you prefer me screaming in another way?”

That’s all Sana manages to say before Momo emptied the contents of her bottle on her, thus began their rivalry with each other.  

The days, weeks, months that followed; it didn’t matter where or when, wherever Momo was, Sana just happened to appear there. At first, Momo thought they applied for the same classes this semester but even on days where the cheer squad has no training, Sana is at the field regardless. Making Momo’s practice sessions hell was Sana’s aim for a while, no doubt about it. She would shout obnoxious comments, teasing the latter when she let a goal in. The worst part of this whole mess was Momo couldn’t even blame Sana for it, especially after humiliating her in front of her squad.

“Go on, Hirai! You’re doing well!” 

Momo inwardly groans; it doesn’t require a genius to know Sana’s being as sarcastic as ever. 

“SHUT UP!”

If the goalkeeper was more aware of her surroundings, she would have noticed Sana’s sudden change in expression. It was like everything happened in slow motion, Sana’s lips mouthing words that Momo couldn’t hear from the goalpost.  

The girl is out cold.

The next thing Momo knows, she can feel the strands of grass poking at her face; she’s definitely lying flat on the field. Her eyes take a couple of seconds to adjust to the sun shining down in her face, partially blocked by Sana hovering over her with teary eyes and screaming at her face to wake up. Pause, Sana’s hands… they’re so soft.

“Hirai! Are you okay?” Sana can’t help that she’s yelling, her heart is pounding so quickly that she’s getting lightheaded. “Talk to me!”

“I’m fine… What happened anyway?”

“You got hit by a ball, you idiot. Sit up.” Jeongyeon gently tugs Sana off the grass, casually kicking Momo’s . “And Sana? Don’t worry. This is a norm on the field, especially with this one.” 

Sure, Sana wanted to watch Momo embarrass the hell out of herself, just like she embarrassed Sana during her first day of being co-captain but she didn’t mean for an accident to happen. A little rivalry shouldn't hurt anyone like this. Too many images are flashing through her mind, bits and pieces from the past; no repeat of that can ever happen again, not if she can help it. The scariest part of this is Sana knows she wouldn’t be this frantic if Momo wasn’t the one who collapsed on the field. Worried? Perhaps, but not with the continuous piercing jab at her heart.

Momo is so tempted to get the upper hand, cockiness overwhelming her head when she remembers Sana’s frantic pats on her cheeks… until she realises. “Sana? Hey, I’m fine… Please don’t cry…” She crosses her legs on the grass, one hand reaching out to brush away Sana’s tears. 

“I’m not crying.” Sana roughly wipes at her face, ignoring Momo’s hand suspended in mid-air. “Sorry that you got hurt but. I… I need to leave.”

The soccer team members that were surrounding Momo and Sana watch in uneasy silence as Sana’s back view gets smaller with each passing second. 

What the hell just happened? 

 

“You were so terrified that day, Sana.” 

“Of course, Momo.” Sana whispers, breaking eye contact with her girlfriend. “I was so scared you got hurt. I couldn’t imagine a day going by without us exchanging insults or snarky comments. You were unconscious .” 

Maybe to most people, especially athletes, it's just another day for them. For Sana who witnessed her former teammate fall into a comatose state because of an accident is quite different. It’s the reason why Sana accepted the position of co-captain only, giving up the captain position to Nayeon instead. Despite her teammate’s parents not holding it against her by any means, Sana couldn’t do it. She was the one who drafted the formations for everyone… how can it not be her fault? So, imagine her manic mind forming the imagery of Momo lying in a hospital bed with tubes in and out of her body.

“At least your fear started depleting when you saw the ball hit me after I was caught staring at your legs in your little booty shorts…” Momo teases, dodging her girlfriend’s violent antics. She grabs hold of Sana’s hands and brings them to her lips, pressing tiny kisses upon her knuckles. “Jokes aside though, I’m glad you’re slowly moving on, Satang.”

Sana doesn’t respond, simply bending down to kiss her girlfriend’s forehead. She laughs when Momo whines; she just needs to throw the towel into the laundry basket before she forgets and Jihyo makes a fuss about the mess.

“Also, Momo… I have a present for you.”

Momo narrows her eyes, sitting back to take a good look at her girlfriend. “What’s the occasion? Let me start by saying that if it is, I don’t remember because I treat you like a princess every single day.”

Like any healthy relationship, both of them are very forward about the topic of ; Sana more than Momo, usually. It’s wonderful that their needs are on similar wavelengths too, another thing to add to their list of similarities. Momo knows exactly what Sana’s comfortable with and where her boundaries lie and vice versa. If they were to get down to explicit details, Momo listens to Sana’s commands in the bedroom without fail or protest… So why shouldn’t she reward Momo tonight?

“I’ll already be ing you tonight, baby. You don’t have to say things just to flatter me.” Sana rolls her eyes, moving to straddle her gawking girlfriend. She snuggles closer to Momo, lips hovering directly beside Momo’s ear. “ Maybe you should take a peek underneath these shorts… you’ll find something you really like. ”

And then Momo’s jaw drops, one hand dropping from Sana’s waist.

Is that… red lace?!

The living room fills with high-pitched giggling as Momo groans, lifting Sana as she makes a run for Sana’s bedroom. When Sana puts on lace , she has a goal – they are absolutely not sleeping tonight.

 

 

Where did the two days go?

Momo sits in the lecture hall with a sullen look, mildly ticked off that Sana refused to let her skip class this morning. Yes, one class is only about two hours but even that’s valuable since Sana is leaving for a week. The only saving grace of this lecture is Jeongyeon and Jihyo taking this class as well.

“I miss Nayeon already. This is sick.”

“Tell me about it.” Momo grumbles.

Jihyo stares at the two friends with a bored expression. “We’re only going for a training camp, not to prison. You can still talk to them every day.”

Ignoring the ongoing banter that’s about to start anytime soon, Momo takes out her phone to check if Sana left her any texts… and she did.

 

princess:

[8.34am] i know you’re sulking

[8.36am] please don’t

[8.36am] let’s have a good lunch together before i leave

[8.40am] i love you so much

 

Just like that, Momo clean forgets Sana dragging her out of bed and helping her to change before class.

“Wait. How come Tzuyu gets to go with the cheerleaders? She’s literally my striker!”

“Turns out she needs extra credit for the semester.” Jihyo shrugs. She already knew her girlfriend would be coming with them to the camp, probably to handle some logistic matters.

Jeongyeon almost screeches in the hall, “That is so unfair. Meanwhile, Sana and Nayeon are going to be separated from us for a week!”

“ to be you both then.”

 

Back in the dorm, Sana lays the table with their matching cutlery sets. She pre-ordered all of Momo’s favourite food