A/N: 

Finally Mimo meets! Both the plays mentioned, Stop Kiss by Diana Son and She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen (the one I have Momo choreographing and yes it actually does have a dance battle in it), are wonderful LGBT-themed plays if you guys are into that.

Still unbeta'd as hell.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has subscribed and commented! Please keep doing so :)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Remember, the sooner you get started, the better. Make sure to meet up with your partners at least three times before we see these up on their feet in two week’s time. Have a good day.”

With that, Professor Bae dismissed them. Momo slowly got up from the floor, wondering if she should take the initiative to approach the other girl. The thought made her even more nervous than she thought possible, sweaty palms and all. “God, if I’m like this now, what the hell am I going to do when we have to do our scene? No.” she shook her head. “I can do this. It’s just a scene. I can keep my feelings separate from it, right? That's what acting is.” 

She picked her bag up off the floor and slung it over her shoulder, and hung back a bit while her class slowly trickled out of the room. She snuck a glance over at the end of the room where Mina had been sitting and saw the other girl on her phone. Momo took a deep breath, steeled herself and made her way over to the red-haired girl.

“Hi, Mina? Guess we’re partners.” She smiled, hoping she didn’t look like as much of a nervous wreck as she felt like.

Mina’s head shot up at the sound of Momo’s voice and she quickly got to her feet, bowing.  “Momo. Yes, I suppose we are.” She said in her quiet voice and gave a shy smile in return.  Momo's brain short-circuited at the sight and she finally managed to stutter out, “Um. We s-s-should probably figure out when, uh, I mean, what time to meet up? To rehearse. When are you free?”

Mina tucked her hair behind her hair. “Let me check my schedule.” She smiled sheepishly. “I still don’t quite have it down yet.”

The other girl nodded in understanding. “Oh no, I totally get that. You’d think after being here for a year, I’d know where everything is but I’ll be compulsively checking mine until at least the end of next month just to make sure I don’t go to the wrong room or something.

Mina giggled, unlocking her phone and hitting a few buttons. “Glad to know I’m not alone.” Her forehead furrowed as she checked it over. “Well this is my first class of the day so my mornings are pretty free. And I’m free after 5 MWF. Tuesdays and Thursdays aren’t great. I have class from 8-4.”

Momo cringed in sympathy. “Oo, that’s rough. I had a semester like that last year. So not fun. I suppose it sounds like mornings would work best? My work schedule can really sporadic with rehearsals and stuff.”

“Oh, where do you work?” 

“I, um, wash dishes at this...retirement home… lame, I know.” Momo kicked herself mentally. It’s not like she was actually embarrassed about her job but it isn’t exactly what you tell a girl you’re trying to impress. With a thoughtful expression, Mina regarded the blonde for a moment. “I don’t think it’s lame. A job is a job and I’m sure the people there appreciate it.” 

Momo’s felt her heart melt a little. She chuckled and scratched the back of her head awkwardly. “Heh. That’s nice of you to say but, y’know, it doesn’t exactly impress people.”

Shrugging her shoulders, Mina knelt down and picked up her backpack, adjusting it on her shoulders. “People will use anything to make themselves feel superior. You shouldn’t take stock of their opinion.”

Momo nodded and sighed. “I try but it’s a bad habit I have.”

“As long as you try, that’s what matters.” Mina smiled again. “So when do you want to get together?”

“Get together?”

Mina raised an eyebrow, looking amused. “To rehearse.” 

“Oh! Yeah, that. That’s a thing. Uh, I guess like Professor Bae said, the sooner the better so maybe before next class? I don’t know how you work but I always like to get a head start.” Momo lied. The sky would sooner fall on the blonde girl than see her start on a project any earlier than 24 hours before the due date but she sensed that Mina was the kind of girl who had them done a week in advance and the last she wanted her to think was that she didn’t care about the assignment.

She nodded her head in agreement. “I’m the same way. Can never be too prepared you know?”

Momo chuckled a bit. “Right.”  There was a beat of awkward silence before Momo blurted out, “Can I get your number?”

Mina looked taken aback and Momo cursed the fact had gotten ahead of her brain once again, hurriedly continued on, “I mean, in case we need to change the time we’re meeting or something else comes up and we have to cancel. Just in case."

It could have been her imagination but she thought saw a bit of pink on Mina’s cheeks. “Yes, of course. That’s a good idea.” Momo basically ed her phone at the other girl and tried not to jump when she felt their fingers brush. Mina quickly tapped in her info and handed it back.

“I’ll, uh, text you now so then you’ll have my number.” Momo attempted to keep her voice steady and not show her nervousness at the thought of spending one-on-one time with Mina. “Does 11:30 on Friday before class work?

Mina nodded as some of her hair fell into her face. Momo balled her hands into fists to keep them from giving into the temptation of brushing it away. “Sounds good to me.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.” Mina echoed.

Momo started heading towards the door backwards and gave a dorky little wave to the other girl  “Guess I’ll see you then. Hope you have a good day.”

------

The next evening found Momo stretched out like a cat along the couch, feet propped up on the arm with script in hand as she pored over the words. moved along silently as she read through it, attempting to get a feeling of the character. Every so often, she’d take the pencil she had from behind her ear and make notes of the character’s objectives and motives. She was so focused she didn’t notice the looming presence of two pairs of hands behind her, going straight for a tickle attack. Momo let out a high-pitched yelp and promptly fell off the couch, squirming in an attempt to get away from her assailants.

Once the assault finally let up, she pouted and glared at the culprits, Jungyeon and Dahyun who both looked like they were going to pass out from how hard they were laughing. She flipped them the bird and spat out, “You two. Are s.”

The pair just giggled at the rare sight of a pouting Momo and walked over to smother the girl in a hug. Jungyeon was the first to let go and plopped down besides the blonde, leaning her head on her shoulder.

“Aww, we’re sorry. Actually not really. It was just too good an opportunity to pass up.” 

Dahyun followed suit and sat across from the two other girls and snickered. “Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that focused on something that wasn’t a girl.”

Momo leaned over and smacked Dahyun. “You make it sound like girls are all I care about.”

With Momo’s attention on Dahyun, Jungyeon seized the opportunity to pluck the script out of the blonde’s hand and began flipping through the pages. “Hmm, let’s see what we have here.”  The short-haired girl gasped and leaned over to Dahyun whispering conspiratorially to the youngest, “It’s THE scene.”  Realization crossed the youngest’s face as she started poking Momo playfully in the arm. “Ah, that explains everything. Of course your boo is the reason."

“She’s not my boo, or whatever! I just wanna make a good impression for our first rehearsal. I don’t want her to think I’m a slacker."

Dahyun raised her eyebrow skeptically. “But you are.”

“Shut up.”

“Hey, she’s gotta win her lady’s favor. She needs all the help she can get.” Jungyeon interjected. She turned to Momo and asked, “When are you guys meeting?”

Momo sighed. “Tomorrow morning before class. I think we’re just going to read through the scene and talk about our thoughts on it. Which should be interesting. For all I know, she’s probably hella conservative and wigged out by the thought of having to act gay. And if that’s the case, things are gonna get uncomfortable real quick.”

Jungyeyon snorted derisively and quipped. “Wow. Try to be a little more optimistic there, bud.”

Momo groaned and ran both hands through her hair in frustration. “How can I? It’d be one thing if we were both straight but the problem is, I don’t know if she realizes I’m not. Like what if she’s weirded out when she knows I’m into girls?”

“You mean she doesn’t know?”

The blonde shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

Jungyeon scoffed. “You’re like a walking rainbow. There’s no way she doesn’t.”

Dahyun patted Momo on the back and said, “I think you're catastrophizing the situation. Five bucks says she doesn’t give a .”

“And I’ll reiterate my point from before. I think you’re making a big deal out of nothing.” Jungyeon added on.

Momo just pulled her knees up to her chest, worried eyes gazing at her script. “I hope you’re right.”

------

Terrified of being late, Momo had left the apartment a good half an hour before she needed to which meant she ended up in the rehearsal room 45 minutes before she was supposed to meet Mina. It was odd being in such an big empty space by herself. She decided to try and follow her friends’ advice, figuring that starting on choreography would be a good distraction. Momo ended up not being cast in either of the plays but one of the directors approached her saying he had heard that she was the person to go to for choreography. There was a dance battle sequence in one of the plays that he needed someone to help with and Momo readily agreed, happy to feel like she was contributing something. He had wanted to use 90’s music and gave Momo a list of potential songs for her to go through and see what she came up with. Scrolling through the list, nothing in particular caught her eye until she saw DJ Doc's Run To You. It was a little predictable but she could work with it. She listened through the song a couple times, going through moves in her head. After about 15 minutes, she stood up and began to work through it.

Although Momo loved acting, she couldn’t deny the rush she got when she was dancing. She suspected it's where she initially gained her love of performing, having been enrolled in dance ever since she was little. Hip-hop was her preference but she dabbled in a little bit of everything. It was helpful, having another method to express herself when words weren't enough.

It wasn’t until she was attempting a baby freeze that she noticed Mina in the door way and, in true coordinated Momo fashion, fell straight onto her head, ending up collapsed on the floor in a heap. As she tried to get up, she wasn’t sure what hurt worse, her skull or her pride. On the upside, Mina had rushed over as soon as it happened and knelt down next to Momo, looking concerned.

“Oh my gosh! Are you okay?”

Momo waved her off. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” She ran her fingers over her skull and winced when she discovered the beginnings of a bump. It didn’t go unnoticed by Mina and she scooted closer to Momo. “Let me see.”

The blonde froze in place, acutely aware of how gentle fingers were threading through her hair and tracing her scalp. She could only pray that Mina didn’t hear how loudly her heart was pounding. After what seemed like an eternity, the red-head leaned back and said, “It doesn’t look too bad. But maybe you should go home. You could have a concussion.”

“No!” Momo cringed at how loud that had been. She forced herself to lower her volume and continued, “Honestly, it’s not a big deal. It happens a lot when I try a new move. Breakdancing clearly isn’t my strong suit.”

“I didn’t know you danced at all.”

Momo rubbed the back of her neck self-consciously. “Ah yeah. It’s just something I do for fun. No big deal.”

“You’re good. At least you were doing well until you wiped out.”

Momo narrowed her eyes and asked. “Just how long were you standing out there?” 

Okay, now that was definitely a blush that spread across Mina’s cheeks. “I’m not sure but long enough." 

“Oh. Well, thanks.” Silence came over the two girls as Momo examined her head with her fingers, attempting to see if anything else was hurt. She was snapped out of her focus by Mina's voice cutting through the room.

“I actually did ballet for a while.” Upon hearing that, her eyes involuntarily did a sweep of Mina's body. It was obvious in the way she held herself. Even sitting on the floor her back was still ramrod straight and arms elegantly placed in her lap.  “Yeah? How long?”

“11 years.”

Momo whistled. “Wow. That’s a long time.”

The other girl shrugged. “I wasn’t ever super serious about it. Just like you said, it was something I enjoyed doing. 

“You doing ballet isn’t too surprising though.”

An eyebrow cocked. “Meaning?”

Momo’s eyes widened and, thinking she had offended Mina, started rambling, trying to explain herself. “I mean…it’s just…you have like an air about you? Like really graceful..almost like a swan. Swans are graceful right? Is graceful even the right word? Maybe elegant is better or is that just a fancy way of saying graceful…” she trailed off, realizing how odd that all sounded and wondered if her face wasn’t actually on fire right now because it sure as hell felt like it.

Mina just looked at her for a moment before bursting into a full-blown belly laugh. Until now, Momo had only seen demure, closed-mouth smiles and heard quiet laughs from her but this, this was a beautiful sight to behold and to know she had been the cause of it made her heart swell up with pride.

Fanning herself, Mina calmed down enough to speak although she still had a big smile on her face. “You’re sweet.”

Momo was fairly certain this blush was never going away at the rate this conversation was going. She flashed Mina a small grin. “I try.” She then cleared and got up off the floor saying, “We should probably get to work.”

Mina followed her over to where Momo’s backpack sat and they both sat back down again on the floor, pulling out their scripts. Momo decided it was now or never and asked, “So, uh, do you wanna talk about it first or read through?”

“Let’s talk. We can get a better understanding of how we’re seeing our characters and their dynamic before we try to go through it.”

Momo nodded. “Okay. So….thoughts?”

Mina kept her focus down on her script as she spoke. “It’s interesting. I find it refreshing how so much of the attraction between the two women is in the subtext, like there’s so many deeper meanings behind each of the lines.”

That wasn't what Momo was expecting to hear. “It doesn’t weird you out? Two women being together?”

Mina furrowed her brow and looked confused at Momo’s question. “Not at all. Should it?”

“No, no! It’s just…you never know how people will react. Even if someone says they’re okay with gay people, as soon as they have to deal with it personally, they get weirded out."

“I grew up in a conservative household and family but I don’t share their views. Why should love have restrictions? It doesn’t make sense. If no one is being hurt and two people are happy, there’s no reason they should be kept apart.”

Momo’s heart warmed at the firm way Mina stated her opinion and it felt like a weight had lifted off her chest now that she knew the red-head was okay with the idea. There was still one thing she thought she should bring up.

Momo cleared . “Um, before we get any further into this, I feel like you should know-“ she fiddled with her fingers, looking down at them. “-I’m actually gay so. I just thought you should know because if it makes you uncomfortable, we can still talk to Professor Bae and maybe able to switch. I know it might be weird to be acting attracted to a girl who is actually attracted to girls and-“

A hand appeared in Momo’s line of vision, placed on her knee, cutting her off mid-sentence. Her eyes flicked up to Mina who had a soft smile on her face. The corner of her lip quirked up as she said, “I know. And I’m not uncomfortable.”

Momo gaped. “How’d you know?”

“Jihyo told me. We were talking about our respective scenes and she mentioned it was thoughtful of Professor Bae to give you a scene that you could relate to a bit easier, than having to feign attraction to a man for example. I didn’t follow right away so she elaborated.” She squeezed Momo’s knee lightly. “I do appreciate that you took the initiative to tell me yourself and that you’re being so considerate of my feelings but I think you should give me a little more credit. I know I appear a bit conservative and rigid but I’m really not.”

Momo pinched the bridge of her nose and muttered. “in Jihyo..." She regarded Mina carefully and apologized. "You’re so right. I’m sorry. It’s kind of a defense mechanism, I guess. I tend to take the stance of ‘assume the worst so if it does happen, you won’t be surprised’.” She smiled wryly at Mina. “Another bad habit of mine.”

Mina returned the smile and playfully patted Momo’s knee before withdrawing her hand. “We’ll work on it.” she said with a wink.

With that out of the way, they discussed their scene more in depth and not that Momo had doubted Mina’s intelligence but she was thoroughly impressed with the other girl’s observations and notes. As if it were possible, when they did actually read through the scene, she grew more impressed, witnessing Mina’s acting ability. She hadn’t known what to expect with the red-head being a directing/management major but it was obvious this wasn’t her first time trying her hand at acting. It was easily the most fun Momo had ever had at a rehearsal. They were both playful, any kind of awkwardness gone, and were already well on their way to shaping their scene when the rest of their class started to trickle in, Hwasa and Chaeyoung being the first.

With a look and a silent agreement, they both put their papers away and turned their attention to the latter two. Chaeyoung was obviously having a good day, judging from the way she plopped directly into Momo’s lap and hung onto her like a monkey. The four of them made small talk but every so often, Momo’s gaze would drift to Mina and the blonde hoped Chaeyoung couldn’t hear her heart thudding. Wishful thinking or not, she could’ve sworn she’d caught the other girl staring a couple of times as well. Momo resolved not to worry about that right now and decided to just be happy the rehearsal went as well as it did.

Hopefully the first of many.