Part 2: Being a TWICE member

The J-holy trinity finally were back to the dorm and once they came in, the other members came rushing to know about Momo’s condition.

“I’m fine thank you for worrying about me but sadly my memory isn’t back. I’m sorry that I held you guys back when the concerts in a few days.”

“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry, Momo! Although we were worried sick about you, you losing your memories and that accident wasn’t your fault! It wasn’t anybody’s fault! Nayeon said and everyone else agreed.

With Momo’s Korean speaking ability somewhat back, they knew that the other members could follow up and there would be no problems. The problem was remembering her lines and dancing. Since Momo had no memories, she can’t perform the dances. Since it would be impossible to learn all of it within the next several days.

Momo was then separated from the girls and was taken to an unknown room with mirrors all around. It was the first time she experienced being in a practice room. While Momo was in awe with all the mirrors and equipment, a man came in with their manager.

“Momo, I heard that you lost your memories and I am sorry that I couldn’t prevent it from happening. I will personally help you prepare for the concert. Ah, you forgot who I am. I am Jinyoung Park. CEO of JYP Entertainment, your boss. Call me PD-nim.”

“Thank you so much PD-nim. I’ll try hard for the concert. Even though I lost my memories, I know this is something important to me.”

“That’s the spirit, Momo! Now let’s get to work.”

The manager and PD worked together to play the songs and then show her footages of the video and when the dance teachers were here, have them demonstrate the dance. Momo’s body remembered the key movements luckily but were no avail to the new choreography or the cover dances. Except for the one she choreographed herself. As she practiced though, she got better. However, dancing was one thing but singing and dancing together was a big problem that aroused. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get the timing right. Momo would practice for hours and hours, through the late hours. Putting in her all to catch up to everyone else’s level. As a result, within 3 days she lost 2kg. The one’s who knew her knew that she wasn’t sleeping well and that she was pushing herself too hard.

Mina wanted to help her girlfriend in any way she can but was forbidden to do so. Her manager told the other members that they need to concentrate for the concert and it might be pressure for Momo if they tried to help her or if she went to practice with everyone. Mina however, knew it was the opposite. With her memory gone, Momo would be pressured by the adults and wouldn’t know what to do. Since her ability of speaking Korean just came back, she wouldn’t be able to defend herself either. So, Mina snuck out and broke her promise with the manager. The other members of course agreed to help as well.

When Mina got to the company dance room where Momo was, she found the poor girl asleep. As she got closer, she realized that Momo was having a nightmare. As she was thrashing and tossing in her sleep while mumbling uncoherent words. Mina pondered if she should wake her up but decided not to and try comforting her because of the lack of sleep Momo’s been having. Mina tucked Momo’s hair behind her ear and held her hand. She rubbed it in order to soothe the older girl. Which seemed to work because pretty soon her breathing went back to normal and she stopped the tossing and mumbling.

After a few hours of letting Momo sleep, she suddenly jolt awake.

“Mina?! What are you doing here and what time is it?!”

“I came to see you. It’s five in the morning Momo, you should still sleep.”

“I-I can’t. I need to practice. Mii-tan you shouldn’t be here in the first place. You’ll get scolded if they find out.”

“It’s ok, Momorin. I don’t care if I get scolded. I needed to see you. You’re so pale and sleep deprived. With this pace, you’re going to collapse and not be in the concert at all. Your fans would be sad. Please rest a bit more, Momorin. I will help you. Please do this for me, your fans and most importantly for your body.”

Momo of course, can’t resist Mina so she agreed. Even though she didn’t want to. She thought she could have done more if she hadn’t fallen asleep. Since Momo was always hospitalized, she didn’t know her limits. For Momo, moving and giving it her all was nothing compared to the times she couldn’t move at all and was helpless. She didn’t want to be like that again when she could finally move and be free. She didn’t want to depend on anyone. Especially Mina since her walls would crumble and break down easily in front of her. She didn’t want to go easy on herself. And of course, Mina who watches Momo way more than she should, knew what Momo would do. That she wouldn’t rely on anyone and practice until she breaks. That she didn’t want to see her but deep down in her heart and body are both screaming for help. Mina knew. Which is the reason why she had to come. Mina patted her knee and Momo reluctantly put her head on it so she can sleep. With Momo’s fatigue level so high and Mina’s knee being super comfortable, Momo fell asleep in no time. Mina gave her forehead a quick kiss and her hair as she slept.

The second time Momo woke up, she found herself sleeping on the floor with Mina’s coat as a pillow. She felt a hollow forming in her heart to find out that Mina left but then, Mina also had her own schedules. She couldn’t be relying on her all the time and also she should be happy that she got to see her even if it was only for a bit. She got up the floor to practice again when the door opened.

“Good Morning. I brought us some breakfast. Dancing on an empty stomach will make you even more tired.”

“Thank you Mii-tan.”

The two then sat down on the floor once again and ate the breakfast Mina had prepared. Silence enveloped them as they ate because they were concentrated on eating. As soon as Momo finished, she tried to stand up to practice but Mina stopped her.

“Momorin, you need to digest your food. Otherwise you will end up with cramps and feel nauseous, silly.”

“Oh sorry… It’s been so long since I last had freedom to move after I ate, I forgot…”

“…? It’s ok. Let’s practice after resting for about 15 minutes.”

After 15 minutes, Momo stood up to practice again. This time, Mina stood up with her. Momo turned the music on and Mina just watched as Momo did her part. She then soon joined by dancing her part so Momo would know where to move and such. If it was just doing her part, Momo had perfected everything. It’s just that when she had to move along and go to her place, she messed up. There was also some moves Momo couldn’t do no matter how hard she tried. Mina noticing this immediately, tried to help her.

“It’s much easier, if you move your hand this way and then move your legs rather than trying to transition both your hand and leg at the same time.” Mina said and guided Momo with her hands.

Momo tried the choreography again with Mina’s advice and was able to do it perfectly. She smiled at Mina who gave her one back.

“You know, this is the advice you gave me when I couldn’t do the same choreography.” Mina gave a small but sad smile.

Just like before when Momo saw Mina’s tears, she couldn’t bear to see that face on her. Before she knew it, Momo had wrapped Mina in her arms once again.

“I’m sorry… I can’t remember anything but when you said those words, an image came to my mind. We were in a practice room like right now. I also had an image before. When I saw you and the other members crying. It was an image of me on stage and I was crying. I can’t remember anything but I sometimes have these images suddenly popping in my head. That means I haven’t completely forgotten right? I know I won’t be remembering things anytime soon but I promise I’ll try to as fast as I can Mina. So please don’t make that face…”

“Don’t be sorry… It’s not your fault you don’t remember what happened. I know you didn’t want to forget. My fathers a doctor and he told me that the human memory is like a drawer. We store memories in the drawers of our brain and we only open the ones that we need or convenient for us. So I know you haven’t lost your memories completely. You just forgot which drawer to open when you woke up.” Mina smiled again, this time an actual smile which made Momo smile as well.

“Thank you, Mii-tan.” Momo said as she hugged Mina again. This time she pulled her more closely and hugged her as she didn’t want to let go. The two enjoyed each other’s embrace but Momo realized she had to practice so as much as she didn’t want to, she broke the hug.

“I’ll hug you again after I master everything.” Momo reassured her as Mina slightly pouted.

The two resumed their dance practice once again. They started with the title tracks. Momo was able to master those without any problems now. It was just the side tracks that they haven’t performed on stage yet and some of the cover songs they had planned to perform. Momo at first, had a very hard time mastering Seventeen’s “Pretty You” since the choreography was pretty complex but after watching the video several times, she soon was able to learn it. The dancing machine indeed. Although Mina was jealous that Momo was watching the seventeen boys very closely. Even though she knew she was watching the choreography and not them, she couldn’t help but feel jealous the way Momo was paying so close attention to the video.

After several hours of the two practicing together, Momo had mastered the y and cool dances quickly but had a more difficult time with the cutesy dances so Mina helped her with those. Pretty soon, Momo had finally remembered all the choreography without any mistakes. Before calling the manager, the two decided to take a break. They rolled on the floor and drank water.

“I’m proud of you, Momorin. I knew you could do it.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you Mii-tan.”

“Of course. Momorin, you know the partition choreography you made?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“Even though you forgot your memories, you were able to dance that one without any problems. I just wondered why.”

“Well, I’m not sure either but as soon as the music started my body moved on its own.”

“As expected from the Dancing Mochine.” Mina teased.

“Is that another nickname of mine?” Momo tilted her head.

“Ah, yes. Since you are our main dancer. Momorin, when you’re not as tired and when we finish the concert, can you teach me the choreography?”

“Why after the concert when I can just teach you now?”

“Because you’re tired!”

“Manager Oppa said he’s not coming till 2 hours later so I might as well teach you now. Plus I have a feeling you already know most of it.” Momo winked at her which made Mina blush.

“Well a little bit since I watched you practice.”

The two stood up again and Momo taught Mina the steps one by one. She first did the whole act herself making Mina’s jaw drop right open. Afterwards the two did the choreography slowly step by step. Momo saw that Mina couldn’t get this one part so she went over to where Mina was and helped her. Momo slowly took Mina’s hips with her hand and helped her with the movement. Although Momo had moved over to just help Mina, Mina on the other hand was flustered and kind of took it the wrong way. Her face was beet red, her heart was beating really fast and was fluttering. Momo’s hands were on her and their faces were so close together. She missed her girlfriend too much. Mina couldn’t take it anymore and closed the gap between them. She made sure to take things slowly since Momo still hasn’t regained her memories yet. So she just placed a short peck on Momo’s lips before retreating. When Mina pulled away, she saw a surprised Momo looking at her. She immediately regretted it and tried to flee from the scene immediately but Momo stopped her. This time, it was Momo who brought their lips back together.

“Is this how you kiss? Sorry I haven’t kissed anyone before so I don’t know.”

“It’s correct but I will teach you more ways.”

From then on, practicing and teaching the choreography was thrown out the window. They spent the rest of the evening, chastely kissing and just enjoying each other’s presence until it was time for the manager to pick them up.

The manager was surprised at Mina’s presence and was going to scold her but stopped when she saw the two looking so happy with each other. Everyone knew the usually happy Momo was not feeling well and was locking herself from everyone so the manager couldn’t get mad at the girls especially since Momo had a smile on that wasn’t present the past few days.

Starting from the next day, Momo was allowed to participate rehearsals with the other members. She still was at a disadvantage and there would be times where she got the lyrics wrong but the other members made sure to cover for her. Rehearsals dragged on and pretty soon the 9 girls were ready to show their best and perfect performance on stage to their fans.

**

It was finally the night before the concert. Everyone was nervous but Momo was beyond nervous and was scared.

“What if I mess up? If I mess up, everyone’s hard work will be going down the drain. “Different thoughts were ringing in my mind as I looked out the view from the dorm balcony. I was too focused that I didn’t notice footsteps and the door sliding behind me.

“Momorin? You’re going to catch cold. Also you should sleep since you haven’t had much sleep lately. You’ll need it for tomorrow.”

“Mii-tan… You’ll catch cold yourself. You should go inside. I’ll sleep eventually.”

“Don’t lie to me Hirai Momo. I know you’re not going to sleep if I leave you right now. I’m nervous too for tomorrow. But there’s nothing to be scared of Momorin. They’re our fans. If something happens and we end up having to tell them what happened to you, they’ll understand.”

“It’s because they’re our fans Mina. They’ve been expecting it for some time. I can’t let them down. I’m going to head over to the company and practice one more time.”

“Momorin! We’ll have rehearsals tomorrow morning! If you don’t get some sleep, you’ll end up fainting! You can’t participate in the concert at all if you do! So let’s go to sleep ok?”

I could only nod and Mina grabbed my hand and rubbed it. She then gently pulled my hand and lead me back inside to her room.

“Mii-tan this isn’t my room.”

“Let’s sleep together Momorin. Nayeon Unnie is sleeping with Jeongyeon Unnie so it’s fine. I’m afraid that if I leave you alone now, you won’t sleep and just practice. So I’m going to make sure you fall asleep.”

She then went under the covers, pulling me along with her. As I got in the covers, Mina hugged me so I couldn’t escape. I wasn’t planning on escaping anyways so she didn’t have to but being in her arms were really comforting so I’m not complaining. I snuggled my head closer to her neck and soon enough, I was in dreamland.

It was finally D-day. The very first day of TWICELAND in Seoul. All of us were nervous but excited as well. Rehearsal went well with no problems. So before the real stage, Jihyo and I decided to go out and help out with the goods sale. Since there were already so many people lining up to buy our goods and for the concert. The fans were very nice and it warmed my heart to know that they all came in the cold just for us. Although we wanted to stay out for a little longer, we needed to go back inside for sound check.

Once the sound check was done, we had rehearsals one more time. Afterwards we just waited for fans to fill up the venue and for the concert to start. 5 minutes before, we all got ready and Jihyo called us all over. We all made a circle and had our arms over each other’s shoulders.

“Are you ready? TWICE TWICE Charanda~!” Jihyo shouted and all of us followed. The 9 of us then went on stage, Jihyo leading us.

The sight in front of us was just incredibly unbelievable as we stepped foot onto the stage. There were many fans in the venue. All waving their candy bongs. The venue was like a night sky with lots of stars shining and sparkling. It was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. All our fans were screaming and cheering our names and I couldn’t help but smile. Not just me but all of us couldn’t seem to suppress their smiles. We were all grinning ear to ear as we started with our introductions and first song.

Time just passed swiftly like the wind, after that. I tried my best to make the best stage possible. And before I knew it, our main part of the concert has ended. We went backstage and soon after, the encore calls were heard even from our stage outfit room. The 9 of us quickly changed our outfits to the ones we prepared for encore and went back out to greet our fans again one last time. After singing our encore songs and said our last greeting, it was finally time to end the stage and say goodbye to our fans. Mixed feelings swept through my body as we lined up in a single line to hold hands and bow. Which marked the ending for our first day of our first Seoul concert. There was still room for improvement we can do for our other concert dates, but we all made it with no mistakes.

I don’t know how but I was able to pull it off somehow. When I saw the crowd in front of me, waving the lights in the air, seeing the members crying and smiling, and most of all seeing her smiling with our eyes locking as the curtains closed, I knew everything was going to be ok. Especially if the both of us are together. Without her I couldn’t have done it.

That is how I, Hirai Momo became a member of TWICE in a second life. A second chance I was given. I was finally able to see some of the outside world aside from the hospital and home.

To be continued….?????

Authors note:

This one shot is inspired by mostly what has happened to me before. I’m not living a second life lol nothing like that but I had a weak body and I’m also asthmatic so I was constantly hospitalized and couldn’t do what others can do. I still can’t for some things. I’m quite better compared to when I was little though so don’t’ worry. Um there’s a lot more connections to this but I kind of don’t want to expose all my dark secrets you know? Haha Hope you enjoyed it and I may make a continuation. Not sure yet. I kind of don’t have inspiration so we’ll see. Sorry for the switch of back and forth between first and third person point of view. Please don’t criticize on my grammar too much… Also, the next few one shots I planned/started writing won’t be my usual ships. I still ship MiMo, 2yeon, DubChaeng, and SaTzu but I recently started liking some other ships as well. Especially JiChaeng. It’s pretty underrated and unknown but I think they’re really cute. They’ll be some JiChaeng, SaChaeng, SaNayeon, SaJeong and ChaeYu so please look forward to those as well ^^ I’ll still be writing SaTzu and MiMo and my other chapter stories. I’ve been writing bit by bit but I’ve been so busy I can’t write too much.