pairing: Jihyo x Momo

summary: Jihyo knows all the good hiding places.

Momo tries to stifle a yawn, but it makes her eyes water. It's a hot day. The dust has risen from the ground and floats in the air, glittering. It's the kind of day that makes you want to be a bird, or a fish, or a care-free dust particle that doesn't feel heat.

“Let's take a break,” manager unnie tells them, after what feels like hours of practice.

“How long?” Jeongyeon asks and flings her short hair to one side.

“We'll continue at 2.” Everyone sighs in relief. Momo sits down on the floor and closes her eyes. She is exhausted.

“Who wants ice-cream?” Nayeon shouts. It's beyond Momo's capabilities to understand how Nayeon can still be so cheerful.

“Me, me, me..” echoes in the practice room. Jeongyeon just nods.

“You guys go, I'm going to stretch a little,” Jihyo says and sits down by the mirrors.

Momo lifts her head from her tired thoughts. She can feel a tint of sadness radiating from the other girl even when they are metres apart. Of course, she wouldn't go and eat ice-cream with the others. Jihyo's diet is so strict these days, she seems to feel guilty even looking at food. It breaks Momo's heart.

“I'll stay here, too,” Momo says and meet's Jihyo's eyes. She can see a protest rising in the younger girl, but when it reaches her tongue, it dies. Jihyo drops her gaze quickly.

The seven other girls get out of the room like a pack of happy elephants. The noise is so loud Momo wouldn't believe it if she wasn't there to witness it herself.

The dancer gets up and goes to the other girl as soon as the door shuts with a definite bang. The mirror is cool behind her back as she slides down next to the other girl. Their arms brush for a moment and it feels more real than anything else during the whole day.

“You didn't have to do that,” Jihyo says quietly.

“I wanted to,” Momo says when she can't come up with a good lie and smiles shyly.

Jihyo lifts her head up and smiles back at her. A record in Momo's head breaks and starts playing a fraction of a song over and over.

“Come, I want to show you something,” Jihyo says and gets up. When she extends a hand, Momo takes it without hesitation. She doesn't feel exhausted anymore as the sunlight makes Jihyo's hair glow as if it's made with stardust, crushed berries and chocolate.

-

There are endless corridors and stairs as they walk up. Momo hasn't been in this building before the beginning of this week, but the older trainees have been here in the past. Jihyo seems to know where she is going and hasn't let go of Momo's hand once. She holds it so naturally that Momo wonders if she does this all the time. Holds hands with girls as she takes them to secret places. She feels jealous, but doesn't let go.

“We are almost there,” Jihyo whispers and the dancer feels like what they are about to do, might not be so permitted as she first thought. It's hard to think about Jihyo breaking the rules, but it's an exhilarating thought nevertheless.

The stairs end suddenly and there's only one door in front of them. Jihyo looks back at Momo and grins before she pulls the door open with her free hand.

Sun greets them so powerfully that they are blinded by it for a moment. Momo leans closer to Jihyo and blinks furiously. Jihyo laughs and let's go of Momo's hand only long enough to sneak it around the older girl's waist.

When Momo's eyes adjust to the bright sunlight she can see the sky all around them. They are on top of the building and the view is spectacular. There are taller buildings in the area, but they are not close enough to block the view from where they are. The air shimmers above the streets and the midday is as quiet as it can be in a city like this.

“Let's go over there, or we'll die here in the sunlight,” Jihyo says and points to the other side of the roof. Momo nods and wonders where have all the words gone. When she is with Jihyo all she can do is to follow meekly and feel like an idiot for not being more interesting, or funnier, or more talkative.

They walk in silence until they reach the large ventilation unit on the edge of the roof. The shadow behind it wraps them kindly in its cool arms and protects them from the sun. When Jihyo sits down Momo follows and once again their arms are touching, only the effect the touch has hasn't changed. The dancer feels so many things that she is glad when she gets to sit down and not hover on the edge of the roof with this girl next to her.

Inside the ventilation unti the machines are over-working with the air conditioning and the hum of it vibrates in their chests as they lean on the wall. They have gone to another world, Momo thinks and doesn't feel bad about ice-cream and friends.

“Look over there,” Jihyo says and points something. Momo blinks and let's her eyes wander over the rooftop kingdom where birds live and wind rules. Or maybe Jihyo, she thinks and smiles to herself. Every building looks different and Momo doesn't know what exactly she is supposed to look at. She is about to ask when...

Jihyo drops her hand on Momo's knee as if to draw her attention. Momo blinks again.

“Look at the garden,” Jihyo whispers.

When she says it, the garden almost jumps out of the landscape. Why didn't she see it before?

There's one particular roof where the green almost spills over the edges. Vines crawl over a decorative structure in the middle and there are pots full of flowers in various colors. Green grass is violently green in the scortching sun and an elegant fountain sprays water so that Momo can almost hear the murmur of water.

“Isn't it lovely?” Jihyo asks and squeezes the older girl's knee.

“Yeah,” Momo says quietly but doesn't look where Jihyo thinks she is looking.

“I wish I could have something like that.”

“We'll buy one when we get famous,” Momo says and feels silly, but doesn't care.

Jihyo laughs and rests her head on Momo's shoulder.

“Promise?” she says with quiet aegyo and the dancer can feel her pouting, even when she can't see it.

“I promise,” Momo whispers and closes her eyes. Jihyo's hair smells like fruits and something soft and lovely that Momo can't pinpoint. It makes her chest ache ever so little and she has to clasp her hands together so that they won't do anything stupid what they might regret later on.

She just wants to be, just like this.

Forever, maybe.

-

The low hum of the machines is drowned by something else. She starts falling from somewhere far, but it doesn't feel bad. She floats and floats, spinning in gentle circles. She is nothing and no one. She is the fall and the light. The birth of the stars.

Then she remembers.

Jihyo.

Momo wakes up to a song. She can feel the song in her lungs because the singer is pressed so close to her. She doesn't know what the song is about, but it sounds old and maybe a little sad. Only Jihyo, Momo thinks and smiles.

The song ends suddenly which is a pity.

“Hey, sleepy head,” Jihyo says with a smile on her face when Momo opens her eyes.

“Why didn't you wake me up?” she asks and feels quilty. How long has she been sleeping?

“You needed some rest,” Jihyo explains and looks happier than she has during the whole week. Maybe she didn't get bored after all, Momo thinks and feels relieved.

“But we really need to get back now. It's almost 2,” the younger girl states and gets up to stretch her legs. Momo feels like someone has pulled a blanket of off her in the middle of the night; cold.

When Momo gets up, Jihyo takes her hand again. Sleep is still clinging to her and she just follows with her eyes half-closed. She doesn't want to leave this place of wonders, but she has responsibilities now that she can't ignore. At least Jihyo will be there, every step of the way.

When they're almost back to the practice room, Jihyo's phone vibrates on her pocket. Momo didn't even know she had one with her when they left. She hadn't missed her own phone at all.

Jihyo reads something from the screen and smiles brightly. Too brightly.

“What is it?” she asks, not sure if she wants to know.

“Oh, just this one guy,” Jihyo says and puts her phone back to the pocket. There's a lightness to her steps now as they continue their descend.

When they get to the last corridor, Momo let's go of Jihyo's hand. Jihyo is too happy to notice it.

Everyone else is already in the room when they arrive. There are some quizzical looks, but Momo doesn't want to meet any of them right now. She looks at the manager unnie instead.

“Okay, let's continue. There's this one part that I'm not quite happy with,” unnie begins and Momo feels exhausted all over again.

There are too many bad parts, if you ask her.

A/N: I wrote this long ago, quite soon after Sixteen ended. Only some of my friends have seen it, so I thought that I might as well post it here. :)