Just a second of blonde hair in the snow was enough to shake up Jungyeon’s entire day.

She’d seen it out her window in the morning; while the toast waited to pop and the kettle waited to flick off, she’d watched the little dots walking through town, and that one figure had had bright blonde hair, snugly fit under a beanie. So bright in the snow, her fashion style hardly visible though she’d worn a huge tan coat, and memories had hit Jungyeon and now pummeled her even more than the snow as she walked to work.

And her nine to five was torn up too, as her eyes went glassy and her fingers went still over the keyboard in the middle of her serious email. Once, she’d been in college, this shy awkward kid who used to time her visits to Starbucks just so that she could see the blonde who always went there with her friends. It had been weeks before her friends had nudged her towards her, tricking her at all corners to speak with her, though Jungyeon had always just found an escape after saying two or three words to the beautiful girl.

She’d had to give up eventually. One day, that blonde girl had been there alone, and Jungyeon had stared at her while Jihyo and Nayeon joked about nothing, ignoring their quiet friend, and then some strange force had taken over Jungyeon. Maybe it was just how lonely the girl had looked, or how long Jungyeon had been trying to work up the courage, but she just stood, walking away from her friends without a word, and slid into the seat opposite her blonde infatuation.

This goofy Japanese girl, with her lazy way of speaking and her lazy way of doing everything except dancing. Jungyeon had gotten to know Momo quickly; after that day, she’d ditch her friends for the blonde, and then they exchanged numbers and Jihyo started joking about how Jungyeon’s phone had been devolved into a talking to Momo device. They’d started dating after two months, and it had been three years before they both graduated and found the perfect work – Jungyeon there in Seoul, and Momo back in Japan.

With broken hearts they’d said goodbye, and awkward texting conversations gave way to silence, and then it had been years.

Jungyeon had dated since then. Chaeyoung had been cute, but they’d only lasted a few months. And then Nayeon, who worked in the same place, set Jungyeon up with Wendy, but they’d just not worked.

Jungyeon had never thought too much about love, anyway. Not when the word was basically synonymous with blonde hair and always made her think of a certain foreign country.

And she didn’t know why blonde hair had to take over her mind so thoroughly now. Lots of people went blonde. For all she knew, that person was just a girl from America or France, with hair that was just naturally that colour. It wasn’t a particularly rare colour. She saw it everywhere.

But this time her mind was infected. At six o’clock, she hardly knew why she was entering that old Starbucks, one she hadn’t seen in years. She ordered her drink in a daze and found herself sitting in Momo’s old spot, staring out the window and hating herself for still dwelling on such an old love.

She was half through her coffee, and she’d been drinking so slowly it was practically cold, when someone moved into the seat opposite her – she’d hardly known what to expect as she looked over, and it was like a punch to the gut when she recognised brown eyes, blonde hair, a nervous smile.

“I’d wondered if I’d find you here.”

“Momo,” Jungyeon said, her voice a whisper. The answering giggle made her heart flutter; she had to wonder for a moment if it was even today, or if she’d somehow gone back in time five years. She looked almost identical.

“How have you been?”

“Why are you here?”

Momo smiled again, eyes crinkling, and Jungyeon was just fine if it was a dream – it’d still be the best dream she’s ever had. “I asked first.”

“I’m fine,” Jungyeon said, battling her smile.

“I got transferred. I work here now.”

“Really?” Jungyeon was almost choking on her own voice. “Oh my god.”

Momo giggled, tongue sticking out for a moment. “That’s all you have to say?”

“I love you,” was the next thing, and Momo stopped giggling, eyes glazed over suddenly before she blinked herself back into reality.

“Okay, I wasn’t expecting that.”

And that was when it all really came crushing down on Jungyeon. Of course – Momo would have moved on. It could hardly be expected that back in her home country, she wouldn’t find someone better suited. Jungyeon didn’t really have a right to be disappointed.

“Sorry.”

Momo looked down at the table by which they sat, ethereal and glowing. And so solemn.

“No, it’s just – that was fast.”

“Well, I used to say it all the time.”

“I never forgot,” Momo said quickly, looking up and holding the eye contact. “It’s strange how your voice sounds exactly the same.”

“Why would it change?” Jungyeon offered with something of a miserable smile.

“Time changes a lot.”

Time… time changes a lot. Jungyeon looked down at her hands, waves attacking her head and her heart.

“Jungyeon...”

“I need to go,” Jungyeon said, standing and rushing away in an instant.

Time didn’t change things for her. Time just froze everything. And now her heart was freezing as she escaped the coffee store, self-hatred and regret mingling together. She’d frozen herself for so long – and for what?

“Hey, angry-face!”

Jungyeon shielded her head from the paper airplane, and it fell to the ground as Jungyeon heard Nayeon’s laughter echoing across the room.

“You moping about something?”

“Since when did you have a key to my place?” Jungyeon said, standing and rushing over to the front door. “Dammit, I’ll need it changed!”

“I have a deal with your keysmith,” Nayeon called back sarcastically, settling herself on the couch where Jungyeon had been sitting. “Anyway, Jihyo says you’ve been upset. We’re planning on hosting a surprise birthday party to make you feel better.”

“Oh, good,” Jungyeon said as she sighed, looking at her oldest friend stretched out on the expensive couch. She didn’t know why she kept up the pretense that Nayeon was unwelcome. Old habits, she supposed.

Time has never changed anything for Jungyeon.

“No sarcastic comments about that defeating the purpose? Come on, Jung, we all have our roles to play.”

Jungyeon sighed while she smiled simultaneously. “Doesn’t telling me about the surprise defeat the purpose, Nayeon?”

Jihyo still had her key from house-sitting during Jungyeon’s last vacation. She knew what was going on, and she didn’t flinch when the lights changed and the music started booming – laughing, Jihyo appeared in a corner spraying confetti across the room and Jungyeon found herself grinning at her stupid, stupid friends.

“Not when Jihyo still has your spare key!!!!!” Nayeon’s self-pride rang through her voice as she cackled, and Jungyeon walked back over to the couch tiredly to at least not have to scream so loud.

“Wow, you sure got me!” Jungyeon said, rolling her eyes. “How long have you even been here, Jihyo?”

“Not that long! I know how into The Bachelorette you get so we tactically snuck in while that was on.”

“I do not– hey, what do you mean ‘we’?”

Nayeon just showed up. It should have been Jihyo alone – Jungyeon froze after looking around the room, catching a blonde girl smiling lightly.

“Oh,” Jungyeon said, freezing. “Momo.”

“You vanished on me,” Momo said, moving a bit closer. “What was that about? I never even got a chance to say I love you back.”

The world came to a stunning halt as Jungyeon blinked, hardly even able to hear the music anymore.

“Oh.”

a/n- Okay, I really needed to get something out just to announce my continuing survival. This is so bad to me but hopefully it won't seem that way to others! I feel like I didn't do Jungmo credit here, especially since they've really risen the ranks since I initially made this list and I'm sort of in love with them now, but oh well. This series is mostly for the sake of me learning to do one-shots with dignity and it's a learning process :)

Again, please leave your requests! I'm not sure I can guarantee that I'll do them justice, because I've already gotten some requests which are a little comfusing to me, and chances are I'll get overlapping pairings though that hasn't happened yet. Still, they help me so much! Be as vague or as specific as you please :)