Chapter 8:

The two finished their examinations, along with Nayeon.

Jihyo was anxiously waiting for her 4 friends/workmates in the lobby as they were getting examined. Nayeon got shot in the leg by the culprit’s hired comrade, Momo didn’t get shot but had a bullet slightly braze her arm when she tried to protect Mina and Mina probably got several bruises and broken bones from trying to negotiate with the culprit and being the hostage instead of the little boy. Jeongyeon had no injuries but was worried sick about her girlfriend so she went to the examination room with her. She heard Jeongyeon calling her name, relived that they were finally done to turn around with Jeongyeon only being there. She must have had a really puzzled look on her face because Jeongyeon told her, “No, they’re done with examinations. It’s just all three of them had to be admitted to be hospitalized. Don’t worry it’s only for a week.”

The three of them, Mina, Momo and Nayeon were admitted into the same hospital room. Another bed was added in so Jeongyeon could also spend the night. Momo just had a deep cut where the bullet passed by so she had a sling on her arm and didn’t have any more problems. Mina and Nayeon’s injuries on the other hand were a lot more serious. Nayeon got shot in the leg, so she had to have the bullet removed, which required a small surgery but it didn’t take long and now her leg was casted and hung over the hospital bed. Mina had several bruises and cuts from getting hit by the culprit. She also fractured one of her ribs, making it hard to breathe but the doctor’s told her it will heal in no time.

“I hate hospitals but I guess it won’t be so bad if I get to spend the whole week with you in the same room.” Momo winked at Mina as she got into her hospital bed. Making Mina blush like crazy and all flustered because she never saw this flirty side of Momo, let alone a friendly side of her.

“Yah!! Stop flirting Hirai Momo!” Nayeon yelled in frustration because Jeongyeon hadn’t come back yet.

“I guess the old Hirai Momo is back huh?” Jihyo appeared with Jeongyeon, Chaeyoung, Dahyun, Sana and Tzuyu. Sana and Tzuyu both holding flowers and food looking very worried while Chaeyoung and Dahyun were fidgeting by the doorway not knowing what to do. The four of them were astounded by Momo’s actions. They only knew Momo’s cold and no emotion attitude like Mina. While Jeongyeon immediately went over to Nayeon kissing her on the forehead.

“I guess you guys wouldn’t know but Momo is originally so flirty, friendly and a natural womanizer that I’d probably would have fallen for her if 1. I wasn’t her best friend and 2. If I didn’t like Doyoung Oppa.” Jihyo explained making everyone laugh except for Momo. “Same here, I probably would have fallen for Mina except that she isn’t flirty and not so friendly to people. That’s probably why they are so perfect for each other though. The two are very different but at the same time so similar.” Sana said and everyone unanimously agreed. Which made Mina and Momo blush looking at each other in confusion.

“Well Jihyo told us.” Tzuyu explained.

“I saw you two kissing.” Nayeon said making everyone in the room open their mouths in complete shock.

“What?! I wanted to see!” Jeongyeon whined, earning a slap from her girlfriend and Jihyo Momo and Mina both kept on opening and closing their mouth unable to utter a word in shock and disbelief that someone had been watching them.

“Well, since I was the only one facing them while Jeongyeon and Jihyo had their backs turned facing me and the other officers were too busy taking away the culprit and taking care of the little boy, I’m the only one who saw it though.” Nayeon grinned triumphantly. Which made Jeongyeon whine more and Momo and Mina into a darker shade of red from embarrassment.

“Let’s move on to a different topic shall we? How were your examination results?” Jihyo sighed.

“Pretty good, aside for the fact I have to wear this cast for a whole month. I’m glad it wasn’t my arm that was shot though or else, I won’t be able to snipe anymore.” Nayeon said.

“You shouldn’t have been shot in general. That guy was a total amateur so he shot you in the leg but at the same time, he could have killed you.” Jeongyeon whispered with anger in her voice.

“It couldn’t be helped. No one knew he had an accomplice. We all thought he was working alone. Plus if he was a pro, he definitely would have killed me on the spot. So aren’t you glad it was an amateur? Also I'm here now aren’t I? That’s all that matters.” Nayeon said soothing and comforting her girlfriend.

“Ahem.” Jihyo cleared and everyone immediately looked at her. “Now that I have your attention, um… I’m glad no one was seriously injured and things have turned out not the best way but in a good way. Headquarters called me a little while back telling me the culprit is behind the bars for good as of now. He will have trial which can turn things. He is being investigated by division 3 officers right now since kidnapping is their specialty. Now let’s move on to the more serious part.”

“There’s more?” Momo and Nayeon asked confused.

“Yes. About you four. First, you guys already know this but Nayeon, Mina and Momo, you guys will be hospitalized for one week, maybe more depending on your conditions with Jeongyeon as your watch. More like Momo and Nayeon’s because they have a tendency to escape from the hospital room.” Mina raised her eyebrows at Momo but she just shrugged. “After being discharged from the hospital, you all have 2 weeks off. Come back to work on the 28^th. “Jihyo explained.

“2 weeks? I thought it’s only one week off?” Momo asked.

“Well… it actually is supposed to be. But you four plus me, have a one week suspension in addition to our one week off for not obeying headquarter orders.” Jihyo admitted sheepishly.

Jeongyeon and Mina groaned at the same time making everyone in the room worry.

“It’s my fault for getting ahead of myself and becoming the bait of the culprit. I’m sorry…” Mina told everyone.

Momo went over to Mina’s bed and lifted up her chin. “It’s not your fault. I know you did it so the culprits focus wouldn’t be on Nayeon and Jeongyeon and so that he wouldn’t shoot them down. You don’t have to be sorry. But next time please tell me before you act.” Mina nodded as tears flowed down her face. Momo gently rubbing the tears off.

“It’s more like my fault for not being able to control my anger and knock the accomplice out, and agitated the culprit more.” Jeongyeon muttered.

“It’s NO ONE’S FAULT. Ok guys? We just had a series of unfortunate events one after another that none of us were ready for and that’s it. Nothing else. No more blaming on yourselves got that? And Jeong, if you didn’t knock the guy down, we would have had 2 dangerous men to work with. Not one. So thank you.” Jihyo said. Everyone nodding their heads agreeing.

“Yes thank you babe, for saving me.” Nayeon said caressing Jeongyeon’s cheek and wiping her tears at the same time.

***

It’s been 6 days since the 3 were hospitalized. Nayeon has to stay for a couple more days because she had been shot, but Momo and Mina were allowed to be discharged tomorrow. Jeongyeon had stayed with the 3 because she was very worried about Nayeon and also because Momo and Nayeon would tend to break out of the hospital a lot when they had been hospitalized after dangerous missions like this one before so Jihyo told her to supervise them. Jihyo, Sana, Tzuyu, Dahyun and Chaeyoung came to visit them every day. On the 4^th day, Jihyo actually had to stay overnight and not Jeongyeon because Nayeon and Jeongyeon had fought. They have a love and hate relationship, always bickering at each other so it wasn’t really surprising for Momo and Jihyo. It happened all the time. Mina, on the other hand was worried sick they might break up in the hospital room that they shared. Since one moment they would be super lovey dovey with each other, making Mina and Momo uncomfortable and the next moment fighting over something usually not important. They made up the next day though and their love for each other was extreme than usual. So Momo decided to sneak out of the room to the roof top of the hospital to avoid hearing their whispers and love making at night.

Momo opened the doors to the rooftop happy about the fact that it wasn’t locked. She leaned against the railings feeling the nice cold breeze. She loved the rooftops on any building because it’s so peaceful and the world seems like its surrounding you. She also likes it because she feels like she is closer to the sky. Momo closed her eyes and sighed contently.

“Momo?” someone suddenly called out, as the doors to the rooftop creaked open. Momo slowly opened her eyes and turned around to see the person she loved in front of her.

“What are you doing up here, Mina? You should rest.” Momo told her. Which kind of turned out to be a bit harsh than she wanted to be.

“The same goes for you too. Plus I can’t rest in there while those two are making love. Did you not want my company?” Mina asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.

“No, no of course I would love your company. It’s just that you shouldn’t be moving too much yet.” Momo replied.

“I’m fine. Compared to Nayeon, so don’t worry about me ok?” Mina reassured her.

Momo just sighed. She sat down against the railings and gestured Mina to come over. She made Mina sit between her legs and hugged her from behind. A comfortable wave of silence surrounded the two.

“You know, it still feels like a dream. I thought after losing Kei, I would never love someone because it would hurt. That it will remind me of her and the incident. But mostly how I wasn’t able to save her. So in order to not be reminded of the pain, I shut myself out from others and made my heart cold and frozen. But it all changed when you appeared in front of me. You started to melt my frozen heart and it scared me. So I tried everything I can to keep you away. But I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t have been a coward and just accepted you from the beginning. I’m sorry.” Momo said breaking the silence between them.

“It feels like a dream to me too, Momo. I thought you hated me for sure. I was also being a coward and didn’t confront my feelings because I was scared you would hate me more. I didn’t want to be hated by you. I wouldn’t mind if everyone else did but I really didn’t want you to hate me. That’s probably why I said terrible things to you at the rooftop that day. Because I thought it would be easier if I can also hate you like you hated me. That if you got angry at me enough that I would get mad, I would be able to forget my feelings about you but I was wrong. They got deeper and deeper… Also don’t be sorry. Change is very scary. I understand. Also if anything, I should be the one that’s sorry.” Mina objected, turning her head to see Momo’s eyes.

“I think we’ve been saying too many sorry’s to each other. Let’s just say it wasn’t anyone’s fault ok? We’re done with this. The past is the past. What’s important is the present and future so case closed.” Momo smiled at her.

“Fine.” Mina said as she rolled her eyes, facing forward again.

“Mina? Jihyo once told me, you were offered a position at our department a long time ago. Why did you decline the offer? You wanted to be a police detective right?” Momo said as she snuggled her head on the back of Mina’s neck. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” She quickly added.

“… Well, it wouldn’t be fair if you were the only one who exposed their dark secret so I should tell you mine too. Just a couple months before my graduation from police academy, I received an offer for a position to be in division 1. I was really excited and happy about it because it was my dream job. I immediately accepted it. However, a few days later, my grandma collapsed from a . Luckily she was saved in time but when they did some tests, we found out she was in the last stage of cancer. The doctors told us she only had about 6 months left. My grandmother was the one who took care of me during my childhood when my parents were busy with their work so I was extremely close to her. I was devastated but I had to accept the truth. And I decided that I wanted to stay by her side so I declined the offer and requested to be positioned in a station near my grandmother’s hospital. So I could visit her during breaks and after work. My grandmother was the one who wanted to see me become a police officer than anyone else so by being stationed near her hospital, I could show her myself in the uniform. The day before she passed away, she told me that she was proud of me but I should have went to the headquarters to pursue my dream job. She told me that she was happy about my consideration though. That I decided to stay with her and that I looked good in the police officer uniform. But she made me promise to go to division 1 eventually. That was our last conversation together. After she passed away, I couldn’t bear to stay in Kobe so I transferred to the station near my apartment and reunited with Sana. You know the rest after that.” Mina finished and noticed Momo was silently crying. She tried to turn her head around but was stopped.

“No! Please don’t turn your head around Mina.” Momo whispered. Burying her face deeper into the back of Mina’s neck.

Mina did so anyways and cupped the girl’s cheek and wiped the tears away. “Why are you crying Momo?” Mina softly asked.

“I’m sorry for your loss Mina. I’m sorry when I yelled at you that day when we fought that you can’t understand my feelings because you never lost someone special. I’m so---“Before Momo could finish Mina crashed her lips against the older ones, silencing her.

“Yah, we just promised not to say sorry anymore Momo. “ Mina told her, this time tears streaming down her face. Which Momo quickly wiped for her. They stared into each other’s eyes for a while until Momo embraced Mina in her arms.

“You’re right. We’ve been through a whole emotion of rollercoasters this past week. Let’s stop talking about those kinds of things for a while. Mina, what are you doing after getting discharged tomorrow?” Momo asked her.

“Hmm? Well, we’re not allowed to do anything so I’ll probably go back to my house and rest. Catch up on sleep, reading and games. Things like that.”

“So that means you don’t have anything planned right?”

“No, not at the moment. Why?”

“Do you want to come back home with me? My actual home is in Kyoto. I haven’t gone back in a long time and since we have a break, I’d thought it would be nice to go back and see how everyone is doing. We can also go to your parent’s house too.”

Mina raised her head up and looked at Momo with sparkling eyes. “Really? I would love to.”

Momo then leaned in and closed the gap in between them. Their lips touched and moved along each other. The two of them in their own world not caring about anything but themselves. With the still night sky and breeze enveloping them as if they were congratulating the two. They finally pulled apart to catch their breath and Momo whispered, “I love you,” before leaning in again.

*** Author’s note

Sorry it’s been so long! Had midterms so I wasn’t able to write and upload things. Sorry if I had grammar or spelling mistakes. Two more chapters and it’s done! Thank you so much for your support!! Feel free to leave any comments or suggestions!