thinkin' of u - snails house 

    It starts, most unexpectedly, and Momo curses the moment she decided to turn back. Momo has walked to school the same way every morning for the past four years. She’s walked on the same path so many times, she can probably do it with her eyes closed. It starts, she guesses, when she sees an unfamiliar figure, a girl with red hair and an even redder scarf, walking the same way as her one chilly autumn morning. Momo watches her carefully, noticing the uniform she wears, which is the same as hers. She slows down, in hopes that the girl won’t notice her and that there won’t be any awkward greetings. She decides that this is fine, that there’s really no harm in pretending that she never saw the girl. 

    Then a few minutes later the other girl stops in her tracks, looking around uncertainly, quite obviously lost. Momo rolls her eyes.
Great.
She decides to quicken her pace, walking in front of the girl, hoping that she’ll notice that they go to the same school and will some how take the hint and follow her—just as long as she doesn’t try to start a conversation. She breathes a sigh of relief when her ears are met with nothing but the sound of crunching gravel.

    As she walks through the school gates, into the sea of students, she turns around to look at the other girl, just to see if she made it here alive.
She turns around quickly, because the other girl is looking right back at her.
Head down, cold hands shoved into warm pockets, Momo hurries off to her first class even though classes don’t start for another fifteen minutes, because she’d rather be anywhere else but here.
Anywhere else but here, because there’s no way she’s going to forget those shining eyes filled with wonder.

    What a coincidence it is that the same girl is in her class. She stands at the front of the room, shifting her weight nervously on both feet, and introduces herself as “M-Myoui Mina.”
It’s so soft and timid that the entire back row leans forward in their seats as they strain to catch it. Momo is thankful that the windows are closed, because she’s sure that even the smallest of breezes would have blown her words away.

    What coincidence it is that the only empty seat is the one next to Momo.

    The day passes without much happening, other than when Jungyeon shoves a fake spider down her shirt and they both get kicked out, Momo for screaming too loudly and Jungyeon for causing nuisance. Momo doesn’t see Myoui Mina after their first class. As she walks down the path back home she can’t help but wonder if Myoui Mina knows how to get home. She’s only taken a few steps, only walked two metres when she hears the crunching of gravel under uncertain feet behind. Taking a quick glance back, she sees Myoui Mina, who quickly looks down. Momo gets home a little later than usual.

    At lunch the next day Mina comes to their table trailing behind Nayeon, looking like she’s a shaken animal in the talons of an eagle. Nayeon introduces her to “the Hoes” and Mina says hi shyly while the others crowd around her, vying for her attention. Momo remains in her seat, watching the chaos unfold while she continues eating. Mina looks over and they make eye contact. Momo gives her a nod, and Mina looks stunned, then looks away quickly with a red glow to her cheeks. Momo returns her attention to her lunch, allowing herself a small smile.

    “H—hey,” Mina whispers.
Momo looks over at her, “yeah?”
“Can I—can I borrow a—a pen?” she asks.
She sounds so hesitant and shy that Momo can’t help but be amused, “yeah sure!”
Mina mumbles a thanks and keeps her head down. At the end of the lesson Mina puts the borrowed pen back into Momo’s pencil case and mumbles another embarrassed “thank you”.

    Mina gets along well with everyone in their group. Except Momo. While she laughs and talks with everyone else, with Momo, it’s just awkward. Maybe it’s because Momo seems intimidating, because Momo never makes the first move to talk to anyone if she can help it, or maybe it’s just because Mina is just shy. So is Momo. So that’s probably why it’s awkward. But it really shouldn’t be, because Mina and Momo spend the most time together during the week. Every morning they walk to school together and every afternoon they walk home together, and when they get to the tree at the fork in the path where they have to go their separate ways Momo says bye and Mina waves shyly. Sometimes Momo wishes that their walks to and from school were more than just sound of crunching gravel.

    One day everyone is gone. Nayeon, Jihyo and Jungyeon are on their excursion to the zoo for Biology, Sana and Chaeyoung are in detention, Dahyun is caught in a club meeting and Tzuyu is sick. It’s just Mina and Momo. Momo finds Mina sitting alone at their lunch table, staring off into the distance, poking at her lunch with a spoon.
“Hey.” Momo says, sliding into the seat opposite her.
Mina looks up, “h-hi.”
Momo starts eating almost as soon as she sits down. She’s nearly halfway through her sandwich when she notices that Mina’s still poking at her food with her spoon, that Mina is staring at her.
“Hmm?” she raises an eyebrow.
“I—” Mina looks away, embarrassed at being caught, “n-nothing.”
Momo yet again finds herself amused by Mina’s bashfulness, “you know, with the way you’re so shy around me, it’s like you like me or something,” she laughs.
Mina’s eyes widen and her spoon fumbles in her fingers and she looks down at her lap quickly with a red face.
The half eaten sandwich feels strangely heavy in Momo’s hands, “o-oh.” 

    When she sees Momo waiting for her at the front of the school, ready to walk home, Mina is surprised.
“You—you waited for me,” she whispers, more to herself than to Momo.
Momo tilts her head in confusion, “yeah, why wouldn’t I?”
Mina goes red again and Momo fights back a smile.
She swears Mina walks closer to her than usual, and their goodbyes take a little longer, are more reluctant. 

    That night Momo lies in bed and thinks about Mina. She thinks about shy and quiet Mina, who likes her (or something). She falls asleep excited to wake up.

    Mina isn’t at the tree yet. So she waits. A few minutes later she hears the sound of urgent footsteps and Mina appears, panting.
Mina doubles over and blurts out an apology, “I’m sorry! Did you wait long? I woke up a little later than usual and then Ray knocked over a vase and I had to clean it up before leav—”
This is the most Momo has ever heard from Mina in one go, she grins “Ray?”
And the usual shy Mina returns, “my—my dog.”
Momo nods in understanding and begins walking. Mina follows after her. The walk is silent, and Momo doesn’t want that anymore.
“I didn’t know you had a dog,” Momo says.
And Mina launches into a tirade of how much she loves dogs and Ray and when she sees Momo watching her in amusement she claps a hand over and turns a shade of red that’s becoming familiar to Momo, “I’m t-talking to much.”
Momo laughs and she wants to tell Mina that it’s fine, that it’s cute, but the sight of the gates closing catches and in a state of panic, she grabs onto Mina’s hand and begins running. 

    (They still end up being late, anyway, and they stand with their arms over their heads for ten minutes as punishment. Mina’s arms soon begin to tire, and Momo finds herself holding onto Mina’s hand so it stays up. Maybe Mina’s face is red because of the pain, but Momo likes to think otherwise.)

    For the past few days, Mina has been sticking to her. Momo doesn’t complain. Mina is nice and she is warm (perfect for the oncoming winter) so, yeah, Momo doesn’t complain. She sits next to her at lunch now, sandwiched between her and Nayeon. The others are arguing about something, and she can’t catch enough of the words for her to understand and join in so she sits and leans her head against Mina’s shoulder and closes her eyes, just rests there. Suddenly the argument stops and the silence makes her open her eyes. Everyone is looking at them.
“What?” she’s confused.
“Since when were you and Mina so close?” Nayeon grins, and it’s a sneaky grin, the grin of someone ready to tease them.
Momo decides to play along. wrapping her arms around Mina protectively, she minimises the distance between them and grins at Nayeon, “we’re in love.”
Sana and Jihyo and Nayeon and Dahyun and—and basically everyone except Jungyeon and Tzuyu squeal.
Jungyeon makes a face, “ugh that’s gross,” she says, disgustedly, but her laugh lets Momo know that she’s joking. Tzuyu only smiles.
Momo laughs at her friends. She was joking, but the way Mina hides her red face in her hands makes her wonder what it would feel like if it was real (as if it isn’t, by now).

    When they walk home that day, Mina stops her by the tree and bites her lip. Before she gets a chance to ask what’s wrong, Mina blurts out a confession, and Momo isn’t the least bit surprised.
“Yeah, I know,” she smiles gently.
Mina gapes, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. She supposes the feeling of breathlessness is the same.
So Momo takes her hand and kisses her on the forehead before she says goodbye. She doesn’t have to look back to know that Mina is still standing there, under the tree, in a daze.

    In the morning Mina is waiting, fiddling with her fingers. Momo feels a smile on her face.”
“Morning,” she greets, as she approaches.
Mina looks a little surprised, but she whispers a “good morning back.”
Momo grins.
She holds her hand out for Mina to take, “let’s go?”
Mina looks her hand like it’s made out of gold, like she isn’t worthy enough to hold it (how wrong she is). When she doesn’t move, Momo reaches for one of Mina’s hands herself and pulls her along, because at this rate they’re going to be late. 

    After a long day of math tests and history lectures and essays and teasing—god, the teasing—they walk home the same way they walked to school, hand in hand. They’ve fallen back into their familiar silence and it’s comfortable, this time, and Momo doesn’t feel the need to break it.
But Mina does.
“Momo…”
“Hmm?”
Momo feels her hand being squeezed, and then Mina stops walking.
“Do you—do you actually…like me?” Mina asks.
And Momo realises—she never actually said (but doesn’t everyone already know?).
It’s harder to accept it now that she has to hear it out of her own mouth. Momo wants to let go, because her hand is sweaty and it can’t be nice to hold, but Mina holds on.
And if Mina can find the guts to hold on, Momo can surely find the guts to tell her what they both know. Mina’s face is a red again, and Momo is sure that hers is too. She laughs nervously, trying to hide her anxiety. When she opens , the words don’t come out, so she decides that actions will have to do for now.

    The sudden warmth on her lips is enough to make Mina’s heart soar and it feels like it might never come down.
“Don’t you already know?”
This time instead of saying goodbye at the tree, Momo walks her home. Momo walks her home and doesn’t leave until she’s given her another kiss. The way she whispers goodbye makes Mina’s heart flutter. Mina doesn’t know if she whispers goodbye back because her head is spinning and she can’t hear anything but the beating of her heart. Momo grins and holds onto her hand for as long as she can before she definitely has to let go. She stands there, dazed as she watches Momo walk away. When Momo looks back and waves she feels as though she could float away.

    It’s winter, but it’s colder that she had anticipated. The sun shines softly through the morning mist, and it’s almost like a daydream. Breathing out a cloud, she rubs her hands together as she leans agains the tree, waiting for Mina. She notices that her shoelace is untied, and promptly bends down to tie it. As she tightens the knot, the familiar sound of crunching gravel prompts her to look up. And when she sees that familiar red scarf and gummy smile she feels herself fall all over again.
“Good morning,” she grins.
Mina offers her hand in response and Momo holds onto it tightly. 

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its been a long week so i guess this was therapy for myself