“Mina, I’m sorry,” says Chaeyoung when she straightens up, fixing her blouse.

“No, Chaeyoung, it’s okay—”

“No, we shouldn’t have kissed. Even if you didn’t have Momo, I… there was a girl. I was in love with her. But she left. Unlike Momo though, she did tell me she was going to leave. Of course I didn’t want her to go, but… it was for the best for her. Maybe that’s why I cared about you so much when unnie left you, because I saw myself in you.

“But I’m still in love with her, Mina. And I know you really don’t have feelings for me. At least, not the way you have for Momo.”

Mina lets out a harsh laugh. “I hope you find closure with your girl someday,” she says, attempting to change the topic.

“Who knows? I might see Somi again soon.”

Mina widens her eyes. “Somi? You mean Jeon Somi, the singer?”

Chaeyoung nods, smiling.

“I can’t believe this! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It was a long time ago, way before I met you. And only Momo-unnie knew. Actually, you reminded me a lot of Somi when we first saw you at the high school showcase—oh wait, I’m not sure if you know about that.”

“Yeah, Momo told me about that.”

“Anyway, I need to go talk to Momo-unnie and explain.” Chaeyoung is about to take a step towards the exit but then pauses and asks, “Aren’t you gonna talk to her?”

Mina thinks for a while. Is she gonna talk to Momo, the girl who left her months without even saying goodbye? The one who never bothered to contact her and ask her how she’s been all this time? The one who just bothers to show up when Mina was just healing again? Hell no.

But she remembers the way Momo looked at them. It was the first time Mina saw the older girl with eyes full of pain and hurt. And deep inside, she knew that kissing Chaeyoung never felt right in the first place. Deep inside, Mina is still in love with Momo.

“I don’t know,” Mina could only reply.

Chaeyoung nods, understanding how difficult it must be for Mina now. “Okay. But I do hope you two will work it out. You’re really good for her.”

—

A week later, the news has already spread like wildfire: Hirai Momo is back. And it’s been affecting Mina in more ways than one. First, she still couldn’t decide whether she wants to talk to the girl or just smack her for what she’s done. The other problem is, every time she walks around the halls of any building now, two or three groups of people would stare at her, probably wondering why she and Momo aren’t back together.

It’s only then that Jihyo and Mina get to talk again, this time with Tzuyu.

“Did you talk to her already?” Tzuyu asks Mina.

“Why does Mina have to be the one to talk to Momo?” says Jihyo. “If I recall, Momo was the one who left Mina without a warning.”

“Well, yeah but Momo…” Tzuyu trails off and sighs.

“Have Momo and Chaeyoung talked already?” Mina asks.

“Yeah, they’re pretty good,” Tzuyu replies.

“That’s good news,” says Mina.

“You don’t have to talk to her, you know,” Jihyo reminds Mina.

“I know,” the ballerina answers.

“Jihyo-unnie, don’t you have to be in class soon?” Tzuyu asks, looking at her watch.

“Oh yeah. Come on, let’s go. Bye, Myoui.”

“Bye.”

Mina parts ways with Jihyo and Tzuyu. As the ballerina walks in the opposite direction, she passes by a small dance room and hear faint music playing. Curious, she steps inside the room and, much to her luck, Momo is there, just about to dance Jun K’s “Think About You” (A/N: Momo's dance here for reference: https://youtu.be/7LzMVz-t20k).

Mina observes Momo by looking at the mirror. She could feel the pain in the way the older girl dances the choreography.

I spend my days and night every time I think about you

But you ain’t know

You ain’t know

She ain’t even know

But Mina could see that Momo is still the Dancing Mochine. Her every move is flawless. Mina glances at Momo’s face—is she crying?

I’m thinking about you

Still thinking about you

I’m still…

Mina looks straight into Momo’s eyes which are full of tears now. They stay this way for a while, the tension increasing as time passes. And then, Mina can’t take it anymore. She walks straight to Momo and kisses her senseless, backing her into a wall. Mina’s hands effectively trap Momo between her and the wall. This kiss is different—not the slow, lingering kisses they shared before, but more needy.

The kiss stops when the two run out of breath. When Mina regains hers, she leans into Momo to start again but Momo’s lips avoid her.

“Momoring?” Mina says as she searches Momo’s eyes.

Momo turns to her with a sad look on her face. “I… I can’t do this, Mina.”

Mina removes her hands on Momo’s sides slowly. “Don’t you want me anymore?” she asks, trying to resist the tears about to form on her face.

“It’s not that,” Momo answers. “You kissed my best friend. How can I trust you after that?”

Immediately Mina’s expression changes. It’s like Momo pressed a switch on Mina’s brain.

“You? How about me?” Mina spits out. “You left me. You didn’t even say goodbye! You were just gone, Momo! Do you know how many weeks I cried because of you?”

Momo stays silent.

“I didn’t even know you’d come back!” Mina adds. “I’m sorry if I wasn’t allowed to date other people when you were the one who left!”

“I just didn’t think it’d be one of my best friends,” Momo retorts. “I know it wasn’t fair but—”

Mina scoffs.

“It wasn’t fair,” Momo continues, “but I had to leave then. If you’d like, I could tell you the reason why.”

“Yes, please,” says Mina in an annoyed tone, crossing her arms.

Momo takes a deep breath. “Okay. I went looking for my sister, Hana. That’s why I told only Sana about it, because she’s her sister, too. Hana reached out to me on my birthday, when we were in Jeju, and we’ve been speaking ever since.

“She told me she’s in Paris, taking up a Business course, and that she misses me, but she doesn’t want to go home. But then I thought, if she’s studying Business, shouldn’t she be the one to run our family business? I told her about this idea but she was against it. It was fine at first, until that time at your house, when my parents barged in and ruined the dinner.

“I talked to Hana again but she wasn’t answering any of my calls. Then I overheard my parents talking about some board members who want to takeover the Hirai Enterprises from France, and I thought my sister could be in danger. So I left immediately and looked for her.

“My parents contacted me when I got there, and sent me help to look for Hana. We found her after a months. She was kidnapped by the same people who were planning to takeover my parents. We stabilized the situation, then came back here to Korea.

“I reminded Hana about my initial idea, that she would be the heir of the company now. She was slowly learning to love the idea. When we talked to our parents about it, they were pleased. And to cut this long story short, Hana’s going to be the future CEO of Hirai Enterprises, while I will open an entirely new branch of the company—dance.”

“Dance?”

Momo nods. “They’ve finally allowed me to do what I always wanted to.”

“I’m happy for you, Momo,” says Mina. “I really am.”

“Thank you,” Momo replies. “Mina… I’m really sorry I left just like that. It was a dangerous mission and I didn’t want you to worry after me. I thought it would be better if you just hated me.”

“You know I could never do that.”

“When I saw you kissing Chaeng… my heart just broke. Chaeyoung explained to me that it was just a spur-of-the-moment reaction. But... it was a still a kiss. Look, I’m not mad at you. I do realize it was my fault. And I do want to fight for you. So, I want us to be just friends for now. Kind of start over, you know?”

“Um, yeah.”

“Please don’t cry. If you cry, I’ll cry again, too.”

Mina chuckles and wipes the tear off her face. “Okay, okay.”

Momo pulls Mina in for a warm embrace. She missed this warmth, but she knows she’ll miss it again, so for now, they stay like this.

I love you, Mitang.

-------------------------------------------

A/N: Hahahaha I am sooo sorry for all the MiMo-MiChaeng drama! I actually had this chapter ready yesterday but I wanted to see your reactions first keke! I hope you’re not too mad... >____< Of course it wouldn’t be complete without a MiChaeng scene, right?? XD And I think we’re down to the last 2 chapters so, please brace yourselves ^^