Humming, Jihyo tapped her foot to the beat of the music flowing into her ears as she stood at the school’s front gate. A sudden yawn overtook her and she stretched her arms above her head, her eyes involuntarily squeezing shut. It was the third week of the new school year and she still wasn’t used to waking up so early. Peeking through one eye, she met the gaze of a girl walking through the gates with a ghost of a smile on her face. Jihyo’s eyes absentmindedly followed her as she hurried to join two other girls by the main building.

“That doesn’t mean you have to become obsessed with it too!"

"It does if it means catching her attention," Jeongyeon and Nayeon were making their way toward the school when they spotted the short brunette already waiting for them. "Here, let's ask Jihyo." Nayeon sauntered up to the younger girl and Jeongyeon followed suit.

"Jihyo-ah, please tell Nayeon that-" The short-haired blonde paused and looked at her friend quizzically when she didn't respond to her name, "Um, hello? Earth to Park Jihyo!"

Jihyo's head perked up and she whipped around to face them, pulling her earbuds out, "Hm? Oh, hey, good morning." She smiled lazily.

"Morning. What were you looking at?" Jeongyeon stepped around her to get a better look at the main building.

"Oh, nothing," Jihyo yawned again.

"Hey, that's her! Look at her bag! It's the same keychain as mine. I bought the right one!" Nayeon excitedly held up a puffy keychain in the shape of a mayonnaise bottle. Jeongyeon grasped her forehead with her palm and shook her head.

"What?" Jihyo furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Hirai Momo. The girl in that group you were staring at? With the mayo keychain? Nayeon's developed a little crush and now believes that she has to become obsessed with the same stuff she is," Jeongyeon filled her in, "including her love of mayo."

"Oh," the younger girl nodded and turned to look back at the group by the building just in time to find three sets of eyes staring at their own little huddle.

"Oh my god, they're looking at us." Nayeon whispered, eyes fixed on the three girls, "Just act natural." She raised a stiff arm in attempt to wave but suddenly straightened her palm and saluted instead.

Two of them smiled and nodded in sync, while the third stepped behind Mayo Keychain Girl - the apparent Hirai Momo. The trio turned and made their way into the building, giggling as they went.

Jeongyeon burst into laughter.

"What did I just do?" Nayeon's face froze, unreadable.

"Y-y-you, you saluted them," Jeongyeon gasped for breath between cackles, "like actually saluted them."

The older girl buried her face in her hands, ears burning with embarrassment.

"Okay, okay," Jihyo chuckled, placing both arms around her two best friends, "let's just get to class and forget this ever happened."

Jeongyeon shook her head vehemently, "NEVER."

Nayeon groaned.

~~~

It's always been like this, ever since the three of them met back in primary school. Jeongyeon and Nayeon would bicker, while Jihyo would just laugh at their antics before joining in on whatever argument they were having.

"I'm gonna do it!" Nayeon pounded the table with her fist determinedly.

It's been a while since Jihyo learned about Nayeon's little crush on Mayo Keychain Girl.

"Hirai Momo," Jihyo mentally corrected herself.

"Sure, you will,"Jeongyeon responded flatly and shoveled a heaping spoonful of rice into , "I can see it now: You salute her, get down on one knee, and present her with a bright pink bag filled with mayo packets and little stuffed animals. 'Will you go out with me, Momo? I swear I'm not creepy and only like this stuff because you do.'"

She mockingly clasped her hands under chin and batted her eyelashes, earning a hearty laugh from Jihyo.

"First of all," Nayeon side-eyed the blonde, "can we drop the whole salute thing? That was last month. I thought we were over it."

Her two companions exchanged looks and shook their heads.

"NEVER."

"Second," she continued, "I just want to be her friend, not ask her out."

"Yet," Jeongyeon coughed. Nayeon rolled her eyes and picked up a piece of kimbab, dipping it in mayonnaise before shoving it into .

"I think it's a great idea," Jihyo chimed, taking a piece of Nayeon's lunch for herself, "we could use more friends to, y'know, mix things up a little. Sounds like fun!"

"What sounds like fun?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

Surprised, the three girls looked up to see none other than the subject of their conversation herself, Hirai Momo.

"I just came over to tell you that I liked your keychain." Momo motioned towards Nayeon's bag. "Then I saw you guys dipping your kimbab in mayonnaise! I thought I was the only one who did that!" The bob-haired girl's eyes sparkled.

"Oh." Now Jihyo could see how Nayeon could have a crush on Momo; she was absolutely adorable. But then again, Nayeon thought a lot of things were adorable. Maybe this crush wouldn't last and she really did just want to be her friend.

"Anyway, so what sounds like fun?" Momo looked at Jihyo expectantly.

Nayeon gulped down her food and cleared to catch Jihyo's attention.

"Hm?" Jihyo blinked, leaving her thoughts behind, and looked across the table to see Nayeon nodding her head in Momo's direction, "Oh, me. Um, making new friends?"

"Oh, yeah," Momo giggled, "that's always fun. I'm Momo, by the way."

"We know," Jeongyeon snickered under her breath. Nayeon elbowed her side.

"Huh?" Momo tilted her head questioningly.

"Nothing." Jeongyeon rubbed her rib cage. "Hi, Momo, I'm Jeongyeon and this is Nayeon and Jihyo."

Before Jeongyeon could say anything else, Nayeon jumped into action, "So, then in the spirit of friendship, what do you think about hanging out with us after school sometime next week?"

Just then, a high, clear voice called from across the cafeteria, "Momoring! We found a spot!"

"You can bring your friend," Nayeon quickly added, trying to elicit the response she wanted to hear.

Momo paused for a second, thinking, then nodded as if she had made up her mind, "Yeah, that actually does sound fun. Count us in!"

"Momoring?" the clear voice called again.

"Coming! See you next week then!" Momo waved and began to walk across the room. "Oh-" she whipped back around, recapturing the three girls' attention "-it was nice meeting you guys!" She saluted stiffly and ran off giggling.

Nayeon's entire face went red as Jeongyeon slapped her shoulder, laughing, and Jihyo gripped the table to keep herself from falling out of her chair.

~~~

"So, where is she?" Jeongyeon asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice. She picked up another pebble and added it to her mini stone mountain.

"I don't know, but she said she'd be here so just wait a little bit." They were on the steps in front of the main building, Nayeon sitting with her chin propped up on her hands.

"We've been waiting for almost half an hour already. I'm bored. I want cake." Jeongyeon plopped down next to the older girl after running out of pebbles to stack.

"You can get your cake when we head over to the cafe with Momo and her friend." Jihyo stood behind them, playing a game on her phone. 

Footsteps came pounding from around the building and they turned to see Momo bounding toward them with a girl in tow.

"A really pretty girl," Jihyo thought.

"Hey guys, sorry to keep you waiting! Sana, here, tripped so we had to go to the nurse's office for band-aids."

"And it took you thirty minutes?" Jeongyeon asked in a raised tone.

"We got...kinda...lost," the pretty girl sheepishly confessed. Jeongyeon looked up to see her rub her neck in embarrassment before feeling her own cheeks begin to flush.

"Yeah, Minari always has some handy whenever we need them," Momo explained, "so we've never really needed to go there before."

"Minari?" Nayeon stood up.

"Mina! Our cute little penguin maknae! She couldn't make it today." The pretty girl's mood lifted at the sound of her friend's name. "Oh! And my name's Sana, if you didn't catch it earlier."

She held out her hand.

Nayeon grasped it, smiling, "Nayeon. This is Jeongyeon and Jihyo."

"Nice to meet you, Jeongyeon!" Sana practically hopped in the blon