.

 

“Momo, was your drinking tolerance always this low?” Mina’s eyes glow with amusement as she speaks, but Momo can barely see them through the white smoke that circles around her entire body.

 

Momo scoffs, trying to ignore the laughter of the five other girls around the table. “What? Mina, I’m not drunk, I swear. Are you not seeing this?”

 

“Wow, one drink and she’s hallucinating. I never knew Momo was this bad with alcohol.”

 

Momo slumps. “Shut up, Nayeon. I’m not hallucinating! I’m not even drunk.”

 

Sana holds up a hand with her thumb curled, giggling. “If you're not drunk, then tell me how many fingers I’m holding up.”

 

Momo glares at her. “Four. See? I’m not drunk!”

 

“Probably luck,” murmurs Jeongyeon, eliciting another glare from Momo.

 

“Jihyo, come on, please? Back me up here?” Momo gives her a helpless look, but Jihyo only shrugs.

 

“Sorry.”

 

At this, Momo slumps down even further, her chin pressed onto crossed arms as she stares across the table at Mina, almost completely enveloped in wisps of white smoke.

 

“I hate all of you.”

 

.

 

Still rubbing grogginess away from her eyes, Momo walks out of her bedroom to find Mina and Sana scattered across her and Jeongyeon’s living room. When Mina glances in Momo’s direction, she’s suddenly covered in white smoke, making a slow orbit around her.

 

I knew it, thinks Momo, but she doesn't say anything this time.

 

.

 

The white smoke starts to appear in other places.

 

Momo sees a couple, hands linked, almost completely covered in it to the point where she can barely make out their faces.

 

A group of teenagers in a coffee shop, one with faint wisps of smoke around him as his eyes fixate on a girl sitting next to him.

 

An older man and woman strolling through a park together, billowing clouds of the smoke almost completely covering them.

 

As much as her friends like to about it, Momo isn’t that much of an idiot. It takes her a few days of noticing things, but she makes a connection.

 

Of course, there’s Mina, with her clouds of smoke that nearly envelop her every time she talks with Momo, but Momo tries her best not to think about that, about the possibility that the smoke means what she thinks it does.

 

It doesn't work very well.

 

.

 

“Okay, let me get this straight.” Dahyun speaks only after she’s over a fit of laughter, Tzuyu beside her, still calming down.

 

Momo tilts her head back and lightly groans.

 

“You see...white smoke. Around people sometimes.”

 

She nods.

 

“And you think it shows up around people that are in love?”

 

“That's my guess.”

 

Tzuyu lets out a snort, much to Momo’s chagrin, and is met with a dirty look.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Tzuyu waved her hand, “it’s just hard to believe. White smoke around people in love? Really?”

 

“It’s true!” Momo whines, bringing her head further back and staring at the ceiling. “Chae, please?”

 

Chaeyoung shrugs, although Momo doesn't see it. “I mean, why would she make it up? It’s a little bit…”

 

“Ridiculous?” Tzuyu offers.

 

“Dumb?” Dahyun adds.

 

“...sure, but you know what? I believe her.”

 

Momo smiles wide. “Thank you! Finally, one of my friends has faith in me.”

 

“Momo, if you're not making this up, you need to go see a shrink.” Tzuyu lays a hand on Momo’s back.

 

“Yeah, yeah, I will. Anyways, so the whole point is, the smoke isn't just when someone’s in love, it's when they're around someone they love. Now, here’s the problem.”

 

Chaeyoung leans in, the only one to do so.

 

“Wanna know the first time I saw it?” Momo’s speaking quietly, and Tzuyu and Dahyun reluctantly join Chaeyoung.

 

“It was just a few days ago, when I was talking with Mina.”

 

Chaeyoung’s eyebrows shoot up. “So that means…Mina loves you?”

 

“Yeah. I think so.”

 

Dahyun just nods, leaning back. “So if this is all real, then what are you gonna do?”

 

“Do you love her?” Chaeyoung asks.

 

“You're nuts.” Tzuyu turns away.

 

Momo doesn't have an answer for any of them.

 

.

 

A crumpled ball of paper hits the back of Jeongyeon’s head as Momo bursts through their apartment door.

 

“Open it!”

 

With an annoyed look, Jeongyeon picks up the paper and flattens it out.

 

Momo grins. “Told you. I’m clean, baby. No mental illness.”

 

The paper flies over Jeongyeon’s shoulder. “Sure, whatever. Proud of you, Moguri. See all the smoke you want.”

 

.

 

Momo tries to ignore the blast of white smoke that comes when Mina opens her apartment door.

 

“Mina, can we talk?” she asks, taking a deep breath.

 

Although her face is barely visible, Momo can see Mina hesitate, then nod slowly. “Of course. Here, come in.”

 

Mina gestures for her to sit down once they're inside, but Momo doesn't bother.

 

“Are you in love with me?”

 

She’s never been one to beat around the bush.

 

A huge blast of white smoke covers up the blush that sweeps across Mina’s face as she involuntarily takes a step back and a sharp breath.

 

“Sorry, it’s because of the white smoke - do you remember? That one night, when me and you and some other people were at the bar and I said I saw the white smoke?” Momo rambles on, stumbling over her words. “Well, it turns out I wasn't drunk or insane or anything, and I think that the smoke actually shows up around people that are-”

 

“Yeah. Yeah, I am.”

 

Momo cuts herself off, staring at the mass of smoke that’s taking up a good part of the room, seeming to move closer and closer until a pair of lips collides with her open mouth, smashing together before Mina pulls herself back. It’s sloppy, hardly a real kiss, but even when Mina takes a small step back, she can see tendrils of white smoke beginning to circle around herself, her heart beginning to race.

 

“Around people that are with someone they’re in love with,” she finishes, glancing down to see a fair bit of white smoke surrounding her, rising up to her waist. “And I guess what I’m trying to get at here is...wanna go out with me sometime?”

 

Momo’s vision fills with white as she talks, and she can’t see what little of Mina wasn't covered by smoke anymore - she can only hear Mina slowly exhale.

 

Then in an instant, it’s gone, and the room is clear again, although Momo’s only looking at a newly visible Mina, looking down at the floor with a wide grin.

 

“I’d love to.”