“Chou Tzuyu,” Chaeyoung says when she approaches the tall, dark-haired woman from Design.

“Son Chaeyoung?” Tzuyu blinks. She didn’t expect someone from work to be here. “Are you…”

“Yeah,” Chaeyoung answers right away as she knew what Tzuyu was going to ask.

“Oh,” Tzuyu replies with a nod.

What the hell do I do? Chaeyoung thinks. Chou Tzuyu is really pretty and I kinda don’t want to talk to anyone else but her now.

Chaeyoung tries to come up with a way of asking Tzuyu for a date even though the speed dating hasn’t started. Much to her surprise, though, Tzuyu beats her to it.

“Wanna get out of here?”

The Design Team members meet up early that Saturday for their retreat in Jeongyeon’s rest house, since they will be riding the team leader’s car to go there. Irene calls shotgun, and Tzuyu called to say that she’ll be arriving later in the afternoon, leaving Mina and Momo in the backseat.

This wouldn’t be awkward at all, Momo tells herself—well, more like she tries to convince herself.

Minutes after taking off Mina falls fast asleep, but her head keeps slamming itself against the window on her side. Before she could bend to actually rest her head there, Momo stops her.

“Here, you can sleep on my shoulder,” she tells Mina.

“No, I’m fine I can sleep on the—”

“That’s bad for your neck, you know.”

Mina pauses for a while, weighing her options. “Are you sure?” she asks Momo.

“Yeah,” Momo replies before she can change her mind. And that is how Mina ends up snuggling against Momo in Jeongyeon’s car, Momo trying her best to look at the other direction—because if she turns towards Mina, she’ll get to inhale that jasmine scent again.

This is how I’m gonna die, is the thought that keeps repeating in Momo’s mind.

Tzuyu and Chaeyoung are now sitting on a bench at the park, eating ice cream from a nearby stand. They had gotten lucky when the speed dating organizers actually agreed to them not participating in the actual event. Their excuse was that they realized that they “weren’t ready yet.”

“I mean, it’s true,” says Chaeyoung. “I always thought being in a relationship involved too much drama, you know? But when I saw my best friends falling in love and being happy, I thought, why not?”

Tzuyu hums in response, still eating her ice cream.

“How about you?” Chaeyoung asks her.

“I guess I could say the same about trying it, so when I saw the speed dating ad, I immediately signed up. But honestly, the minute I walked in that room I immediately wanted to back out so, thanks for saving me.”

Chaeyoung chuckles, almost choking on her ice cream. “We’re so bad at relationships.” Suddenly, her eyes light up when an idea enters her mind. “Hey, why don’t we date each other?”

Tzuyu deadpans at her companion. “Chaeyoung, I just said—”

“No, it’ll be like field testing!”

“Field testing?” Tzuyu snickers. “Using work terms, really?”

“Well—Okay, hear me out. We take each other on what we think is a good date. And then we tell each other the good and bad points of the date so we can improve them. So the next time we go on a date with someone for real…”

Tzuyu nods, catching on. “Hmm, I guess I could do that. But Chaeyoung, can I ask a favour?”

“Hm?”

“I don’t want the office finding about this. This has to be between you and me only.”

The Design Team finally arrives in the rest house, and Jeongyeon allows them to settle their things first.

“There are two rooms for the four of you,” she explains, “and Tzuyu asked if she can share the room with Mina, but I told her that you guys will decide. So pair up, and I’ll meet you in about an hour.”

Jeongyeon walks away, leaving the girls to decide among themselves.

“Mina, are you alright with rooming with Tzuyu for tonight?” Irene asks the girl.

“Yeah, sure.”

“Okay then, it’s settled.” Irene smirks at Momo. “I think you and I are going to have some fun.”

“I think I’m going to sleep first,” Momo tells Irene upon seeing the king-sized bed. “I’ll catch up with you guys after my nap.” Not even bothering to unpack, Momo dives into the soft bed and closes her eyes for a slumber.

“Alright,” Irene replies. “I’m gonna help Jeongyeon with the grill.”

Momo wakes up two hours later—and just in time for lunch, too. She sees her teammates by the poolside: Jeongyeon and Mina grilling the last batch of meat, and Irene and Tzuyu by the table.

“I thought you were gonna help Jeongyeon with the grilling,” says Momo to her roommate for the night.

“I thought you were gonna take a nap,” Irene teases back.

“Hey, the bed called to me, alright? I can’t say no to the bed,” Momo retorts, earning a chuckle from Irene. Momo turns to their other companion. “Hey Tzuyu, you’re here.”

“Yeah, I just had to meet with someone,” Tzuyu replies. “Hm, I wonder what the meat will taste like,” she adds, preventing the former conversation from going elsewhere.

“Oh, Mina grills meat well,” Momo answers offhandedly, only realizing what she had just said seconds later.

“How would you know that?” Irene asks.

Momo swallows when she sees two pairs of eyes staring at her. Feeling very conscious she couldn’t formulate an acceptable excuse, so it’s a good thing Jeongyeon and Mina finally arrive at the table and bring in the food.

“This smells great!” Tzuyu exclaims. “I’m excited.”

“I didn’t know Mina here was such a grilling expert,” says Jeongyeon. “We should definitely do this more often.”

“I think you’re just gonna make me do all the cooking,” Mina whines jokingly.

“Ah, you got me there,” Jeongyeon admits. “You girls can dig in; I’m just gonna get the beer.”

“Beer?” Irene snickers. “This early?”

“It’s the weekend,” Jeongyeon retorts. “It’s never too early for beer when it’s the weekend.”

The members start eating lunch and Momo actually eats most of it, surprising the team—except Mina—with her big appetite. After cleaning the dishes as well as the grill Jeongyeon invites everyone for a swim, but Momo stays by the poolside, dipping her feet in the water as she waits for the others to change into their swimming clothes. Minutes later she feels someone sit and dip her feet in the pool beside her. She turns around and sees Mina in a rash guard.

“Hi,” Momo greets her.

“Hey. You aren’t going to swim?” Mina asks.

“I… I don’t know how,” Momo confesses.

“You don’t?”

Momo nods in response, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“Well, I can teach you, if you want.”

“I feel like you’ve been teaching me everything lately,” says Momo, making Mina giggle.

“Do you have extra clothes for swimming?”

“Just a shirt and shorts.”

“That’ll do. Now go change; I’ll wait for you here.”

Mina teaches Momo the basic swimming : stroke, backstroke, freestyle, and butterfly, Momo being amazed at Mina’s form whenever she demonstrates each of them. Momo copies her each time, and she comes to the conclusion that she likes freestyle the most.

“Yeah, it’s good to have a that you’re comfortable with,” Mina tells her. It’s almost time for dinner now. “Just remember that breathing is important.”

“I will! Thanks a lot, Mina.” Momo gives Mina a bright smile.

Maybe Momo and Mina will be able to become friends after all.

“Jennie, hi!”

Mina and Momo turn their attention to Jeongyeon who had uttered the name. And at the same time they Jennie talking to Jeongyeon.

Mina lets out a sigh. “Excuse me for a moment,” she tells Momo, getting up from the pool.

“Hi, babe,” Jennie greets her girlfriend. “Having fun?”

“Can we talk somewhere?”

Mina doesn’t wait for an answer and pulls Jennie to the far corner where no one can hear them.

“Jennie, what the hell are you doing here?”

“I want to be with my girlfriend.” Jennie pouts cutely.

“Jennie, we talked about this. Nothing is going on between me and Momo. What are you so worked up about?”

“I told you, I don’t trust her, okay?” Jennie retorts, completely changing her demeanour to an angry one.

“And I told you to trust me!” Mina lets out an exasperated sigh. “How many times do I have to say it for you to believe me? You can’t just keep walking around in my team activities just because you don’t want me hanging around with my workmates, Jennie.”

“Watch me.”

“No. Go home. I’ll talk with you tomorrow. I’ve had enough of this.”

“I’m not leaving you with her, Mina.” Jennie grabs Mina’s hand, but Mina yanks it away.

“Enough! If you really can’t trust me with Momo, or with anyone for that matter, then… then there’s no point in continuing this relationship.”

Jennie holds Mina’s gaze. “You love her.”

“This isn’t about Momo, oh my God! You really don’t trust me.”

“No,” Jennie finally admits. “I don’t.”

“Then I guess… this is goodbye.”

“Goodbye, Mina,” Jennie sighs, walking away.

“So, how long have you been in the company?” Momo asks Irene, just waddling in the pool now, too exhausted from the swimming lessons.

“About 2 years, I guess? Jeongyeon was already the leader that time, and Mina and Heechul were there, too. Tzuyu came in 3 months after I did.”

“Let me guess. Heechul tried flirting with you, too?”

“Oh, big time. But I’ve had enough experience with guys like him to let him know that I wasn’t interested. Now he’s like my big brother that I like joking around with. You would have gotten along with him.”

“When Nayeon first introduced me to him, he said he didn’t want to be promoted. I wonder what made him change his mind.”

As Irene says her reply, Momo sees Mina coming out from the spot where she and Jennie went, only this time she came back alone. She locks eyes with Mina who simply gives her a smile before making her way towards her and Tzuyu’s room.

“Hey Irene, I’m gonna catch up with you for a while, okay?” says Momo, not waiting for an answer as she goes out of the pool and starts running towards Mina.

“Hey,” she says when she catches up to the girl, already short of breath. “Where’s Jennie? Did you guys have a fight?”

“No.”

“You’re lying. I noticed it during lunch the other day too, you know.”

“Okay yes we were, but everything’s okay now. Jennie and I… came to an understanding.”

“Oh. Well, that’s good.”

“Thanks for the concern, though.” Mina forces a smile at Momo before entering her room.

Mina buries her head in the pillow, lying on the bed, unable to stop the tears from falling. What she doesn’t realize is that Tzuyu was in the bathroom when she came in, and the younger girl hears her crying.

“Unnie? Unnie, what’s wrong?” Tzuyu is on the bed now, rubbing Mina’s back. When Mina turns to her, Tzuyu sees that her eyes are already red.

“I don’t want to talk about it for now, Tzuyu,” says Mina, “but can I get a hug?”

While Tzuyu and Mina are friends, they’ve never been that close. But there was always a sense of camaraderie in the silence that encompassed the both of them whenever they were at work. It is with this that Tzuyu would always feel a sense of comfort and protection with Mina.

“Of course you can.”

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A/N: End of season 2! :) Couldn’t hold myself back for a soft MiTzu moment ^^ See you soon, hopefully!!