“We’re here,” Sana mutters in her car, waking Momo up who has fallen asleep not five minutes after they left their apartment. “Momo. Momo!”

“Ehhh?” Momo groans as she feels herself being shaken by Sana. “Hey, stop it—I’m up!”

“Dude, were you dreaming about Mina? Because the sounds you were making had me thinking, ‘This girl needs to get laid.’”

“Wha—I wasn’t dreaming about—How did you even know about Mina?”

Sana smirks at her now beet-red friend. “Nayeon told me. Seems like you hit it off—you know, for a girl like Mina.”

Momo scoffs as she opens her door. “We just talked, Sana. I don’t like her like that.”

“Sure you don’t.” Sana looks at something behind Momo and perks up. “Hi, Mina!”

At the mention of Mina’s name, Momo swiftly turns around to see where Sana was looking. When she sees no one there, Momo turns back to Sana with a look of rage on her face.

“Oh please Momo, do you really think Mina’s gonna come to a housewarming party, a gathering with booze and dozens of people?” Sana chuckles. “Yeah, you don’t like her like that,” she mumbles, mocking Momo as they enter Nayeon and Jeongyeon’s new house.

Rewind to a few minutes earlier, the party is already in full swing with Dahyun and Chaeyoung talking in the kitchen, Dahyun preparing a Mudslide for herself and her roommate.

“So what’s your plan about Sana?” Chaeyoung asks Dahyun out of the blue, causing Dahyun to spill ice cubes all over the kitchen counter.

“I thought we agreed not to talk about this,” Dahyun replies, picking up the spoiled ice cubes and putting them on the sink.

“No we didn’t, I said, ‘You’re in love with Sana,’ and you just walked away to God knows where and came back an hour later just to avoid the discussion.”

“Well, I don’t want to talk about this. I was completely fine hiding my feelings until you sabotaged me.”

Chaeyoung’s mouth forms an O when she gasps. “I didn’t sabotage you, you just didn’t deny the fact that you’re in love with S—” She’s unable to finish her sentence because Dahyun shoves the glass of Mudslide into .

“Ow—You almost choked me!”

Nayeon and Jeongyeon welcome their latest guests, Momo and Sana, when they arrive.

“Thank you girls for coming!” Jeongyeon greets them, leading them inside. “You didn’t have to give us these presents, you know.”

“Oh come on, Jeongyeon,” says Nayeon, “if they want to give us these beautiful presents, then who are we to stop them?”

Jeongyeon chuckles at her girlfriend. “You just like receiving gifts.”

“That is how you got me, isn’t it?” Nayeon teases her with a kiss.

“Why do I always have to be here for your nauseating moments?” Momo sighs. “And where the hell is Sana?” She turns around, surprised that Sana’s already on the far end of the room—how did she get there in less than a minute?—talking to a girl that Momo knows isn’t Eunha.

“That’s Irene from Design,” Nayeon informs Momo, completely aware of her thoughts.

“I can’t believe Sana’s going for one of my members now,” says Jeongyeon, sounding a little worried.

“Yeah, your team members are usually the coldest ones,” Nayeon tells her girlfriend, who smirks at her.

“Well, you got to me, didn’t you?”

This makes Nayeon blush.

“See you two lovebirds, I’m outta here,” Momo mutters, knowing the two are already in their own world and can’t hear them anymore.

Momo proceeds to the dining room, seeing the food that Nayeon and Jeongyeon prepared. She quickly grabs a plate and takes one of each dish and snack, eating to her heart’s content and making small talk with her colleagues—until she suddenly feels iffy and has the urge to go to the restroom.

“I probably shouldn’t have eaten that much,” Momo groans as she follows Nayeon the restroom.

“Yeah, we have extra batches prepared since we invited a lot,” says Nayeon, trying to open the restroom door but groaning when she finds it locked. “Come on, let’s go upstairs.”

Nayeon grabs one of the gifts—Sana’s, Momo recognizes—from the living room before leading Momo to the bathroom between the guestroom and master’s bedroom.

“Fancy,” Momo comments.

“Do your business here as long as you can and just spray this on when you’re done.”

“Sana bought you bathroom scents?” Momo hums. “No wonder it smells nice in our toilet.”

“Quit talking before you blow up outside here,” Nayeon teases. “Just don’t break anything in our toilet!”

Minutes pass and Momo successfully takes her dump, breathing a sigh of contentment when she exits the bathroom. Passing by the guestroom she sees the door half-closed and, curiosity getting the best of her, she decides to take a peek.

She sees Jihyo, her teammate, on one side of the bed, looking serious and talking with another girl in front of her. The girl is facing Jihyo so Momo couldn’t tell who it is—until Momo hears her soft voice.

“I can’t believe you dragged me out here.”

It’s Mina.

Huh, Momo says to herself. I never knew Jihyo and Mina were close.

“It’s for Jeongyeon, Mina,” Jihyo says, confirming Momo’s guess. “She’s our friend and we’re celebrating a big milestone in her life with her. Besides, how long have you been out?”

“What are you talking about? I’ve been out.”

“You know that’s not what I meant, Mina,” Jihyo deadpans. “Mina, it’s been too long. I think you should start moving on.”

Moving on? Did Mina have a boyfriend? Suddenly Momo couldn’t seem to breathe.

“I still believe, Jihyo. I still believe in her.”

A girlfriend, then. Why did Momo feel better after hearing that? She doesn’t want to know.

“I’m gonna go downstairs and mingle with the people,” says Jihyo, standing up. Instinctively Momo rushes to run downstairs first, hoping that Mina and Jihyo don’t catch her. She seems successful because the two women pay her no mind when they come down and talk to Jeongyeon. Momo grabs a punch as she watches Mina hug Jeongyeon. It looks like she’s already saying goodbye.

“Hey,” Momo hears Sana’s voice from beside her, making Momo turn. “Have you seen Dahyun? Chaeyoung told me she’s been making Mudslides since earlier.”

“Uh, no,” a distracted Momo replies, taking her attention back to Mina, who’s already making her way to the door. “Sorry Sana, I gotta run,” says Momo, picking up two glasses of some hard drink, not bothering to even look at her roommate.

“Mina, Mina!” Momo calls out on the front porch.

“Oh, hi Momo,” Mina greets her with a warm smile.

“Leaving so soon? Didn’t you just get here?”

“Momo, I’m not so much of a party person,” Mina tells her. “Haven’t you figured that out by now already?”

“I don’t think that you aren’t a party person,” Momo retorts, confusing Mina. “I think you’re okay with parties, but don’t like interacting with too much people.”

A still confused Mina tilts her head. “Eh? Isn’t that the same thing?”

Momo shakes her head with an amused smile on her face. “We can have our party here, on the front porch, just the two of us. I mean come on, I already brought you a drink.”

“So this is an ambush, then,” Mina says in a low voice, making Momo shiver, unable to reply, but it isn’t a few seconds later that Mina removes her façade and chuckles at a scared Momo. “I’m kidding.” She takes one of the glasses from Momo’s hand.

Sana finds Dahyun wobbling her way out of the downstairs restroom. The tofu girl is about to fall due to her imbalance, but luckily Sana makes it just in time to catch her.

“Aigoo Dahyun, what am I gonna do with you?” Sana mumbles, unsure if Dahyun heard her. She thinks the girl is asleep until Dahyun shifts beside Sana, turning to her.

“I like you,” Dahyun tells her, smiling widely like a kid.

“I like you too, Dahyunnie,” Sana answers, not turning away despite inhaling the alcohol scent from Dahyun. She gets confused, however, when Dahyun frowns and pushes her away.

“No, you don’t get it, Sana,” Dahyun whines. “Chaeyoung was right. You are completely blind.”

“Blind?” Sana blinks, utterly confused now. “What are you talking about?”

“I like you,” Dahyun says again. “As more than a friend.”

Sana freezes at the sudden confession. Is Chaeyoung right—had she been oblivious to her best friend’s feelings all this time? Or is Dahyun just sputtering random things again?

“Fine, don’t believe me. Keep flirting and ing those other girls from HR or something. I’ll even help you. Eunha! Eunha!”

“Dahyun oh my God!” Sana instantly covers Dahyun’s mouth. “Shut up, will you? You need to get some sleep, now.” Sana looks around for help and sees Nayeon. “Nayeon! Thank God you’re here. Is it okay if Dahyun and I use your guestroom?”

“What? Don’t tell me you corrupted Dahyun, too!”

“No!” Sana denies, trying to keep her cheeks from blushing. “Dahyun got super drunk again. I just need to tuck her in.”

“Are you sure?” Nayeon asks with obvious apprehension.

“Yes, now please let us go upstairs because Dahyun’s already drooling on me.”

“Okay, but no funny business.”

“Yeah, yeah, I promise!” Sana replies as she carries Dahyun up the stairs. “I won’t let anything bad happen to Dahyun.”

At the front porch, Momo still couldn’t believe she actually got Mina to stay for an actual conversation. Momo’s almost finished with her drink, while Mina’s half-finished with hers, but Momo doesn’t want to leave for a refill, fearing that Mina might leave if she does.

“No way,” Momo mutters when Mina mentions her experience in a certain conference. “You actually went there? Isn’t that like the top conference in the field?”

“Yeah,” Mina replies. “But I didn’t even understand anything back then. I just stood there like an idiot.”

“I don’t think you could do anything remotely idiotic,” Momo says. She notices a blush forming on the other girl’s face—which quickly disappears when Momo blinks.

“Seriously, I just went because it was near uni.”

“Near uni? Wait… Did you study in the States?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, cool.” Momo nods as she takes in the information. “Wait. Wasn’t the conference held in MIT?”

Mina doesn’t answer Momo’s question; instead, she rises from her seat and fixes her things.

“You’re leaving?” Momo asks, standing up to level with Mina. “I’m sorry, did I do something wrong?”

Mina shakes her head. “No. I just... have to go.” Mina starts walking away, leaving Momo standing there, but pauses to turn back to the girl. “But I had a nice time talking to you, Momo. See you at work,” she says before finally leaving the gate.

You sure are a mystery, Myoui.