By the time Mina had finished helping out Momo, the time had ticked over into when they would be expected at class. Hopefully, Jihyo had returned in time to greet the remaining members of the Junior class without much delay. As the omega led Momo into their classroom, she noticed a couple faces that she hadn't already seen that morning, a positive sign that Jihyo had managed to finish off their shared task on her own.

Sana cheerfully waved at the pair as they entered. She had claimed a desk in the front row, conveniently placed by the windows and the larger desk where Hani sat. Mina began to move toward her best friend, Momo in tow, when Miyoung's voice halted the transfer student's progress.

"Momo, just a moment please." Miyoung requested cheerfully. Mina gently dropped the older girl's hand. She gestured back in Sana's direction, at the three empty seats around her, before going to lay claim to the one directly behind the vice president. Though there were still a couple of other desks free, Mina hoped Momo would take the invitation.

Sana smirked devilishly as she turned around in her seat. "Guess who's helping Hani write out lesson plans after council's done?" Her fluttering eyelashes and sing-songing lilt left no need for guesswork. The elder girl lowered her voice to a whisper, "She smells so pretty too. We hit the jackpot, she's an omega."

Mina scoffed lightly. "Jihyo told you not to flirt with her. She's a TA for god's sake--"

Sana clicked her tongue, "Aish, don't worry, no flirting was required. She just mentioned her girlfriend - some composer - and started blushing up a storm. It was almost as bad as you."

Mina wrinkled up her nose, slightly offended. Yet Sana could get away with more teasing than anyone else, so she stayed silent as the girl continued to ramble on.

"-they're both alumni, actually. We should see if we can find their pictures -"

"Where’d you go?" Jihyo questioned, suddenly appearing at the desk next to Sana's. The omega hushed suddenly, whether out of interest or out of fear of being scolded for getting too friendly with Hani. "I got back from the bathroom and you were nowhere to be found." The beta settled into her desk, facing Mina directly.

"Ah... Momo was having some difficulties so I left my position to help her." Mina explained nervously. She should've at least left Jihyo a note. "I'm sorry for not letting you know, Seonbae." The omega ducked her head in apology.

Jihyo shook her head at the unnecessary honorific. "I'm not upset, Mina. I was just wondering where you went off to. Seolhyun seemed to think you had ditched with an um, 'secret lover'."

Mina blushed slightly. The senior president had a bit of a penchant for exaggeration and must've seen her and Momo leaving hand in hand. "Definitely not."

"I don't know, you and Momo looked awful chummy when you came in -" Sana began to tease, before being promptly cut off by Miyoung calling for the class' attention.

"Settle down please, girls." Miyoung took a seat at the podium at the front of the class, flashing Sana, in particular, a careful look. “As you’re all aware, we have some introductions in order. Two, to be exact. First of all, I’d like you all to welcome my assistant for the year, Ahn Heeyeon.” 

The TA rose from the desk in the corner of the room, blushing slightly. The slight scent of salt hit Mina's nose at the same time that Sana looked back, eyebrow raised. 

See? Omega! The brunette mouthed exaggeratedly. Jihyo shot Sana a sidelong glare in warning.

"Hello everyone, please call me Hani. It's my pleasure to help teach you all this year. If anyone has any difficulties with coursework or has any other issue I can help with, my office hours are 4:30 to 7, Monday through Saturday." The redhead finished her statement with a bow and a wide smile, her pheromone scent now indiscernible.

"Now then, on to our newest student. Hirai Momo, if you will." Miyoung smiled kindly at the visibly nervous girl beside her. Mina too, smiled at Momo, hoping the gesture would impart the student with some modicum of strength. Momo returned it with a shaky grin of her own, bowing lowly with her hands clasped over her stomach.

"Good morning, my name is Momo. I've come to study from Kyoto, so please take good care of me!" She gave the greeting smoothly as if she had rehearsed it several times in preparation for this, but her dark eyes still betrayed her lack of confidence. Momo turned to Miyoung expectantly, silently asking for permission to sit.

Miyoung shook her head minutely. "One last thing, please tell the class your specialization, and how long you’ve been studying!"

"Oh," Momo cleared . "I'm a dancer... specializing in hip-hop." A few girls near the back of the classroom stifled giggles. Miyoung gave them a reprimanding gaze. Mina could partially understand the feeling of not knowing if Momo was serious, at least until you saw the fire in her eyes up close. "I've been training for almost ten years."

"Very good, Momo," Miyoung reassured the girl, who was now showing her anxiety plainly. "You may be seated."

Momo bowed hurriedly, quickly scurrying to find a desk. As she approached, Mina locked eyes with the older girl, tilting her head in gesture to the still-vacant desk to her right. Momo exhaled in relief, grinning ear to ear and she slumped into the desk.

Mina looked closely at her new classmate, curious at the sight of the girl's deeply heaving chest. Momo was breathing slowly, but heavily, in the same way that Mina did when she was trying to contain her pheromones. A slight pink blush covered Momo's neck, the colour growing in intensity as Momo noticed Mina's stare. Politely, the omega averted her gaze, not wanting to worsen the older girl's nerves. Still, the colour was nowhere near as intense as the crimson blush Mina had witnessed before.

The younger girl raised her gaze to meet Momo's curiously shining brown eyes. In answer, Mina reached across the distance between their desks to squeeze Momo's hand gently.

"You did well, Momoring."

As Mina dropped their linked hands, she noted as the soft pink blush took on a deeper red tone once more. In a bid to satisfy her own curiosity, Mina inhaled deeply, smelling only the barest hint of peaches.

The morning breezed by quickly as Miyoung dove fully into the year's curriculum. Her rapid pace was nothing new for most of the class, who were fully used to their practical studies being delivered in half the time other schools afforded. Such was the price of devoting half of your day to creative endeavours, and all students were expected to keep up in all fields.

Momo seemed less used to the lightning speed of their lessons. Perhaps it was due to the still-present language barrier, but the girl was noticeably frazzled. Though Sana was just as capable of translation duty, Mina took it upon herself to approach Momo, ensuring the older girl knew that the omega was available to answer any questions needed.

Initially, Momo remained largely silent, but eventually, occasional vocabulary questions became more frequent. By the time they were midway through their first Korean lesson of the year, Momo was almost constantly leaning out of her desk to consult Mina's notes. During one such consultation, Momo's loafer-clad foot slid against the tile below her desk, nearly toppling her over in the process. Hani covered to suppress a laugh, and Miyoung, always watchful, smiled kindly before giving the girls permission to slide their desks together permanently.

After that, Mina rested her notebook between them both. Whenever Momo would point out a word silently, Mina jotted down the translation in the margins before continuing on in her own work. On occasion, Momo would figure a word out herself before Mina had time to answer, and write the translation herself in cheerfully printed pink ink. It was an endearing juxtaposition to Mina's own standard issue black ink, and so the girl didn't have the heart to tell Momo that she'd need to get new pens for use on any assignments or tests.

As she stared at their shared notes, Mina felt a wave of unexpected affection take her. Many of the girl’s struggles mirrored Mina’s own when she had first moved to Korea alongside Sana. Yet, unlike them, Momo didn’t come here with the security of being able to rely on one of her classmates already in mind. That relief was reflected in the excited exclamations Momo wrote down. A part of Mina almost felt disappointed that Momo would surely catch on to the pace of their classes. She wondered if the older girl would have any reason to continue talking to Mina when that happened.

Her insecurities were lessened once their morning break began. One by one, curious classmates approached Momo to introduce themselves, but most left disappointed after Momo’s awkwardness emerged. Though the girl was polite, her withdrawn nature became rapidly apparent to the other students, who evidently expected something much different based upon Momo’s earlier introduction. Yet Mina noticed that, save for Sejeong offering a brief introduction and an impromptu gift in the form of a hot bar, all of the visitors were betas.

She wasn’t wholly surprised, given most of the alphas in the class tried to give Mina a wide berth, prompted by her reputation for volatile emotions and poor pheromone control. The exception to the rule was, of course, Joy, who approached once it seemed that the rest of Momo’s visitors had dispersed. In tow was her best friend, Chungha, who had always seemed slightly uncomfortable in Mina’s midst.

“Good morning,” Joy beamed at the council members, bowing shortly to Momo. “Chungha and I wanted to introduce ourselves. You can call me Joy!”

“I’m Momo,” Momo said.

Chungha smirked slightly, exchanging a subtle look with the other alpha as Joy tried to continue on. “You’re from Japan, right?”

“Yes.” Momo avoided eye contact entirely, in favour of inspecting her hot bar. 

Mina cringed at the exchange. Somehow, the older girl was acting even more awkwardly than amongst the betas. It was a feeling the omega could relate to, though she didn’t know what Momo had to be nervous about.

Chungha, however, seemed quite unbothered. Rather, she seemed to like Momo’s response, for she leaned forward onto the girls’ shared desk. “You know, you’re very pretty, Momo.”

Mina gaped, slightly taken aback by Chungha’s forwardness. She had never seen the alpha come onto anyone, or even heard about it for that matter. In fact, Chungha barely even spoke to anyone except for Joy and Sejeong. But here she was now, staring down at Momo with a strange fire in her eyes.

If Momo’s skin could get any brighter, she would be glowing. In place of a response, the transfer student glanced nervously at Mina, hot bar thoroughly crushed by her shaking hands. Anger spiked through Mina, punctuated by a sharp, yet soured candy-like scent. For that singular moment, Chungha reminded Mina of everything she feared and reviled.

Mina turned towards Chungha, inhaling deeply as she prepared to reprimand her. Instead, she was greeted with a careful gaze as the alpha straightened up. The fire in her eyes had cooled to a curious smoulder, holding the omega fully spellbound. Her smile made Mina feel as though the girl knew something she didn’t, and that feeling only increased when Chungha turned to Joy and nodded once.

“Interesting,” Joy muttered.

“Sorry to bother you two.” Chungha offered. It was a paltry apology, and Mina never would have accepted it under normal circumstances. But that look had made Mina doubt herself for just a moment, as she considered that maybe she didn’t understand Chungha’s actual intentions.

Instead, Mina held Momo’s hand as way of comfort and said, “See you guys around.”

By the time their lunch block began, Momo had returned to her prior level of comfort. She had become much more relaxed around Sana, chatting amicably with her once she realized the omega’s flirtation was mostly made in jest. Their senses of humour even seemed to compliment each other in a way that made it seem like the pair were old friends, recently reunited after years apart.

The sight of Momo getting along so well with someone was enough to make Mina forget one very important detail. As they left their classroom, the calm but authoritative voice of Kang Seulgi emerged over the intercom.

“All class council members, please report to Meeting Room A for spring showcase deliberations. All council