Mina patiently waited for her roommate in their dorm, despite how late it was. Momo hadn’t come home ever since her classes finished and she was extremely worried. The clock on the wall read 2:30am – she should have been back in the dorm at least six hours ago. Of course, if she went out it would’ve been fine but Momo almost always told Mina when she decided to go out for dinner or drinks.

Personally, Mina already had a troublesome day and she really just wanted to get some rest but the worry she had for Momo wouldn’t let her rest in peace.

Ever since the time that Momo had gotten sick, the two of them had grown a lot closer and ate out often. They were dates, weren’t they? At least, that’s what Mina thought of them. However, now that Momo was disappearing without a reason, Mina felt like maybe she just overthought about whatever had been going on between the past months.

What if to Momo, it was just casual friendly lunches and dinners? Mina groaned at the possibility of embarrassing herself. She hadn’t seen Momo all day today – getting too caught up with a big problem during her break time to meet up with her which they’d agreed on. It had taken up her entire free hour and Mina’s messages of apologies were left unanswered.

The big problem that had taken up all of her time?

A boy in her cohort had decided to confess to her in front of a huge crowd and Mina hadn’t had the heart to reject him where everyone could hear him. She had to pull him aside to say she wasn’t interested, yet he still persisted that he was the best person for her to date. Mina had never been so disgusted in her life as much as she had when he said that.

She shuddered as she recalled the incident, wanting to erase it from existence. Mina was extremely thankful that Seulgi, a group mate of hers, had been near when that had happened, rescuing her from the scene.

By the time she had gotten back to her room, thanking Seulgi, it had passed the time she was meant to meet Momo. She messaged her immediately but after receiving no reply from her roommate, Mina gave up and headed to her last class for the day.

A part of her felt like it was her fault that Momo was out this late. A part of her felt extremely guilty and frustrated with herself. She sincerely hoped this wouldn’t turn on her, like when she had avoided Momo months ago. Momo was too kind hearted to do such a thing. She was sweet and gentle and always taking care of Mina, even dropping her off to her classes and picking her up when she had just finished classes.

Momo, who got worried when Mina was a minute late coming out of her classroom.

Momo, who ran to Mina each time she screamed about a bug in their room.

Momo would never be the one to avoid Mina – she’d be selfless and ignore everything else around her when it came to her. Though, Mina had told her countless times to care about herself more; it had only fallen on deaf ears. Now, was her worry understandable?

She was grumbling on her own when she heard the door open. Mina jumped out of her seat by the kitchen, releasing a sigh of relief as Momo entered their dorm room. However, Mina wasn’t expecting Tzuyu with her, who had Momo’s arm around her shoulders.

That’s when Mina smelt it.

The sickening smell of alcohol that filled up the entire room.

At most, Momo would only drink for a little bit, not come back wasted, having to be delivered by someone else.

“Can you get this heavy weight off me?” Tzuyu grumbled at the entrance, indicating to Momo.

Mina nodded, quickly walking towards Momo, only to be pushed away by her roommate. She let out a heavy sigh at Momo’s actions, not knowing why she was behaving this way.

“I–can you just put her on the bed?” Mina pointed to Momo’s bed.

Tzuyu rolled her eyes, but agreed, pulling Momo towards her bed, before dropping her like a sack of potatoes. Mina heard Momo’s grumbles of annoyance but she quietened down just as fast.

“Thank you for bringing her here.” Mina turned towards Tzuyu, who was starting to look uncomfortable in their room.

Tzuyu nodded, heading out the door before Mina called out to her again.

“Wait, just – can I ask you something? Do you know why she was drinking so much? She never usually takes in this much alcohol.” Mina nervously asked.

Tzuyu hesitated for a moment and Mina knew that she knew the reason behind Momo’s behaviour. She knew why Momo had drunk so much, enough to make her wasted. She knew why Momo had pushed Mina away when she touched her – Mina had seen the look in Tzuyu’s eyes.

“I’m not friends with her.” Tzuyu shook her head.

“I didn’t ask if you were, and I wasn’t implying it either. You were there when she was drunk. And I know you know why she came home reeking like someone poured a whole gallon of beer on her.” Mina growled, closing the distance between herself and Tzuyu.

For the first time, Mina had seen Tzuyu scared of someone, and that was because of herself.

“Look, I’m sorry for coming off so strong. I’m just worried for her.” Mina apologised, rubbing her hand across her arm.

Tzuyu looked at her again, tilting her head as she observed Mina.

“She just had a bad day. She didn’t want to bother you.” Tzuyu answered as Mina relaxed her shoulders. She feared there was a worse scenario.

Mina looked towards Momo’s sleeping figure, frown present on her face as she assessed her. What could have been so bad, that Momo pushed her away? Was it her apology that came too late? She wished she could tell what was going on in Momo’s head. Mina hadn’t wanted to hurt her but with the way Momo was reacting to her, it was clear that Mina had done something.

Unless…

“Did she perhaps see me with Jiro earlier?” Mina turned to Tzuyu again, seeing her gulp under her gaze.

“Look, it’s not fair if I tell you what happened. I just came here to drop her off. She blabbered a lot in her drunken state, so I can’t even remember half of what she said. She was just alone in the club, and I was just looking out for her. She’s Dahyun’s friend, after all.” Tzuyu walked back, not wanting to say anything of what Momo had spilled during the night.

“Thank you, Tzuyu. I know you didn’t do it just for Dahyun.” Mina smiled towards the awkward girl who was taken aback by her judgement. “You looked out for her because you care. I’m thankful for that. Do you need me to call Dahyun for you? Or are you okay to get back to your room? Do you want a cup of coffee?”

“I’m fine. Thank you for offering.” Tzuyu sheepishly answered, rubbing the back of her neck. She was about to leave the room when she decided to say one thing before she left – just to ease Mina’s mind. “I just wanted to say… if you like her, let her know. It will hurt you both even more if you don’t clear out your relationship.”

And with that, Tzuyu had left the room, leaving Mina to think about what she had just said.

It was true that Mina and Momo hadn’t specified what their relationship was. Judging from what Tzuyu had said, Momo was worried about where they stood. Momo must have seen Mina with Jiro. That was not a pleasing sight to someone, especially if you were hanging out with them so often, it seemed like dates.

It was miscommunication on both of their parts. Neither of them had specified that they were taking each other out on dates, and now Momo was clearly hurt because of their situation. Mina sighed heavily, feeling annoyed again. That stupid Jiro had to ruin everything between them. But, she also knew that she had to talk to Momo about this. They had to clear out their relationship before it was completely ruined.

---

Momo woke up to a pounding headache and a lack of memory of what had happened the night before. She recalled taking shot after shot and then Tzuyu’s concerned face was in the middle of it. How had she gotten back to the dorm?

She groaned, feeling extremely hoarse. Her feet had just touched the floor, when a bottle of water was handed to her, along with a set of aspirin. Momo squinted, nodding gratefully and taking the items off Mina.

Wait, Mina?!

She’d pushed her away last night when she tried to help her get to her bed. Momo almost cried out in embarrassment.

“Make sure you finish at least half of that bottle of water.” Mina scolded. “Shower too. You reek of alcohol.”

Mina walked away, leaving Momo sitting on her bed. She looked at the bottle in her hands, whining when she realised it was a whole litre.

Sulking, she listened to what Mina had asked of her, finishing her water and heading towards the shower. This was already the second time Mina had cared for her and the embarrassment was really sinking in.

She was welcomed with the lovely smell of food when she exited the bathroom, feeling déjà vu. Momo remembered the amazing cooking Mina had made last time and she basically ran to the kitchen table.

“Before you eat, I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry. And, we need to talk after you eat.” Mina sighed, handing Momo a bowl, who looked confused with the apology.

In a matter of minutes, Momo had finished her food, standing in front of Mina with a proud grin that she just wanted to wipe off.

“What did you want to talk about?” Momo asked.

“Yesterday… what happened?” Mina jumped straight into it.

Momo’s smile faltered. “What do you mean?”

“You coming home drunk late at night and not telling me you went out. I’m sorry for not being able to eat lunch with you. I thought we established a message-if-you’re-going-out policy.” Mina crossed her arms.

“I–um. I just needed a little time to myself.” Momo tried to find an excuse.

“That’s why Tzuyu brought you home and told me everything?” Mina raised her eyebrows at Momo.

Momo panicked.

Tzuyu had told her everything?

“Wait–it’s not like that. I was just jealous of Jiro and I didn’t want to seem like I was imposing on a possibility of you two being together even though I like you. I know it was just me thinking of our outings as dates.” Momo struggled to put together a reasoning.

“What?”

“What?”

“You thought of them as dates too!”

“Yes, I’m sorry, wait–too?!”

Momo froze upon hearing that Mina thought of their outings as dates. Oh god, had Mina even known all of what she had just said, or did Momo spill all of her feelings.

“Didn’t Tzuyu tell you everything?” Momo gasped

“I meant… like the drinking on your own. But let’s not get back there. We’re a mess. I thought of them as dates.” Mina groaned, hiding her face in her hands.

“I thought of them as dates too… until yesterday when I saw you with Jiro.” Momo pointed out.

“He confessed to me, but I rejected him. It took me my entire break time so I couldn’t meet you.” Mina explained.

“Oh my god. I’m so stupid.” Momo growled.

“No! I think it was just not clear.” Mina quickly denied Momo’s claims.

“So, we went on dates.”

“Yes.”

“Are we dating?”

“Well, if you ask…”

“Shoot, of course.”

Mina giggled at Momo’s nervousness, placing a hand over hers.

“We need to work on our communication, but will you date this fool?” Momo chuckled, pointing to herself for emphasis.

“I think, I’d very much like that, as long as you’re okay dating this fool.” Mina smiled as Momo pulled her into her warm embrace.