“Where were you? I was waiting for so long!” Sana whisper screams, taking notice of the sleeping child in Mina’s arms. She looks at the taller person next to Mina, carrying Yuki in their arms 

“I’m so sorry Sana! I didn’t mean to forget it’s just something came up and I-” 

“It’s okay” Sana pats Mina’s shoulder “Can we please go in, it’s freezing out here” 

Mina nods and hands Rei over to Sana to take the keys out of her purse

Jeongyeon stood there awkwardly, observing the interaction between the two women. Sana ran into the house as soon as Mina opened the door. Mina turned to Jeongyeon, with a soft smile she held up her arms for Jeongyeon to hand over Yuki to her but the second Jeongyeon shifted a little, Yuki clung tighter to her burying her head deeper into Jeongyeon’s coat. Jeongyeon only smiled at the small girl’s action, she could feel Mina’s helpless gaze

“It’s okay” Jeongyeon reassures “I can help you put her in bed, if you don’t mind” 

“Not at all” Mina smiles, she picks up Sana’s luggage and leads the way

In the girls’ shared bedroom, Sana had already put Rei in her tiny bed. She had gently tucked her in and kissed her forehead. Both Mina and Jeongyeon carefully maneuvered Yuki into her bed, making sure the child wouldn’t wake up. They sigh a breath of relief once they settle Yuki into her bed- still peacefully asleep. Sana watched the two with a frown

“Guess that’s goodnight” Jeongyeon smiles at Mina

“I’ll show you out” 

Sana observes Mina, the way the younger shyly tucks her hair behind her ear and her lips take shape of a slight smile. Typical signs of a high school Mina developing a crush on someone, a rare occurrence. Sana had only witnessed it happen twice. The first being a senior who led the dance club and the second, Momo. It was endearing to see Mina like this a decade later. Sana’s heart felt warm at seeing her best friend like this but the more rational part of her worried a little. Sana walked into the living room, Mina was still bidding goodbye to the stranger. Mina closed the door and turned back with a pout, she walked to Sana with her arms held out 

“I’m so sorry” Mina hugged her “I really didn’t mean to forget” Sana snuggled closer 

“It’s okay darling” Mina giggles at the endearing term, she breaks away from the hug but holds onto Sana

“How are you doing?” 

“Better than I thought”

The two women sit on Mina’s couch and talk for hours. Sana explains her situation to Mina 

“We went to a fancy restaurant and everything, I really thought she would propose” Sana scoffs “She broke up with me, can you believe that?!” Mina only rubs her back as Sana lays her head on her lap

“You’ll find someone better” Mina plays with Sana’s hair, making thin braids like she did when they were ten

Sana shifts to look at her “How are you?” Mina sighs

“Same old” the same slight smile makes another appearance “Today was fun though” 

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, didn’t realise life had become boring. I mean, being with my munchkins is always fun but today... Today felt different” Sana stares at the younger woman. The Mina she sees now appears so different from the mature woman Sana had seen her grow to become.

“Who was that?”

“Hmm?”

“The woman carrying Yuki”

“Oh, that was Jeongyeon”

Mina then explains to Sana how the kids had gotten lost and about the two of them crossing paths two other times. Sana can’t help but feel fond of this Jeongyeon lady, besides she looked cute too. 

It all happened in a flash, the stage was too misty and even a spider would slip on that surface. Momo was hyper aware of this and made sure to be careful. Many a time she caught Tzuyu from slipping (and brought about a lot of cheers and applause from the audience) but right before the last song Tzuyu slipped and fell to the ground. Momo’s heart stopped beating for a second, the younger girl got up with a smile and brushed off the incident with a joke but that didn’t ease the ache in Momo’s heart. They took a longer break backstage, wrapped a compression bandage around Tzuyu’s sprained ankle

“You sure you want to continue?” Her manager asks

“Of course I do” Tzuyu smiles “Come on, it’s the last song of the last concert, you can’t cancel it now”

“I was planning on forcing you to perform anyway” she jokes with Tzuyu “Okay guys we’re ready”

Momo stands behind the two, she sees Tzuyu struggle to stand and goes to her aid. Momo places Tzuyu’s arm around her shoulder and held her waist to support her. Tzuyu smiles again and once more Momo is impressed by the younger girl’s ability to hide her pain

“Walk me to the stage” Tzuyu says softly

“Okay”

That one second of eye contact felt like an eternity to Momo, she shakes it off mentally and leads Tzuyu back onto the stage. She helps her into the chair set up for her in the middle of the stage and leaves, watching the rest of the show from backstage. Tzuyu had managed to reassure the crowd of worried fans, she had made them laugh and sing along. In moments like these Momo realizes Tzuyu was born to do this, she was such a natural performer. With a heartwarming ending speech, Tzuyu finished the last concert for the tour

“It was so much fun!” Tzuyu hugs Momo on their way back to their hotel rooms

“Yes, it was” Momo felt at peace, a contrast to the usual post concert adrenaline rush she felt “You did great”

“You did too” Tzuyu pecks Momo’s cheek. Tzuyu unlocks the door to her room, Momo helps her to her bed. Before Momo can move, Tzuyu holds her hand and slightly tugs at her arm. Momo looks down at the beautiful girl

“I should go” Momo sighs

“Please” It’s all Tzuyu needs to say. Besides, the girl was injured too, maybe staying with her would take her mind off the pain. No Momo stop trying to look for reasons to stay

“I need to pack”

“I’ll help you pack tomorrow” Tzuyu pouts

“Tzu, you’re good at many things but packing isn’t one of them” Momo chuckles remembering all the times Tzuyu had forgotten to pack essential things such as socks, her phone and her passport. With a smile, Momo sits beside Tzuyu

Tzuyu’s eyes shine and her dimples show, the sight fills Momo’s heart with warmth. She looks into Tzuyu’s eyes a second too long, it immediately dawns on her that she shouldn’t have. Tzuyu’s eyes held too much love for her, she knew because that was how Mina looked at her. A long time ago, before everything fell apart. A time when they were happy

“Let’s order room service!” The younger girl is already reaching out for the phone, giving Momo the time to gather her thoughts

She had to go back home

It had been three days since Jeongyeon last met Mina at Tamashii, the work at the new bakery had already started. Jeongyeon would be lying if she said she wasn’t hyped about the new store. Everything was going good. Lately, Jeongyeon had a lot of time to herself with the things at the bakery being handled by her trustworthy and hardworking employees. And in all that free time Jeongyeon found herself thinking about random incidents and random people. She was in a good mood. She’d think about Mina, she’d think about her bandmates back in college, she’d think about Mina, then she’d think about the cute girl with Mina, then she’d go back to thinking about Mina and her two adorable daughters. All these thoughts brought a smile to her face, she felt giddy for no reason. She checks her mail, she does her laundry and when she gets bored she rearranges the furniture. After changing the entire set up of the living room she settles on her couch with her old guitar in hand. She re-familiarizes herself with her oldest companion, memories rushing in with each string she tunes and each chord she strums. As words she had once written fall from her lips she thinks of her friend, the reason those words exist. Momo. Jeongyeon wonders how she is.

Some time in the evening Jeongyeon decides to visit the bakery, to check on how things are going and to while away some time. Geez, maybe she should get back onto one of those dating apps

“Hey Boss, how’s it going?” Jinseok asks as Jeongyeon makes her way behind the counter

“Nothing man, just bored as ” Jinseok laughs “All of you guys running the establishment well?”

“With all our hearts” The boy replies just as dramatically. Jeongyeon glances around, the limited number of seats were fully occupied and more people kept coming in. Jeongyeon glances around the place, her eyes get drawn to one particular table. Jiwoo, one of their newer employees was clearing out multiple cups from the small table for two hidden in the corner. When Jiwoo comes closer to them she shakes her head

“All that for one person?” Jeongyeon points at the tray “Not judging, just curious”

“Yeah” Jiwoo sighs. She sends the dishes for cleaning through the small opening for behind them “She seems to be having a rough time”

“Yeah, she came in at 8 in the morning” Jinseok adds as he prints the bill of another customer

“Wow, eight whole hours?”

“Yup and she keeps bursting into tears when she thinks no one’s noticing” Jiwoo says. Jeongyeon nods, taking in the information “I would go talk to her if the place wasn’t so full. Jinseok’s busy too”

“Yeah” the boy adds with a sigh

“That ” Jeongyeon comments while leaning against the counter

“You aren’t busy are you?” Jiwoo asks

“Not really” Jeongyeon shrugs. Jiwoo folds her arms and continues to look at her, Jeongyeon stares right back and after a few seconds she looks to the boy next to her hoping perhaps he knew what the younger girl was trying to communicate non-verbally. Jinseok’s eyes dart to the direction of table and then back to Jeongyeon and she finally gets it, she looks back to Jiwoo

“Oh, you want me to go check up on her?” Jiwoo throws her a sarcastic smile and nods before walking back to another table. Jeongyeon shakes her head at herself and kept in mind how intimidating Jiwoo could actually be

Jeongyeon walks towards the table, she notices the woman dabbing a tissue on her face, Jeongyeon could only see her glimmering eyes. When she’s right next to the table she gets a good look at the woman and recognizes her, she had seen the her at Mina’s place

“Hey, can I join you?” Sana is startled by the voice “All other tables are full” the lady smiles at her, she looked familiar

“Sure” Sana replies, she checks the time on her phone as the lady takes a seat. . Guess one last cup of coffee with a stranger wouldn’t hurt, she had to head out soon anyway

“So, do you like this place?” Jeongyeon asks awkwardly to which Sana replies with a nod “You should try the mint choco cupcake, it’s a new flavor they introduced here. People say it’s really good” Jeongyeon says in an attempt to cheer her up
 

Mint choco. Sana remembers the first time she had tried that flavor, it was on her third date with Eunha, the flavor was etched into her mind just the way Eunha’s kisses were. Over the next few years Sana tried her best to like that flavor but no matter how much she tried she couldn’t get herself to like it, just like Eunha couldn’t get herself to like Sana anymore. Sana’s vision blurs and before she knew it the sobs spill right out of her

Jeongyeon knew people had an extreme reaction to mint choco, people either loved it or hated it but never had she seen someone have an emotional breakdown at the mention of the flavor. Jiwoo sent her over to make things better but Jeongyeon had a feeling she would only make it worse

“Eunha used to like that” Sana’s voice cracks as she gives Jeongyeon the context through sobs

Ah, girlfriend problems

“I can ban it from the menu” Jeongyeon mumbles out

It’s an unexpected response and it makes Sana laugh, she wipes her eyes to look at Jeongyeon “Do you do that for every customer that cries about a certain flavor”

“No, I only ban items for pretty women” Flattering “ And I wish I could ban mint choco but it’s quite popular with the people here. An unexpected hit”

The two, introduce themselves to each other, exchange pleasantries and continue to talk about their disdain for the flavor but silence finds its way back too soon.

“So” Jeongyeon takes the initiative to talk “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“Didn’t know I was in therapy” Sana snaps

“I can leave if you want me to”

“No! Please stay, I’m sorry” Sana gets over the momentary irritation of being asked about how she feels. She sighs, what could she even tell her “Everything’s changing so fast” Sana sniffles “Eunha, my girlfriend” She pauses and sighs “My ex-girlfriend. She broke up with me because she thinks I don’t have a life of my own and that we never properly communicate, when all I did all the time was try my very best” Sana starts to get a little angry “Now how is that even possible? Those are two completely contradictory statements, how can i not have a life of my own AND not communicate properly when I’m around her all the time”

Jeongyeon nods, letting the woman speak

“And it isn’t just the break up, it’s… life.” Sana continues “You know Mina right?”

Jeongyeon didn’t expect Sana to remember her “Yeah. Well, kinda. We only met thrice and she’s doing the interiors for the new bakery but that’s all. I don’t really know her. I know she has two adorable daughters though” Jeongyeon rants. Sana eyes Jeongyeon through the entire rant but chooses to continue

“Yeah so the only normal thing in life I have left is my Mina and Momo, they are my best friends. My only best friends. But they’re changing too! Who else can I talk to if not those two and how can I talk to them when they just keep fighting all the time” Sana cries again “I know it’s selfish that I’m making their issues about me but I really do not want them to change”

Jeongyeon’s brain freezes at the mention of the name that had crossed her mind earlier that day

“Momo?” Jeongyeon questions “Hirai Momo?”

“The one and only” Sana responds while dry her tears for the nth time “Fan of her choreographies?”

“I studied business with her!” Jeongyeon says excitedly. Sana is taken aback at the news

“You went to Seoul University?” Sana asks

“Yeah!”

“Us too! All three of us!” Sana responds excitedly “Mina, Momo and I. How come I don’t remember you? I knew almost everyone in uni. And were you friends with Momo, how come I never met you” Sana shoots question after question, she appears completely different from the woman who had been sobbing a few minutes ago.

“Well, I didn’t have many friends in uni but I was in the band 6Days. And I embarrassed myself a lot at those frat parties, don’t know if you guys were ever there” Jeongyeon rubs her neck in embarrassment “And about Momo, no we didn’t interact much among our friend circles. We’d go out sometimes and I’d tutor her but I never met her friends maybe that’s why we never met” Jeongyeon recalls

“6Days? Wow I never saw you guys up close” Sana says in fascination “Momo did tell us she had a tutor for her business minor”

Jeongyeon remembers what Sana said about Mina

“Wait was Momo dating Mina at the time?”

“Yes, they had been dating since high school” Sana states

“Oh”

“Why do you ask?” Jeongyeon’s expression intrigues Sana

“Nothing, I just remembered how she used to ramble about her girlfriend” Jeongyeon smiles at the thought “She was so in love with her”

“Yeah, was” Sana smiles but her eyes look sad. Jeongyeon remembers the irritation clear on Mina’s face at the mention of her wife when Jeongyeon had first met her

“Trouble in paradise?”

“Seems like it”

“Tell me more” Sana’s eyes shine

“They’ve been fighting since the past-” she pauses to count “three years. On and off”

“Where is Momo?”

“Touring around the world, with pop star Tzuyu” Sana says dramatically

“Wow” It was a lot of information for Jeongyeon. And a lot of plot twists.

Sana checks the time on her phone once again “Thank you for keeping me company. I should probably head out”

“It was a pleasure. Wouldn’t mind doing it again” Jeongyeon smiles right back at Sana. She didn’t know how she felt as she thought about it

Momo’s Mina

A pile of pink lego blocks occupy 1/4th of the carpet as a pair of small hands work hard on building a small dinosaur. Yuki places a six notched brick on top of another, her mommy had taught her to build different animals with the legos. Yuki had already built a penguin- her mommy’s favorite animal; a duck- Rei’s favorite animal; a dinosaur for herself and a puppy for her mama. Yuki remembered how happy her mama was when she showed her the one she made for her a month ago when they video called. She made an even better one this time so her mama would be even more happy. She missed having her around. Yuki smiles at the pink dinosaur she finished building

“Mommy look!” four years-eight months-two weeks old Yuki "slow jogs" to her mommy’s office