Momo used to sleep alone.

She usually sleeps in immediately after a day of practice every weekend.

 

However, this particular night, sleep just wouldn't come.

 

Not when her brain still thinks of a certain ballerina in all her graceful glory.

 

Not when her brain still thinks of her warm brown eyes, her soft, red lips, and her numerous moles that Momo is too powerless not to stare into.

 

Not when her heart beats rapidly at the thought of that same girl she discovered to be someone else entirely when she performs, the way her arms accentuate every move, the way her legs stride effortlessly across the stage.

 

Momo can’t seem to sleep not when her heart and mind thinks and beats a single name: Mina.

 

She moves her hand in a routine, imitating the movements that she and Mina did earlier, swaying her body, pointing her feet at a certain direction. Doing this also reminds her of the happenings on this day, more importantly, her routine practice and her crash course into ballet with Mina. Her thoughts then quickly transition to the image of Mina landing a quick kiss on her cheek, that got Momo absentmindedly touching that same cheek, feeling a little giddy remembering it again.

 

“Can’t sleep?” Jeongyeon pulls her out of her thoughts. Her best friend sits up and brushes the sleeplessness she’s also experiencing off of her eyes. “So! How’s your day, ‘Mo?” she asks.

 

“it was great! I started a new routine and.. And I got to explore a new genre to experiment on so, yes. It was a good day!” Momo responds smiling.

 

Jeongyeon is quickly mystified by the way Momo replies. It’s not usual for her to spill anything about her day, let alone to be still up this late following her long hours of practice.

 

“A new routine huh? Anything else?” she faces her friend who’s trying her best not to spill anything knowing all too well that she’s definitely gonna get teased about it and Jeongyeon teasing her about Mina is at the bottom of the list of the things she wants before this day ends.

 

“Y-Yes! I mean.. Nothing weird happened! I swear!”

 

Jeongyeon knows that Momo is a bad liar and it will only take a little push before Momo blurts out her secret. By the way Momo’s acting and stuttering, she’s close to spilling it.

 

“Nothing?” Jeongyeon shuffles close, then leans closer at Momo. “Really?” she says slowly.

 

“Yeah! We- I mean me!! Uhh,, I uhh.. I t-tried exploring ballet.. Yes, that’s what I did!” she poses a fake confidence to deter Jeongyeon from asking any further.

 

Jeongyeon, still unsatisfied, takes it one step further, furrowing her brows in the process and asks one more time. “Is that all?”

 

Momo visibly gulps, trying her best not to panic at the the interrogation she’s going through right now. “I promise! It’s all I did today!”

 

Thanks to Momo’s luck, Jeongyeon finally backs off and returns to her side of the bed. Momo soundlessly exhales, trying to hide the fact that she almost, almost told her what happened. She moves back to her side as well, about to sleep when Jeongyeon speaks again.

 

“Hey Momo,” Jeongyeon nudges her, getting her attention. “I.. I wanna tell you something.” Momo turns to face her.

 

“So.. uhh, how do I even begin,” Jeongyeon fumbles through the hem of her shirt. “Y-You.. You ever notice how frequent are our study sessions? I mean, Nayeon and I?” Momo nods at this, although an idea has already popped up in her head. “W-Well, actually uhh.. N-Nayeon and I are kind of.. Girlfriends now..”

 

It took a second, two seconds before Momo responds.

 

“EHHHH???”

 

-

 

Of the numerous dates Nayeon and Jeongyeon has ever been to, this is probably what they can consider as the most romantic.

 

They opt for a movie date in a mall, not too far from their school. Nayeon, being an actress and all, insisted they watch this new romantic-comedy movie instead of Jeongyeon’s usual suggestion of superhero flicks. Being the whipped girl that she is (she wouldn’t admit it though), she decides to go with Nayeon’s requests, earning a quick peck on the cheek from the shorter girl after they purchased the tickets.

 

Inside the movie house, there are a lot of vacant seats. Jeongyeon lead the way towards the middle of the balcony to get a perfect view of the whole screen. She notices that there’s hardly any customer watching with them as it is a weekday in the middle of the semester. The movie begins, and like clockwork, Jeongyeon shyly moves her hands towards Nayeon’s, asking her permission to hold the other’s hand. Nayeon does not mind much of this and grabs a hold of it, intertwining their fingers.

 

The movie goes on, with Nayeon watching very closely at the scenes, while Jeongyeon also watches… Nayeon. Her focus has been on the other girl the whole time, only glancing at the screen before looking back at her. She takes a look at their intertwined fingers, noticing the normality of this gesture which makes her heart beat rapidly against her chest.

 

Nayeon notices this and faces Jeongyeon, noses a few inches apart. “Something wrong?” she asks. Jeongyeon shakes her head and puts her attention back to the movie. “I’m just thinking of something.” Nayeon nods at this and decides to ask about it later.

They are now on the final minutes of the movie, showing the leading man shyly stand in front of the leading lady. “I love you and.. And I want to spend my every waking moment with you,” he says in all his feelings. He gets on to one knee and pulls out a red velvety box contaning a diamond ring. The lady cries tears of joy as she answers yes before having her left ring finger occupied by it.

 

The scene tugged at Jeongyeon’s heartstrings. It is a very cute and sweet way of asking another person to be a part of your life, to be promised with that one person for the rest of your life. She fondly looks back at Nayeon who looks back at her as well. In the faint brightness of the room, Jeongyeon can see the beauty of Im Nayeon, not that she hasn’t noticed it before. She moves closer to her ear to whisper. “Y-You’re really beautiful, Nayeon.”

 

Before Jeongyeon could retreat, she looks at the other girl in the eyes, a lot of feelings swirling in those beautiful orbs of hers. It turns into slits for a second as Nayeon smiles, moving in to kiss Jeongyeon on the lips. They have grown accustomed to kissing each other, not as awkward as their first time. This kiss that they’re sharing at this moment, isn’t rushed, no one to stop or to judge them.

 

Their lips press gently together, with Nayeon tilting her head for Jeongyeon to get a deeper kiss. When the need for air arises, Jeongyeon pulls away and pushes her forehead against Nayeon’s..

 

“Nayeon, please be mine,” she whispers against the other’s parted lips. Her eyes are closed, as she tries not to immediately break down and run from this in case everything goes south. Nayeon does not respond in words but rather, through action as she lands another kiss on Jeongyeon’s lips.

 

“I have been yours for some time now, Jeongie,”  They share a smile and more kisses together. “But yes, I want to be yours as much as I want you to be mine.”

 

Looking back into the movie, the moment that they kissed was also the moment that the actors shared their final kiss before the credits rolled.

 

-

 

“So.. there. You’re now talking to your bestfriend who won at life in a snap,” Jeongyeon confesses, hugging her pillow tightly. On the other hand, Momo is on her knees, smiling widely as she’s a few inches away from her best friend, feeling really happy for her best friend’s crush-turned-girlfriend-situation.

 

“That’s really great!!” Momo tackles Jeongyeon to a hug. “You finally got yourself a girlfriend!”

 

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” the older hits Momo on her arm, with Momo only snickering in the process.

 

“I never thought you’d get a shot with Nayeon! Well, the two of you making out is probably the first clue.” Jeongyeon smacks Momo on the head this time.

 

“And what about you and Mina, hm? How are things going?”

 

This prompts Momo to retreat back to her side. “W-Who?? Mina? Oh! Mina! Myoui Mina? Yes I remember! Well, we’re just friends, you know? Nothing out of the ordinary hehe oh would you look at the time! Gotta sleep!,” Momo attempts to get away but Yoo Jeongyeon is having none of it.

 

“Did something happen between you two while you were out? Oh my God did you two make out? Aaaahhh!! When?? Where??” Jeongyeon frantically asks her, with Momo fakely laughing at her.

 

“No! Are you insane? We would never do that!”

 

“Aish! You’re no fun!” Jeongyeon retorts. “I thought after your run in with her the other day, there’s something going on already.”

 

Momo breathes out. “I wish. I mean, it’s Myoui Mina. Biology student, part-time ballerina, full time goddess, right?” Jeongyeon whips her head back at her best friend.

 

“Uh huh..” she leers at Momo who just realized what she said and tried frantically to take it back.

 

“I mean!! Mina! The.. your cute friend from class! Dammit. I mean th-the.. Ballerina! Ahh f-” Jeongyeon had to cut her in.

 

“Wait wait wait! Did you say ballerina?” her eyes still focused on Momo, peering into her best friend’s face. Momo nods. “And you did tell me that you practiced earlier.. Something about a ballet piece..?” Jeongyeon lays the words out only to see Momo backing up on her side, a pillow rests on her chest.

 

She nods again. Before Jeongyeon could say anything, Momo shushes her.

 

“Ugh fiiine! You got me. I was in the studio earlier with her!” she shyly sulks. “We practiced and.. I watched her perform, and that’s it! Nothing more nothing less!” Momo finalizes her words, with Jeongyeon now snickering at the sight of her best friend finally spilling her secret.

 

“Okay, okay. Fine. But, did you make out though?” she jokes at Momo who in turn lets out a groan.

 

“No. She does not look like the type to do it. Not like she’d ever kiss me, you know? I mean she wouldn’t kiss me on the cheek just as she goes on her way home. Nope,” Momo states and her eyes widen at yet another realization of the words she just let out. She wanted to slap herself hard.

 

“SHE DID WHAT??”

 

-

 

The following day, after a long night of Jeongyeon convincing Momo to ask Mina out on a date, she finally agrees and shoots Mina a message.

 

Hirai Momo [9:47] : Hey Mina! Are you busy on Tuesday after classes?

 

Myoui Mina [9:52] : Hi Momo! :) nope. I’ll probably head home after. What’s up?

 

Momo gathers all her courage in the next text message, hoping that Mina agrees.

 

Hirai Momo [10:00] : Ahh well, I was just thinking if you wanna visit the park? I heard there’s a festival of lights or something going on starting tonight.

 

Momo anxiously waits for the reply, she chews on her lip while waiting for the reply. She waited 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes until the familiar tone of a text message comes in.

 

Myoui Mina [10:11] : Sounds great :) I’ll treat you over ice cream for yesterday’s dance.

 

Momo almost screams in joy as she types in her confirmation.

 

Hirai Momo [10:14] : Deal! :D I’ll order the best tasting ice cream then!

 

Myoui Mina [10:16] : okay ;) See you, Momo <3

 

Mina agreeing, her planned treat, and that cute heart icon made Momo squeal loudly as she reads the message again and again.

 

-

 

The days go by in a breeze, and before she knows it, Momo’s already at the gate of their school, waiting for a certain raven haired girl to arrive. She looks out for her and double checks her phone to see if Mina texted her about being late.

 

Suddenly, her eyes are covered by a pair of hands, impairing her line of sight.

 

“Wha- hey! Who are you? What do you want??” she says in succession as the culprit laughs behind her, an oddly familiar laugh that Momo can’t get enough of.

 

“You already know who I am! As for what I w