It’s one of those nights.

Momo exhaustedly closed the door to the dance studio and fumbled with the key and the lock. She had a full day in the studio, and despite being just six months into its operation, they had a lot of enrollees. Kids, teens, adults…all wanting to learn dancing. Personally or professionally it doesn’t matter. As long as they are willing, Momo accepts them.

Hana, her older sister helps her with the instructing. Hana uploads their dance practices in YT and it attracts more clients and Momo is grateful for the promotion. They could have employed another dance instructor, but Momo is waiting until they have a consistent income to pay for additional staff.

That is why Momo herself is still learning the management side of the business--she is still struggling with all the stuff she had to take care of: business permits, taxes, Her head hurts computing for the expenses and the taxes that she had to pay, people to talk to and things to do.

But tonight, she needs the rest. Her shoulders are aching for a massage and she cannot wait to put her feet up.

She jiggled her keys and went to the restaurant next door, their restaurant. She immediately sees Jeongyeon bent over a table, cleaning. She quietly went behind the girl and hugged her. The girl froze, but as soon as she recognized it’s Momo, she relaxed and turn around to envelop the girl into a hug.

“Long day?”

Momo pouted. “Yes. You know I hate numbers.”

Jeongyeon laughed and hugged her girlfriend. “Well, I could have helped you with it, but you would be the one to cook here.”

“Where’s Akira?”

“I already sent him home. Tomorrow is Saturday,so I told him to come very early. We should also close up, since we have more customers during the weekends.”

Momo close her eyes and just sank on the chair behind her, but not without pulling Jeongyeon on her lap. “Hmmm can I just hold you like this for a while? I missed you.”

“We just saw each other this lunch.”

“I know. But I prefer you over those accounting books anytime.”

Jeongyeon smiled and hugged her girlfriend close. Momo gets clingier when she’s tired so she just let the younger hold her tight.

Momo wrapped her arms round Jeong’s neck and pulled her closer for a kiss. Momo kissed her hungrily, as if her whole life depended on it. She kissed her back as hungrily and her breath hitched when she felt Momo’s hands wander under her shirt to feel her burning skin.

Momo pulled back to catch her breath and Jeongyeon whined when their lips separated. Momo smirked and pushed her girlfriend off her lap. Jeong was about to protest when Momo pulled her back on her lap, but this time, sitting straddling her thighs. She moaned in pleasure when Momo kissed her again, but this time, her arm is on her neck, keeping her close and the other one on her back, massaging her back to her . Jeong moaned and Momo nuzzled the girl’s neck. Goosebumps filled her body with what Momo was doing but she wanted to have a taste again of the girl’s lips so she caressed her hair and pulled her roughly back to her lips.

Time passed for who knows how long and Jeong knows they have to take this to the spare bedroom at the back of the resto when they heard the front door open. Not wanting to be interrupted, Momo pulled back and shouted. “We’re closed!” and went back to kissing Jeongyeon torridly.

“We can see that.”

Momo recognizes that voice and she stood up so fast that Jeongyeon almost fell if she was not holding her tight. The chef turned around and gaped at the couple in front of her.

“Mina? Nayeonie?”

Jeongyeon immediately went to the couple and enveloped them in a bear hug.

“Where did you both go! No communication for 6months! We were dead worried about you!”

Nayeon smirked. “I could see that you had been very busy, Yoo Jeongyeon, so I doubt you were that worried.” Jeong let go of Mina and playfully tackle her unnie. That left Mina staring at the black-haired woman who stood rooted on her spot while the two were bickering at the back.

Momo cannot move. She had always thought of this moment, of meeting Mina again and she had rehearsed the things she will tell the girl but now that that moment came, her thoughts went blank. Mina is smiling her gummy smile, as if she never left, as if it was not six months since they last saw each other.

“Don’t I get a hug?”

Momo’s tears fell as she ran towards Mina to give her a tight hug.

“I’m sorry, Mina-yah, I—“

Mina squeezed Momo tighter to assure the girl. Momo sobbed and Mina whispered words of assurance while patting her back. She then held Momo in arm’s length and looked at her tear-stained face.

“Why are you apologizing?”

“Because of me, both of you—“

“I was the one who left you—“

“You didn’t have to do it—“

“It’s what I should have done from the very start, Momoring.”

“But..”

Nayeon stepped towards her and give her a light shove.

“Yah! Are you sorry you are with Jeongyeon?”

“Of course not unnie, I didn’t mean that-“

Nayeon laughed loudly and enveloped Momo in a big hug.

“I’m just teasing you, Mo. Come here and give me a hug too.”

Momo hugged Nayeon awkwardly and the Mina just beamed at the two of them. Mina looked at Jeongyeonie at the back who was looking at the scene unfolding. Mina saw something passed across the chef’s face but when she caught Mina’s gaze, she suddenly smiled and try to lighten up the situation.

“Who wants some food? I’ll whip anything you want, guys!”

Nayeon cheered and gushed that she misses Korean food and some ramen and Jeong went to the kitchen to prepare food for the guest. Momo gestured to the two to sit down while she helps Jeong in the kitchen.

“Mo, babe could you please get the onions and celery please from the fridge?”

Momo was jolted back to herself. “Oh, sorry. Yeah. Wait.”

Momo went back to pass garlic and tomato to her girlfriend.

“Mo, onions and celery. Are you alright? You seem out of it.”

“Oh. Sorry. I’ll get the onions.”

“You want to talk about it, Mo?”

“Oh. I’m alright... Just a bit surprised, that’s all.

She could see that her girlfriend was caught off-guard by their visitors but she wants Momo to sort out her feelings herself.

“I’m just here, okay?”

Momo beamed a smile at her but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“I know, Jeong. You always are.”

Then Momo exited the kitchen, bringing their guests soju.

 --

“You should have come with us guys, Hawaii was so beautiful—“

“I think London was lovelier, Christmas time is Hogwarts was such a treat.”

“Well, I think the New Year at the Alps was the best.”

“Well, I could not argue with you about that.”

“Especially in front of the fireplace?”

Jeongyeon and Momo listened animatedly as Mina and Nayeon had been telling them about their trip. It didn’t escape Momo how Mina put a her head affectionately on Nayeon’s shoulder while they were telling them the trip to the Canals, and it didn’t escape Jeong how Nayeon tenderly tucked Mina’s hair behind the girl’s ear.

“So you guys dating?”

Momo elbowed Jeong sharply and Jeong shrugged. ‘What?”

Momo rolled her eyes at the girl.

“I’m sorry about this baboon—“

Mina stood up and looked at Momo, albeit cheeks were redder.  “Momo-yah, can you show me the dance studio? I hope the contractors followed all my instructions...”

“Oh, yeah, they did fantastic on the interior. Jeong, I’ll just show Mina around. Why don’t you catch up with Nayeonie? Will be back in a jiffy.”

When they were out of sight, Nayeon nudged Jeongyeon.

‘Jealous?”

“huh? What are you saying, Nabongs?”

“Are you jealous?”

“Of who?”

“That’s the question Jeong. With whom?” Nayeon smirked to childhood friend but frowned when Jeong was silent.

“Hey... don’t tell me...”

“I can’t help it, Nabongs. .I mean I love Momo..but she loved Mina too.”

“Like you loved Mina?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, it was you who loved Mina for years, but Momo loved you for so long. So there should be no reason for you to be jealous…”

‘It’s just that…even if Momo won’t tell me, I know she feels very guilty at Mina. She had always that faraway look on her face.”

“So are you saying she still has feelings for Mina?”

“I—I honestly dunno.”

Nayeon suddenly hit Jeongyeon on the head. Hard.

“Ow! What is that for?”

“You’re really stupid Jeong, doubting Momo like that!”

“I know she loves me unnie, it’s just that, when I was not there, they—well, they’ve been together and—“

Nayeon hit her again. Jeong rubbed the part where Nayeon hit her.

“Momo chose you. Never forget that.”

“She chose me because Mina left her no choice.”

“Does Momo looked like she was forced to be with you? With what we had witnessed earlier, girlie doesn’t really want to let you go. So give her little credit, won’t you?”

“Yeah, I really am a fool feeling like that.”

‘Yeah, you are a pabo.”

 “And you looked whipped, Unnie.”

“Excuse me?!”

“Uh, please. You looked whipped for Ms. Myoui…don’t tell me you didn’t make a move at her. You had been together for six months on the most romantic places in earth?”

That remark earned her another smack from unnie and coming from those large hands, that is saying a lot.

“Of course not! I don’t take advantage of heartbroken girls, Jeong. She’s.. she’s just picking herself together so I just accompany her wherever she wants to go, whatever she wants to do…. She had loved Momo since they were kids, it was not exactly easy to let her go and moved on.”

“And then you told me there’s nothing to be jealous at?!”

“Because you love Momo and she loves you. That’s what’s important, right?Other people should not matter. Not Mina. Not me.”

Jeongyeon ruffled Nayeon’s hair. “Since when did you become wise, Old Bunny?”

“Since I fell in love with you ---”

“That was the time, when you became a fool.”

“—and then realized that you should not waste time on people who don’t love you.”

“Ah, so now you are regretting falling for me?”

“I don’t do regrets, Jeong. Still one of the best moments of my life.”

“Do I need to be thankful you don’t hate me?”

“You bet, it took a lot of forgiveness on my part so you owe me a lot.”

Jeongyeon surprised Nayeon by hugging her.

“I’ll forever be indebt you unnie..for sacrificing your feelings just so I can have mine.”

“Thank god Ji Hyo I love you, ostrich.”

“Speaking of ji Hyo..I wouldn’t be the one to make that call—“

“What call?”

“Oh that twice a week call that Ji Hyo makes, asking me if I heard something from you! She’s so scary that I have not gone home to Korea for six months, so you call her and tell her that you’re here---“

Nayeon shivered. She could imagine Ji HYo breathing fire on Jeong’s neck even if they are miles apart and in different countries.

“You tell her, you said you owed me!”

“I know, but that friend of ours is livid when you left without a proper goodbye but just a note saying you are with Mina…”

“C’mon Jeong, please?”

“I can do anything but that Unnie…”

“Just send her a text...”

“She will chew my ear off.”

“And she will get my .”

“So let’s not tell her?”

Just then Jeong’s phone rang and froze when she saw who was calling.

“Didn’t you say Ji Hyo is omniscient?” She held up her phone and there registered is Ji Hyo’s messenger app.

“Or maybe she is just psychic...”

“So what should we do…?

“Don’t keep her waiting!”

Jeong answered it but placed it in speakerphone.

“Hey, Ji, how are you?”

“Uh, just fine Ji, was about to go home.”

“You work too hard. Is Momo there?”

“Well, she’s not here beside me— “

“Oh, tell her I said---“

“But Nayeonie’s here.” Jeong tried to sound bright.

Silence.

“Hello Ji,”

Jeongyeon covered her ears and as expected Ji Hyo chewed Nayeon’s ear off. Despite being the youngest among the three friends, Ji Hyo acted like their mother and would always nag them and today was no difference. Nayeon was only able to calm her down promise of them meeting up as soon as possible.

After she hung up, Nayeon sighed tiredly. “I was not tired when we landed, but talking to Ji seemed to drain the life out of me.”

“She cares for you, you know that.”

“I know. As I do with her,too.”

“Maybe she won’t be too angry if you take Mina with you.”

“Yeah, maybe, she’s kinda soft with Mina.”

“Maybe if you tell her you are together…”

“Maybe if we ARE together...”

“So what is stopping you Im?”

“The fact that I am just Nayeon and a no one?”

“You are it girl Im Nayeon, of course you are special!”

“I am serious!”

“Well, think about this. She fell in love with Momo. I’m not saying my girlfriend is not great, because she is, but what I am saying is that…so are you.”

“So this should reassure me?”

“Uhm…”

“Did you just compared me to Momo?”

“Yeah, be honored.”

Nayeon pushed Jeong again but this time, she’s grinning ear to ear.

If only making Mina fall in love with her is that easy. 

---

“So this is where the kids practice, then that’s the teen’s room, and the other is for young adults and older. This is my office and of course this is the common area where they rest and wait. There are a total of 100 enrollees and I think it’s actually doing great now… “

Mina laughed. “Why do you sound like you are doing a report for the CEO…”

“Because this is your business, I just happen to run it...”

“Momo. This is yours. It may be our dream but I gave these to you so you can live it.”

“You just assumed that it was my dream---“

“Wasn’t it?”
“That day when you left, during my birthday, I was… I was about to propose. I haven’t bought the ring but—“

“Oh. Oh. I—I didn’t know Momo..”

“Because you didn’t even ask! You just assumed about me, what is the best for me, not even asking if that is what I want!”

Mina was silent. She honestly didn’t expect this outburst, because just like what Momo had said, she expected that Momo wanted to be with Jeongyeon. Was she…wrong?

“I loved Jeong. I love her now. But back then, I was so ready to forget her and just start a life with you! I blocked her because yes, I feel hurt, I miss her, but it’s my coping mechanism inorder for me to move on! I never understood why you wanted to leave me when we could have been together!”

Mina stared at the angry Momo. She was kind of loss for words, because the person she is running from all along, is the person she had left behind.

“Momo, I’m so sorry... I—I now realized I made a mistake. So what do you want me to do now?”

It’s Momo’s turn to be tongue-tied. What does she really want? She just exploded like that with all those pent-up feelings that she kept inside her. She cannot tell Jeongyeon, but she thinks the girl knows anyway. Jeongyeon understands her in ways she cannot even understand herself. Does she want Mina back?  What about Jeongyeon?

“I—I can’t live like this Mina, living like a ping pong ball. I chose you despite loving Jeong before but you chose to give me away. So now I will stay where you left me. I will stay with Jeongyeon because I don’t want to be in a seesaw of emotions anymore! Jeong’s dependable, she’s sturdy. I think—I’ll go with someone whose feelings didn’t change.”

“That’s unfair! I loved you and I just want you to be happy, is that wrong?! Your happiness comes first that;s why I chose to move away despite it hurt!”

“But that’s the point, you didn’t have to! I loved you, but you made a choice for me, for us!”

“We are going in circles, Momo. The past is done; I cannot do anything about it anymore. I made a mistake, I am going to live through my life nothing I made a colossal mistake and had missed the opportunity to be loved by someone like you. So why are we still having this conversation? It will bring you peace of mind but it will not bring back mine!”

Momo hates that she felt guilty again, but she knows she had to say it even if it hurts a lot.

“I’m—I’m sorry Mina, I really am. There’s not a day I don’t think of you, of what will I tell you when I next see you, to tell you how I felt! My heart aching knowing you suffered because of me. Do I even deserve to be happy when you are suffering because of me?”

Mina could hear it. The Guilt. The guilt that had been eating Momo up. She went to the girl and hugged her tight.

“Don’t say that! Of course you do! I gave up mine so you can have yours, don’t waste it!”

“That makes me feel more burdened, Minari.”

“People make choices. I did and it made you suffer. You chose Jeongyeon so you should be happy with it. Now it is my decision to fully set you free and find my own path to happiness, without you feeling responsible or guilty about it. Can you do it for me Momo? Could you just wish me to be happy without blaming yourself?”

Momo stepped backward and tried to look at Mina’s eyes. She still looks as beautiful as she last seen her but there were traces of changes in her too. She looked as if there is an air of resolute around her; more matured and more at peace.

“I—I’ll try. It’s not easy, because this dance studio and Jeong’s restaurant will forever be proofs of that and will always remind us of what you did for us…”

“Those are proofs that I love both of you and I am wishing nothing but your happiness…”

“…and with that we will forever be grateful to you.”

Mina took Momo’s arm into hers and they went out side by side.

“…it’s nothing. As long as we could have free food whenever we drop by, considered these paid.”

“You’re staying?”

“I think so. Daddy is asking me to manage a branch, I can’t say no since he let me go off for half a year.”

“Nayeonie will be with you?”

For some reason, Mina’s face slightly turned pink. “Well, she lost her job coming with me, the best I can do is to offer her a job, right?”

“Hmmm.”

“Momo!”

“Who are you trying to convince? Me or yourself?”

“I—Of course you!”

Momo just smirked and Mina pushed her.

“What?”

“Nothing!”

“Yah, Hirai Momo!”

“I’m not saying anything!”

“Your eyes are saying something!”

Momo closed her eyes to tease Mina more.

“No of course not!” But she crossed her fingers, wishing that Nayeonie is the one Mina is looking for in her life, her friend is just too dense to realize.

--

"Are you okay, Minayah?" 

They opted to walk back to the hotel  instead of taking the taxi. The weather was a bit chilly, after all it's already past midnight. Mina put her hand inside her coat, but Nayeon thought it will be warmer to put her hand in Mina's pocket to entwined her hand with hers. 

Mina smiled at the older and took a deep breath. Was she alright? After that talk with Momo, she felt a little lighter--that it doesn't hurt as much as it did before. 

"I feel jealous, unnie.. Of what Momo and Jeongyeonie have. I had dreamed of finding love like that, and I almost had it. And yet I Iet Momo go, when we could have had it,if only we had been selfish enough and fought for it... Maybe Momo was right, but looking at them tonight, I know I made the right choice."

"Those two are so inlove with each other that it was so disgusting." 

Mina laughed. "I want to be that disgustingly inlove." 

"You can with whoever you wanted Minari. You'll find that person, I'm sure of it." 

Mina smiled her gummy smile, thinking of the hand that she is holding in her pocket. 

Maybe she already had. 

----

“So what did you two talked about that it took you so long to return?”

Jeong asked a sleepy Momo as they lay on their sides, facing each other. Momo could hear the pout on Jeong’s voice and Momo snuggled closer to the girl.

“Nothing.”

“Momo…”

“That I chose you Yoo Jeongyeon. There might be a time that I didn’t but I chose you again, and I am choosing you now.  And I won’t choose anybody else for the rest of my life aside from you.”

Jeongyeon stiffened at what Momo said, but her girlfriend looks like she was serious even if she is almost asleep.

“Are you…proposing to me, Hirai?”

Momo smiled, eyes shut. “Yes, yes I am. So you should always cook me the most delicious food because it’s an honor to be chosen by me, right?”

Jeongyeon grinned. “So where’s the ring?”

“I’ll give it to you tomorrow. I’m so sleepy, babe. remind me tomorrow, will you?”

Jeongyeon kissed her forehead and just let her drift away to sleep.

“I will. Tomorrow and the millions of tomorrows after.”