LOOK AT ME Tzuyu
Baggage
a/n: this photoshoot inspired jock Haseul btw
update: ummm also apparantly Haseul canonically played hockey in high school... hot
“M—Mina? What are you doing here?” Momo asked – teeth chattering from the cold – as the younger Japanese walked into the Athletic Training Room, seeming like she was looking for someone.
“I—Momo, why are you shirtless?” Mina asked, startled by the older’s appearance. She had her hair up in a bun and was clad in a sports bra, in a tub up to her neck in water.
Momo lifted a leg up out of the water, “Pantsless too,”
Mina looked closer, “Is that ice?”
“Y—yep, Coach Kang told me I needed to take an ice bath, so here I am,” she said gesturing her hands under the water and jostling the ice around, “Care to join? There’s plenty room,”
“No…” Mina trailed off, unconsciously hugging herself protectively, “I was actually looking for the AT, but if he’s not here I guess I can just leave,”
“Oh, I think he just stepped out for a second, but he should be right back. Why? What’s up?”
Mina hesitated for a second before sighing and sitting down at the edge of the tub to roll up her right pant leg to reveal several thick surgery scars on her knee, “So a couple years ago something happened—” Mina cleared , “I can’t get into the details… but I blew my knee. If you’ve ever heard of the Unhappy Triad it’s when you tear your ACL, MCL, and meniscus all at once. I was able to have the surgery to get everything fixed or replaced, and did all my rehab. For the most part it doesn’t really bother me, but occasionally I still have pain with activity, so I’ve been seeing the AT from time to time,”
Momo stared in awe at Mina’s knee, come to think of it until today Momo had never questioned why the girl always wore modest sleeved leotards and stockings or leggings to every practice, but now she knew the reason. Mina was hiding a lot more than she let on. There was so much about this girl that was still a mystery to them.
“Was it Ya—” Momo started.
Mina cut her a glare as they heard whistling coming from down the hall.
“Was it related to… you know?” Momo asked again.
“Momo I—”
“Oh, hey Mina, I will tape you up in just a moment,” The AT said, stopping whistling to greet the girl as he entered the ATR, “Momo, your twenty minutes is about up, you can go now,” he said tossing her a towel off the rack.
“Thank you,” Mina and Momo said at the same time.
The AT looked between the two for a second before an idea popped in his head, “Mina, you might actually enjoy an ice bath for your knee tonight after practice if Momo would come up here with you and show you how to set it up,”
“I—I can’t,” She stuttered, once again winding her arms around her torso instinctively as Momo stood up from the bath in just biker shorts and a sports bra. She couldn’t imagine putting that much of her body on display in front of Momo, much less this practical stranger.
The AT shot her a knowing look, “Listen, I’ll be at field hockey pitch for practice and treatments until 6ish, so if you guys come here straight after you’ll have the place to yourselves if you’re shy. I really think it could be good for you, especially with the first competition coming up next week,”
So, it would just be her and Momo… well Momo has already seen my surgery scars, and part of my tattoo. How much worse could anything else be? She looked at Momo who briefly stopped towel drying herself to give Mina a thumbs up, “O—Ok, I’ll think about it,”
~
“Yes, ! Twerk it! Come on!” Momo shouted as Lisa bent over so her hands were on the floor and she was shaking her in the air. Momo was behind her slapping her good-naturedly in attempt to hype her up.
It was before dance practice and a few of them who had changed early were goofing around in the studio while they were waiting for everyone else to finish.
Chaeyoung was passing by on her way to get her camera before heading to the field hockey pitch when she encountered Momo all but dancing upon one of her members… oh, ok.
Momo had bent down over Lisa and was twerking with her before pulling the girl up and into a hug and kissing her cheek.
Chaeyoung recognized her as Rosé’s roommate. She didn’t know she was on the dance team, in fact, she didn’t know that her and Momo were friends at all. At this point Chaeyoung wanted nothing more to be on the dance team.
A weird sensation bubbled up in the pit of her stomach, she didn’t like Momo hugging and kissing other people. It made her feel a feeling she knew all too well and she didn’t like it. She didn’t like this jealousy she felt. So, she ran away, too sick to see anymore.
She knew she didn’t have any right to be feeling like this. She always got into trouble this way: feeling too much for people she didn’t hold any claim to. She was reminded of her tattoo and rubbed her nape subconsciously. Stop it Chaeyoung, you’ll only end up hurting again, she convinced herself.
… unless?
No.
Chaeyoung let out a groan of frustration at her conflicted thoughts.
~
Tzuyu was the second to arrive on the pitch, having changed at home today. Instead of feeling like crap like she had earlier she felt energized and ready for practice. She was glad she’d finally met her neighbor – especially now she knew they shared something in common.
“T-Star, what’s got you in such a good mood?” Jihyo greeted, the smile on her face unusually big as well.
“I could ask you the same thing, Cap, you’re looking unusually giddy today,” Tzuyu responded good naturedly.
Jihyo suddenly waved at someone behind them and Tzuyu turned around to see what. Nayeon was smiling and waving back. She was arm in arm with Sana who also shyly waved as well.
Tzuyu quickly turned back to Jihyo, “You’re friends with he cheerleaders now—and Sana—wait, you didn’t…” she accused.
“No! No, I just reconciled with Nayeon and Jeongyeon, so things are pretty good right now. And uhh… I’m pretty sure Sana was waving at you,”
“Wait, what?” Tzuyu said turning around, but the cheerleaders were no longer facing them. Nayeon was facing the girls sat on the bleachers and Sana was leaned into her, face buried in her shoulder comfortably.
Jihyo rolled her eyes at how oblivious the younger was, “Anyway, what’s going on with you? I thought you were sick when you texted me earlier saying you probably wouldn’t make it,”
“I—uh, I’m feeling better now,” Tzuyu blushed, she wasn’t sure if she should tell Jihyo she was homesick instead of feverish sick. She didn’t want to get in trouble. Either way she was feeling much better now and all that seemed to do the trick was a dose of vitamin Vi.
~
“She doesn’t like me, she hates me, that’s why she deleted the picture,” Sana rambled.
“She doesn’t hate you… no one could hate you. Think you’re obnoxious and even a little whiny at times, yes, but hate… no way,” Nayeon sighed.
“Yeah, but like she went to staring at me all the time, and the second I show any slight interest in her she runs away… why do they always run away,” Sana whined.
“She isn’t running away. Jihyo got a text from her this morning while we were together saying she was sick and probably wouldn’t make it to practice today. She isn’t avoiding you Sana,”
“Then why did I see her flirting with some girl outside of her apartment earlier!” Sana exclaimed quietly so no one else in the busy locker room would overhear.
“You aren’t exclusive, Sana... you're not even together. You really can’t blame her,”
“But I liked being the only one that held her attention…” Sana pouted, she knew she wasn’t, but until she found out more about this E> person, she wanted to believe she was. Was the pink haired girl E>? Or did Tzuyu have a line of lovers waiting out the door for her.
“Come on, let’s go to practice. That’ll get your mind off of her. She won’t be here today, so I expect you to have full focus unlike yesterday,” Nayeon linked her arm through Sana’s and they walked out to the bleachers.
As soon as they were in the stands, they spotted Jihyo talking to a tall lanky girl – Tzuyu – . Jihyo started waving happily at Nayeon who returned her expression and wave. Sana followed her eyes just as Tzuyu turned around and met her eyes. She mustered a weak smile and tried to wave, but seemingly as soon as Tzuyu saw her she turned around.
Sana let out a quiet wail into Nayeon’s shoulder, “See! I told you she’s avoiding me!”
“Who’s avoiding you?” Eunha asked, genuine concern in her voice as she arrived behind them with Rosé.
Nayeon turned around, still holding Sana, “I’ve all but gotten Sana to admit she has a crush on the new girl now,”
Rosé snickered knowingly.
“I do not!” Sana whined, not looking up, voice muffled by Nayeon’s shoulder.
“Good for you Sana! Why waste your time chasing that tsundere giant, when a whole Kim Yerim exists? Rich, athletic, and beautiful… and smart, she wouldn’t ignore your feelings,” Jinsoul suggested.
Jinsoul met the retaliation of a strong shove from Park Sooyoung who was following closely out of the locker rooms behind her.
“Oh, and she’s still single,” Jinsoul taunted again, but Sana could tell it was no longer directed at her and at someone else instead.
“Shut it Soul… I’m working on it,” Sooyoung grumbled.
“By the time you get the courage to ask her out you’ll both be too old to have . So, like what’s even the point?”
“You can’t be too old for !” Nayeon snapped at the same time that Sana shouted, “There’s more to life than just !”
“Oh, you two are ones to talk. Nayeon is practically ancient and Sana’s had more than all of us,” Jinsoul snorted.
Sana shrunk back into Nayeon’s arms self-consciously, and Nayeon puffed out her chest defensively, “Jinsoul, do you want to run the bleachers?”
“I—no ma’am, I’m sorry!” Jinsoul stuttered.
Sooyoung snickered at the younger’s now-flustered state, but her eyes soon found Yeri running out on the field, her brown curled hair pulled up in a ponytail with a pre-wrap headband and Jinsoul was back to clowning her again.
~
Momo was not surprised to see Mina wear her usual over-the-knee and three-quarter length leotard. She held herself with the grace and maturity she usually did, acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary between the two.
Momo had taken it easy today and focused just running the drills and making sure everyone nailed their routines as per Coach Kang’s command. She hated not being able to participate, but she knew better than to disobey Coach’s orders. Momo was still very driven though, and if she couldn’t push herself to perfection, she’d make sure everyone else was as close to that as she could get. Momo was merciless.
By the end of practice all of the girls were panting from the exercise, but Mina seemed really determined and unaffected. She had taken every drill, every move, every position Momo had given them and executed it perfectly. She even looked like she was ready for more as the other girls complained that they’d be sore tomorrow, “That all you got Hirai?”
Momo tossed Mina a towel, signifying that she was done, “Ice bath—you’ll need it,”
Mina rolled her eyes playfully, “You keep insisting that I ice bath, and I’ll start to think you just want to see me undressed,”
“Don’t flatter yourself Myoui, I’m so ADD I can hardly focus on one girl at a time, let alone two,”
“Oh, so you’re saying you have a girl?”
“What—no! That’s not what I said at all—Yah!” Momo spluttered as Mina lead the way out of the studio. They had to leave the art building and go to the athletics complex to get to the Athletic Training Room. With Mina being in the teasing mood that she was… this was going to be a long walk for Momo.
~
Chaeyoung couldn’t focus on taking pictures, she just kept imagining Momo and Rosé’s roommate grinding up on each other now that she was gone. What were the odds there was actually something there?
She flicked through the couple pictures she’d gotten from practice thus far and decided to call it a day. Maybe she should text Momo and see what she was up to. She knew it was a long shot, but if she was hanging out with Momo, Momo wouldn’t be hanging out with Lisa then, right?
… that was if Momo liked her enough to ditch her hypothetical plans with Lisa for her.
Ugh this is a stupid idea, Lisa is gorgeous, Momo wouldn’t want to hang out with me.
But it won’t hurt to try, right?
, yeah it actually could. I’m already too invested in this. But, if I never try, I’ll never know.
Ok Chaeng hurry up and shoot your shot before you chicken out again!
~
Sowon waved her stick in the air tauntingly as Tzuyu lined up to shoot, “You won’t make it—you won’t make it,” she was stretched out with all of her long limbs reaching to cover as much of the area of the goal as possible. She shifted her weight between her legs in preparation to dive either way to make the save.
Hyunjin was knocking up against her trying to steal the ball from her, but she was able to field it away from her stick.
Yuna was covered by Ryujin, so she couldn’t pass it to her, and Jeongyeon was tailed by Jihyo. Her only other option was…
“Tzuyu, over here!” Haseul called, pulling Tzuyu from her thoughts.
Nah, Tzuyu thought, admittedly still salty over being replaced on the roster for the first game by her.
“Better get it right… your girlfriend Sana’s watching,” Sowon bated her again.
That did it. Tzuyu decided she’d take the ball to the net herself. She did a spin, and shouldered into Hyunjin with some force, knocking her back just enough to make space for her to swing…
And for Sowon to judge and slap the ball out of the air to an open teammate.
“Too predictable,” Sowon taunted.
“Tzuyu, you’re playing a team sport, don’t forget that!” Coach Moon called from the sidelines, “Learn to utilize your teammates once in a while!”
“I was wide open, why didn’t you hit me,” Haseul asked, catching up to Tzuyu as they jogged back to defense.
“I wanted to hit someone,” Tzuyu grumbled, shrugging off her concern.
“Did Sowon’s comment get inside your head?” Haseul asked seriously, “She really knows how to psych someone out, and we’re on her team,”
“No—I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tzuyu answered quickly, ending the conversation by lunging forward to try and steal the ball from Doyeon.
~
“Hey, Chaeyoung finished taking pictures of field hockey practice early and wants to hang out. Do you mind if she joins us here?” Momo asked, not looking up from her phone that she was smiling giddily at as she entered the ATR.
Mina dropped her backpack next to the large tub, “Like here as in the ATR or here as in the ice bath? You’re inviting her to bathe with you? How romantic,”
Momo couldn’t catch a break. Her face reddened and she looked up, flustered, at Mina, “I—no—I’m not going to bathe with her!! Not that I’m against it… I’m not even bathing with you—I mean taking an ice bath—not romantically—and Chaeyoung and I… she doesn’t—she wouldn’t—I just meant at the ATR!” Momo finally huffed.
Mina started giggling quietly with a hand over , “Why don’t you just ask her out? I mean… it’s so obvious that you like her. I used to have a crush on her too before Dahyun, so I don’t blame you,”
“It is not!—Oh hey a lollipop!” Momo said noticing a jar of them on the AT’s desk and grabbing one for herself.
Mina rolled her eyes as she turned around to slip out of her leotard.
Momo’s jaw dropped and her new er nearly fell out of when the entirety of Mina’s Irezumi was revealed to her. It ran from the bottom of her posterior ribs to cap off at her deltoids, and not an inch of her skin in between was left blank. It depicted lots of traditional Japanese symbolism from cherry blossoms to koi fish, but the main feature was a white cat calmly sitting and cleaning its right hind leg – its sole black leg.
“Oh my God,” Momo breathed out, she couldn’t take her eyes off of it.
“Momo, you’re staring,” Mina pointed out without turning around, she shifted uncomfortably under the older girl’s gaze. She bent down and grabbed a sports bra to pull on in order not to accidentally show Momo parts of her she wasn’t supposed to see.
“Oh—right, sorry,” Momo said turning around, “It’s just… much bigger than I thought it would be,”
Once Momo was turned around Mina stripped out of her leggings and pulled on a pair of high-waisted biker shorts instead, “You can turn around now,”
“Wow that really makes Chaeyoung’s tattoos seem like nothing,” Even though Mina was now facing Momo expectantly, Momo’s eyes were still drawn to the small visible portion of her tattoo that ran onto her anterior side.
Mina smirked proudly, “Invite her, we can have a tattoo-off,” she said as she slowly, slipped into the tub full of ice.
Momo tapped away at her phone and it almost instantly dinged signifying a response.
[17:27] Momo: You can meet us at the ATR, Mina wants to have a tattoo-off
[17:28] Sleepy Cub 🐅: i have way more than she’s even seen
Sleepy Cub 🐅: what do i get when i win 😏
“She wants to know what she’ll get when she wins,” Momo snorted out loud.
“Hmm tell her… loser has to massage your stinky feet,” Mina shrugged.
“Yah! My feet aren’t stinky!” Momo exclaimed.
“Fine, then tell her that she can massage my stinky feet,” Mina smirked poking her foot out of the water and wiggling her toes.
“N—no, wait…” Momo stammered, face blushing. She didn’t want Chaeyoung massaging Mina’s feet.
[17:33] Momo: Mina says loser has to massage my super clean feet
[17:35] Sleepy Cub 🐅: omw
Sleepy Cub 🐅: jk 😅
Sleepy Cub 🐅: why do i feel like you actually came up with that penalty
[17:36] Momo: I didn’t 😤 I would have come up with something way better
[17:37] Sleepy Cub 🐅: what could be better than watching Mina have to rub your stinky feet?
[17:39] Momo: you’re on thin ice Son Chaeyoung
[17:40] Sleepy Cub 🐅: 😬😬
Sleepy Cub 🐅: i’m actually on my way though
Sleepy Cub 🐅: i wasn’t kidding
Sleepy Cub 🐅: be there in like 5
Five minutes later as if right on cue, the door to the ATR swung open and Chaeyoung instantly turned and pointed at Mina, “You’re going down Meow-y Mina!—Oh hey a lollipop,” she instantly was distracted by the er hanging lazily from Momo’s mouth.
Momo popped the er out of to wave it in front of Chaeyoung’s face, “It’s strawberry, wanna taste?” Momo stuck out her tongue teasingly. Chaeyoung noticed her lips and tongue were stained red… yeah, she wanted a taste of something alright.
“Yes,” Chaeyoung said quickly opening and taking the er into it, “frawbewwy if my favowite,” she lisped though the candy.
Momo stared at her in shock, she hadn’t expected her to actually bite… she was so taken aback she didn’t even let go of the stick, just held onto it until Chaeyoung reluctantly released it from .
Suddenly a timer went off and there was a wooshing noise and a groan as Mina stood up from the ice bath and grabbed her towel, “Momo if you stick that back in your mouth, I swear to God…” she warned.
Momo did just that, smirking at Mina proudly after. Mina sighed in annoyance. Why was Momo an actual child. She couldn’t believe at one point she actually looked up to this girl.
“You’ve only seen about half of mine, get ready to read ‘em and weep, Chaeyoung said hiking up her shirt, but before she could expose any new tattoos, Mina calmly dropped her towel and revealed her enormous tattoo. Most of it was effectively hidden by her sports bra, but Chaeyoung could see the relative size and most of the details, so she knew Mina had her beat.
Chaeyoung let go of her shirt and stared in awe, “How the—what the—since when? Where did you have that done? It’s so sick!! How long did that take! Can I touch it?” the questions all came tumbling out, and for once Mina didn’t actually mind.
Mina chuckled at Chaeyoung’s eagerness, “It was done by a family friend back in Japan—a gift for my 18th birthday. It took so many sessions I think I lost count, but they were split up into three-hour time slots. It hurt so badly, after the first few I would leave in tears… but eventually I got used to it. It doesn’t bother me anymore thank God, so yeah you can touch it if you want. It was done tebori style if you know what that is…” Mina trailed off when Chaeyoung gasped and suddenly retracted her feather-light fingers that were tracing the patterns of ink on her back.
“Of course, I know what that is! That’s like the most painful way to get a tattoo! But man, the art is insane. Mad respect Mina, I never would have thought you had it in you… no offense. Dahyun definitely would never,” Chaeyoung answered.
Mina’s face fell at the mention of her girlfriend, “Please don’t tell her… she doesn’t know about it yet… I don’t want her to hate me,”
“Mina, I have tattoos and she doesn’t hate me. Trust me, it’ll be fine,”
Mina still didn’t seem sure, but she cleared and turned to Momo, “Uhm, anyway Chaeng, you’ve got a foot massage to give,”
Momo suddenly furrowed her brow in annoyance, “Yah, Mina! Chaeyoung never got to show her tattoos, how do you know you won?”
Mina snorted in contempt at the challenge before raising an eyebrow at Chaeyoung.
“Yeah, Mina’s right… I can’t compete with that,” the youngest shrugged.
Momo’s face betrayed her disappointment that she wouldn’t be getting to see Chaeyoung’s hidden tattoos just yet, but Chaeyoung didn’t see because she was on her knees trying to lift Momo’s foot off the ground and place it in her lap.
Momo started giggling uncontrollably, Chaeyoung was less massaging, more tickling her feet, and she couldn’t help it.
“I’ve uh—I’ve got a club meeting I need to get to,” Mina – who was now clothed – said as she checked the time on her phone.
“See you later unnie!” Chaeyoung called, not waiting for Mina to leave to lift Momo’s foot to her face.
Momo thought she was going to kiss it and gulped hard, but Chaeyoung only took a dramatic sniff before putting it back down and pretend gagging, “I knew it! I knew you had stinky feet!”
Momo heard Mina giggle triumphantly as the door clicked shut.
~
Mina checked her phone as she left the ATR [18:03], , , , she was late. Of course, Games Club met on the opposite side of campus from the Athletics Complex.
[GC: GC Council]
[18:05] Kkura: Mina, are you coming?
Kkura: Moderator Son is asking if you’re ok?
[18:06] Jisoo: As vice president should I go ahead start the meeting without you?
[18:07] Sei: MINA WHAT IF I FORGET HOW TO SET UP THE VR GAME WITHOUT YOU
[18:08] Jisoo: I literally made VRchery Sei...
Jisoo: I don’t think anyone really plays it anymore since it's been pretty buggy though
[18:11] Mina: Dahyun does :)
[18:11] Kkura: Mina thank God
[18:12] Mina: I’m on my way, Jisoo start without me
[18:12] Jisoo: You got it boss
[18:13] Sei: BLESS I almost had a panic attack
[18:14] Jisoo: Almost…
[18:14] Kkura: “almost”
[18:10] K. Dahyun: Where are you?
K. Dahyun: Should I worry? You’re never late.
[18:11] Mina 🐧: Everything is fine. I’m on my way
Mina 🐧: See you soon 😘
~
Once the door was closed, Chaeyoung set down Momo’s foot and looked around again to make sure they were alone, “Hey, so weirdly enough that actually reminds me uhhh, I have something that I’ve been meaning to give you,”
Momo’s face lit up, “Really? What is it?”
Chaeyoung scratched the back of her neck uneasily, “Its uh, well—it’s everything I’ve got,”
“E—Everything?”
“Yeah… so we can do it in my car if you want?”
“I—in your car?” Momo gulped nervously. This is it. They were doing it.
“Yeah it just seems like it’d be a bit more private… I’m not sure who’s office this is, but umm this is pretty illegal, and I don’t want you to get in trouble,”
Even though she was insanely nervous she couldn’t keep her heart from melting at Chaeyoung’s concern for her.
“Y—yeah let’s go have—” Momo started before she was cut off by the door to the ATR swinging open.
“Momo, you’re still here?” The Athletic Trainer asked
“I—we—we’re just leaving,” Momo said hurriedly, taking Chaeyoung’s hand and leading them out of the Athletic Training Room.
~
“Oh, hey,” Mina said as she nearly collided with Tzuyu on her way to Games Club.
“I was going to apologize for being late, but I guess I don’t have to anymore since you’re clearly late too,” Tzuyu joked lamely.
“I was taking an ice bath… what’s your excuse,” Mina snorted.
“Oh so you were just chilling in the Athletic Complex with the cool jocks and lost track of time, I don’t think that’ll fly with Games Club,” Tzuyu teased in return, before turning to Mina and revealing her own ice pack wrapped to her shoulder, “But, same,”
“Really, and you’re late because you were giving someone the cold shoulder?” Mina retorted.
“I—uh…” Tzuyu’s face suddenly went serious, “Not really—why? Did she say something?”
Mina shoved Tzuyu playfully trying to lighten the mood again, “I meant because the ice… no need to have a chip on your shoulder… again the ice chips,”
“Who are you? Jeongyeon? What have you done with Mina?” Tzuyu shook her head in dismay and opened the door for Mina.
~
“Unnie why’s your face all red?” Chaewon asked, poking Dahyun’s cheek tentatively.
“What! Yah, pay attention, my face isn’t red!” she grumbled, flushing even deeper red.
“When you’re normally ghostly pale it’s kind of hard to deny when your face turns bright red,” Hyejoo deadpanned.
“Are you texting a boy,” Chaewon asked, trying to get a peek at Dahyun’s phone screen.
“Quit clowning me and pay attention! I don’t ask you two about your relationship!” Dahyun huffed annoyedly, doing nothing to stop the furious blush on her face.
“I—what—we’re not—” Hyejoo started to stutter out.
“Oh, that’s so cute, she thinks we’re dating!” Chaewon clapped gleefully, turning her attention to Hyejoo.
“We’re not dating,” Hyejoo grumbled with force, her own face beginning to resemble that of Dahyun’s.
Just then Mina entered the room with Tzuyu right behind her. She nodded at Jisoo to keep up what she was doing and weaved her way through the desks to get to Dahyun, instantly pecking her on the cheek and causing Dahyun to hide her blush all over again.
“A girl!” Chaewon exclaimed in wonderment, “And here I was thinking Dahyun was straight,”
Hyejoo rolled her eyes and shook her head in dismay.
“It’s 2019, you can’t assume anything,” Mina hissed turning around to face the younger girls, “This club has an antidiscrimination policy so if you have a problem with that, I have the power to remove you,”
“N—No ma’am!” Chaewon stuttered, “My girlfriend would never let me live it down if I got kicked out of a club for being homophobic,” Chaewon laughed weakly shooting a pleading glance at Hyejoo.
Hyejoo sighed and put her head down on the table in embarrassment, “We’re not dating!” she cried, muffled by her arm.
“You heard her Hyejoo, it’s 2019, you can’t assume anything anymore,” Chaewon pointed out.
“That’s not what she meant!” Hyejoo groaned again.
“I—did you really just try to ask someone out by twisting my words?” Mina asked in disbelief.
“Yeah, but I think I just got rejected… so I guess I’ll try again tomorrow,” Chaewon shrugged.
~
“I didn’t really think this through…” Chaeyoung trailed off looking into the door of her Subaru Forester.
Momo was standing behind her with her arms wound around her waist and her chin on her shoulder, waiting patiently for Chaeyoung to initiate. She’d never done anything like this before, so she wasn’t sure how to begin. She blinked in surprise, lifting her chin to get a better look in the car to figure out what she was talking about. There was a large brown bag on the seat. It reeked… in fact, because of it, the whole car kind of reeked.
“Uhh… that’s uhh… that’s a lot of weed,” Momo said nervously.
“I told you, it’s everything I got… That’s what you wanted right?” Chaeyoung asked turning around and causing Momo to let go and step back.
“I—yeah. I did ask for that didn’t I?” She answered, trying to hide her disappointment.
“But I kind of forgot you don’t have a car… I’m so stupid,” Chaeyoung said pounding her fist onto the car in frustration.
“Hey—no, you’re not! It’s fine. It’ll totally fit in my backpack,” Momo said optimistically, jerking her thumb over her shoulder at her pink Off White backpack.
“But your backpack will smell like… this,” Chaeyoung gestured inside her car.
“It’s ok. I don’t mind… I was just getting used to my socks smelling like that,”
Chaeyoung looked at her with eyes that were so soft and searching, “But I don’t want you to smell like that. I kind of think you smell good… minus your whole stinky feet thing,”
Momo giggled, her face reddening, “Chaeng, it’s ok. I’ll wash the backpack,”
“As long as you’re sure…”
“Yes, I’m sure. So, how much does this much cost?” Momo asked pulling out her wallet.
“Umm… I don’t know,” Chaeyoung admitted.
“You don’t know?”
“Yeah I’ve never… I don’t know, ok. It’s a lot!”
“Ok… here’s what I’ll do,” Momo said putting the wallet back and taking her chequebook out instead, “Will 5 million won cover it?”
Chaeyoung nearly fell over, “What the , Momo!”
“6 million?” Momo asked, looking up from her writing.
“Momo, no—I can’t ask you to do that,”
“Chaeyoung I insist… and like maybe you won’t have to sell drugs anymore?”
“K—Keep it, you’re helping me out, really,”
Momo looked down and scribbled something before tearing off the cheque and ing it in Chaeyoung’s hand, “No—Chaeyoung, here is 7 million won, and I don’t want to hear another word about it,”
Momo took the bag of weed, put it in her backpack, and her heel before looking back once, “I’ll uh—see you tomorrow in class, ok?”
Chaeyoung just held the cheque limply in her hand as she stared at Momo with agape.
As Momo walked away she wondered if what she was doing was right. Was she buying Chaeyoung’s affection? Maybe that was the only reason Chaeyoung was showing any interest in her. She only hung out with Momo so she could give her drugs and get her money. Chaeyoung hadn’t refused her thus far though… was the promise of money that good? Momo had to find out. No more drugs. The next time she saw Chaeyoung she’d find out if she would hang out without the promise of money
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