​​​​​                “How you feeling today champ?” Yeri asked, greeting Chaeyoung at the door.

 

                “Uhhh, like I got hit by a bus?” Chaeyoung grumbled, pushing her hair out of her face. She was hungover. She had a lot of emotions after yesterday, so she grabbed a couple bottles of Soju and went to her favourite place: the subway.

 

                “Well, you didn’t… because you called me crying and I knew I needed to save you before you attempted to walk home like that,”

 

                “I was sad?” Chaeyoung asked, rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hand.

 

                “No, you were strangely happy,” Yeri snickered, “You kept wailing about how perfect Momo was and that the world didn’t deserve her,”

 

                “I don’t deserve her,” Chaeyoung grumbled in agreeance with her drunk self.

 

                “No—I cut you off before you got there,” Yeri butted in, “You deserve someone nice, someone who’s going to put as much into you as you put into them,”

 

[ding]

 

                Chaeyoung opened up her phone and immediately dropped it in shock.

 

[02:14] Chaeng Chaeng: wanna heva s*x?

 

                “Uhhhhh Momo, why did Chaeyoung ask me if I wanna have s star x? What does that even mean?” Sana asked, sitting up in bed and showing Momo the message. Yes, she had slept at home last night. Tzuyu kicked her out almost immediately after her declaration of war on UPS to which Sana had pouted about for a while. “Six maybe? But six what?”

 

                “Oh, good one. Ask her,”

 

[07:22] Sana: Six?

 

                “YERI!!” Chaeyoung exclaimed, “Why did I ask Sana if she wanted to have with me last night?”

 

                “You told me you sent that to Momo!” Yeri said, eyes widening in panic.

 

                “You let me send that??” Chaeyoung exclaimed.

 

                “You said you were going to be brave and confess to Momo, I didn’t realize that’s what you meant!” Yeri defended.

 

                “I blame you,” Chaeyoung said, “I’m 100% blaming this on you,”

 

[07:30] Chaeng Chaeng: i’m so sorry Yeri sent that

 

                “She said Yeri sent it…” Sana announced over her cup of coffee.

 

                “Why would Yeri text you from Chaeyoung’s phone at 2am and ask such a vague question? Well I guess it’s not super weird for field hockey players to text you that late, but they’re usually asking for… wait, let me see the message again,” suddenly it clicked in Momo’s mind.

 

                “More interestingly, what was Yeri doing with Chaeyoung that late… I never would have imagined those two together,” Sana admitted.

 

                Before Momo could rebut with her new theory, there was a knock on the door. They both assumed it was Rosé, so they called her to come in, but instead it was Tzuyu.

 

                “Hey,”

 

                “Hey,”

 

                “I um—do you need a ride to class?” she asked, hesitantly, not directing the question at anyone in particular.

 

                “Yes,” Momo instantly replied. She was sure Tzuyu would be a much better driver than Rosé if the flawless car she’d seen her driving around in was any indication of it. Tzuyu drove a baby blue Bentley Continental GT and Momo had always secretly wanted to ride in it.

 

                “That sounds nice,” Sana answered calmly, “I’ll text Rosé and let her know we’re going with you instead,”

               

                ~

 

                “I need coffee,” Chaeyoung said searching her wallet for any bills and finding none.

 

                Yeri pulled her wallet away from her and pointed to the counter where the brand-new Keurig Dahyun’s parents had bought them sat unused, “Make coffee you idiot, then you won’t have to spend all your money at that expensive café on campus,”

 

                “Ugh but making coffee takes time,”

 

                “Yeah, but making coffee is a form of self-love,” Yeri explained, “Just think how much better it will taste knowing that you made it yourself,”

 

                “I hate you, why can’t you just buy me coffee? And don’t you ing—”

 

                “Give a man a fish—”

 

                “—I knew you’d say that,”

 

                “Then why’d you ask?” Yeri chuckled.

 

                “Maybe I hate myself a little too,”

 

                The machine was surprisingly intuitive and she was easily making coffee in no time. She didn’t expect much, because it was her first time after all… and it wasn’t store bought, she took the first hesitant sip.

 

                “Wait, this is actually really good?”

 

                “Seriously? Let me try?” Yeri asked, reaching towards Chaeyoung’s thermos.

 

                “ no! I ain’t sharing with you! Go catch your own fish or whatever,” Chaeyoung exclaimed, moving the thermos out of her reach.

 

                ~

 

                “Chaeng, my dad wants to meet you,” Yeri said, turning around in her desk in front of Chaeyoung.

 

                Momo studied Chaeyoung’s reaction. She was clearly nervous.

 

                “D—Did he say why all of the sudden?” She stammered, “I—I didn’t think we’d be meeting until we were much further along,”

 

                “Well… things have been going well I think, and he wants to talk to you and kind of figure out your intentions from here,” Yeri said smiling proudly.

 

                Chaeyoung sighed with relief, “Yerm, I swear to God… you give me heart palpitations,”

 

                “You love me though,” She said before turning around to get settled for class.

 

                Uhm hold on… are they flirting??? Right in front of me??? Momo thought incredulously. How many girlfriends does Chaeyoung have?? Momo had always been a monogamous girl… maybe she read this situation wrong? Maybe Chaeyoung wasn’t interested in Momo at all and that’s why she hasn’t tried to make any moves yet. Maybe she was just using her to get to Sana, and that's why Yeri asked her to have with them last night. Her eyes bored holes in the back of Yeri’s neck now that she was facing away from her. Is that a tattoo?? Yeri has a nape tattoo too? Of course, she does, Chaeyoung probably has a thing for girls with tattoos. Wait, Sana doesn't have any tattoos... does she? Momo sighed audibly.

 

                “Hey, what’s wrong?” Chaeyoung asked, attention instantly on Momo.

 

                “Oh, nothing—nothing’s wrong,” Momo sighed again. She couldn’t help it.

 

                “Tired?” Chaeyoung asked knowingly.

 

                “Something like that…”

 

                “Here, drink this… I brought my own today. It’s really good I swear,” Chaeyoung said offering Momo her own personal thermos full of coffee.

 

                Momo eyed the cup skeptically and was about to refuse when Chaeyoung – obviously able to read Momo’s hesitance – interjected, “It’s totally not weird right? I mean like we kissed… so I just assumed you wouldn’t mind drinking after each other…”

 

                Momo cracked a smile at the memory and took the cup willingly this time, ok maybe Chaeyoung was worth it. It really was delicious—much better than Sana’s. Momo could actually see herself drinking this in the mornings… yeah Chaeyoung was definitely worth it.

 

                After Momo took a sip, she was feeling rather brave, so she replied, “Technically I kissed you so… still waiting on you to kiss me back,”

 

                And Chaeyoung could only keep shut and gulp hard because she could swear the butterflies in her stomach were at risk of busting out any second.

 

                ~

 

                “So, should I tell him to meet you at the place like 3pm?” Yeri asked after class, not looking up from her phone.

 

                “I’m probably going to skip next class and head over after this… I have to fix everything I started last night… who knows what crazy ideas I had when I was drunk,” Chaeyoung answered, checking the time.

 

                “Ok, I’ll tell Professor Kim you have diarrhea again,” Yeri joked.

 

                “You’re the best,” Chaeyoung beamed.

 

                ~

 

                Chaeyoung ran off without a single ‘goodbye’ or even a ‘see you later’ to Momo. She knew she wasn’t owed that, but this was unlike Chaeyoung. She was acting weird ever since her conversation about meeting Yeri’s dad. Since it was Monday and thus their day off of dance practice, Momo felt like she could do a little bit of investigating and finally figure out what Chaeyoung was up to.

 

                She had a feeling ‘the place’ they had referred to could be the same place she had taken Heejin: the subway construction site. But that was a long shot, right? Momo hoped she wasn’t right, and that Chaeyoung was meeting him at a nice business building, or a park, or even Yeri’s parents’ house, anything but illegally hanging out in a construction zone.

 

                When Momo originally arrived at the construction end of the subway, she didn’t see Chaeyoung. She wanted to feel relieved, but the thought began to creep into her mind that Heejin could have lied… Momo shook the thought out of her head, she didn’t want to consider that. She probably just wasn’t here, but she had to be sure. She started calling out hoping if Chaeyoung was around she’d come out, “Chaeyoung, Chaeyoung-ah, are you here?”

 

                ~

 

                Chaeyoung was having a hard time with her red can not spraying well. She was getting frustrated, so she started to shake and even pry at the jammed nib when she heard Momo—.

 

                She ran out in time to stop her from entering the construction zone, spray can in hand, “Momo, stop! What are you doing here?”

 

                “I came to find you, I made Heejin tell me where you go after the last time that she was late for practice,”

 

                “Y—you can’t be here, t—this is a construction zone,” She stuttered massaging her temples and getting red paint all over herself in the process.

 

                “But you’re here…” Momo answered reaching up to wipe a paint smudge off of Chaeyoung’s forehead, “Umm… you got a little…” she started to say.

 

                Chaeyoung put the can down in attempt wipe her hands off, but just succeeded in making more of a mess. Sighing in frustration, they both reached to grab the red can at the same time causing it to knock over and fall off the ledge with a clatter. This finally caused the pressure can to exceed the force of the jammed nib and it rocketed off, spurting paint in every direction.

 

                “Hey, you!” a security guard called.

 

                “Run!” Chaeyoung pushed Momo towards the stairs and started running at the security guard. Momo didn’t turn around until she was out of sight, just in time to see Chaeyoung get grabbed by the officer and handcuffed… caught red handed for vandalism of city property.

 

                ~

 

[15:05] Appa: I was going to tell Chaeyoung I’ve decided to grant the scholarship to her… but she never showed up. Very unprofessional. Guess I’ll have to rethink.

[15:06] Yerim: No Appa, wait. She said she’d be there. She really deserves this I swear. I’ll text her to make sure she’s ok.

 

[Missed call from Yerm]

[15:07] Yerm: Chaeng?

                Yerm: Where the hell are you?

                Yerm: Please pick up

[Missed call from Yerm]

[15:10] Yerm: Now is not the time to be sleeping!!

                Yerm: Dad is rethinking the scholarship

                Yerm: FYI he was originally thinking of giving it to you

[Missed call from Yerm]

[15:16] Yerm: Chaeng I’m worried, are you ok??

 

[GC: Chaeng’s R.O.D.s]

[15:20] Yerm: code 14

                Yerm: it’s time

[15:21] Heekie: I’ll check her apartment

[15:22] Yang Yang: subway

[15:24] Nik: stydio

 

                ~

 

                Yeri put down her phone and began changing out for practice. She was glad that Somi wasn’t cleared for practice so she could check on Chaeyoung with the others.

 

                “What’s wrong?” Sooyoung said, bumping Yeri’s shoulder friendlily.          

 

                “Its noth—actually, no, can I trust you?” Yeri said, halting what she was doing and looking up at Sooyoung seriously.

 

                “Yeah, absolutely,” She replied, searching Yeri’s eyes.

 

                “My best friend is in trouble right now, she isn’t answering her phone, and with the nature of her… extracurricular activities, I’m really worried about her,” Yeri opened up.

 

                Sooyoung exhaled, she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a little relieved to hear that, “I’m sorry to hear that, how can I help?” she asked.

 

                “You can’t. I’m working on it,” Yeri answered.

 

                Sooyoung raised a questioning eyebrow at the girl.

 

                Yeri sighed before responding, “It’s complicated, I can’t get into it right now,”

 

                “You don’t have to do this alone Yeri…” Sooyoung trailed off.

 

                “I know… I’m not,” Yeri replied strongly, “I wish I could tell you more, but it’s out of my hands now, and I just have to hope it all works out,”

 

                ~

 

[15:59] Kkura: Mina, come home, we have a situation

[14:00] Minari: … what kind of situation?

[14:01] Kkura: You avoided the problem for too long and now we have a leak

[14:04] Minari: how do you know about that?

[14:05] Kkura: Quit stalling

                Kkura: You know what must be done

[14:06] Minari: I’m on my way

                Minari: Please don’t do anything yet

[14:07] Kkura: Get trash bags on your way

                Kkura: The odour blocking kind

                Kkura: We don’t want it to stink like last time

 

                “,” Mina cursed under her breath.

 

                ~

 

                Heejin was pounding on the door to Chaeyoung’s apartment when Somi arrived. Somi clutched her ears and winced, “God, that’s loud,”

 

                “Sorry,” Heejin looked at her apologetically before continuing knocking quieter, “No sign at the studio?”

 

                “Nope, I came here as soon as I swept the building. Didn’t Dahyun move in yesterday? Why isn’t she answering?” Somi asked.

 

                “Please open up Dahyun!” Heejin pleaded, “I’m sorry I know you probably hate me because I’m sketchy, but please this is important!”

 

                “Maybe she’s not here… we should look somewhere else,” Somi suggested

 

                “Yeah… I’ll text Yang Yang,”

 

                ~

 

[GC: Chaeyoung’s Children]

[16:11] Heekie: any luck at the subway?

[16:12] Yang Yang: she wasn’t there, but there were red stains all over the place

                Yang Yang: They almost look like footprints

                [Image Attached]            

 

                “, this screen is too bright, Heekie just read it to me,” Somi groaned struggling to squint her eyes at the screen.

 

                “He said he saw red footprints… code red?” Heejin responded.

 

                “Well … ask him if he could follow them?” Somi suggested.

 

                “He did, and they lead to Okaeri. He said he’s scared and wants to wait for us outside though,”

 

                “You heard him, let’s get going then,” Somi said taking off down the hallway.

 

                “He’s wondering what business she could have at you guys’ apartment complex,” Heejin panted as she tried to keep up with her athletic friend.

 

                There was a brief pause before both girls responded at once, “Momo,”

 

                “Did her Sugar Mommy finally pop off and decide to murder her?” Somi asked worriedly.

 

                “No—I don’t think Momo is like that,” Heejin replied, “Maybe a little jealous at times, but I thought she really liked Chaeyoung,”

 

                “Maybe they’re just hooking up and that’s why she hasn’t been answering her messages,” Somi suggested.

 

                “No way,” Heejin responded, “She knew this meeting was too important,”

 

                “Look!” Somi called Heejin’s attention as she ran, pointing to the ground ahead of them, “Red footprints… and look at the spacing. That’s a solid running stride,”

 

                “That’s a too wide a stride for Chaeyoung… she had to really be booking it! We know she doesn’t run unless someone is chasing her… Something is definitely wrong, and Momo is involved, we just have to figure out what,”

 

                ~

 

                When they got to Okaeri they grabbed Yang Yang and followed the footprints around to the back entrance. Heejin shot Somi a look.

 

                The girl returned her worried look, “It’s the entrance to the garbage room… hold your nose,” Somi said before punching in her code and swinging open the large noisy door.

 

                The room was dimly lit and smelled like… well it smelled like garbage. There was a giant green dumpster in the middle with everyone in the complex’s trash piled inside.

 

                Heejin looked around in awe, nearly forgetting her mission before they heard another loud creaking noise. The door on the other side – where the footprints lead to – was being opened.

 

                “That’s where we need to go,” Somi whispered suddenly.

 

                “Hide!” Yang Yang hissed, making a snap decision and tugging the girls behind the dumpster after him.

 

                Two voices shouting at each other in Japanese could be heard, but neither of them belonged to Momo. Somi and Yang Yang couldn’t speak the language, but lucky – or unlucky however you looked at it – Heejin could.

 

                “You idiot, how could you let this happen?”

 

                “I—I don’t know it, I guess I got lazy,”

 

                “You got careless. What would your father say?”

 

                There was a grunt and a loud thud as something heavy dropped into the dumpster. The girls clapped their hands together to wipe off the grime from their load before continuing.

 

                “Nothing—he’s not here, and we’ve taken care of it,”

 

                “That smell better not linger,”

 

                “Oh hush, I’ll get Febreze,”

 

                “What about the stains? And the stickiness!”

 

                “Oh, like you’ve never cleaned a crime scene before,”

 

                “This is different, it wasn’t my fault,”

 

                “You are equally involved in this as I am!”

 

                “This is all your little blonde friend’s fault, if she had just stayed away… we wouldn’t be in this position,”

 

                “Really? You know her name… and please don’t drag her into this, I already feel bad enough… she didn’t deserve this!”

 

                “I’m just saying she’s the one who created the mess, so we had to take care of it! I have a right to be a little upset about that,”

 

                They began cursing at each other, but Heejin could no longer hear as the door creaked shut behind them.

 

                “Holy crap—”

 

                “—what did they say?” Yang Yang questioned.

 

                Heejin stood on her tippy toes and peered over the dumpster at the large garbage bag that had been deposited inside… it was definitely large enough to fit a body… maybe even two if they were small like Chaeyoung.

 

                Heejin gulped nervously. She didn’t want to consider that possibility. They had to continue on.

               

                “Follow them!” Heejin shouted, and the three teenagers went running after the two totally random normal Japanese girls.

 

                I know what you’re thinking… sounds like a great idea right? They’re totally outnumbered, they can take them… and yeah, that was Heejin’s reasoning too.

 

                But Heejin was very very wrong. Those were no normal Japanese girls.

 

                ~

 

                As soon as they entered the stairwell Mina was waiting for them, she tripped Yang Yang – who had entered first – and grabbed Somi by the shirt, pinning her against the wall with one arm while she held Heejin in a headlock with the other.

 

                Sakura was boredly picking at her nails with a butterfly knife as she leaned against the stairs and stared down at Yang Yang waiting for him to get up. The frightened boy was admittedly a little slow on the draw, he cowered away from her, but didn’t try to run or challenge Sakura for fear of being on the wrong end of her weapon.

 

                “What the hell, Kkura, put that up!” Mina hissed, as she noticed the weapon.

 

                “I was only cleaning my nails…” Sakura groaned, “You never let me have any fun,” she pouted as she closed the knife.

 

                “What do you want? Did my parents send you?” Mina said shooting Heejin a glare. She recognized the girl from dance team, but she wouldn’t put it past her parents to have spies in all areas.

 

                “What did you do with Chaeyoung?” Heejin shouted bravely.

 

                “What did we do with Chaeyoung? Who’s Chaeyoung?” Sakura asked.

 

                "Son Chaeyoung? I haven’t seen her… why?” Mina asked loosening her grip on Heejin but keeping Somi just as firmly pressed against the wall… she looked to be in a little better condition than the rest and didn’t want to risk her trying to challenge them.

 

                “Liar! You’re a murderer, I heard what you said! Who’s in the garbage bag?” Heejin shouted, on the brink of tears.

 

                “Oh my god shhhh!” Mina hissed, letting go of Somi and surging forward to cover Heejin’s mouth, “Don’t shout that!”

 

                Somi just slumped to the ground and clutched her head in pain. I’m useless, I’m probably the fittest one of the three of us and I can’t even take one of them right now. I can’t fight her. GOD my head hurts. I can hardly think straight.

 

                “Mina what is she talking about?” Sakura asked, retracting her knife, “Should I be concerned?”

 

                “I have no idea!” Mina exclaimed, “We were just taking out the trash!”

 

                “Mina’s girlfriend made a mess the other day,” Sakura said rolling her eyes, “Of course, I got left cleaning it up when it started to stink and attract bugs!”

 

                “You can say her name!”

 

                “I’m mad at her, she doesn’t deserve that!”

 

                “She didn’t intentionally leave a mess Kkura! And I didn’t either, we never cook, so I forgot about it!”

 

                “Please stop shouting, my head is throbbing!” Somi groaned loudly.

 

                Everyone went silent and looked over at the girl slumped on the ground, “What’s wrong with her?” Sakura whispered to Yang Yang.

 

                Mina’s eyes suddenly softened, “Wait, I remember seeing you get hit by that girl’s stick. Are you ok?”

 

                “I’m fine! I just want to find my friend and we keep hitting dead ends!” Somi exclaimed while massaging her temples.

 

                “If you don’t know where Chaeyoung is, can you please point us in the direction of Momo’s apartment because I have a feeling she does,” Heejin asked nicely.

 

                “Uhhh yeah sure, it’s on our floor, we can bring you there,” Mina answered, extending a hand to help the girl up.

 

                “You guys know we didn’t murder your friend, right?” Sakura asked as she helped Yang Yang up.

 

                “I don’t know anything,” Somi sneered.

 

                “Nik, drop it, they’re going to help us find Momo,” Yang Yang tried to sooth the other girl.

 

                “We don’t need their help, we have the blood foot prints!” She exclaimed gesturing to their continuation up the stairs.

 

                Mina giggled suddenly and had to cover to stifle it.

 

                “What?” Somi snapped.

 

                “That’s clearly not blood,” Sakura deadpanned.

 

                “Yeah, blood isn’t this bright… besides even if it was it would have oxidized and turned brown by now… and judging by the size and viscosity of it—”

 

                “Ok we get it, quit bragging!” Somi grumbled, “Just lead us to Momo,”

 

                “Please,” Heejin added politely.

 

                ~

 

                Dahyun heard the urgent pounding at her door, but figured it was probably Mina. She didn’t really want to face her right now because she was still pretty upset about the whole scary kidnapping situation thing. She didn’t know how she could look at Mina now that she knew what she knew. This was all so new and scary to her.

 

                … only Mina didn’t seem to want to give up any time soon. She kept pounding, so Dahyun did the only thing she could think to do: put her headphones in.

 

                “Please open up Dahyun,” she could hear a voice faintly through her headphones plead, “I’m sorry I know you probably hate me because I’m sketchy, but please this is important!”

 

                Hate you? I could never hate you… and maybe that’s why I’m so upset in the first place. She cranked the music up and drowned everything else out.

 

                ~

 

                Momo ran, like she always did. She bolted back home as quick as she could while trying to remain unseen. She even took the back entrance to Okaeri where they threw away her garbage just to be safe. She was frustrated. She was mad at Chaeyoung for getting arrested. Most of all she was worried, though she wouldn’t allow herself to admit it. Instead she focused her efforts on scrubbing the red paint off her shoes. The handprints on her shirt were a lost cause.

 

                When she initially arrived back at Okaeri she had instantly ran to her room and flushed her weed down the toilet, unsure if the security guard could track her down and arrest her too. Only then did she look down at her feet and notice the hasty paint tracks she’s left through their den.

 

                There was a knock on the door snapping Momo out of her cleaning induced reverie. She panicked and called Sana to answer it… but there was no answer. Sana was not home to protect her and the knocks just grew louder and more desperate.

 

                Momo grabbed her Hello Kitty umbrella and braced herself as she looked out the peep hole… to see Heejin? She quickly opened the door and Heejin almost toppled in at the rate she was knocking. She recognized the girl with the nosebleed and the boy from the drug deal were with her but remained further back.

 

                “Uhm… what are you guys doing here?” Momo asked cautiously. They all had some sort of connection to Chaeyoung, but why were they here?

 

                “Momo we need your help! Chaeyoung’s missing and we need you to help us find her!” Heejin exclaimed.

 

                Momo sighed in defeat, “Heejin… I know where she is, but I think she is beyond my help at this point. Maybe this is for the best…. She is a drug dealer after all. Her getting arrested was bound to happen one way or another. She’s lucky vandalism is probably a lesser charge than possession and distribution,”

 

                “She was—wait,” Heejin would have laughed had this been any other situation, but this was real, and it was serious, “You think she’s a drug dealer?”

 

                “Well yeah… you know as well as I do,” Momo scoffed.

 

                “She’s not a drug dealer Momo,” Heejin looked at Yang Yang and Somi who were hanging back, leaning against the wall in trepidation, and they nodded in agreeance, “Chaeyoung would never do drugs, let alone deal them… she taught us to be better than that,”

 

                “Then why did I see her offering “green” to Yang Yang… or addicting “white” to Somi or hallucinogenic “purp” to you?”

 

                “M—maybe it would just be easier if we showed you…” Heejin said taking Momo’s hand and leading her back to the subway.

 

                Momo was really sketched out at what they were going to show her, but she kept reassuring herself this was Heejin, Momo knew her. How bad could it be?

 

                They crossed the construction zone to the closed off area of the subway and Momo reluctantly followed. What she saw on the other side was something she never could have expected, though. It was an area filled with color and character littered with scaffolding lining the walls and ceiling.

 

                “We paint—we did this,” Heejin said gesturing to the brightly coloured walls. She wasn’t lying, Momo could see their signature tags all over the place. Suddenly the names they called each other made sense: a rabbit for Heejin aka Heekie, a unicorn for Somi aka Nik (Ennik), a cat for Chaeyoung aka Kat, and a Yin Yang symbol, but instead of a white and black side it was two white sides with black dots in the middle, two yangs for Yang Yang.

 

                “We’re not old enough to buy spray paint so Chaeyoung hooks us up,” Yang Yang finally supplemented, “That’s why she offered me green… paint,”

 

                “She worked out a deal with Yeri’s dad—the head engineer in charge of the construction of this new wing of the subway and he said he’s willing to pay one member of the art club’s scholarship a year if we “liven up” his boring subway station because he thinks people should see a little happiness even while they’re doing mundane things like commuting,” Somi explained, speaking up for the first time. Momo couldn’t help but notice how much better her teeth looked now, even though her nose and mouth were still very much black and blue. She felt silly for thinking her sports injury was caused by drugs.

 

                “We all know Chaeyoung really deserves this scholarship, but she won’t get it if she’s got a criminal record. She has been teaching us as well as looking out for us and making sure we stay out of trouble,” Heejin pleaded, “Please… help us help her this one time. We need you to bail her out,”

 

                Momo was in awe. She didn’t know what to say. She felt stupid for believing the worst about Chaeyoung, when really, she’s probably the most selfless person Momo had ever met.

 

                “I have a better idea,” Momo said suddenly, “I was there when she got arrested. I’ll make them release her. I know she wasn’t doing anything wrong,”

 

                Heejin immediately jumped to hug Momo, and before Momo could even return the hug Somi and Yang Yang had joined her. Momo suddenly knew what these seemingly random teens were to Chaeyoung. They were her kids. She of all people understood what it was like to have college children of her own. And if she hoped to be dating Chaeyoung one day… she realized her family was going to grow.