“What are you doing here, Minatozaki?”

“Why---How—you…“

Sana gaped unbelievingly at the nerd before her. Momo didn’t answer and picked up her sandals and changed into slippers. There’s no use hiding from blondie now. She picked up her things and was about to go out the door.

“Yah!”

Momo faced Sana. “What do you want?”

Sana looked at Momo’s face. With her glasses and bangs, she looked very far from the gorgeous girl who entered the restroom few minutes ago.

“Who are YOU?”

Momo sighed exasperatedly. “I don’t need to answer you.”

"Wait!"

Momo didn’t look back at Sana and went straight to the front door of the hotel. Sana ran after her and grabbed her arm.

“Yah!”

“What?!”

“If you don’t answer me, I will tell everybody in University who you are!” Momo stopped walking and looked incredulously at Sana.

“As if somebody will believe you.”

“And why would they not? I am MINATOZAKI Sana.”

Momo knows how famous and influential Sana is. One tweet, one word, and Momo can be revealed. But Momo held her ground. She is tired being constantly bullied by this girl and her friends.

“Why are you doing this? I am minding my own business; I am trying to live my life in peace!”

“You stole my partner for the project. A tooth for a tooth.”

“What do you want? I could return Mina…”

Sana shook her head. “Money?”

Sana laughed but entwined her arms with Momo’s.

“I’m hungry.”

“I’m not.”

“I haven’t eaten since I looked for you. I even waited for two hours outside!”

"I didn't tell you to do that, that's not my fault."

“You were absent for three days. I thought you got kidnapped!” Momo rolled her eyes at Sana and sighed.

“So if I buy you dinner, you will keep my secret?”

Sana looked thoughtful. “Hmmm. I’ll think about it.”

“Minatozaki!”

“Let’s talk about it over dinner.”

“Urgh, fine.”

Momo took her in a steakhouse and chose the table at the farthest corner from the door.

Momo ordered for them and they ate in silence. Sana can’t help but stare at Momo who ate heartily and ignores Sana most of the time.

“Are you a model?” Momo nodded while eating.

“Aren’t you guys supposed to be on a strict diet?”

“Why are you suddenly so interested?When days ago,I was like a bug that you'd like to step on."

Sana put down her chopsticks and looked squarely at Momo’s eyes. “Why are you hiding?If I were you,I would have flaunted it to everybody that I am a model."

“But I'm not you. And I wish I will never be like you.”

Sana leaned closer. "You don't even know me."

"I know enough. That you are big bullies just because you need to feel that self-validation that you could scare a nobody like me. That you do this to feel more superior. To hide your insecurities that behind that mask you wear, is that Minatozaki Sana who is afraid that she didn't even matter. That nobody would remember you, or the roles you played. That after you graduate you won't even leave an insignificant mark. That's why you bully me. And now blackmailing me. Am I correct, Minatozaki?"

“Tuuut. Watch your language, Hirai. Remember, I could ruin you.”

“As if I am forgetting that.” Sana caught the sarcasm on Momo’s tone. Sana smiled slyly. She knows she has Momo around her fingers and Momo knows it.

Momo looked at Sana intensely--so intense that Sana felt a shiver on her spine. “So I have treated you with dinner. What do you want in exchange with your promise not to tell anybody of my secret?”

“I can keep your secret, Hirai. No one will have to know. Not Mina. Not Nayeon.Not Jeongyeon. I wouldn't tell a soul. If--and only if... "

"What?"

"You will have to come to me when I text you.”

“What?Why?!”

"Just do anything I ask you to do"

"Like what?"

"Oh, anything. You will be my personal slave..."

"And if I say no?"

"Then everybody knows."

“What if I have schedule?” Sana shrugged. “It depends on your priorities. Work or privacy?”

“I can’t be absent in a fashion show!”

“Then you will be exposed the next morning.” Momo exhaled loudly. What did she do to deserve this?

She squared her shoulders and decided that she won’t stand for this crap.

“You know what, do what you want I don’t care.” Sana laughed mockingly and Momo hissed.

“F* you.”

“If by you, gladly.” Momo glared and stood and exit the restaurant, leaving Sana chuckling to herself.

---

Momo had no plan of going to class because one, she is still dead tired from her three day shows, and two, she wants to avoid a certain Minatozaki. But today is the scheduled random interview that she has with Myoui and she doesn’t want the girl to go alone.

"Hi."

Momo looked up on the book she was reading. Mina looked so chic and casual with her white top and jumper, hair in a bun and librarian glasses. She looked so effortlessly beautiful and Mina had to wave a hand on Momo’s face to get her back to earth.

“Oh. sorry. Good morning.”

Mina gave Momo her gummy smile and she internally swooned. Mina looked around if there are a lot of people to interview. The university ground is not that crowded, it’s class time, and students are either going to class or looking so busy doing school work.

Mina thought they can’t interview people here. “Let’s go to the Uni garden and on the nearby park, maybe we can interview some people there.” Mina lead the way and Momo just followed her meekly when Mina suddenly spoke.

“So, why were you absent for three days?”

“Uh, I got sick.”

“Oh. Are you ok now?”

“Yes.” Mina looked unconvinced and eyed her strangely but she just then shrugged. Momo almost hit herself on the head. This is Sana’s friend, and Sana might give Mina an entirely different answer and she would get caught.

This is why she doesn’t get close with anyone. Getting too close to someone will result to affiliations and attachments. Friends tend to be overly concern and ask questions and Momo cannot reveal herself too much. She had been hiding for three years, another year and she's free.

The only people she is closer than casual acquaintance are the geeky School Meal Club—Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu who are her housemates. The younger trio are typical geeks: Dahyun is the typical bookworm: reading books the whole day, spouts poetry and writes stories. Chaeyoung lives and breathes art. She is into paintings, sculpture, music and anything about classical art. She usually go to museums and vintage shops and if the weather is nice she goes to the beach and paint. She's a tough cookie yet kind of dreamy. An artist in all sense. Tzuyu is a quiet computer nerd who does some programming. She's very great in tracking and probably hacking because she once tracked Momo when she forgot to text them and didn't go home for three days. Dahyun almost called the police but Tzuyu assured her she's still alive.

They keep to themselves most of the time,except when they meet at the dinner table which is rare because of their schedules. This arrangement works well for the four of them since they love their alone time very much so they don’t question Momo when she doesn’t go home for days.

Mina stopped and eyed the people on the park. “Maybe we can ask those vendors.” Momo nodded. Mina led the way to the vendors and asked them if they can interview them. The vendors relented and Momo took notes of their responses. Mina thanked them and turned to Momo.

“Do you want to try to interview that old woman there?” Momo’s eyes widened.

“Me?”

“Yeah.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“I feel anxious and I stutter when I am talking to others.”

“You’re not stuttering now.”

“It’s different!”

“How so?”

“Well, they are strangers—“

“We barely knew each other, Momo.”

“That's not what I mean, what---?”

Mina tilted her head and looked at her straight to the eye. “You... you called me Momo.”

“Why wouldn’t I? That’s your name, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but---“

“Do you prefer Momo-chan? Or Momo-kun?” Momo gulped.

Momo opened but no sound came out. Momo’s classmate usually just call her Hirai or Hirai-san. This is the just the second time she talked to this girl and she is already speaking banmal with her!

Momo sighed. “Momo is fine.”

Mina beamed. “Momo is great! So let’s go? You try to interview her, ok? Don’t worry, I’ll help you with the other follow up questions.”

In the end, Momo was not able to do anything but follow Mina’s lead. And true to what Mina had said, she assisted Momo with the interview when Momo falters with her words.

By lunch time, they were able to interview the 20 people requirement. Momo dropped to the bench, exhausted. Mina smiled apologetically at her. “I know you just recovered from being sick then I tired you with this project. Gomen ne.” Momo laughed with the language switch.

She missed speaking Japanese. She answered in Japanese and before they knew it, they are conversing in Japanese. “Ah, I miss speaking Japanese! Sana and I don’t talk in Japanese much, since we are afraid our friends might think we are keeping secrets or gossiping.”

“I see. Where in Japan are you from?”

“Kobe.”

“Really? I am from Kyoto.”

“Wow. That’s close. Sana is from Osaka.”

“Really? So we’re all from the Kansai area!” Mina smiled at her. “Maybe in the future, we can go home together and show each other around town.”

Momo smiled shyly. For the first time in a long time, she felt the thought warmed her heart.

“I’d like that.”

Mina looked happy with the idea too, she cannot stop grinning. She grinned wider when she heard Momo’s stomach growled.

“Let’s eat. I think we deserve to eat something delicious because we finish half of the project, don’t you agree?” Mina treated her to Japanese restaurant, and they spend most of lunch chatting.

Momo thought Mina is a quiet person, but when she started to talk about the things that interests her, like ballet and games, she could be very enthusiastic and talkative. Mina thought Momo is very passive and shy, but she is very perceptive and reacts well to her stories.

Mina likes the way Momo laugh, her small dimples appear and her big eyes almost disappear. Mina didn’t notice the time until someone called her on the phone. Momo saw it was Sana. “Yah, yeah, I lost track of time, sorry. Yes, yes, I’ll go there now. Yes, sorry, on my way!”

Mina stood up and apologized to Momo. “I have a class in 5 minutes. I’m sorry I have to go first. But I really enjoyed this lunch, should we do this again?” Momo nodded and Mina beamed.

“Great! Do you want to go to my house later tonight?I mean we can finish doing the project.”

Momo hesitated. She doesn’t have schedule tonight but she felt everything is moving too fast. But then, she has schedule on weekends and she probably won’t have time to do the project. Before she knew it, she nodded. “yay! So I’ll pick you up later? Around 8?”

Momo blankly nodded and Mina was practically skipping out of the door. “See you later, Momo!” It's not a couple of minutes later before it dawned Momo that she will spend the night at Mina's. What had she gotten herself into?

---

Momo decided to go to school after an hour for her 3 o’clock class. It was still early, so Momo decided to drop by her locker to get her books. When she pulled her books something fell on her hand and she shrieked so loud that all the people on the hallways looked at her.

Some male students near her locker doubled with laugher, picked up what fell on Momo—a plastic toy shaped bug--- and tried to scare Momo with it.

“Yah! What do you think you are doing?” Yoo Jeongeyon asked the students as she arrived with Im Nayeon and other cheerleaders.

The hallway got silent and the students who pranked Momo was cowering in the sight of their sunbae. “I—it’s just a joke Yoo-sunbaenim.”

“Does she look like having fun, Park?”

“Well, it’s just that, well, you always tease Hirai here.” The guy didn't have a chance to blink.

Jeongyeon quickly went to the student and grabbed him by the collar. “Are you me, Park?” The male student nervously shook his head. “I am the only one who could tease Hirai, understand? Now scram, all of you! If you do this to Hirai again, you’ll answer to me, understood?”

Then pushed Park to the floor. “Apologize."

The male students bowed to Momo and scrammed out of there. Momo glared at Jeongyeon but then shut her locker and walked away before Yoo Jeongyeon could talk to her. Nayeon walked up to Jeongyeon. “What’s up with that, Jeong?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why save her from those guys?”

“I did not!”

“Well, it seems like it.”

“I—“ Jeong can’t understand it herself. When she saw those guys chasing Momo with the fake bug, something just burst inside her.

“I don’t want anybody making fun of her, but ME.”

Nayeon just shrugged. " You're getting soft Jeong."

"I do not!"

Nayeon just dismissed her with a flick of her hand. "Whatever. Do whatever make you sleep at night, Jeong.”

Jeongyeon smiled weakly. On the contrary, this is what keeps her from sleeping at night.

---

Momo dreaded their Sociology class because she was still livid with what happened earlier beside the locker area. Jeongyeon might have saved her earlier but then made a claim that she is going to be exclusively bullied by her! “Who does she think she is?!” Momo muttered.

“Thinking about me, Hirai?” She looked behind her with Jeongyeon sitting with her feet on the desk.

“Stop assuming, Yoo. Not everything revolves around you!”

“Well, I’d like to think so, because you have that permanent annoyed expression on your face.”

Momo side-glanced at Jeongyeon and rolled her eyes. She was about to face forward when Jeongyeon spoke again. “Do you want me to stop teasing you, Hirai?”

“Of course!”

“I’ll do that in one condition.”

“What?”

“Come to my game on Sunday.”

Momo gaped at jeongyeon, shocked.

The jock chuckled at Momo’s expression---she’s looking at her as if she grew three heads. “Why would I do that?”

“I thought you want me to stop teasing you."

"I do!"

"If you come, I will not tease you anymore.”

“But I have part-time!”

“Then I’ll tease you until you get old, have grandkids and until you die.”

“I don’t---“ Jeongyeon got something on her bag. “Here’s a ticket. It starts at 6pm. It’s with our rival Yonsei University.”

Momo looked shocked. “I didn’t say yes.”

Jeongyeon shrugged. “Then I’ll think of a more creative prank than the fake bug. Maybe I’ll get a real one for Monday. Hmmm, spider? Beetle? Snake? But where will I find one, hmmm... Ah, cockroach!”

“You wouldn’t!” Jeongyeon smirked. “Try me.”