CHAPTER 4

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

illustration by eggwin (his socmed handles are down below! Check him out!)

            The sound of the alarm beeping woke Dahyun from her sleep. It was really early in the morning. The room was a bit dim the alarm clock radiated a small aura of light. 5:19 AM, the day of their supposed departure to Osaka, where Momo’s family is located.

            Dahyun’s eyes were greeted by a peaceful, sleeping Momo. The Aurora of her life. Dahyun smiled softly when Momo’s nose scrunched, imagining she could be dreaming about murdering a ball of yarn in her sleep.

            Too cozy to stand up and finish up packing, she snuggled closer to her fiancé. I love you. She whispered softly, oblivious of what’s going to happen in a matter of hours.

            “I love you too.” Surprised that a voice replied to her, she tilted her head back, being greeted by a fully-awake Momo Hirai. She smiled and giggled. “D-Did I wake you up?” Dahyun pouted, guilty of waking her. “It’s alright~ Cutie.” A finger booped the younger girl’s nose. Embarrassed, Dahyun buried her face in the blankets.

            “It’s really okay! Plus, we have to start preparing for our flight.” Momo stated, sitting up as she rubbed the grogginess out of her face. Her blonde hair was ruffled, but it didn’t get in the way of her looking like a goddess. Dahyun sighed, calming down. She whined and buried herself deeper into the warm comfort of their bed covers. “Mmm… sleep.” She groaned.

            Knowing that she can’t carry Dahyun out of bed, the elder girl giggled in defeat, standing up and heading out of the bedroom to fix their things for the flight.

            “Osaka, huh?...” Dahyun’s body was now facing upwards, towards the ceiling. “Japan.” She whispered, the memory of Sana popping up in her head. She furrowed her eyebrows and raised her hand to the ceiling. She stared intently at the back of her hand. You’re no fair. Sana’s voice started to echo in her mind. “What we had was something temporary, Dahyun.” It felt as though a heartstring broke. A single tear broke out from her eye. It still hurts her, after all this time. What am I doing?

            She shook her head, trying to dart the thoughts away and wiped the tear off her face. She shifted her body to lay on her side, seeing a picture frame holding a picture of her and Momo sitting on the bedside table. It doesn’t matter anymore.

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            Momo nudged Dahyun lightly in an attempt to wake her up. “Angel? You need to shower.” Dahyun gasped softly when she woke up. “A-Ah.. I’m sorry, I dozed off!” She said in a panic, noticing that the sunrays were starting peep out of the window. She stood up, gave Momo a quick kiss on the forehead and ran to the bathroom.

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            A camera flash bombarded a bored Myoui Mina in the face. She scratched her head and turned her face away. She looked at the screen located on her far left, hanging from the ceiling. Arrivals, it read. “So much for staying lowkey.” She was referring to Momo’s favor.

            “Dress a little less fancier, could you? I don’t want to bring a large crowd to the airport.” Momo said over the phone. Mina looked down on herself. She was wearing a baggy, but still stylish hoodie and shorts. This isn’t lowkey enough?! She complained, spotting a few new journalists come rushing to the gates several feet away from her. Her phone vibrated in her pocket.

            Giddy with a smile on her face, she turned to her bodyguard, notifying him to ping her driver to pull up the car. Her bodyguard nodded and tapped the earpiece, speaking to the driver. Mina, meanwhile, stared intently at the gates. She was excited to finally see her bestfriend, and her fiancé as a bonus.

            Mina kept checking her phone for the time, getting more and more excited as every minute passed by. When she heard a journalist shout in a deep voice and murmurs start to erupt, she immediately whipped her head towards the gates, where Momo and another girl were walking with their masks on.

            Mina jumped cheerfully, walking towards Momo and immediately hugging her. “I missed you so much, Momoring!” She gleamed. Momo hugged back but pulled away the instant she spotted the entire swarm of journalists behind the gates. “Minari, let’s talk when we get out of here?” She smiled cheekily and put her arm around Dahyun’s waist.

            “H-Hello.” Dahyun greeted when Mina’s eyes set on her. The elder girl smiled, her eyes shining at the sight of the pale girl. “I think we’ll get along.” Mina replied and turned her body to start walking to the exits. Airport security was notified in advance, and were now escorting the three of them, forming a barrier to keep the journalists at bay.

            In a jiffy, they were now inside Mina’s car. Mina was riding shotgun while the couple rode in the backseats. Mina told the driver where to go in Japanese, which still sounded a bit foreign to Dahyun, even if she’s heard Momo speak Japanese before. She was a bit uneasy, being in a foreign setting and an environment completely new to her. Momo sensed this and rubbed her shoulder for comfort, as if she tried to communicate, “I’m here, don’t worry.”

            “I’m Myoui Mina, Momo’s long-time childhood friend.” Mina opened up after glancing at the rear view mirror and seeing how tense the girl was. Momo smiled in response to Mina’s willingness. “N-Nice to meet you. I’m Kim Dahyun.” Dahyun stuttered out and bowed. Mina smiled, but looked straight ahead. Kim Dahyun? Why does it sound so familiar…

            “How’s auntie and uncle, Mina-chan?” Momo said, her voice a bit muffled due to the mask she was wearing. The both of them felt obligated to keep their masks on. “They’re alright, they’re out in our hometown right now, but they said they were going to cook for us again once they got back.”

            Mina kept glancing at the rear view mirror to magnify Dahyun’s face. The thought, the feeling of familiarity kept gnawing at her mind. It itched, almost. Almost as if she could swear she’s heard that name somewhere before. “What do you do for a living, Dahyun?” She asked, trying to ease the itch. “I sometimes work at my Dad’s café, but I’m working on branching it out.” Café… Mina furrowed her eyebrows, trying to claw through her memories.

            “I see. Where did you meet Momo?”

            “Do you want to tell her or should I?” Momo interjected, her excitement towards the topic was evident. It always seemed to fascinate Momo when she thinks back to how they met. Dahyun chuckled. “Together?” Momo nodded, her eyes flashing and gleaming and excitement.

            “It was a casual day at the café. It wasn’t a busy time so the café was dead empty, and I was just cleaning up the utensils we used to prepare the drinks for the lunchtime wave of customers.” Dahyun calmly told the story. “I was in Korea at the time, in the middle of my ‘vacation’. Journalists were coming to bite me in the , and I saw a wave of them from across the street. I had to take a sharp right, and ended up on the street where the café was located.” Her fiancé continued.

            “I was dumbfounded when Momo burst in, panting. She ran from the intersection to the café, which was a good number of lots away. She looked like a demon was chasing her.” The youngest girl of the trio adoringly looked at her fiancé. “I approached her and told her to calm down and stay silent about me being there.”

            “But did you know what she said?!” Momo built up. “She said,” she cleared , imitating the voice of her lover poorly. “E-Excuse me, miss, who are you?”

            Dahyun laughed and slapped Momo’s shoulder, evidently cracking up at her impression. “You still make the nastiest impressions, Momo-chan.” Mina interjected teasingly. This made Momo pout jokingly. “Anyway, it was the first time somebody asked me that so absent-mindedly.” Momo smiled, looking at Dahyun and rubbing her shoulder. “The moment I heard that, somehow, I felt glad. Instead of just staying there for a few minutes, I ended up chatting with her until they closed.”

            “She even helped me clean up the café!” Dahyun was proud. Amidst the flurry of emotions for the past days, she doesn’t regret ever meeting the girl. “And then I asked for her number and it just started there.” Momo ended with a soft expression, showing her gratitude for meeting the girl. Mina smiled and shrugged. “Momo’s a pain in the , huh, Dahyun?”

            “Hey!” Momo pushed her knee to