---

 

“So...”

Sana is minding her own business, playing around with her food while trying to avoid the stare of the person sitting opposite of her on the table. Mina closely observes the interaction between her friends with curious eyes; Sana is obviously trying to ignore the star player for the past half an hour since the lunch break started. It has been like this for almost a week now but none of them had actually made effort to come front with each other for their problems, or perhaps one of them is being too oblivious with her surrounding to catch what’s actually going on. Seeing the expectant look of Momo, Mina decided to be the good friend and nudges the aloof Sana for her attention.

“Huh?” Sana turns to the person sitting on her side, receiving a pointed glare from the penguin look-alike with a motion to look to her front.

“What is it?” She idly asked the pouting Momo, “You’re still hungry?”

With food being offered had the dejected puppy wagging her tail happily as she gladly took the Korean food made by Sana’s mother. At first, Momo had disliked the foreign taste but after a few times of stealing bits of the food, she comes to enjoy it a lot. Mina watched her friend wolfing down the meal with a fond smile before turning her attention to Sana. She gives her another gentle nudge, her soft eyes meeting tired ones.

Let’s meet later.

After sending Momo to her volleyball practice that afternoon, Mina pulls the reluctant Sana to an empty bench on the school courtyard. She chose a rather secluded area away from the commonly used pathway for students, perfect for the interrogation about to take place. She gestured for the confused-looking girl to take a seat beside her, the girl obeying without a word.

“What’s up with you?” She asked after a moment of silence between them. Sana gives her a puzzled look, “What?”

Mina sighs. This is going to be harder than cracking Momo’s thick skull, it seems. She kind of already guessed what’s going on between the two, but she wants Sana to be the one to break the news to her because believe it or not, Mina had not expected this kind of reaction from the rather bright girl.

“You don’t look so good.”

Sana lifts her shoulders with a weary smile, “I guess I’m just tired.”

“I didn’t know getting confessed to would make you this tired.” She whips her head to Mina, the latter wearing a nonchalant look despite the knowing glint in her eyes.

Sana gasps, “Momo told you?”

“She did tell me about the birthday confession plan. But honestly, I didn’t think it would work out, knowing how Momo-rin is.” Mina smiled at the shocking face of utter betrayal she received from Sana, “I kind of put two and two together after seeing your poor excuse of trying to avoid Momo-rin who is overly eager to talk to you since your birthday.”

Sana frowns as her shoulders sag in defeat. “Was it too obvious?”

“Not to Momo-rin, for sure.” Mina shrugs teasingly, trying to lighten the mood of the sulking girl. “Want to tell me what’s bothering you?”

She sighs deeply, not really sure how to express her jumbled thoughts into words. Mina patiently waits for her, an encouraging smile etched on her face. She lets out another breath before voicing out her concern.

“I’m really flattered, I do... But, I don’t know! It’s just too sudden! I’m not sure how I really feel about Momo, about all these things. I don’t want to hurt her by leading her on or something...”

The conversation paused for a minute, Mina thinking deeply of what to say with this complicated situation while Sana feels tired just by brooding about it.

“What do you feel about Momo-rin?”

“She’s our friend, Mi-tan. Of course I love her!”

Mina tilts her head with a pondering face. “What about when you’re together?”

“Well, we do argue a lot but it’s all just for fun, we’re comfortable like that. She’s cool to be with, sometimes annoying, sometimes adorable when she goes pouting for food, and makes me safe I guess.” Sana smiled at the thought before shrugging, “She is the protector of the group, anyway.” 

“Why don’t you give it a try?” Sana wears an incredulous look at Mina’s suggestion. “I mean, she’s Momo-rin. She’s lovable enough for a small kid to fall for her charms.”

“But I don’t even know what love is!”

Mina shakes her head with an amused laugh, “You won’t know if you don’t try, Sa-tan.”

Sana groans loudly, unsatisfied with Mina’s answer.

“Look, Momo-rin really put a lot of effort for your birthday present. The least you can do is to go along with her confession. If you think it’s not working, you can tell her about it.”

“Do I have to?” Sana pouts, only to receive a flick on her forehead. She whines while rubbing the sore spot as Mina gives her a motherly glare.

“Stop hesitating and just do it.”

“Geez! Fine, you Nike endorser.”

 

*

 

Sana finally yields after thinking deeply of Mina’s words, not to mention Momo has been on her tail relentlessly every day. She can’t help the flutter in her chest when Momo jumps up and down with her wide grin, lifting her up in a crushing hug and twirling them around. It takes a lot of yelping and slapping to stop the girl from accidentally throwing Sana in the air from her over-excitement. Sana turns around to pull Mina along with the hug, only to see the retreating back of the latter walking away from them.  

Things haven’t changed that much for the newly established couple. They still do the little things they did as bestfriend. But Sana realized there’s a little bit more meaning to it when she remind herself that Momo’s doing it because she likes her. It’s a little weird, but it feels good to be pampered by Momo. Usually they would banter around just to annoy one another, but seeing the gentle and soft side of Momo is a nice change.

They still bicker over small things, but it was more of a playful fight which has Momo giving in immediately from Sana’s heart-crushing pout. They still walk together to school, only it involves hand-holding with Momo’s adorable grin plastered along the way. The simple things like warning Sana of the small hole on the road or exchanging position so Momo would walk on the road side had more meaning to it now. They still eat together during lunch, with Momo’s stealth attempt of feeding Sana with the reason that she’s getting thinner and not eating properly.

Sana starts noticing the little changes in Momo’s action and gesture, and she can’t say they don’t have any effect on her. She begins craving for more, to the point that she’s the one asking for Momo’s attention and initiating skinship when they hang out together. However, there’s one more thing she’s been taking note of.

Mina’s lack of presence. Or rather, Mina’s avoidance every time they ask her to spend time together.

She noticed how Mina had been spending less time with them, starting with the girl’s missing presence during their supposedly lunch time together. She asked Momo of Mina’s whereabouts, only for the former to respond that she’s busy with school work after abruptly joining the student council as a committee member. Sana is shocked to find out Mina had kept her in the dark from this information; she usually is the first to hear from the timid girl for these sort of things. She decided to do what Mina would do in this situation; confrontation.

It’s Friday when Sana thought of a spontaneous plan to get her timid friend to hang out together. She glanced at her wristwatch while leaning on the side wall of the school gate, waiting for Mina’s appearance from the building entrance. Just as she had timed, Mina walks out of the entrance while trying to put some papers in her sling bag. A smile adorns Sana’s face from the sight, it’s been days since she last saw Mina and she misses the shy but sassy girl who always knows what to do or say at the right time. She calls for her, the latter clearly surprised with her presence.

“What are you still doing here, Sa-tan? Shouldn’t you be at home by now?”

Sana shakes her head with a smile, “I’m waiting for you.”

“Eh? What for?”

“To ask you out!”

“Ehh... B-But, you and Momo-rin?”

Sana chuckled from her friend’s absurd thoughts, “No, silly. I’m asking you out as friends. It has been a while since we hang out together.”

“Oh.” Mina paused with an unreadable look on her face, “Is Momo-rin going to be there too?”

“Yeah.” Sana nods with a grin. “She misses you too.”

Mina's curious expression immediately morphed to an apologetic look, “I’m really sorry, Sa-tan. But not today...”

“Okay, stop.” Sana put a hand on her waist as her expression changed to a stern one. “You’re avoiding us, aren’t you?”

“No... I’m not.”

“You’re hesitating, Mi-tan.”

Mina sighed exasperatedly, “Look, I really need to go. I don’t feel well and a relative is coming later tonight so I need to help with the preparations.”

Sana gives her a glare while trying to read her expression, the latter giving her a desperate look before she heard Momo’s voice calling for Sana from the distant.

“Sa-tan, please.” Her gaze softens from Mina’s pleading.

“Okay, fine. But you’re not getting away next time.”

“I’m really sorry.” Mina muttered before hastily walking out of the gate without even sparing a glance to the approaching Momo.

“So? Did you find Mina?” Sana put on her best smile before shaking her head, “They said she already left.”

“Oh, that’s a shame.” Momo frowns, only for it to be replaced with her dopey grin. “Let’s just hang out together, then!”

“Just us? Ah, how boring.”

“Hey! You did not say that!”

“I just did, though.”

Sana sticks her tongue out playfully before running away while Momo give chase to her. Unknown to the two, the timid girl is standing behind a tree, watching forlornly as the couple jokes around while chasing each other with joyful laughter. She turns around when the girls are getting farther away, wiping a tear trailing down her cheek.

 

*

 

They were walking to school hand in hand when Sana noticed her partner’s blank stare. She was silent, which is unusual because Momo would have been giving her cheesy lines and lame jokes each day, just because she wanted to see Sana’s pretty laugh. Not that Sana would be void of any laughter even for a moment in her life; she is indeed the giggling machine between the three of them. Sana tilts her head to catch her attention, but the girl was too distraught to notice her teasing smile.

“Hup!” She pokes Momo's cheek, catching the latter in surprise.

“W-What?”

“You’re frowning.”

“I am?”

Momo's hand wanders to her frowning face, receiving a giggling fit from Sana. She frowns deeper, but it changed into an embarrass pout when Sana again.

“You’re cute.” Sana pinched her cheek, earning a groan from the latter. “But what’s bothering you?”

Momo heaves out a sigh, her pout deepening as she mumbles “I miss Mina.”

Sana retracts her hand as she mirrored Momo’s feature because she too feels the same. She thought she was the only one missing the timid girl but she forgot that Momo has been with Mina far longer than her. They practically grew up together so Momo will surely realize her best friend is purposely avoiding them. It’s just that Momo is Momo; she has difficulty voicing out her thoughts, just like how Mina is. Sana wasn’t sure how did they get close with this kind of one-sided communication, but they made it work. They understand each other perfectly to a point that Sana had once envy their easy-going relationship which only consist of small talks and more of gestures and facial expression.

The day passed by rather gloomy and silent for them. It’s understandable that Momo is feeling blue from Mina’s absence, but Sana couldn’t find a reason why she’s also caught up in this grey cloud which had the liveliness out of her. Perhaps, she’s been spending too much time with Momo to be affected with her daily mood swings. She feels rather drained, and she doesn’t like it. Not a single bit.

With a resolve, she made a sudden turn to Mina’s house after separating with Momo on their way back from school. She had somehow managed to keep updated of Mina’s schedule and knowing the latter is probably still in her ballet class, she leans on the side wall of the massive gate of Mina’s house, patiently waiting while watching the clouds slowly floating along with the gentle breeze of the wind.   

Mina lets out a tired yawn while adjusting the strap of her backpack, her steps getting heavier by the seconds. She inwardly cheers at the sight of her house roof from the distance, only to feel wary of a presence squatting down in front of the gate. Upon closer inspection, her lips lifted at the sight of her friend distractedly playing with a black stray cat, or more like, the cat is playing with Sana as she is the one jumping up and down while the little fluffball only gives her a stare with a tilted head. Mina claps her hand twice, catching attention of the cat and a surprised Sana slowly getting up to greet her.

“Kuro-chan!” She calls for the cat, already familiar with the frequent visitor who always steals her mother’s fried fish. She heard a small groan, raising her head to meet a pouting Sana with folded arms.

“What?”

“You greet him first instead of me.”

Mina shrugs, in a mood to be playful with her friend. “He’s cute.”

Sana gasped, offended. “And I’m not?”

Mina merely laughs before poking her tongue out, only to be tackled by Sana with her signature bear hug. She lets out a squeal, loud enough to startle the black cat who hissed before running away to his hiding place.

“What are you doing here, Sa-tan?” Mina asked in between her giggles.

“I miss you, dummy!” She squeezed the girl tightly, getting another high-pitched squeal. “Momo misses you too, you know?”

She feels the girl in her arms stiffen, her laughter suddenly disappeared before she pulls away. Sensing the sudden turn of mood, Sana quickly grabs Mina’s arm to prevent her from getting away, again.

“Mina, is something wrong?”

Mina avoids her pleading eyes while trying to free herself from Sana’s grip, but today it seems like Sana is getting stronger than her.

“It’s about Momo, right?” Sana points out, before speaking out her thought of Mina’s withdrawal from them.

“You like her.”

Mina whips her head in surprise to the girl who mentally applaud herself for the right answer, which weirdly doesn’t sit well with her for some reasons.

“I... I don’t know –”

“Oh, hush.” Sana raised a hand, “Just admit that you like her, Mina. I can see through your actions.”

Mina clamps shut as she ducks her head low. She lets out a sigh, reluctantly nodding to Sana’s assumption. Devastated with the sight, Sana's hand automatically reached out to pat the girl’s head, prompting Mina to look at her with teary eyes.

“You’re... not mad?”

“Why would I?”

“Because both of you -”

Sana quickly pulls the dejected girl into her arms, rubbing her back gently as Mina let out the tears she’s been holding.

“Since when?”

“I don’t know.” She heard Mina sobs out the answer, her chest hurting more from the choking sound rather than the fact that someone else is having feelings for her partner. She decides to let Mina calm down first before firing the bullets of questions playing in her head.

“So you actually really like Momo all this while?” Sana asked after the girl had calm down a bit. She helps dry the falling tears with the sleeve of her uniform, receiving a small nod for her question.

“So all the teasing I did was actually...?” Mina nods again, this time with pink hue colouring her cheeks.

“Wow, seems like Momo-rin is the only one oblivious.”

“Volleyball makes her hit her head frequently, you know?”

Mina made her promise not to tell the oblivious star player about her feelings. Sana can bear with keeping more secrets from the dumb girl; she’s naive for a reason. But what she can’t fathom was how easy it is for Mina to put aside her feelings for Momo. It must be painful to see the person you like, liking someone else. It was just a stupid crush, Mina stated firmly after the little argument they had.

Sana still can’t understand how love works, she doesn’t even know if what she’s feeling for Momo right now is really love or just a fond affection. She really looks up to Momo, but she’s still confused with her thoughts of the girl romantically. Even so with Mina pushing her to try liking Momo despite her own feelings, Sana feels like she’s stuck in a room where there’s no door. The only way out is down, having to force herself to fall down the depth of uncertainty while drowning herself in more thoughts.

 

*

 

Sana has been trying her best to cheer up her partner, the girl with bangs had been busy with the preparation for the interstate qualifying competition. Which means, they are spending lesser time together, resulting in a more clingy Momo. It’s cute and endearing to discover the always grumbling girl have another surprisingly adorable side to her and Sana feels privileged to see it, with an exception to a certain penguin-like girl.

“She’s only like that when she’s stressed out over something.” Mina had once exposed with a deep groan when she saw Momo tailing the penguin all day long while pestering to be tutored and begging for last minute tips for their exams.

Since Momo has been going for her daily practice after school, it’s been a normal occurrence that she had found solace in the timid girl’s company. Mina had been adamant on keeping Sana away from her because she had once saw the discomfort on Momo’s face when the shiba look-alike jumped to her side, tightly hugging her arms that one evening after school. It was awkward; she noticed the frequent side-glances with the apparent deep frown of the volleyball player. But Sana is Sana; Mina can’t force herself to pull away from the touchy girl even if she wanted to. 

Sana was aware of it, but it was mostly misunderstanding on Mina’s side. Momo’s been missing the diligent girl a lot and she had caught up that she was the cause of Mina’s avoidance from them. The star player had tried to start up conversation with Mina, but the latter quickly turns her attention to Sana, blatantly ignoring the frowning girl.

Being the good friend she is, Sana attempted all kinds of plans she had in her head to get them to talk. But these two have heads of steel; their stubbornness are on par with each other that no matter what cheeky approach Sana tried to get them to be on better terms, both would clamped shut and withdraw from the slightest interaction.

Hence, another approach is to spend time with either of them when she’s able to and keep on updating these two girls of the other’s well being.

“Mina’s play is this Saturday.”

She nonchalantly said while passing a bottle of isotonic drink to Momo, her eyebrows quirk up from the information.

“Really?” She was about to grin when a thought cross her head. “Wait, my game is on Saturday too!”

Sana nods with a sad smile. “Just a heads up that Mina might not show up for your game.”

“Oh.” She dejectedly replied, her eyes downcasted to the bottle she's clenching. “Well, not that I expect her to be there with how things are.”

Sana lets out a long sigh as she grabs Momo’s hand for her attention, before threading their fingers together. “Momo, it’s not what you think it is.”

“Then, what?”

Sana’s forehead creased from Momo’s accusing tone, “What?”

“She’s been avoiding me for almost a month now and don’t think I’m that stupid but you know why, don’t you Sana?”

“Mina... has her reasons.”

Momo scoffed as she tears their interlocked fingers away. “Fine, don’t tell me anything.”

Just like that, the conversation ends. She pities Momo, but there was nothing she could do except to inform the stubborn ballerina for her troublesome silent treatment.

“How long are you going to keep this up, Mi-tan?”

She watches Sana from the reflection on the mirror, taking her time to regain her breath after warming down and reaching for her water bottle on the floor.

“I don’t know.” She answered truthfully, her lips and eyebrows turning into straight lines.

“Mi-tan, she’s having a hard time.”

“That’s when you need to act out your role.” The corner of her lips lifted, but void of the usual shine. “You guys are together now, Sa-tan.”

“But she needs you.” Sana wraps her arms around Mina’s exposed waist, her chin landing on Mina’s right shoulder. “You should see Momo. She’s a wreck when you’re not around.”

She chuckles lightly, leaning herself back into Sana’s embrace. “You think she’s going to forgive me?”

“She’s Momo.” Sana giggles, along with the girl in her arms. “She can never get mad at her Mi-tan.”

 

*

 

Sana had scheduled her day perfectly that Saturday, enabling her to see both of her friends in their glories. Mina’s ballet recital would begin late in the evening; she had already promised to be there and had even asked for an extra ticket in case she lost one knowing how clumsy she gets these days. She reasoned that maybe Momo’s aloofness had started to rub on her too when the ballerina gave her a strange look. Momo’s game would start any minute now and expecting it won’t last more than a couple of hours based on their previous friendly games, she can still make it if she can rush through the afternoon subway to the ballet recital venue.

It feels a bit lonely as she gazed to the empty seat beside her. It should have been Mina’s seat even if she can’t make it. It has been a tradition that both of their attendances are compulsory for every game, even if Momo was benched on certain games. They love seeing the sparks on Momo’s usual sleepy face when she’s on the court; those eyes would shine like the brightest star in the sky.

Mina would usually be the subject of her teasing; she would be caught gaping on the star player a tad too long with a faint adored smile and light blush covering her cheeks. Mina reasoned it was because of the heat, but she can't escape Sana's sharp eyes. It wasn’t news that Mina had been long crushing on her best friend, and Sana kind of hates herself for being the third wheel of their friendship. She wants nothing more than to be the supporter and admire their deep connection from the sideline. It was too precious to be broken just by the presence of an outsider, such as herself.

She feels that small pang in her chest, the one she’s been trying to ignore at times whenever these depressing thoughts would appear. She had to remind herself a few times to keep herself together and make sure not to dwell too much on her feelings because she’s not the only one having a bad time; others got it worse.

In the midst  of musing to herself, she feels someone plopping down on the empty seat. She was about to politely shoo the person away, only to widen her eyes from the blinding gummy smile before her.

“Miss me?”

The girl is slightly panting with her long black hair sticking out all over the place. Sana almost gushes at the realization that Mina had probably run her way here for Momo’s game, probably leaving in the middle of her rehearsal session.

“Mi-tan, you came!”

“Well, a certain star player needs her gorgeous sidekick loud cheer so...” She shrugs while trying her best to brush the disarrayed hair with her fingers. Sana let out a giggle before pulling the girl into a side hug. She pulls away after hearing a loud groan, before helping Mina with her messy hair.

“Don’t want her to die of shock from your ‘gorgeous’ appearance.”

“Rude.”

When they turn their attention to the court, it seems someone else is surprised as well as she gawks on their direction, trying to make out Mina’s presence among the audience. The girl raised her hand to wave; the star player caught it as she grins widely with an excited flap of her arm.

“Told you she’d be ecstatic.”

“It’s Momo-rin, she’s always excited.”

“Exactly.”

They shared a laugh before joining in the cheers, loudly yelling and clapping for Momo’s name when the ball meets contact with her hands. They don’t know the rules much but they do know how to be the best of friends for Momo. The game ended with their school team winning, making the volleyball team qualified for the interstate championship tournament. They holler for Momo’s name, jumping on their seats as the team throw the girl a few times up in the air to celebrate their win. Sana was about to pull Mina down the court to join the celebration when she sees her checking the time on her watch with a frown.

“You’re going already?”

“I’m already late as it is.” She smiled apologetically. “Say congratulations to Momo-rin for me, okay?” Mina squeezed her arm, receiving an encouraging nod from the latter.

“I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah.”

She silently watched as Mina rushes out to the staircase and disappears through the doors. She can feel eyes on her, already expecting the dejected look of her partner when she turns around. Truth to be told, Momo is giving her a questioning look with a frown obvious on her face. She really stood out from the happy crowd with that sad expression so Sana mouthed out ‘ballet’ while pointing to her watch, hoping the girl would cheer up again. Her fingers had accidentally slipped inside her sling bag, touching the sharp end of the ticket for Mina’s play. She takes it out, revealing two slips of the rectangle invitation card. A light bulb flashes in her head.

 

~

 

Two girls can be seen running out of the subway staircase as they slither through the crowds, one excitedly pulling her confused partner to an unknown destination. It’s a surprise, she said, but she followed without asking much thinking it might be the celebratory dinner the three of them promised to have after the game. They reached to a stop in front of a large auditorium while panting for breaths. Sana glanced at her watch, eyebrows rising in worry before tugging Momo’s arm towards the door. She presents two tickets to the receptionist who gives them a wary look, followed by a smile while pointing to another set of doors. Sana mumbles a thank you before leading them inside.

The place is almost full but they manage to get seats by the door, giving small apologies to the few people directing glares to them for interrupting the silence of the dim room.

“We made it!” Sana breathes out in hush whisper, meeting concerned eyes of Momo as she observe the place curiously.

“Yeah... where are we exactly?”

“An auditorium, duh.”

“I know that, but what are we doing here? I thought we’re having dinner? Is this some kind of special gift for my game?”

“Kind of.” Sana grins while squeezing Momo’s hand, trying to ease her obvious anxiousness. “Don’t worry, you’re going to love it.”

The place suddenly turns dark, a spotlight flashing towards the stage. A figure appeared from the shadow and upon detailed inspection of the way the person brought herself, it was palpable who it is by the sharp gasp coming from Momo.

“She’s the prima ballerina tonight.” Sana points out.

Throughout the play, no words were exchanged by the couple. They are watching intently, mesmerized by the fluid and intense movement of the once timid, small girl. Mina’s graceful acting was full of expressions; they don’t feel like watching Mina at all. She is like a different person, another persona of the role she’s acting out. Momo is watching with her jaw agape, sometimes squeezing Sana’s hand when her best friend effortlessly perform the hard-looking poses and moves because Mina, for the first time, is beautiful and bold. It’s a new kind of experience, a new side of Mina she hadn’t known, had miss, if Sana didn’t drag her here.

Sana observes the girl on her side with amusement. She had always barged in on Mina’s self-practice before so she wasn’t as affected as Momo is, but she is still enthralled by the ballerina’s performance today. Everything screams perfection as Mina had worked hard for today’s play, especially since she’s the main character. That’s the reason she was insistent that she would make it to Mina’s first play ever. And to see how Momo reacted to the girl on stage was worth it. The volleyball player had perhaps clapped the loudest, being the first one to jump on her feet for a standing ovation as the play ends wonderfully.

Mina had just finished changing into her casual clothes, still with her hair up and make up on when two girls barge inside the green room. They were led by a staff who gives Mina a grin and thumbs up to congratulate her performance. She had expected Sana’s presence, the latter is wrapping her in a tight hug which she gladly reciprocates. But she was overly surprised to see Momo standing by the door with a sheepish smile on her face.

“You and Momo-rin...” She pulled away while pointing to her friends in bewilderment. “But... – how?”

“I got the spare ticket, remember?” Sana winked in triumph before pushing the shy Momo towards the ballerina. They had yet to spare any words and Sana takes a few steps backwards to give them some space for the well-deserved conversation they needed.

“Congratulations.” Mina coyly said with hands on her back. “For winning the game. You played well, I mean - you were great, as always.”

“Ah, yeah... Thanks.” Momo rubs her nape awkwardly, her eyes catching Mina staring back with an expectant look. “Your play was good, too. It was really... wonderful.”

Sana almost roll her eyes from the suffocating scene of these two idiots. Wanting to save them from further embarrassing each other, she comes in between before wounding her arms on their neck, squeezing the whining girls together in a huddle, their heads bumping in the middle.

“There! Now make peace!” She exclaimed loudly, earning audible groans and soft giggles, soon booming into laughter. To others, it might seem like a crazy sight to see for them to suddenly burst out laughing out of nowhere. For the girls, it’s a common occurrence, a tacit understanding that can only be acknowledged by their deep bond of friendship. Mina had invited them to join for a late dinner with her family, which Momo had agreed within seconds. Sana laughed as the girl was teased by Mina’s father for her huge appetite, at the same time watching with admiration of how easy it is for her partner to converse with Mina’s parents. It had made her realize how much she misses this, how much she misses having the two dorks by her side.

It was a step closer to her secret plan she’s been devising for the two, and she is proud with how it had worked out in the end.

 

*

 

Sana had volunteered to clean the house the next day as her mother leaves early in the morning for work. She’s in high spirit despite it being the last day of the weekend. It might had to do with the mended friendship of Mina and Momo that had transpired due to her brilliant plan. She happily hums to herself at the thought while carrying the vacuum cleaner to the living room.

After thoroughly all the dust and dirt in every nooks and crevices, Sana wipes her sweaty forehead while loudly huffing out air from . She scans the living room one more time before smiling in satisfaction. She proceeds with wiping the tables and cupboards when she was met with scattered papers on one of the shelves. Not wanting to wet the papers with the napkin, knowing some of them might be important or related to her mother’s work, Sana quickly stacks them together before putting them safely in the provided box. She is absentmindedly scanning through another set of papers when her eyes caught the foreign words on one of the letters.

She immediately recognizes the characters, the bold Korean words had piqued her interest. It had been years since she left the country, but thankfully her memory with the foreign language isn’t too rusty. She had managed to read it in one go, happily clapping to herself for successfully making a perfect translation in her head. She decides to test herself more, feeling somewhat challenged to know the current level of her Korean language skill after years of separating herself from it.

 

 

 

Only to regret her curiosity as her excited face changed into a deep frown from the next paragraph.

 

 

---

A/N: