~Of Bathtubs and Restraining Orders~

“I’m so stupid.” Momo grunts, wearing baggy sweats and a camisole, her gym bag slung over her shoulder. Her hair was up in a ponytail and her face was completely devoid of makeup. When she reached her friend’s spot on their favorite café, she repeats, “I’m so stupid.” She sat beside Sana on the booth, and dumped her things on the table.

Sana hummed not even acknowledging her friend. She took some fries from Jeongyeon’s plate and skirted a bit to her right to give Momo some spae.

Jeongyeon missed Sana’s hand in slapping and nodded towards Momo, “I agree. Go on.”

Momo sighed, putting her head against the table. She cried, “I walked in on my roommate while she’s taking a bath.”

Jeongyeon laughed and patted the top of Momo’s head, “Good one.”

Momo looked up and might actually look like she’s about to cry, “I wish I’m joking.”

Sana dropped her cup on the table and looked at her perplexed, “You don’t just walk in on someone taking a bath, darling.” Then she leaned in, interested, “Did she invite you in…? Did she leave the door unlocked… what?”

Momo looked in pain when she looked at Sana, “I just came in from a late practice, and Lisa was hell-bent on making us cry until we perfect that pyramid--” And Sana listened to her attentively as she bites her straw.

“Here we go…” Jeongyeon mumbled. Instead of answering the question, Momo has a habit of going in detail every time she tells a story. Like that time it took her an hour to talk about her first kiss: only for her to conclude that it was a dare during their High School Graduation Party.

“--amount of times my spotter had missed me or caught me in the wrong places! Ugh! And so my body aches!! And all I can think of was a good hot bath. And then I had dinner with—”

Jeongyeon doesn’t even bother to nod, she could actually tune out the rest of irrelevant things Momo had said until she gets to her point: which is why she had walked in on her new roommate.

“And then I know it was locked, but my mind was just there, you know? So I got my key! Had to ACTUALLY remember where the key to the bathroom is!! But luckily I put it on the hook on the wall near the ref just in case!! And then I FINALLY unlocked the door. And…” Momo moves her hands in a circular motion then placed it infront of her towards Jeongyeon as she looked between Sana and Jeongyeon, “There she was before my eyes, stark ,”

“…”

“I know this did not continue on where my mind is going right now, so go on,” Sana leaned in, almost fishing for gossip. And in retrospect she is. Ever since Momo’s gay awakening, never had the girl ‘actually’ acted on it. Even when Sana had volunteered a countless of times, she’s very willing to be a tribute, Momo had profusely declined— saying something about not crossing a boundary in friendship. And that just thinking about kissing Sana—who is like a sister to Momo is making Momo’s stomach flip and not in a good way.

But before Momo can continue, Jeongyeon interrupted and slapped Sana’s hand, “What do you mean ‘go on’?! I swear your brain is out of this world!” Jeongyeon looked at Momo, “What do you mean you got your key and unlocked the door?! Are you insane?! You can’t be that exhausted to not know that’s not normal!”

Momo shook her head and pouted, “I’m that exhausted. I’m also that stupid. I wasn’t thinking at all. Just the hot water.”

Jeongyeon looked at her in disbelief. She would almost laugh at how ridiculous it sounded. If she weren’t friends with Momo she might actually not believe it. Very few students had actually gone against the status quo and even fewer had been successful in their endeavors. Jeongyeon thinks Momo and Sana had definitely stood out against the status quo, in their own weird ways that is.

Momo banged her head on the table one more time, she had got to have a bruise by now— and then said, “well, I stood there for like minutes and before she can scream, I just blurted out, “I’m on the squad, I see girls under the shower all the time, no biggie.”

Jaw-dropping, their eyes widening, both of her friends had said, “You said what?!”

Momo whined, shaking her head, scratching her forehead a bit, “I’m so stupid.”

…

Jeongyeon and Sana continue to stare at Momo until Jeongyoen breaks the silence, almost in a whisper and said, “That’s the weirdest pick-up line I’ve ever heard, and I can’t believe I’ll say this but only Momo can pull that one off.”

“A little overwhelming, but yeah…” Sana said, nodding as she looked at Momo almost impressed, until she shook her head, frowning, “I’m almost impressed except for… you know, your roommate probably thinks you’re a ert?”

Momo looked down, her shoulders slumping. “Yes, that one too. So I panicked and instead of dashing out and apologizing, like a normal person would, I just took a step forward and then sat across her on the bathroom floor, and went with, “so how was your day?”

“You said she was and you did what?” Jeongyeon had actually lost strength and had to lean back against the backrest of her chair.

“You did not—“

Lost in their own world, Jeongyeon slapped her hand against the table, sipped from her juice suddenly feeling thirsty, “No this is Momo. She doesn’t have the courage. This is probably a dream.” She turned to Sana as if to say, ‘It gets worse as she goes on.’

“Yes…” Sana snorts, “Only Momo would dream of having a very attractive girl under the shower with steam, and not join her.”

“Did you just say she’s attractive? And there was no steam!”

“I have eyes and I have taste.” Sana rolled her eyes at Momo and added, “Drop the judging! You’ve seen her so you tell me.”

Momo complained, “How about we make this less about your gay and more about me being stupid?”

Sana mouthed a ‘sorry’ and said, “We can’t do both on the same level?”

“Sana, help me! She’s gonna move out for sure!”

“That’s your immediate concern?!” Jeongyeon scoffed. Jeongyeon has Sana on the same Ethics class and she doesn’t understand how Sana can actually excel on theoretical classes and be like this when she’s talking to Momo.

Momo looked at her helplessly, “Considering she pays half the rent? Yes. That’s my immediate concern.” She turned to Sana and said, “Move in with me~~”

“You’re the one who insisted ‘we didn’t have to be together all the time, Sana.’”

“Right after you said you want your own place and you’ll come over from time to time anyway?!”

Jeongyeon snapped her finger and looked at them incredulously,  and waved her hand, “I mean I don’t know, how about the obvious, that she’ll file a restraining order and report you to the authorities?”

Momo gasped, “And file a restraining order and report me! Oh God! I will be expelled! I’ll go to jail! And probably be stabbed in the guts on my first day!” As Momo go downward spiral in the rabbit hole,

Immediately, Sana started running her fingers over her scalp, like she had done so many times to her as a child when Momo would get herself into all kinds of trouble. "I don’t think you’re going to jail." she said softly.

Momo shook her head, mutely, her face growing even redder. She moaned and mumbled, “I panicked. I wasn’t thinking. I just didn’t want to make things awkward. I actually just ended up telling her about my day. I wasn’t even looking at her.”

For everything that’s worth, Jeongyeon could understand Momo, so much that she’s actually feeling bad for her. So she offers her croissant and pushed the plate towards Momo. She looked at her, and played the whole scenario in her mind and laughed a little. Decided, she said, “Can I just say, your mind just works differently, like wow! Can’t believe I’m still blown 3 years later. 70% would go dash and say, ‘well, this is awkward I’m gonna see myself out, that’s me. Maybe laugh a bit, act cool. Then there’s 29% with Sana over here,” Jeongyeon tapped Sana’s hand, “who would maybe make a joke about joining in and wink right after.”

Sana giggled and hit Jeongyeon’s arm playfully, but nodded anyway.

Then Jeongyeon returned her gaze on Momo and dropped, “And then there’s you. Pretty sure you’re the only one taking that route.”

“I know, I’m so screwed!”

“Well, you won’t hear us disagreeing soon.”

“I just don’t want to make things more awkward than it already is. I mean we barely talked. We barely hangout. I’m still unsure if I could talk to her informally.“

Momo found herself wanting to talk to Tzuyu, drawn to her for some odd reason, but she didn't know what to say and how to approach her.

“I mean sure, unlocking the door with a key while she’s in there is defo bypassing all the necessary steps in developing a friendship.”

“Ahhhh!! This is so bad. I have this awesome photographic memory, and every time I look at her, I just go… bang! This , I really like her!”

Jeongyeon laughed and Sana soon joined her, “first of all, you don’t have an ‘awesome’ photographic memory. Otherwise, you won’t have problems in memorizing the cheat code I sent you for your Chem Exam.”

“Hey!”

“Second, --”

Aside from New Year and the inevitable red packs she (still) receives from her grandparents, Tzuyu’s next favorite holiday is Christmas. What’s not to love, right? The cold weather, perfect for staying indoors, getting warm with the heater, blanket and hot choco. Her house pet cuddling close to her, as if she wasn’t apart of it for the whole year. And the cookies her mom bakes for her when she comes home.

She sits comfortably in their small den as she pats the blanket. She smiles contently, grabbing the remote, browsing through Netflix and looking for the perfect movie to watch as she waits for Momo to finish showering. She looks at the gifts under the tree to distract herself. There were presents of a raggedy parcel tied with string, a silver box with a bow atop it, a small present covered in ungodly amount of sticky-tape (from the kids, obviously), a squishy-looking package wrapped in candy-cane paper and a square present covered in indigo paper with silver stars. She’d been so nervous about spending Christmas with Momo that she’d forgotten that she’s finally back home. (Or that her ‘home’ is now in her home, spending a holiday with her family – psh, no big deal.)

Settling on she should just let Momo decide, she gets her phone to check her messages. Seeing a message from Sana, and tons of selfies while saying she’s bored waiting for her flight, Tzuyu decided to send her a picture of their Christmas tree.

With her brother’s family coming back to the house, they must have allowed their nephew and niece to decorate, because the tree was haphazard and had far too many ornaments on it, and the tinsel was crooked.

Not even a minute later she gets a reply,

SANA: It looks like Santa threw up in your place.

TZUYU: What do you mean? 🥺 It’ll grow on you!!!

SANA: Stop being cute. I just meant your place is very Christmas-y

SANA: With the big tree and the tons of gifts.

SANA: Our flight got delayed 😫😫

SANA: Also. Sad I can’t come to your place. 😔 Is Momo there yet?! She said she got stuck on traffic.

TZUYU: just arrived. Taking a shower now.

SANA: Send pics!

TZUYU: of her showering??

SANA: YES

TZUYU: ?!?!

SANA: I meant of you together. I asked Momo but she's not replying to meeeee. I miss youuuuuuu 🥺

It’s always this time of the year that she really gets a space from Sana. Even though Momo is a usual visitor on New year’s, Sana had never been to her home town – aside from that one birthday of her mom that she invited all her college friends. Sana’s family usually spends Christmas to New Year overseas, celebrating the holidays and her birthday. But all the same, Sana promises to send pictures on their groupchat.

SANA: I’m still salty you didn’t let me say goodbye properly 🥺

TZUYU: As tempting as that offer is, your morning goodbye's tend to spiral into hour long sessions of me into the mattress.

SANA: You say that like it’s a bad thing.

SANA: also good choice of word. . 😉

Tzuyu bites her lip unconsciously, remembering her last day in the city. Since Momo was spending it with Mina, saying they won’t see each other over the break, Tzuyu stayed over at Sana’s place. Ever since she got comfortable with their arrangement, she found herself not being indifferent with Sana’s affection. Thinking about it now, she thinks it’s weird how it’s almost natural for her. Even though it’s her first time with this – whatever she has with Sana, that is.

Tzuyu is undoubtedly a morning person, clearly made to get up and get going with her day. Sana, however, was more cat-like in that she liked to laze about for at least an hour after the sun came up. She was awake, but that didn’t mean she had to get out from underneath the warm covers. On days that Tzuyu stays over, she would get out of bed, shower, prepare her things, and then come back to find Sana still in bed, nestled within the covers. Tzuyu doesn’t wake her up before she leaves but she makes sure to send her a text. On the days that Sana would wake up, right before Tzuyu can leave her room, she would for lazy morning kisses for a moment.

Crossing her legs together tightly, she pets her cat on the side and takes a picture of it, sending it to Sana. Sana’s attempt never works on Tzuyu before, so it shouldn’t now – especially now: just because they’re secretly sleeping together.

SANA: Midnight!!

SANA: Would be nice if I get a selfie w the owner too?? 🥺

Tzuyu doesn’t frequently take selfies. She’s just that kind of person. Even when surrounded with her friends now. Even up to this point, she hasn’t figured out her angle. On Momo’s Nayeon era, Nayeon had taken a sweet time on teaching her and helping her figure it out. There was even a point of them hanging out just for Nayeon to take many of photos for her just to prove a point.

She looks up and tried to remember, even the comments she got on Fashion Club. She contemplates on it, and tries to position her phone with her left hand while holding up her pure-black cat with her right hand. Putting ¼ of her face behind the cat’s fur, she finds a good spot on the couch with good lighting.

The lighting always helps, is what Nayeon told her. There’s also the perspective and the focal point – but Nayeon is a photographer by profession, and Tzuyu’s just an amateur trying to share a moment with a friend so who cares about that.

But like her owner, the cat is not photogenic – not even looking at the camera, most probably looking annoyed because Tzuyu had disrupted its sleep. But Tzuyu wanted to capture the perfect angle – the one where Midnight’s fur blends perfectly and it looks neat and solid black and Midnight would look like a fur ball with eyes.

Unfortunately, Midnight is not cooperating. Just meowing softly, probably asking to be brought down and be left in peace. So Tzuyu swiped left on her screen and switched it to a video instead. She calls out Midnight’s name and waves her phone a bit, trying to get its attention, but to no avail. Midnight is just looking up at her, and reaching into her with her paw. Tzuyu would whine and lower her a bit to avoid getting scratched. “Midnight~~”

Almost getting scratched, she ended the video and sent it to Sana, not even checking how it looked, as she placed her furry friend on its original position. As she watched Midnight shaking her fur before settling on the other spot of the couch, Tzuyu shakes her head, “Really, Midnight?”

Meow!

“Come back here and cuddle with me~~” Tzuyu tries to coax the cat, but the cat had closed its eyes, ignoring Tzuyu.

“Come on! That’s Momo-unnie's spot. Come to me~~ I’m sorry!”

Meow!

When she stays ignored, Tzuyu sighs, grabbing her phone, looking at Sana’s reply. It’s an audio clip, with Sana on low whisper: “Stop being cute. I want to kiss you.”

And before Tzuyu’s mind go to places, another text:

SANA: Did you play it for Midnight?

SANA: 🥴

Tzuyu rolls her eyes, snorting. She takes a snap of her poking Midnight and the cat meowing annoyed and sent it Sana.

Tzuyu bites her lips as she types. Even the excitement that comes when she’s playing fire with Sana, seems natural for her now. She doesn’t even try to fight it, or placate it. She tells herself she needs it. She needs this distraction. This is how she’ll get by. This is how she’ll get over it.

But before she can hit send, before she can reply back – Momo comes to the living room, “I’m sorry it took awhile. It’s freezing out and I really savored the hot shower.”

Tzuyu locks her phone, and sets it down on her side, looking back at Momo, “It’s fine. I was just chatting with Sana-unnie. She says she misses you and to send pics.”

Momo dries her hair as she moves around the couch and notices Midnight now curled on the corner of the sofa, her paws, “Is it okay if I sit beside Midnight or does she need her space?”

“I accidentally annoyed her. I’m trying to send a cute pic of her to Sana-unnie. She’s done with me.”

At that, Momo laughs. She pats the black fur cautiously and sits on the spot next to her but still in an acceptable (safe) distance – almost that she’s sitting on one of Tzuyu’s leg, “She’ll forgive you. I’m sure she misses you a bunch.”

After turning away from the now, undisturbed cat, Momo leans into Tzuyu’s side, “Come take a picture and send it to Sana. I’m sure she’s having separation anxiety now.”

For a second Tzuyu got worried, she didn’t want Momo to accidentally see their messages. But Tzuyu got acquainted with Sana’s style. Of her keeping the messages as normal as it was before, and keep the secret and special suggestive messages on audio clips. It was Tzuyu who doesn’t have a notable approach.

Not wanting to be suspicious, she grabs her phone and opens her camera app, to take a picture and to send it to Sana. Luckily for her, Momo had already grabbed the remote.

“Are you hungry?” Tzuyu says, as she sends the picture, erasing the reply she typed before, typing something else instead.

TZUYU: Momo-unnie said she misses you too.

“I had dinner before coming in here. But it’s the holiday season so I wouldn’t mind eating again.”

SANA: Have fun 💞

At the back of Tzuyu’s head, the message was there, lurking. It’s a betrayal.

But a disloyalty to who?

She’s not Momo’s girlfriend.

Not Sana’s girlfriend either.

She stands up, leaving her phone on the couch, suddenly having a heavy heart. Ready to head towards the kitchen to prepare Momo a meal, her Mom prepared beforehand. Actually, her mom was more excited that Momo is joining them.