Pacing in the kitchen, Momo can’t take in the situation. The way the woman -Sana- looked at her earlier is piercing her mind. She’s been completely unprepared. Slipping in the kitchen was an automatic reaction under her panicked state after this unexpected meeting.

 

“What’s she’s doing here?” Is the first thing she blurts a bit aggressively the moment Mina enters the kitchen.

 

“She’s a friend,” Mina says calmly, not affected at all by Momo’s behavior. Something in Mina’s calmness makes Momo angrier.

 

“You didn’t say she’s gonna be here.” Momo accuses Mina openly.

 

“Why should I?” Mina asks raising an eyebrow provokingly.

 

“Because…” Momo waves her hands in frustration. “Because…” Well, internally she knows the reason, but she’s a bit stubborn admitting it.

 

“Because?” Mina says squinting her eyes, challenging for an answer that never comes. “Because you have to apologize for being rude yesterday.” Momo huffs, crossing her arms in front of her chest and avoiding Mina’s eyes. Mina got her there. It’s weird, she knows, but she didn’t have the time to think about that part of yesterday’s events and to be honest, she didn’t expect to meet Mina’s colleague again.

 

“It’s not like you had any problem the other times I had people from work and you didn’t know beforehand,” Mina says approaching closer and places a hand on Momo’s shoulder. “Just apologize and we’re fine.” And it’s the same gaze as earlier, Mina’s eyes hiding something that Momo can’t quite decipher.

 

“I’m out,” Mono says, shrugging off Mina’s hand and walking out of the kitchen straight to the door. Good thing she didn’t take off her coat earlier, no need for further explanation.

 

Thoughts fill her mind as she descends the stairs skipping the steps by two. Weird thing how the mind works sometimes. It’s obvious she has to apologize, but firstly, she wasn’t prepared for that at all, and secondly, something in the woman’s demeanor irks her; the way her stance overflows confidence although Momo saw her only for some seconds, the way her piercing gaze felt like she can see Momo’s bare soul.

 

She’s already stepped on the pavement, ready to cross the street to the parking when a thin voice that starts becoming familiar interrupts her thoughts, pinning her in place.

 

“Momo-ssi?” The woman calls expectantly, facing Momo’s tensed back. Once again, Momo feels the urge to run away, like if she doesn’t, whatever happens will be inevitable. What this “whatever” is isn’t clear but her subconscious is yelling both to run far away and stay there to learn everything about Sana. She decides the former, taking a breath to calm down before turning to face the woman to make clear she doesn’t want anything from her.

Before she can say a thing her phone starts ringing, and she’s sure it’s Mina, and although she doesn’t want to explain a thing to her, the oldest sister's protectiveness comes out, making her answer her phone not wanting to worry Mina.

 

“What?” She says curtly, eyeing the woman in front of her who manages to sport an expression equal parts hesitant and curious. It’s that gaze again, penetrating and sharp, making Momo lose her thought control and wonder in Sana’s eyes, trapping her there although the urge to look away is all she can pinpoint in her feelings. Something about the woman is very magnetizing.

 

“Momoring? Why did you leave?” And it’s the sadness in Dahyun’s voice that breaks Momo’s façade, making her face morph to an anxious one.

 

“I didn’t leave Dahyunah.” She looks at the woman who nods, encouraging her to keep talking. “I…” Momo starts, looking around searching for a quick excuse, “I just forgot…” Her eyes land again on Sana, who nods pointedly to a store further down in the street. “I forgot the wine in my car baby, I’ll be back really quick.” She says and exhales a very deep breath of relief.

 

“Okay, be quick, I missed you.” Momo chuckles.

 

“Yes baby, I’ll be back in no time.” But the answer surprises her.

 

“Is Sana with you? She left too.” Momo wants to hit her head on a wall. How and why are kids so observant?

 

“Yeah, she’s with me. She wanted to see my car.” Momo says without second thinking it. Sana smirks at her, and Momo instantly feels heat climbing her neck to her cheeks. She then turns and starts walking towards the store to hide her blushing face.

 

“Okay, bring her back. I’ll wait.” A pang of jealousy rushes through her body at the kid’s words, but she swallows it quickly to finish the call.

 

“Okay baby, see you soon.” Placing the phone in her coats’ pocket, she realizes Sana is walking right beside her. An awkward silence settles between them until they reach the store and walk into the liquor section.

 

As Momo looks through the wines, she’s contemplating her next move. Sure, her first instinct was to run away to avoid apologizing to Sana, but her initial plan is now thrown in the bin. It’s immature reacting this way, but she blames it on having been caught unprepared meeting the person she behaved disrespectfully to just the previous day.

 

Right there she decides that she’ll take some moments to compose her thoughts and then apologize to the woman, as she ought to. Besides, she’s Mina’s friend and she might have to deal with her often from now on.

 

Crouching down to take a bottle from the lowest shelf, she hears the shuffling from the other woman and takes a deep breath, preparing for her apology. But when she stands up and faces her, Sana starts talking.

 

“Momo-ssi, I’m really sorry for yesterday.” It’s an automatic reaction to close her eyes hearing the words, as the embarrassment makes it impossible to look Sana in the eyes. “When Dahyun came to me the first thing I asked her was why she was alone, and then you showed up before I could search for you or Mina and Jihyo.”

 

It’s Momo’s turn to shuffle awkwardly in her spot, locking her eyes on the tiles of the floor. Momo hates confrontations. Why is it always so difficult to apologize?

 

“Look Sana-ssi,” Momo starts reluctantly, lifting up her head to look the woman in the eyes in an act of sincerity, but the view she faces makes her feel even more guilty and uneasy. The gaze Sana was sporting all this time is nowhere to be found, instead, anxiousness and hesitance fill her eyes. It’s what makes Momo blurt out thoughts she doesn’t even know when she made.

 

“It’s not your fault at all, you don’t have to apologize, as you don’t have any part to be blamed for. Mina and I discussed it and it was partly my fault and partly Dahyun’s. I’m pretty sure Mina has already talked with her, but there’s nothing for you to apologize, okay?” As Sana’s ready to reply, Momo realizes she hasn’t told something yet.

 

“I’m sorry for being rude yesterday Sana-ssi.” As she says it, she can practically see the guilt get off from Sana’s shoulders, making her whole stance stand lighter and brighter, trying to hold a big smile, vainly. It’s weird spotting that, like she suddenly possesses a filter for reading the woman through such small things. It’s even weirder she can pinpoint something inside her feeling satisfied for making the other woman smile so genuinely.

 

After apologies are given and taken, they pay and walk back to the apartment. It’s an easy night, having dinner with Jeongyeon next to her, Sana across and Dahyun somewhere else diagonally afar between her mothers. Sana is smart, Momo decides, paying attention to everything she says and taking glances at her trying to be subtle. Keyword: trying.

 

They don’t make small talk between them, rather following the flow of the conversation. Sana likes to talk a lot, where Momo loves observing. Whenever their eyes meet they give small smiles to each other but nothing more occurs.

 

It’s a good thing that Mina and the rest of the girls don’t hold a grudge for her earlier tantrum, or maybe they do and Momo will get an earful later. Well, she doesn’t dwell on it, it won’t be the first time anyway.

 

After the dessert, Dahyun approaches and waits for Momo to lift her on her lap, scratching her chair a bit away from the table so there is enough room for the kid to sit on her legs. Dahyun sits sideways facing the rest but her main focus is Momo, as she cranes her head up to look at her.

 

It takes Momo by surprise as the kid starts talking fervently about an animated movie they were supposed to watch together but apparently Dahyun went to see with her mummies earlier today.

 

“Wait, wait,” Momo stops the kid, taking a napkin from the table to clean the crumbles that keep falling from the sides of Dahyun’s mouth as she talks.

 

“You promised to watch it with me,” Momo says pouting, not a fake one at all, because Momo really wants to see the movie, clearing her schedule next Saturday to go to the cinemas with her niece. Momo focuses on the parts she’s cleaning, afraid that Dahyun will understand that she really means it.

 

As she leaves the napkin on the table she focuses back on the kid, finding her monolid eyes glassy and ready to break the dams, as the kid bites her bottom lip that trembles lightly. It’s at that moment Momo realizes they’re mirroring expressions.

 

“Momo!” Mina warns her, and as she looks at Mina still pouting a giggle catches her attention. Finding the source, it takes a brief glance to spot Sana looking fondly at her from across the table, making her blush madly for the second time today.

 

“It’s okay, kiddo,” she focuses back on the kid ruffling her hair and giving a huge smile, distracting herself from the woman in front of her, “did you like it?” The kid's sad face instantly becomes one of joy as she starts describing the movie to Momo.

 

At this point, Momo doesn’t care about the movie at all, not minding if the kid spoils the whole plot, but her main focus is to defy the urge to lift her eyes and meet the gaze she can feel piercing her from across.

 

She doesn’t really pay attention to the kid’s words, nodding to everything Dahyun says until a huge yawn breaks her face, her little hands opening and hugging around Momo’s neck and her head leaning to rest on her shoulder.

 

When Momo stands up tacking the kid on her front and looking around at Mina, the younger sister asks if she needs help only for Momo to answer “I got it.”

 

For the briefest of moments, her eyes meet Sana’s before she leaves, finding the same expression of fondness, making her heart skip a bit as she turns quickly to leave, completely sure her face is a deep ruby shade.

 

She helps the kid change into her sleepwear and brush her teeth, settling on her bed after. Momo kisses her small forehead, but the kid stops her before she leaves, asking for a tale or a story, and Momo complies, because why not? This is her favorite person in the world.

 

While she reads the story sitting next to the pillow with her legs crossed and Dahyun’s little arm draped over her legs, her mind is multitasking, thinking about the kid's behavior and the woman outside in the living room, all while reading Three Little Pigs.

 

Dahyun is clingy, but today she was clingier than usual, even though she loves Nayeon and Jeongyeon. Firstly it must be to check if everything is alright between them after yesterday’s events, and then some more because Momo reacted weirdly earlier when she told her about the movie. Her little mind must have subconsciously made her check if everything was okay with Momo after that too.

 

Then, there’s the woman. It’s very early, too early, to say something about her, but it seems like the woman wants to make sure everything between them is okay after their ‘incident’. Momo is frustrated because the woman achieved making her blush two times in two hours. Momo never blushes, let alone twice in a day and caused by a stranger.

 

‘Who is that woman anyway?’ Momo thinks, letting a grunt slip from , instantly tensing and checking at the kid. Thankfully Dahyun is sleeping, her hand next to her face in a fist and ajar; It must be the genes, Momo thinks, as she knows she and Mina sleep the same way. The only difference is that Momo snores a little, but it never bothered her ex.

 

Yeah, enough with these silly thoughts. Momo smoothly stands and fixes the blanket, letting a kiss at the crown of Dahyun’s head and walking out the room.

 

As she walks to the living room she checks her phone, the screen displaying 11:15. Crap! She really took her time in Dahyun’s room. Tomorrow is an important day, and she has to wake up early.

 

“I’m so late.” She says moving hastily through the living room to gather her belongings.

 

“You’ll give a lift to Sana.” Momo hears Mina say nonchalantly, interrupting her motions of wearing her coat. Momo turns to see her watching apathetically the tv, sipping her steaming tea from her nerdy mug.

 

“What?” Momo’s eyes feel like they’ll jump out from their sockets, her body frozen.

 

“She was to leave with Nayeon and Jeongyeon as they came together, but they had to leave early and she offered to help with the dishes. So I told her you’ll drive her home.

 

Flashes of war fill Momo’s mind as Mina’s subtle smirk is plastered all over her face -something she’s sure she’s the only one that can read, not even Jihyo because they’ve grown up together- a war she’s never fought in the first place but vivid images jump in her mind; she and Mina crawling on the floor, pulling each other’s hair and shouting nonsense to each other. She shakes her head, today her mind isn’t working right.

 

“What are you doing?” Momo hisses, knowing this isn’t something random but something Mina arranged intentionally.

 

“I don’t know what you imply I’m doing,” Mina says, her smirk still there, barely noticeable, as she lifts the mug close to her lips and blows the surface. Momo waits, and Mina knows it. For a moment she looks at Momo, and Momo can tell she waits for the perfect moment to speak.

 

Sounds of dishes cluttering and metallic clicking of utensils being placed on metallic box fill the silence, combined with the running water from the faucet. The moment these sounds stop Mina’s demeanor changes. Her subtle smirk becomes a real one, lifting the left side of staring down at Momo.

 

“Whatever you think I’m doing, you’re right,” Mina says, finally taking a sip from the mug and then leaning to place it on the coffee table. Momo doesn’t understand why she stands up until some seconds later Jihyo enters the living room with Sana.

 

“I’ll gather my things and we can leave,” Sana says to Momo, starting preparing herself, ready in less than ten seconds, and then she looks at Momo. Momo is frozen in place, thinking ways to get out of this without being rude, because what was that? How can Mina frame her? Shouldn’t she ask her first?

 

Sana is ready, facing her expectantly, Mina and Jihyo next to her waiting to see them off. Momo looks from one face to another, not knowing what to do.

 

“Or not,” Sana says after almost one minute of Momo's stillness, her shoulders deflating. Her right hand picks through her bag, taking out her phone. “I’ll book an uber.”

 

Then it clicks.

 

Momo storms forward and covers the distance, taking the phone from Sana’s hands and putting it in her pocket.

 

“You can’t take an uber!” She almost shouts. Sana looks back surprised. “You don’t know the driver, and if they harm you or murder you? How are we going to find you? I’ll drive you. It’s okay, even though uber is trackable and all, we can’t trust it, I can’t trust it!”

 

Silence. Sana simply stares, speechless. Momo gulps.

 

“I’ll wait down. Goodnight.” She says dashing off, avoiding Jihyo’s and Mina’s eyes. Her descent is fast once again, feeling the adrenalin in every cell of her body, trying hard to find an explanation for this outburst, finding only one; that she can’t even think Sana taking an uber in case something happens.

 

She waits there on the pavement for some moments, until Sana is in front of her, and is she blushing? Momo isn’t sure, maybe it’s because she ran down the stairs to catch Momo. There’s a weird awkwardness in the air, and Momo decides she has to be the one to break it so the woman knows everything is okay.

 

“You gonna see my car after all.” She says nervously, scanning Sana’s face for any indication of uneasiness.

 

“It’s okay to take an uber Momo, I mean it.” The woman says gently, lifting her hand and halting it hovering between them with the palm facing up. It takes a second but Momo realizes she’s still has Sana’s phone in her pocket. Momo huffs, then turns and begins walking towards the parking.

 

“Not happening.” She says over her shoulder cockily, footsteps following her immediately. When she’s close enough she presses the button on the keychain, making the car’s lights flash, walking to the passenger’s door not analyzing it a lot.

 

With a swift motion she opens the door for Sana, and she’s not sure, but she thinks there is a blush on Sana’s face as she says thank you sheepishly before entering. It makes Momo red, but feel proud for making the woman blush for once today.

 

The ride is silent in the beginning, only exchanging words for Sana to enter her address on Momo’s GPS. Momo doesn’t mind that Sana’s house is going to cause her a huge detour, as long as the woman is safe.

 

Momo prompts Sana to turn on the radio and pick whatever she wants in an attempt to break the awkward and tense atmosphere. When Sana turns on the radio Momo’s demos begin to play. Momo turns her head lightly to let her know she can pick any radio show she likes, afraid that the up-tempo of the demos is bothering her, only to find Sana bobbing her head in tune with the beat, a faint smile on her lips as she stares outside drinking in the passing city, suddenly co-existing in comfortable silence.

 

It’s a pity she can’t look any longer as she has to drive. She focuses back on the street, losing herself in the demos too, thinking about the performances she has in mind and thinking about illusions she can make if using the proper lighting.

 

They’re halfway there when they stop on a traffic light just a second ago turned red. Totally aware she has a full minute till the green turns on, she shifts her head and the view catches her breath. The song now is a bit more groovy and jazzy than the previous ones, the street lights paint Sana’s face half orange half dark due to the angle, picturing perfect the chilly and sensual vibes the song creates.

 

She’s still bobbing her head, but her eyes are closed enjoying the song. Momo’s not sure, but for some reason she imagines Sana dancing to the song, her mind traveling and creating pictures of Sana’s eyes looking at her while she dances the song, intense eyes that trap her there.

 

A horn startles her, realizing that Sana is indeed looking back like Momo’s the pray and Sana’s the hunter. A second horn and she realizes the traffic light is now green.

 

It’s not weird after that, but the tension is up to the sky. Momo lowers the window a bit, her skin feeling feverish. She doesn’t dare to look at Sana after that focusing only on the road for the rest of the ride.

 

Once out of Sana’s building Momo is quick to get out and round the car to open the door for Sana. She’s quite thankful that Sana’s look is cute -did she just think she’s cute, what is happening?!- instead of the one she sported minutes ago in the car.

 

They walk in silence till they are in front of the entrance, almost saying goodnight when Sana closes the distance and stops right in front of Momo expectantly.

 

“You forget something,” Sana says, smirking. Momo feels like she’s 16 again, saying goodnight after a first date. She can’t stop her mind from making these thoughts.

 

“What?” she asks gulping audibly, her eyes unconsciously focused on Sana’s lips. She’s isn’t sure but it feels like she’s slightly leaning in.

 

“My phone.” Momo snaps, looking back at a giggling Sana, feeling like she’s just caught red-handed. In reality, she is. Once again she wonders what is wrong with her mind tonight, consciously not thinking about it further, afraid of what she’ll find out. Now is not the right time, not when Sana is right in front of her.

 

“Right.” She chuckles sheepishly, picking Sana’s phone from her left pocket and handing it to the owner.

 

“Give me your phone,” Sana says right after. Momo doesn’t ask why, but she complies with a questioning look. It takes some seconds for Sana to do what she wants and give back the phone to Momo. Momo’s questioning look remains as she puts the phone back into her pocket.

 

“I inserted my phone, please text me when you get home, okay?” Sana says taking a step closer, opening her hands and circling them around Momo tightly. It takes Momo some seconds to hug her back, but once she does something settles in the right place in her heart. It definitely is one of the warmest hugs she’s ever had, making her tighten her arms even more. Sana giggles right next to her ear and Momo swears right there that if she ever makes Sana sad she deserves hell.

 

“Don’t forget to text me,” Sana whispers in her ear the same moment they let their hands loose from the hug. “Goodnight.” A giggle. And then she’s gone. And if she wasn’t hyper-aware of everything she might have missed it. But after the goodnight, she felt it like a feathery touch, and the smallest sound possible from the contact.

 

Sana kissed her cheek.

 

Sana. Kissed. Her. Cheek.

 

It might takes an hour, it might takes some seconds, she can’t tell. But she’s in the car again, dizzy with feelings she didn’t believe she could feel just by spending some hours with someone she met for the first time hours ago. Something is definitely there, even though they didn’t talk that much all night. Is she attracted? Absolutely! But she wasn’t in search of something new, not at all.

 

Thinking about it, maybe she can take this chance and go on a date with Sana. It’s a good option to avoid Mina’s blind date, spending it with someone she'll actually chose herself, and not with just a random person to make Mina happy. Besides, Mina should be okay with Sana, right?

 

She’s in her house in no time, the ride back passing by in a blink due to her mind thinking about a certain woman. She has a lot of thinking to do with a clear mind tomorrow. It’s already 12:30, her alarms are set to start ringing off at 6:30, so everything will have to wait for tomorrow.

 

She’s brushing her teeth when she remembers.

 

‘I’m home’

 

She sends after finding the new contact simply saved as Sana. She clearly didn’t want to overstep, Momo thinks.

 

‘Photo or it never happened’

 

Sana replies, and who is Momo to deny, taking a picture of herself brushing her teeth through the mirror. Focused on completing her night routine, she checks her phone again once she’s tucked under the covers.

 

‘I was waiting for your message, thank you for not forgetting me. Goodnight ^^’

 

There isn’t a photo to Momo’s disappointment, but there is a gif of a Shiba-Inu grinning cutely, and oh boy, does it look like Sana!

 

Momo falls asleep thinking of changing the contact name in something Shiba-Inu related the next morning, as a huge smile is plastered on her face.