"Nayeon, wait--"

"Stay away from me," Nayeon yells in the main hall of Sana's apartment building. She got down the stairs pretty quickly. Momo had to sprint down them to catch up to her.

It's just past 8 am so there are a few people on their way out. 

They stop at the commotion. Nayeon doesn't. She pushes her way out the doors and is on the street before Momo reaches the reception desk. Momo speeds up, reaching for the flap of Nayeon's coat, hoping to slow her down.

"Just let me explain," Momo says, getting a hold of Nayeon. 

It works for a second before Nayeon twists out of her grasp and shoves her away. But at least she stops.

"Don't touch me." Nayeon's fists are clenched in defense, her shoulders are heaving and tears stream down her cheeks, but nothing hits Momo like the utter devastation she sees in Nayeon's eyes.

"Please Nayeon, just let me…" Momo tries reaching out to her again, but Nayeon recoils at her hand, and Momo feels a pit stretch open in the pit of her stomach. 

"I said it's fine," Nayeon sobs. "Just go --" she chokes on her words, unable to finish. Unable to tell the woman she thought she would spend the rest of her life with, to go be with someone else. Some who she thought was her friend. Someone she relied on. Someone she trusted. Then again, the person who she trusted most was the one who actively chose to betray her.

She feels something die on her tongue and gags. She's gonna be sick if she stays here.

Nayeon doesn't look at Momo before she turns and runs down the street. Away from this hellish reality. 

 

Momo stands there dumbstruck by the way everything fell apart so quickly. Honestly, she thought it was over with the argument they'd had last night. She doesn't even remember what it was about. She just remembers the screaming and having things thrown at her head, and hurling insults and digs to get under each other's skin. 

But she also remembers that one moment, hours later when Nayeon came to the door of the guest bedroom and begged Momo to let her in so they could talk. But Momo didn't let her in. Momo didn't want to talk. They'd been going back and forth like that for weeks, and Momo didn't even know what was wrong. One person would say something and the other would go off.

Why were they fighting so much? What had they been fighting over last night? Why did Momo come to Sana's? 

Sana. 

Momo looks up at the apartment complex, forlorn. She'd come down to straighten things out with Nayeon. To reconcile their differences so they could move on in peace. Nayeon had accused Momo of thinking that she was an idiot, but clearly, Momo was the real moron. How could she ever think Nayeon would be fine with this, no matter what they've been going through. 

She was a cheater. She'd betrayed Nayeon and she made Sana complicit. 

Momo trudges back to Sana's place. The door is still open and Sana is still standing in front of it where Momo left her. She must not have been gone for as long as she thought. 

Momo steps inside, closing the door behind her. She walks into the kitchen, leaving Sana behind her. Neither of them says anything. They sit down for breakfast in silence. It is uncomfortably tense, the shadow of betrayal hangs over the atmosphere. 

When the feeling becomes too much, Sana puts her fork down, but still refuses to look at Momo. 

"What'd she say?"

Momo pauses with a piece of sausage inches from . She sets down her fork to look at her best friend. They confessed to each other last night. Or is that what you'd call it. Sana had expressed that she's felt this way for Momo for a long time, but Momo was simply responding to Sana's words. And they were true. She did love Sana, but in the light of day, as Momo looks at Sana across the breakfast table, there's something not quite right about this.

What was it? A tingling in the back of her head, tells her it's important, crucial to all of this. But what? Why did Momo come here? Of all places. Wasn't she putting distance between her and Sana? Why'd she decided to do that? Is that why she and Nayeon were fighting? Seriously, where did it all go so wrong?

"She wasn't ready to talk."

"Oh."

Oh. Oh! Momo feels like the walls are coming down around her. Oh, is not a suitable response, but this is her problem, not Sana's. Although… 

"We should probably talk… about that," Momo says, willing Sana to look at her, but still she refuses. She nods her head, bringing her hands into her lap.

“You don't have to say it.”

“I--”

“It's fine. This was a mistake, right.” Sana's voice is pinched like she's trying to hold her breath and sigh at the same time.

“I didn't say that.” 

“Momo, how long have we known each other? I can practically read your mind.”

“Still...” She's at a loss.

“You love her don't you.”

“Yeah, but I love you too,” Momo says trying to compress the situation before it can blow up any more than it already has.

“It is not the same.”

“Huh,” Momo chuffs at that sentiment. Like she doesn't know that. Like it didn't occur to her like triggering a land mine.

“It's not the same, you idiot. I never should have let you kiss me.” Sana rushes to her feet then. Like she can't stand to sit there and pretend like everything was okay for just a few more seconds. Like Momo's is the last presence she wants to be in.

“Sana no this is my fault," Momo says getting to her feet, reaching across the table placatingly. "I'm the one who came over when you asked for space. I'm the one who used you to make myself feel better. I took advantage of you.”

“I seriously don't want to hear that. Honestly, you're making it worse.” Sana turns away from her, heading towards the stairs, back to her room.

“I am sorry Sa-tan,” Momo's voice is deflated with the weight of this duel failure.

“I know," Sana pauses by the banister, but refuses to turn around. "...me too.” She walks away with nothing more to say. The gravity of their choices hanging between them.

 

"Why would you tell her that?"

"I already told you, I didn't tell her, Dahyun did," Mina huffs, exhausted. Jihyo and Jeongyeon have been grilling her for an hour now, and at this point she's just repeating herself. 

"Fine, then why would you tell Dahyun that Sana is in love with Momo?" Jeongyeon asks. She too is frustrated, not at all satisfied with the way this conversation is going, but at least she isn't yelling anymore. When they showed up at Mina's place two days after Momo told her what happened, she was honestly scared for her life. She was also very confused because Nayeon couldn't have told them what she told momo-- she didn't know. And Mina is sure she would've heard if they'd visited Momo.

She'd be planning a memorial.

But they just wanted the story from her side. Well from Momo's side, but the lines have been clearly drawn, and it is not safe for Jihyo or Jeongyeon to see Momo right now. So Mina told them what she knew, and again, let it slip that Sana was pulling away to get over her feelings for Momo. When Jihyo asked if Momo also had feelings for Sana, Mina told them everything. 

 

That night, Momo and Nayeon had an argument over who was going to watch Boo when they left for their trip to Kyoto. Of course, Sana had volunteered the week before, then changed her mind a couple of days later. That's when she asked Momo for some space. Nayeon said she was flaking and being difficult. Momo stood up for her, but for some reason, what Nayeon said really got to her, and she had to leave to cool down. So she called up Mina to get a drink.

They were on their fifth-round when Dahyun showed up. Momo got up to dance, but Mina stayed with Dahyun while she got her drink. She told her why they were there, and Dahyun made a random off-handed comment about how they must be in a love triangle, and Mina was just buzzed enough to scoff and inform the younger girl, that Sana has been in love with Momo far longer than Nayeon and Momo have been together. If Momo was into Sana, they'd all know. Of course, Dahyun had to exaggerate her shock and shout back at Mina 'Sana's in love with Momo' at the top of her lungs. And of course, Momo was walking back to them in time to catch Dahyun's outburst. Weirdly enough, she didn't react then. She just whined about how lonely the dance floor is by herself. Honestly, Mina thought Momo didn't hear Dahyun, but that was more like wishful thinking. 

After that, Nayeon and Momo seemed to fight more and more often, and Momo stopped mentioning Sana altogether. In retrospect, Mina should have known.

 

"Oh, so you didn't tell her, you just got Dahyun to do it," Jeongyeon says, shoving to her feet. She starts making tracks on the carpet, pacing.

"I'm not gonna say I was drunk because that's just an excuse. I said it thoughtlessly, without considering the consequences. But I didn't mean for any of this to happen," Mina says, running her hands through her hair.

"You