They broke up on mutual terms.

Momo had come to realize that their relationship would go nowhere with the ways their families were. Homophobic, strict, expecting only the best out of their children. Their parents expected them to marry handsome men who were doctors or something along that line. Not the same gender, absolutely not.

At first, Mina had argued against her, saying that she didn’t care about what her family thought. But Momo knew she did. The two of them spent hours and hours screaming at each other back and forth. Mina would go to bed with tears staining her cheeks meanwhile Momo would try her best not to let any tears escape.

One day, Momo came home from a late shift at work and saw Mina sitting on the stairs near the front door. Her legs pulled up against her chest, arms hugging them close. Exiting the car, Momo walked up with a confused look on her face.

“Mina? What are you still doing up? Why are you outside? It’s cold.” Momo bombarded the younger girl with worried questions, seeing as the girl was only in a thin shirt and a pair of shorts. The blonde girl slowly sat down next to the red head, “Mina?” She called out softly.

“Okay..” Mina mumbled under her breath. Momo furrowed her eyebrows, “Okay?”

Mina sniffled, straightening her back, “Okay. Let’s break up.”

Momo didn’t respond for a while. She should be relieved that Mina finally came around, shouldn’t she? This was what they had been fighting about and it seems like Momo had won the argument, yet all she could feel was an empty void filling up the pit of her stomach.

A deep breath was heard before the younger one talked, “I thought about what you said,” Momo could tell that Mina was trying hard not to cry, “And you’re right.”

She let out a shaky breath, “It’s better if we break up now.”

Momo stayed silent. Hours and hours of fighting with her loved one finally came down to this.

“You wanted this.” Mina pointed out, glancing quickly at the older girl. Momo stared hard at the ground, a bitter feeling swelling up in her chest. Mina was right. The silence was eating at Mina and she soon grew irritated.

“Well?” Mina spoke, waiting for Momo to look at her, “Aren’t you going to say anything?” Her voice cracked and it took all of Momo’s will not to break right then and there. Of course she loved Mina, of course she doesn’t want to leave her. She’s looking into the future of them being together and quite frankly, Momo saw no future with Mina. Not with the way their parents were.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” And now, Mina’s tears were rolling down her face one after another. It was nearly two in the morning. Both of them were so tired, emotionally and physically.

Momo watched as Mina buried her face in between her knees, shoulders shaking violently with quiet sobs. The usually happy girl was no longer here, and it was ultimately Momo’s fault.

“I’m doing this for the better.” Momo finally spoke again, only to ensue more sobs from Mina. A few tears rolled down Momo’s cheeks as she wrapped an arm around Mina’s waist, pulling her close.

And so they broke up. Tears were wiped and noses were cleared. It hurt the both of them each time when the other would slip up and do something they would usually only do if they were dating. Sometimes it was Momo who would fix Mina’s hair the way she always used to do or maybe it was the way Mina would hold Momo tighter when the older girl would try to exit a hug. It would always end up with the two of them becoming tense and stiff with awkwardness, trying to remember that they were just friends now and that’s all they were.

One night, Momo spoke, “I heard you have a date tomorrow night.” The fork in Mina’s hand fell onto the plate with a clink.

“Where’d you hear that?”

“Nayeon.” Momo answered nonchalantly, though she was secretly wishing that Mina would say it was not true.

“Oh..” Mina picked up her fork again, playing around with her food as she subconsciously nibbled on her bottom lip, something Momo knew she only did when she was nervous.

“Do I know him?”

Mina shook her head, “He’s a friend from work.” Momo nodded in understanding, her heart throbbing in pain with each nod, “I see.”

Momo made eye contact with Mina, “I hope you have fun.” Mina sensed the undertone of jealousy.

She ignored it.

She had hugged him before he left and told him that she had fun, which wasn’t technically a lie. She did have fun, he had taken them out to an amusement park before out to dinner then dropped her home. It was fun.

Mina also had tons of fun comparing everything that he did to Momo.

His hands were rougher and larger than Momo’s. Mina always loved Momo’s hands for the way they were soft and small.

His smile wasn’t as bright as Momo’s, there wasn’t the same twinkle in his eyes as the one in Momo’s.

He didn’t smell the same way as Momo, he had a much more manlier smell meanwhile Momo was very feminine and smelled of roses.

He just wasn’t Momo, and that’s what made Mina sad.

Mina wiped all the make-up off of her face before placing both of her hands on the bathroom sink, staring at herself in the mirror in front of her. She could see her own eyes beginning to water up with stinging tears before she broke.

Momo was awake the whole time, waiting for Mina to come home. She heard Mina in the bathroom washing her makeup off. She also heard Mina starting to cry in the bathroom, and that’s when she stood up and walked in.

Almost immediately, Mina’s arms were wrapped around Momo’s shoulders and Momo’s arms curled around the younger girl’s waist. The brunette closed her eyes tightly and buried her face into Momo's chest. Momo was about to ask if the boy Mina was out with had hurt her or something, she figured that was the reason why Mina was crying, but Mina spoke first. She sounded so broken, so defeated, and so tired.

“He isn’t you.”

And suddenly the strong mask Momo had put on ever since they’ve ended their relationship came crashing down and she began to cry, tightening her grip on Mina’s waist.

Momo was the one who wanted to break up yet Momo seemed to be the only one not moving on.

Seeing Mina all dressed up and ready to go on another date was a regular occurrence now, “Have fun.” Momo would always call out without even looking at the girl and Mina would furrow her eyebrows and wonder if Momo even cared anymore, because it sure as hell doesn’t look like she cares anymore.

“I hate you.”

Momo looked up in surprise, “What?” It had been twenty minutes since Mina had come home from another night out with her boyfriend. Once she arrived home, she sat down next to Momo on the living room couch as the girl watched commercials and reruns of old cartoon shows. Momo tried her best not to acknowledge the girl but it was proven to be a difficult task considering the fact that Mina was obviously on the verge of tears.

“I hate you.” Mina repeated, her bottom lip quivering.

“Why..” Momo trailed off, this came up so suddenly, “What’s wrong?” She stared at the younger girl. Mina shook her head furiously, “This is wrong!” She stood up and the tears were continuous now. Momo frowned deeply.

“You’re so selfish!”

Her frown deepened. The love of her life was calling her selfish when her intentions were only to be selfless.

“Do you like suffering? Do you like inflicting pain upon yourself?" Mina asks. Momo stands from the couch as well.

"Where is this coming from?" She asks calmly to the crying girl. She reaches a hand out but Mina moves back quickly. Momo drops her hand back down to her side immediately, hurt. "I..."

Mina lets out a small whimper before she speaks again. "This isn't right." She repeats.

"What isn't right?" Momo questions. "You have to be more specific."

"This." She gestures between her and Momo. "I can't keep doing this. I can't... I can't go out with him and then come home to you. It makes me so confused. I'm confused." She wipes the tears on her cheeks but it was no use. Momo picks her next words carefully.

"Would it be better if I move out?"

Mina stares at her. Momo gulps down the lump in . "I can do that, if it'll make you happier."

Mina cracked again. "I just wanna be with you, is that so hard to understand?"

This was Momo's chance to go back to her. But, no. They already decided on this. She shakes her head slowly. "Mina, we already - "

She doesn't get to finish her sentence because Mina pushes her away and runs to her bedroom. Momo has the urge to go after her but knew that it probably wasn't the best idea to do so. She sits back down on the couch and places her head in her hands.

"What's this?"

"The house keys."

"The what?"

"The keys... to this house."

"Why are you giving me this?"

"I told you already. I'm moving out."

Days became weeks and weeks became months. It's been almost a year since the two have communicated...

And that was that.

// happy endings don't always exist.