Chapter Text
Humming, Jihyo tapped her foot to the beat of the music flowing into her ears as she stood at the school’s front gate. A sudden yawn overtook her and she stretched her arms above her head, her eyes involuntarily squeezing shut. It was the third week of the new school year and she still wasn’t used to waking up so early. Peeking through one eye, she met the gaze of a girl walking through the gates with a ghost of a smile on her face. Jihyo’s eyes absentmindedly followed her as she hurried to join two other girls by the main building.
“That doesn’t mean you have to become obsessed with it too!"
"It does if it means catching her attention," Jeongyeon and Nayeon were making their way toward the school when they spotted the short brunette already waiting for them. "Here, let's ask Jihyo." Nayeon sauntered up to the younger girl and Jeongyeon followed suit.
"Jihyo-ah, please tell Nayeon that-" The short-haired blonde paused and looked at her friend quizzically when she didn't respond to her name, "Um, hello? Earth to Park Jihyo!"
Jihyo's head perked up and she whipped around to face them, pulling her earbuds out, "Hm? Oh, hey, good morning." She smiled lazily.
"Morning. What were you looking at?" Jeongyeon stepped around her to get a better look at the main building.
"Oh, nothing," Jihyo yawned again.
"Hey, that's her! Look at her bag! It's the same keychain as mine. I bought the right one!" Nayeon excitedly held up a puffy keychain in the shape of a mayonnaise bottle. Jeongyeon grasped her forehead with her palm and shook her head.
"What?" Jihyo furrowed her brow in confusion.
"Hirai Momo. The girl in that group you were staring at? With the mayo keychain? Nayeon's developed a little crush and now believes that she has to become obsessed with the same stuff she is," Jeongyeon filled her in, "including her love of mayo."
"Oh," the younger girl nodded and turned to look back at the group by the building just in time to find three sets of eyes staring at their own little huddle.
"Oh my god, they're looking at us." Nayeon whispered, eyes fixed on the three girls, "Just act natural." She raised a stiff arm in attempt to wave but suddenly straightened her palm and saluted instead.
Two of them smiled and nodded in sync, while the third stepped behind Mayo Keychain Girl - the apparent Hirai Momo. The trio turned and made their way into the building, giggling as they went.
Jeongyeon burst into laughter.
"What did I just do?" Nayeon's face froze, unreadable.
"Y-y-you, you saluted them," Jeongyeon gasped for breath between cackles, "like actually saluted them."
The older girl buried her face in her hands, ears burning with embarrassment.
"Okay, okay," Jihyo chuckled, placing both arms around her two best friends, "let's just get to class and forget this ever happened."
Jeongyeon shook her head vehemently, "NEVER."
Nayeon groaned.
~~~
It's always been like this, ever since the three of them met back in primary school. Jeongyeon and Nayeon would bicker, while Jihyo would just laugh at their antics before joining in on whatever argument they were having.
"I'm gonna do it!" Nayeon pounded the table with her fist determinedly.
It's been a while since Jihyo learned about Nayeon's little crush on Mayo Keychain Girl.
"Hirai Momo," Jihyo mentally corrected herself.
"Sure, you will,"Jeongyeon responded flatly and shoveled a heaping spoonful of rice into her mouth, "I can see it now: You salute her, get down on one knee, and present her with a bright pink bag filled with mayo packets and little stuffed animals. 'Will you go out with me, Momo? I swear I'm not creepy and only like this stuff because you do.'"
She mockingly clasped her hands under chin and batted her eyelashes, earning a hearty laugh from Jihyo.
"First of all," Nayeon side-eyed the blonde, "can we drop the whole salute thing? That was last month. I thought we were over it."
Her two companions exchanged looks and shook their heads.
"NEVER."
"Second," she continued, "I just want to be her friend, not ask her out."
"Yet," Jeongyeon coughed. Nayeon rolled her eyes and picked up a piece of kimbab, dipping it in mayonnaise before shoving it into her mouth.
"I think it's a great idea," Jihyo chimed, taking a piece of Nayeon's lunch for herself, "we could use more friends to, y'know, mix things up a little. Sounds like fun!"
"What sounds like fun?" an unfamiliar voice asked.
Surprised, the three girls looked up to see none other than the subject of their conversation herself, Hirai Momo.
"I just came over to tell you that I liked your keychain." Momo motioned towards Nayeon's bag. "Then I saw you guys dipping your kimbab in mayonnaise! I thought I was the only one who did that!" The bob-haired girl's eyes sparkled.
"Oh." Now, Jihyo could see how Nayeon could have a crush on Momo; she was absolutely adorable. But then again, Nayeon thought a lot of things were adorable. Maybe this crush wouldn't last and she really did just want to be her friend.
"Anyway, so what sounds like fun?" Momo looked at Jihyo expectantly.
Nayeon gulped down her food and cleared her throat to catch Jihyo's attention.
"Hm?" Jihyo blinked, leaving her thoughts behind, and looked across the table to see Nayeon nodding her head in Momo's direction, "Oh, me. Um, making new friends?"
"Oh, yeah," Momo giggled, "that's always fun. I'm Momo, by the way."
"We know," Jeongyeon snickered under her breath. Nayeon elbowed her side.
"Huh?" Momo tilted her head questioningly.
"Nothing." Jeongyeon rubbed her rib cage. "Hi, Momo, I'm Jeongyeon and this is Nayeon and Jihyo."
Before Jeongyeon could say anything else, Nayeon jumped into action, "So, then in the spirit of friendship, what do you think about hanging out with us after school sometime next week?"
Just then, a high, clear voice called from across the cafeteria, "Momoring! We found a spot!"
"You can bring your friend," Nayeon quickly added, trying to elicit the response she wanted to hear.
Momo paused for a second, thinking, then nodded as if she had made up her mind, "Yeah, that actually does sound fun. Count us in!"
"Momoring?" the clear voice called again.
"Coming! See you next week then!" Momo waved and began to walk across the room. "Oh-" she whipped back around, recapturing the three girls' attention "-it was nice meeting you guys!" She saluted stiffly and ran off giggling.
Nayeon's entire face went red as Jeongyeon slapped her shoulder, laughing, and Jihyo gripped the table to keep herself from falling out of her chair.
~~~
"So, where is she?" Jeongyeon asked, a hint of annoyance in her voice. She picked up another pebble and added it to her mini stone mountain.
"I don't know, but she said she'd be here so just wait a little bit." They were on the steps in front of the main building, Nayeon sitting with her chin propped up on her hands.
"We've been waiting for almost half an hour already. I'm bored. I want cake." Jeongyeon plopped down next to the older girl after running out of pebbles to stack.
"You can get your cake when we head over to the cafe with Momo and her friend." Jihyo stood behind them, playing a game on her phone.
Footsteps came pounding from around the building and they turned to see Momo bounding toward them with a girl in tow.
"A really pretty girl," Jihyo thought.
"Hey guys, sorry to keep you waiting! Sana, here, tripped so we had to go to the nurse's office for band-aids."
"And it took you thirty minutes?" Jeongyeon asked in a raised tone.
"We got...kinda...lost," the pretty girl sheepishly confessed. Jeongyeon looked up to see her rub her neck in embarrassment before feeling her own cheeks begin to flush.
"Yeah, Minari always has some handy whenever we need them," Momo explained, "so we've never really needed to go there before."
"Minari?" Nayeon stood up.
"Mina! Our cute little penguin maknae! She couldn't make it today." The pretty girl's mood lifted at the sound of her friend's name. "Oh! And my name's Sana, if you didn't catch it earlier."
She held out her hand.
Nayeon grasped it, smiling, "Nayeon. This is Jeongyeon and Jihyo."
"Nice to meet you, Jeongyeon!" Sana practically hopped in the blonde's direction, extending her reach, but she landed on the pile of pebbles and almost fell on her freshly bandaged knees again before Jeongyeon caught her arm. "Whew, close call! Thanks!"
Sana's eyes rounded and Jeongyeon couldn't help but relate her expression to that of a puppy's. She felt her cheeks flush even further.
"Um, oh, yeah, no-no p-problem," she stammered, steadying Sana on her feet, "Nice to meet you, too."
"Yeah, nice to meet you, Sana." Jihyo made her way down the steps, glancing at her faintly flustered friend.
"That's new." She tried to hide the smile forming on her lips.
"Alright, now that everyone's here, let's go get that cake, Jeongyeon-ah!" The short girl skipped toward the front gate.
"Omg, cake sounds so good right now!" Momo jumped up and down, rushing forward to catch up with Jihyo.
"Cake always sounds good to you, Momoring," Sana let out an airy giggle.
The bob-haired girl pouted, "Shut up."
"Cake does sound good, though." Nayeon caught up to Momo's side, who smiled at the support.
"Do you wanna share?" Sana hooked her arm around Jeongyeon's. Jihyo noticed the tall girl's ears getting notably pink.
"Yeah, sure." Jeongyeon dropped her gaze to the ground, unsure of what to do.
Jihyo stopped for a second, allowing the four figures to pull ahead of her, and decided, "Making new friends is fun."
~~~
Jeongyeon never really cared for the winter season. She always thought it was too cold and the snow got everywhere, making everything miserably wet and chilly. That's why Nayeon found it strange, seeing the tall girl acting so chipper as she watched the calm, white flurry outside.
"Sana's birthday is this month." Jeongyeon cupped her chin in her palms, staring up at the sky dreamily.
"Oh, that's why." An unfamiliar warmth gathered in Nayeon's chest but she quickly dismissed it.
"How do you know?" She joined her friend by the hallway window.
"She told me."
Nayeon jerked her head, surprised, "What? When?"
"When we hung out at the park last weekend," Jeongyeon grinned, unaware of the small frown on Nayeon's face.
"You guys hung out?"
"Yeah, we're friends. That's what friends do." Jeongyeon brought her attention away from the scene outside the window (or rather, the memory inside her mind) to Nayeon, sensing the tension between them slowly growing thicker. "Why? Are we not allowed to hang out?" She asked, a little too accusingly for Nayeon's taste.
"No," the older girl twirled around to lean her back against the window pane, "TFTI is all."
Before their conversation could progress further, Nayeon caught a glimpse of Momo and Sana down the hall. They were talking to a third girl who Nayeon has seen hanging out with them couple of times before. Ketchup Keychain Girl she had mentally named her. Because of the ketchup bottle keychain on her bag, similar to the one she and Momo had.
"Momo! Sana!" She waved to catch their attention. Jeongyeon popped up straight and whipped around.
The duo waved back, quickly enveloped Ketchup Keychain Girl in a double hug goodbye, and skipped over to join them by the window.
"Hey, guys! What's up?" Momo patted Nayeon on the shoulder.
"Nothing much, just watcing the snowfall." Nayeon looked around them to watch Ketchup Keychain Girl glance at them down the hallway before turning to walk in the other direction. "Hey, who was that girl you two were talking to?"
"Hm?" Sana and Momo both cocked their head to the right in unison.
"And the weird twin thing strikes again," Nayeon tried to hide her shiver.
Ever since the five of them had started hanging out a couple months ago, Jeongyeon, Jihyo, and herself noticed that the two new additions to their friend group had this strange, almost creepy, habit of doing the exact same thing at the exact same time.
She looked to Jeongyeon to see if she had noticed it. They made eye contact as Jeongyeon tried to conceal her own small case of the chills. She had.
"Oh! That was Mina, I think we told you about her a couple times." Sana perched herself by the window.
"Oh, yeah, I think you told me about her while we were at the park." Jeongyeon resumed staring at the snow. "Something about a dance recital?"
"Yeah! She had a ballet recital a couple days ago! It was beautiful, right, Momoring?"
"Yeah," Momo answered distractedly, her mind zoning in something Jeongyeon had said, "What's this about the park?"
"Remember this past weekend when I came over and my gloves were all soggy from the snow? Jeongyeon and I were building snowmen in the park before I went to your house." Sana continued to admire the scene outside the window.
"Oh," was all Momo said.
Nayeon looked over and swore she thought she saw something flicker in her eyes, but the bob-haired girl's expression quickly returned to her usual dazed state. Maybe Nayeon was imagining things.
"Hey!" Jeongyeon jumped up, "Why don't we throw Sana a birthday party? You guys can invite Mina!"
Sana and Momo looked at each other, their eyes lighting up at the same time.
"Oh my gosh, I would love that! You remembered my birthday!" Sana wrapped her arms around Jeongyeon's shoulders and placed a quick peck on her cheek.
Jeongyeon froze in place.
And there it was again, the heat in Nayeon's chest. Her gaze darted away only to lock eyes with Momo who wore the same expression. Both girls broke their connection and hastily cleared their throat.
"I can't wait for you guys to meet Mina! She's a little shy but she's honestly the sweetest person ever. Momoring and I have known her since we can remember." Sana released Jeongyeon's still rigid shoulders to throw an arm around her best friend.
Momo smiled, "Yeah, she always helps us with our homework and carries around snacks for us whenever we get hungry."
"And she bakes the most amazing cookies, like, they're so good. Maybe we can ask her to make some for the party." Sana bounced excitedly. Momo clapped.
"Ooh! I'm excited! Okay, I'll let Jihyo know when we go home later." Nayeon turned back to Jeongyeon. "So, I'll tell her it'll be at your house?"
She didn't answer.
"Hello? Yoo Jeongyeon? Anybody home?" Nayeon lightly knocked the crown of Jeonyeon's head with her knuckles.
"Huh?" Jeongyeon broke out of her trance. "Oh yeah, sure, my house. Winter break. I'll send you guys the details later."
"I can't wait to tell Minari." Sana began gushing again.
"I know! I can't wait to get one of those cookies." Momo's mouth watered.
"Yesss, me too," Sana began to salivate. Both girls gulped and wiped the corner of their mouths with sleeves.
"Two times in one sitting," Nayeon unconsciously took a small step closer to Jeongyeon.
"Anyway, we gotta get to class." And with a wave, Sana and Momo walked away, huddled together, squealing about the upcoming event.
~~~
"Just one more! Please? " Sana's scarf muffled her usually clear voice. She clung to Mina's right arm as they walked down the snowy street.
"Yeah, just one more!" Momo was latched on her left side, also bundled up to the ears.
"No way," the younger girl gripped the tupperware in her hands tighter, her own muffler tickling her cheeks as she peered down, "You guys already ate four of them."
Sana looked confused, "What are you talking about? You only gave us three."
"Sana, I heard you burn yourself in the kitchen when I went to go grab another dish towel from the hall and then I saw you trying to clean the chocolate off Moguri's face." Mina gave her a stern look, "Also, there was obviously a cookie missing from the corner of the baking pan."
Momo leaned over to eye her partner in crime, "I told you she'd notice."
"Yeah, but then you pushed me to just take one!" Sana snapped back.
"Well, you shouldn't give in to peer pressure!"
"I was going to do it anyway!"
Mina tuned the two girls out. She knew that if she tried to get invloved, they'd just rope her into choosing a side and that was a decision Mina hoped to never make. They were her two oldest friends; how was she supposed to choose? Besides, she was used to their small, petty arguments like this. Whenever it happened she always opted to just let the two of them get it out of their system. They always managed to somehow make up in the end, so she never worried about it. (Mina liked to think it was because they were soulmates.)
It was where they were headed that made her anxious.
"You can do it, Mina. It's only a few people. Plus Momo and Sana seem to like them a lot. You don't want to let them down." She sighed and tried to bury her face further into the wool around her neck.
Mina wasn't very good at making friends. She was awkward and quiet when it came to new people. The last time she made new friends was when she started ballet classes and that was years ago.
She felt a firm tug on her scarf and nearly toppled backwards. She suddenly noticed how quiet it had become.
She turned to see Momo and Sana staring at her.
"What are you guy-" Mina yelped in surprise as the duo jumped on her, smothering her with their joint hug.
"Aw, Minari, are you nervous?" Sana nuzzled Mina's cheek with her own. "They're all super nice and I'm sure they're gonna love you."
"Yeah, and we'll be there the whole time so you don't have to worry!" Momo gently pet her head.
Mina tried to break free from their embrace, "I'm not a baby, you guys."
"You hear that, Sana? Mitang says she isn't a baby." Momo playfully poked the apple of Mina's cheek with her mitten.
"But, Mina, you'll always be our little penguin maknae." Sana hugged her tighter.
Still trying to wiggle out of their grip, Mina voice grew hard, "Seriously, I can take care of myself now."
The two older girls pulled back, eyebrows raised.
"Aw, Momoring, our baby penguin doesn't need us anymore! What are we supposed to do now?" Sana feigned despair, dramatically bringing the back of her hand to her forehead.
Momo placed an arm around her in condolence, "I guess she can handle going to the party on her own."
Mina rolled her eyes. "It's your birthday party, Sana. You have to be there."
"If you don't need us, then I don't even see a point in having a birthday anymore." Sana took in exaggerated breaths, wiping fake tears from her eyes. Momo nodded, puppy eyes in full effect.
"Come on, guys, we're going to be late." Mina turned to continue down the sidewalk. She looked over her shoulder to make sure the other two were following but they had remained still. "Really? You're just going to stand there? Let's just go already. It's cold out here; you guys are gonna get sick."
"No! You don't need us!" Momo plopped down in the snow, pouting. Sana quickly joined her.
Mina inhaled and let out a deep sigh, "Fine. If I say I need you guys, then will you get up?"
"Depends..." Sana peeked over at the younger girl, a glint in her eye.
"Can we have another cookie?" Momo smiled mischievously.
Mina rolled her eyes again. "So that's what they were after."
"Sure, yes. You can have a cookie." She looked down defeatedly at the parcel of sweets in her hands.
"Then say it." Momo and Sana commanded in sync.
"I need you. Please come to the party with me. I don't think I can do it without you guys." Mina's tone was flat.
The two girls sprung forward to grab the treat out of her hand, "Thank you, Minari!" They chimed in unison, their eyes forming cresents as they broke it in half and munched happily.
Mina couldn't help but giggle quietly.
"You two are such a handful," she tried to conceal the smile spreading across her lips, "but at least you're both my handful."
"You're welcome; now let's go already." She turned to walk down the street once more, letting the smile break across her face freely.
"I don't think you'll ever know how much I really do need you two."
"What's with the smile, Mitang?" Sana had returned to her initial spot on Mina's right side.
"Oh, nothing." Mina closed her eyes and held out her left elbow for Momo to take.
The trio huddled closer together as they slowly made their way toward Jeongyeon's house.
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A/N: okay sooo heads-up, updates may take a while and are more than likely going to be a little irregular. but some good news is that i already have most of chapter 2 done so ill try to get that update for you guys as soon as i can.
Thank you all again for reading! ((: