Chapter Text
The dorm was empty, most of the members were elsewhere—finally getting a break after an incredibly long period of promotions—Momo however, had returned to the dorm, unable to fit a trip home to Japan in her schedule, even without promotions on the calendar.
Jeongyeon had also opted to stay at the dorm, as her family happened to be incredibly busy on her week of break.
Jeongyeon walked into Momo and her shared bedroom, only to notice Momo laying on their bed, cradling her head between her arms, brow furrowed.
“Tough day?” Jeongyeon asked, unconsciously tossing Momo the bottle of ibuprofen that had been left on the dresser.
“Yeah,” Momo groaned, taking out two of the tablets and taking them with a swig from the half empty bottle of water on the side table. “It’s harder sometimes, when the dorm is empty. I’m kinda tuned into all of you guys,” Momo gestures back and forth with her hands near her temples, unsure of what Korean word would accurately describe the concept of psychic wavelength. “I’m always having to not project or read thoughts, but when you guys are gone it’s like my brain is still looking for those signals.”
Jeongyeon had known about Momo’s abilities for years now. The two of them had bonded after the first time Momo reached out to project her own thoughts, and they’d shared somewhat of a psychic connection ever since. Momo would never project or read Jeongyeon’s thoughts without permission of course, but there was still something —intangible and incredibly confusing—that was tethering them to each other.
“Is there anything I can do to make it better?” Jeongyeon asked, crawling onto her side of the bed.
“No. The only thing that would make it stop is if I stopped controlling my abilities for a bit,” Momo said, rolling her eyes.
Obviously Momo wasn’t going to do that .
“Why don’t you then?” Jeongyeon asked, brows furrowed in concern. “If it will help you feel better…” Jeongyeon trailed off.
Momo shook her head in opposition, forgetting just how much her head was killing her, but quickly remembering the second her brain started pounding like it was trying to escape her skull. She rubbed her temples again, trying to refocus herself.
“I can’t do that, unnie.”
If she let go while Jeongyeon was here with her…
Actually, she wasn’t really sure what would happen—the only times she’d ever fully stopped controlling her abilities had been for short periods of time, and she’d been alone—But she still didn’t want to risk anything happening to Jeongyeon, or god forbid she wasn’t able to turn back on her mental defenses.
“Then I’ll leave, so you can have the dorm to yourself,” Jeongyeon moved to get off of the bed, but Momo’s firm grasp stopped her.
“No,” Momo’s big brown eyes pleaded, “I don’t want to be alone.”
“And I don’t want you to suffer this whole week,” Jeongyeon rebutted, repositioning herself on the bed. “Painkillers aren’t meant to stop psychic headaches anyways,” Jeongyeon chuckled, playfully nudging Momo’s shoulder, forcing a shy, pained smile to cross Momo’s lips.
“I’m just scared,” Momo replied, ignoring the taste of blood as she chewed on the corner of her lip. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You aren’t going to,” Jeongyeon laced her fingers with Momo’s, rubbing the younger girls’ knuckles in a comforting motion. “It’ll be okay, I trust you Momo-yah.”
Momo sighed, closing her eyes.
One by one she mentally retracted the tethers to the others in the group, including the one preventing her from reading Jeongyeon’s thoughts.
Momo breathed in sharply, trying not to be overwhelmed by the instant flood of mental energy radiating from the girl holding her hand.
It wasn’t like reading a book, or even hearing someone speak. Yes, she could hear Jeongyeon’s thoughts, her complex inner monologue, but she could also she could hear the song that had been stuck in Jeongyeon’s head for two days now, she could smell what the room smelt like to Jeongyeon, feel the sensation of her own hand being held.
“You okay?” Jeongyeon asked, unmoving.
“Mmhmm,” Momo nodded, “It just takes a second to get used to,” Momo closed her eyes again, focusing now on retracting the strongest tether she had—the one that required the most mental energy—the mental block that she used to stop herself from projecting her own thoughts.
Momo felt instant relief from her pounding headache as she let herself relax, fully letting down that defense for the first time in as long as she could remember.
Jeongyeon gasped, taken aback by the strong connection she felt with the younger girl, overwhelmed at how she could suddenly feel what Momo was feeling, hear what she was thinking, but also experience the world as Momo did for just a brief minute of time.
“Are you alright?” Momo asked, and Jeongyeon wasn’t sure if it was audible or a mental projection.
Jeongyeon didn’t respond directly, taking in this new world for just a minute longer, feeling the emotions that Momo felt, listening in as she translated words in her head from Japanese to Korean the best she could, hearing her insecurities, and wondering what Jeongyeon must think of Momo in this moment.
Jeongyeon doesn’t understand all of the Japanese words she hears running through Momo’s head, but she knows this feeling all too well.
Momo is afraid .
~This was a huge mistake. She thinks I’m a freak. Way to go, pabo.~
“Daebak,” Jeongyeon spoke aloud, breaking the not-so-quiet silence between them. “You’re beautiful, you know that right? And just...daebak.”
Jeongyeon wonders to herself if this is what Momo feels all the time, if she ever gets used to the rush of emotions and sensations and—
“Not really,” Momo responds audibly, “But just imagine having to tune this out times ten at all times.”
“It must be exhausting,” Jeongyeon reaches up, gently brushing the hair away from Momo’s eyes, noticing the crystal tears forming in the corners of her tired eyes.
“It is,” She breathes in deeply, finally relaxing into the very much exposing form of intimacy. “You know what’s funny though,” Momo chuckles softly, a sort of half sob, half laugh escaping her lips. “I think this is the first time someone’s read my mind.”
Jeongyeon smiled, her own eyes blurry with tears, which she wasn’t actually sure were cause by her own emotions.
“I mean, I’ve projected with people, but that’s only a fraction of my abilities whenever I do. I honestly can’t remember the last time I was able to just relax ,”
“Then let’s just lay here,” Jeongyeon says, bringing in Momo closer, embracing her gently. “We don’t have to say anything, and we don’t have to try to communicate or anything. Let’s just lay here.”
Momo nods, bringing herself closer against Jeongyeon’s body, relaxing at the comforting feeling of just being held .
Momo can’t help but worry that Jeongyeon is going to get overwhelmed by their psychic link, but before she even has a chance to express this—or even debate within herself if she’s going to say anything at all—Jeongyeon responds.
“I’m okay Moguri,” Jeongyeon sighs, “When your headache is completely gone, and you’re ready to have your own headspace again, I’ll leave or whatever for a bit so you can, I don’t know, reset ,”
Thankfully, since the two of them are linked, Momo understands that Jeongyeon isn’t rejecting her or pushing her away, merely offering her a brief time to put back up her defenses.
After a period of peaceful silence between the two, Momo speaks up.
“Unnie,” Momo’s voice is soft, nearly inaudible, and Jeongyeon turns her head to lock eyes with the Japanese girl.
Momo doesn’t finish her sentence.
She doesn’t have to. Jeongyeon feels her overwhelming gratefulness, her deep familial love, this special indescribable connection that they have.
Jeongyeon knows she’s Momo’s best friend.
Her person .
Her sister .
She knows this more now than she ever has before, with more certainty than anything she’s ever known anything in this world.
She can only hope that Momo knows that she feels the exact same way too.
A small, barely-there, smile reaches the corner of Momo’s lips.
She knows.
Of course she knows.