Work Text:
Perhaps it isn’t the best idea to kiss your best friend. Sana and Momo are unaware of this-- or maybe chose to overlook it. Because kissing feels so good.
Their first kiss, the first proper one that sweltering Friday afternoon in their dorm’s couch, feels like when you turn a valve connected to a poorly constructed giant water tank. As soon as the pressure is released from the turn, the water explodes out uncontrollably that whoever turned it is willed with panic as they try to turn it back to no avail.
They kissed that afternoon until their lips were swollen and the television screen was static with the movie they didn’t watch long over. Sana’s hand remained clutched on Momo’s elbow while the other girl’s stayed balled up by her side.
Yes, it did get a little awkward when they separated. Both at the very opposite end of the couch hiding blushes and avoiding eye contact.
It isn’t until Sana, after gently wiping on her lips with the sleeve of her shirt, looks up to Momo and chuckles that the tense silence is broken.
“What?” Momo asks in bewilderment.
When Sana’s laughter dies down, she pulls a tissue from the box on the table (they’ve kept that supply there for particularly heartbreaking drama and or movie scenes) and moves close to her.
“You have my lipgloss all over your face,” She starts to wipe Momo’s chin-- how on earth did it get on her chin?!-- and to the corner of her lips.
It’s really hard to focus with someone so close to you looking at your lips. Especially when that someone was enthusiastically kissing you not more than five minutes ago. Maybe in six minutes it will feel less weird.
“This… doesn’t change anything between us, right?” Momo asks cautiously.
Sana pauses for a moment and makes eye contact with her friend.
There’s that expression in her face again. The one that Momo can’t quite read. Well, she doesn’t have time to read it because Sana beams with her sweet smile and nods.
That’s good enough for Momo.
It wasn’t enough at all.
There’s something different with fantasizing about something and actually having it.
One time during their trainee days, Momo caught whiff of this amazing smell coming from a bakery. It’s that freshly baked bread smell that conjures images of a fluffy bun jiggling happily before you devour it. The kind you’ll think about until you have it again.
It feels like that right now. Except, instead of an aromatic baked good, it is kissing. More specifically kissing her best friend.
Here are some things Momo learned from her google searches:
- It’s probably not a good idea to kiss your best friend
- But it’s fine if you’re both fine with it
- But you maybe shouldn’t just in case someone develops feelings and then your relationship is ruined to an irreparable degree and you die alone with your cats
(The last user might be going through some things.)
She would be lying if she says the kiss hasn’t been on repeat in her mind for the past few days.
Sana must be some sort of superhuman or have one of those pens that can erase memories because she seems to be functioning perfectly fine.
They don’t have any alone movie time for a while. Either some of the members are with them (note: also between them) or Sana is too uncharacteristically tired to stay up too late.
The kiss is replaying in Momo’s head again. Sana was wearing some kind of fruity lip gloss that felt a little sticky against her lips. But the smell was so sweet that she had to taste it.
What was that fruit? Strawberry?
“What are you doing, Momoring?” Sana’s voice snaps her back to reality. The waiting room is less chaotic than usual, with staff slowly trickling out while carrying equipment and costumes.
“Oh, um,” Momo clears her throat. How long has she zoned out for? “I was just monitoring our stage…”
She looks at the blank screen of her phone and then back to Sana, who is also looking at the blank screen of her phone.
“We should get going.” Momo swiftly stands up to head for the door, leaving a slightly puzzled Sana behind.
The early morning is miserable and gray. The sun is nowhere to be seen. Instead of lively birds chirping, it is the surprisingly bustling Seoul traffic as people head off to work at the ungodly hour.
Momo looks out the window and wonders why there aren’t any birds chirping in their neighborhood while she chews on a piece of toast. She’s not really a morning person but sleep seems to be eluding her recently.
Which is why she sits alone in the kitchen at 4.37 am for no reason.
It feels oddly nice to be awake at a time like this. There’s a level of peace that can be scarcely obtained at any other time. Especially in a space shared by nine girls.
She takes the final bite and carefully sweeps the crumbs into her palm. She’s not really a neat person, but she does hold fear of Yoo Jeongyeon.
When she pads towards the livingroom to collapse on a small armchair, the front door unlocks. And in walks the reason why sleep has been eluding her.
Sana takes off her hat and mask, with a black plastic bag hanging from her hand.
“You were out?” Momo mumbles in greeting, which startles the other girl into a high pitched squeak.
“Don’t scare me like that!” Sana whisper-screams at a chuckling Momo. “What are you doing up so early?”
“What are you doing up so early?”
“I got snacks.”
They sit on the couch and share a container of yogurt in peace (though they bicker about having an equal share of the precious aloe pieces.)
Sana scrapes the last spoonful and offers it to Momo, who eats with a contented hum.
Momo notices Sana’s eyes on her mouth for a moment and she instinctively licks her lips in case there’s any remnant of yogurt there. But Sana is still staring.
“What?” Momo finally asks, feeling her cheeks heat under Sana’s stare. “Do I have something on my face?”
“Do you want something on your face?”
“What?”
“My face… could be on your face…” It’s so cute how Sana cringes at her statement that Momo immediately forgives her for the terrible joke.
“Ok, since it’s like 5am, I’ll let you go with that one.”
Sana shoves her and moves to clean up the plastic container (she also fears Yoo Jeongyeon) when--
“Would you want to do it again?”
When Sana tilts her head in a cute way, it really makes Momo want to kiss her again.
“I mean the kissing.” She clarifies, trying to sound casual about it and failing.
Much to Momo’s disappointment and embarrassment, Sana frowns.
She’s about to blurt out a cowardly “just kidding!” when-
“I thought you wanted to go back to how we were…”
“We can still be like how we were, but maybe we kiss sometimes.”
“That seems like a big difference.”
“Ok, nevermind.”
“I’m kidding, Momoring.”
And then Sana’s hand is on her wrist to tug her back. That felt like a typical drama move. When the two leads bicker incessantly and one of the characters make a move to storm out but the other one grabs their wrist and twirl them back in slow motion. And then the OST plays (an emotionally sung ballad by IU or Taeyeon) before the frame is in black and white and the sponsors are displayed on the screen.
The members are all home and they don’t feel as comfortable to openly kiss in a public space like this. What if someone saw?
Somewhere else in the dorm, Mina just got a random chill.
When Momo turns back after the little secure click of the bathroom door, Sana is already leaning against the tiled wall and smiling at her in a way that feels like a string is wrapped around Momo and pulls her.
The awkwardness is still there, but there’s also this giddy excitement that fills the air as they move closer together.
As soon as she is within reach, Sana’s fingers are looped around the garter of her sweatpants to pull her. The momentum makes her almost tumble ungracefully before her palm is resting on the surface next to Sana’s head.
And they laugh. Because this feels so ridiculous and surreal.
Maybe during the early moments of the morning, where they’re the only two awake, things feel especially magical.
“I’m going to kiss you now, ok?” Momo whispers it like it’s a secret, and they’re so close that their lips are almost touching.
Sana nods quickly before they both move forward to meet in the middle.
They’ve shared kisses before, yes. Awkward, accidental kisses. Shy, innocent kisses.
Nothing quite like this.
Maybe it was all of those times she’s spent thinking about kissing Sana. Momo can’t seem to get enough of her. She barely notices how she’s leaned her whole body forward, pinning the other girl against the cold tile wall.
“Mmm,” Sana makes a sound against her mouth that makes Momo lean back to look at the girl.
“Sorry… I got carried away.” This is so embarrassing. They just went here for a totally normal friend-kiss and here she is taking advantage of it.
Momo finds out that Sana has a habit of grabbing her when a hand grips the front of her shirt to bring her back against the other girl’s body, and their faces close again.
They share more kisses after that.
Excited, giddy kisses. Quiet, passionate kisses. Tired, lazy kisses.
One evening they peck so casually as Sana moves to get something from the kitchen. Jeongyeon does a double take at the act. But neither of the girls responded as if it was a weird thing.
“Is that like a Japanese thing?” She murmurs to Mina, who is innocently fiddling with her nails.
When Mina shrugs, Jeongyeon does as well.