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It’s painfully ironic, actually, that Momo realizes she wants to marry Mina, and - unlike everything else that came with Mina - this conclusion did not surprise her at all.
Mina had plans to visit the last leg of Momo’s tour and Momo couldn’t be happier because she hadn’t seen Mina in a couple months. All she wants are cuddles and kisses and a few moments of reprieve from her rowdy bandmates she loves to the moon and back.
Her phone lights up with the familiar Princess Myoui contact, and Momo hadn’t had the heart to change it after almost three years of being with Mina. While Mina - who was admittedly also not someone who likes change - kept hers as My GF (Derogatory) and kept it as such because she thought it was so funny.
(It was.)
“Hey, baby,” Mina greets, a thousand miles and an hour apart. They call around this hour after Momo cleans up for bed, ready to pass out. Today’s set was energetic, and she was spent, happy, but missing her girlfriend terribly.
“Hey,” Momo greets back, snuggling into the bed. She wishes Mina were here but she says nothing. “Busy day?”
Mina laughs, and it’s always like windchimes. “Yeah, though I think it’s not as exciting as my girlfriend’s day being a literal rockstar.”
She sticks out her tongue. She’d rather hear about Mina’s music theory students than talk about the set today, but she still likes talking to Mina about the tours and the people and the band and the fans. She could talk to Mina about anything.
It’s not something she can say about a lot of people.
They chat idly, for a few minutes, and Mina talks about a very interesting question her student asked about intervals. She doesn’t know what half the words coming out from Mina’s mouth means, and she knows Mina will explain it later, then Momo thinks - huh, I want to marry this girl.
That’s the first time.
Mina rambles on excitedly with jargon and technical music things Momo doesn’t even understand on a regular day, and all Momo can think about is how all those years ago she wouldn’t have given a damn about any of that. But now, she does. Very much so.
Now, it’s what makes her realize that she wants to marry Mina. Spend the rest of her life with her and make it work - that kind of thing.
Well.
“ Baby ?” Mina says, pulling her out of a state. She feels no terror or despair, no fear, but this… contentedness upon the admission, the realization, the conclusion that she does want to be with Mina forever. “ Sleepy ?”
“No,” Momo lies, and she knows Mina can see right through her. She always can, but like always, Mina humors her. “talk some more.”
(Mina doesn’t, because she's a bit tired too, and Momo feels sleep wash over her and everything feels right - like things moving into place, puzzle pieces fitting together.
“ Love you, ” Mina says, yawning. “ See you on Friday when I fly in for your last show. You can finally cook for me like the good ol’ times. ”
Momo rolls her eyes.
Yep. Definitely the one.)
-
“So I want to marry Mina,” Momo announces. It feels right - righter than anything she’s ever said her entire life.
Everyone drops their instruments and huddles in to give her a hug — and probably punches their air out of her lungs permanently.
But it’s a hug, a big and supportive one, and they promise to help with whatever proposal she had in mind and to not fuck it up.
Firstly, she doesn’t believe that they won’t mess it up.
Secondly, Momo doesn’t have a plan yet.
-
“What do you mean you don’t have a plan?” Jeongyeon says, and Jihyo is already massaging the bridge of her nose. “You’re marrying Myoui Mina, for all things good and holy!”
All Momo can do is shrug. She just wanted a simple dinner she whipped up for the two of them and some nice rings and lots of kisses after. She’s a simple person. “I honestly didn’t think I’d get this far,” she says honestly, and it does elicit the reaction she’d expected from Jihyo and Jeongyeon.
Jihyo takes a piece of paper and a pen, scribbling down a ‘MINA MARRIAGE PROPOSAL’ on the blank page. “You’re hopeless.”
-
So they end up with this:
On the first day of the American tour, they’re supposed to ask their openers - this rising band named Dream Chase, close friends of Jihyo’s and Dahyun’s, who have been absolute sweethearts and always gets the audience ready for them - to sing Crash Into Me in their style, which Momo thinks would be pretty fucking immaculate in their style.
Then 2X would go through their setlist to start with Melt With You and I Think I’m Yours before their encore. At several points, they’d perform songs inspired by Mina - which is probably one-fourth of their discography. Then, in the middle of the first song she’d ever written for Mina, she’d jump down the stage and propose to her.
That’s the plan.
It’s set in stone, and Momo isn’t too convinced they can pull it off and if she were being honest, she would be a little nervous and shy for a public proposal.
But a lot of proposals are pretty good, right? It’s romantic. It’s a big and grand gesture, and it’s what Mina deserves.
Momo would give her the world, and if this big and grand gesture is the least she could do, she’ll keep trying to give Mina the world in her own way for as long as she can.
-
“That’s one minute and thirty seconds more than the last time,” is what Mina says when Momo exits the bathroom, rubbing the last of her many lotions on her face. She stops at the door, admiring Mina, who doesn’t even look up from the game she’s probably playing with Jeongyeon and Jihyo. It’s another shooting game whose mechanics completely escape Momo.
“You counting?” Momo says, leaning against the doorframe.
That’s when Mina looks up to give her a cheeky grin. “Every moment you aren’t here giving me kisses is a moment wasted.”
Momo doesn’t need to be told twice, so she dives right into their shared bed, into the sheets, burying herself under Mina’s arms and into her stomach.
“Babe, you just messed with my 100% snipe shot,” Mina laughs, and Momo loves her - how Momo loves her, and she loves her even more when she puts her phone away and will probably piss off a lot of her teammates.
They’ll be fine, Momo thinks as Mina’s hands wrap around her. It’s their second night since they’ve been in their home - the home they’ve shared for two years, and Momo just wants all of Mina’s attention.
“Hi,” Momo says, looking up at Mina with what she feels like a stupid grin on her face which Mina returns.
“Hey,” Mina replies, kissing her sweetly. It’s been years but Momo still can’t get enough of her and a part of her brain will always thank Mina for suggesting to kiss her, the surprising flirt that she is.
Right now, she can’t think of anything else except wanting to throw her plans out the window and proposing to Mina right now, in their bed, in each other’s embrace. It would be so easy to pull out the rings and ask Mina to spend the rest of her life with her.
“You look like you want to say something,” Mina says, pulling her out of her reverie. Mina always does that.
“Nah,” Momo lies, and she kisses Mina to distract her. “You’re just awesome.”
“I love you too,” Mina laughs, knowing that those little phrases were Momo’s way of declaring her love and Momo feels Mina’s love wash over her like a gentle tide. Momo thinks, not for the first time, that this is the right choice.
She didn’t seem too convinced, but Momo presses into her more and kisses her a little bit more roughly.
The proposal can wait. There are more important things at hand.
-
“How are you feeling, champ?” Chaeyoung says, massaging Momo’s shoulders. The lightest touch almost makes Momo tip over.
“Not too good, to be honest,” she replies, because she’s so nervous she kept checking her pocket for Mina’s ring to find it there despite the nagging worry that it might have fallen out with one stroke of terrible misfortune.
“You’ll be okay,” her friend offers. “We’ll be there and we won’t fuck it up. I mean it this time.”
Momo’s opinion on 2X fucking it up has turned around and focused directly on herself. “Thanks, bud,” Momo says, ruffling Chaeyoung’s hair.
Chaeyoung picks up her instrument. “I mean, what could possibly go wrong?”
-
The thing is that everything goes smoothly. Siyeon’s voice and DC’s style made Crash Into Me seem so romantic but still so hype. From backstage, Momo sees Mina in the front row, losing her mind, loving the rendition. Knowing her, she’s probably wondering what’s going on since she’s familiar with their discography and the kind of songs they do cover.
Momo chews on her nail. That leaves their entire setlist for this very special show - starting with I Melt With You and ending with I Think I’m Yours and the proposal.
“I feel sick,” Momo says, strapping on her bass, and stepping onto the waiting stage, to Jeongyeon’s drums - their audience’s cheers filling her ears.
The crowd loses it when the guitars start, and the bass thumps heavily in her ears. Momo keeps her eyes on Mina the entire time, and Mina meets her gaze from the stage. Everything seems to fall into place, the nerves that had emerged out of her stomach are tempered by Mina’s gentle presence in the cacophony of the concert venue.
“I saw the world crashing all around your face,” Momo sings for Mina, and the world could stop making sense for all she cared - as long as she has Mina smiling up at her like that: proud, so loving, so tender.
Tonight is the night she’ll ask Mina to be her wife. She isn’t going to fail.
“How’s the situation at Momo Town?” Jeongyeon says, offering her a bottle of water during the intermission. There were only a few more songs left before I Think I’m Yours and Momo puts her hand in her pocket to feel for the velvet box and the letter she wanted to read still sitting in there.
“Still okay,” Momo lies. She was getting cold feet - not about the proposal, per se, but the way it’s done.
Maybe Mina wouldn’t want to marry her. Maybe Mina didn’t want to spend the rest of their lives together. Maybe all of this was just wishful thinking and -
“Well, for whatever reason you don’t wanna push through, just say the word,” Jeongyeon reminds her, a hand on her back. “Or just, you know, give us a cue.”
“I wanna marry her,” Momo pouts. It’s true. She really does want to push through.
Jeongyeon shrugs. “You could still propose to her in a way you’re comfortable.”
They’re called on stage before Momo can think or say anything else.
“So for our last song, we’ll be doing one of the fan favorites,” Jihyo says, uncapping her water and drinking. “Oh yeah? I think I hear it.”
The crowd cheers ‘ I Think I’m Yours’ , and Momo feels the tips of her ears heat up. It’s been years; she’s still absolutely floored to know that so many people love the song she’d written in a haze, written for Mina who had looked so beautiful in her old bed before they could be anything more than friends-but-not-exactly who called each other up when they needed to scratch an itch.
Momo steps forward when the keys and the synths and the guitars start. Like all the songs she’d written for Mina, Momo keeps her eyes on her. “When I met you, I didn’t know what to think,” Momo sings, her hands shaking. “And to be honest, maybe I didn’t think at all.”
“The fever I feel when I’m with you, with our bets and our kisses,” Mina looks up at her with glassy eyes, and she must feel it too. Must feel this coming. Must feel all the love Momo has for her that Momo still sometimes has trouble expressing. “I’ll be feeling that, I think I’ll be feeling it for a long time.”
They’ve come a long way and it hasn’t always been easy, but Mina had made it worth it. Mina always will be worth it - with her good heart, with her gentle humor, with her talent and love for everything she does. Momo could only thank the stars that their paths crossed. “Maybe I’m a fool, maybe this is more to me,” she sings. “Maybe I’ll always be your maybe, but to me that’s better than nothing as long as I have you.”
Here they are, in the third year of their relationships with their solid group of friends and steady careers despite the music industry being the way it is. It had gotten more difficult, signing on. Mina had ended up being one of the most revered professors for music at countless universities.
They’ve changed, from the people that had met at the Seoul Philharmonic concert, and thankfully they’ve changed together. Momo hopes after tonight they’ll keep doing that, knowing that they aren’t fans of change, but as long as they have each other…
Momo thinks they’ll be fine.
When she sings the bridge - Maybe someday we’ll be more, and maybe someday I’ll be worth it - Momo should have set aside her bass guitar, should have hopped off the stage with some help from security, and knelt in front of Mina with the ring.
Mina watches her, with a smile on her face, her cheeks pink and her eyes bright.
Momo keeps playing, keeps singing, keeps her eyes on her. The whole world could stop making sense, could move too fast, but Mina will always make sense to her.
But all I know is that you’ll always be worth it.
-
“Good luck, dude,” Dahyun says, clapping her back a little. They’ve finished wrapping up at the venue, all packed up for the next show in another state in a few days. Which means they have tonight and a few days before going on the road. “You good?”
“Thanks,” Momo replies, and she checks in with herself and finds that… yeah. She’s okay. People knew she had backed out because she opted to do it some other special occasion and had understood. She gives Dahyun a thumbs up before their manager ducks out.
There’s a gentle knock on her door. Momo doesn’t need to ask who it is.
“Ready to go?” Mina asks, giving her a sweet kiss. Somehow it’s sweeter than all her other kisses - which have always been tender.
Momo grabs her bag and bids everyone - who tries to offer their silent support - goodbye. “Never been readier,” Momo tells her, and then they’re off, hand in hand, to go grab some food as they’ve done for years.
-
“So that show today,” Mina starts as soon as they give the menu back to the waitress at some random twenty-four-hour diner near the concert venue. Momo looks up at the dinghy ceiling which is suddenly more interesting than this conversation.
She doesn’t know why she’s embarrassed. She wanted to do that show.
“All my favorite songs, huh?” Mina teases gently, with a knowing smile that Momo had come to know. “If I didn’t know you better, you might be apologizing for something. Did you break our coffee machine again?”
Momo laughs despite the nerves that had shot up but somehow, this time, it’s a different kind. A good kind. Something akin to anticipation, and the buzz, and how it’s still exciting with Mina despite knowing so much about each other throughout the years.
“You think too lowly of me,” Momo says, rolling her eyes. She knows she pulled the ‘sing a song for my GF’ card when Momo had spilled coffee all over Mina’s music sheets. It worked like magic, and also because Mina is a genius who remembers everything. “But no. I can’t sing for my girl?”
Mina blushes and pouts. The milkshake they’ll be sharing arrives, and they thank the waiter before sticking their paper straws into the drink. “Sure,” her girlfriend says, taking a sip first. She always takes the first sip because Momo lets her. “Not like you wanted to tell me anything important.”
She’s using that tone, and Momo can’t even describe what it is except for the fact that Momo fishes the letter from her pocket first, then the velvet box, and slides it across the table.
The expressions that cross Mina’s face should probably set a world record because there’s shock, then disbelief, then elation, then more shock. Momo doesn’t know, because all she can hear is the thumping of her heart reaching her ears, and the sounds of plates clinking together in this American diner at half-past one in the morning.
“Maybe the only thing is chickening out doing this in front of thousands of people,” Momo says, her voice shaking. “But I still want to, and I just want it to be you, me, and all the other drunk patrons in this sketchy diner.”
There are tears that streak Mina’s cheeks, and she’s sobbing into the back of her hand as Momo pops the box open to see a simple ring with a lavender rock, something she’d bought as soon as she’d seen it.
She’s crying too, even before she’d unfolded her letter to read it, and she forgets to because she holds Mina’s hand in hers - a comforting warmth, one that Momo will always recognize, and loves that their hands - to a degree - are worn thanks to years with their respective instruments.
“I… had an entire speech I wanted to say to you in front of a lot of people, but I didn’t know if you wanted that, and if I wanted that for myself too,” she fiddles with the skin at the back of Mina’s hand. “But what I do know is that every day we’ve been together I’ve always learned from you, and I’d like to keep doing that for the rest of my life.”
She picks the ring from where it’s seated inside the box and shows it to Mina. “All I could ever hope to do is that even if I’m the way I am you could still learn from me, and that even when we’re eighty I could still make sick playlists for you.”
Momo doesn’t realize she’s crying until warm droplets of tears drop onto their joined hands. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but when it comes to you I’ll always take my chances,” she observes the ring, and hopes that if Mina says yes, she’ll wear it and love it. It’s a very pretty little thing, fit for Mina and her tastes. “That one time I didn’t back when we were dumbasses, it didn’t turn out for the better. And all the succeeding times I did, you were always worth it.”
She wipes her tears with the back of her hands, and Mina does the same. Even at this point, Momo doesn’t know what Mina is going to say. Maybe those—
Mina reaches into her bag and pulls out a velvet box. She pops it open to have another ring - a simple one, exactly Momo’s style, and Momo can’t believe this is true. Can’t believe it’s happening. Can’t believe someone like Myoui Mina is in her life, loving her enough to propose at the same time.
“I was betting on you to do it first,” is the first thing Mina says, and her lower lip trembles. “And you did.”
Momo leans in, asking permission to put it on Mina’s ring finger. “Guess I did.”
Her girlfriend nods, and Momo slides the ring. It’s perfect and it makes her so fucking emotional, especially when Mina does the same and it’s also a perfect fit.
“I’ll always bet on you,” Mina says, leaning in close to bump their heads together. They haven’t stopped crying but Momo isn’t too worried about looking like an idiot when Mina had proposed to her too. “And yes, I’ll marry you, hotshot. And for the record, I would have loved any proposal from you but this is lovely.”
Momo does a little shaky fist pump, and kisses Mina’s cheeks, wipes some of the tears away with her thumb. “How cool of us - engaged people. Who would have thought.”
Her girlfriend — fianceé , rather — pinches at Momo’s legs. “You used to hate my guts for no reason.”
She flushes a little at the memory of their first meeting. Mina’s vibes - even if she was ridiculously hot - were quite off then. That would be the only explanation.
“How’d you know if I still did?”
Mina laughs, holding up Momo’s hand. “Well, have this for an example.”
There’s no room for any more teasing, any more banter, because Momo leans in to kiss Mina, taking a chance on her today and for the rest of their lives, and everything falls into place.