Chapter Text
Being ubiquitous wasn't always good because you're bound to meet people you certainly do not want to see. Momo knows that, but what can she do? There's only much the school campus can do for her, and it seems like even the world is so small for her to completely avoid bumping into her.
"You look terrible in that jersey, Hirai."
The basketball team is having their afternoon warmups before the practice. Their coach orders a quick thirty laps around the field. They certainly don't like the idea, aside from the fact that it's tiring, the soccer team is composed of assholes who have way too much time in their hands. But, it's not even the soccer team who's pissing her off right now.
On the red corner, wearing the same uniform as the other students in their school, but manages to look a tad different (a tad prettier than one should be), sitting on the table of the kiosk near the water fountain, Minatozaki Sana is taunting her again.
This girl breathes vermin words, saying the meanest things you'll ever hear with a bright smile on her face.
But, Momo has to admit, she enjoys their verbal spats sometimes. Especially if she knows she's gonna win. Just like this one. "Just say if you want me to take this off, Minatozaki." She retorts with a wink. Jeongyeon howls and pushes Momo forward.
The entire team throws into fits of laughter. Sana remains still on the table, glaring at Momo. Hah, no comeback? It's certainly a point for Momo this time. "That was so good!" Chaeyoung chuckles as she feigns writing notes on her palm.
Momo glances at Sana's direction before they take a sharp turn to return back to the court. Sana is clearly displeased, with Jihyo and Mina still laughing and probably teasing her for getting speechless. When Sana catches her looking, she gives her a ‘deadly’ glare, then haughtily turns around.
"You both know you can just stop this and make out, right?" Somi says before she zooms away to avoid Momo's fists. That girl is going to get it when they reach the gym. Somi has a knack for saying shitty nonsensical things like that.
Everyone knows there's no way Momo will breathe and stay in the same room with Sana voluntarily. And each time they do, it's all because they don't have a choice.
Like the times where they share the same class, it's not like Momo can do anything about it. Or when they go to parties, or when there are times that they happen to see each other at the grocery store, the last one is really rare though.
There are a lot of times wherein she really can't stop Sana from being in the same space as her and the only way to save Momo’s sanity is to actively avoid her and never acknowledging that Momo sees and knows Sana's there.
Well, unfortunately, more often than not, Sana goes out of her way to make Momo acknowledge that she's there. 'Sana is here, breathing the same air as you, Hirai. And I bet you hate it.'
Momo couldn't really remember when this hatred for each other started to begin with, but the earliest memory was during summer camp in 5th grade when Momo walked into Sana holding the painting she did with Chaeyoung.
"What are you doing?!" Momo exclaimed as she hastily grabbed the damp painting out of Sana's hands. Sana immediately defends herself. "Hold on, I can explain!" Momo squinted her eyes and placed the painting back on the easel. "Really? Can you now?"
Sana started fiddling with her hands and pacing around the empty cabin. Momo was following her around impatiently waiting for the explanation she promised. Sana stopped walking in circles and defeatedly looked at Momo. "Can you stop hovering and give me a minute to think of a convincing lie?"
It was at that moment that Momo learned the right timing to apply Jeongyeon's cussing for the dummies class. She was so angry that she yelled her first curse word ever, full of spite and hatred.
"Fuck you, Sana!" It was the day that marked Momo's loss of innocence, in a sense. And who's fault was that? Sana, of course.
Well, what happened was already a long time ago, it's not really important when it started at this point. Why does Momo hate Sana you ask? The answer is very simple: she pisses her off everyday, unprovoked. Always picking a fight and for times where she doesn't, just her mere existence annoys the hell out of Momo.
The moment she sees Sana, it's a guarantee that her day is already ruined without even doing anything. Seeing Sana around instantly spoils her mood.
That's why she enjoys weekends. No school, usually no practice, and that means no SANA. "AH, GOOD MORNING, EVERYONE!" She comes down and happily grabs a cup to pour herself some fresh milk. Starting your weekend right with a good breakfast.
Her sister looks at her weirdly. "Did something happen?" She carefully places the scrambled eggs and sits down. Momo shrugs and makes herself a simple egg sandwich. "Nothing, don't you think it's going to be a very nice day?"
Well, Momo did say that during breakfast, but who would've thought that she's going to see Sana at her Saturday part-time job. She dramatically drops the tray full of measuring cups and small bowls. The cacophony of falling bowls, trays and cups is deafening. "You- what the hell are you doing here?"
Sana is wearing the same apron as her and her dyed blonde hair is neatly tied. She crosses her arms and glares at Momo. "That's none of your business, Hirai."
Momo immediately snaps out of it and picks up the cups and tray and bowls. She's going to have a word with Jeongyeon. This can't be happening to her precious weekends!
"Oh, Sana is gonna start working with us on Saturdays. Dad said we need more people since the cooking classes began so yeah." Momo rubs her face and sighs. "Jeong, this can't be happening, right?"
Jeongyeon places the cooled batches of bread onto their shelves. She clicks the tongs in front of Momo's empty gaze and snaps, "I can't tell my father not to get more help just because you hate her, no?"
Momo groans and leans her forehead against the cold glass. She sees Sana almost everyday at school and now she has to see her during Saturdays too? "Stop leaning on the glass, Momoring." Jeongyeon scolds her before returning to the kitchen.
Today's cooking class is extra hectic. That's what Jeong's dad expects, he probably never thought it's going to be this hellish. The life span of Momo slowly chips away as she watches children run around bakery. Jeongyeon's currently getting beaten up by four other children. They're supposed to look after these gremlins for a while just until Jeong's dad comes back.
"I think an explosion will happen before your dad comes back, Jeong." Momo says in fear. The children turn to her and start chasing her. "Play with us!" And with a rowdy bunch like this, accidents are bound to happen. Sana is just standing on one corner for safety. "Minatozaki, you may want to- AW! -help us here?!"
Sana looks around and points at herself. "Me? I just got my hair done, I can't." Jeongyeon yelps when a kid pulls her ear and ruffles her hair. "See? That's occupational hazard, Jeong. I'm not paid enough to deal with that." Momo helps out Jeongyeon while openly glaring at Sana.
Everything settled down when Jeongyeon's dad and his juniors arrived. "HAHAHAHA! I guess you three are not so good with children, eh? That will change from now on." Momo should have run and left the bakery when he said that. Instead, she laughed along with the others.
Momo and Sana look at each other then at the three little girls who are fiddling with their apron pockets. She clears her throat and introduces herself. "Hi, I'm Momo!" The little girls stare at Momo and then give a small bow. Sana remains silent, so Momo nudges at Sana and whispers. "What are you doing?"
Sana gives her a confused expression. Momo tilts her head to the girl who's standing in front of them. "What? I don't know how to talk to children." Momo sighs and pulls Sana close, sternly whispering, "Just be yourself. Be nice!" Momo gently grabs her arm and pushes her forward.
When Momo lets go of Sana's arm, she sees her visibly distressed. "Oh god, Hirai. Which one? I can't do both!" Giving up, Momo just musters up the sweetest smile she can fake and pushes Sana forward. "And this is Sana. We're going to help you today."
Needless to say that the class did not end so well. While cleaning up, Jeongyeon's father hastily announces the greatest news they've heard. "I guess I'll stop taking children to my cooking classes." He says that before leaving the kitchen, shaking his head as he calls someone to stop accepting more applications.
Now, Momo is not a malicious person BUT, all this trouble happening right after Sana starts working at the bakery seems plausible. "I didn't know working for your bakery would be this exhausting, Jeongyeon."
Jeongyeon mimics Sana mockingly and throws a wet towel straight to her face. "Well, miss prissy, I'm sorry but you signed up for this yourself." Sana removes the wet towel and glares at Jeongyeon. She throws away the towel and flips a finger before leaving them alone to clean up after the mess.
"I still can't believe she told a child that her food isn't edible." Jeongyeon shakes her head and picks up the towel. Momo helps herself with a cinnamon roll. "She's evil." Momo angrily bites on the roll, slowly calming down while relishing its taste. "What did you tell her anyway?"
"I told her to be nice and be herself. She said she can't do two things at once so she went with being herself." Momo licks her fingers and shrugs. "That means making a poor child cry." To be fair, the PBJ sandwich that kid made looks like the forbidden krabby patty Spongebob made that almost killed the health inspector.
Momo suppresses her own smile as Jeongyeon wheezes close to tears laughing at what she just said. She can’t deny it, Minatozaki can really be amusing at times. BUT that doesn’t change the fact that she ruined her Saturday.
“I heard you guys met last Saturday.” Nayeon immediately greets Momo the moment she’s taken her seat. Jeongyeon really can’t shut her mouth. Momo rolls her eyes and sets her bag aside. “Good morning too, Nayeonie.”
Nayeon drags her chair close to Momo and starts not minding her own business, like she always does. “So? Tell me what happened?” Nayeon continues to pry. Momo tries her best to keep her mouth shut. Momo is certain Nayeon already knows ‘what happened.’
Sana most likely has told her the moment she left the bakery. They are close friends. Well, Nayeon is friends with almost everyone. Momo glares at Nayeon who is comfortably leaning on her desk. “Can you move aside? I still have to write something for homeroom, you know.”
Nayeon slowly backs away. “What are you gonna write? Dear diary, Sana ruined my Saturday, now I have to make sure to piss her off some more. Oh, and she looks good in an apron too.” Momo turns beet red as Nayeon snickers.
“Can you just leave me alone?” Momo flips her a finger and busies herself with writing her homework. But there’s no way Nayeon will shut her mouth. “If it makes you feel any better, Sana wrote about her weekend with you in her personal diary.”
Momo scowls and stops writing. First off, “You read other people’s diaries?!” Nayeon shrugs and nonchalantly replies. “Well, Chaeyoung let’s me read her diary with no problem, what’s wrong with that?”
Horrified, Momo slams her journal notebook and hides it in her bag. Nayeon raises her brow and smirks. “With the way you’re acting, it’s just making me even more curious about what you wrote in there.”
She’s a bad person, no wonder Nayeon is friends with Minatozaki.
Like this day can’t get even worse, Momo is carrying her tray when she spots Sana and her friends sitting at their table. She dramatically stops in front of their table, everyone stops chatting and looks at her in concern. “What are you doing, sit down and eat.” Jeongyeon points at the empty space beside Sana.
Momo gives Jeongyeon the what the fuck look. Jihyo immediately speaks in defense. “Hey, Momo. We kinda need to talk about the upcoming intramurals so…” Jeongyeon points at the empty spot again and whispers, “Just sit down and eat.”
Begrudgingly sitting down, Momo starts eating her ramen. Sana is surprisingly minding her own business. Or so she thought. Of course, Sana will take this opportunity to piss her off.
It starts with a little elbow every time she’s about to drink some broth, Sana suddenly reaching out to pick something from Mina’s plate, who is by the way eating across to Momo. “Do you mind?”
Jeongyeon glares at Momo on the other side of the table. She pouts and mumbles. It’s not her fault Minatozaki is purposely disturbing her meal. Now Sana moves to a new level, she starts pushing Momo’s tray using her own tray. “Argh, stop it, Minatozaki!”
Sana only sticks her tongue out and smiles. HA! How childish. Mina looks up from her phone and starts scolding her friend. “Satang, what are you doing? Let Momo eat at peace. Stop bothering her.”
Totally ignoring her, Sana starts picking the side dishes on Momo’s tray. She happily chews the stuffed fried peppers until the spiciness suddenly kicks in to her palate. Sana starts fuming and coughing. “Sana?” Jeongyeon stops speaking and looks at Momo for answers. “She ate my peppers.”
Sana coughs and pants some more. She finally sees Momo’s cold bottled water and gives Momo the puppy pleading eyes. “Can I have some water?” Momo holds onto her bottle and slowly opens the cap. Sana is giving her grabby hands while sticking her tongue out, this time for a different reason.
“Do you want this, Minatozaki?” Momo raises her water. Sana enthusiastically nods and waits. Jeongyeon’s eyes widen as she clearly realizes what Momo’s about to do. “Momo, no. Don’t do it!”
Jihyo looks at her weirdly. “Do what?” And Momo finally does it. She starts chugging the water bottle. She glances at Sana who’s clearly in need of water to ease the intense pang from her spicy stuffed peppers. Sana attempts to steal the water bottle but Momo is quicker.
While moving around, Momo chokes from drinking the water too fast, but she doesn’t stop. She’s making a mess, but who cares, Sana is not getting her water. The water spills all over herself until it’s all empty. Momo proudly tips her empty bottle over her head, she’s catching quick breaths but manages to still give her a cocky smirk. “Sorry, I don’t have any water.”
Sana is looking at her beet red, HA! She’s fuming mad. “You’re turning red, Minatozaki. Is it too hot?” Momo taunts Sana some more. Nayeon, who all this time has been silently sitting at the far corner, watching their every move, finally speaks.
“Answer her, Sana. Oh, was it too much for you?” Nayeon wiggles her brows maliciously. As if something clicks within Jeongyeon, she starts hysterically laughing, hitting her knee under the table.
Nayeon stands up and shoves her half full tumbler to Sana. “Drink up and relieve that thirst, Sana. Geez.” Jeongyeon erupts in even bigger fits of laughter. Momo scowls at her friend.
Sana immediately empties Nayeon’s water and stands up. “Y-you. You’re an abhorrent and reprehensible person, Hirai. Fuck you.” She purposely bumps into Momo and leaves.
Scoffing in disbelief, Momo points at Sana’s direction. “Can you believe that- that bitch picked a fight first, now she’s calling me weird names?” Nayeon scratches her head and digs out her phone, quickly typing.
Humming and nodding, Nayeon holds Momo’s face, her phone against Momo's cheeks, and calmly replies, “She called you an asshole like it’s the 1800s and it’s the era of enlightenment, Momoring.” Mina chuckles and quickly apologizes.
That bitch will always have a say, does she? Well, not giving her that water is truly worth it.