Archive of Our Own

Momo is late again. It’s not like she’s actively trying to be late for her job. She actually left the house at a decent time. It’s just the universe knows that her best friend is literally her boss and won’t fire her. But still, her goal is to be on time at least twice a week. Baby steps, you know.

Momo is running down the hall with a couple of snacks for the office. A peace offering and an apology of sorts for being late. At least the people she works with know that she tries to get here on time.

When Momo finally enters the office, she sees that everyone is starting to get in their mode when it comes to working. Mina comes out of her office with a look that tells her ‘don’t let this happen again.’ Momo bows to say sorry and quickly goes to her desk. Finally settling at her desk, Chaeyoung comes next to her, shaking her head.

“How is it that almost everyday, you’re late. Don’t you say you leave your house on time?” Chaeyoung asks.

Momo nods her head. “Yes! I even left 10 minutes early and somehow I'm still late. And before you say anything, I got these snacks when I realized I was already 10 minutes late and I was still 20 minutes away. I might’ve gotten some snacks for everyone here to apologize.” Momo explained. “Speaking of, I need to give these out. These are for you.” Momo gives Chaeyoung some chips. “Enjoy.”

With that, Momo gets up from her desk and starts giving out snacks. She sees Nayeon and Jeongyeon deep in a quiet argument about something. Not wanting to be pulled into that, she quickly tries to leave the snacks at her desk. The keyword is ‘tries.’

“Momo, thank god you're here!” Nayeon exclaimed. “Please tell Jeongyeon that we had to change the way we format these numbers. You know, considering she was gone for the last two weeks thanks to a business trip.” Nayeon says while looking directly at Jeongyeon.

“Yeah, and while I was away for those two weeks, we learned about the change and it wasn’t this.” Jeongyeon said while looking directly at Nayeon.

Momo didn’t know what to do. “Umm, did you guys still want my opinion or…” Momo asked. When she didn’t get an answer, she slowly put down the snacks she got for them. “Well, for Nayeon unnie, I got you some gummies and for Jeongyeon, I got you a triangle kimbap.”

Jeongyeon noticed the snacks Momo left for them. “Thank you Momo for being thoughtful and for thinking about other people.” Jeongyeon said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“I’m not about to argue with you at work, where our friends can be a witness.” Nayeon said with a smug smile.

With that, Momo turned around and walked away from the two friends. Whatever happened with them is between them and Momo only wants to hear about it after everything is resolved.

Momo sees Sana at her desk, watching Youtube videos instead of working. Honestly, it’s truly a miracle that this company hasn’t gone under yet.

“Satang, I got some goodies for you!” Momo said happily.

Sana paused her video and turned to look at Momo with excitement in her eyes. “Yay, goodies!” Sana said while clapping.

Momo handed Sana some gummies and Sana took them happily.

“Do you have anything for Dahyun by chance? And if you do, can I give them to her and say they are from me?” Sana asked, making her eyes bigger and putting on a pout.

“Did you already mess up? We are not even an hour into the work day Sana.” Momo says with a laugh.

“I just forgot to do a part of the presentation that I said I was going to do last week. Please, just save me this one time!” Sana was begging at this point. Momo felt bad.

“Yeah, I got her some chocolates.” Momo said, giving Sana the chocolates. “Are you doing the presentation now?” Momo asked Sana.

“Yeah, I’m almost done with it. I just need to take a quick break because there are too many numbers getting jumbled in my head and I want to make sure that they are right, yo see?”Sana explained “Thank you Momo, you are literally the bestest friends anyone could ask for. Now leave before Dahyun comes back.” Sana said, sooshing Momo away.

Momo leaves Sana to her own devices. Moving to her next target, who is Tzuyu, staring at her computer with confusion.

“Hey TzuTzu! Starting the work day off well, yeah?” Momo asked, taking Tzuyu’s attention away from the computer.

“Y-yeah. Jihyo made the presentation for the meeting later and I’m just reviewing it, or trying to at least. I don’t know what’s wrong with my focus today. Tzuyu said. Everyone knows that Tzuyu got the manager position over Jihyo, but at least the girl is trying to be a good manager, even though the girl was not very good at it.

“Well, luckily for you, I got you some gummies!” Momo said excitedly. “I don’t know if it can help with your focus, but it can definitely help with your sugar levels.” Momo said while giving Tzuyu the gummies.

“Thanks, Momo unnie. I will use these later on.” Tzuyu said, turning her attention back to her computer.

Momo looked at Jihyo’s desk and noticed she wasn’t there. Looking around the office, she notices that Jihyo isn’t in the office.

“Tzuyu, where’s Jihyo? She’s usually the first one here on most days.” Momo asks, trying to sound as normal as possible.

Tzuyu glanced at her with a smug smile. “ She’s in the break room, making herself some coffee.”

Momo nodded, giving her thanks and walking away. Momo left Jihyo’s snack for last and she was delighted that she can give it to her when they are alone. She just knows if Sana or Mina witnessed her trying to talk to Jihyo and give her a snack that she spent way too long thinking about, they will tease her until she is on her deathbed.

Momo enters the breakroom and sees Jihyo in front of the coffee maker, with a slight frown on her face. Momo thinks she's too cute to have a frown on her face. Momo clears her throat and she successfully catches Jihyo’s attention.

“Oh, hey Momo!” Jihyo says with a smile. Momo promptly loses her voice. Giving Jihyo a wave.

Jihyo turns her attention back to the coffee maker, seemingly getting lost in her own thoughts.

Momo takes a deep breath and walks towards Jihyo. “Umm, Jihyo.” Momo says meekly. Jihyo turns her attention back to Momo. Momo hands Jihyo a small pack of hard candy. Jihyo grabs it with a smile. “Those are for you, you know, just in case your sugar levels get down. Not that they would ever because you always make sure everyone in the office eats well, but you know, I wanted you to have them.” Momo rambled, not making eye contact with Jihyo, looking at her feet. These are her favorite pair of shoes.

Jihyo laughs quietly, making Momo look up at Jihyo. She has a small smile on her face, prompting Momo to match her smile.

“Thanks Momo, this was really sweet. I’ll make sure to make good use of it.” JIhyo looked at Momo and Momo could swear she could get lost in her eyes.

Momo was too inside her head, she didn’t realize that Jihyo was speaking to her again.

“i-I’m sorry, can you repeat that?” Momo asked, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Jihyo rolled her eyes with a smile on her face. “I said, would you like a cup of coffee? I can bring it back to your desk.”

Momo nodded before she could realize what Jihyo asked.

“Great, you take yours with two creams and two sugars, right?” Jihyo asked. Momo nodded again.

“Cool, I’ll bring that over to your desk.” Jihyo said with a smile. “You should head back to your desk and start work, you know we have presentations later, right?” Momo nodded and turned to walk out of the breakroom.

When she left the breakroom, Momo just realized what happened. ‘Great, I think I made myself look like a total loser in front of Jihyo.’ Momo ran her hand through her hair and took a deep breath. "At least there was no one around to witness it," Momo thought to herself. She considered it a win. Feeling happy with herself, Momo walked back to her desk and started her work for the day.

Jihyo decided to have a late lunch. Presentation time is usually stressful for everyone, but this year is different. It’s her first time with Tzuyu as her seeing manager and she loves the girl, but wow, Jihyo has never been more stressed out. Jihyo would have skipped lunch if Sana didn't scold her for working during lunch after promising to meet her there in a few minutes. The minutes turn to an hour and now Jihyo is in line getting her lunch.

Jihyo looks around and sees Momo sitting by herself eating her lunch, engrossed in her phone. Jihyo decided she will sit with Momo. Jihyo knows about Momo’s crush on her, and Jihyo can’t lie, she loves making the girl suffer a tiny bit.

Jihyo grabs her food and walks towards the table that Momo is sitting at.

“Hey Momo, you’re still eating?” Jihyo asked, sitting next to Momo.

Momo jumps a little and drops her phone on the table. Jihyo smiles a bit, loving the effect she has on Momo.

“Oh, hey Jihyo. You’re just coming down?”

“Yeah, Sana saw my work through lunch and basically threatened me to come down and eat and I’m a little scared of her, so yeah.” Sana was scary when she wanted to be. Granted, Jihyo has never seen Sana upset, but from the stories that Momo and Mina told, she doesn’t want to experience that.

“Yeah, as someone who was on the receiving end of Sana’s anger, I would not recommend it.” Momo says, looking at her food.

Jihyo recently noticed that Mom barely looks at her in the eyes. It usually wouldn't bother her, but call her a sucker for wanting to look Momo in the eyes.

Lunch was going well. Jihyo and Momo were doing small talk.

“I can’t wait until we do these presentations, I feel like my brain is two seconds from running out of my head.” Jihyo says, putting her chopsticks down on the table. “If these things weren’t so important for a pay raise, I would’ve put any old number down.”

These presentations have been so stressful for Jihyo these past fees and honestly she just wants to down a large glass of beer and sleep for forty hours.

Jihyo felt Momo pat her back in a comforting manner. It did help Jihyo calm down and she was appreciative of her.

“Just think of it like this, in two hours, we won’t have to look at those numbers until next year and you can look forward to your ‘end of the year’ bonus that is guaranteed for you because you are literally the top worker in this place.” Momo rambled, quickly taking her hand away from Jihyo and placing it on her neck.

Jihyo thought Momo was adorable when she rambled like this.

“Thanks Momo, for your words.” Jihyo started, giving Momo her full attention. “Your partner has to be the luckiest person in the world to call you theirs.”

Jihyo could see that Momo’s face was starting to turn bright red and she promptly turned her face away from Jihyo.

“I-I don’t have a partner. Single as a pringle.” Momo said with a slight chuckle.

“Oh, sorry. I just assumed.” Jihyo truly did think that Momo was with someone. Her little flirty attempts she would throw to Momo would go unnoticed by the older girl, so Jihyo thought she was taken.

With this newfound knowledge, Jihyo smirked. Coming up with a game plan in her head.

“Oh, but look at you.” Jihyo said, looking Momo from top to bottom and then back to her eyes. She’s too cute when she blushes. “If it’s not your looks, your amazing and sweet personality, then it must be a secret third thing.” Jihyo puts her finger to her chin, acting like she is in deep thought.

Jihyo snaps her fingers with a ‘ah-ha’ moment. Leaning close to Momo, seeing the older girl hold her breath. “You’re a secret serial killer who’s afraid that your lover will find out and turn you in, right?” Jihyo whispered to Momo with a smile.

Jihyo leans back to her chair. “Just letting you know, I wouldn’t tell on you.” With that, Jihyo stood up from the table, grabbing her tray, and leaving Momo with her mouth slightly ajar.

This is going to be fun

In true Momo style, she was the last one to enter the meeting room, with two minutes to spare. When she entered the meeting room, Momo locked eyes with Chaeyoung, who was doing her best to scold her with her eyes, but anything Chaeyoung does is cute in Momo’s eyes.

Momo quickly sat in the only chair available, which was right next to Jihyo. Great.

After their lunch earlier, Momo could not look Jihyo in the eye. If you asked Sana and Mina, they would have said that Momo never could look Jihyo in the eye, but that’s not true, obviously.

The meeting starts off how meetings usually do, boring matters about updates that most people don’t pay attention to. Momo noticed that Jihyo was making small doodles in her notepad. Cute little cat drawings all over the page. Cute.

Presentations were going well. Sana and Dahyun explained their numbers and how their productivity increased within their team and all that jazz.

Momo was getting bored out of her mind. She almost didn’t notice a notepad being pushed towards her. When Momo looked at it, there was a new game of Tic-Tac-Toe. Momo looked up and saw Jihyo looking straight ahead, like she didn’t just start something.

Momo had a small smile on her face. This can definitely help with the boredom. So, Momo decided to start the game by putting an ‘X’ in the middle square. Looking up to see if anybody was looking at them, confirming that no one was looking, she pushed the notepad back to Jihyo, hoping she would see it.

A few minutes goes by and the notepad is back in Momo’s sight. Jihyo places an ‘O’ in the top right square. Not the best move, but Momo did start with taking the best spot. Momo decided to block Jihyo with an ‘X’ in the middle right square. An easy win. Momo decided to up the stakes a bit. Writing a note in the bottom left corner of the notepad.

Let’s make a bet ><

Momo slides the notepad back to Jihyo. Sana and Dahyun have wrapped up their presentation and now Nayeon and Jeongyeon are preparing for theirs. Jihyo slid back the notepad. She put an ‘O' in the middle left square, blocking Momo from an easy win. She also replied.

Okie ;) loser does whatever the winner wants.

Momo puts an ‘X’ in the bottom right square.

Deal ><

Passing the notepad back to Jihyo, Momo put her focus on Nayeon and Jeongyeon. It seems that their little fight from earlier was resolved because they are working like a well oiled machine.

Jihyo passed the notepad back, she placed an ‘O’ in the top left square. Looking at the game now, Momo lost. How did she not see the clear win Jihyo got.

Momo looks up from the notepad and catches Jihyo's eye. Momo swears she sees a little bit of a smug smile.

Before she could respond, it was her and Chaeyoung’s turn for their presentation. Momo still puts an ‘X’ in the top center square. Leaving the notepad and making her way to the front.

It’s a good thing that Momo knew this presentation like it was on the back of her hand. Her mind was stressed out on what Jihyo could possibly have her do. Jihyo is a little insane, but she wouldn’t have Momo do anything illegal, right?

Finishing up their presentation, the last ones to go are Jihyo and Tzuyu. When Momo was passing Jihyo, she winked at her. What does that mean?

Momo is truly scared of what’s to come.

Presentations are finally over and now everyone has to wait till the end of the week to hear the company’s decision of their bonuses.

Momo sees Sana and immediately runs and pulls her to the break room. Luckily no one else was in there.

“Well hello Momo. Nice to see you Momo. I would like to give my thanks for your awesome presentation Momo.” Sana said sarcastically.

Momo rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah whatever. I think I might have a problem.”

Sana took a good look at Momo and saw she was serious. Sana nodded letting Momo know to continue talking.

“So during the meeting and the presentations, I got bored, like truly bored.” Momo said, starting to pace in the room. “Suddenly Jihyo slides her notepad to me and on the page is a new game of Tic-Tac-Toe. So I’m like, I have nothing better to do, so I played the game.”

“Is this going to go anywhere because I would love to spend my last hour at work watching YouTube videos on company time.” Sana said.

Momo took a deep breath. “As I was saying, we were playing a game and I thought it would be funny to make a bet.”

Sana giggled. “You made a bet with one of the two people in our department who would rather die than lose a bet.”

Momo stopped pacing and thought about it. Yeah, that wasn’t a very smart thing. “Anyway, the bet was that whoever won that game, the loser has to do whatever the winner wants.”

“And you lost and now you worry about what Jihyo might make you do, right?” Sana summarized. Momo nodded.

“So what are you freaking out about? Are you afraid she’s going to see your little crush on her and might reject you?” Sana jokes. Laughing a little at Momo.

Momo’s eyes went wide. She didn’t even think about that. Jihyo could literally do anything and Momo did not think of that. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh god. I was not thinking about that, but now I am, thanks Sana!” Momo shrieked.

“You’re welcome.” Sana said with a smile.

Pause. “Wait, how do you know I have a little, tiny crush on Jihyo.” Momo asked, genuinely confused.

Sana looked at Momo with disbelief in her eyes. “Really Momo, you're asking me that?”

Momo nodded.

“Momo, pretty much everyone in this department knows about it. We just didn’t say anything because we thought you were aware of it. Turns out we all were wrong.” Sana said, shaking her head.

“Shit, does Jihyo know about this?” Momo asks, panicking a little bit.

Sana shrugged. “If I did know, I would not tell you. It’s so much fun seeing you suffer.”

With that, Sana leaves the break room, leaving Momo to her own devices.

Jihyo was in an excellent mood. You know, you can start the day off terribly. Waking up with the worst headache and having to present numbers to the higher ups in hopes to get some extra money for the holiday season. But, one small thing can make a truly horrible day into one of the best days a human can live through.

Jihyo catches Momo in the break room, alone. Perfect.

“Hey Momo.” Jihyo says with a smile.

Momo jumped a bit, not noticing that Jihyo was in the room. “H-Hey Jihyo, looking for a snack?”

Jihyo laughed at that. “No, someone was nice enough to give me some candy and I had some of that.” Jihyo said, looking directly at Momo. Momo averted her gaze.

“So, about our little bet earlier, I wonder what I should make you do?” Jihyo wondered out loud.

“I could have you get me any snack I want, or I can have you destroy Mina’s office. There’s just so many options to go through. And I have to settle for just one thing.” Jihyo was loving the look on Momo’s face.

“Please don’t make me do anything illegal. I don’t think I could survive in jail.” Momo begged.

Jihyo acted like she had to think about it, prolonging Momo’s suffering. Maybe Jihyo could get used to this. “Well, since you asked nicely, I guess I’ll think about it some more.” Jihyo says with a small pout on her face.

Momo was about to leave when Jihyo spoke up

“You don’t have any allergies, right?”

Momo turned to look at Jihyo with a question in her eyes.

“You know, just in case.” Jihyo says with a grin. “We wouldn’t want you to get hurt, now do we?” Momo slowly shakes her head.

“Great, you should start heading home. You have to walk your dogs right?” Jihyo asked. Momo slowly nods her head.

“Great, see you tomorrow, Momo-yah.” Jihyo says, walking past Momo and leaving her in the break room, dumbfounded.

This is going to be so much fun for Jihyo.

Momo was a nervous wreck. It’s been two days since her bet with Jihyo. Two days since the younger girl left her speechless in the break room and the girl hasn’t said anything about it yet.

Momo is currently having dinner with Sana. Or, at least, trying to because the girl is currently laughing to the point that Momo’s afraid that she won’t catch her breath. Momo doesn’t even know what’s so funny, she was genuinely asking Sana for help.

“Ok, sorry,” Sana says, finally catching her breath. “Momo, you are truly the funniest person I know, I’m so glad we are friends.” Sana wipes a tear from her eye.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.” Momo says while rolling her eyes. “I don’t know what to do, it’s like Jihyo is being extra nice to me at the office. It’s like she’s trying to butter me up now because she knows my ‘punishment’ is going to be so embarrassing.” Momo felt her face heat up, prompting her to pull it to hide her face in her hands.

Sana was quiet for a moment before speaking up. “Momo-yah, look at me.”

Momo could hear the serenity in Sana’s voice, so Momo obeyed.

“You have nothing to worry about, I swear. Jihyo told me what she’s going to do and it’s nothing bad.” Sana said.

Momo can see the truthfulness in Sana’s eyes, so she nodded and looked back at the menu.

“Just know that you will love it Momo.” Sana spoke up, not looking up from her menu.

Sure, Momo could trust Sana, with her life even. But Momo still thinks that Jihyo could make her do something. What if she embarrasses herself in front of everyone? Jihyo could get away with it. People wouldn’t even suspect her if Momo was in everyone’s eyesight.

“Will I?” Momo asked. “Love it, or, are you saying that everyone else will love it and I will laugh it off?”

Sana stared at Momo like she grew another head.

“On my life Momo, you will love it and you won’t have any regrets.”

A few seconds of silence passed before Momo spoke.

“Ok, fine. I’ll trust you on this Sana.”

Sana clapped her hands as quietly as she could in a crowded restaurant.

Momo let dinner go without bringing up the bet again. That doesn’t mean she wasn’t thinking about it. Jihyo hasn’t said anything. It's business as usual for her. Doesn’t she know that Jihyo is making Momo lose her mind about what could happen?

Dinner was done and Momo was walking home when she received a text message. Momo just assumed it was Sana texting her that she made it home, so Momo didn’t look at it. Honestly, she was walking slower than usual before she hit her apartment. Momo could just tell Sana that she stop at the convenience store to grab some candy or something.

By the time Momo finally made it home and took off her shoes and greeted her lovely dogs, did she finally looked at her phone. As expected, she got a text from Sana saying she was home. But Sana sent that text five minutes ago.

Momo scrolled down her notifications and saw the text message that came twenty minutes ago. It was from Jihyo.

Jihyo
I want to do our bet on Saturday. You can’t say no ><

Momo flopped down on her bed and looked at the ceiling. Jihyo wants to do it on Saturday. On a weekend. And not at work. Momo didn’t know what to think of it.

Momo sent a reply back to Sana saying that she was home, but she had no idea how to respond to Jihyo. Texting is supposed to be easier to talk to your crush, right?

Before Momo could respond, her dogs started barking at each other and she rushed out her room to deal with that, hoping to text Jihyo back before she went to bed.

She didn’t do that. She forgot

Momo was not late to work today. Despite not going to bed at a decent time thanks to Boo and Dobby, she did wake up 30 minutes before her alarm. And if that isn’t a sign from the universe to start getting ready, then please just hit Momo on the head.

Momo was walking into the office to see that she was one of the first people there. Not surprising, considering after the presentations, people have been coming in a few minutes later than they used to since this is technically their breather from those stressful months.

Momo saw that Jihyo was at her desk with headphones on, not noticing Momo had walked in yet. Momo just remembered that she never texted Jihyo back last night. Damn it.

Momo could try sneaking to her desk and hope that Jihyo never turns around for the rest of the day. Knowing that her presence will be known the second Momo sits in her chair, Momo’s best solution was to give a nice explanation on why she didn’t respond. Momo could honestly just tell the truth.

When Momo walked past Jihyo, Jihyo looked up from her phone and gave Momo a small smile.

‘Ok, a smile. Maybe Jihyo is not mad about the lack of response.’ Momo thought.

As Momo reached her desk and started to settle down, Jihyo took off her headphones and turned towards Momo.

“So, Momo. Did you get my text last night?” Jihyo asked.

“Yeah, I did. Sorry for not responding. I was going to, but then my dogs started to bark at each other and then they wanted to fight each other, so I had to find a way to separate them. I ended up having to leave one of them in the living room and the other into my room. And then after that, Boo started to whine that he wasn’t in my room and had to be stuck in the living room, but it was Dobby’s turn to be in my room because I have a system because this happens a lot.” Momo was rambling and honestly she was starting to get a headache again from just remembering everything her sweet little angels put her through last night.

“Momo it’s honestly ok!” Jihyo stood and put her hands on Momo’s shoulders. “I figured something happened and I knew I would get a response from you here. That’s why I asked.” Jihyo said, removing her hands. “So Saturday. I hope you have nothing planned because that’s when I want you to hold up your end of our bet.” Jihyo said with a smile, sitting back down in her chair.

Momo just stared. She honestly thought that Jihyo would be mad from the lack of response.

“Wait, you're not mad?” Momo asked, just to make sure she wasn’t reading the room wrong.

Jihyo shook her head. “Why would I be mad? It’s not like we’re dating or anything.”

Momo felt her face go red. It’s too early in the morning to be flustering like this.

“Anyway, you’re free Saturday, right?” Jihyo asked, changing the subject.

Momo was nodding before she fully processed Jihyo’s sentence.

“Great, I’ll text you where we will meet. We are going to start early so try not to be late.” Jihyo said with a small smirk on her face.

“Hey! I’m not always late.” Momo exclaimed. “It's just that the universe likes playing with me.” Momo finally sat down at her desk.

“I’ll text you the details tonight, ok?”

“And I'll make sure to respond, no matter what.”

Jihyo gave Momo a thumbs up and turned back to her computer.

So Momo now has plans on Saturday. With the girl she has a small crush on. Nothing could go wrong right?

“Wait, what are you making me do on Saturday?” Momo quickly asked. Jihyo didn’t even turn around to answer.

“You’ll see.”

Momo turned to her computer and then put her head on her desk.

What is Jihyo going to do to her?

Momo got the text while she was walking home after walking her dogs. She moved off to the side so she wasn’t blocking the way.

Jihyo
Meet here at around 12pm.

Along with the text, Jihyo sent an address. It was at a restaurant.

Momo

Oh no. Are you going to have me do something embarrassing in public?

Jihyo
I dont plan for it. But then again, I don’t know how your brain works, so there’s a high chance you do something funny 😝

Momo

🙄🙄🙄

I’ll see you there.

With that, Momo continued her way home. When she makes it to the lobby of her apartment, Momo stops and thinks. Why would Jihyo meet her at a restaurant? What is Jihyo planning?

When Momo finally made it to her apartment and made sure her dogs were behaving, did Momo decide to call Sana.

“Hello, you have reached the best person in Momo’s life, how can I help you?”

“Haha, very funny Sana.”

“What’s the purpose of this call?”

“Now, before I tell you why I called you, you have to promise not to tease me, okay?”

“That’s a tough thing to promise, Momo-yah. It’s incredible fun to tease you. You make it so easy.”

“Sana, please.” Momo was almost begging because she just needed some advice.

“Okay, fine. No teasing out loud.”

“Hey, what does that mean?”

“It means that I will definitely judge you, but you won’t know because it will be in my head.”

“I’ll take it.” Momo told Sana what happened with Jihyo that day and their ‘outing’ tomorrow.

“So that's why you were avoiding Jihyo at work today.”

“You promised not to tease.”

“Not teasing, just understanding the facts and connecting stuff together. Go on.”

“That’s it. Sana, I'm seriously losing my mind over our bet. Like I know you said that Jihyo wouldn’t do anything crazy, but do we even know how crazy she gets?”

“I mean, there’s a reason why game night is no more. She and Nayeon would have done anything to win. We stopped doing it because there was a ninety percent chance they would. would have ended up in jail.”

“Wait, that’s why we stopped doing those. I loved game night.”

“As I was saying, as someone who has spoken to Jihyo about this little bet, you have nothing to worry about. Just show up to the restaurant and talk to her. You can talk to her without exploding right?”

Momo heard Sana giggle at her own statement. All Momo could do was roll her eyes. “Why does this sound like I'm getting ready for a date?

“Well, do you want this to be a date?”

“I’m not going to answer that because if this was a date I would be freaking out about going on a date with Jihyo and I'm obviously not freaking out about that because I'm freaking out what Jihyo will make me do for this bet.”

“So you admit that you’re freaking out?”

“I’m hanging up!”

“Wait! I’m sorry, no judgment I swear. Continue.”

“It won’t be a date because Jihyo doesn’t even like me like that. She just tolerates me at work. That’s it.”

Sana was silent on the other end.

“You’re not going to say anything?”

“You told me no judgement!”

Momo wanted to throw her phone at the wall.

“You can’t get mad at me Momo, I was just following your directions.”

Sana was right. “You know what, I’m going to hang up, talk to you later.”

Momo quickly ended the call before Sana could say anything else that could mess with her thoughts. That phone call was the exact opposite of her nerves. Now Sana put the idea of a date in Momo’s head.

Before Momo could think further about the implications of this “date”, her phone started ringing again. Momo answered thinking it was Sana again.

“Sana, I swear if you're calling me again to make fun of me, please save it.”

“Well it’s a good thing I’m not Sana.” Momo froze, slowly pulling her phone away from face to look at the caller ID. Her worst nightmare is coming true.

“Jihyo, sorry. I thought it was Sana. Not that I’m not happy that you called, I’m glad, it's just that I was talking with Sana and she got in my head and.” Momo took a deep breath, her thoughts finally catching up with her. “Nevermind, forget everything I just said. What do you need Jihyo?”

Jihyo laughed quietly, Momo felt her cheeks heat up.

“No worries, I was just calling to let you know that I might be a few minutes late to the restaurant. Just go ahead and get us a table!”

“Yeah, no worries! I was just about to head out! See you at the restaurant!”

Momo hung up the phone and quickly gathered her stuff. Checking her appearance in the mirror for the last and quickly running to the door.

“Boo, Dobby, please be good! Please don't rip up anything! Love you guys!” Momo yells and runs out the door. She was leaving at a good time.

When Momo reached the front of her apartment building, she received two text messages. One from Sana and one from Jihyo. Momo thought it would be best to read Jihyo’s message first.

Jihyo
Don’t stress if you get there a little past 12. I didn’t realize there would be a ton of people out lol

Momo

Thanks for the heads up. I’m planning to get there a bit early tho 🙈

Jihyo
Lol, okie Momo-yah

Momo felt a blush forming on her cheeks. She decided to look at Sana’s text before unpacking that reaction.

Sana
Good luck 🤭

Now what the hell is that supposed to mean? Momo left Sana on read to punish her. She knows how much the younger hates when people do that to her. Deciding to punish her further and putting her phone on do not disturb and walking towards the restaurant. It’s not far from Momo’s place.

It was a nice day out, the sky was blue with some clouds around. If Momo thought if this was a date, it would be a perfect time for it. "But It’s not a date," Momo thought to herself.

Momo made it to the restaurant, and Jihyo was right, Momo would arrive first. Getting a table, Momo was now nervous.

“This is a result of me losing a game, this is not a date. Don’t let Sana get into your head and embarrass yourself in front of Jihyo.” Momo whispered to herself.

Momo heard the door open and saw Jihyo looking for her. Momo was speechless. Mouth open and eyes wide. Why does Jihyo look extra pretty today?

Jihyo finally meets Momo’s eyes and Momo swears she feels her insides melt. Jihyo walked to their table with a smile and Momo wanted to faint.

“Sorry for being a few minutes late,” Jihyo said while sitting down. “Everyone seems to be out today and then the train was running a bit late.”

“It’s fine! I just got here.” Momo said, finally finding her voice.

“So, you know why we are here right?” Jihyo asked. Momo could feel her smile fade. Right, she's here for losing a stupid Tic-Tac-Toe game that she thought was going to be an easy win. Momo should have known there was no way she could beat Jihyo. The girl looked all calm and collected, but she would burn the whole world if it meant she could win a silly game.

Momo nodded, looking down at her hands.

“The first thing I want you to do, is to eat and drink whatever I order for you in this restaurant.” Jihyo exclaimed, quickly calling the waiter over.

Momo just nodded along, not fully processing what Jihyo said. When she did process what she said, the waiter was gone and Jihyo was looking at her. Wait, what?

“Wait, what?” Momo was confused. “You just want me to eat whatever you ordered?” Jihyo nodded.

“That’s what we agreed on, right. You have to do whatever I say, without question. So I want you to eat the food I ordered.”

“That’s it?” Momo was expecting something crazy. “That’s all you want me to do?”

Jihyo smirked. “For now. I got the whole day of you doing stuff.”

Before Momo could respond, the waiter came back with their drinks and appetizers.

“Tell me what you think of that dish, Sana recommended this restaurant and said those crab bites are to die for.” Jihyo said, giving Momo a small piece to try.

Momo grabbed her fork and took a bite. “This is really good!” Momo exclaimed. “I will have to thank Sana for recommending this restaurant. I’ll do that after I’m not mad at him.” Jihyo giggled. Momo decided then that was his favorite sound in the world.

“Why are you mad at Sana, I’m sure she’s going to tell me a different story.”

“Nah, it’s fine, she’ll get over it.”

They laughed together until the waiter brought them their main course. Jihyo got a chicken dish while Momo got a steak dish.

“You got me steak with fries. Why would you get me something I liked? I thought this was supposed to be punishment.” Momo questions, seeing Jihyo dig into her food. Jihyo looked up briefly and shrugged.

“I thought you would like it.” Jihyo said.

Momo was left confused, but she accepted Jihyo’s answer and ate her food. If this is what Jihyo wanted, Momo can’t complain.

Turns out, having one on one time with Jihyo was not the biggest challenge in Momo’s life. Yeah, she was still awkward when talking to Jihyo and she still couldn’t hold eye contact for more than 5 seconds, but it used to be three, so Momo would call that progress.

“So, Momo, are you ready for your next thing?” Jihyo questioned with a smirk.

“Is this the time you have me do something embarrassing?”

Jihyo just shrugged. “I guess you have to stick by my side to see. Come on, this day is just getting started.” Jihyo stood up and quickly went to the front to pay. Momo quickly grabbed her stuff to follow Jihyo.

“Wait, you’re not forcing me to pay? I would if I had the power.”

“But you're not in charge, I am.” Jihyo said, paying the tab and pulling Momo outside. “Come on, we are going by for a nice walk. It’s best to walk after eating such a nice meal.”

Jihyo still had her arm intertwined with Momo’s, and Momo was freaking out. Is it possible to sweat between your elbows? What if Jihyo feels that and takes away her arm? Before Momo could go down her personal black hole, Jihyo was talking to her.

“Momo-yah, we are getting ice cream.” Jihyo pulled Momo towards the direction of the ice cream vendor. “For the next thing I want you to do, pay for our ice cream!” Jihyo gave Momo puppy eyes.

“Don’t I always buy you snacks?”

“Yeah, but you never buy me ice cream.”

Momo playfully rolled her eyes at Jihyo. “Stop making your eyes so big, I’m getting the ice cream.”
Jihyo jumped with excitement.

“Yay! I’ll find us a place to sit and enjoy the sun. I trust you to pick out a good ice cream for me.” Jihyo winked at Momo and ran off to find a seat.

Picking an ice cream flavor for Jihyo shouldn’t be hard. Just pick a flavor that's a perfect mix of sweet and not so sweet.

Momo picks mint chocolate chips. She thinks Jihyo mentioned that it was her current favorite flavor. Momo also got vanilla as a backup. If Jihyo doesn't want mint chocolate chips, she can have the vanilla ice cream and Momo can have the other one. Momo doesn’t mind mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Momo grabbed the ice cream and turned to look for Jihyo. She walked in the same direction Jihyo went off to. Momo sees Jihyo at a bench overlooking the water. It was a beautiful sight and Momo wished she could take a picture.

“Hey Ji! I have your ice cream.” Momo handed Jihyo the ice cream, sitting down next to her. “I hope you like it.” Momo said shyly, putting her focus on her ice cream.

“You got my favorite, thank you Momoring!” Jihyo gave Momo a quick hug before eating her ice cream.

Momo was left frozen. She tried to sneak a glance at Jihyo to see if she noticed her lack of reaction, but the younger girl was enjoying her ice cream, looking at the water.

“I like sitting with you Momo.” Jihyo broke the silence. “You bring a nice calm in my fast paced life.”

“Really?” Jihyo nodded.

“You remind me to breathe. I like hanging out with you and would love to do it again.”

Momo just nodded. What was she supposed to say to that?

“You’re funny Momo.”

“I didn’t even say anything.”

“You don’t have to, I like you as a person Momo.” Jihyo was looking at Momo with something in her eye that she couldn’t identify. Or that she didn’t want to.

“I-I like you as a person too.” Momo stuttered.

“Really?”

Momo nodded, quickly turning her gaze back to the water. “You’re a cool person, I’m glad we work together.”

“You don’t see us as friends?” Jihyo whined. “I thought we were friends. Please say that we are friends or I won’t talk to you for 10 minutes.”

Momo laughed at that. “Okay, okay! Yes, we are friends. Please don’t be mad at me.” Momo whined.

Jihyo put a finger to her chin, acting like she was thinking it over. “I don’t know, my feelings were hurt.”

“Is there anything else you want to make me do?”

Jihyo quickly stood up and held out her hand. “I want you to walk me home while holding my hand.” Momo saw her smile and instantly knew she couldn’t say no.

“Lead the way princess.”

Momo is one hundred percent that her hand is sweaty and about sixty five percent knows that Jihyo can feel that sweat on her hand and doesn’t want to say anything to not embarrass Momo.

“So, is there anything else you want to make me do?” Momo asked to alleviate the awkwardness that she was feeling.

“There might be, but I won’t tell you until we reach my door.”

All Momo could do was nod. They made it to Jihyo’s apartment building.

“Well, we are here.” Momo said, slowly taking away her hand. Jihyo was not having that.

“I said you have to walk me to my door, does this look like my door Momo-yah?” Jihyo was giving Momo her puppy eyes. This woman knows the effect those eyes have on people.

“Eh? But this is your building.”

“Yeah, but this isn’t my door. I wanted you to walk me to my door. So come on.” Jihyo pulled Momo to the elevators and pressed the button going up.

Jihyo was swaying her body. “Momo, why did you let go of my hand?”

“M-my hands are sweaty. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“I don’t care.” Jihyo quickly grabbed Momo’s hand and pulled her into the elevator. Pressing the button to her floor. Moving closer to Momo and snuggling to her side. Momo could honestly melt.

“You're very warm.” Jihyo whispered.

“T-thanks.”

When they reached Jihyo’s floor, Momo was pulled down the hallway and finally reached Jihyo’s door.

“This is my door, so I guess you are done.” Jihyo smiled, letting go of Momo’s hand.

“Didn’t you say you had something else?”

Jihyo nodded, now looking down nervously. “Yeah.”

“So why are you suddenly nervous?”

Jihyo looked up at Momo. “I need you to stand still and close your eyes.”

“Why?”

“Just do it, please. I’m not going to do anything crazy. Do you trust me?”

Momo did. So she closed her eyes. Nothing happened for a few moments and Momo wanted to open her eyes. Before she could do that, she felt something soft on her left cheek. Momo’s eyes snapped open.

“What did you just do?”

Jihyo was blushing like crazy, looking everywhere but at Momo.

“What was what?”

“You know the-” Momo pointed at her cheek, gesturing at it.

“Do you not know the name of the action I did?” Jihyo said, feigning innocence. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“You kissed me on the cheek.”

“I did!” Jihyo smiled.

“Why?”

Jihyo looked at Momo a little confused. “Because I like you. Didn’t you know that?”

Momo’s mind was being blown. Park Jihyo likes her. Why would she like someone like Momo?

“Why?”

“Is that the only word in your vocabulary?”

“No. I mean. You like me?” Momo asked, staring at Jihyo. Jihyo nods.

“Well do you like me because I would be really embarrassed if I took you out on this date only for me to misread our interactions at work.”

Wait, what? “Wait what? This was a date?” Jihyo just nodded.

“When you brought up that bet, I thought it would be the perfect time to ask you out, but you always seemed like you were afraid of being in the same room as me, so I asked Sana for some advice, but she just said that you were a bit slow when it comes to seeing when someone is flirting with you.”

Momo is definitely going to kill Sana when she gets the chance. But now, everything is coming to Momo like flashes.

“So you knew that I liked you but didn’t say anything?” Momo asked. Jihyo just nodded.

“It seemed like you were nervous, so I was just waiting.”

Momo thought for a bit. Jihyo was just waiting for Momo to get her shit together. How long would she have waited?

“What if I never did. Ask you out, I mean.”

“Then I would have taken matters into my own hands. Case in point.” Jihyo gestured between them and Momo couldn’t help but laugh.

“Wow, I really am an idiot.”

“I didn’t want to say it out loud, but I’m happy to agree with you.” Jihyo said with a teasing smile.

Momo could only laugh at that. “And to make up for me being the biggest idiot in our office, I would like to take you out on a proper date.”

Jihyo had a huge smile and quickly put her arms around Momo’s neck. “Of course, Inwould love to go out on a proper date with you.” Momo could feel the blush going down her neck, right where Jihyo whispered those words.

Jihyo pulled back and looked at Momo. For once, Momo couldn’t pull her eyes away from Jihyo’s. Momo decided right there that she could do one thing right today. Momo quickly gave Jihyo a small peck on her lips.

“That’s an apology for being oblivious and not saying anything.”

Jihyo gave Momo a smirk. “Well, I think you can do better than that.” Before Momo could respond, Jihyo closed the gap and gave her a proper kiss.

Momo could tell that Jihyo was waiting for Momo to respond. Almost like she didn’t know if Momo wanted the kiss or not. Momo kissed back with full intensity. Jihyo’s lips were soft and tasted like cherries. Momo knew that she wanted to keep tasting that for a long time.

They pulled away from each other when oxygen was needed. Jihyo looked at Momo and looked down at her lips.

“Sorry, my lip gloss got on you.” Momo laughed at that.

“No worries, make it up to me over dinner. Friday night.”

“Oh, someone’s brave all of a sudden.”

“Stop teasing and get inside. I’ll text you the details when I get home.”

Jihyo gave one last kiss before stepping away. “I will be expecting that text. Get home safely.”

Momo watched Jihyo enter her apartment. When she got to the elevator, Momo was over the moon.

She might have been an idiot with her feelings, but Momo was happy with the outcome.