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nayeon leaned across the table to reach for momo’s coffee.
she took a careful sip, humming in satisfaction at the taste. the younger girl didn’t even blink when her drink disappeared: this was routine for them, not even needing to ask when trying each other’s food.
“wow, your latte is so good,” nayeon marveled, her eyes wide as she took another sip. “it’s the perfect amount of sweetness.”
momo visibly perked up at that, as if she had been the one to make the coffee herself. “i know,” she said a with a bit of smugness in her voice, earning a dramatic eye roll from nayeon.
momo grabbed nayeon’s cup with both hands and brought it up to her lips.
“wait momo it’s—”
“oww it’s so hot!” momo immediately winced as the hot liquid made contact with her tongue, her eyes squeezing shut from the flash of pain.
“are you okay? i tried to warn you,” nayeon scolded, though her voice was full of worry.
momo wiped her mouth and quickly stuck her tongue in an attempt to chill the burn of coffee. she fanned her face, hoping the cool air would help. nayeon just stared at the scene unfolding in front of her with slight amusement in her eyes before erupting into laughter.
“eh?” momo stared at the older girl in front of her, her eyes shining with confusion. her tongue remained lolled out amidst everything.
“you look like a puppy,” nayeon said between gasps, covering her mouth to stifle her giggles. she laughed even harder when momo let out an unamused “woof,” throwing her head back to the ceiling to laugh.
at that, momo couldn’t help but join in: her unnie’s laugh was infectious. the burn of the coffee was long forgotten — the only thing in her mind was the twinkling sound of nayeon’s laugh, how it blended in with the upbeat jazz of the café.
next, they walked to a big stationery store, one of the places nayeon had written on her notes app.
“momo look! they have the pens i bought from new york!” nayeon exclaimed excitedly, practically jumping up and down in joy.
“these are sooo good, momo,” nayeon explained, her eyes staring adoringly at the various colors of stationery in front of her. momo resisted the urge to scratch her head — to her they just looked like… very normal pens.
“these don’t smudge and the ink is soo flowy. you have to try them,” nayeon said as she handed momo a pink colored pen. her unnie was smiling so wide it looked like it hurt.
“maybe i’ll buy some,” momo said slowly, though it was more for the sake of nayeon. nayeon immediately clapped her hands at that, ranting and declaring her love for the pens so fast that momo couldn’t catch all the words.
after speaking a million miles per minute on just pens, nayeon scurried off to the notebook section. momo followed behind, a small smile present on her lips — it was almost funny to watch nayeon in her element. nayeon had always had an unreasonable love for stationery items, something that momo couldn’t fully understand but found endearing.
she heard a loud gasp come from the older girl.
“momo! look at these!” nayeon practically squealed as she held up a notebook with a rather colorful cover. cute little drawings covered the front, as well as some english sayings. even momo had to admit, the notebook looked pretty appealing.
“only… good things,” momo articulated slowly in english. the words were written biggest in the front, written in bold and underlined.
“im definitely going to buy this one,” nayeon nodded to herself. she placed the notebook gingerly in the cart, the grin never leaving her face. momo couldn’t stop staring at the older girl — nayeon looked like a little kid in a candy shop, her eyes lighting up at every corner they rounded.
“i’ll buy one too. so we can match.” momo quickly grabbed another copy before nayeon ran off again.
“even better! i think this will be my favorite notebook,” nayeon said happily before going off to examine a different part of the store.
momo followed her again, lagging a bit behind nayeon’s energetic steps. she could tell they were going to be in here for a while, but she didn’t mind at all — the grin on nayeon’s face made it all worth it.
“unnie, you’re squeezing me,” momo said as a gust of wind hit them smack in the face.
montreal was freezing. there were piles of snow on the sides of roads and almost no one outside — it was as if everyone got the memo to stay squarely indoors.
“i k-know,” nayeon’s teeth chattered. she pulled even closer to momo, huddling close to stay warm. “im s-so cold.”
momo wrapped her arm around nayeon’s shoulders, her hands moving up and down her arms.
“wait unnie, stop walking for a second.”
nayeon stopped in her tracks, though her body never stopped shivering. momo quickly unwrapped the beige scarf from her neck. she gently wrapped it around nayeon’s bare neck, the thick cloth enveloping her nape and the bottom half of her face.
“is that better?”
nayeon looked so adorable with her glasses and face half covered by the thick material of the scarf.
“mhm thanks momo,” nayeon’s voice was muffled by the scarf, but it no longer sounded as shaky as it had been before.
“you’re welcome,” momo smiled. she didn’t get cold easily anyway — she usually ran hot, even in wintertime.
they walked like that for a while, nayeon no longer leaning so close to momo that she nearly stumbled. still, they still stayed hand-in-hand, their interlocked hands shoved deep into the pocket of momo’s puffer jacket.
“i look better in your scarf than you do, right?” nayeon’s muffled voice said. her eyes were folded into crescents.
“im going to take my scarf back now,” momo warned, but they both knew that was an empty threat.
their day-off date had ended.
they were now standing back in the warmth of the hotel lobby, where nayeon felt like she could finally breathe properly, away from the cold of the snow.
just before they stepped into the elevator to go to their respective rooms, momo spoke on a whim: “unnie, we should watch a movie tonight!”
she didn’t want to watch a movie, not really. she just didn’t want this magical day to end. momo tried not to sound too excited or expectant, trying to pitch her voice into a more casual tone.
nayeon paused, pretending to think it over even though she already knew her answer. eventually, she gave her reply, trying not to laugh at how momo looked like she might burst from the silence.
“okay, momo-yah. come to my room after you’ve showered,” she said teasingly. momo looked slightly taken aback by that.
“are you saying i smell?!”
“of course not!” nayeon laughed loudly at how serious momo was. the younger girl was so easy to mess around with.
“are you lying…” momo asked with narrowed eyes, folding her arms across her chest.
“you always smell good, momo. unironically, like peaches!”
momo’s pout turned into a grin at that.
though their evening together was under the pretense of watching a movie, the flickering tv was more for decoration, a soft background noise that zoned into the comfort of the hotel room.
the pair was snuggled together on nayeon’s bed, in fresh pajamas and under the thick duvet blankets. they talked quietly, their voices soft as if talking too loud would ruin the moment.
by only thirty minutes into the film, momo and nayeon were almost half-asleep, both tired from walking around and exploring montreal. their bodies were comfortably tangled on the bed, with nayeon’s head rested gently against momo’s shoulder and her leg propped up on momo’s stomach.
momo had her arms wrapped loosely around the older girl, her breathing slowing as she drifted off.
under the dimmed hotel lights, the rise and fall of their chests slowed. light snow started to fall outside, snowflakes gathering on top of each other like the steady love they’d built over the last ten years.