Chapter Text
Fall 2014
—
The first time Nayeon met Momo, she was only ten and a crying, hot mess.
“Give it back!” Nayeon balled her tiny hands into fists by her side.
Heechul blatantly ignored the girl, tossing the headband between his friends. “How many times are you going to wear this? It’s ugly.”
“I don't care what you think,” she shouted, tears welling in her eyes. Her mother had spent almost an entire week making the headband and she'd be damned if she let some imbecile like Heechul ruin it.
She boldly stepped forward and reached for it, only to be shoved to the ground by Heechul’s friends. Almost immediately, pain blossomed across her backside and she burst out into tears. She could feel the tiny pieces of gravel digging into her palm as they pointed at her and laughed—an indescribable amount of defeat settling into her bones.
She was screwed. Her mother was going to yell her ears off for the next two weeks. Heck, she’d be lucky if she was allowed to ever set foot outside of the house again. She sniffled, trying to brush the gravel off her palm so that she could properly wipe her tears.
Stupid Heechul and his friends. Stupid boys and—
A gentle gust of wind kissed her bare legs before a figure sprinted out from behind her. Nayeon looked up, her eyes widening in surprise when she realized Heechul was suddenly on the ground, holding his shin.
In front of her was a girl roughly her height, a bright pink shirt catching half the playground's attention as she tightly held onto the headband. Nayeon quickly pinched herself on her thigh to make sure that she wasn’t dreaming. What was happening? Did she hit her head while falling?
“What's wrong with you, freak!” Heechul cried out as his friends bent down to lift him up.
The girl crossed her arms and moved in front of Nayeon as if she were trying to shield her. “Say sorry,”
Heechul scowled. “What are you going to do if I don't?”
She raised her fist and snickered to herself when Heechul flinched and used his arms to protect himself from any incoming punches.
“Fine. If you don't want to say sorry, I’ll just tell Mrs. Park what you did in the cafeteria last week—”
His eyes widened in shock and he started shushing her, scanning the area to make sure no one heard what was just said. “Okay, fine. Sorry.”
“Look at her and say it,” the girl added, stepping aside.
“Are you kidding me?” Heechul grumbled under his breath. “Sorry, Nayeon,”
“And?”
“What else do you want me to say?”
“That you won't do it again,”
“I won't do it again,”
The girl rolled her eyes, huffing. “Great, now leave,”
In a matter of seconds, the group of boys dispersed and Nayeon was left alone with her savior.
She turned around, kneeling down before she carefully put the headband back on Nayeon’s head. “Are you okay?”
Nayeon could feel her bottom lip quivering as she solemnly nodded in response.
“It's okay if you're upset,” the girl mumbled. “I would be too,”
“I hate boys,” Nayeon anxiously fidgeted with her hands, looking in the opposite direction so that she could hide how she was on the verge of tears again.
“Who doesn't?”
At the girl’s playful tone, Nayeon finally mustered up enough courage to look at her. Her smile was beyond contagious and her bangs were somewhat uneven, but she liked it. For the first time since she gained consciousness, Nayeon felt like her heart was going to leap out of her chest at any given second.
Could hearts even do that?
“I’m Momo,” the girl finally introduced herself. “I sit behind you in class,”
“I…” Nayeon struggled to form a coherent sentence. “I’m…”
“Nayeon,” Momo giggled. “I know,”
Momo was kind enough to help her off the ground, dusting her legs off until Nayeon was freed from the gravel. “There. Much better.”
Nayeon nodded, the lump in her throat making it difficult to speak. The other part of her was unsure of what to say in the first place. Of course, she had seen Momo in passing multiple times, but they had never spoken a single word to each other until now.
She was bad at making friends. Her mother always scolded her for it—constantly reminding her how important it was to get to know the people around you. Except her mother doesn't understand that everyone around her sucks.
Momo noticed the headband was slightly crooked and reached up to adjust it, her fingers brushing against Nayeon’s hair as she pulled away.
At the display of kindness, Nayeon blushed. “Thank you,” she finally said.
“You don't have to thank me. They're really annoying.”
“They always are,”
“But you're okay now, right?”
Nayeon swallowed thickly, nodding. “Yes, than—”
She held her hand out for Nayeon to take. “If you really want to thank me, you can sit next to me at lunch today.”
She eyed Momo’s hand and carefully weighed out her options in her head. After Mina moved back to Japan, she didn't really have anyone else to eat lunch with. She had grown used to sitting by the windows and quickly scarfing down whatever her mother threw together before anyone could pay her too much attention.
She could easily say no and cary on with her day, but Momo seemed harmless, for the most part. She was kind enough to defend her against Heechul and was only asking for something simple in return. Surely, it wouldn't be so bad to make a new friend?
“Deal,” Nayeon said, slipping her hand into Momo’s.
Her face lit up and she gave Nayeon a reassuring squeeze. “Cool! You can meet everyone, too.”
“Everyone?”
“Yeah,” Momo started to walk, gently pulling Nayeon along with her. “They're nicer than Heechul,”
“I think anyone is nicer than him,” Nayeon grumbled under her breath.
Momo laughed again and Nayeon decided she liked the sound of it.
“No, you'll like them! And if you don't, we can sit out here.”
Nayeon focused on the softness of Momo’s hand against hers—how perfectly their hands fit together as they made their way back into the classroom to grab their lunchboxes. Her heart was still thumping like an angry bull in her chest, but she hadn't felt this excited in so long.
“Okay, sure,”
Her tears were long gone by now—dried up by the warm sun and kindness of Momo’s heart. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from smiling, but the second Momo turned around to look at her, she couldn't help it. She had finally made a new friend.
Later that day, she nearly tripped over her own two feet trying to run to her mother’s office. She eagerly climbed into the empty chair and thanked her repeatedly for making her the headband, claiming that without it, she would’ve never met her new friend, Momo.