love comes wearing disguises

aren't you the sweetest thing on this side of hell

Sana was feeling good, this was her third date this week. The other two had been fine, but one of the girls wanted to explore polyamory and the other had a child. Sana wasn't sure how she felt about either, but she didn't quite feel it was what she wanted. She felt proud of herself for learning about the things she wanted in a relationship, and all things considered, she felt like the dates had gone really well. She was sitting at the diner, anxiously waiting for her date to come. They had met on a dating app, and Sana had swiped right because she seemed fun and well traveled. She also found this girl very attractive, and they had so many common interests to discuss. She would be lying if she said she wasn't excited for this date, conversation was so easy and the banter had been fun so far. She was hoping this translated to in person. Sana's eyes lit up as she saw the girl walk through the door, standing up as she approached the booth.

"How do you look even better in person?" The girl said with a huge smile. Sana felt like she could drown in her big brown eyes, giggling in response.

Sana learned a lot about Park Jihyo that day. She learned that she had two younger sisters and a cat at home. She learned that the girl was an economics major, on her way to the senate floor and hopefully one day to the supreme court. She learned that she had the most infectious laugh, one that would somehow get louder when Sana made a joke. She loved the way Jihyo would look at her, leaning forward and gently touching her hand across the table. Most of all, Sana learned that Park Jihyo was someone she definitely wanted in her life. She was smart, responsible, and funny. When Sana talked to her, she felt like they were the only two people in the world, and she felt at ease in her presence.

They spent several hours at the diner, but neither of them realized how much time had passed. The waitress brought them their check, to which Jihyo insisted on paying.

"It's only fair, I had such a good time on this date!" Jihyo exclaimed, pulling the receipt towards herself.

"Well I had a good time, too, so by that logic, I should pay!" Sana laughed as she pulled the receipt in her own direction.

"Should we split it then?" Jihyo asked.

"What if I pay for your food and you pay for mine?" Sana replied, smiling brightly at Jihyo, who grinned and accepted her compromise.

"Perfect."

It really wasn't a big deal because they had actually ordered the same thing: a coffee with a classic breakfast, eggs over easy. The only difference is that Jihyo had asked for toast and Sana had gotten pancakes. When they finished paying, they walked out the door, a comfortable silence between them. Sana felt nervous, she didn't want the date to end but she didn't know how to bring it up. She also wanted to see Jihyo again, but she didn't know how to ask that either. What if it was all in her head, and they hadn't connected as much as she thought? Jihyo spoke up, as if reading her mind.

"I've had a really fun time tonight, and I really don't want this night to end but I have some homework to do, unfortunately. But I would like to pay for your dinner again sometime?" Sana was about to melt. Jihyo was so sincere as she stood across from her with her hands in her pockets, eyes eager as she nervously shuffled side to side.

"I was just about to say the same thing, I am so glad we were able to go out tonight and I'd love to go out again," Sana replied, heart fluttering as she watched the other girl's shoulders relax, smile growing larger by the second.

Jihyo leaned slowly, to which Sana thought it was a kiss until the girl leaned more to the right, placing a soft kiss on Sana's cheek, and leaving a piece of paper in her hand. 

"Here's my number, feel free to use it any time," Jihyo whispered before turning around and walking away. Sana's cheeks flushed as she felt the air around her ears go cold, standing in the parking lot, stunned because Park Jihyo had just flirted with her. She had all night, but this was much more forward. This might've been the best first date of her life, and she couldn't wait for the next one. Before she could actually start processing what had happened, she heard loud music. Sana turned around to find her roommate running down the sidewalk.

"Sana? What are you doing here?" Nayeon said as she paused the music on the speaker, which she was holding over her head.

"I just had a date, what are you doing?" Sana was perplexed. Nothing about this current situation made sense to her.

"Oh, I'm here to get Mina's phone number," Nayeon replied with a shrug, but she continued when Sana's face didn't change. "I'm going to do a grand gesture so she knows I'm serious and then she will go out with me."

"Are you serious?"

"Well yeah I'm standing here aren't I-"

"No, about her." Sana had seen this before. Nayeon would set her sights on a girl and go all in, only to pull out when things started to actually progress. The pattern was there and she was surprised Nayeon hadn't seen it yet.

"Yeah, I am."

"Are you sure it's not because it's a challenge? Like because it's difficult you want to chase her?"

"I'm sure that's part of it but have you ever seen me do a grand gesture before?" Nayeon asked, to which Sana shook her head. "See, I'm serious about her, just trust me on this."

"What do you even know about her though?" Sana had her reservations, but she was shushed when Nayeon started blasting her music again, this time playing "My Type" by Saint Motel. "Are you for real?"

"It's a good song!"

"You're going to tell her she's your type because she has a pulse and she's breathing!?" Sana exclaimed. "Also she isn't even working right now."

Nayeon turned off the music, a distraught look on her face. "Wait really?"

"Yeah I just had a date there, she's not working, silly," Sana smirked.

"Why did you even let me play the song again?!"

"Because I wanted to see what song you'd play. Clearly we need to workshop this," Sana said as she put her arm around Nayeon and walked them towards the apartment.

"Ok fine, tell me about your date though," Nayeon said as she sighed in defeat.

"It was everything."

-

While Momo wasn't particularly happy that she was missing the ruptured appendix removal that was happening right now, she was excited to spend more time with Dahyun. Her and the other volunteers had been tasked with running the blood drive today, and since neither of them had finished their phlebotomy certifications yet, they were in charge of the snack table. Momo had barely spoken to the other girl recently, her nerves getting the best of her. Now that they were both stationed here with an inconsistent flow of donors, maybe it was time for her to say something.

"It's kind of crazy, right? Blood?" Momo mentally facepalmed, wondering how those words even left her mouth.

"No it really is, I'm so fascinated by it!" Dahyun responded quickly, eyes wide with excitement. Momo breathed a sigh of relief as she listened to Dahyun talk emphatically about blood cells and hemoglobin for the next ten minutes. Momo could've listened to her talk about it forever.

"Ah, sorry. I could go on about this forever, I did a presentation on blood cells for a powerpoint presentation party once. You probably know all of this and I'm just geeking out over blood! You must think I'm crazy!" Dahyun laughed at herself. Momo noticed the way her smile reached her eyes and the blush that was on Dahyun's face as she cleared her throat and quickly changed the subject. "Do you have a topic you love nerding out about?" 

"Medical or otherwise?" Momo asked. She needed some time to think about what her answer would be.

"Either or!"

"For medical... I learned recently that no one who was born blind has schizophrenia. But then if you become blind later, your chances of having schizophrenia increase significantly. Isn't that crazy?" Momo had been hanging on to this fun fact for awhile now, and it paid off based on the way Dahyun's jaw dropped.

"No way? Are they any closer to figuring out a cure for schizophrenia then?"

"Not really, their best guess is that a big part of it is not being able to see the hallucinations that are a trademark of schizophrenia. Also since they've lost one of their senses, it heightens the others and prevents some of the other symptoms."

"That's actually really cool, Momo."

"Not as cool as everything you know about blood though! Do you have a non-medical topic?"

A man approached the table and cleared his throat, interrupting the conversation. Several people also came up so both of them stopped to help. Some people looked a little pale, so they quickly recommended they sit down and eat something. They needed to monitor donors for a couple minutes after to make sure they wouldn't pass out on the way home. Typically once they'd had their snacks, they would be good to go. Momo smiled as she saw Dahyun lightly scold someone for trying to leave without taking an extra snack. Momo sat back down and pulled out her notebook to do some studying for the MCAT.

"My non-medical topic is musical composition," Dahyun said as she sat back down, scaring Momo a little. Momo hadn't quite followed her train of thought, and Dahyun could tell. "Just about our topics we could geek out about."

"Oh that's really cool, do you do that in your free time?" Momo shut her notebook and turned her attention fully to the other girl.

"What free time?" Dahyun giggled and Momo couldn't help but smile as she felt a flutter in her chest. "Mostly I just write lyrics these days but none of it is that good."

"I'm sure it's great, better than anything I could write for sure," Momo replied sweetly.

"I bet you could do it, you seem to have a lot to say," Dahyun smiled back. Momo was a little surprised because she felt like she couldn't say things properly around the other girl, but she made it sound like it was ok. If nothing else, at least it made sense to her.

"Probably not, I'm not an English major for a reason," Momo said nervously. "I think for my topic I'd discuss the fall of Taylor Swift during the Reputation era and why it was all about misogyny."

"Oh so you're a Swiftie," Dahyun said cheekily with her eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, is that a problem?" Momo asked, a little worried. She had been to every Taylor Swift concert in her city in the past ten years and had no plans to stop. She loved her music and while she didn't love some of the decisions Taylor made, she felt that overall she was a good person.

"No, I mean she's one of my favorite lyricists, that's all," Dahyun replied shyly.

"Really? What's your favorite line? Not in like a 'name five football players' kind of way but I'm just curious, she has so many great ones and you write music, too so I'm genuinely interested to know your thoughts because I also like Taylor Swift," Momo rambled, trying not to sound like an asshole.

"I would say 'you kept me like a secret, but I kept you like an oath.' Truthfully all ten minutes of All Too Well. It just hurts in such a specific way," Dahyun said quietly, looking distant as Momo couldn't help but wonder why her countenance fell a little.

"I think All Too Well is like the Swiftie national anthem. When people talk about their favorite songs, they're like 'obviously All Too Well but I also love this song too' and I love that."

"What's your favorite Taylor song?" Dahyun asked, snapping back to reality.

"Oh, it varies but I think currently it's peace," Momo said wistfully. She related a little too hard to that song.

"Peace is beautiful, what's your connection to it?"

"Well.. I think in the past I've felt like my life is so crazy, how do I bring someone into that, you know? And even if I do my best, would that be enough?" Momo sat there quietly as her words settled, worried that she had disclosed too much to Dahyun and scared her. She was surprised when Dahyun turned fully to her and put her hand on Momo's.

"You're going to be a doctor, your life is always going to be crazy. I think the right person will stay and let you know that you're enough. More than, even. You deserve at least that much."  Momo's brain had short circuited and she didn't even know how to respond. She didn't know if what happened next was divine intervention or retribution.

"Why hello there," a voice snickered followed by another voice giggling. Three people approached the snack table, and Momo cursed under her breath as Dahyun pulled her hand away.

"Hi! Would y'all like some snacks?" Dahyun said bubbly as ever.

"Would we, we would love some snacks, right Nayeon?" Sana giggled as she picked up some chips off the table.

"We love snacks, especially cute ones," Nayeon said with a wink. Momo threw her a glare. Dahyun sat with a nervous smile on her face, eyes darting between Momo and the three girls.

"What are you doing here?" Momo asked through gritted teeth.

"Well I told Nayeon we should support you and this is a good cause so we should give blood-" Sana started.

"Oh you must be Momo's roommates, I've heard so much about you!" Dahyun said quickly, standing up to shake hands with each of them.

"So much, huh," Nayeon sneered. "We've also heard so much about you Dahyun, so much." Momo wanted to punch Nayeon in the face. She stood up and turned her attention to the third girl.

"I'm Momo, what's your name?"

"Oh I'm Lisa! Nayeon told me she wanted to take me somewhere special for a date and I didn't realize we were going to be at a blood drive."

Momo, Dahyun, and Sana all turned their heads in disbelief and started talking over each other, questioning Nayeon for this decision she made.

"You're joking right? I thought you were Nayeon's friend from class I didn't know I was third wheeling a date?!"

"Are you serious?"

"Lisa I'm so sorry you have to deal with her?!"

"Listen! I figured it would be nice to bring more people to the blood drive! But unfortunately Lisa got a sexy tattoo that I'll have to find later last month so she can't donate." Nayeon shrugged.

"What's your actual reason?" Momo asked skeptically.

"I thought she might think it was badass of me to donate blood..." Nayeon replied sheepishly.

"Why did you say yes to this?" Sana asked Lisa. Everyone was incredibly puzzled and the other girl just smiled.

"Well I think it was pretty badass. Plus, Nayeon did say she would make it worth my while..." Lisa trailed off with a devilish grin.

"Oh I will," Nayeon smirked, eyes wicked as she pulled the other girl close.

"Ew gross both of you get a room!" Momo exclaimed, earning a laugh from Dahyun.

"I think your exact words were 'blood might be pumping out of me, but soon I'll be pumping into you-'" Lisa whispered into Nayeon's ear as she wrapped her arms around her waist, hands roaming freely.

"Oh great you two are perfect for each other, well it was very nice to meet you Dahyun, come over anytime! I'm going to remove these two from this building before this escalates," Sana said with a small wave before dragging the two out of the building, not without giving Momo a wink.

"Wait you need to sit here so we can watch you-" Dahyun started to say before being cut off by Momo.

"I don't think that's something we would want to be watching," Momo said, sticking her tongue out. "Plus a lack of blood does not seem to be a problem for them currently."

Dahyun laughed, covering her mouth. "At least there's three of them so they can help each other if necessary. Hopefully no one passes out! Sana seems nice though."

"Oh she's the nicest, we've known each other for awhile now."

"Nayeon is..."

"She has a really good heart. She's just really uh forward, that's all."

"I take it you're not as forward?"

"No, I am a little more old fashioned. And I'm still coming off something, so I'm just a little guarded," Momo said softly.

"Your song choice makes a lot of sense now," Dahyun replied with equal softness, and Momo nodded.

"Thanks for talking with me today, it's been a lot of fun," Momo said with a smile.

"The pleasure was mine, I've enjoyed this, too." Dahyun hesitated slightly, to which Momo turned her head in confusion.

"What's up?"

"Oh well I was just thinking, if you ever wanted to talk Taylor lyrics or tell me more about schizophrenia, I'm down," Dahyun said with a shy smile.

"I think I'd like that," Momo replied quickly, laughing a little at the words Dahyun had strung together.

-

Nayeon was feeling pretty good. She had successfully gotten her four points from Lisa (and had a damn good time doing it) and had some other dates lined up for next week. She didn't need the apps, she was rocking this competition. Sana had come a little too close last week, so here she was, bringing the game back.

Unfortunately, even with all this success she hadn't been able to shake a certain girl from her mind. After running into Sana, she had agreed to tweak her plan a little. It still had Nayeon's original bones but it had Sana's touch of common sense that would ultimately end in success. Or at least so Nayeon hoped.

She hadn't seen Mina any of the times she had been to the diner recently, and she tried to tell herself she wasn't disappointed but she definitely was. She had brought dates there (against Sana and Momo's advisement) and for better or worse the waitress hadn't been there. Nayeon thought about going back to the apartment complex and knocking on all the doors but there were at least thirty doors and one of them belonged to the joker girl she was now avoiding. The risk of running into her was too high, so that plan was out.

So here she was, standing outside the diner on a Sunday morning a week after running into Mina on her way to work. For a brief moment, Nayeon wondered why she was doing this. It's not like there was a lack of women that wanted her or a lack of opportunities to chase a woman. Something about Mina felt different, which Sana had called feelings but Nayeon had rejected that idea very quickly.

She smiled as she saw a figure off in the distance waddling closer. She grabbed her phone and turned on her speaker, blasting Call Me Maybe in the parking lot. She personally found the song too cheesy but Sana said it would be cute and much better than Kiss Me Thru the Phone or Lips of an Angel so she went with it. As Mina approached, the grin on Nayeon's face disappeared. Was Mina crying? She quickly turned off the music and approached the other girl, who started aggressively wiping away her tears.

"Hey, are you ok?" Nayeon asked, genuinely concerned.

"I'm fine, Nayeon, leave me alone," Mina sniffled, forcefully pushing past the other girl.

"You don't seem fine," Nayeon said quietly. She heard the other girl stop walking and turn around.

"I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but I don't have time for this, ok?" Mina said firmly, looking at Nayeon with hurt all over her face. Nayeon didn't know why, but she would've given anything to take it away from her.

"Well I was just trying to get your number but now I'm worried," Nayeon replied.

"Why are you worried about me, you don't even know me and I've mostly avoided you when we've talked," Mina mumbled.

"Yeah, that's why I don't have your number. Why is that?" Nayeon joked.

"I asked you first!" Mina fired back, and Nayeon hesitated because she felt an impulse to do something she never did. But it felt right and more importantly it felt necessary. She took a deep breath.

"The truth is I don't really know. All I know is that I can't get you out of my head and I'm bending over backwards to try and get to know you. I'm going crazy. Like this is my fifth time this week outside the diner, and I've always wanted to be a regular but inside the restaurant," Nayeon said sincerely with a small smile. Mina let out a giggle. "Seriously, I don't know how I missed you I was here basically every day."

"My grandma passed, so I haven't been around. This is my first day back." Mina was holding back tears and it broke Nayeon's heart.

"Oh Mina, I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how hard that must be and what you're going through." Nayeon's eyes softened as she looked at the other girl, something stirring in her heart. "Do you want a hug?"

Mina gave a small nod, and with that Nayeon closed the space between them. It was the first time they had touched, and it felt like all her neurons were firing at once. Nayeon wrapped her arms around Mina's waist, taking in the jasmine scent in her hair and acutely aware of any skin to skin contact. Mina's grip tightened around her briefly before loosening, which Nayeon took as a sign to let go. She held on for a split second more before releasing her, wishing it could've been longer.

"Thanks, Nayeon." Even though Mina still seemed down, the smile on her face seemed genuine.

"Yeah, of course. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Mina fished out a notepad and pen from her apron. "Give me your number."

"You're handing me pen and paper? Are you going to call me from a landline?" Nayeon laughed, Mina smiling and shaking her head as she pushed the pen and paper towards the other girl.

Nayeon grinned, taking the pen and scribbling her number down. She didn't love that she still didn't have Mina's number, and even worse Mina was going to have hers and she had no control over when she would text. It hadn't felt right to ask for her number, so she didn't. But either way, it felt like progress and she was glad to have it. She handed back the notepad.

"You're going to use this, right?" Nayeon asked.

"Yeah, everyone who hits on me during my shift today is getting this." Mina laughed as the shocked look on Nayeon's face turned into a scowl. "Thanks again, Nayeon. I'll talk to you later."

Nayeon waved as Mina walked into the building, turning around and fist pumping the air. She hadn't done what she had set out to do, but she did something. She had been honest with Mina and it hadn't ended in disaster like it usually did, much to her surprise. She stopped for a second, heart pounding. Then she started sprinting, legs numb as they carried her to her front door. She threw open the door to see Sana and Momo, laying on the floor and on the couch, respectively.

"Oh thank god you both are here," Nayeon choked out, completely out of breath.

"Damn girl was someone chasing you home?" Momo asked, hopping up to take Nayeon's pulse while Sana went to get her water.

"Only my demons," Nayeon said as struggled to catch her breath and sat down, pushing away Momo's hand from her throat. Sana walked over with a cup of water. "I think I just got to fourth base."

The cup of water spilled onto Nayeon as Sana's arms went up. "WHAT?!" Sana and Momo yelled in unison. Sana ran back to the kitchen to grab a rag for Nayeon.

"And you know what's crazy is I have literally no other points from this girl," Nayeon replied thoughtfully.

"HUH what even happened?" "Who is this?"

"Well I went to blast music and get Mina's number-"

"That's a terrible idea," Momo said shaking her head.

"Did it work was I right?" Sana asked quickly, earning a shocked look from Momo.

"But when she got there, she was crying. And I asked what was wrong and she asked why I was there and well. I was honest with her, I told her I didn't know why but I wanted to get to know her better." Nayeon felt oddly at peace in this moment.

"You told her you didn't know why you were there and she still gave you her number?" Momo asked, confused as to how this worked.

"I didn't get her number actually," Nayeon replied.

"Wait wasn't that the whole point?" Sana asked, equally confused.

"I gave her my number." Sana and Momo sat there stunned, that was one of Nayeon's cardinal rules. She only took numbers, never gave. She also never saved, but that was a different problem. This was an issue of control, and they were shocked to see Nayeon relinquishing it, especially with this girl she had never even been on a date with.

"Oh god," Momo mumbled, realizing what this meant. "So what's next then?"

"We wait, I guess. And if she never texts me then we die," Nayeon shrugged. Sana and Momo gave each other knowing looks.

"Ok, here's hoping she texts soon then," Sana said with a smile, nudging Momo to also respond positively as she leaned over and pulled Nayeon into a hug.

"If uh she knows what's best for her she will," Momo said with a slight waiver in her voice as she wrapped her arms around both of them.

"You're not very convincing but I appreciate the gesture." Nayeon's voice was muffled as the other two closed in on her, smothering her with affection.

Nayeon: 16
Momo: 5
Sana: 13