i would wait (forever and ever)

III

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i'd like that

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two years later, middle school is finally over. now, you're officially fifteen. and in high school.

jeongyeon won't be fifteen until the next four months, but you've already decided to give her her early birthday gift.

well, it's not like you have a choice, anyway.

you were sitting by yourself in the lounge of jeongyeon's school (which is now yours, too, surprise!), your nose stuck to your phone because chaeyoung and dahyun won't shut up in the group chat.

chaeyoung: have u seen jeong yet?
chaeyoung: take a selfie w her friend tzuyu i wanna see her again

dahyun: oh god ure down bad
dahyun: u havent even met her irl

chaeyoung: nayeon hasnt met momo irl but shes obssessed w her

nayeon: excuse me? im not?

that was kind of a lie. a little bit. you know you've followed all of momo's socials and stalked them for an unhealthy amount of time immediately since jeongyeon sent you a photo of her in middle school.

and you can't be blamed for that. momo is crazy cute.

chaeyoung: liar. but whatever

dahyun: you can't possibly date tzuyu tho
dahyun: jeongie said shes almost six ft tall. ure only 5'2

chaeyoung: so bite me dahyun kim!?!

dahyun: dang, 5'2 wit an attitude. lol

nayeon: guys shut up i havent found jeongyeon yet
nayeon: and i think im lost too wtf theres so many people here

dahyun: so just text jeong u bimbo

nayeon: i cant u dumbass. that's gonna ruin the surprise

chaeyoung: its not even her birthday yet what exactly are you tryna prove

"hi, uhm," an unfamiliar voice of a girl suddenly came from behind, so you turned to face her.

and maybe that was kind of wrong, because one second, you're just trying to find jeongyeon in the crowd of students on the first day of high school; and then the next, you're standing face to face with—

"hirai momo," she offered her right hand for you to shake, but you just found yourself staring like a weirdo. great. "you're jeongyeon's best friend from new york, right? i've seen you from those pics in her socials. what brings you around here?"

that wasn't exactly a very complicated question, but here you are, still just staring like a weirdo. you were panicking but it doesn't really show, because you weren't exactly functioning normally. and because yet again,

you're just staring at hirai momo like a mother fucking weirdo.

oh my god, nayeon, snap out of it!

"oh, right, sorry. that's a dumb question," suddenly momo's chuckle echoed your ears, and when you were snapped back to reality you saw momo pulling her hand away (that you didn't even manage to accept yet) to use it to scratch her nape. "i mean, you're here for jeongyeon, of course. yeah?"

you can't believe you didn't shake her hand.

"uhm, well, i actually sort of transferred here. but yeah, that too." why didn't you shake her hand? SHE WAS OFFERING YOU HER HAND! "have-have you— uhm, have you seen her?"

what is wrong with your voice?

you should've shook her hand.

what is wrong with you?!

FOCUS!

"oh, cool. that's cool. about jeong, though... i also just got here too, so there's no luck," momo says before grinning at you friendly. you thought you were gonna pass out. "but i can show you around if you want?"

and we're dying inside.

you were just about to respond, almost managing to say yes— keyword: almost, but then the morning bell rang.

stupid fucking bell!

on instict, you and momo glanced around before meeting gazes again. you were pretty sure your face looked as warm as it felt when she watched you blink repeatedly and smile.

"or at least walk you to class?"

oh my god.

"s-sure," did you just have to stumble with one word?! "i'd like that, thanks."

"awesome. me too," momo says again before nodding towards the direction of the now empty staircase. "this way."

before momo could walk past you, though, you found yourself stuttering out again, preventing her from taking another step.

"i... i'm nayeon, by the way," you offered your hand shyly, looking away so you don't meet her amused gaze. "sorry about earlier. i was kind of stuck in my head."

momo laughed lightly at that, making you smile bashfully.

"it's okay. nice to meet you, nayeon," she says before accepting your offered handshake and nodding towards the previous direction once again. "let's roll?"

nodding timidly, you stuck a strand of hair behind your ear as you walked after momo, biting your lip to stop yourself from smiling so wide and ripping your face in half.

you just really had to shake that hand.

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