The birds have long since stopped singing when Dahyun looks away from the book in her hands. It's late, the sky almost pitch black, but she insisted on reading just a bit more, sitting on her desk with a faint light brightening the room. She is stretching her arms above her head when she hears the creek of the door opening.
She lets out a small gasp as she turns to the sound, her heart picking up pace as she watches the door slowly open. It's like a scene from a horror movie and Dahyun absolutely hates it.
She releases a sigh when she recognizes the intruder. It's Momo making her way inside of the room like she owns the place. She does have a habit of barging in unannounced, but it still takes Dahyun by surprise every time even though she is the one who gave her the extra keys. Why can't she ever send a text, Dahyun wonders. It would save her a heart attack.
"Hello to you too, honey," Dahyun jokingly says, getting up from the chair and walking up to Momo.
"Hi," Momo replies, making Dahyun frown.
Dahyun instantly notices that something is not right by the way Momo doesn't return her stare. Usually, Momo barges in and starts telling Dahyun about her day, what she ate, who she came across, or which workouts she did. This time, Momo is suspiciously quiet and there are patches of sweat on her clothes. She must've come straight from the gym. That's not usual either, especially at such a late hour.
"Hey," Dahyun reaches for her and palms her cheek, carefully brushing her thumb over it, "are you okay?"
"Yeah," Momo says, her voice stern. "Just a tough workout."
"I can see that."
Dahyun always tries to hold herself back, telling herself that Momo knows what she is doing and there's no need to worry. But sometimes, she just can't hold back. She has told Momo so many times to not overdo her workouts, but the girl almost always ends up doing the opposite. That's why Dahyun tries to join Momo in the gym whenever she can, exercising together in order to sustain a comfortable speed. And Momo has always trusted Dahyun to take care of her.
"You usually love a nice shower before coming here. Did something happen?"
"I wanted to see you." Momo finally returns the eye contact, holding Dahyun's wrist as Dahyun's hand still holds her cheek.
Momo has never been good with words. She finds it difficult to put a name to her emotions and especially to voice them out loud. So, she prefers to not do so. But ever since Dahyun has started helping her, things have changed. It's like Dahyun is Momo's new voice, helping her speak out her feelings. Dahyun, who can read between Momo's lines. Her, who is kind enough to pay attention to Momo's subtle voice changes and her body language.
So, when Momo confesses that she simply just wanted to see Dahyun, her eyes briefly closing to the gentle touch on her face, Dahyun understands.
"Come here," Dahyun says as she grabs Momo's hand and guides her to the bed.
When Momo plops down on the bed next to her, Dahyun reaches for her again, palming both her cheeks and gently turning her head so they're looking at each other.
"What are you doing?" Momo asks with a confused look on her face despite the comfort she is feeling because of Dahyun's warm hands.
"Now," Dahyun chuckles, "I want your eyes on me only, okay?"
"Well, there's nobody else here for me to look at, is there?"
"You weren't doing it a few minutes ago."
Momo huffs, but when Dahyun lies on the bed, she lies next to her, her head on the same pillow, inches away from Dahyun.
"But it's okay," Dahyun eventually says with a smile.
