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“do you ever feel like you’re missing out?”

momo doesn’t look away from whatever hgtv show they’re watching, shoving some popcorn in her mouth. “on getting your kitchen remodeled? all the time.”

“no, not that,” sana says, as if momo should have been reading her mind. momo glances over to where she’s sitting at the other end of the couch, intensely focused on something on her phone. “do you ever feel like you’re missing out on being married?”

momo wrinkles her nose and turns back to the tv. “not particularly.” she shovels some more popcorn into her mouth. “divorced parents and all that.”

“look at this.” sana slides over until she’s pressed to momo’s side, phone held up in front of them. her instagram feed is open, displaying picture after picture of their friends showing off their happy relationships. “it’s like all the girls have either gotten married or are getting married. jeongyeon and nayeon, chaeyoung and mina, daniel and jihyo. hell, even hana and haru are finally tying the knot.”

“i still stand by the belief that they’ll call off the wedding at least two more times before it finally happens,” momo says, still scrolling through sana’s instagram.

“my point still stands,” sana says, liking a sappy post from jeongyeon about nayeon even as she speaks. “everyone is settling down and starting their life together, meanwhile i’m here watching random people choose terrible wall colors for their new bathrooms.”

momo shakes her head, eyes on the screen. “it really does look awful.”

sana makes a disgusted noise. “it really does. orange and yellow? really? what kind of vibes are they going for here?”

“i think the vibes of poor taste.”

“nice,” sana says, holding up a hand without looking at momo. momo automatically gives her a high five. “but really, do you not feel at all jealous that most of our friends are married at this point? not even a little bit?’

momo shrugs. “i just don’t really see the point in marriage, i guess. like, what makes it so special?”

“companionship, commitment, someone who will love you no matter what for the rest of your life,” sana immediately lists off. “just to name a few.”

momo snorts. “marriage is basically just agreeing to clean up after someone and pretend to find their jokes funny until you die.”

“well, if that’s marriage, we’re basically there already.”

“exactly— wait, hey!” momo protests, squinting her eyes at sana. she sticks her tongue out at momo and they’re so close together she ends up licking the end of her nose. momo makes a disgruntled squawking sound and rubs furiously at her nose with the sleeve of her sweater, glaring even harder at sana.

sana only laughs and leans more into momo’s side.

they watch tv in companionable silence for a few minutes, sana still scrolling through her phone while momo finishes her bowl of popcorn.

“i still wish i was married.”

momo sighs. they’re still on this? “if you want to be married so bad, i’ll marry you.”

sana slowly looks at momo with wide eyes. “are you feeling okay? are you drunk right now?” she presses the back of her hand against momo’s forehead and momo bats it away with a scowl.

“i am not drunk. it’s two in the afternoon, satang; i have a little more self-respect than that.” momo sits forward slightly to place the empty popcorn bowl on the coffee table and turns to give sana her full attention. “why shouldn’t we get married? it’s not a bad idea.”

“it’s a terrible idea,” sana says, though she’s smiling. “we’re not even together. what if we meet someone and have to explain that ‘oh, yes, i’m married to my best friend, but i promise we don’t have sex or anything.’ what if we have to get a divorce?”

momo waves her hand around. “semantics, minatozaki. look—” momo fully turns to face sana on the couch, one leg hanging off the edge and the other tucked underneath her. “this is a limited time offer. if you don’t say yes right now, i’m going to come to my senses in an hour and hide in my room for a week.”

sana nods her head and mumbles how true that is under her breath.

“i’m serious, why not just get married?” momo continues. “we’ve already established that we’re basically a married couple, and not just because you don’t like my jokes anymore. think about it: i make us dinner every night, we watch the same lame ass shows whenever we get home from work, we rsvp to weddings and shit as a pair. hell, the girls have made enough jokes about it over the years. why not make it official and get some tax benefits while we’re at it?”

sana laughs a little breathily and looks away, her face set deep in thought. after a moment, she glances back at momo with a wry grin. “it’s a terrible idea, momoring.”

momo grins, knowing that she already won. “do you want me to ask you properly?”

sana hums. “that would be nice, yes.”

“wait here for two seconds.”

momo hops over sana’s legs and scurries to her room, digging around in her jewelry box for a ring. she doesn’t allow herself to second-guess her incredibly stupid spontaneity of literally asking her best friend to marry her and instead pulls out her class ring from high school, hoping that it will fit on sana’s finger.

when she emerges back into the living room, sana is exactly where she left her. momo gestures for her to stand up and waves her over, which she does without question. as soon as she’s close enough, momo takes both her hands in her own and kneels on one knee, grunting at the hardwood floor.

“wait, wait, wait,” sana interjects before momo can even say anything. “are you really going to do this with flip or flop playing in the background?”

momo rolls her eyes but gets back to her feet, grabbing the remote off the coffee table and flicking the tv off. she goes to kneel again, once more groaning when her knee hits the hard floor.

“oh, and music! a good proposal should always have music.”

momo grumbles under her breath as she stands up again, snatching her phone from the couch to search through her spotify for a song. “marry me” by train starts playing a moment later and she sets her phone down on the coffee table.

“do you need anything else? because i’m pretty sure that if you keep making me kneel down, i’ll need knee surgery way before we’re old and gray.”

sana bites her bottom lip against a smile and shakes her head.

“good,” momo huffs petulantly before sinking to the hard floor one last time. she looks up at sana and is surprised to see tears shining in her eyes. momo can’t help but smile at the sight— of course, sana would get emotional over a proposal, even a fake one.

“minatozaki sana,” momo says, reaching out and taking sana’s left hand with her right. “would you, for all platonic intents and purposes, do me the highest honor of becoming my wife?”

and damn if momo didn’t feel the butterflies, too.

sana lets out a watery laugh. “yes. a thousand times, yes.”

momo only has enough time to slide her class ring onto sana’s finger and groan about how cheesy that response was before sana is pulling her to her feet and into a hug. momo yelps when she’s lifted into the air, feet flailing and hands clinging hard to sana’s shoulders. sana lowers her safely back to the ground a moment later, pressing a kiss to momo’s cheek before hugging her tight again.

“jesus, dude,” momo says, out of breath for some reason. “it’s like— it’s not a big deal, like, at all.”

buther cheeks are flushed when she says it, and she tightens her arms around sana as that stupid train song continues playing in the background.

they get married as soon as they both have time in their schedules, which turns out to be the following tuesday during their lunch breaks. sana is still in her scrubs from work when momo meets her on the steps of town hall.

“are you ready?” sana asks, automatically reaching out to lace their fingers together.

momo glances at the time. “i have forty-five minutes. let’s do this.”

they are directed to the fourth floor where a little old lady sits behind a desk with the title vital record certificates. sana bounces right up to her with a wide smile, dragging momo along with her.

“we would like a marriage license, please.”

the lady barely glances up at them. “what is the date of the wedding?”

“today.”

the lady rolls her eyes. “let me guess; you want to be married right now.”

sana doesn’t seem perturbed by her grumpy attitude. probably because she’s been living with momo for ten years. “that’s right!” she chirps.

the lady—sooyoung, momo reads on her nametag—ushers them into a back room with a wave of her hand. she sits behind a desk and starts filling out a fresh marriage certificate. momo looks around the small, cramped office space with a hum.

“is this how you thought your wedding would go, satang?”

sana also takes in the room. “not at all. i pictured more roses. and less filing cabinets. but at least there’s music.”

the provided music is “jump” by van halen, which plays from a crackly stereo in the corner. momo wouldn’t necessarily count that as a win.

a man in a suit walks into the already crowded room. “hello, my name is kevin. i will be officiating your marriage today.”

sana lets out an excited squeal. “pleased to meet you, kevin.”

“i need your full names for the license,” sooyoung says, interrupting their conversation.

“hirai momo,” momo says.

“minatozaki sana,” sana supplies.

the sound of writing and paper shuffling follows, sooyoung still grumbling quietly under her breath.

momo glances at the time again. “shit, twenty minutes to get back to the studio. let’s make this quick, kevin.”

kevin blinks back and forth between the two of them before clearing his throat. “do you, hirai momo, take sana to be your wife, as long as you both shall live?”

“oh yeah, for sure.”

“and do you, minatozaki sana, take momo to be your wife, as long as you both shall live?”

sana smile grows impossibly wider. “i do.”

kevin nods. “then by the power vested in me by the state of new york, i now pronounce you wife and wife.”

momo’s almost expecting the kiss that sana pulls her into, but that doesn’t stop the squeak of surprise she makes when sana grabs her face and presses their lips together. the kiss is short, and momo’s cheeks are on fire when sana pulls away, patting her enflamed cheek affectionately before thanking kevin and turning to sign the marriage certificate at sooyoung’s behest. and then momo is signing it. and just like that—

momo is married.

“this was a terrible idea,” momo says as soon as they’re outside again.

sana admires their copy of the marriage license they just signed with the same glee she’s had since they got there. “this is going on the fridge at home.”

“sana, we just got married,” momo stresses, already feeling herself spiral. “what the hell is wrong with us?”

“it was your idea, remember?” sana points out, unreasonably calm. she suddenly gasps and perks up, dropping the certificate down to her side to grab onto momo’s shoulder. “we should celebrate! let’s go out to eat tonight, someplace nice— my treat. actually, we really ought to share bank accounts now. our treat.”

although she still feels herself slipping into a minor crisis, momo can’t help but laugh at sana’s exuberance. “sure, wherever you want. just let me know and i’ll make a reservation.”

sana flashes her a smile. “perfect,” she says, leaning over to peck momo on the cheek. “you better get back to work. i’ll see you at home, wifey!”

momo rolls her eyes at the nickname and waves behind her head as she walks away, but she knows that the grin that’s made its way onto her face will be sticking with her for the rest of the day.

naturally, nayeon is the first person they tell.

“you what?”

“i said, and then during my lunch break momo and i went down to town hall and got married. oh, and then when i got back to work the dog had already thrown up again—”

“sana, i love you, but can you please stop talking and answer my questions.”

sana shuts her mouth with a huff, staring at nayeon’s face on her computer expectantly.

“can we please rewind to the fact that you and momo are apparently married now? how is that possible?”

“nayeonie, gay marriage has been legal in this country for years now. since 2015, in fact.”

“i—” nayeon pauses to take a deep breath, eyes closed, and hands pressed together in front of her face as if she was praying. she opens her eyes a moment later and starts again, slower this time. “sana, i am literally married to a woman. you were the maid of honor at our wedding. i know how gay marriage works. what i want to know is how you and momo are married. i didn’t even think you were together.”

“oh.” sana blinks. “that. well, i mean, she’s my best friend, you know? and we talked about it and thought it was a good idea.”

never mind the fact that they had both said how bad of an idea it was on numerous occasions.

“what about the big wedding you’ve always wanted?” nayeon questions. “the cake, the flowers, the dress— does all of that mean nothing to you now?”

sana shrugs, feeling a little sheepish. leave it to nayeon and her complete rationality to make sana doubt her actions. “i mean, don’t get me wrong, i would still love all of that one day. but momo and i aren’t getting younger, you know? this is just like… a backup plan. only it’s become the first plan, and the old first plan is now the backup plan.” sana blinks a few times. “does that make sense?”

“not in the slightest.”

sana slumps against the couch cushions. “nothing has changed with us, really. i guess we both just wanted a taste of the married life.”

“really, both of you?”

“okay, maybe it was mostly me, but momo hasn’t seemed to mind it all that much so far.” sana perks up again. “marriage comes with some cool perks, actually! like, if we mention that we’re newlyweds at restaurants, sometimes they’ll give us free dessert.”

nayeon sighs wistfully. “those were the days. enjoy it while it lasts, i suppose. though you should know i don’t approve of momo in the slightest. you are far too good for her.”

momo walks through the door that moment, pizza box balanced on her hand. her headphones are placed securely over her ears, so she doesn’t hear nayeon’s comment, but her eyes quickly find sana sitting on the couch regardless. sana gives her the best heart eyes she can muster, and momo responds by sticking her tongue out at her.

“no,” sana tells nayeon, eyes still on momo. “i think she’s just perfect for me.”

sana’s laying on momo’s floor when the thought strikes her.

she bolts upright. “rings!”

momo raises an eyebrow at her from her bed, fingers typing away at her computer. “rings?”

“we should get rings,” sana clarifies, pushing herself onto the bed and crawling over to plop down beside momo. “it’s been two weeks since we got married and we still don’t have rings.”

momo looks at her with a confused look on her face. “but i already gave you a ring.”

sana rolls her eyes. “no offense, momoring, but i’d rather not have a green ring with your high school and the year you graduated engraved on it to symbolize my lifelong devotion to you.”

momo squints at her. “gross.”

“we need rings,” sana repeats, finality in her tone, and reaches over to steal momo’s laptop. she clicks away from the email that momo was writing and starts looking for wedding bands. momo sighs heavily but makes no further protest, slumping into sana’s side and watching her browse quietly.

they end up settling on a pair of simple platinum bands, not too pricey but not cheap looking either. when they arrive a week later, sana squeals in excitement and forces momo to slide one of the rings on her finger, doing the same for her next.

sana’s heart skips a beat when momo lingers for just a moment after slipping the ring onto her finger, and it beats extra hard when she swipes a thumb over it with a look of reverence on her face.

when momo comes home from work a week later with a shy smile and a glittering diamond ring that sana couldn’t have picked out better herself, along with the offer of putting it on sana’s finger, sana’s heart very well stops working altogether.

it isn’t the first time that sana has accompanied momo to one of her studio’s parties, but it is the first time she’s attended as her wife.

they arrive at the ballroom that’s been rented out for the occasion without much fanfare, momo dressed mostly casual in black jeans and a loose button down while sana wears a blue cocktail dress that makes her eyes pop even more than they usually do.

“we look like a proper lesbian couple,” momo murmurs as they walk through the door. sana shushes her through a laugh and loops her arm through momo’s, leading them further into the ballroom.

a voice calling out momo’s name makes her stop and turn in that direction, a smile coming to her face when she sees one of the junior producers she works with heading in their direction.

“hey, jisoo,” she greets when she’s close enough. “where’s the bar? i’m sick of this place already.”

jisoo laughs and hands momo the drink in their hand. “this is for you, actually. i figured you’d need something as soon as you walked through the door.” her eyes shift to sana. “although, i failed to get one for your friend here. i don’t believe we’ve met.” she extends a hand toward sana with a charming smile, and sana lets go of momo’s arm to shake it.

“i’m sana, momo’s wife,” sana says, obviously tickled at the opportunity to bring up their marriage.

jisoo raises her eyebrows in surprise, looking at momo approvingly. “you don’t say. momo, you never told me that you were married.”

“it’s a, uh, recent development,” momo says, taking a much-needed sip from her drink. “kind of happened unexpectantly.”

“well, i guess when it happens, it happens,” jisoo says, winking playfully at sana. “i’ll go get you a drink as well, mrs. hirai.”

they breeze away back towards the bar, leaving momo and sana alone again. sana beams. “mrs. hirai,” she muses, once more slipping her arm through momo’s. “i could get used to that.”

momo chokes on her drink and coughs a couple of times to clear her windpipe. “you’d take my last name?” she chokes out.

sana shrugs. “why not? your name is already on albums and production credits and all that. it just makes sense for me to change mine instead of yours, and i wouldn’t really want to hyphenate them.”

momo studies her for a moment. “you’ve really thought about this?” she asks.

sana suddenly looks sheepish and averts her eyes. “well, yeah,” she admits. “i mean, we are legally married, right? my mind just wanders sometimes, i guess.”

before momo can think of a way to respond, jisoo is back, handing sana a fresh drink and already pulling her into a conversation that momo can barely pay attention to.

hirai sana.

huh.

kind of has a nice ring to it.

after nearly an hour of silence, sana finally speaks up.

“let me know what you think of this.”

momo mutes the christmas episode of cupcake wars she’s been watching as sana moves closer to her on the couch, turning her laptop so that momo can see the screen, which displays a template with a photo of the two of them that sana took a few days ago. momo’s pouting in it, of course, which is mostly due to the large santa hat that sana had insisted she wear for the picture. sana’s laughing, head turned toward momo so that her face is nearly pressed against momo’s cheek.

it’s a good picture, actually. like, objectively it is a cute picture of them.

then momo notices the words “merry christmas from our home to yours!” written in swirly white text on the bottom of the picture.

“what am i looking at?” momo questions.

“our christmas card this year, obviously,” sana replies easily.

momo nearly gags. “christmas cards? seriously? what are we, a suburban family in the early 2000’s?”

sana looks almost offended. “i’ll have you know that my family sends out Christmas cards every year.”

“you’re sort of proving my point here.”

sana huffs. “come on, momoring. it’ll be fun! this is exactly the kind of thing i’ve always looked forward to in marriage.” she turns her big brown eyes on momo, pleading puppy dog mode fully activated. “please?” she bats her eyelashes for good measure. “for me?”

momo sighs and glances over at the card once more as she decides what to say. she sees the obvious joy in sana’s smile, remembers the way her laugh had sounded in that moment, and feels something swoop in her chest.

“married people really do this?” momo asks weakly.

sana nods her head emphatically. “totally.”

momo closes her eyes and lets out her breath in a puff of air. “sure, yeah, whatever. send ‘em out.”

sana cheers in equal parts victory and excitement and pecks momo on the cheek before turning back to her laptop to order the cards, chattering happily as she does so. momo turns the volume back up on their show and slumps in her seat, the ghost of sana’s kiss on her cheek burning against her skin.

“again, i’m really sorry to do this.”

“i really don’t think you are.”

“you’re right, i’m really not.”

momo rolls her eyes as she changes the sheets on her bed, hana snooping around her room as she does so. “so, why did you guys call it off this time?”

“he doesn’t want me for my money. can you believe that?”

momo grunts as she lifts the corner of the mattress so that she can tuck the sheet under it. “how dare he,” she deadpans.

hana throws her hands up indignantly. “i know! i told him i would rent him the entire luxor in vegas for the wedding, and he told me that it was ‘too expensive’ and that i ‘shouldn’t bankrupt myself for him.’ unbelievable!”

“i’m as shocked as you are,” momo comments drily, standing up straight and throwing the pillows back on the bed. she blows a strand of hair out of her face and glances at the time. 12:40 am. “bed’s all done,” she announces.

hana sighs in relief and plops down on the newly made bed. “perfect. had to get new sheets so that i wasn’t intermingling with your love den sheets.”

momo pinches the bridge of her nose. “hana, you know it’s not like that. we’ve talked about how it’s not like that.”

hana barks out a laugh and reclines back onto the pillows. “sure, it isn’t, momo,” she says, lazily shooing momo away with a wave of her hand. “now, let me get my beauty sleep. it’s late, you know.”

momo’s jaw clenches as she resists the urge to snap back with something she’ll regret in the morning, choosing to spin on her heel and quickly leave the room instead. she crosses the hall and slips inside sana’s room, squinting through the dark in an attempt to not bump into anything. when she slides under the covers next to sana, she’s surprised to find the other girl still awake, even if just barely.

“did you get her all settled?” sana murmurs, rolling over so she’s facing momo. momo mirrors her position and can just make out sana’s eyes shining in the dim light leaking through the blinds covering the window.

“i think so,” momo says. “but who knows if she’s going to wake us up in an hour because she wants a snack or something.”

sana giggles. “it’s like we have an overgrown toddler staying with us.”

momo snickers. “if we sign some adoption papers for her, we’ll speed the whole having kids process up by a few years.”

sana suddenly isn’t laughing anymore. momo’s eyes have adjusted to the darkness well enough by now that she can see a look on her face that she can’t quite read. worried that she said something wrong, momo holds her breath and waits for sana to say something.

“is that something you want? kids?”

sana’s soft voice easily cuts through the quiet of the room, through the distant noises of the city that never sleeps outside their window.

momo swallows. “i mean, maybe?” she says, though it sounds more like a question. “probably. eventually.” she traces shapes into the bedsheet. “it was never something i really wanted before, but now… i don’t know. now i don’t hate the idea so much, i guess.”

she glances timidly back up at sana, finding brown eyes gazing intently back at her. “what changed your mind?” she asks in a hushed tone.

momo’s eyes trace across sana’s features: the slope of her nose and the hint of smile lines beginning to creep up around her eyes. she wonders how those features might look on sana’s kids one day. “i’m not really sure,” she whispers back.

feeling all at once very drained, momo murmurs a quick goodnight and shifts onto her other side, facing away from sana. a heartbeat later she feels sana slide up behind her, hooking an arm over momo’s waist as she wishes her own goodnight into momo’s shoulder. momo remembers how they shared a bed like this every night, not too long ago, in that shitty apartment they lived in with jennie when they first moved to new york. that bed had been smaller, then, the mattress not as forgiving, but sana had always curled into momo the same way she did now, which makes it seem as though nothing has changed.

she slips her fingers between sana’s where they rest on her stomach, feels the edges of the ring on sana’s finger against the one on her own, and thinks that maybe everything has changed after all.

.

.

hana ends up staying with them for a little over a week, in which time she manages to eat all the food in their apartment, spoil the ending of one of the shows they’re watching, and buy them an r2-d2 shaped coffee machine to make up for it.

all in all, could have gone worse.

momo and sana wave politely goodbye as hana climbs into haru’s car. after a far too intimate reconciliation kiss that leaves both momo and sana cringing, haru pulls away, leaving them alone once again.

although they’re certainly happy to see hana on her way, sana still tears up slightly when the car disappears from view, never one to handle goodbyes all that well. she quickly wipes at her eyes, obviously hoping that momo doesn’t notice, but to no avail. momo doesn’t comment, though, simply smiling sadly at her before looping her arm around sana’s waist and leading them back up the stairs to their apartment.

that night after getting ready for bed, momo stands in the hallway separating their two rooms. her door is wide open, freshly made bed in full view through the doorway. hana had assured her that she’d left it as if she’d never been there, and for once, she hadn’t been lying. the room looks even cleaner than momo normally had it.

sana’s door is already shut, a soft glow shining under it revealing that sana is most likely not asleep yet. momo blinks and looks back at her room once, then back at sana’s door, repeating the process twice more before shaking her head and walking into her own room.

it takes all of two seconds for momo to walk back out into the hall and slip through the door to sana’s room instead.

maybe momo’s room could be more like a guest room from now on. just in case hana decided to call off the wedding again. or something.

there are some perks to going to weddings as a married person, sana thinks.

for one, she didn’t have to worry about finding a date. two, she gets to flaunt her sexy music producer wife off to anyone who will listen.

“oh, she’s worked with dj khaled and david guetta,” sana brags as she rubs a hand up and down momo’s arm.

“she has her own album, of course, but she prefers helping new artists find their sound,” sana explains as she wraps her arm around momo’s waist.

“have i mentioned she’s great in bed?” sana supplies, watching momo choke on her drink beside her.

“sana,” momo warns, pounding a fist into her chest.

sana grins at whoever it is they’re talking to—dahyun’s grandma, maybe? “she’s just being modest. one time, when we were in vancouver, she—”

“that’s enough out of you,” momo interrupts, taking hold of sana’s wrist and pulling her away. sana waves happily at the person they’re leaving (dahyun’s great aunt?) and laughs, wriggling her wrist out of momo’s grasp so that she can hold her hand instead.

“i thought it was funny,” sana says.

momo has a delightful blush coloring her cheeks. “you’ve never even been to vancouver. how much have you had to drink tonight, anyway?”

sana stares into her nearly empty glass with a contemplative frown. “i’m not sure.”

momo clicks her tongue and slowly takes the glass from sana’s fingers. “maybe we get you some water, instead, yeah?”

they run into jihyo by the refreshment table, where she’s gushing over every single detail of the reception. daniel stands awkwardly by her side, making comments here and there but mostly watching his wife talk with a small smile on his face.

“hey you guys!” jihyo beams. “isn’t this place so nice? dahyun and her fiancée— i mean wife look so happy.” she sighs dreamily. “weddings are just so great.”

“yeah, they’re really something,” momo comments, filling up a cup with water for sana.

“although you guys didn’t really do the whole wedding thing, right? you just went to the courthouse,” jihyo inquires curiously.

momo hands sana the filled cup and starts pouring one for herself. “well, i mean, yeah, but that’s because it wasn’t really that big of deal,” she says. “like, why go through all this effort if we aren’t actually together?”

“i’m going to find nayeon,” sana announces, setting her nearly full cup of water down with a plunk. a few drops splash out and land on the table. momo blinks at her in surprise.

“uh, okay. do you need any help—”

“nope, i’m fine!” sana interjects, already walking away with a wave of her hand. momo watches her go with a frown. what was her deal tonight?

she turns back to jihyo and daniel, both of them wearing slightly concerned expressions.

“everything alright?” daniel asks.

after a moment, momo shakes her head in an attempt to relax herself, then realizes that she needs to actually say something. “yeah, no. everything’s great. you know how she is when she’s drunk.” she gestures vaguely with her hands. “scatterbrained. impulsive. that kind of thing. i’m going to eat some cake.”

momo grabs a slice of cake off the table that probably contains far too much chocolate for her liking and all but sprints away from the refreshment table, retreating all the way to a table near the back corner of the room. her eyes survey the room as she pokes at her cake with a fork, automatically searching for sana’s dark hair. it only takes her a moment to find her near the dance floor chatting with nayeon and lisa. she has a smile on her face, but there’s a tension around her eyes that momo knows most people wouldn’t be able to pick out. based off the way nayeon’s smile flickers as she scans sana’s face, she sees it, too.

“trouble in paradise?”

jeongyeon settles into the seat beside her, a knowing look on her face.

“where’s your little gremlin?” momo asks, ignoring jeongyeon’s question.

jeongyeon hums. “i believe she’s off harassing chaeyoung and mina. not that they mind too much. i’m pretty sure they want to kidnap her.” she props her chin up in a hand. “i wouldn’t mind. i don’t think i’ve gotten a proper nap in five years.”

momo snickers. “like nayeon would let you nap in the first place.”

“you’d be surprised what i can convince her of,” jeongyeon replies with a wink.

they sit in companionable silence for a bit, just watching the celebration go on around them. both dahyun and her wife, tzuyu, have big families, which meant none of the girls had to worry about bridesmaid duties this time around, the roles being filled by siblings and cousins instead. it also meant that the party had been in full swing the moment they arrived, the wedding essentially acting as a family reunion of sorts. a small smile appears on momo’s face as she watches two little kids hop around the dance floor, squealing with laughter and nearly tripping adults as they dance.

dahyun and tzuyu sit at their table at the front of the room, smiles wide as they feed each other cake. tzuyu says something that makes dahyun laugh, the two of them leaning in toward each other to share what isn’t the first and surely won’t be the last kiss of the night. the smile slowly melts from momo’s face, and she pushes her own hardly touched cake away a little.

“well, if you’re not going to eat it, i will,” jeongyeon says, sliding the cake in front of herself. she nabs momo’s fork, too, before digging in.

“be my guest,” momo mutters belatedly. her eyes have once again drifted to sana, finding her seated at a table this time, only nayeon seated beside her. momo’s fingers absentmindedly twist the ring on her finger, a habit she’s picked up over the last couple of months.

“you should dance with her,” jeongyeon says. momo turns her head in surprise. jeongyeon has a soft smile on her face that makes momo feel like she knows something that momo doesn’t. “sana, obviously. you know, your wife. she wants you to dance with her.”

a slow song starts, and momo rolls her eyes when she realizes it’s “until i found you,” which she helped produce. figuring she better take signs from the universe when they come, momo pushes herself up from her seat, turning to look at jeongyeon one more time.

“enjoy the cake,” momo tells her.

jeongyeon raises her fork as a toast. “tell nayeon that if she comes over here, she can get so much more than a slice of cake.”

momo wrinkles her nose. “i will not,” she says, then quickly makes her way over to sana and nayeon’s table. nayeon spots her over sana’s shoulder, staring icily at her as she approaches. momo stares right back before leaning down to speak in sana’s ear. “care to indulge your wife in a dance?”

sana turns in her seat, surprised to see momo there. a smile blooms on her face, one free of tension this time, and she bites her lip as she nods. ignoring nayeon’s continual hostile energy, momo reaches out to take one of sana’s hands, pulling her out of her seat and leading her to the dance floor.

dancing with sana has always been easy, always felt natural, so when they start a gentle sway with sana’s arms resting on her shoulders and momo’s hands on sana’s hips, momo feels any tension in her body drift away. they dance in silence for a moment, just enjoying the gentle beat of the music, until sana leans in close to murmur in her ear.

“i’m sorry i’ve been so weird tonight.”

momo slides her hands around to the small of sana’s back, pulling her imperceptibly closer. “you don’t have to apologize for anything,” she says in a low voice.

“i just—” sana interrupts herself with a sigh. “i guess I just want to enjoy this one wedding as a married person… as someone who’s found their someone.”

“hey.” momo pulls back enough to look sana in the eyes. “i’m always going to be your someone, alright? no matter what. i don’t care what happens next year, the next two years, the next ten. you’re my person, nothing is going to change that.”

sana looks like she’s going to cry at that, so momo holds her close again. her arms wrap around sana’s back until they are essentially just hugging as they spin in a slow circle, but momo doesn’t mind in the slightest. based on the way sana’s arms tighten around momo’s neck, she doesn’t mind, either.

“for as long as we both shall live, right?” momo murmurs.

she hopes this song will never end.

when they return to new york after the wedding, life moves on as normal, and they settle back into their regular routine.

wake up, go to work, come home and eat dinner, watch tv, go to bed. feel momo curled up against her. listen to momo’s breathing as she falls asleep. cling to the last shreds of consciousness in order to fully savor these moments.

the word wife hangs heavily in the back of sana’s mind lately.

the routine is disrupted tonight, but only because momo fell asleep on the couch instead of in sana’s bed. so, really the routine is intact, the location has just shifted.

momo has been pulling more hours at the studio the last two weeks, trying to finish up an album that was due for release soon. she wakes up earlier—a feat for momo, really—but comes home at the same time as she usually would, seemingly unwilling to let her evenings with sana go. the wordless gesture doesn’t go unnoticed.

that being said, momo has been even more tired than she usually is, falling asleep earlier and earlier every night. tonight, it’s barely nine o’clock and momo is already conked out, probably drooling on sana as she lays between her legs, head resting on sana’s stomach.

sana runs her fingers lightly through momo’s hair, tucking loose pieces behind her ear. momo mumbles something in her sleep and tightens her arms around there they’re wrapped around sana’s back, nuzzling further into her before stilling again.

a show still plays on the tv, the colors form the screen lighting up the dark apartment, the sun having set a while ago. sana pays it no attention, much more content to watch momo sleep until the sun rises again. to keep looking at momo until she’s no longer hers to look at.

momo’s watching property brothers when sana walks out of her bedroom, securing an earring in place. momo looks up in surprise at what she’s wearing: what can only be described as a little black dress, heels that make her legs look incredible, and a few bracelets that momo can’t remember seeing before.

she looks nice. really nice.

“going somewhere?” momo asks.

“oh, um, yeah,” sana replies distractedly as she looks around for something. “i have a date, actually.”

“oh.” is all momo can think to say. she sounds disappointed—feels disappointed—and can’t help it.

“is that… okay?” sana asks, turning to look at her. “i didn’t think we had anything going on tonight.”

“no, yeah no. that’s totally fine, dude. uh, have fun.” it sounds unconvincing even to momo’s ears.

sana looks almost as disappointed as momo feels. “alright,” she says, uncertainty clouding her voice. she grabs her purse off the coffee table. “i’ll see you later, then.”

momo watches her walk towards the door and is calling out before she realizes what she’s doing. “sana.”

sana turns all too quickly back around. “yeah?”

all bravery leaves momo once she sees sana’s face. she doesn’t even know why she called out in the first place. “just… don’t forget to take off your ring.”

“oh,” sana says, surprised. she looks down at her hand, running a thumb over the small diamond resting there before sliding it off and setting it on the kitchen counter. “thanks, momoring.” it’s said quietly, and sana doesn’t look at her as she walks out the door.

momo sits in silence for a solid minute after sana leaves, staring at the door, willing her to come back. jonathan scott starts talking about floorboards on the tv momo forgot was still on and she flips it off, not in the mood to watch anything anymore. she stands slowly, drifting over to the kitchen where sana’s ring lays, abandoned on the countertop. the diamond glistens in the low evening light shining in through the window and momo can’t but pick it up, marveling at how something so small could mean so much to sana.

and to her, momo realizes.

holding her best friend’s— her wife’s ring in her hand, momo glances to her right. their marriage certificate hangs proudly on the refrigerator, held up by a pink ‘m’ and a purple ‘s’ magnets that sana had bought from the dollar store. momo traces a finger along the ‘s’ while she looks at their signatures on the paper, her head full of too many thoughts to sort out.

she leaves the ring on the counter and goes to sleep in her own bed for the first time in months.

the last person that sana expects to see at the bar is one of momo’s co-workers.

“is this seat taken?”

sana glances over, shocked to see jisoo sitting down on the stool beside her. “hey,” she says, happy to see a friendly face but unable to inject any genuine excitement into her tone.

she looks her over once. “look at you, all dressed up with no one to fawn over you,” they say, gesturing to her dress. “is the wife in the bathroom or something?”

sana laughs once, dismally. she thinks for a moment before leaning an elbow against the bar and leveling a serious look at jisoo. “can i tell you something?”

jisoo grins. “please do.”

“i’m in love with momo.”

“i would certainly hope so,” jisoo jokes.

“but i don’t think she’s in love with me.”

that makes jisoo take pause. she gestures to the bartender, saying, “i feel like there’s a story here, and i think we both need more alcohol if you’re going to tell it.”

so, sana tells the whole tale to jisoo, from the very beginning: how they met, how they’ve been best friends for years, how they’ve been living together for so long it’s hard to imagine living with anyone else. how sana always had a little bit of a crush on momo, but never anything strong enough to act on until their marriage license was literally being shoved in her face. she tells her about dahyun’s wedding and how sana just wanted her own marriage to be real in order to match her own true feelings, and how she matched with a girl on tinder just because she wanted something that wasn’t so complicated.

“and then i cancelled on her because i knew that i wouldn’t be as invested in her as i should be,” sana finishes, sipping whiskey through a straw. “and i couldn’t get the image of momo’s face out of my mind on my way here. it was like her actual wife was actually cheating on her.”

jisoo runs a hand through her hair with a heavy sigh. “well shit, sana.”

sana grunts and sucks the last of her drink through her straw. “that about sums it up.”

they sit in silence for a minute, just listening to the sounds of the bar around them. someone is speaking loudly at a corner booth, cutting through the crowd with a booming voice. a lady off to sana’s right is speaking into her phone, voice crisp and stern. some college kids joke jovially as they order drinks.

jisoo glances sidelong at sana. “do you want to take a walk?”

sana pushes her drink away. “please.”

.

.

they actually end up taking a cab, jisoo pleasantly chatting on about everything and nothing on the way to their destination, filling up the empty spaces of conversation that sana herself would usually occupy. the cab stops in front of a familiar looking building, and sana steps out of the car slowly while jisoo pays the driver.

“is it even open this late?” sana asks uncertainly. what were they doing here?

jisoo only grins and holds up a keycard. “trust me,” is all she says.

sana follows jisoo through the main lobby and into the elevator, watching the numbers climb higher and higher as they rise to the level that sana knows momo’s office resides at.

“what are we doing here?” sana asks, finally voicing the question that’s been swimming in her mind. jisoo is great, but at this point she’s tired, her feet hurt, and she honestly just wants to go home and sleep for twelve hours.

“i need to show you why i think you’re wrong about momo,” jisoo says, leading her down the hallway towards momo’s office. “why you’re wrong about how she feels about you.”

curiosity piquing, sana follows without another word until they reach momo’s office. jisoo puts a hand on the doorknob and turns, opening her mouth as if to say something, but decides against it and smiles instead, pushing the door open and waving sana inside ahead of her.

the automatic lights flicker on overhead and sana takes in the office. surprisingly, sana has never once been in momo’s office. she always figured she wasn’t allowed up here, and she was always working when momo was working, anyway. it’s admittedly a small space, which doesn’t matter all that much since momo spends most of her time in a recording booth, but it has a big window facing the street and two chairs pushed against the wall by the door, the desk situated against another wall next to the chairs.

sana looks back and gives jisoo a questioning look, to which jisoo gestures for her to look closer at momo’s desk. as she rounds the desk, her breath catches in her throat.

hung on the wall next to momo’s computer are pictures of… her.

not every single picture is of her, of course. there’s one or two of all their friends, one of jeongyeon and kyujin, a couple of her parents. but the majority of the space is filled up with different pictures of sana: selfies taken over the years, pictures of the two of them on competition days, recent candids of her taken around the apartment. at the very center is the christmas card they’d sent out in december, the one that momo had rolled her eyes at and insisted they didn’t need.

“momo isn’t always the easiest person to read,” jisoo says, still leaning against the doorway, “but i think sometimes the small things speak louder than words.”

.

.

sana gets home late to all the lights turned off in the apartment. she takes off her heels as soon as she walks through the door, hissing in relief as her bare feet meet the cool tile of their entryway before quietly making her way through the apartment to her room, not as surprised as she should be to see her door open and bed empty. her shoes are quickly tossed into her closet as she changes out of her dress, slipping into sleep shorts and a t-shirt.

the thought of sleeping in her own bed doesn’t even cross her mind once she’s brushed her teeth, padding across the hall to momo’s room and opening the door as silently as she can. she slides into bed and sees that momo’s back is facing her on the other side of the bed, a sea of distance separating them.

even though it’s dark and there’s enough space between them for an entire person, sana can tell that momo isn’t asleep.

“i didn’t go on the date,” sana whispers into the dark.

momo’s shoulders stiffen before she turns around to face sana. “why not?” she asks, voice barely louder than the breaths she takes.

sana slides across the bed and kisses her.

this isn’t like any of the kisses they’ve shared before, not even like the one they shared at their wedding. this isn’t for a dare, or in celebration, or just to make momo’s cheeks blush. it isn’t for anyone else to see. it’s dark and it’s quiet in momo’s bedroom, and sana kisses her just for herself.

momo’s gasp of surprise is lost as sana presses their lips together. it only takes her a moment to slide her arms around sana’s body, holding tight onto her as if scared that she’s going to go away again.

make no mistake, sana wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

the kiss is slow and gentle and a little bit hesitant, and when sana pulls away, she rests her forehead against momo’s. they just breathe for a moment, neither worrying about saying words or taking things any farther for now. momo’s hand slips under sana’s shirt, just holding her. sana’s fingers play with momo’s earrings.

“what if i told you that i wish i’d married you for real?” sana murmurs. like a secret.

momo kisses her once. “i’d say you already did.”

sana meets her on the steps of town hall. “are you ready?”

momo grins and reaches out to take sana’s hand. “let’s do this.”

they take the elevator up to the fourth floor and walk up to the familiar desk.

“we would like to change a name, please. specifically, my name,” sana says.

sooyoung glances up at them with mirth in her eyes. “you two again,” she grumbles. “haven’t you been married for six months? this isn’t even the right department for that.”

“come on, sooyoung,” sana says in a pleading tone. she leans on sooyoung’s desk and tidies up her pens. “you must have the paperwork for it somewhere around here. can’t you just… do this one little favor? for us?” she flashes her a winning smile for good measure.

sooyoung stares at her for a good minute before giving in. momo can sympathize with that; she’s been on the receiving end of that look many times before.

they’re led by a grumbling sooyoung to the same back room that they’d been married in. sana clings to momo’s arm as she excitedly points out the differences she finds in the space, pointing each one out with more glee than the last. “dreams” by fleetwood mac plays on the same crackly speaker as before, which momo supposes is a minor improvement.

it takes a lot longer to change a name than it does to get married, apparently, and momo’s glad she took a half day off work for this. sana spends a while sitting at the desk across from sooyoung, filling out various paperwork and signing her name on things until her hand is cramping. at the end of it all, sooyoung prints them out a copy of sana’s official name change documentation.

sana grabs the document and squeals in excitement, jumping up from her seat to pull momo into a kiss that is probably considered inappropriate for the government building they’re standing in.

sooyoung squawks at them to get out of her office. momo grins. sana looks down at the paper in her hands and traces a finger over the name hirai sana.