Chapter Text
The next morning feels like a much needed reset.
Momo lets herself sleep in a little, her body aching a bit from last night’s steam. She tries not to think about her new folder of what was basically treasure, and takes another cold shower to both wake up and cool down her body.
It’s the weekend, so Momo does her Saturday routine: eat an apple with peanut butter, walk the dogs, go to the gym for an (extra) intense workout, and then treat herself to her favourite brunch at a nearby diner, Berry Nice to Meet You.
Before going into the diner, Momo takes a peek through the window to see what the table situation looks like. Usually, if it’s too busy, she would head home and cook herself something, but luckily there aren't too many patrons yet, despite it almost being prime brunch time. Momo had spent longer than usual at the gym to help blow off some pent up energy, so she’s late and extra hungry. With relief, she smiles to herself, she must be beating the rush! Oftentimes, she would easily feel overwhelmed by the diner during its peak times, wondering how Dahyun, Tzuyu and Chaeyoung could handle that kind of noise and pressure multiple times throughout the day.
When she enters, the smooth sounds of one of Chaeyoung’s favourite indie bands plays softly in the background. The diner is cozy, with its mostly red colour palette and dark blue and white accents. The walls are lined with various art work, both by Chaeyoung and from a collection she has amassed over the years. The booth seats are marked with cute strawberry patterns and Momo makes a beeline to her usual spot, a booth right next to the kitchen. She opens the menu, trying not to think about ordering her usual when the fresh smell of Chaeng’s infamous waffles and house grown strawberries are lingering in the air.
“I thought I heard someone scurrying over here,” a familiar voice calls out from behind the kitchen door. “I was worried you weren’t going to come today, Momo unnie.”
Momo looks over to see Chaeyoung, her old college friend and owner of the diner, and her sous chef and girlfriend, Tzuyu. They’re both smiling brightly as they make their way over to her table and plop themselves down. Momo makes her way here every weekend, not often having a change to drop by during the week.
“Hey Chaeng, Tzuyu, how are you guys?” Momo greets with a big grin before enveloping the two in hugs. “How’s business?”
“Same as always,” Tzuyu replies with a small smile and a shrug, “Can’t complain.”
“My latest strawberry harvest is crazy good this time,” Chaeyoung proclaims with a proud, cheeky grin, “I feel like we’ve been getting more repeat customers because of it!”
“We’re anticipating for it to get very busy within the next half hour,” Tzuyu says as she scans the room and thinks about their current orders. She huffs to herself and makes two small fists, “We’ll definitely be able to handle it though, even without Dahyunnie here.”
“Oh, Dahyun isn’t here?” It’s a surprise to Momo, she rarely sees the three of them separated. Dahyun is Chaeyoung’s other girlfriend, but more importantly, she is the head waitress here. Peak service seemed to only run smoothly because of her quick thinking and charming personality whenever customers get irked. Momo then glances around to see the usual part-timers looking very locked in.
“She responded to a request for help from Jeongyeon unnie,” Chaeyoung begins to explain, gesturing to her phone, “You know her, she loves to help out when new tenants come, plus apparently this tenant is going to be your neighbour so we asked her to tell us everything she finds out about this new girl.”
“Didn’t realize you guys were so nosy,” Momo snorts with a raised brow, “Besides, couldn’t you just ask me for the details?”
“Not to be rude, unnie,” Tzuyu starts in a way that makes Momo think that she’s going to say something rude anyway, “But I don’t know if you’ll have the courage to ask or say anything to your new neighbour. Jeongyeon unnie says she’s pretty, and we all know how hopeless you can be around pretty women.”
Momo feigns a gasp, “I’ll have you know that I actually used to be quite the lady’s gal back in college,” she retorts with a puff in her chest, “Right, Chaeng?”
“Well…” Chaeyoung looks at her old college friend with a pitying smile, “You were good at getting fans with all of your dance shows and street battles, but I don’t think I can recall any of them going anywhere.”
Momo narrows her eyes, but her shoulders slump slightly and her cheeks are dusted in pink, “Hey, are you saying I don’t have any game?”
Chaeyoung and Tzuyu look at each other before walking backwards towards the kitchen.
“Uh…we’ll just get started on your meal, unnie,” Chaeyoung yells out as she drags Tzuyu into the kitchen, “And get some other orders fulfilled. Then we can talk a bit before the next rush.”
“But I didn’t even order!”
“We know what you want, unnie,” Tzuyu calls out with a teasing lilt in her voice. “What you always get: a classic breakfast with Chaeng’s special strawberry waffles on the side. And let me guess, you need an extra egg today?”
Momo groans as she watches the two younger women scurry off back into the kitchen. For years her friends have berated her about being awkward and clumsy around pretty women, but Momo knows she’s attractive, knows that she can pull dates if she really wanted to. She simply just…doesn’t want to, doesn’t care to. Momo frowns, wondering if this is all going to turn into a silly conversation about her and this new neighbour falling in love or something.
She’s not a teenager anymore, it can’t possibly be that simple or easy.
Momo checks her phone to see that Jeongyeon did in fact send an SOS to their group chat earlier. Every once in a while, she asks if anyone can offer extra help for tenants who ask for it, and usually it’s Dahyun who will be the one to respond. However, it’s the first time she’s offered to help during such a busy period at the diner, the brunch hour often seen as sacred. Momo reads the text carefully, Jeongyeon mentions it’s Momo’s “new hot neighbour” and she notices the fact that everyone else except for her has liked the message. She must’ve been too distracted this morning to even notice. Maybe she could have stopped Dahyun, insist she stay at the diner.
She looks over again to see the other waiting staff starting to hustle more and notices that they’re all trying their best to keep up with an increasing stream of people. With a deep sigh, she decides to catch up with her social media until the other two come back.
It takes a bit of time, but Chaeyoung and Tzuyu eventually return with her food and the meals of a number of other folks who were waiting.
When Chaeyoung and Tzuyu sit back down, reassuring Momo that their other chefs will be okay for a few minutes, they both show their phone to Momo at the same time.
“Dahyunnie just confirmed that the new girl is definitely hot!” Chaeyoung exclaims with an almost concerning amount of glee. "Dahyun usually doesn't care to make comments on someone's looks, so this lady has to be special!"
Momo’s eyes widen when she sees that Jeongyeon uploaded a sneaky, but blurry photo of the back of the new mysterious woman who is carrying an absurdly large box. Wavy long brown hair under a baseball cap, an oversized sweater, and shorts. Next to her is Dahyun, looking back at the camera with a peace sign.
“Am I supposed to be impressed by this four pixel blurry photo?” Momo mutters, squinting her eyes at the quickly taken image along with the younger two.
“Well, the box looks huge, it’s probably heavy,” Tzuyu points out, “Maybe she goes to the gym like you? She’s putting effort into carrying it. Look at her legs, they seem super toned.”
“She just looks short to me,” Momo adds, dismissing the photo, “She looks shorter than Dahyun and that woman is compact.”
“Hey! Dahyun is taller than me!” Chaeyoung whines, elbowing Momo as the older woman snickers.
Momo watches as the two add emojis and sticker replies into the group chat. They ask for more photos, Nayeon does too, but Jeongyeon says it’s tricky without being too obvious.
Tzuyu sighs wistfully, leaning against her Chaeyoung, “Isn’t it kind of romantic, Momo unnie? It reminds me of those cliche romcoms. New girl moves in, the two of you meet in some cute and funny way, and then you fall in love.”
Momo stares as Tzuyu’s mouth opens again, but it looks as though she’s just swallowed her thought. Her eyes narrow and Tzuyu just laughs.
“Well, as much as we like to fantasize, I kind of doubt you’ll do anything about it. You’re kind of…pathetic when it comes to pretty girls. Or maybe clueless is a better word? Or maybe you’re just a coward?”
Tzuyu’s words would punch Momo in the gut if she hadn’t heard this before. The youngest waggles her eyebrows playfully at Momo, challenging her, wanting a reaction. Momo chooses to just roll her eyes.
“You guys see me fumble over my words like two times total in our entire history together and you can never forget it,” Momo groans, thinking about incidents where gorgeous women offered to join Momo during her brunch and she confused them with her jumbled, almost alien-like replies.
“Well, you know Momo unnie, we’ve known each other since college and you graduated six whole years ago and yet, I haven’t seen you date anyone,” Chaeyoung places a hand on Momo’s hand, trying to express the sincerity of her sentiment. “I’ve tried not to probe too much since you never really talked about the subject in general, but I can’t help but be curious.”
"I've gone on dates," Momo responds with a huff, "It didn't happen often, but it did happen."
"Well, they weren't really dates," Chaeyoung remembers that there were quite a lot in college, but then it kind of became a once in a blue moon situation, "They were one night stands - you've never introduced us to anyone or even told us about a crush. Haven't you ever really wanted to get to know someone? Or try dating for longer than a night or two?"
Momo opens her mouth, her answer ready on the tip of her tongue. But she can’t say it, can’t really explain it, can’t bring herself to even try. They would never understand. It’s not that she’s never been interested in anyone else, but no one makes her heart race the way Zyo does. Until she meets someone who can take her breath away in the same fashion, there’s just not a chance in hell she’d date. Why would she ever settle for less when Zyo is a real human somewhere out there?
It would sound crazy if she were to voice her thoughts, so she keeps her lips tight together.
Tzuyu’s eyes change, the playful glint fading as she watches Momo’s expression shift. She thinks about her next words carefully.
“Maybe she’s just not really interested in anyone,” Tzuyu says with a shrug, “That’s okay too.”
Momo smiles at her gratefully.
Chaeyoung and Tzuyu are in and out throughout Momo’s meal, but she doesn’t mind. They exchange stories from the week, of pointless meetings, of difficult customers, and endearing stories of their dogs. Throughout their conversation, Momo thinks about their group chat, about the ridiculous amount of excitement all of her friends have about this new neighbour.
She gets it, really.
Nayeon never fails to miss an opportunity to tell Momo that she’s such a catch. Jeongyeon has tried on multiple occasions to get Momo to meet new people in both direct and roundabout ways. And she notices how Chaeyoung, Dahyun, and Tzuyu try to subtly get her to talk to a variety of customers on days when different women show interest in her.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so awful to at least take the chance to get to know her neighbour and see what happens next. Maybe Tzuyu’s right - maybe they’ll have some memorable meeting that leads to slow motion eye contact, romantic music playing in her head, and her heart beating out of her chest. She shakes her head to herself, her friends are probably playing up how attractive this new woman is to get her to do something. Getting her expectations high is probably not a great idea, besides, it would be easier on Momo if she was just some cute, girl next door type that she could slowly get to know.
When Momo walks back to her building, she moves slower when she spots the move-in truck. From a distance, she can see Jeongyeon and Dahyun helping the new girl, along with some hired movers.
Momo thinks that maybe she ate too much, her stomach starting to churn as she stops in her tracks and stares from afar. Admittedly, she is extremely curious. When she spots who she thinks is the new girl, she seems even smaller than the sneaky photo Jeongyeon took. Momo can’t see too much with everything going on, mostly watching a silhouette of a sweater that’s definitely too big for her, shorts, a baseball cap, and from this angle she can kind of see sunglasses. Momo’s wondering if her eyes are playing tricks on her because from her spot, now hiding behind a tree, this stranger feels a bit familiar, but can’t put her finger on it.
Slowly, Momo gets closer, but continuously avoids being caught by the new neighbour, Jeongyeon, or Dahyun. Every time they seem like they’re about to turn, she hides behind the nearest object. Inside, she knows that she wants to introduce herself, but they look really busy and she’s feeling increasingly more shy the closer she gets. Even just from behind, she can tell that her neighbour must be some kind of athlete because she’s always catching her speed walking or jogging, like she’s running on some kind of endless battery. Momo is impressed, knowing how exhausting it can be to move homes. She is hesitant and feels somewhat silly, so she decides to try again later.
When Momo reaches the peace of her apartment, rushing up when all three of the women are hovering around the moving truck, she decides that maybe she can distract herself in the kitchen. Though she’s not hungry, she comes up with the idea of maybe inviting her new neighbour over for dinner as a sort of welcome.
Momo moves around nervously, even in the comfort of her own kitchen. She writes down possible ideas, rummages around for different appliances and ingredients, moving things from one counter to another, trying desperately to figure out what to cook.
It should be something simple, but comforting - something to subtly show off her cooking skills, but not to come off like she’s trying too hard. It should have basic ingredients, just in case this neighbour is allergic to something or has some kind of special diet. The woman might be athletic, so something well-rounded, healthy and full of protein would be good. It should also be something filling and envelopes you with warmth since she’s spending all day moving boxes and adjusting to a new space.
It takes a few minutes of carefully going over her available ingredients for Momo to decide on a menu. A simple stone pot rice filled with veggies and crumbled extra-firm tofu seemed filling, comforting, healthy, and not too complicated. She could quickly whip up some miso soup as well, and share some of the side dishes she made earlier this month with Jeongyeon.
Momo imagines setting up the table, setting up all of the little dishes, imagines her new neighbour sitting across from her.
Soon enough, her cheeks start to feel a bit warm.
Isn’t inviting her neighbour over on her first night in the apartment building a bit too forward?
She groans as she pulls at her hair - what is she supposed to do?
Momo glances over at her phone, contemplates texting the group chat for advice. She unlocks her phone, then opens the group chat.
Jeongyeon and Dahyun are sharing how impressively energetic and strong this new girl is, both wondering if hiring movers was even necessary. Nayeon is suggesting that they try to get her to take off her sweater.
Momo puts her phone down.
“Maybe a bento is enough,” she mumbles to herself as she finishes her ingredient prep.
It’s funny how her friends hyping up her neighbour is supposed to inspire her to go talk to her, but it’s doing the opposite. Momo thinks of her friends words, thinks of Tzuyu calling her a coward. She thinks of her seldom but very prominent memories of fumbling when the prospect of a date opens up to her. She thinks of the weird stirring in her stomach that seems to be getting rougher, more profound and then she nods to herself, maybe she can prove them wrong another day.
It’s not that she’s a coward, she’s just awkward, just inexperienced. Momo’s always considered trying dating in a more serious manner at least a few times, just so she’s not rusty when she finally finds someone she’s interested in. But the idea of practicing dating seemed silly too - would her possible girlfriend not just find her authentic self charming? She shouldn’t need to be good at flirting or experienced at picking up girls to have a chance at dating someone.
A delusional thought would occasionally cross her mind though. Should she ever be lucky enough to meet Zyo in person, whether it’s at some kind of in-person event, or if she were to ever try a one-on-one session with her camera and microphone on, would she be ready for it? Would casual dating help her level up her courage in case she were to ever meet the woman of her dreams and possibly make her fall in love with her?
Momo snorts to herself, it wasn’t just delusional to think about, it seemed impossible. 10 years of following Zyo and she’s never bumped into her at a mall or seen her on the streets by chance, even with all of her travel to nearby cities and countries…It was possible that Zyo just didn’t live anywhere near her.
Momo shakes the unrealistic thoughts out of her mind and tries to shift her focus to her stranger of a new neighbour.
She reminisces on how she didn’t really speak to her last neighbour, not really knowing much about them until they were suddenly gone, and thought it might be nice to try harder this time. Jeongyeon always bugged her about being more social to the other renters in the building, always tried to drag her out to more community events - remembers how Nayeon said they should try to come out of their shells more. It wasn’t even just about dating, but making new friends beyond her tight circle that was currently gossiping about her neighbour.
After leading herself through some breathing exercises, Momo looks at the time. It’s been a few hours since she got home and it seemed as though the going in and out of the apartment next to her was done quite a while ago. She takes a deep breath and decides to be brave. It’s just a friendly gesture of offering food! It was almost dinner time and her new neighbour was probably too exhausted from all her moving around to cook something. Saving money is always a good thing, so this is a very practical and non-aggressive way of welcoming this stranger into the building.
With another deep breath, she steps out of the apartment and walks the few steps to the next door. She looks down at her trembling hands holding the small bento wrapped in a sakura petal themed handkerchief and wills herself to stay still, to look cool, be cool, be calm.
Finally, she knocks on the door.
For a moment, time seems to still - that or Momo’s organs just start to malfunction. Her lungs aren’t working anymore, but her heart is working harder than ever.
In front of her, a devastatingly beautiful woman appears dressed in only a sports bra and a pathetic excuse for shorts. Her hair is wild, but tied back, strands of wavy hair sticking to a sweaty forehead. She’s panting slightly, seemingly out of breath from possibly some kind of workout. This mysterious woman opened the door at an alarming rate and with the very faint hearing available to her beyond a strange ringing sound, Momo hears the muffled sounds of a pilates video in the background.
The gorgeous stranger smiles brightly at her, a huge toothy and gummy smile that threatens to make Momo’s heart stop working too.
“Hi there!” she chirps out, waving her hand in front of Momo’s stunned face. "Are you my new neighbour? I was thinking about knocking on your door, but - hey, are you okay?"
Momo definitely thinks she’s hallucinating, her body freezing and her mind unsure of what to do next. The woman in front of her looks exactly like Zyo, sounds exactly like Zyo. Is this a dream perhaps? Some kind of sick, twisted fantasy come to life from the throes of Momo’s anxiety and indecision about bringing her neighbour some packed dinner?
Suddenly, the world fades to black.
Next thing Momo knows, she’s lying down on her couch, her eyes slowly opening up to see Jeongyeon and a worried Zyo chatting not too far from her.
She wants to just listen, take time to process what the hell just happened to her, but her mouth betrays her and lets out a low groan.
“Jesus, are you okay?!” Jeongyeon cries out as soon as she hears Momo stirring. In seconds, she’s kneeling by Momo’s side and touching her forehead.
“I’m fine,” Momo mumbles, cheeks burning when she notices Zyo looking at her with concern. Geez, what an insanely embarrassing introduction.
“What even happened?” Jeongyeon asks, running over to Momo’s kitchen to grab her some water. “You’re lucky I just got back to the building when she called me!”
“Nothing happened,” Momo mumbles again, using the blanket wrapped around her body to cover her face a bit, trying to hide from Zyo’s worried gaze. She can’t even look at Jeongyeon who’s staring at her with confusion in her eyes as she insists Momo drink some of the water.
Reluctantly, Momo sits up and takes a sip, her eyes doing their best to avoid the gaze of both women in her apartment.
“Maybe I um…maybe I worked a bit too hard at the gym today,” Momo manages to say, her voice low and quiet, her cheeks burning so hot. Was her heater on?
Jeongyeon didn’t look convinced, but she eyes Momo up and down, simply worried about her friend. She sits on the couch and squeezes Momo’s shoulder, “If I remember correctly, you have the stamina of a horse, I thought you never get tired at the gym.”
Momo drinks some more water before burying her head in her hands, “I don’t know, maybe an off day.”
Suddenly, Zyo speaks up, “Maybe I can help you out the next time you go to the gym? I go often and there used to be a time when I pushed myself too hard. Maybe a gym buddy will help keep you from overworking yourself?” she offers with a sheepish smile.
Momo wonders if she’s going to pass out again, a rush of fog threatening to explode in her brain. She tries really hard to ignore the smile starting to bloom on Jeongyeon’s face.
“I um...I uh…” Momo looks up, then looks at Jeongyeon, then looks away, then looks back at Zyo.
Those stupid, gigantic, soulful eyes that Momo has fallen in love with over and over and over the past 10 years, they were a weapon. And they were effective always effective on her during the livestream; right now, they felt like suffocating weights on her chest.
“That would be nice,” Momo manages to say, but she's looking at the wall, refusing to look at Zyo any longer for fear of her own sanity. “Thanks for looking out for me and calling Jeongyeonnie. But um, I think I should get to bed now, so you guys can leave.”
She brings her knees closer to her face and leans against them. She glances around the apartment and sees that the bento she put together is sitting on her coffee table. Zyo is slowly making her way to the door and Jeongyeon, who is still close by, has a devilish smile on her face. She’s about to say something when Momo tugs on her shirt.
She pulls Jeongyeon closer before whispering in her ear, “Before you go, please give her the bento box that’s on the countertop. I’m feeling a bit too weak to give it to her myself.”
Jeongyeon tries to hold back a laugh as Momo turns around dramatically. She picks up the bento box and makes her way to the door where Zyo is waiting, still looking at Momo with concerned eyes.
“She made this for you,” Jeongyeon says with some pride in her voice, “She’s a good chef, so I think you’ll probably be eating well for dinner.”
Zyo is taken aback, touched by the gift. She looks at Momo who is back to lying down and is hiding under the covers.
“Thank you,” she says slowly, a bit hesitantly. "I was wondering what to have for dinner." She laughs a bit awkwardly, the sound bouncing around Momo's brain. She can feel Zyo's gaze, feel the concern, feel the...longing for something more.
Momo sighs before pulling the sheets off from on top of her head, “I promise I’ll rest and we can go to the gym tomorrow morning, does that sound good?”
Zyo perks up, her eyes filling with light and a lopsided grin gracing her features. In seconds though she calms down, Momo’s mind only filled with the word ‘cute’.
“I’ll um, I’ll get out of your hair then and let you rest,” Zyo says quickly. She glances at Jeongyeon who shrugs, then clutches her new bento box tightly. “I’ll give you this back tomorrow. Thanks again.”
As soon as Zyo closes the door, Momo shoots up from her place on the couch, throws off the blanket and starts to pace around the room.
“Okay, what was that? What’s wrong with you? Are you sure you want me to go? What if you faint again?” Jeongyeon bombards her with questions, Momo now frantically looking around for her phone.
“No time to explain, I’m fine, I promise,” Momo says so fast that Jeongyeon almost doesn’t register it. “I’ll call Nayeon unnie, if that eases your mind.”
Jeongyeon doesn’t really look convinced, but she sighs, knowing that Momo was always serious when she wanted her space. “Fine, but please text me to let me know you’ve eaten and feel ready to rest. And please don’t force yourself to go to the gym tomorrow morning just cause your new neighbour is hot. Rest if you need to, ok?”
“Yeah, yeah for sure,” Momo says with aggressive nods before grabbing Jeongyeon’s sleeve and pushing her towards the door. She opens it quickly and pushes Jeongyeon outside. “Thanks again for checking on me!”
When the door is shut and locked, Momo quickly dials Nayeon’s number to get some advice.
This situation is unbelievable.
“Hey Momo, what’s u-”
“Zyo is my neighbour!” Momo whisper screams, hiding in the space in her place that’s furthest from Zyo’s apartment. She looks around and grabs a sweater that’s nearby and places it over her head and over the phone to try to make sure their conversation is extra private.
“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” Nayeon practically screams from the other side.
Momo shushes her, “Please, please, keep your voice down,” she whines desperately.
“Momo, she couldn’t possibly hear me,” Nayeon deadpans back, “Besides, how can you be sure? What if they just look similar?”
“Look, you don’t watch someone almost every night for 10 years and then not recognize them,” Momo continues to whisper hysterically into the phone. “At first, I thought maybe she could’ve just looked suspiciously similar, but then she spoke and I just knew. I could recognize that voice anywhere.”
Nayeon doesn’t respond right away and Momo can hear her humming thoughtfully.
“So your favourite streamer is now your neighbour?” Nayeon asks, a playful hint in her voice.
“There’s no way you’re already calm about this,” Momo grumbles, her back already starting to hurt from her weird hunched position.
“Well, I’m shocked, but this is a good thing isn’t it?”
“What do you mean it’s a good thing?!” Momo whisper screams again, her voice becoming increasingly more shrill. “How am I supposed to deal with this?!”
“Look, Momo, isn’t this some kind of miracle?” Nayeon says with an even voice, trying to stay calm to help calm down her best friend. “I am almost ready to head over there myself and look with my own eyes, but I want to make sure you’re okay first.”
“Obviously, I’m not okay!” Momo retorts with a high pitched whine, “It is a miracle! But it’s also a curse! Nayeonnie, I fainted when I saw her, I fainted!”
Nayeon bursts into laughter, causing Momo to groan a little too loudly.
“Please, I don’t need you laughing at me right now!” she continues, and Nayeon’s laugh only gets louder. “I was trying to give her some food as a welcome gift, as a peace offering, then she opened the door, she spoke, and I fainted! I felt my body stop functioning and then I passed out! It’s embarrassing!”
“Are you okay though?” Nayeon asks through fits of giggles, “I can’t believe you fainted after just looking at her…”
“Yeah, well, you didn't see what she looked like,” Momo huffs, “Anyway, I’m fine, she called Jeongyeon and they made sure I was lying in my couch.”
“Oh!” Nayeon exclaims with an intrigued tone, “Wait, do you think she carried you by herself?”
“Please, don’t put that imagery in my head,” it’s too late, Momo is feeling hot as the picture of Zyo carrying her bridal style flashes vividly in her head.
“Momo…” Nayeon teases, and Momo can hear the wide smile that’s probably ripping her best friend’s cheeks open, “You’re being a little bit crazy right now.”
Momo groans and hits her head lightly against the wall, her blanket providing a bit of padding. Nayeon is laughing again.
“I am feeling absolutely insane right now, actually,” Momo’s volume goes up just a bit, exasperation clear in her voice. “I was crazy enough to even accept her offer to try going to the gym with her tomorrow. What was I thinking? What if I pass out in the middle of lifting? Oh my God, what am I going to do?”
Momo’s hitting her head against the wall again, enough that Nayeon can hear it and the laughing subsides.
“Momo, breathe!” her voice is laced in concern, “Breathe, please just breathe.”
Nayeon starts counting, her tone calm and collected. She tells Momo the type of breathing they should do together and she says the counts, gets Momo to draw a square in the air. Nayeon was always good at this, always good at getting Momo’s head above water. Even though she was making fun of her just a second ago, her best friend was always good at catching the slightest change in Momo’s tone, knows exactly when she’s getting a little too anxious.
“Sorry, Nayeonnie,” Momo breathes out as soon as she feels like her lungs can properly fill up again. “I just…I can’t believe it, I don’t know what to do.”
“Hmm, well, the odds were almost impossible, but somehow, Zyo is now your next door neighbour,” Nayeon starts, her words repeating over and over in Momo’s head. Her voice gains its teasing tone again, her snicker bringing some comfort to Momo’s heart. “Isn’t this something you wanted? Aren’t you in love with her or something? This is your chance to finally get to know her properly! Maybe you can finally get the woman of your dreams!”
“It feels dirty though, almost wrong,” Momo stops her ridiculous whispering, her voice low and full of worry, “It feels wrong to be attracted to her, to want her, to be allowed to just…be her neighbour and get to know her like my relationship with her is normal.”
Nayeon doesn’t say anything yet, she can feel the gears turning in Momo’s head. She hums thoughtfully, waiting patiently as Momo gestures in the air to no one.
“I feel like…like I’m some kind of pervert,” Momo continues, biting her lip, shame filling her gut when her cheeks turn red, “I-I know what she looks like naked, I know what she sounds like when she…”
“Momo,” Nayeon interrupts, not wanting her best friend to spiral, “I know it feels wrong now, but Zyo is just a cam girl, there are thousands of women like her out there, streaming their work and also existing out there in our world. Sex work is normal, it’s been her normal for 10 years now, you know that. It’s a performance, it’s her job! I bet you anything that Zyo doesn’t think too much or care about who her subscribers are. Just…” Nayeon sighs, “Don’t you think that Zyo deserves to be treated like another human? Just be normal around her.”
It’s not that easy. Momo’s heart clenches, moving on from Zyo being the woman she’s obsessed over behind her screen to a real person who is living and breathing in the apartment next door - it’s not a simple transition.
“How am I…How am I supposed to do that when I’ve watched her on camera for 10 years?”
Momo slumps deeper against the wall, digs deeper into the blanket, wanting to feel more hidden.
“If it helps, try to think of it this way, like she’s a completely different person that just happens to look the same as Zyo. You know, like celebrity look-a-likes. The camgirl you know is just some stage persona, like a character or something. This neighbour is not digital, she’s human and also a complete stranger. Did you even get her name? I doubt it’s just Zyo.”
Momo realizes then that she didn’t even ask.
“Oh my God, I’m the worst. I make her worry, can’t even give her her welcome gift myself, and I didn’t even introduce myself or ask her for her name.”
“You’re fine,” Nayeon rolls her eyes, hearing the panic increase in Momo’s voice again, “I promise you. Zyo was probably tired from moving anyway and if she was kind enough to call Jeong and not leave you in the hallway until your body is discovered, then I’m sure she’s just worried about you.”
Momo loves her best friend, loves how she can calm her down, loves how she can rationalize anything.
“I guess you’re right,” she sighs again, this time with relief. “I think I’ll try what you’re saying, to think of her like a stranger and separate her from Zyo.”
“She is a stranger, whoever you know as Zyo is an internet personality. Who knows how much of it is actually her.”
Momo hums to herself, letting the vibrations calm her down, replaying the words Nayeon has said over and over again. Maybe she can do this, maybe it doesn’t have to be so…scary.
“Okay, you’re right,” Momo responds, a smile finally gracing her features, “You’re right.”
“Look, she’s a meathead like you and she seems genuinely sweet to worry about the neighbour she just met that embarrassingly fainted,” Momo pouts and whines, causing Nayeon to chuckle softly. “Give this a chance, it already looks like you’ll get along at the very least.”
A silence washes over them as Momo continues to ponder. Her reality is this now: this seemingly impossible situation is now her life and she can choose whether she wants to squander that or not. Nayeon stays on the line, knowing that sometimes it can take her best friend some time to think.
“What if I…” Momo starts again, rubbing her temples, “What if I act weird or creepy?”
Nayeon bursts out laughing again, “Come on! Just control yourself, you can do that much, right?”
Momo nods, feeling her heart rate finally calm down for longer than a few minutes. Nayeon was right, Zyo is just another woman. Momo thanks her bestie before asking her about her day, moving the conversation in a different direction. She had a lot to think about. Thankfully, Nayeon doesn’t bring up anything from the group chat during the rest of her call. As much as Nayeon teases her, she always knew the importance of time and place.
When they finally hang up, mostly because Momo’s phone battery is about to die, she goes through the motions of her nightly routine, trying to not think too much about her new neighbour for now.
At 10PM though, it becomes impossible not to think of Zyo. Momo feels a pang in her heart at the idea that she doesn’t get to watch her favourite streamer. She wonders if this is selfish of her, considering she knows that Zyo is living next door to her now, knows that Zyo is exhausted. Not only did she spend the afternoon moving her stuff, but she also did a workout afterwards.
Against her will, flashes on Zyo answering the door enters Momo's mind. Her flushed cheeks, the sheen of her sweat, the rise and fall of her chest, her absurdly taught abs. Momo doesn't even remember Zyo's arms ever looking like that in the stream. She was somehow more perfect in person. Momo squeezes her eyes shut as the memory of Zyo from earlier today starts to blend in with her memories of Zyo on stream - her sexy silhouette, her intense eyes, the way her mouth would open when...
She glances at her laptop, a strange feeling growing in her lower belly as she remembers her new folder of images. Momo looks cautiously around her apartment, as if anyone could possibly see what she’s doing right now. It’s not weird, right? She was given permission to take the screenshots, Zyo told her it was a gift for her 10 years of loyalty. It was supposed to get her through the next two weeks, that was their purpose.
Momo looks to the walls, wondering where Zyo’s room was. Would Zyo know she was looking? Would Zyo hear her if she…if she looked and she…?
Momo feels incredibly anxious, but at the same time she feels a thrill wash over her. She’s never really worried before about her neighbours hearing her masturbate in the privacy of her room. Even when her old neighbour still lived there, she never got any noise complaints and God only knows how often she’d touch herself in the middle of a livestream and even afterwards. Sometimes, the morning after a particularly raunchy session, Momo could still picture everything, could hear everything, and her hands would become busy very quickly.
A chill runs up Momo’s spine as she thinks about Zyo - when the two weeks pass, she would be recording in the apartment next to her. The Zyo she would watch on her screen would be so close. Would she be able to hear Zyo’s moans through the walls of their apartments if she tried hard enough?
Momo’s face turns crimson as she slaps her own cheeks, “Pervert!” she yells to herself, shutting her eyes tight.
Still, it’s hard to fight the ache that’s now built up in her lower belly, spreading slowly through her.
She turns to her laptop again and finally opens it.
Maybe tonight she won’t fuck herself while looking through the photos, maybe tonight she could just organize them. That seemed reasonable.
But who was she kidding?
Zyo was hot, ridiculously sexy, irresistible. Two photos in, Momo feels an embarrassingly overwhelming heat and wetness seep out of her core. She shakes her head, feeling blessed and cursed at the same time at the insane amount of photos she got of Zyo from the other night. If she cycled through them fast enough, she could see it all in action. The memory is fresh too. With a lot of concentration, Momo can picture Zyo impaling herself on her favourite pink dildo, can hear the squelching of her juices, can see the delicious bounce of her tits, the hardness of her nipples, can feel the reverberation of her groans and low moaning piercing through her headphones.
God. Momo wonders if she’s breathing too hard and glances over at her bed.
For the first time in a long time, Momo touches herself under the safety of her blankets, trying her best to keep her voice down.