talking to the moon

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/23524183.

Rating: Mature
Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: F/F
Fandom: TWICE (Band)
Relationships: Hirai Momo/Minatozaki Sana, Im Nayeon/Yoo Jeongyeon, Kim
Dahyun/Son Chaeyoung
Characters: Minatozaki Sana, Myoui Mina, Hirai Momo, Im Nayeon, Yoo
Jeongyeon, Park Jisoo | Jihyo, Kim Dahyun, Son Chaeyoung, Chou
Tzuyu
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Police, baby mina - Freeform, family au, Sana is a
detective, Dubchaeng best parents, Tzuyu is also a baby, Sana has no
clue what she's doing, Angst with a Happy Ending, mentions of child
abuse, Mentions of Suicide, Foster Care
Language: English
Series: Part 1 of de lune
Stats: Published: 2020-04-07 Completed: 2022-07-01 Words: 139,847
Chapters: 56/56
 talking to the moon
by brtozaki

Summary

Police detective Minatozaki Sana is strung out, overworked, and a bit antisocial. So how in
the world has she found herself taking care of six-year old Myoui Mina?

Notes
See the end of the work for notes
 Chapter 1

This is not what Sana signed up for.

She had three open murder cases, and possibly another one waiting on her desk back in the
station. Thinking back to her poor desk, a small cubicle practically overflowing with files and
papers along with random colored pens that she would steal from others and forget to return,
she sighed longing to go back. She should either be there or at some crime scene or chasing
down suspects or doing something, anything that was not this.

However, here she was, sitting in front of thirty six-year-olds, wearing a horribly ugly yellow
sash over her leather jacket that read in an awful comic sans font; STRANGER DANGER.
The kids, to their credit, all were watching with intensely focused eyes as Nayeon adamantly
described what they should do if they find themselves in a situation. She crossed her arms,
sure she knew these techniques could save them a bit of time, but honestly, if someone
wanted to harm one of these little kids no amount of training would prevent Sana from
having to arrive at a scene the next morning.

“Detective Minatozaki will need a volunteer to demonstrate our techniques,” Nayeon clapped
her hands, snapping Sana back to reality, “Does anyone want to volunteer?”

Thirty hands shot up in the air, waving slightly as they tried to garter a bit of attention.
Nayeon turned to the teacher, flashing her a smile as a signal for her to pick a volunteer. For a
homicide detective, Nayeon was soft. She loved children, and Sana knew she and her wife
were trying to carry but the process was long and tiring, with very slow progress being made.
The thought of picking just one to the disappointment of the other twenty-nine was
something that Nayeon couldn’t bear, ironic because just three hours before they stepped in
the classroom Nayeon was taking pictures of a scene where a mother stabbed her own son
three times. The teacher, Sana vaguely recalled her name being Jihyo, a beautiful teacher,
quite a few years younger than herself smiled back before looking over the kids.

“Tzuyu, how about you come up here and help?” She called, and a girl sprouted up making
her way to the front. She was cute, a bit on the taller side, and she looked up to Nayeon this
big smile as she waited for instructions.
“Do you remember what to do?” Nayeon put her hands on the girl’s shoulders, sending a
silent glare over to Sana for her to actually stand up. Sana rose to her feet with a small huff,
as the girl nodded. “Then show us.”

Just as Nayeon had so adamantly instructed in the car ride there, Sana gently grasped onto the
young girl’s wrist, cautious to be a bit firm yet gentle with the small child. Tzuyu
immediately pulled and in her bravest and most intimating voice, squeaked out, “I don’t
know you! Stop!”

Nayeon started the applause, which the rest of the class quickly followed. Tzuyu grinned
before making her own way back to her seat, Nayeon looked like she had more to say, but the
light ringing of the school bell cut her off. The attention the kids had so wholeheartedly given
her went straight out the window as they rushed to grab their backpacks and run out the door.
There were a few stragglers, three packing up slow and chatting away with each other,
another young girl slowly putting her things in her bag.

“Thank you guys for coming today, I know the kids had a lot of fun.” Sana tore her attention
from the kids to the conversation that was happening between Nayeon and the teacher.

“It’s important that they know this stuff.” Nayeon shrugged, grabbing her own coat, “Could
save their life someday.”

Jihyo looked like she wanted to answer, but a small “Ms.Park.” interrupted her. The three of
them looked down to see a small girl staring back at them. She looked a bit nervous, probably
from having two strangers looking at her as well. She was wearing an oversized ratty blue
sweatshirt, her hair was in a loose ponytail with her bangs grown out and seemingly pushed
out of the way not to bother her eyes, “Can I have my prize now?”

The teacher blinked a few times before realization flooded her face. She nodded quickly as
the girl practically tripped over herself to go a small red plastic treasure chest digging through
the contents. “We have a little chart if they get five gold stars they can pick a prize.” Jihyo
explained, “Mina worked really hard for her stars. She’s a good kid, she’s just a bit
temperamental at times.”

“Really? She seems quiet. I didn’t hear her speak the entire presentation.”
“Yeah, actually that was something I wanted to talk to you two about before you left.” They
watched the girl grab a small stuffed animal from the box, wave goodbye and dashed out of
the classroom. “I called family services twice, and still nothing has been done. She comes in
all bruised up sometimes or will be really mean to other students out of the blue.”

“You believe there’s something going on at home?” Nayeon questioned.

“I do. Could you two do a wellness check or something? I don’t know what to do.”

“I can send some officers to fulfill a wellness check if you come down to the station later and
fill out a report.” Nayeon smiled and tossed her bag on her shoulder. They exchanged quick
goodbyes before heading to the parking lot.

As soon as they entered the car, Sana watched with amusement the facade practically melt
away from Nayeon as she stretched her arms. Nayeon sent her a glare, “You could have been
a bit more helpful, I don’t think you said a single word that entire time.”

“I was too busy thinking of, you know, our actual job.”

Nayeon groaned, “You can’t stop thinking about it just for an hour to talk to some kids?”

“Nope.”

“You’re incredible, truly”

“I try my best.”

“So did you ever call that girl Jeongyeon gave you the number of?” Nayeon started the car
and pulled out of the parking lot, “The lawyer?”
“No.”

“Sana,” Nayeon whined, “You’re going to die lonely and alone.”

“Did you find anything about the red bean bun boy case?” Sana questioned. Nayeon sighed,
and the reassurance that she had successfully avoided the topic.

“Not all lawyers are bad, you know.”

False. Sana was not in the clear yet.

She let her head fall back to the headrest, before turning to Nayeon who didn’t even seem
fazed, “It’s not because she’s a lawyer. I think you’ve tried to set me up with any gay girl you
come in contact with.”

“I want you to be happy!”

“I am happy.”

“You two are going out on Friday, and that’s final.” Sana knew she had no chance at winning.

---

It’s nearly ten when Sana leaves the station, which in itself is a miracle. It wasn’t uncommon
for the detective to finally leave at obscene hours, crashing for a few hours if she was lucky
in her apartment, sometimes her car, before reporting back in for another day of work.
Maybe it’s the light caseloads for once, maybe it was Nayeon’s whining for her to go home
so in her words she wouldn’t be a ‘grumpy bear’. No matter, she finds herself in a sleepy
pizza restaurant, a small Hawaiian pie sat steaming on the table in front of her. Some well
needed time alone, just her, her pizza, and the child pressing her face against the glass next to
her.
“What the fuck!” Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest when she locked eyes with the two
big ones boring back into hers. It was the same girl from earlier, what was her name again?
Why was she out at this time of night? The girl switched her gaze from Sana to Sana’s pizza,
eyeing it like a lion stalking her prey. Sana knocked on the glass, this time scaring the girl
and in one simple come hither motion the girl was shuffling into the shop head down.

“Sit.” Sana pointed at the seat across from her, and the girl obeyed watching as her face lit up
as she placed a piece of the pizza on a spare plate and set it down in front of her. Something
about this just didn’t feel right, Sana could feel it in her gut. The girl quickly starting eating,
she wondered when the last time the young girl ate was.

“What’s your name?” Sana asked, placing another piece on the girl’s plate even though she
was only halfway through her first.

“Mina,” She answered, taking another bite of her pizza.

“Where do you live Mina?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Why not?” Sana cocked an eyebrow, cringing as the child got a bit of sauce on her cheeks.

“Detective Im told me not to give out my information to strangers.”

Damn you, Im Nayeon.

“But I’m a detective.” Sana fished into her pocket and pulled out her badge and ID wrapped
in a dingy leather wallet, “I’m not a stranger, it’s different with police officers.”

“It is?”
“Yup. You need to answer all their questions or I could arrest you?” That was a damn lie, but
judging from the way Mina’s eyes widened and fear flashed across her face she had no idea
of Sana’s fib.

“Okay, okay.” Mina reached across and picked up Sana’s glass of cola, most importantly
without asking. Sana could only watch in shock as the child held the cup in between two
small chubby hands and carefully raised it to her lips.

“Where’s your mommy?”

“She’s working.”

“Where?”

“Home. I’m not allowed home when she has people over to give her medicine.” Mina
shrugged and picked up the second piece that Sana had placed on her plate, “I’m glad, I don’t
like those guys. They’re mean.”

“She just kicks you out?” Sana didn’t like how this was sounding one bit. Maybe the early
night Sana was dreaming about wasn’t going to happen.

“Sometimes I go over Tzuyu’s house. She sneaks me in and we have a sleepover! I really like
Tzuyu, she has this small fluffy dog that sleeps in her room so I get to play with him.” Mina
answered, a smile on her lips as she took another big bite.

Kids were something Sana could never understand. The food seemed to open Mina up a bit,
maybe a bit to much. Kids never seemed to have a filter, but that was great for Sana’s line of
work. Sana bit her bottom lip, “You said those guys give your mom medicine?”

“Yeah.”
“What type of medicine.”

“I don’t know.” Mina shrugged, rubbing at the back of her eyes with her hand and let out a
soft yawn. It was late, a quick look at her phone was telling her it was a bit past eleven now.
Mina was probably really sleepy, she wasn’t sure if the girl had a bedtime but it was getting
late for any kid especially if she had done a full day of school as well.

“Do you want to see my work? We have a dog there too?” Mina’s eyes lit up, gripping onto
the small dog stuffie in her hands. She nodded, and Sana sighed out in relief. There was
absolutely no way she couldn’t report this, and it was much easier for Mina to willingly come
instead if she refused then Sana would have to call somebody and it would be a mess. The
pizza was gone, and she had frequented the shop enough to know they would just collect the
tray after she left.

She stood up and held out her hand as Mina got up as well, putting on her ratty blue
backpack. Mina gripped onto her hand as they walked out of the shop, and down the street.
The station was quite close, but she could tell Mina was sleepy. The girl kept rubbing her
eyes, and her steps were fumbled and messy. With a sigh, Sana leaned over and picked her
up, tucking her on her waist as the pair of them walmed down the street and into the station.
She brushed off the surprise on Chungha’s, the front desk operator, face as she walked in and
past her into the main bullpen. She sat Mina down at her cubicle, careful to make sure she
didn’t have any gory photographs resting on the surface first.

“Minatozaki, what did you do?” A hand slapped down on her shoulder, she let out a small
groan as she turned to see Jackson smiling back at her, “Did you kidnap that poor kid?”

“No, actually- call family services for me. We have a child neglect case.”

“You got it, boss.” Jackson fake saluted her and quickly walked away just as she made eye
contact with a seemingly angry Nayeon.

“What are you doing here?” She hissed. Sana just pointed at the kid, now half asleep in her
chair. “Isn’t that the girl from earlier?”
“Yeah, she was just walking out and about cause her Mom kicked her out.”

“What?” Nayeon frowned, “Poor baby must’ve been cold.”

“Jackson’s calling family services.”

“Detective?” Mina called out to her, pouting slightly.

“Yeah, Mina?”

“Where’s the dog?”

“Bear?” Nayeon cut in, crouching down to talk to the girl, “He went home already. He
needed to go to sleep.”

“You lied!”

“I thought he would be here.” Sana shrugged at Mina’s outrage, “He was here when he left.”

“How about you go to sleep? You must be sleepy.” Nayeon suggested, brushing the girl’s
overgrown hair out of her heavy eyes. She grabbed Sana’s windbreaker off the back of the
chair and draped it over the girl like a blanket, before taking Mina’s small stuffed dog and
sandwiched it between her arms. Mina seemed to have no objections, slowly drifting off as
Nayeon stroked her hair.

“Department of families is doing a check right now with two officers,” Jackson informed as
he walked over once again, dropping his voice when he noticed the almost asleep Mina, “But
we do have to check if she has any injuries.”
“Let her sleep for an hour and then I’ll do the check.” Sana sighed and pulled over a chair,
pulling a file off of the desk. “She just fell asleep.”

“You know if you wanted to go home as well I can make sure everything is done.” Nayeon
offered, Sana shook her head. Like every other case, she would see it out to the end.
 Chapter 2
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

A sleepy Mina was not a very happy Mina. They had come to learn that very quickly.

Only an hour into the girl’s nap, they had woken her up and dragged her into the back room
so they could do a very quick check for injuries. At first, Mina was almost too sleepy to open
her eyes, plaint to let Nayeon roll up her pant legs as Sana snapped a few pictures of two
oddly shaped bruises. She became a bit more aware when they rolled up her sleeves,
snapping a picture of a nasty purple hand-shaped bruise on her right forearm. By the time it
was time to roll up her shirt to make sure there were no injuries to her, Sana was sure she was
going to start to throw a fit. Her brow was furrowed, her lip quivered, and she kept smacking
Nayeon’s hands away.

“I just need to see your tummy and then we can be all done.” Nayeon could sense the girl’s
hesitation when she brought that up, the smaller girl took a step back behind Sana’s leg and
shook her head. While the detectives had almost become desensitized to documenting
injuries, they had to remember that it was usually an uncomfortable situation for the other
party. Nayeon stood up and placed her hands on the bottom of her shirt, “Look, I can do it
too.”

After Nayeon raised her shirt, she put it back down and sent Mina a smile. The girl relented,
letting go of Sana and patiently waited as Nayeon rolled up the hem of her shirt, as Sana got
the camera ready. There were a few bruises, the worst of which being a purple circular one
just below her ribcage, and she was really skinny. She snapped the pictures as fast as
possible, and Nayeon stood up clapping her hands, “All done!”

“Can I go home now?” Mina asked, holding onto Sana’s hand as the three of them started to
walk out of the backroom back the main bullpen taking the detective by surprise. The child
didn’t even seem fazed, just gripping onto her fingers as she looked up as Nayeon and
brushed her bangs out of her eyes with her other hand, “Mommy will be mad if I stay here all
night.”

“Just a little bit longer,” Nayeon assured as they finally got back to Sana’s desk, “Some good
people just have to check on your mommy.”
“Why?”

“We just need to make sure she is alright.” Nayeon reached down and helped her back into
Sana’s chair, “You know Detective Sana and I have a prize for you for being such a good girl
and following our directions.”

Mina’s eyes lit up, “A prize?”

“Stay right here and I’ll go grab it.” With that Nayeon clapped Sana on the shoulder and took
off, undoubtedly going to grab one of the stuffed animals she kept in her desk for kids she
had to interview. Nayeon’s desk was always bright, had pictures taped to the walls of the
cubicle of her wedding day, her dog, and a picture with Sana on their first day back when
they were beat cops and various candies for people to take. Nayeon always argued that she
needed something comforting to work in when she dealt with some of the gruesome cases
they had to take on. She looked down at Mina, who just sat at the desk kicking her legs softly
as she waited with patient eyes, and realized just how empty her own desk was. It was just
full of information on her cases, that was it. No pictures, no candy, nothing but the sad grey
that ran rampant across the rest of the office. Well, actually there was a single one of those
furry worms on a string that Jackson had taped to her cubicle, but Sana chose to ignore its
existence.

She sat down again, grabbing a file off her desk and opened it up. She only got through a few
lines before she looked up and saw Mina staring back at her, “What?”

“What’s that?”

“It’s my case. I need to figure out what happened.”

“Like Scooby-Doo?” Mina asked, excitement tainting in her voice. Sana just nodded, there
was no point in trying to explain it.
Nayeon picked that moment to reappear, a small grey penguin plush in her hands. She held it
up, and shook it a little to make it seem like it was dancing, Mina seemed absolutely
delighted by that. She quickly took it into her arms snuggling her face into the soft fleece of
the toy, adjusting her position in the chair. Sana knew it wouldn’t take long for her to fall
asleep again, without a word she tucked her windbreaker back on the kid.

“They’re removing her from the household.” Nayeon relayed, pulling Sana away Mina’s
earshot, “I guess there were drugs just out in the open and the mother was having some
confrontation with a man? I don’t know exactly, all I know is that she is going to be out of
there.”

“That’s a relief, I guess.” Sana sighed, “I guess she’s going into the system?”

“I don’t know.” There was a sad pout on Nayeon’s face as she glanced over to where Mina
was now slumped over asleep in Sana’s chair, “You know Jeong and I have been trying to
have a baby for almost a year now? Maybe we should just foster Mina?”

“Do you think Jeong will be okay with that? She seemed pretty set on having a baby, not a
random kindergartener.”

“She’ll get over it, look at that sleeping angel. This way we get to skip the part when they just
cry and sleep.”

“You’re crazy.”

Nayeon just hummed in amusement, letting out a loud yawn. She nodded her head in the
direction of the entrance, “Here comes trouble.”

Following her gaze, she locked in on the tall social worker talking to the receptionist before
looking up over at them and rushed over. He introduced himself as Kim Seokjin, and he
seemed like a nice guy. They ran over the night’s events and the injuries on Mina herself, and
he relayed what was happening at the house itself. It was a mess, a small basement apartment
that barely let in light. Mina’s mother had been high when she answered the door, cursing and
spitting at the officers and him when they tried to do the wellness check. She was thin like
Mina, and they found numerous traces of heroin and cocaine in the kitchen. Paired that with
Mina just wondering around at ten o’clock, she was not going to be going back to that house
for a very long time.

“I can take her in, just not right now. My partner and I are in a hotel right now because the
pipe burst in our kitchen and damaged everything.” That was right. Sana had nearly doubled
over in laughter as Nayeon showed her pictures of Jeongyeon completely soaked and trying
to stop the torrent of water spewing from their sink.

“That sounds good, I can put her in emergency care for right now then-”

“Sana will take her in the meantime.”

“Sana will what?” Sana repeated, looking over at where Nayeon stood next to her, a grin on
her face.

“I can get an emergency license tonight if you’re willing,” Seokjin nodded, “I would just
have to do a wellness check of your apartment before you bring her home.”

“Wait-”

“Sana please, I’d rather have her somewhere I know she would be safe. It’ll only be for two
weeks until the repairs are done.” Nayeon never really asked for anything. Sure she asked if
Sana would go on a date with girls she tried to set her up with and would whine about Sana
giving her a bite of her food every so often, but that was really elementary. The only time she
truly asked was when she was getting married and wanted Sana to be the maid of honor. “You
have a spare bedroom that you’re not using.”

For once, Sana relents. She looked over at Mina, whose head had now dropped down and the
penguin was in very real danger of falling from her grip and onto the floor. She knew what
the system did to kids like Mina, even the two weeks that she would be placed into care
waiting for Nayeon could damage her for life. She sighed and nodded, “Fine. But onlyfor two
weeks.”
***

It was safe to say Sana forgot about her new housemate quickly.

Her body ached from exhaustion, and she wasn’t sure what exactly woke her up. She
groaned, trying to dig her face into her arms to try and shield from the insidious sunlight that
tried to pry through her half-shut curtains. A small poke to her arm, made her finally crack an
eye open glancing open at an equally sleepy-looking Mina, “Oh shit!”

Should she tune down her swearing in front of the kid? Probably, but hey the kid could deal
with it for two weeks before Nayeon and Jeongyeon could take her. After she calmed down
her racing heartbeat, she laid back down, whining when she felt the bed dip and Mina crawl
next to her. “Detective?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m hungry.”

Sana took a glance at the old radio alarm clock on her bedside table, it was nearing ten AM.
Eight hours of sleep? That’s rare. She stretched out stiff limbs before getting up, walking into
the kitchen the soft pitter-patter of Mina trailing behind her. Her fridge was a bit empty; just
some juice, a few takeout boxes she had leftover, and a single bottle of ketchup. She grabbed
one box she knew was filled with some leftover Chinese and placed it in the microwave.

“You know you don’t have to call me Detective.” Sana leaned up against the counter,
crossing her arms over her chest, “My name is Sana.”

“Okay.” Mina had the stuffed penguin on the table, playing with the wings, “Can I go home
today?”
Sana paused. She took the food from the microwave and placed it on the table along with a
spoon, Mina didn’t waste any time digging in. “You’re not going to be going home for a long
time.”

“Why?”

“Um,” Where the fuck was Nayeon, she could explain these things better than Sana would
ever be able to, “You’re mommy can’t take care of you properly. So you’re going to be with
me for a little bit before you go with Detective Im. Remember her from last night?”

Mina looked troubled, taking another bite of her food. She didn’t speak the rest of the meal,
just quietly ate while gripping her penguin with her free arm. Sana wasn’t even sure if she
explained any of that correctly. Her phone pinged, and she looked down to roll her eyes at the
message.

Nabongs [10:15AM]

I wired you some money, can you buy Mina some clothes tonight?? Cap said you didn’t have
to come in today.

Sana [10:15 AM]

You’re annoying.

Nabongs [10:16AM]

Jeong and I can watch her on Friday when you meet that lawyer ;)

Sana [10:16 AM]

Go away.

Sana threw her phone onto the table, maybe a bit too hard, guilt pooling in the gut when she
saw Mina flinch at the sudden action. The leftovers were almost done, and Mina was slowing
down meaning she was probably starting to get full. “Are you full?”
Mina nodded.

“We need to get you some clothes, and a toothbrush.” Sana mused, taking another glance at
the clock before getting up and grabbing her wallet and keys. She could hear Mina follow her
into her room as she left the kitchen to grab her coat, then following her to the living room.
Honestly, she was like a little duck. Sana made quick work of patting herself down really
quick to make sure she had everything she needed and stretched out her hand, which Mina
gladly clutched onto.

Im Nayeon, what did you get me into?

***

Shopping for a six-year-old was going just about as great as Sana thought it would. She
figured Mina would only need a few different outfits that she could switch between until she
went to Nayeon’s and inevitably the woman would buy her an entirely new wardrobe. Much
like Sana, Mina was a simple kind of her, only liking a green sweater, a black turtleneck, and
a few sweatshirts. That along with a few pairs of pants ended their painstaking clothes
shopping experience. Neither one of them had been too fussy, Mina keeping herself occupied
in the shopping carriage as Sana held up various pieces of clothing.

She tried to think of anything else the girl needed, toothbrush, hairbrush (Sana was not
risking letting her use her own, especially if she was going to school. She had lice once in
third grade, never again.) Maybe a backpack and a few pencils. She haphazardly shoved
those items into the carriage and checked out. A fact that was starting to become increasingly
obvious about Mina is that she didn’t want to be left alone at all. Even when Sana tried to put
her in her car before rolling the carriage back in its spot, Mina was whining and trying to
follow.

There was only one thing left on Sana’s list; get the girl a fucking haircut. Sana swore if she
had to see Mina try and brush her grown out bangs out of her eyes one more time she was
going to lose it. They walked hand in hand into a small salon a few blocks from Sana’s
apartment that she had visited a few times whenever her hair got too long. After much
convincing Mina was sat in the chair as a hairdresser cut her hair and tried to joke around
 with her to get her to lighten up. Sana nearly laughed a few times when she and Mina had
locked eyes a few times in the mirror, the black cape around her neck and pout on her lips.

“She’s cute, is she’s yours?” Sana tore her eyes away from Mina to a woman next to her. She
had long black hair with full bangs, looking at Sana over her outdated copy of Cosmopolitan
sitting on her lap.

“No,” Sana rubbed her hand on the back of her neck, “I’m just taking care of her right now.”

“She doesn’t seem to happy to be getting a hair cut.”

Indeed Mina did not look happy at all, glaring daggers at the hairdresser, “She’ll get over it.”

The woman looked like she wanted to say something more, but a gentle “Ms.Hiari.” Stopped
her before she could. She stood up and followed the hairdresser as a very grumpy Mina
walked back over to her. This was so much better, the bangs were trimmed, along with her
hair hitting just under her shoulders. Sana paid, and Mina took no time in gripping her hand
tightly as they exited the salon.

“Ms.Sana?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m hungry.”

Chapter End Notes

Yell at me on twitter @brtozaki // Use the hashtag #TWICETTTM for reactions or

questions :)
 Chapter 3

Sana took another glance down at her watch, before back up at the faded turquoise school’s
doors that should be opening at any second. It was cold, looked like it was going to rain, and
she really could be doing better things with her time, but Mina wouldn’t have a bus for
another week and Sana really didn’t like the thought of her walking home alone so here she
was. A few other parents stood with her, each one of them looked tired and worn out, but hey
kids will do that to you.

To be fair her discomfort was mostly her own fault, just wearing black jeans, and a tight
white t-shirt, and her favorite leather jacket that was slightly worn around the edges but that
was beside the point. Another glance at her watch, and it was that time finally. The doors
swung open as the first of the kids ran out, weighed down slightly by oversized backpacks.
No Mina yet. A few more kids, nothing. The crowd was starting to dissipate now, just Sana, a
few women to her right, and another father up near the front.

Then Mina appeared, walking out with the same girl from the presentation a few days ago.
What was her name again? Tzuyu? Strange, but Minatozaki Sana herself couldn’t judge.
They looked deep in conversation, both of them with a small ring pop in their fists. Mina
looked up, and Sana watched as her face lit up, taking off in a sprint in her direction,
“Ms.Sana!”

“You know you can call me just Sana right?”

“I didn’t know you were coming!” Mina gushed, holding up her fist, “Look Ms.Park gave me
a prize today because I’ve been good! Look!”

“Wow,” Sana took a quick glance at the blue candy on her finger, the same blue staining her
lips and tongue. Mina smiled up at her, and Sana wasn’t exactly sure what the young girl
wanted her to say; Good job? Congrats? She settled on something a bit safer, “Did Ms.Park
talk to you about anything today?”

“I ate lunch in her room and we talked about Mommy.”

“Yeah?”

Mina nodded, “She wants you to come in and talk to her soon. She said she would email
you.”

“Okay?”

Mina reached up to grab Sana’s hand, turning to wave goodbye to her friend that was now
over with the two women to Sana’s right. The women were frowning, looking over the scene
a bit disapprovingly. They were both short, one with short blonde hair that hit right above her
shoulder now holding onto the tan fluffy backpack that Tzuyu had, another with long black
hair holding onto Tzuyu’s hand. The blonde one spoke up first, “Mina, do you know that
lady?”

The girl just nodded, “Yeah, This is Ms.Sana.”

“Just Sana-”

“How do you know her Mina?” The other lady cut in, as they took a few steps to block their
path. Sana could understand their concern, a random lady they had never seen before coming
to pick up a kid out of the blue. The black hair lady furrowed her eyebrows, “Do you want
me to call your mom.”

“You can’t do that.” Mina shook her head, and Sana was taken off guard about how sad Mina
sounded by that. That was something she was going to make Nayeon talk to her about,
definitely not her topic.

“Why not?”

“I’m Mina’s foster mother.” Sana cut in, watch realization was over both of the women’s
faces. The blonde one looked relieved by that statement, the long-haired one switching her
attention from Mina to her.
“Foster mother?”

“Yeah, Mina was removed a few days ago.” Sana rubbed the back of her neck, “But I don’t
think this is the appropriate place to go into details.”

The blonde one smiled, “I’m Chaeyoung, and this is my wife Dahyun. Sorry about all that, I
just had never seen someone pick Mina up before. I’m glad she’s away from that bi-”

“Chae!”

“Big meanie. Yup, that’s what I was going to say.” Chaeyoung flashed a smile at her wife,
“Could I have your number? The girls are going to want to hang out, they usually have
sleepovers on Fridays. Speaking of which, Mina, are you coming over tonight?”

Mina shook her head, taking the ring pop out of her mouth, “I’m going over Detective Im’s
house tonight and she has a puppy!”

“I have a puppy too,” Tzuyu whined.

“We can hang out next week. I pinky promise.” Mina unlatched her hand from Sana’s and
stretched it out, letting Tzuyu latch onto it. They quickly shook before Mina was back next to
Sana’s side. The adults exchanged numbers and they were on their way, Sana and Mina
making their way to the car.

“Are you sure you want to go over Nayeon’s?” Sana doubled checked as she helped Mina
climb into the car. The girl nodded, she was seeing this puppy.

***

Sana knocked on the hotel room door, adjusting Mina on her waist. The girl was practically
vibrating with excitement, waiting anxiously for the door to open. It only took a few seconds
before the door swung open and Jeongyeon was standing there smiling back at them,
instantly cooing at the girl, “Mina!”

Little hands gripped a bit tighter into Sana’s shirt, tucking her head into the nape of Sana’s
neck. Sana wanted to burst out laughing, of course, the person Mina would be shy to would
be Jeongyeon. The older girl pouted, waiting as Sana tapped on Mina’s back walking in. The
hotel room was nice, a suite that Jeongyeon’s firm owned and rented out to its employees for
a discounted rate. A little white cloud ran from the living room, jumping at Sana’s legs,
pawing and whining for affection.

Mina looked down, immediately wiggling out of Sana’s grasp and onto the floor, eyes
lighting up in excitement as she started to try and pet Kookeu. Thankfully the dog was
extremely gentle, it had to be based on the amount that Nayeon would hold the poor thing
like it was a baby.

“Sana is that you-” Nayeon appeared from one of the rooms, Sana assumed it was a bedroom.
Her hair was wet, and she was drying it with a towel, already dressed in pajamas. Jeongyeon
was as well, Nayeon did mention they were going to have a pajama party so Sana packed a
pair of Pajamas for Mina; a two-piece red fleece set. She watched as Nayeon narrowed her
eyes, looking her up and down, “Are you seriously wearing that?”

Sana frowned looking down at her outfit, the same outfit she wore to work and picked Mina
up in, “Yeah? Why? What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing, if you’re at work.” Nayeon sighed, “This is a date Sana, you need to dress to
impress.”

“If someone is judging me on my outfit them maybe they are not the one for me.” Sana shot
back, “Right Jeong?”

Jeongyeon was preoccupied on the floor, holding up one of Kookeu’s toys while Mina
giggles along in contentment, “I’m on Nayeon’s side this time. How old are you now?”

“Twenty-seven.”
“Exactly, you should be trying to settle down by now.” Jeongyeon hummed, holding up the
toy as Kookeu tried to jump for it, “Momo’s a good girl, you’ll like her. She works my firm
with me, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything bad about her.”

“And the best part, she’s Japanese.” Nayeon chimed in.

“What does her being Japanese have to do with anything?”

“You can connect with her on a cultural level, language, things like that.”

“I’m only doing this so you two will stop trying to set me up with randos.” Sana shook her
head, looking down at her watch. It was starting to get to that time that she needed to leave.
She had to get to the restaurant for seven, so if she left now she would have a bit of a wiggle
room if there were traffic. God, why was she even planning for this? She just wanted to go,
then go home. Mina would be spending the night over the Yoos so she could get some sleep
without having to be woken up at least once throughout the night because Mina wanted to
sleep in bed with her.

It was starting to become a bad habit, Mina would poke her awake pouting that she had a bad
dream and that she was scared. Sana being the sap she is would push over and let Mina in.
Granted it has only been twice, but still, Sana wanted her space.

“I need to get going.”

“Alright have fun.” Nayeon waved goodbye to her, sitting down with Jeongyeon and Mina,
“Just text me in the morning if you want Mina later, just in case you have a visitor.”

Sana didn’t respond, just rolled her eyes and left. Anything she said, Nayeon could and
would use against to trap her into another innuendo or joke. The extra time she allowed to
drive to the restaurant came in handy, there was a crash that backed up traffic causing Sana to
be perfectly on time. She had to give it to Jeongyeon, the restaurant she picked was really
nice. A cute little place in the heart of Hongdae, with exposed brick, dark stained wood, and
the little lightbulb light fixtures, Sana had to tip her hat. She approached the teen manning the
hostess station, “I’m here for a reservation under Yoo.”

The teen nodded, and led Sana along to the table, to which unfortunately the other woman
had already arrived. She bid a quick farewell to the teen before sitting down, observing the
woman. “I know you.”

Momo just laughed, “Nice to meet you too. And yes, we met the other day in the salon you
had your kid with you.”

“She’s not mine, I’m just-”

“Taking care of her.” Momo finished, “Jeongyeon told me all about it. She told me a lot about
you if I didn’t know any better from how much she speaks of you I would think you’re her
wife.”

“Nayeon would beat my ass.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Momo smiled, and Sana swore she felt just a little flutter in her stomach.
Just a little. Don’t get it twisted. “Ms.Minatozaki, we could just sit here and eat some
delicious food.”

“Or?”

“I can make this the best night of your life.”

***

In all her years, Sana had never seen anything quite like this. Momo had dragged her to a
small section of the Han river about ten minutes away from the restaurant, and Sana had to
admit this was a great choice. There were food carts and vendors everywhere, soft lights
strung up and blinked overhead, the water softly kissed the shore. Momo had taste.
She didn’t even realize Momo was holding her hand, dragging her to try a new piece of food,
or look at small handmade jewelry. It only hit her when Momo was leaning over a table,
looking at a small silver ring that an old lady had made and she tugged Sana slightly with it.
She picked it up and slipped it on her finger, looking at it closely before picking up a second
and paying before handing the second to Sana.

“What’s this?” Sana asked, holding it up to the light so she could get a better glimpse of it.

“It’s cute, isn’t it?”

Sana hummed in agreement, detaching her hand from Momo’s to slip in on. She looked down
at how it looked on her finger before turning back to Momo, who was smirking into her
strawberry smoothie she had bought a few vendors back.

They started walking, away from the shops and down the riverside. Momo held the drink out
so Sana could have a sip, “So what’s your deal?”

“My deal?” Sana cocked an eyebrow, before taking a quick sip.

“All dark and mysterious, wearing your little I’m a badass getup. You have a story, everyone
does.” Momo hummed, taking a step onto the sea wall, walking alongside Momo, “You
should know that too detective. What drew you in?”

“Honestly, I used to watch a show as a kid about a detective. And it just never really left my
head. How about you Ms.Lawyer?”

“I like the challenge, and the paycheck isn’t bad as well.”

“Mm.”
“Is your family from around here?”

“Well there from Osaka, but they live down in Jeju now.”

“I was adopted, I grew up in Jeju.” Momo smiled, looking down at Sana. “Favorite movie?”

“Parasite.”

“Basic.”

Sana gasped in outrage, “That movie is a masterpiece!”

“I never said it wasn’t, it’s just a basic favorite movie.”

“Okay film buff, what’s yours?”

“The handmaiden.”

“That’s basic too!”

“I will agree to disagree,” Momo smiled, “I have to say you’re a bit surprising. From the way
Jeongyeon made it sound, I thought tonight was going to be a disaster. But I’m having a great
time.”

“Surprisingly, me too.”

She watched as Momo turned towards her, standing above her on the seawall. Momo was
dangerous, especially when she was looking at Sana like that, “Wanna get some coffee at my
place?”

Sana was always a sucker for pretty girls.

***

They barely made it into Momo’s apartment.

Momo had her pressed against the door as Sana bite her neck, trying to put the key into the
lock. After about three tries she finally got it in, sending them tumbling through the
apartment. Momo’s shirt got tossed somewhere in the living room, Sana’s jacket couldn’t be
far behind with her shirt being followed in the hallway. She couldn’t make out the details of
what exactly Momo’s bedroom looked like in the poor lighting, but she could find the bed
and that was good enough for her. She pushed Momo so she laid flat on it, looking back up at
her. Momo just pulled her in by her neck, smashing their lips together as Sana fumbled with
her belt buckle.

Sana’s marimba ringtone rang through the room.

“Ignore it.” Sana whispered, finally undoing the belt, and then Momo’s pant button. Tugging
the black slacks down her legs, Momo looked divine like this, she couldn’t help trailing
kisses down her jawline as Momo stretched out a bit, squirming softly against her touch.

Sana’s ringtone cried out again.

"Answer it." Momo gasped out, "It might be important."

Sana dug into her back pocket, grabbing her shattered iPhone 8 and took a glance at the caller
ID. It was Jeongyeon, which meant one of two things, something was wrong, or she wanted
to annoy Sana. Sana could put money on the latter. "What do you want?"
"Ms.Sana? Hi! It's me! Mina!" Mina’s voice rang through the speaker, she sounded sleepy yet
happy.

"Why are you calling me?"

"Jeongyeon let me play on her phone and I saw your name so I clicked. I read it all by
myself! I need to tell Ms.Park when I go to school."

"Wow that's great," She could hear Momo giggle underneath her, "Mina I'm a bit busy right
now."

"Are you catching bad guys?"

"Kind of, I need to let you go now."

"When are you coming back? I miss you."

"It's been a few hours." Sana groaned, “I’m hanging up now.”

“Okay, bye-bye!”

Sana pressed the end call button, tossing her phone to the end of the bed, shaking her head in
disbelief. Only Sana would get cockblocked by a six-year-old, Momo just giggled and pulled
her back in. “Now finish what you started.”

And she did.

Surprisingly enough, when morning came and she was staring at Momo’s laid out sleeping
form there was no hint of regret. Just that light flutter of butterflies in her stomach.
 Chapter 4

“So, how’d it go?” Nayeon asked, a smirk on her face as she lowered the camera she was
holding. From where Sana was crouched over, looking at a splat on blood on the wall that
just looked a bit odd, Sana could hear the smugness in Nayeon’s tone, dripping off each
syllable like a bad song. “Jeong texted me this morning, and by the look of the marks on
Momo’s neck it seems like you two had a really good time.”

She really was not talking about this right now. Sana knew she really wasn’t trying that. They
were in the middle of a crime scene. The entire house was torn apart, there was blood
everywhere, and not to mention the corpse of some little old lady laying no more than twenty
feet away from them covered in a white sheet. Granted they already had a confession from
the murderer, the lady’s grandson, who killed her over inheritance, they still had a job to do.
She sent Nayeon a glare as she stood up, starting to make her way out of the apartment
Nayeon following closely behind.

“So, how was it?”

Sana lifted up the police tape that blocked off the entrance of the house, letting herself and
Nayeon out, “I don’t know what you’d get out of knowing.”

“You two totally hooked up.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“On the first date? I didn’t think you had it in you Minatozaki.” Nayeon pressed on, leading
towards the car. She stripped off the blue rubber gloves she had, before her windbreaker as
well, turning towards Sana with a smirk, “I have to say I’m impressed. I hope it wasn’t a
pump and dump.”

“Can you please not refer to it like that?”

“Smash and dash?”

“Nayeon..”

Nayeon sighed, leaning against the hood of their black SUV. “Fine, but really, are you two
going to continue or what?”

Were they going to continue? On to what? Dating? Marriage- Woah, don’t get ahead of
yourself there Minatozaki. Momo was nice, sweet, and was stuck in her head the past few
days since their meeting on Friday. She was stuck in Momo’s too, the girl made it clear by
sending memes she would find that had absolutely no context or reason to it. They had texted
almost every night since, talking about dumb things, and some not so dumb things. She
wasn’t entirely sure what to make of her and these fluttery feelings in her stomach just yet

"Was Mina good for you two on Friday? You never let me know."

“I love her.” Nayeon pouted and put her hands over her heart, “She’s so sweet and cute and
all she wants to do is cuddle with the dog and eat. And she’s so well behaved, I thought she
was going to have some issues, you know because of everything that happened, but she was
so good.”

Abruptly, Nayeon was digging into her back pocket to grab her phone. “Look at these.” After
a few seconds of maneuvering Nayeon was showing Sana a few photos on her screen. The
first was Mina with kookeu, all dressed up in her mint green fleece pajamas. She was in
Kookeu’s small bed, the puppy sitting on her lap, looking off-screen to what Sana had to
assume was a movie of some sort. Nayeon then swiped to the next photo, now Mina was
standing on a wooden kitchen chair helping Jeongyeon cook something that Sana couldn’t
exactly make out. Mina had a bit of flour on nose and face, a big smile there too, Jeongyeon
was in a similar state. Next was a photo of Mina passed out, head laying on Nayeon’s side. It
was obvious Jeongyeon snapped it without Nayeon having any idea, the woman was just
staring at the child with honey dripping from her eyes.

That was the thing about Nayeon, she just deserved all the good things in the world. Sure, she
was a bit annoying and overbearing, and definitely had her flaws, but Sana never found
herself truly annoyed. Nayeon just had a big heart, and she wanted to share it with every
person she met. Sana looked up from the screen at Nayeon who was gazing down so
affectionately, it almost gave Sana a toothache. She found herself smiling a bit as Nayeon
tucked the phone into her back pocket, they really would make the perfect little family. Mina
was a great kid as well, quiet, mannered, affectionate, and incredibly independent. Maybe
they deserved each other.

“Well, you get to see that for a long time when she finally goes over yours next week.” Sana
smiled, the smile fading when she saw the bashful look on Nayeon’s face, “You are taking
her next week, right?”

“About that..”

“Nayeon!”

“We’re not going back in for another three weeks.” Nayeon grimaced, as Sana sighed.

“You said two weeks.”

“The damage was a bit more extensive than we thought, I guess it’s going to take longer.
Trust me, I’m not happy about it either, but there is really isn’t anything I can do about it.”
Nayeon pouted, “I can wire you some money-”

“No, I don’t need you to pay me.” Sana playfully punched Nayeon on the shoulder, “You do
have to buy me pork after all of this.”

“Fine, now tell me all about your date.”

***

Maybe Sana was really starting to get old, here she was sitting on the couch still in her work
clothes watching the evening news. Mina was sat at the kitchen table doing homework last
time Sana checked, so she just let herself have a few minutes of alone time. The TV was now
airing some tacky commercial that had really no meaning when Mina shyly entered the room.
“Ms.Sana?”

“Just Sana.”

“Can you help me with my homework?” That was certainly not what Sana was expecting.
Mina looked so embarrassed, and well, scared. Shifting slightly from one foot to the other as
she ducked her head, trying to avoid eye contact as possible. Why she would be so nervous,
Sana had no ideas.

“Yeah, bring it over here.” Quickly Mina pittered off as Sana shut off the TV, before coming
back with the baby blue binder Sana had picked up for her over the weekend. A few sheets
were already pressed in between in rings of sheets Mina had done in class and now her
homework sat on top, half empty. She could tell Mina was frustrated, numbers had been
etched into paper then erased numerous times. Mina handed her the binder and climbed onto
the couch next to her, a pencil gripped in her tiny fist.

Addition, thank god. Admittedly, Sana had never been the best at math, but this was
something she could handle. She decided to take it step by step, “Mina, look, you have three
circles.” Sana held up three fingers with one hand, “and if you add two circles,” She held up
two fingers with her other hand, “How many do you have?”

Mina blinked at her for a second, before tears starting filling her eyes, “I don’t know!”

Shit! That was not supposed to happen, “Mina, calm down. Count with me, okay?” Mina
sniffled and nodded, counting along as Sana bent a finger, “One, two, three, four, five.”

“So five?” Mina asked.

“Mhmm, write it down honey.”

Mina took quick work writing it down, penciling in a wonky-looking 5 in the appropriate slot
before looking back up at Sana for the next question. “Okay I have two apples, and I add two
apples, how many apples do I have now.”
Mina furrowed her eyes before reaching up to count each of Sana’s fingers, “Four!”

“Right! Write it down.”

They got through nearly half the sheet-like that before Mina started moving away from the
paper and counted the objects on the paper or her own fingers. Sometimes Sana would have
to cut in and gently guide her from a mistake, but Mina was doing well on her own. Her
phone vibrated, so she fished it from where it was thrown on the couch.

MOMO [5:32 PM]

Does Mina like chicken nuggets?

SANA [5:32 PM]

What?

MOMO[5:32 PM]

I hope so, open your door.

A knock at her door startled both her and Mina, who jumped a mile next to Sana looking up
at her with unsure eyes. Normally Sana would just get up, but for some reason, Sana found
herself gently ruffling Mina’s hair as she got up, “Keep working, I think it’s just my friend.”

She made her way to her door, opening it to see Momo smiling back at her. Her hair was
braided into two sheep braids, a red crop top covered by an oversized sweater, and black
sweats. She just held up a McDonald’s bag, “I brought dinner.”

“How did you get my address?”

“Jeongyeon gave it to me.” Momo shrugged, “I thought I would pay you a visit, I’ve been
wanting to see you ever since you left on Saturday.” Damn, Momo was bold. Sana couldn’t
help the rosy blush she knew was starting to creep up across her cheeks.

“Do you want to come in?”

“Please.”

“Mina’s just finishing up her homework,” Sana explained as they made their way into the
kitchen. Momo set down the bag of food, before pulling out a forty-piece chicken nugget,
three vanilla shakes, and two large fries. That was so much food just for the three of them,
they were never going to finish it.

Little feet stomped into the kitchen, quickly grasping onto Sana’s thigh and hid behind it.
Sana looked down to see Mina clutching the penguin that Nayeon had given her, which she
had so affectionately named Peng, looking over at Momo with an uncertain look. Mina
seemed fine with meeting new people, she met Jeongyeon and warmed up to her quickly, hell
she even wiggled her way into Sana’s life, but then again Sana never had someone over her
place since she got her. The last thing Sana expected was for Mina to burst into tears as soon
as Momo waved at her. She sent a panicked look over to Momo before placing a hand on
Mina’s back, “Mina, what’s wrong?”

Mina was sniffling, trying to wipe her tears away with the back of her hand, “Don’t hurt her!”

“You don’t want me to hurt her?” Sana asked, only more confused when Mina shook her
head pointing a finger at Momo who looked shocked, “You don’t want her to hurt me?”

Mina only wailed louder. It was easy to forget sometimes why Mina was in her apartments
sometimes, but it hit Sana at that moment that Mina had seen things, been through things that
probably were really stressful and traumatizing for the six-year-old. She had worked with
enough kids in similar situations, and they all had very obvious problems. It's be ignorant of
her to think Mina would be any different. “Mina, look at me.”

She waited until Mina looked up at her, tears still streaming down chubby cheeks, “This is
my friend, look she brought us food! She’s not going to hurt me,” Sana leaned down,
whispering like she was telling a big secret, “Plus I’m like scooby-doo, she can’t hurt me
because I’m too strong.”

Mina giggled, tears gradually coming to stop as Sana picked her up and she rested her head
on the detective’s shoulder. The look on Momo’s face was almost comical, simply picking up
a chicken nugget and handed it to the kid. Mina accepted and bit into it, eyes widening as she
looked down at it before eating the whole thing, and reaching her hand out for another.

It didn’t take long for the three of them to find themselves on the floor of Sana’s living room,
the box of nuggets in the middle along with fries. Sana’s previous fear of them not being able
to finish all the food seemed irrelevant now, she clearly had underestimated the bottomless
pits that were Mina and Momo. She watched as Mina sipped on her vanilla shake, sucking on
the stray and holding it with two hands before she put it down suddenly, “Momoring, do you
want to play?”

“Sure!”

“Wait, why does she get Momoring and I get Ms.Sana?”

“Not important now, Ms.Sana.” Momo teased, as Mina got up to run and grab her other
stuffed animal from her room. As soon as she was out of eyesight Momo let out a sigh of
relief, her posture slumping a bit, “Oh my god. I thought I did something wrong for a minute
there.”

“You brought her food,” Sana hummed, “You’re basically her hero now.”

“I can’t believe she started crying.”

“You are kind of scary looking,” Sana laughed as outrage spread across Momo’s face. The
woman just huffed and took another chicken nugget from the box as Mina rushed back in
holding the small dog stuffed animal out to Momo.
The lawyer accepted the toy, and Sana just watched at the pair played for nearly a half an
hour. Mina would giggle every time Momo would use a goofy voice for her animal, playing
along perfectly as they played doctor with the animals. The most ridiculous part came when
Momo was doing CPR to the stuffed penguin, “Doctor Mina, she’s not going to make it!”

“Yes, she will!” Mina looked so determined when Momo stopped her actions. She put her ear
to the stuffed animal, listening for an imaginary heartbeat, “She’s alive!”

Momo took the back of the penguin making it wiggle as she voices it, her voice low and
goofy, “Thank you, Doctor Mina. I feel so much better now! Give me a hug!”

Sana couldn’t even stop the affection that bubbled in her chest as Mina hugged Momo
instead.

The trio ended the night on the couch, some kid movie that both Mina and Momo liked
playing. Mina was passed out between the two of them, Peng cradled in her arms, head on
Sana’s lap. Momo looked sleepy as well, holding Sana’s hand above Mina. When Sana
noticed Mina was down for the count, she chuckled, “I think you wore her out.”

“I think she wore me out.”

“I’m sorry if you wanted to hang out-”

“Don’t, she’s really cute. I don’t mind playing with her for a little bit.” Momo smirked, “Why
do you want me to play with you too?”

“You better not be implying what I think you are in front of the child Hirai.”

“She’s asleep.”
“And I don’t care.” Sana threaded her free hand through Mina’s hair, “Thank you. For dinner,
and stuff.”

“Admit it, you wanted to see me too.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“I can read your mind.” Momo hummed, “It’s part of my job. You know, if Mina likes cats
you can bring her to my place on Wednesday. You met Grumpy on Saturday right?”

“No?”

“You’ll love him.” Momo smiled, “Plus I’ll make dinner, and we can have a good little time.”

“Sounds like a date.”

“I love it when you flirt back.”

 Chapter 5

Beep beep beep

With a loud groan, Sana reached over to her bedside table, smacking aimlessly a few times
until her hand finally hit the alarm clock muting that godawful ringing noise. The sun was
just starting to sneak in through her half-shut blinds, but her blankets were warm and there
was a body snuggled next to hers. Wait-

Her eyes bolted open to see Mina still asleep soundlessly on the other side of the bed, body
spread out and hair in a wild halo covering half of her face. She had Peng cradled in her arms
and a leg laid out on Sana’s. It came back to the detective quickly, how Mina had poked her
awake last night, sobbing and shaking, as she almost begged Sana to let her sleep in her bed.
Why she sounded so desperate and scared of rejection struck Sana as odd because Mina
hadn’t spent a night in the spare bedroom yet, always climbing into bed with her halfway
through the night. The kindergartener must’ve had a nightmare, and it must’ve been a
particularly nasty one based on how she cried until she fell asleep next to Sana. The soft
sound of rain that Sana had played on her phone to try and calm her down was still going off,
and Mina looked so deep in sleep that Sana felt kind of bad having to wake her up. But she
still had to go to school, and unfortunately, Sana had to go with her.

“Mina,” Sleep still heavy in Sana’s voice as she gently shoved the girl awake, “You need to
wake up.”

Mina just mumbled and nuzzled her face into the plushie.

“You need to go to school, don’t you want to go see Tzuyu?”

“Mmm,” Mina’s eyes slowly but surely fluttered open, puffy and swollen from last night. It
broke Sana’s heart a bit, seeing Mina so sad hurt a place deep in Sana’s soul that rarely felt
anything. Mina looked over at Sana before releasing a loud yawn, rubbing at her eyes with
the back of her hand.
“Up, can you change into your uniform while I make something to eat for you?” Sana asked,
stretching her arms over her head while she watched Mina nod and start to get up as well.

Kicking the covers off of herself, she grabbed the jeans and t-shirt she had left on a bean bag
chair in the corner of the room before heading out of the room. She went into the bathroom
and changed in record time, tucking in the boxy grey t-shirt into high waisted black jeans.
Brushed her hair down to look presentable, before heading out into the kitchen, she could
hear the light pitter of Mina walking across the hall to her own bedroom to change. She
grabbed the box of lucky charms and filled two bowls, along with pouring milk into it.

Was giving a six-year-old pure sugar in the morning a good idea, definitely not. Was the
hyperactive Mina going to be her problem in an hour, no. A few minutes later Mina came out,
still rubbing sleepy eyes as she climbed onto the chair next to Sana, grabbing the blue cookie
monster spoon that Sana had gotten out of a cereal box a few weeks ago. Sana started to eat
as well, occasionally glancing over at the child, “Are you feeling better this morning?”

Mina nodded, shoveling another spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

“What made you upset last night?” Sana gently probed, letting her own spoon hang in her
hand as she rested her elbow on the table. She was trained to interrogate, and she was damn
good at getting the answers she wanted, but Mina was different.

The girl just let her head hand, going quiet as if she was thinking before shaking her head, “I
can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“It’s a secret.”

“I’m pretty good at keeping secrets, you know.”

“Mommy made me pinky promise to keep it.” That felt like a punch to the gut. Mina just
resumed eating as Sana tried to compose herself enough to put a mental checklist of
everything they needed. It was easy for Sana’s mind to slip into a dark place of what exactly
Mina meant by that, she had seen countless disturbing things out in the field. Mina seemed
unfazed, hopping off the chair and put her now empty bowl in the sink before running off to
the spare bedroom to grab her backpack. She came out as Sana was grabbing her keys,
neither of them said anything the entire way to school.

Mina’s entire face lit when she saw Tzuyu as they entered the school hand in hand, breaking
off to run to her friend that looked equally as excited to see her. She watched as they broke
off, Mina dumping her bag onto the floor before sitting at her desk. Cautiously she took a few
steps into the classroom, sending a shy wave to Jihyo who looked over at her and motioned
for one second as she helped a kid tie his shoes. After she was done she walked over to where
Sana was standing, motioning for her to follow. They walked down the hall into her office,
shutting the door behind them, “I got coverage for the morning so we have all the time we
need to take.”

“Is this going to take long?” Sana questioned as she took a seat across from Jihyo. The
teacher shrugged, a playful smile on her lips.

“Mina is doing very well,” Jihyo mused, laying a few pieces of paper onto the paper on the
desk. She tapped at two separate report cards, “This one was before she was placed with
you.” Sana cringed at the grades beforehand, Mina was behind average in everything. “This
has been just in the last week since you took her.” The second card was much more relieving,
it seemed like Mina was caught up and even ahead in a few subjects, the only one it seemed
like she was struggling in was math. “This kind of improvement is unusual, but Mina is a
smart kid and now that she’s not stressed all the time she has a chance to focus on what we
are doing in class. She is struggling a bit in math, but she just might be naturally bad at it.”

“That’s good.” Sana mused.

“I honestly don’t know much about her home life, I don’t know if she opened up to you about
it?” Jihyo waited until Sana shook her head no, “I tried sending her to the school counselor
but had to stop because I don’t think she likes men that much, she gets very nervous, it might
be in her best interest to see a child therapist. Right now what she needs is stability, I notice
she gets a bit overwhelmed when things change too much, again she’s not open about what
her home life was like so I don’t know why. But now that she’s with you for the time being-”
“I’m not her permanent placement, my friend is going to take her when her house get fixed in
about a month.”

“Oh.” Jihyo scratched the back of her head before pulling out a drawing. It was obvious Mina
had drawn it, and it wasn’t half bad for her age. There was a tall figure, that Sana assumed
was herself based on the police uniform it was in, holding onto a smaller figure’s hand that
she assumed was Mina. What struck her was that the figure that was supposed to be her had a
little cape on the back of her uniform, in the background of the drawing was a jail cell with
few figures in it. “I didn’t know that. Mina’s been getting really attached, she talks about you
sometimes, how you’re a detective and you catch bad guys and that you helped her so you
must’ve known something was wrong. She’s met your friend, right?”

“Right.”

“It might be a good idea to try to introduce them as parental figures in her life before she gets
too attached to you.” Jihyo sighed, “You have to try and look at it from her point of view, in
her eyes you saved her, and now you’re taking care of her. If you just leave her, she’s
probably going to feel abandoned, again.”

“Okay.”

“She’s a good kid, and whatever your doing is working.” The teacher smiled, “Thank you.”

“Why are you thanking me?”

“I was so worried.” Jihyo’s voice sounded small, waving as she spoke, “Thank you for taking
her out of there.”

Sana always prided herself on being a good choice in character, and she could tell Jihyo was
a good person. Sana found herself smiling as well, shyly ducking her head.

***
“Momoring!” Mina cheered as soon as Momo opened the door to her apartment, stretching
out two tiny arms and wrapping them around Momo as soon as the woman crouched down
with an equally excited expression. Sana just walked in after them, pouting at the nickname.
Momo picked her up, pressing a kiss to her cheek, ushering both of them further into the
house.

Momo’s apartment was nice, Sana saw it last time she was over. Well, she really only paid
attention to Momo’s bedroom but that was beside the point. She had a big TV, with an Xbox
set up underneath, a large grey sectional, and an open floorplan. That lawyer’s salary was
treating her well apparently. Sana saw it the same time Mina did, the kindergartner’s eyes
lighting up in amazement. A grey Scottish fold napping on the couch, unaware of the
hurricane named Myoui Mina that was about to rain down on the poor thing. Mina was
wiggling out of Momo’s arms, practically running over to the cat, reaching out gently to pet
it. Momo crouched down next to her, “His name is Grumpy.”

“Why?”

“Because he is grumpy.”

Apparently, that was the right amount of logic for Mina accepting that reasoning and resumed
petting the cat. For someone named grumpy, the cat didn’t live up to his name, purring and
leaning into Mina’s touch. When Mina was properly distracted, Momo got up, motioning
Sana to follow her to the kitchen. Momo seemed to already have dinner ready, a few bowls of
udon noodles resting on the countertop. A quick peck on the lips interrupted her thoughts,
looking on in shock as Momo just smirked and picked up two bowls. “What was that?”

“I thought you would be jealous of Mina,” Momo shrugged, putting the bowls down on the
table, “Plus I missed you the past couple of days.”

“We texted.”

“Have you seen yourself? Texting is definitely not the same when I could look at you.”
Momo grabbed the other bowl, setting it down on the table. She sent a glance over at Mina
who was now sitting on the floor, head resting on the seat cushion as she watched Grumpy
sleep, occasionally petting the cat. “Mina, come eat honey.”
Dinner was nothing eventful, Mina just relayed her entire day to Momo from the minute she
got to school until she stepped foot into her apartment. To her credit, Momo listened well
occasionally asking questions or engaging questions. Sana would get in on the action, trying
to insert a joke that usually fell flat until Mina would start laughing like it was the funniest
thing in the world. When Mina mentioned that she was spending the night over Tzuyu’s on
Friday, Momo’s eyes flew to Sana wiggling her eyebrows. This woman was going to be the
death of her.

Mina went right back to Grumpy after dinner, now laying on the couch as Grumpy made
himself comfortable on her chest, purring softly. Mina looked tired, she didn’t get much sleep
last night and all the excitement of school and Momo probably drained her. Her and Sana
both sat at the table, Momo had a can of beer, Sana just a cup of water, she still had to drive
home later. “She looks sleepy.” Momo mused.

“She had a rough night last night.” Sana took a sip of her water, “I don’t think she’s going to
be up for much longer.”

“I got assigned to her case.” Momo played with the rim of her drink, “I’m working with the
prosecutor’s office against the mother. I don’t know much about it yet, I don’t know if I want
to know.”

“I’m not sure if I want to know either.”

“Also, were you not going to invite me over on Friday?”

Sana chuckled, “Do you want to come over on Friday?”

“I would like that very much.” Momo smiled, “I’ll take you out again, we can find something
to do.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Momo stretched her arms out, a yawn escaping as she did so. Momo probably had come
home and immediately started cooking, she was still in her work clothes, a nice top, and
trousers, with her hair in a high ponytail. “I’m kind of sad she’s sleepy, I thought she was
going to want to play again.”

“What a baby.” Sana tsked, “We could do something if you want.”

“I don’t feel comfortable playing with you while Mina is asleep on my couch.”

“That is not what I meant!”

“I know.” Momo giggled, “Do you want to play Minecraft, you can even put your bed next to
mine.”

Sana found herself agreeing, and soon both of them were sitting on the floor, backs resting
against the couch as they started building a house. Mina was out for the count, snoring softly
on the couch, so they turned the volume down. Momo was ambitious, wanting to build this
giant manor, Sana a bit more realistic with just a simple house with a bed and a few pigs
outside.

“Ms.Sana?” Mina cut through their concentration, she was watching them with sleepy eyes,
Grumpy jumping off of her onto the ground to go eat from his bowl, “What are you doing?”

“I’m playing, do you want to join?”

Mina just slid between her and Momo, Peng in her arms as she watched the screen with
amusement. Smiling when she saw Momo’s black cat following her around in the game, “It’s
Grumpy!”

“It is!” Momo cheered back, “Mina very important question, who’s house is better.”
After taking a few seconds of careful concentration, “Ms. Sana’s.”

Momo just tickled Mina’s side playfully, shocking both adults when the child practically
bolted from her to the other side of Sana gripping onto the woman’s sleeve, shaking. Mina
was looking at Momo with these big, scared eyes, nervously taking her stuffie and placing the
ear of it into her mouth. “Mina?” The girl just shook her head, burying her face into Sana’s
side. “What’s wrong sweetheart.”

“Can we go home now?” Mina whimpered out, “I want to go home now.”

“Okay,” Sana reached over to stroke her hair gently, turning to Momo who seemed to be at
just of a loss as she was. Momo looked upset as well, Sana could see with guilt pooling in her
eyes from accidentally upsetting Mina. She stood up, picking up Mina as well, “How about
you say goodbye to Momo and Grumpy before we go?”

Mina shook her head again, once again her face was hidden in Sana’s shoulder. Momo stood
up as well, looking not sure exactly what her next move was, she settled on gentle
questioning, “Mina, did I make you feel uncomfortable?” Mina nodded. “I’m sorry, I didn’t
mean to. I won’t do it again, I promise.”

The child’s head popped up, confusion was written all over, “Pinky promise?”

Momo has never stuck out her pinky so fast in her life, but soon Mina was grasping it with
her own, a sense of relief washing over all three of them. Momo let go quickly, “You know if
I, or Sana, or anyone makes you uncomfortable then you should tell them what they did and
that they should stop so they know.”

“Okay.”

“We should probably head home now anyway, Mina needs to go to sleep.” Sana cut in,
waiting as Mina waved a soft goodbye to Grumpy and Momo, before letting Momo lead
them out of the house. Momo still looked troubled, as she opened the door for them, “I’ll text
you.”

“Drive safe.”

There was something off the rest of the way home, Mina was distracted, staring out the
window of the car when she would usually be talking or singing along to the music. Sana was
left with the overwhelming feeling that there was something, but she wasn’t sure if her heart
could take whatever it was.
 Chapter 6

Tzuyu’s house always felt like a paradise.

It wasn’t necessarily grand, just a small ranch tucked away a few streets away from the
school the girls attended, but it made up for it with atmosphere. The house painted a light tan
inside, with dark brown flooring and white furniture. Family photos covered the walls,
ranging from when Tzuyu first came to them, to Mina and Tzuyu on their first day of
kindergarten. Both kids were extremely shy, but somehow they found each other that day and
had been friends ever since. Some of Mina’s drawings were even up on the fridge,
sandwiched between Tzuyu’s near-perfect report card and certificates of achievement. Mina
used to get sad when she looked at their fridge, her mother would never put her stuff on their
fridge. Her mother only cared about her when she wanted something. Maybe she would draw
a picture to put up on Sana’s fridge, Sana might let her.

Tzuyu also had a dog, Gucci. Well, Tzuyu really had two, but Wootzu was ugly and mean so
she pretended he didn’t exist. And she also really liked Tzuyu’s parents, they were really nice
and gave her snacks and food. Sometimes Tzuyu would bring her food to eat at school,
sometimes Mina would starve between her visits to the Son household, not that she ever told
them. Sana had dropped her off a few hours earlier, and they were already ready for bed,
coloring on the floor of Tzuyu’s bedroom.

Tzuyu wasn’t a good artist, but hey neither was Mina, so they both liked to fill in coloring
books. Tzuyu had a brand new coloring book that she was so excited to share with Mina, this
one was of different breeds of dogs. She had gotten it as a reward for her grades this
semester, choosing a coloring book because Mina liked to do them when she would sneak
over at night. If Mina was upset, Tzuyu would pull out some colored pencils and a page of
the paper as they laid on the floor and talked about what upset her. Mina would do the same
when Tzuyu was upset as well. Mina had picked a small dachshund that she was focused on
coloring light tan, Tzuyu a fluffy golden retriever she was shading in pink.

“Did you do the math homework last night?” Mina asked, reaching over to grab a green
pencil to coloring in the grass, “I had a hard time.”

“Yeah, did you do the counting thing Ms.Park had taught us?”
“I did, but I was confused.”

“You’ll get it.” Tzuyu smiled, picking up a blue, “Are you still with that lady that picks you
up after school?”

“Yes,” Mina smiled, “I am, isn’t she so cool? Did you see her badge yesterday?”

“I did!” Tzuyu matched Mina’s tone, getting excited herself, “Does she really work with
Scooby-Doo?”

“I think so! She said there’s a dog at her work, it has to be Scooby!”

“We need to go to meet him!”

“I’ll ask her if we can.” Mina smiled, putting down the green.

“You don’t cry anymore, I’m happy,” Tzuyu commented, “It made me sad when you cried.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay!” Tzuyu reached over to take the green from Mina’s side of the pile, “Mommy said
it’s good when people cry, something about letting the bad out. Oh! Mommy wanted me to
ask you if you still wanted some of my old clothes, I just got some new ones so you can have
that red sweater you like!”

“I’m good, I have new clothes now too!” Mina stood up, pointing to the fluffy pajamas she
was wearing, “Look, now we are the same!”
“Is the nice lady coming to parents’ day? Or is your mommy going to come?” Tzuyu looked
down at her now finished drawing. It looked like a rainbow had thrown up on, perfect.

“I didn’t ask, I might just be alone.”

“You can have one of my moms. They both say that you are part of the family.”

“I know, I like your moms.”

“Me too.” Tzuyu suddenly clapped, standing up and dug through her closet. She came out
with a pack of crayons and a small blue notepad, “My mommy told me when you left you
couldn’t bring your stuff with you, so I bought you a new journal! I know you drew stuff in
your old one, but now you can draw more!”

Tzuyu pressed the items into Mina’s hands, smiling at her. It had been so unexpected, so
random that Mina was left wondering what to say or even do, she just settled on a small
thank you, flipping through the pages. She opened the box and handed Tzuyu a crayon, “Do
you want to fill in the first page with me?” Mina had never let anyone touch her journal
before, one time when Tzuyu had moved it she had started crying and got so angry she
wouldn’t talk to her for two days, it was easy to imagine how shocked Tzuyu was at the
proposition. The youngest was quick to nod along, helping Mina draw a small picture of their
sleepover.

***

When Momo had texted her about an ultra-romantic, very special time, followed by another
text for her to wear sneakers and comfortable clothing, Sana wasn’t sure what the hell the
woman was up to this time. But out of all the possibilities, hiking was not one of the
scenarios that Sana had thought of. But here Momo was, excitedly smiling at her as they
started to walk down the trail, alone. It was almost nine at night, why were they going to
walk through the woods was beyond her, it really just felt like the setup to a bad horror
movie. But Momo looked excited, so Sana would shut up and just deal with it.

“Long day?” Sana asked, watching as Momo yawned for what must’ve been the seventh time
since they started their walk.
“Just a lot of paperwork, work decided it would be fun to give me two extra cases.”

“Paperwork is the enemy.”

“If I knew how much of it I would have to do, I might have decided on a different career
path.”

“Like what?”

“A chef.”

The image of Hiari Momo, in a white chef’s hat running around a kitchen threatened to make
Sana burst out laughing. Only Momo. “I don’t know if I could picture that.”

“Listen, imagine me, a sushi bar, and I could cook for you every night. No paperwork, just
fish.”

“Speaking of fish, I won tickets to the aquarium at work in a raffle,” Sana hummed, “ I just
thought Mina would like to see the fish, she seems like she would. It’s for tomorrow if you
want to come.”

She turned to Momo, trying not to let it show how hopeful she was. She could see Momo
trying to check her mental calendar, before sighing, “I have court tomorrow, I can’t.” Momo
shrugged, “That’s probably best though, I don’t think Mina wants to see me anyway. I don’t
want to stress her out.”

Sana took a second, Momo was right but she was wrong at the same time. It was becoming
increasingly clear Mina had very strict boundaries; she only wanted to be touched when she
initiated touch, she didn’t like when people were loud or invaded her space, she got scared
around people she didn’t know or Sana didn’t properly introduce her to. While Mina had
these boundaries and enforced them for herself, she wasn’t very transparent on what they
were exactly. Maybe it was because she was scared of speaking her mind, or maybe she
herself just didn’t realize she had them, Sana couldn’t be sure. But Momo had no idea, and no
one could have expected her to know. Mina was fond of Momo, that was for sure, but Momo
had definitely put stress on the child that Sana wasn’t sure Mina knew exactly how to handle.
Mina seemed to have gotten over whatever it was that Momo did that freaked her out so bad,
satisfied and reassured that Momo had pinky promised to not do it again, “She’s not mad at
you, I think you saved yourself with that pinky promise.”

“I’ve felt so bad ever since then, I really had no idea.”

“I know.” Sana hummed, “When we got home the other night she was so scared that I was
mad at her.”

“Why would you be mad at her?”

“I have no idea.”

“I’ve started working on her case a bit,” Momo shook her head, releasing a heavy sigh, “It’s a
lot. The house was disgusting, there was absolutely no food in it, and we think Mina was
sleeping in a suitcase because there wasn’t a mattress in the entire house. Her mom has traces
of heroin in her system, I mean she was high out of her mind when police arrived, servicing a
man for her fix. Our current theory is that she was involved in prostitution of some kind, and
that’s why Mina was wandering around that late. I have no idea if a father is even in the
picture, but it’s just- This isn’t even all of it. We need witness statements, we need to bring
Mina in for questioning and court. I know there’s more, but I’m scared to actually know.”

The pain in Momo’s voice as she relayed the information cut deep, the woman’s shoulders
sagging and she kept her head down as they kept walking. Sana wasn’t exactly sure what she
felt at that moment, anger, sadness, a combination of both. “When do you need me to bring
Mina in?”

“Maybe a week or two? You might have to be called in to testify as well, mostly on what you
saw that night, and if Mina says anything to you that she refuses to tell to the prosecutor or
say in court, we may need you to tell that information as well.”
The somber tone that settled over them just didn’t sit right with Sana. That was the nature of
their jobs, heavy, and emotionally taxing. They both had chosen to go into fields that put
them right front in center to some of the worst of humanity, and it hit different was someone
you knew. Sana playfully elbowed Momo, getting the woman to look at her before offering
her a smile. Slowly Momo returned it, reaching down to hold the detective’s hand.

The beauty of the forest at night was truly breathtaking. The full moon lit the path up enough
they could see, painting the entire world in a dark blue. The crickets cried and sung, along
with a few birds that haven’t gone to sleep yet. It was a bit chilly, but nothing her coat
couldn’t protect her from. She could feel Momo’s thumb brushing up against her own before
the woman suddenly bent over plucking something from the ground. She stood back up,
pressing a few buckwheat flowers into Sana’s hand. The detective found herself gripping
onto them, before reaching down to pluck a small blue flower and gave it to Momo.

Sana hasn’t felt like this in a while. This fluttery feeling that made every nerve feel
electrified, that made her stomach do flips. Hirai Momo what are you doing to her?
 Chapter 7

“Ms.Sana?”

“Just Sana.”

Mina ignored her yet again, gripping onto Sana’s hand a bit tighter as they shuffled down the
small line. It was mid-afternoon and the aquarium was starting to get a bit busy, it wasn’t that
bad just more people than both Sana and Mina were used to. The detective could tell the child
was starting to get a bit nervous, gripping onto Peng like if she let go she would never see
him again. Mina was wearing a slightly larger crewneck hoodie, jeans, and her hair tied up in
a messy ponytail. Sana mimicked her in outfit, wearing her old Jeju university sweatshirt and
a pair of jeans, her hair down. “Where are we?”

“We are at an aquarium!” Sana cheered, motioning to the entrance. Mina seemed less than
enthused, furrowing her brow, “It’s where fish live.”

“Fish?” Mina looked at the building and then back at Sana, “But fish live in the ocean.”

“That’s true, but they also live in that building. So we’re going to go say hi to them and then
maybe feed the rays, doesn’t that sound fun?” Sana asked, crouching down giving the girl a
smile. Mina seemed to think it over, a smile spreading across her face as she nodded her head
eventually. Sana should really be used to it by now, but it still took her by surprise when
Mina would wrap her arms around her, hugging tight. She hugged back, before standing up,
digging the two tickets out of her pants. After giving the tickets and getting two blue wrist
bands, they were in.

Sana had been to this aquarium before, it was just big enough to have a lot of exhibits but
small enough not to be overwhelming. Mina reached up like she wanted to be picked up, so
Sana obliged. picking up the girl and placed her on her hip, Peng under Mina’s arm. They
walked through the entrance, and Sana turned to watch as Mina took in the sight. Her mouth
slightly open as she looked at all the tanks and size of it. She looked up at the ceiling, where
the bones of a blue whale were hanging mouth open at the size of it. Sana took them over to
one of the big tropical tanks.
Mina had both hands wrapped around her neck, staring up in wonder at the different fish. A
little yellow fish swam by, and Mina couldn’t help the little gasp of amazement squirming a
little in Sana’s arms as she leaned in to get a closer look. The tank was pretty, Sana had to
admit, but the look of just pure joy on Mina’s face shined brighter than any of the fish in the
tank. She had this big smile on her face that Sana had never seen before, her eyes crinkled
slightly, a little sliver of gums showing as she giggled and watched the fish swim. Completely
carefree, just like any kid her age should act.

It almost choked Sana up a little.

“Satang! Look at that one!” Mina pointed to a big turtle swimming by, “It’s a turtle!”

The child didn’t realize Sana was currently having heart palpitations over the nickname. Sana
looked in the direction that Mina was pointing at, humming and following along with every
new fish Mina pointed out in wonder. Eventually, she wanted to be let down, and Sana
obliged, letting Mina lead her through the building, stopping to stare at particularly
interesting fish.

Much to the detective’s dismay, Mina seemed to be enamored by a big tank full of sharks.
Pressing her hands up to the glass, looking up into the tank with her big wide eyes, “Sana!
Sana! Look!”

“I’m looking alright.”

“Aren’t they so cute!” Mina gushed, turning back to see if Sana was looking before locking
her gaze back into the tank, “Look at their little teeth! And their lips, and how they swim!”

“So cute,” Sana relayed, a bit unsure. Sharks were in Sana’s top five things that kept her out
of the ocean, they weren’t cute, they were downright terrifying. But Mina was excited, so
Sana would suck it up and if that means Mina still got to be happy. What she didn’t expect
was for Mina to put both hands above her head and wiggle a little bit, as if she was a shark. It
was just so out of nowhere, the laughter that was coming out of Sana was loud and high-
pitched, holding her stomach as Mina started to laugh along with her. “What was that?”
“That’s what sharks do!”

“I guess it is.”

“Woah! Look at this!” Mina gasped, grasping onto to Sana’s hand to pull her over to where
two Japanese spider crabs were chilling in their tank. Again Mina just watched them slowly
crawl with wide fascinated eyes, urging for Sana to look along as well.

The most interesting part of their day came when they decided to feed some rays. The worker
gave them a few pieces of fish (Sana told Mina it was just food, she didn’t have the heart to
see Mina’s heartbroken expression at her fish friends being eaten.) All they had to hold it and
the ray would come up and suck it out of their hand. Mina was terrified, to say the least,
convinced the ray was going to bite her.

Sana took a piece of food and reached into the tank, Mina watching anxiously as a ray swam
over her hand and then away, Sana still had her hand but no food. Immediately Mina was
thrusting her own fish into the tank, shaking her fist a bit trying to attract the ray over to her.
A ray swam over, at the food, and Mina was squealing with excitement, placing another piece
into the tank watching as the rays would swim along the bottom.

After they ran out of fish, next was the penguins. Watching as Mina held up her plushie to the
penguins in the enclosure did things to Sana’s heart. She would hold Peng up and shake him a
bit, laughing along as the penguins would walk or jump into the water. “Look at them Sana!”

“I’m looking.”

“They’re so cute!” Mina cooed, “Look at the little one.”

Mina eventually calmed down, hugging Sana’s thigh as they sat there watching the penguins
swim and flop around in the water. Sana wonders the last time Mina was like this, just a
normal carefree dance. Sure Mina had her moments, but she always looked like she had
something on her mind, like there was something bothering her so much that she couldn’t
enjoy things fully. But right now, she just looked so happy, so innocent, so carefree, Sana
didn’t want to leave. But they had to go, and even though Mina was pouting, she didn’t throw
a fit letting Sana lead her out of the aquarium to the car. Completely unaware that Sana had
one last surprise planned.

She pulled over at an ice cream place near their place, watching in the rearview mirror as
Mina’s face lit up once more. They walked in, ordered their ice cream, Sana got cherry, Mina
strawberry. They got their orders and sat at a booth near the back, both of them taking either
side. Sana just picked at her ice cream, watching as Mina drew diligently in a baby blue
notebook with a pack of Crayola crayons. Mina was holding it out of her view, looking up at
Sana every so often before burying herself back into whatever she's doing or taking a bit of
her ice cream.

“What’s this?” Sana asked, motioning at the small book with her spoon.

Mina took a deep breath, looking at her book, then up at Sana who just waited patiently. After
a few seconds of careful contemplation, she picked up the journal and flipped it around so
Sana could see what she was coloring. There were two figures holding hands, both female
Sana assumed from the long hair coming off the stick figures, a small heart above their heads.
The rest of the page was filled with different colored fish, and a few blobs that Sana assumed
were sharks. On the edge of the page was a penguin that Mina hadn’t finished yet, but the
real draw of the piece was the smiles on everyone’s faces. Both the stick figures and all the
fish had big smiles on their faces. “Look, that’s you and me. And these are the fish we saw
today! Look here’s the yellow one and the sharks, and I was drawing the penguin!”

“That’s really good!” Sana praised, and she swore Mina was about to explode with
excitement. A wide smile spread across her face, bouncing up and down in her seat.

“Can we put it on the fridge when we get home?”

“Of course we can!”

“Really? Do you mean it?”

“Yes, as soon as we get home I will put it on the fridge so everyone can see when they come
over.” Sana assured, “Where’d you get that anyways?”

“Tzuyu gave it to me because my old journal was with my mommy.”

“Do you want to show me any more drawings in it that you want me to put on the fridge?”
Sana asked, giggling at how almost immediately Mina was running over to her side of the
booth, laying the journal flat on the table. The first page was a drawing of two girls at a
sleepover, Mina and Tzuyu Sana guessed, they were both smiling and had pencils in their
hands. The second page was a drawing of an older figure with a stethoscope on listening to a
penguin, Sana guessed it was Momo. The third page was a bit more concerning, a figure
crying as a dark figure stood next to her. Sana had no idea what to make of it, Mina flipped
the page too fast for her to try and understand. She looked over at the younger girl seemed
almost embarrassed at the page. The fourth page was of what Sana assumed to be her, a dog
that looked suspiciously like Scooby-Doo standing next to her, the figure was wearing a
police uniform and a small blue line down the page separated her and a small child figure
from hastily drawn black on the other side. The fifth page took breath away from Sana’s
chest, it was near identical to the third page, but this time it was the figure Sana learned to be
her where the dark figure was standing and the child figure was smiling and happy. There
were little hearts around the page, and the Sana figure had a cape and a police badge on her
chest.

“I want to put this one up too.” Mina hummed pointing at the page.

“Okay, we can.” She felt Mina lean up against her, closing the book handing it back to Mina.

“I need to tell you about something.” Mina sounded nervous, looking down at her feet that
she swung softly back and forth.

“What’s the matter?”

“We have parent day next week and will you come? I don’t want to be the only one there
without anyone, Tzuyu is bringing her moms, and Lucas is bringing his dads, and Lisa has
her mom coming, so does Yeri. I know I didn’t ask you before so you’re probably busy, but-”
“I’ll go,” Sana cut her off, Mina immediately looking over at her with confused eyes. Like
she was expecting a rejection.

“Can you bring Momo too?”

“You want Momo to come?”

“Is she mad at me?” Mina asked, “I know I was bad, but I-”

“You weren’t bad Mina.”

“I wasn’t?”

“No, you weren’t. Don’t think you were bad.” Sana's mind was racing, trying to put pieces
together in a way that fit right. She had a few ideas, but she didn't like them. She wanted it to
be something else. Sana was a detective, she should be able to figure this out.

Mina looked at her journal for a second, before looking back up at Sana, still unsure but
nodding her head, “Momo can run fast, and I want to win.”

How Mina could switch from one topic to the other always almost gave Sana whiplash, but
she found herself agreeing. She could take Wednesday off, they only had paperwork that she
could get Jackson to drop off after work. Momo would probably drop everything if she heard
Mina asked for her. Minatozaki Sana was going to make parents' day her bitch. “I think we
will win.”

“I love you Satang!”

 Chapter 8

Mina had not stopped talking all morning, shaking Sana awake as soon as the woman’s alarm
went off, rushing to her own room to get dressed. Throughout their entire room, Mina was
attached to her hip, chatting happily about whatever she would think of that moment. How
she was so energetic blew Sana’s mind taking into consideration the girl had been up most of
the night, too excited to go to sleep. It lasted the entire way to school before they spotted
Momo standing outside the building, patiently waiting for their arrival.

Surprising both of the adults, Mina took off, sprinting full force into Momo’s side hugging
tight. Momo looked comically torn, looking up at Sana for help trying to decide if she wanted
to reach down and hug back or not. Do it. Sana mouthed, Mina already thought Momo was
mad at her because she thought she was bad, not returning Mina’s affection would probably
just hammer that point home in her brain. So Momo obliged, patting Mina on the back a few
times before the girl let go beaming up at her. “Momoring! Did Sana tell you I saw fishies?”

“She did,” Momo held out a hand that Mina grasped almost immediately. Sana was on Mina’s
other side, the kindergartener taking her hand as well, “Did you have fun?”

‘“I did! I wish you came too.”

“I had court that day, sorry honey.”

“Court?”

“I make sure bad guys go to jail,” Momo explained, watching as Mina’s eyes widened darting
back and forth between Sana and Momo.

“Really?

“Of course. Sana catches them and solves the mystery, I put them into jail. We’re a team.”
“I have to tell Tzuyu.”

The classroom was already packed by the time they got in there, parents and children filled
the room, sitting on the multicolored carpet, in the back in small cliques. That made sense,
the parents must have already been introduced to each other throughout the school year so
far. Great for the kids, awful for Sana and Momo who was suddenly hit the crushing
realization that they were completely out of their depth. Mina didn’t seem to care at all,
practically glowing in between the two of them from how happy she was at the moment. The
student led them over to where Tzuyu and her parents were sitting, already engaged in a tiny
group. They all seemed to know who Mina was already, greeting her before looking up at the
couple and scowling. Chaeyoung smiled and ushered them over, pushing over so they could
take a seat.

One mother spoke up first, “You’re her mother? Do you not have any shame-”

“She’s Mina’s foster mother, Joohyun,” Dahyun cut in, watching the fire in Joohyun’s eyes
extinguish a bit, “Mina got put into care a few weeks ago.”

The entire group’s demeanor changed almost immediately, another mother spoke up, “I
thought she was looking a little healthier. Sorry about that, I’m Wendy, and this is my wife
Joohyun, we’re Yeri’s moms. This is Mark and Taeyong, Lucas’ dads. And that is Seulgi,
Sooyoung’s mom.”

Sana just nodded back a quick greeting, as the group went right back into their conversation.
There were three quick observations Sana picked up, one, this seemed to be the gay group.
Whether that was intentional or not was up in the air, but the rest of the room seemed to be
avoiding their small group so Sana had a good suspicion. Two, Mina seemed to absolutely
hate Lucas’s dads, shying away from them as soon as the kids starting playing and they
greeted her. Three, Momo was having the time of her life, slipping naturally into the
conversation with the rest of the parents. Apparently, Momo knew Joohyun a bit, she was a
prosecutor and they had briefly worked together a few years ago, and the woman took full
advantage of it. Sana was always on the more shy side, having a hard time to try and make
friends throughout school and her career.

The kids seemed to get along well, sitting a few feet away in a small circle chatting about
whatever kids liked to chat about these days, giggling and laughing amongst themselves.
Mina seemed comfortable with them, it made her feel a bit relieved she had friends at school.
Yeri and Sooyoung seemed to be the ringleader, roping the other two into whatever they were
doing at the moment.

“Sana,” Dahyun called, gently taking Sana’s attention away from the kids. She was grinning,
“I heard your friends with Scooby-Doo?”

“Huh?” Scooby-Doo? Oh. Wait Mina actually thought she was serious? Sana had only
answered yes because she didn’t have the time to try and explain what exactly she did. Momo
just chuckled next to her, elbowing her playfully, “Does she talk about that a lot?”

“She just mentioned it at dinner when she slept over, it was cute. She is so convinced that
Scooby-Doo is at your work, Tzuyu is too.”

“I’ll talk to her about it.”

“Nah, let them think that. If she misbehaves just threaten to tell Scooby, Tzuyu was throwing
a fit the other night and I told her I was going to tell him and she got her act together quick.”
Chaeyoung smiled, “Plus, sometimes it’s nice for them to believe in something.”

Three quick claps sounded out, followed by the entire class repeating the action. Jihyo was
stood in the front, smiling at the class, “It’s time to move to the games section of our day, so
if we can get back with our parents and move out to the field we can start. ”

Everyone started to get up, so naturally, Sana and Momo were following the crowd. Mina
was by their side in seconds, lifting her arms signaling she wanted to be held. She looked a
bit uncomfortable, there were a lot of people here. Surprisingly Momo obliged first,
crouching down so Mina could climb onto her back. As soon as Mina was secure, she stood
up, smiling at Sana as they started their way to the field. “Satang?”

“Yeah, Mina?”
“We need to win. Yeri keeps saying she is, but you guys catch bad guys. You run fast right?
Can we please win?”

Sana was a goner as soon as Mina turned to look at her with those big puppy dog eyes. She
was going to win no matter what.

That’s why she was waiting on the track as the kids lined up at the starting line. A relay
race, for fun, as Jihyo had made sure to emphasize. Yeah sure. Mina would be starting them
off, giving the baton to Momo, then Sana. A whistle blew, and suddenly about thirty first
graders were running as fast as they could in their direction. It was absolutely terrifying.
Mina was running as fast as her little legs could bring her, being easily outmatched by some
of the taller kids such as Lucas and Tzuyu. But she reached Momo, and the woman took off
like a rocket. The advantage some of the parents had from getting a tiny head start proved to
be not needed, the lawyer had near-perfect form as she quickly made her way to the front of
the pack. Handing Sana the baton, and then the detective was off. Running was the part of her
job she hated the most, why couldn’t criminals just speed walk. Momo put them in a good
position, all Sana had to do was bring home the bacon. She ran so fast, her lungs started to
burn and her legs ached, but she still charged on. Joohyun was the only true competitor she
had, the two of them neck and neck for the last ten feet before Sana remembered Mina’s big
puppy eyes.

Can we win, please?

She had no idea where it came from, but she found some sort of energy deep within her.
Willing herself to go just the littlest bit farther, faster, she closed her eyes and tried her best.
Apparently it was good enough, crossing just before Joohyun. She gradually slowed to a stop,
putting her hands on her knees and wheezing trying to catch her breath. A small body
slammed into her legs immediately, Mina, cheering and hugging onto Sana’s legs. Momo
looked just as tired as she felt, walking over to them trying to catch her breath as well. This
was a great reminder that they were getting old.

“Sana! We won!”

“We did!”

“Thank you!” Before Sana could even say anything back Mina was running off to Momo,
who just started playfully chasing her around. Momo was being cautious, Sana noticed that
quickly, keeping a lot of distance between her and the youngest and not running that fast after
Mina. Mina either didn’t notice or care, squealing in glee as they ran across the field.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier,” Sana turned her attention to a sheepish looking
Joohyun standing next to her holding out a water bottle. Sana accepted it and took a gulp,
“We had another one of these things at the beginning of the school year, and she wasn’t in
good shape. She was so skinny, I’ve never seen a kid that skinny with my own two eyes, and
she just looked sad and scared the entire time. At one point she had to leave because it was
too loud and she started crying, Mark and Tae tried to comfort her but it just made it worse.
Her mother never showed up that day even though she was waiting all day, I just thought you
were her. I didn’t mean to embarrass you or anything.”

“No, it’s okay, I would have done the same thing.”

“Yeri likes Mina a lot, she talks about her all the time. I guess Mina is known throughout the
class as quite the little artist.”

“I learned that recently, she loves to put drawings up on our fridge.”

“I know it can all be stressful, especially a kid like Mina who has problems,” Joohyun
hummed watching along with Sana as Momo finally caught Mina and picked her up as Mina
laughed, “I noticed she has some issues. She’s similar to when we first got Yeri, but Yeri was
much younger so she grew out of it eventually. But it can weigh on you, there’s a support
group for foster mothers that meets on Thursdays nights if you’re interested. We just talk
about some of the problems we’re facing and how to healthily solve them, everyone is very
nice.”

“I’ll think about it.”

There was no need. Mina had to go with Nayeon in two weeks. As that date started to draw
closer, she started to dread it more and more. Nayeon was so excited, asking for pictures and
updates on the student as soon as Sana got to work. She showed pictures of Mina’s room that
they had set up in their house, cooing over some of the decorations they picked out and what
their life would be life when Mina finally came to them. Sana hadn’t seen Nayeon this happy
and excited since her first pregnancy. She hadn’t talked to Mina about it yet, she didn’t have
the heart to. And maybe part of her just didn’t want to, just wanted to keep Mina all to
herself. But she knew she wouldn’t make a good parent, Mina and Nayeon deserved each
other,

After a quick goodbye, she made her way to Momo and Mina. Joining in on their game of
tag. She could feel the other parents watching them, either too tired or too old to play with
their kids like that, but she didn’t care. Mina was laughing, chasing her clumsily. This was
the first time she had seen Mina without Peng in her grasp since she started living with her.
Like a safety blanket that Mina is trying to rid herself of.

They lost the rest of the events, but Mina didn’t seem to mind. She seemed over the moon
that Momo and Sana were just there in general. They went back to Sana’s apartment
afterward, setting camp in the kitchen. A few pieces of computer paper and a pack of crayons
were laid out on the table between them, all three of them drawing. Turns out, Momo was a
horrible artist. Sana had absolutely no idea what her designs were supposed to be, but Momo
paid no worry to that. Mina was drawing a picture of all three of them in her journal, a small
scene from earlier in the day. Sana leaned over her to look at the drawing before pressing a
small kiss to her cheek, doing the same with Momo. “You were so good today Mina.”

“I was..good?” Mina’s tone had something that Sana couldn’t exactly distinguish. It fell
somewhere between shock and disbelief. She stopped drawing and looked up at Sana.

“You’re always good.” Momo chimed in, sticking out her tongue a bit as she tried to
concentrate on her drawing.

“But...I didn’t…” Mina sounded so lost, before her expression hardened a bit, “No.”

“Huh?”

“No. I don’t want to!”

“What are you talking about?” Sana questioned, looking over at Momo who seemed just as
puzzled, “You don’t want to what?”
Knock Knock Knock

Breaking the tension, Sana looked over at the front door realization dawning on her. Jackson
had to pick up those files from her for court the next day. She motioned for the girls to wait
for a second, walking over to the door and opened it seeing a surprisingly energetic Jackson
standing on the other side. “Hello Minatozaki, I come requesting files.”

“I know,” Sana shook her head at him. The guy was honestly a huge puppy, almost as bad as
Nayeon. Almost. She motioned him inside, letting him walk past her into the hallway. He
waved a small hello to Momo and Mina sitting at the kitchen table. “They’re in my room, I’ll
grab them real quick. I got distracted.”

“No worries, did you guys have fun today? Nayeon has been whining about wanting pictures
all day. Usually, I can put up with it, but we were literally at a crime scene.”

“She’s like that.” Sana hummed, rushing off to her room quickly, spotting the small stacks of
files sitting on her desk. She made her way to grab them before Mina’s cries started sounding
through the apartment. She snatched them up and made her way back just as quickly, and
handed them to a scared-looking Jackson.

“She just started crying, I didn’t even do anything!”

‘She doesn’t like people coming over. She cried when Momo came over for the first time
too.” Sana sighed, giving him the files, “Mina, baby, it’s okay. He works with Scooby-Doo
too?”

This seemed to catch her off guard, her cries quieting a bit, “He does?”

“Mhmm, right Jackson?”

“Right! Scooby and I are pals!”

As unconvincing as that sounded, Mina seemed to calm down a bit, still eyeing him
suspiciously. Everything in the girl’s body language screamed discomfort, still sniffling and
trying to calm herself down. Jackson just flipped through the file, waved goodbye and left.
Leaving Mina visibly stunned.

Late that night when Mina quietly slipped next to her in bed, Sana stirred like usual. Keeping
her eyes closed and tried to slip back into unconsciousness, Mina would try to wake her up if
she needed her. Mina seemed to hold her a bit tighter tonight, gripping tiny fingers into
Sana’s shirt. It was so quiet Sana almost didn’t hear it, and she had no idea what it meant or
how she was supposed to feel about it.

“Why are you so nice to me? I was good by doing nothing?” Mina laid her head on Sana’s
arm, “Thank you, I love you Satang.”
 Chapter 9

This was a good idea. At least that was what Sana was trying to convince herself as she and
Mina walked hand in hand to the playground down the street. Jihyo had suggested this, start
to introduce Nayeon and Jeongyeon into Mina’s life. For what it was worth Mina was being
very well behaved right now, walking alongside Sana, only stopping twice to look at a few
bugs on the street.

It was fairly chilly out, Sana tugging on her old university jacket, and making Mina wear a
heavy turtleneck and a sweatshirt. Even still with the heavy layers that were slightly
constricting the child’s movements, the detective was concerned she would be cold. There
was a dark grey overcast, Nayeon couldn’t have picked a worse day to go to the playground.
Momo had texted she got there a few minutes early, and Jeongyeon had called her when they
were a couple of minutes away, so everyone was waiting on Sana. Usually, she would be on
time, but Sana didn’t take into consideration that Mina was a bit slower than she was.

“We’re meeting my friends,” Sana told her as they were turning a corner, the playground now
in sight, “Remember you slept over their house a few weeks ago.”

“The nice ones with a puppy?”

“Right Minari.”

“Are they bringing Kookeu?”

“I don’t think so.”

“I like your friends,” Mina hummed, her tone dipping like she was going to say something
else. She decided against it, going quiet as they walked up to the park.

Sure enough, everyone was already there, and Mina took off to great Momo, who in turn
seemed just as excited to see her as well. Nayeon and Jeonyeon were setting up a bag of food
at one of the picnic tables near the edge of the park. With Mina occupied, Sana walked up to
them, placing her arms on their shoulders, “Hey losers.”

Jeongyeon just smiled at her, while Nayeon immediately whipped around and smiled when
she saw Mina and Momo starting to play together on one of the swings near the group. Mina
was sat, gripping the chains of the swing as Momo gently pushed her. “She’s so cute.”

“I know, you say that every time you see her Nay.”

“It’s because it’s the truth.”

“I take it you want to go play with her?” Sana asked, chuckling at how eager Nayeon was to
go start to play with the kid.

With perfect timing, Mina ran back over to the group, gently pulling on Sana’s sleeve,
Momo standing right next to her, “Let’s go play with Momo, Sana!” She looked so excited,
Sana almost wanted to go say yes and run with Mina through the small playset, but Nayeon
just looked so eager and so happy to, Sana found herself dramatically putting her hand on her
back.

“Ow, Mina, my back.”

“What’s wrong?” Mina stopped pulling, sounding concerned as Sana sat down at the picnic
table, “Are you okay?”

“My back hurts, I must have pulled it getting out of bed this morning. Maybe you should ask
Nayeon if she wants to play?” Sana suggested. The youngest seemed a bit hesitant before
turning to Nayeon.

“Do you want to play with me and Momo?”

“Of course!” Nayeon gushed, reaching over into the bag Jeongyeon and her brought pulling
out a green playground ball, “Do you want to play catch?”

Mina seemed to not like that suggestion one bit, diving behind Momo, shaking her head
adamantly until Nayeon seemed to get the memo and put the ball away. Only then did Mina
reappear, it struck Sana as odd. The three of them went over to the slides, leaving Jeongyeon
and Sana at the table.

“Nayeon is over the moon,” Jeongyeon commented, watching as Mina slid down into Momo
and Nayeon’s waiting arms.

“What about you?”

“I’m just happy she’s happy. It’s been rough since we lost the baby.”

“I know.”

“I think she’s hoping Mina can make up for it, plus she loves kids.” Jeongyeon and her were
never as close as Sana was with Nayeon. There were some moments the lawyer leveled with
her, this seemed to be one of those moments.

“She does love kids.”

“You and Momo seem to be very close.” Jeongyeon smirked over at her, “Just admit it, I’m
the best matchmaker in the world.”

“You’re not bad.”

“Woah! Did you just agree with me?”

“Don’t test your luck, you’re not going to hear it again.”

The two went quiet as they watched the trio play. Things were going well until Mina
faceplanted into the dirt. She was chasing Nayeon from the swings to the playset when she
stepped on her own shoelace, sending her tumbling down onto the ground. Nayeon stopped
almost immediately, picking up the girl and placed her back on her feet, checking for injuries.
Aside from lightly skinned palms and a rip in her sweatshirt, the kid was fine. Then she
started wailing, running over to Sana leaving Nayeon standing there confused.

“What’s the matter?” Sana asked, frowning as she did a quick check of Mina. She seemed
fine, but the girl just kept crying. Maybe she scared herself, or maybe her hands actually did
hurt. But the realization came when Mina pointed at the rip on her jacket. “It’s just a tiny
rip.”

Still, Mina was climbing her way onto Sana’s lap, trying to latch onto the detective. Why was
she so upset over a sweatshirt? It’s not like she didn’t have any others- oh. It was new. Well,
all of Mina’s clothing was new, but Sana was sure that Mina had never had new clothes in her
life before. Mina hadn’t been very vocal about her love for her new clothes to Sana, but she
had a good feeling the kindergartener was very appreciative of it. Even on parent’s day,
Tzuyu had complimented her on her outfit and Mina looked like she logged out for a second.
Ruining something like that was probably upsetting for her.

The detective just let her hold onto her, patting her on the back gently until she started to
calm down. Mina would still sniffle every one and then, looking sadly at the rip on the
sleeve, but at least she wasn’t full-blown crying anymore. “I can fix it when we go home if
you want.”

“You can?” Mina asked, still pouting.

“Of course,” Sana reassured, playfully ruffling her hair.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I want to eat,” Jeongyeon announced, taking out the
sandwiches she prepared (bought) for everyone. She passed them around, the same order for
everyone; ham and cheese.
“Mina, do you want to come over here and eat with me?” Nayeon asked, eyes hopeful,
patting the seat next to her. Mina just shook her head as she buried herself deeper into Sana’s
side.

It was really starting to get cold out, maybe now that they weren’t moving it was more a
parent or the temperature suddenly dropped but Sana could tell Mina was starting to get cold.
The girl was shivering into her side, trying to eat her sandwich. With a sigh, Sana unzipped
her coat, wrapping it around the kid, and the sandwich in her hands, so only her head was out.
Mina was still shaking slightly, but Sana couldn’t tell if it was from nerves or the cold. There
were a good amount of people here, granted she knew them all, they were being kind of loud.
Mina pressed back into her, happily munching on her sandwich occasionally holding it up
and offering Sana a bite.

“So you’re house is almost done?” Momo asked, passing Jeongyeon a can of lemonade from
her bag, “I still can’t believe Jeong ruined the place.”

“I did not!”

“You tried to fix a leaky pipe and ended up breaking all of the pipes in the kitchen. I’m
blaming it on you.”

“Other than the kitchen the house is pretty much fully recovered,” Nayeon quipped, “Jeong
finally got those couches she wanted.”

“Yeah, we just finished redoing the nursery too.” Jeongyeon took a sip, surprising Sana with
how casually she could say that. They didn’t talk about the nursery, if they had to mention it
they would call the room the spare room but never nursery. She could see Nayeon stiffen a bit
next to Jeongyeon, before relaxing. Maybe Nayeon was finally starting to heal. Nayeon never
mentioned the pregnancy, not even to Jeongyeon. When she lost the baby, Sana had never
seen someone looked so wrecked. It was only five months in, but one bad day at work was all
that she needed to lose the new love of her life. They knew it was dangerous, yet Nayeon
insisted on chasing after him. Sana still felt responsible, she should have stopped her.

“It’s cute,” Momo cooed, swiping across the pictures that Jeongyeon was showing her,
holding up the phone so Mina could see, “What do you think Mi?”
The kid took a few moments looking at it and then nodded, “I like it too.”

“What if you got to stay there?” Sana asked, watching a frown start to form across Mina’s
face, “Then you could have it all to yourself.”

“No, I’m okay.”

Huh? The adults definitely did not think Mina would phrase it like that. The child looked
unbothered, taking another bite of her sandwich. “Are you sure?”

“Mhm. I like my room.” Mina hummed, looking at Sana and smiling. She looked so calm,
content in Sana’s jacket, like this was the happiest the kid has ever been. Fuck, this wasn’t
good. A crushing realization started to weigh down on the detective, she may be in over her
head on this one.

***

Momo and Mina were being too quiet. Sana was sure they were up to no good. After Mina
had showered and changed into pajamas, Momo had volunteered to put Mina to bed. Saying
that maybe the reason Mina wouldn’t sleep in her own bed was that she didn’t feel
comfortable in there yet. That was nearly a half-hour ago, and there was no laughter, none of
Mina’s squeals, just silence. Quietly Sana got off the couch where she was waiting, sneaking
down the hall.

She peaked into the crack of the door, taking in the sight. Momo and Mina were both lying in
bed, Mina curled up on the older woman’s chest, Peng in her grasp, watching Momo flip
through a book with heavy eyes. It was obvious the child was trying to fight off sleep,
rubbing her eyes as Momo flipped to the next page. The cover of the book had a small
penguin holding up a magnifying glass on it, with the title, “Detective Penguin’s big
adventure.” Momo would occasionally stroke Mina’s hair, reading the book out in a soft
voice.

“Detective Penguin looked up and down, but he couldn’t find Mr.Fish. He looked in igloos,
under the snow, he even asked Mr.Polar Bear, but still no answer.” Momo read, flipping a
page switching to a new lower voice, “I don’t know Detective Penguin! I haven’t seen
Mr.Fish since our last swim together. You should check with Mrs.Fox.”

Sana couldn’t fight off the smile that spread over her face as she watched the scene. Mina’s
head kept falling down a bit before jerking awake, obvious she wanted to finish the book.
This was the calmest she had seen Mina in her own room, usually putting her to bed was a
nightmare, the youngest whining that she wanted to sleep with Sana. Sana would tell her to
try sleeping in her own bed, but inevitably the child would crawl in her bed an hour later.
Momo flipped to another page, “So Detective Penguin set off to see Mrs.Fox, he waddled and
swam until he saw her in her house.”

“Satang!” Mina had spotted her, perking up from behind the book, making small grabby
hands at the woman. Sana opened the door and let it close behind her, wordlessly crawling
and laying down on Mina’s other side. She let her hand take Momo’s place, running her
fingers through Mina’s hair. Just like that, Mina was back to melting at the attention, eyes
starting to slip close.

“Mrs.Fox, have you seen Mr.Fish?” Momo read, “No, Detective Penguin, I have not!” The
way Momo’s voice would change between characters made Sana’s heart flutter. Momo
herself sounded calm and relaxed, using her now free hand to reach over and grab Sana’s
between flipping pages. “Detective Penguin wanted to find his friend, he felt sad.”

“She’s out,” Sana whispered, looking down at the now fully asleep form of Mina. Momo
carefully maneuvered so she could look too, a quiet chuckle escaping when she saw. Gently
they detached Mina from them, making sure she was all tucked in before turning off the lamp
and leaving the room.

“Maybe she’ll spend the night in there now.” Momo hummed as they made their way back to
the living room. She sat down on the couch, Sana plopping next to her. This felt too natural.
Momo stretched into the couch, yawning slightly.

“Did you buy her that book? I haven’t seen it before.”

“Yeah, I was out the other day and saw it. I thought she would love it.” So Momo thought
about them even when they weren’t around. Sana filed that away mentally for later.
Sana wasn’t sure what exactly came over her, but the next thing she knew she was on
Momo’s lap, lips connected. Momo didn’t seem to mind, leaning back into the couch a bit as
Sana got herself straddling her. It was hot, messy, and didn’t fail to blow Sana’s mind. Momo
ran a hand under her shirt, goosebumps appearing wherever Momo’s hand glided over
smooth skin. Only one thing flashed through Sana’s mind, a blaring red blinking alarm;
Damn Minatozaki, you’re starting to fall, aren’t you?
 Chapter 10
Chapter Notes

major trigger warning for this chapter,

please read at your own risk

Mina seemed pissed the entire day, and Sana had no idea why.

It started with a phone call from Jihyo, saying that Mina and one of the other kids in her class
got into a little fight. Just verbal and nothing serious, but Mina got a star taken away because
of it and she was mad. Sana didn’t believe her, that was until Mina came out of school,
scowling the entire ride home.

She wouldn’t say what they fought about or why she was so mad in the first place, but the
attitude was still there. Huffing and puffing when Sana asked her to do her homework,
getting so angry when she couldn’t figure out what the answer was in math. Sana tried to
help, but it was clear Mina wanted her to leave her alone. So she did. She just let her be as
she heated up dinner, premade food Momo had left in their fridge saying that Mina shouldn’t
be growing up on takeout. Sana would beg to differ.

The anger seemed to fade away with dinner though, Mina enjoying the food and Sana could
almost physically see the tension leave her body with each bite. Mina liked to eat, Sana could
place her bets on it being because she used to not have a constant food supply and now when
Mina gets to eat she feels relieved. She let Mina color at the table during dinner, drawing
whatever was bothering her so much in her little blue journal as she did the dishes.

Testing her luck, Sana tried to make conversation with the kindergarten, “You know Momo
made that for you?”

“I like Momo, she’s a nice friend.” Mina hummed, reaching to pick up a new crayon,
“Mommy’s friends weren’t nice like her.”
Sana paused for a second, before continuing to scrub the plate that was in her hands. Why
was Mina bringing that up now? Is that what she’s been thinking about all afternoon? She
needed to keep Mina calm if she wanted any information from her if Sana started to get too
emotional Mina would pick up on that and clam up. Make it seem like a conversation, casual,
but give support. Make her feel heard, and that she can trust you. Sana took a breath, “Why
weren’t they nice?”

Mina went quiet. Sana couldn’t tell if she was contemplating a response or trying to figure
out a way to get out of this conversation. After what felt like ages, she spoke up again, soft
and unsure like she was testing new waters and was scared of what she would find, “They
used to want to play games, I didn’t like them. One used to want to play catch but would
throw the ball really hard and it hurt.”

The detective thought back to the circular bruise on Mina’s ribs the day they took evidence
pictures, and Mina’s refusal to play catch in the park. That was starting to make sense. But
there were so many more questions Sana had. “That’s so mean, I’m sorry he would do that to
you.”

“He wasn’t that bad.” Mina sounded sad, “Some were worse.” Sana could practically hear the
gears in Mina’s head turning, trying to figure out what she should do. Sensing this was the
right timing, she turned off the sink and dried her hands on her pants, taking a seat opposite
of Sana at the table. “The ones who brought mommy her medicine were scary.”

Mina wouldn’t look at her. Sana tried to iron her facial muscles, not let the fear that was
starting to fester in her stomach show. “Yeah? Why?”

“They were mean to mommy, she would have to help them for them to give her medicine.
One time they didn’t-” Mina trailed off, the crayon stopping its motions on the paper.
“Mommy was so scary that week. I tried to tell Ms.Park, but she didn’t understand me.”

Mina’s been screaming for help this whole time. That was starting to become glaringly
obvious. For some reason, she wouldn’t say what was wrong but would say or do other things
to try and hint at what was bothering her. Had Sana not been listening? She tried. If this was
how Mina would tell her, Sana would listen. She tried to frame her next question in a way
that would let Mina answer without breaking an oath of secrecy she still lived by, “Why did
they not give her, her medicine? You need to give sick people medicine, how could they not
do that?”
“They wanted something she wouldn’t help them with.” Mina put down the crayon in her
hand, looking up at Sana. She looked so stressed like she wasn’t fully there in the moment,
Sana almost wanted to drop the whole thing.

“But she gave them it so she could get her medicine.” Sana summarized, watching as Mina
dipped her head down, refusing to look Sana in the eye. “She gave them the help, didn’t she
Mina?”

It was so quiet, Sana almost didn’t hear her, “yes.”

Sana felt her jaw clench, “They hurt you, didn’t they.”

“yes.” Mina was shaking.

“They made you help them.”

“I didn’t want to!” Mina exclaimed suddenly, looking up tears streaming down her cheeks.
Her expression, Sana just couldn’t decipher; a terrifying combination of shame, fear, and
anger. “I just wanted to be good for mommy!”

The detective felt like she was going to throw up. What did that mean? She didn’t need Mina
to tell her explicitly, she knew what Mina was trying to imply. Now wasn’t the time to be
getting emotional, she needed to listen to Mina. If she got too upset Mina could get scared.
She had a hard time trying to find something to say. “Mina,” She took a deep breath, trying to
find something, Mina cut her off.

“Why would she let them hurt me?” Mina asked, hurt and defeat overtaking her tone, “I don’t
have to do things to be good, you told me that! Why did she think that?”

“I don’t know darling.” Sana tried to keep her voice calm and low, opening her arms and
gave Mina the invitation to come over to her side of the table. Gave her the choice. Mina took
it, rushing around the table into her arms, curling up on her lap. Sana made sure to wrap her
arms around her, but not too tight, she didn’t want her to feel trapped, and let her chin rest on
the top of Mina’s head. “She was wrong. She was bad.”

“Can you and Scooby stop them?” Mina asked, voice still small and watery, “I still dream
about them sometimes.” Sana didn’t know who them were. Her mom, the men, both of them?
She still didn’t know what exactly they made her do or did to her. If this happened more than
once. It explained a lot, why she hated Jackson and Taeyong and Mark. Why she freaked out
over Momo’s. Why she was so jumpy and scared all the time. Why she didn’t like to sleep
alone. And it hurt. Mina was so nice, so behaved, such an incredible little person and to hear
that the person that she was supposed to protect her let these things happen. She let Mina be
beaten, and probably joined in. She let Mina get, what Sana imagined the girl was implying,
baseballs thrown at her as hard as they could. Let her help them just to try and prove her
worth to her mother. She was complacent, she was evil. But the people who actually did the
acts, Sana was going to hunt them down and make sure they never lived another day as a free
man.

‘Scooby and I will do our best.”

“Why are you so nice to me? I’m bad!” A new wave of sobs racked through Mina, leaving
Sana blinking away her own tears.

“Don’t say that.” Sana cooed, brushing a hand through Mina’s hair, “You’re not bad.”

“I am!” There it was, the shame, the fear. It was so apparent in her voice.

“I’m nice to you because you deserve it, Mina. Because you’re good. What happened to you
was not your fault, it was bad guys. You’re good.”

Apparently that struck the right chord with Mina, sending her into hysterics. Gripping onto
Sana life her depended on it, Mina dug her head into Sana’s shoulder as the careful walls she
had built up around herself started to crumble around her. Sana just cooed and hushed,
picking her up and started to walk around her apartments, bouncing her gently. They stayed
like that for what must have been an hour, just letting Mina start to release everything that
was built up and eating Mina alive. Eventually, Mina’s cries quieted, and Sana glanced down
to see the girl slumped over asleep in her arms, face squished against her shoulder, one arm
hanging limply. That was good, Mina needed to sleep.
The detective just walked around for a while, gently rocking the sleeping child as she tried to
process everything, tried to start to formulate a theory, a motive, something, anything. She
saw horrible people do horrible things every day, but it was different when it was someone
you care so deeply about. Eventually, she went into her room, letting the kid lay on top of her,
partly because Sana was sure that she’d wake up if she tried to put her down, partly because
Mina still had a grip on her with one hand, and partly because she didn’t want to let her go.
After a few minutes of silence, Sana dug her phone out.

Satang [7:34 PM]

Mina told me what happened with her mom.

Momoring [7:36 PM]

Really? Do you need me to come over?

Satang[7:36 PM]

Please. She’s asleep on me right now, and I don’t know what to do.

Do you know the combo to my place?

Momoring[7:37 PM]

I’ll be there in fifteen.

True to her word, fifteen minutes later Sana heard her front door open and quiet steps enter
her house. They got closer and louder until her bedroom door was being slowly opened and
Momo was standing there, a small shopping bag in hand and a grimace on her face. Sana
wasn’t even laid on the pillows, just rod straight on top of the made bed. She knew Mina not
be looking her best either, with red tear-stained cheeks and swollen face, being asleep might
help her cause a little bit. Momo just sighed, putting the bag down next to the bed and laid
next to the pair, turning on her side, “Is it bad?”

“I want them dead.” It scared her how much she meant that. Keeping her voice low and quiet
as to not wake Mina, she relayed their entire conversation, watching the anger spread across
Momo’s face.
Without saying a word, Momo got up off the bed and walked out of the room. She could hear
her muffled voice from the bathroom across the hall, if she was on the phone with someone
or just trying to calm herself down, Sana had no idea. But Momo came back in a few minutes
later, gently taking her position once again. “I needed to go calm down so I didn’t wake her
up. I stopped at the store on my way here, I just bought a Gatorade and a Twix because I
knew she liked them, along with a new stuffie and book.” Momo was gauging her reaction,
Sana could tell, trying to see if she would get emotional if she brought anything up, while
trying to comfort Sana.

“She’ll like that.”

“We added new charges.”

“I hope they rot in jail.”

“They will, I’ll make sure of it,” Momo assured, turning to watch Mina. It was obvious
Momo was as upset as she was, but was trying to keep everyone calm. Sana appreciated that.
She wasn’t sure what state Mina would be in when she woke up, but they would help.

The road to recovery started here, together.

 Chapter 11

“Where are we going?” Mina asked for what had to be the sixth time in three minutes,
peering anxiously out the window as Sana pulled into a parking lot of a building both of them
have never been to before. Her anxiety wasn’t subtle at all, squirming in the backseat,
demanding answers from Sana.

“We’re going to meet Dr.Lee.” Sana relayed once again, pulling the car into a parking space.
Mina furrowed her eyebrows at that, it was too vague for her liking. Sana just didn’t have the
energy to try and explain it all to her. After Mina’s confessions, Sana had called Jihyo the
next day, relaying the general outline of what she had been told. While it did feel like a minor
breach in Mina’s trust, Sana desperately needed some advice on what exactly she should do
from here. Jihyo was quiet the entire phone call, before calling the detective back two hours
later with references for her to read and an appointment with a therapist the school was in
contact with; Lee Sumni. Sana had a phone call with the therapist earlier in the day, getting
her up to speed with what she knew and kind of how Mina worked; that Mina was very
cryptic with how she phrased things.

“Who’s that?”

“Someone’s who wants to help you.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s what she does, help people.” Sana parked the car successfully, tapping on the
steering wheel once before unbuckling seatbelt. After quickly heading around the car and
getting Mina out, they were starting to walk hand in hand into the small office. The inside
was much more inviting than the outside, a colorful waiting room filled with comfy chairs
and toys for the kids to play with. Trying to make everything seem not scary and stressful.
They didn’t have to wait long, being called into the office. The office was much like the
waiting room, except this time there was a doctor waiting, sitting on the floor behind this
small table. “C’mon in guys.”

The pair took a seat opposite her, Mina making her way onto Sana’s lap almost immediately.
Sana told her this person wanted to help, so this person had to be good. She could be a big
girl and do this...it just helped if Sana was right there to protect her. Sana was big and warm,
it was comforting. The doctor smiled, “So nice to meet you two, I’m Sunmi. And you’re
Mina right?”

Mina nodded shyly.

“So did Sana tell you what this place is?”

“You’re going to help me.”

“Right!” Sunmi smiled, relaxing her posture, “You and I can talk about anything that bugs
you or you feel bad about. And guess what, it will only stay between you and me.”

“Sana’s not going to stay?” A hint of panic fled into Mina’s voice.

“Today she can,” Sunmi said, eyes flittering up to meet Sana’s. She’s thinking, Sana isn’t sure
about what. “But I think you and I should hang out alone next time.”

Mina seemed very reluctant to that idea.

“Is there anything you like to do Mina? Play with dolls, draw, maybe trucks?” Sunmi asked,
not letting the kindergartener dawn on that too much.

“I like to draw.”

“You do? Me too!” Sunmi cheered, getting up and went to grab something from the back of
the room. She came back with a small stack of paper and a pack of crayons, laying them on
the table between the two parties. “Do you want to draw with me?”

After looking at Sana for reassurance, Mina agreed, leaning forwards, slid a piece of paper
and started to work on a drawing. Watching Mina draw was always nice, the girl would get
lost temporarily trying to jot down whatever was on her mind at the moment. Today, Sana
assumed Mina was feeling a bit uneasy, the drawing had just Mina alone, and there were a lot
of dark and muted colors in the picture. Mina had been a bit off after spilling everything,
waking up throughout the night more, just staring off into space. But she almost seemed,
happier? It was strange. She didn’t move around with the same weight she used to, now she
looked lighter, brighter, happier. It took Sana by surprise when a bright yellow figure
appeared in Mina’s drawing, smiling and holding her hand, another one appearing on the
other side.

“Who’s this?” Sunmi asked, tapping the yellow figures.

“Sana and Momo.”

“Who’s Momo?”

“Our friend,” Mina answered simply. While technically that was true, calling Momo just a
friend felt weird. They didn’t have a label for anything yet, but friend, that wasn’t right.

Sunmi smiled, taking a look at the time. After announcing the appointment was over, and
Sana scheduled a few more, they made their way home. Mina was quiet the way home, just
humming along to the radio. When they finally pulled into the apartment complex Mina
spoked up, “I think I like her.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhmm.”

“I’m glad,” Sana responded, frowning at the now downpour raging on outside their car. She
got out, let Mina out and tried to lead them into the apartment. But Mina stopped, looking
back at Sana. “What?”

“Can we play in the rain?”

“Huh?” This kid really wanted to play in the cold rain, what was wrong with her. They were
both getting soaked, and Sana was already starting to feel a chill creep up on her. “No.”

“Please?” Mina tried again, this time looking up at Sana with her big brown puppy dog eyes.
Goddamnit, that was a low blow. Weighing her options, what was the real harm? She got to
spend a bit of time with Mina before she left- Hey, stop thinking about that. And Mina would
be happy.

So Sana caved. Nodding her head, letting Mina take her hand and guide her to one of the
puddles now littering the parking lot. Mina jumped in it, a small splash of water sprouting up
around her. She did it a few more times before looking up at Sana expectantly, with a sigh the
detective put her foot into the puddle, making a small splash and Mina giggle.

Mina seemed content like that until she spotted a worm. Sana didn’t notice until it was too
late and Mina was holding up the worm with a wide smile.

“Put that down!” Sana shrieked, taking a step back as Mina just giggled and held it up close
to her eyes.

“Can we keep him?”

“Absolutely not, it’s a worm.”

“But it’s a cute worm.”

“Mina, no.” Sana was putting her foot down on this one, “We are not keeping a worm as a
pet. What about his worm family? He needs to go back with them?”

That got Mina putting the worm back down, waddling over to Sana and trying to reach for
her hand.
“Not until you wash your hands.”

***

Maybe the rain was a mistake.

Mina let out yet another cough, rolling over on the bed. The blankets were up to her neck,
and she was shiver, yet she was scalding to the touch. She kept whining that she didn’t feel
good, and most importantly she was heartbroken she couldn’t sleepover Tzuyu’s. Apparently
she had gotten Animal Crossing, Sana had no clue what that was, and Mina was so excited to
play it.

Laying a new cool rag on the kindergartner’s head, Sana sighed as Mina made grabby hands
towards her. A new discovery was that Mina got extremely clingy when she didn’t feel good,
even more so than usual. Sana let Mina wrap her hands around her, whining, “I don’t feel
good.”

“I know sweetie,” Sana cooed, sitting back up and stroking her hair, “Are you sure you don’t
want just a little medicine? I have the kind that tastes good.” That was also a problem, Mina
was miserable but refused to take any medicine. Sana wasn’t dumb, she understood why, but
she was contemplating just pouring the liquid in some juice and giving it to her without her
knowing just to break her fever.

“No, I just want hugs.”

How could Sana deny that? She made herself comfortable on the bed once again, pulling the
child into her arms. Some old Disney movie was playing on Sana’s laptop she had set up at
the foot of the bed. Now was this all Sana’s fault because she let Mina play in the rain,
probably. But she was going to blame the worm, because hey look whos sick, the person who
touched the worm.

She could hear Mina’s breath start to get deep and even once again, signaling she was falling
asleep. Good, she needed her rest. And Sana did too, if she had to listen to Mina whine one
more time, well she wouldn’t do anything but she would still be annoyed. In this whole mess,
she had forgotten one person. One person who was very excited about that night.
Momoring [4:30 PM]

Happy adult time day!

Momoring [4:30 PM]

I thought you would be jealous I bought Mina a few toys the other day, so I got one special
for you. ;)

Do you wanna play with it tonight? ;)

Satang [4:35 PM]

Um about that...Mina’s home

Momoring [4:40 PM]

What? Is she okay? Did Tzuyu and her get into a fight? I don’t care if she’s five, I’ll punt
anyone who wants to mess with my Minari.

Satang [4:41 PM]

She has a cold, she has a fever, aches, the whole nine yards

Momoring [4:42 PM]

She was fine yesterday?

Satang [4:43 PM]

I may or may have not let her play in the rain…

Momoring [4:43 PM]

SANA!
WHY WOULD YOU

I’M COMING OVER. DON’T FEED HER ANYTHING UNTIL I GET THERE, I CAN’T
HAVE YOU POISONING HER WITH YOUR AWFUL COOKING SKILLS.

That’s how Sana found Momo in her kitchen an hour later, cooking soup while Sana sat on
the counter and tried to distract her. Mina was still out, snoring loudly in Sana’s bed. “I still
can’t believe you let her play in the rain.”

“In my defense, I was out there too, and I didn’t get sick. Plus, she gave me the puppy dog
eyes, what was I supposed to do?” Sana scowled as Momo just laughed and leaned in to press
a kiss onto her forehead.

“You’re funny, you know that?” Momo mused, “A total Tsundere.”

“I am not,” Sana pouted, rolling her eyes. This time Momo leaned in to press a gentle kiss on
her lips, nothing much, just soft and sweet. But when Sana thought she heard something
coming from the hall, she practically threw the woman off of her. A quick glance and Mina’s
snores still sounding out assured her there was nothing, but still. Turning back to Momo the
woman had her eyebrows furrowed, confusion written all over.

“What was that?”

“I was thinking.” Sana plucked at a loose string on her pants, “Maybe we shouldn’t be”
Affectionate felt too intimate, “involved, around Mina? For now. I just don’t want her getting
freaked out, or triggered and either lose trust in us or start to remember things I’m sure she
wants to forget.”

Momo eyed her for a second, thinking. She nodded, and Sana could tell she agreed, but there
was something else there that Momo was thinking about. She added a bit of salt to the soup
and stirred it in silence before turning back to the detective.

“How are you feeling about all of this?” Momo asked, setting the spoon she was previously
holding in her hands down, “You never really talk about what you feel, you just watch.”
Somewhere in the back of Sana’s head, she knew Momo was concerned for her mental well
being. This whole thing was a lot, and anyone would be stressed or overwhelmed. But that
statement just made her feel naked, completely vulnerable and she had no idea why. Momo
was right, she never really did talk about how she felt. She didn’t know how. She and Mina
were similar in that aspect.

“Honestly,” Sana found her mouth moving before her brain could catch up, “I’m not sure.”

“Mina goes to Jeongyeon and Nayeon at the end of next week.” She was sure Momo could
feel the dread that filled her entire body when she heard that. “Are you ready to let her go?”

Was she? If she had to be honest with herself, no. The thought of waking up and not jumping
a mile because she had somehow forgotten again Mina liked to climb into her bed at night, or
not picking her up from school, or not sitting down and doing her homework with her really
upset her. But Nayeon. Nayeon wanted this so bad. And Nayeon had done so much for her,
she deserved her happy ending, Mina too. Sana had no idea how to parent. She wasn’t cut out
for that. Sana opened her mouth to spill all that, let the word vomit come out and overwhelm
Momo, but it got caught in her throat, so she just settled on, “Why do you ask that?”

“You two have gotten really close. I don’t know if you’ve noticed.”

“So?”

“I don’t know.” Momo definitely did know, she just wouldn’t say, “I’m just wondering what
you’re going to do when she’s gone.”

Deflect, change the subject, get control of the conversation, “We can have more alone time.”

Momo shrugged, “I really don’t mind when she’s around. Sure we just can’t do whatever we
want, but then we get to include her so it makes up for it and then some.”
This felt like a test, and Sana wasn’t sure if she liked that. Like Momo was gauging how she
reacted, what she would say. The lawyer hummed, taking the pot off of the heat, “Did you tell
her yet?”

“No.”

“You need to. Because she’s going to be crushed.”

“She’ll be fine. She’ll get attached to Nayeon and Jeongyeon in no time.”

“They’re different.”

“Really? How so? Because at the end of the day they would be taking care of her.”

“I don’t know why you’re starting to get defensive.”

“Because you’re questioning me like I’m one of the criminals you work with.”

“Why, is there anything you feel guilty about?”

Sana set her jaw, “Is the soup done?”

“Yeah.”

Sana hopped off the counter, reaching up into the cabinet to grab Mina’s favorite bowl, the
one with the fish painted into the side. She took the spoon and started pouring a bit into the
bowl when she felt Momo’s hands snake around her. Honestly, she had no idea why she was
so upset, but she found herself shrugging Momo off before finishing filling the bowl. She
pretended she didn’t see the flash of hurt that ran through her eyes.
They made their way into the bedroom, Mina’s eyes slowly fluttering open as Sana sat on the
bed. After taking a moment to gain her bearings, the kid’s eyes lit up as she saw Momo,
reaching her arms out. Momo was quick to oblige hugging her, “Hey best buddy, how are you
feeling?”

“Not good.”

“No? Well, I brought soup for you, and it has super magic powers that’ll make you feel better
faster.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Momo assured, taking the bowl and spoon from Sana and fed Mina a spoonful,
“Yummy?”

“Mhmm.”

The scene should have been adorable, but Sana couldn’t get what Momo was saying out of
her head. And when Mina finished and fell asleep, how quickly Momo left, the lawyer was
definitely doing the same.
 Chapter 12

“What’re you doing?”

“Jesus Christ!” Sana jumped a mile, whipping around to see Nayeon’s face inches away from
her own, peering over her shoulder and at the file in her hands. Usually, Sana going over
evidence and files was normal, but this file was blue not the homicide units royal purple:
family affairs. It took no effort to walk down there and retrieve a copy of Mina’s case files,
reading over the police report taken that night. There were a few details that Momo had left
out what she told her, maybe just to spare her the heartache. Mina definitely was sleeping in a
suitcase, there were no questions about it. That may be explained why she didn’t like to sleep
in her own bed, she wasn’t used to it, and it was probably reassuring to have someone right
next to her. Mina had three outfits, none suited for the winter weather they were coming out
from. The only thing in the fridge was alcohol and a few things of rotten food. Further down
it detailed the names that were arrested, Myoui Mizuko, the mother. Only 22 years old,
moved from Japan three years prior apparently with the promise of work, got addicted, and
ended up in the situation she was in now. Charged with drug possession, prostitution, child
abuse, child neglect, endangerment of a minor, battery, resisting arrest. The list was pretty
lengthy, and she was definitely going away on at least two of the charges. Sana would make
sure she went away on all of them, even the fact that she could get acquitted of any of the
charges sent a shiver of rage down her spine. Sana let her finger linger on the mugshot of the
woman, she was extremely pretty, a spitting image of an older Mina, with big doe eyes and
pouty triangle-shaped lips, tired and scared looking at the camera. Sana tried to memorize
that face.

There was one more name in the report, Lee Jiho. The man Mizuko was apparently was as
Mina would put it, helping, when the police got there. 29, charged with drug possession, and
disorderly conduct. There was something about him that just struck Sana as odd, smirking in
his mugshot, smug with messy dark hair and snakelike eyes. He was released on bail five
hours after his arrest, oh yeah, he came from money. Sana had that gut feeling that he was her
key to getting all of them. All of the bad guys, because she and Scooby had promised.

“This isn’t you’re case.” Nayeon mused taking a seat on Sana’s desk, eyeing her with
suspicion laced eyes, “You’re homicide, not family affairs.”

“It’s Mina’s.”
“Oh.” Nayeon took a lollipop from her pocket, popping it into her mouth, “Need a second
opinion on anything then?”

“I brought her to a therapist the other day,” Sana admitted suddenly, closing the file looking
up at Nayeon, “She opened up about her old home and- It’s bad. She’s hurting, a lot.” It felt
like she was telling the truth after a large lie, ashamed and a bit stung out. Maybe she should
have consulted Nayeon before making the decision or told her about what was going on
earlier.

The older detective just cocked an eyebrow, squinting her eyes at Sana’s behavior, “Okay,
thank you for taking her to do that.”

“Appointments are on Thursdays at four-thirty.”

“Okay,” Nayeon reached in to take another candy out of her pocket, reaching it out to offer it
to Sana, “Are you okay? You’re acting off. Should I contact employee services for you again?
I know it’s getting near Eunha-”

“I told you not to bring that up.” Sana snapped, surprising even herself with how aggressive
she sounded. Nayeon didn’t even seem phased, just giving her a sad look. Was Sana okay?
Currently, no. She felt stressed beyond belief between work, Mina, Momo. She hadn’t talked
to her since she left on Friday, so two days. Momo had called to her, Sana had screened it.
Maybe it was because it was getting close to that day again. No, Sana was over that, it’s been
three years already.

“I’ll let this go, but Sana I’m telling you if you start acting up again I’m calling them and
you’re going to start treatment again. I mean it.” Nayeon did. Voice calm and steady, but
Sana could hear the concern dripping from it.

“Can you just stay out of my business for once?” Sana scowled, “And don’t go running to
Momo for answers about my new behavior, I’m acting normal. I don’t get why you are all
starting to question me, leave me alone.”

“You and Momo fought?” Nayeon asked surprised.

“No we didn’t. I’m just not talking to her right now.”

“That sounds like a fight.”

“It’s not.”

Putting her hands up in mock defense, Nayeon sighed, “Are you sure nothing is bothering
you?”

“I’m positive.” Sana was definitely not positive. But she didn’t want to waste too much
energy pondering scenarios that wouldn’t happen. A quick glance at the clock alerted her to
the fact that she needed to get going to pick up Mina. She had enrolled Mina in afterschool
care (after discussing it with Tzuyu’s parents who also signed up, apparently all but Tzuyu
and Mina of gay squad kids were part of the club.) about a week ago, the girl getting extra
math work and extra time to play with her friends. It had helped her big time, giving her more
time before she had to rush out of the station to try and get Mina in time. She got up out of
her chair, tucking the file into her backpack before slinging it over her shoulders, turning
back to look at Nayeon, “I need to get Mina, you coming?”

A bit took off guard by the sudden proposition, Nayeon nodded, “I should probably get used
to picking her up, right?”

“Yeah, and you need to get introduced to the gay squad before they rip you apart for trying to
pick her up with them knowing you.”

“Gay squad?”

Gay squad was already waiting outside by the time they got there, Taeyong, Joohyun,
Dahyun, and Seulgi all stood outside waiting for the kids to be released. Sometimes their
partners would show up, but usually, it was the four of them, all waiting in a small circle
chatting. The car ride had been painfully silent, Nayeon trying to strike up a conversation a
few times before being quickly shut down. It wasn’t really fair, but Sana just didn’t care.
Taeyong noticed her presence first, “Sana!”
She waved a quick hello, inserting herself and Nayeon into the group, “This is Nayeon. She’s
taking Mina next week, so she or her partner will be picking her up.”

The group looked a bit confused at this, eyeing the new woman. If any of them had
something to say they kept their thoughts to themselves, well excpet for Joohyun. “You look
tired Sana.”

“I’m fine.”

“You have my number right?”

“Mhmm.”

“Use it.”

Sana didn’t even get to respond, because soon enough the kids were running out.
Straightening her posture, she watched as Yeri and Sooyoung emerged with Lucas, then
Tzuyu and Mina right behind them. And like every other day Mina broke away from Tzuyu,
running as fast as she could towards Sana, arms out, a huge smile, her backpack flapping
against her. Sana bent down to give her a hug, picking her up much to Mina’s delight as she
just giggled, “Satang guess what, I got a 94 on my spelling test!”

“Really that’s awesome!” Sana gushed, poking the younger’s cheek, “I guess our work the
other day really paid off.”

They had spent nearly two hours the other night after dinner trying to get Mina to memorize
her words, and while Sana wanted to rip her hair out and just yell how to spell jet the entire
time, Mina worked hard and it paid off. “I got a new list today, the test is on Friday. “

“Okay, we should have ice cream to celebrate such a good job.” Sana hummed, giving Mina a
kiss on the cheek. Mina glowed at the attention.
“You got a ninety-four?” Oh right, Nayeon. Sana set Mina down, much to the girl’s
displeasure, letting Nayeon lean over to talk to her. Mina nodded, not as enthusiastic as
before, but still cheery. Sana caught Dahyun’s eye, the woman was watching the interaction
with this sympathetic expression that Sana loathed, Tzuyu holding her hand. The whole
group was watching the exchange, seemingly not sure what to make of it. “That’s great
Mina!”

“Satang, is Momo coming over tonight?” Mina reached up to grab Sana’s hand, ignoring the
one that Nayeon outstretched, “She promised she would read to me if I got a ninety.”

“She did?”

“Mhmm, the new one she bought me.”

“Not tonight sweet pea, how about you talk to Nayeon about your day? I’m sure she wants to
hear all about it.”

Hesitantly Mina caved, turning to Nayeon to relay the details of her day as they started to
walk away from the group and their sad looks. Why was everyone looking at Sana like that,
she was fine, she was in control, she was fine.

***

At first, Sana wasn’t sure what dragged her out of her slumber. Her eyes fluttered open as the
heavy drowsiness still lingered on her mind, making her feel hazy. She was about to close her
eyes once again before she heard it, the small whimper next to her. She rolled her body over
to see Mina, still asleep but moving slightly, face contorted and whimpers and unintelligible
murmurs escaping. She was having a bad dream, that much was clear.

Putting Mina to bed had been a nightmare once again, she tried to read the penguin book but
Mina would whine and say that Momo did it better. Plus she wanted to sleep in Sana’s bed,
however, Sana wanted to get her used to sleep in her own bed just in case Jeongyeon wasn’t
as lenient as she was. After nearly an hour of struggle, Mina was in her own room as Sana
drifted off to sleep in her own room. Sana should have known better, that Mina would find
her way to Sana once again.

“Mina,” Carefully she shook the kid, “Wake up buddy, you’re having a nightmare.”

The kindergartner woke up with a start, bolting up and away from Sana’s touch looking
around with big scared eyes. She locked eyes with Sana, before bursting into tears. For a
moment Sana wasn’t sure what to do, Mina made it clear practically launching herself into
Sana’s arms. “S-sana.”

“I’m right here,” Sana assured, gently rubbing a hand up and down Mina’s arm in an attempt
to calm her.

“They hurt you!”

“Mina look at me,” She waited patiently for Mina to look up at her, “I’m okay, look.”

That seemed to calm her down slightly, but she was still trembling, sobbing softly, gripping
onto Sana. Sometimes Mina would wake up from a bad dream but would just fall back
asleep, this was out of the usual. She must’ve been really scared. Think.

Sana took the comforter and threw it over both of their heads, submerging them in complete
darkness. It shocked Mina for a second before the girl really started thrashing around, “Mina,
relax. I just created a magic shield.”

“You did?”

“Mhmm.” Sana hummed, “And guess what, no bad guys can get in as long as we are under
here.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” Sana assured, tightening her grip on Mina. This seemed to calm her down a lot,
the quiet cries ceasing, and slowly her trembling stopped.

Sana felt warm and big but in a way that wasn’t scary. She made Mina feel loved. Loved,
what a strange concept. She didn’t yell, didn’t hit, didn’t make Mina feel scared or sad. She
was just Sana. She was good without trying, she let Mina eat all the food she wanted for
however long she wanted, made sure Mina had new clothes and was warm, didn’t mind that
Mina preferred to sleep next to her. She came to her days at school, she sat there and helped
with her homework, she even saved Peng from the washing machine when Mina spilled juice
on him. She protected her from scary people, protected her from the things in her head that
made Mina’s limbs feel heavy and made her want to cry.

Sana was good. So was Mina.

They both felt their eyes getting heavy, completely content in their little shield. Sana ran a
hand through Mina’s hair in the way she knew would make her fall asleep quickly. This was
the first time Sana had hugged Mina to sleep in her bed, it wasn’t lost on either of them.

Mina felt loved, and it wasn’t scary.

Right before she descended into unconsciousness, Mina mumbled out softly, quietly, leaving
Sana wondering if she heard correctly, “I love you, mommy.”

Sana prayed that Mina wouldn’t feel the sudden increase in her heartbeat as soon those words
hit her ears. The overwhelming sense of dread filling up her body, weighing her down and
making it hard to breathe. It was becoming increasingly obvious that Sana couldn’t bear to
lose another love of her life. And she had no idea what to do with that information.
 Chapter 13

Sana had never been angry with Mina, annoyed, sure, but angry. Never. But here she was,
practically seething as she watched the child unaware of her presence flip through Eunha’s
scrapbook. Putting salt into an already open wound accidentally that had Sana trying to calm
herself down and not lash out like she so desperately wanted to. Mina didn’t deserve all the
words that jammed in Sana’s throat, a scolding for the ages for touching that. It was really
Sana’s fault, she never established what Mina could and couldn’t touch in the house, and the
child wouldn’t know what she found. That thought kept Sana in control, kept her relatively
calm.

That damned scrapbook, the maroon one she insisted on putting together. Now it was slightly
torn on the binding, the multicolor pages old and stiff as Mina gently flipped through them
focusing on the pictures of a much younger, much happier Sana running around and posing
for the camera. A time capsule of some of their happiest moments. Sometimes Sana thinks
Eunha was planning it from back then, this scrapbook an apology and a farewell gift,
sometimes she thinks she made it just to spite her, remind her of her failures. Mina had her
maroon and white university jacket, the one with KOREA UNIVERSITY and nursing
embroidered into the back, draped over her acting much more like a blanket than a coat.
Some of their old letters were carefully removed from the box as well, meticulously in small
stacks showing Mina took great care with handling them. An old CD that Eunha had made as
a mixtape for her, illegally downloading music and burned it onto a two-dollar blank CD.

Tracing a hand over the images softly, Mina looked absorbed into the book, looking at it with
a fascination. Sana had hidden that box a long time ago, deep back in her closet, not ready to
give it up but also not read to throw it away. She felt the defenses she had so meticulously
built up start to sound an alarm, telling her to stop this, “What are you doing?”

Mina looked up, just now noticing her presence, “Look what I found! Is that you?”

“Why are you touching this?”

“I-I just thought-” Mina’s tone flattened, her head lowering in shame. That was enough to
catapult Sana back into the real world, not the parade of self-pity she loved to live in
whenever she saw this stuff. She let out a sigh, dropping to her knees starting to pick up the
letters.
“It’s okay. Just please don’t touch this again.” Sana tried to keep her tone light, swallowing
whatever anger screamed to be let out and lash out on the child. Mina didn’t deserve that.
“This is important to me.”

“Okay.” Mina closed the book and shrugged off the jacket, offering it to her. Sana took it and
gently placed it into the box. “Who is that?”

“My friend.”

“Like Momo?”

“Yeah, like Momo.”

“She’s pretty.” Mina mused, opening the closet door for Sana as the woman closed the box
and stood up.

“She was.” Sana agreed, placing it into the back of the closet. She closed the closet door,
taking a shaky breath as she tried to calm herself down. This was their last night, she didn’t
want to say or do anything she might regret. Mina deserved to have one last good memory.

“When is Momo coming back?” Mina asked for what Sana swore to be the fiftieth time that
week. She was missing Momo bad, it was easy to tell. And honestly, Sana was as well.

“I don’t know.”

“Is she mad at me?” Mina asked, sounding small and nervous like she had been thinking
about this for a while.

“Why would she be?”

“Because I got sick when you two were supposed to hang out together. One time Yeri came
over and stole all Tzuyu’s attention and I got mad.”

This wasn’t a one-off comment. Mina has been consistently begging for Momo for the past
week, and Sana kind of felt selfish from keeping the two apart. Especially when Momo
texted her asking how Mina was feeling, and she never responded. Sana bit her lip and
sighed, “Give me a minute.”

Twenty minutes later, Momo was standing outside of her apartment, bag of food in one hand,
a box of juice pouches in the other, and an expression that Sana just couldn’t read. Sana
didn’t even get a chance to say hi before Mina was running as fast as she could to her,
wrapping her arms around the woman’s legs burying her face in her thigh. “Momoring!”

“Hi, Mina!”

“I missed you,” Mina hummed raising her arms like she wanted to be picked up, and Momo
looking comically torn because both her hands were full. Sana quickly took the bags from
Momo’s hands, and the lawyer wasted no time picking the kid up.

“I missed you too, Detective Penguin.” That was a new nickname. But apparently Mina
adored it, giggling happily as Momo leaned in to press a kiss on her forehead, “I brought you
dinner, fries and chicken tenders!”

“Really?”

“Wait-” Sana was not about to let the absolute mess of her kitchen go to waste because of
some chicken tenders. She had cooked three grilled cheeses successfully, burning two that
later met their end in the trash, and she was not about to be one-upped by Momo buying food.
This was Mina’s last day, she was going to make it special.

“Of course. Are you hungry?” Momo hummed, taking the bag from Sana placing it on the
table and opened it up.
Sana knew right then and there Momo had won.

Nodding quickly, Mina took her seat and waited patiently for Sana and Momo to do the same.
Momo wouldn’t even look at her. Sana supposes that was fair, she hadn’t been the nicest to
Momo. It still stung a bit, it probably stung a whole lot more for Momo. They both could feel
the tension at the table, so thick they could cut it with a knife. Mina didn’t seem to care,
munching away happily at the food. “So Mina did you pack yet?”

Fuck. Momo, you idiot. Sana whipped her head to look across at her, silently cursing her out
as realization dawned over her. Sana hadn’t told Mina yet. Sana had no excuse but her own
selfishness, not knowing what to do or say to the child about the matter. Mina looked
confused as well as Sana took a deep breath, “Mina, remember when I told you, you were
just going to stay here until your home was ready?”

Mina nodded.

“You’re going to go with Nayeon tomorrow.” Sana gritted out, the very words coming out of
her own mouth felt like sandpaper.

“Why?”

“Because she can take care of you.”

“But you do too-”

“I know baby, but it’s for the best.”

“I want to stay here! With you!” Mina sounded frustrated like Sana wasn’t listening to her.
Sana was listening, she heard her loud and clear. Mina looked upset, eyes flittering between
Sana and Momo as they both refused to make eye contact with the kid. “Please, I’ll be good.”
“I’m sorry Mina, I can’t help you this time.” Sana ducked her head, posture starting to curl in
on herself, a small sign of vulnerability that she never showed the younger. It was unnerving,
to see this big strong woman that Mina had learned to idolize look so small and sad. Mina
had learned a long time ago when she needed to be quiet, this was one of those instances.
Still, so many unspoke questions flittered around and weighed her down.

“How about we have the best night ever then?” Momo suggested, trying to find some sort of
positive even if there was none. Momo wasn’t stupid, she could see how much they both
didn’t want this. But she kept her mouth shut, if only just for now. Mina slowly nodded in
agreement, both of them watching as Sana nodded along as well.

Momo was good at making the best out of bad situations. She had Mina laughing and
squealing as they gathered all the blankets in the house, racing around to see who could find
more. Sana won. She set up a small fort in the living room, grabbing Sana’s laptop and
turning on some Disney movie that Mina would like as they laid in there, each on either side
of Mina. If either of them starting to dwell on it too much, she would gently coax their
attention somewhere else, somewhere happier. It was nice playing house one last time.

Mina was practically attached to Sana the entire night, refusing to get out of her lap or not
hold her hand. And Sana was glad for that because honestly, she felt the same. Sana laid
there, arm gently laid over her as Momo did the same. It felt nice, giving her kisses on the
cheeks as Mina smiled and laughed being sure to return the favor. Sana didn’t sleep at all that
night, watching as Mina slept.

“I’m sorry for not responding to you,” Sana spoke up after she was sure Mina was out, “I’ve
had a lot on my mind.”

“I know.” Momo hummed, laying her head on her own arm, “Honestly I was upset. But I
kind of realized that’s how you are, you’re afraid to let people get close to you-”

“I’m not-”

“You are, it’s okay. I just wished you could trust me though, we are partners after all.”
“Are we?”

“I like to consider us that. I wouldn’t be here as often as I am if I didn’t. When you’re ready I
want to hear what’s eating you up inside, but until then I’ll leave it alone. But, I won’t stand
for you clamming up, pushing me off, and then trying to forget I exist. I think I deserve more
respect than that.”

Momo was right. Sana knew that. Maybe she just didn’t have enough energy to try and fight
it, or maybe she was so sick and tired of trying to keep every single thought to herself but she
found herself humming in agreement. They didn’t say anything after that, both just watching
Mina sleep.

***

Momo had to leave the next morning, it was clear she didn’t want to, but it was important.
Something to do with one of her clients, but she still made sure to help pack Mina’s things
into a backpack and made sure to give her a big hug, whispering something in her ear that
seemed to relax the youngest.

They were both quiet on the way to Nayeon’s, the heavy sense of dread filling up the car and
their bodies as they walked up to their apartment. Mina’s grip on her hand nearing painful, as
they both tried to put on a brave face for the other. Sana hoped the door wouldn’t open, that
Nayeon would just forget and she could take Mina back home and that would be the end of it.
But the door opened and Nayeon and Jeongyeon were both smiling excitedly, greeting them
both.

This was it. Sana crouched down to give the child a hug, squatting so Mina could wrap her
tiny arms around her. She felt her eyes sting, trying to blink away tears that insisted on filling
her eyes. Mina was a bit more expressive, openly crying as she dug her face into Sana’s
shoulder. This was for the best. Mina deserved this. Nayeon deserved this. Sana couldn’t fail
her this way, this way Mina would be taken care of. This wasn’t about her, this was about
them. They would be happy, they would be safe and cared for, and everything Sana couldn’t
provide.

“It’s okay, don’t cry.” Sana cooed, reaching up to hug her, letting her hands just hold her
close for one last time. Mina sniffled and tried to control herself, gripping onto Sana’s
shoulders not yet daring to let go. It felt raw and intimate. Neither of them saw the expression
that Nayeon had as she watched, wide-eyed and guilty. After a few minutes, Mina let go and
Sana stood up, ruffling her hair one last time before taking the backpack off of her shoulder
and handed it to Nayeon. They both pretended they didn’t notice Sana’s trembling hands.
Sana watched as Mina hesitantly took Jeongyeon’s hand, she sent her a smile, “I’ll see you
later alligator.”

“Bye Satang, I love you.”

For the first time, Sana responded, “I love you too.”

Time seemed to move funny in these instances, she just watched as Jeongyeon picked Mina
up and brought her into the house. Watched as Nayeon caught her eyes with something she
couldn’t understand, eyes darting from Mina back to Sana before she ducked her head and
entered the house. Sana preferred it that way if Nayeon had said anything to her she probably
would break down right then and there. She doesn’t remember getting home, walking into the
now incredibly lonely apartment, doesn’t remember how she got to sit on the floor back
leaning against her bed. The door to her closet was cracked open, the brown cardboard box
calling to her. So for the first time in years, she caved.

Taking out the box, she sat it next to her, reaching into grasp the jacket, running her finger on
the name stitched into the sleeve. It still smelt like her, like that two-dollar body spray she
bought while they were shopping. Slowly Sana slid it on, letting the slightly oversized fabric
swallow her. Next, she reached in and grabbed the scrapbook, opening it up being greeted by
a twenty-year-old, freshly employed beat cop Sana, dressed in her blue uniform smiling
widely at the camera. Eunha was next to her, a hand wrapped around her waist as she held the
other one up in a v-sign. Written under was her handwriting, the one that Sana missed so
dearly; first day of senior year. There was another picture of the page, Sana and Nayeon, who
back then was a rank higher than her. The next page was from their first trip to the zoo, and
their first time meeting Jeongyeon, filled with Jeongyeon trying to imitate the giraffes and
Nayeon laughing hysterically. A few more pages, Jeongyeon and Nayeon’s wedding, both of
them looked gorgeous even if Jeongyeon was pouty about having long hair per request of her
mother. That page was filled with pictures, Sana’s favorite had always been the one where
Eunha was smiling at the camera and Sana was staring at her, completely in love. More
pages, more pictures. The one that always made Sana’s skin crawl was the one of the two of
them at a Christmas tree lighting, Sana pouting because she was cold, Eunha forcing a smile.
That was three days before the worst day in Sana’s life. There were no more pictures after
that, just empty pages.
Looking back into the box were a few letters, a few love notes and the one Sana had only
touched once, and the ultrasound picture that Nayeon had given her. Sana picked that one up
as well, letting her finger trace the gentle outline of the picture. That was entirely her fault.
Nayeon was pregnant, she shouldn’t have been chasing him. Sometimes Sana still sees it,
how she’s putting the handcuffs on one of them, the other trying to sprint up the stairs. She
could have chased after him, just gave up on the one under her. But she saw Nayeon run after
him, and she said nothing. Then she watched her tumbled down the stairs violently as he
pushed her. Sana could have stopped it. Sana could have stopped her.

Sana could have stopped Eunha, she knew something was wrong but she still went to work
anyways. She could have stopped her, she could have saved her. But she didn’t. And now
Sana sleeps alone with a hole in her heart. She knew she deserved the pain she felt, that she
deserved every bad thing that happened to her because she failed the ones she loved. She felt
it bubbling up in her throat, ripping out as a choked sob, holding the ultrasound to her chest
as she leaned over. It didn’t stop but just got louder and more violent.

It took a minute to even register that two arms have wrapped around her, pulling her into their
chest. She looked up to see an apologetic Momo grimacing back at her, now kneeling next to
her. An unopened six-pack of beer discarded on the floor near her feet. Momo didn’t say
anything, just held her as she cried.

Even that felt like more than she deserved.

 Chapter 14

Sana was expecting some sort of reaction when she came over to visit. Apparently Mina had
been driving the couple crazy by asking them to call Sana or to bring her to work so she
could talk to Sana or just text her. From what Nayeon had been saying Mina was adjusting
fairly well, her grades started slipping a bit, and she got nervous whenever they were too loud
but other than that she was being good. When Nayeon extended an offer for her to have
dinner over there, Momo practically threw her out of her own apartment to go.

The woman hadn’t left her apartment in the five days since Mina had been gone, even
bringing Grumpy over. It was nice, and while Sana wanted to strangle Momo most days for
invading every single corner of her space, it felt reassuring to know that there would be at
least the cat there when she went home. She had filled Mina’s space next to her in bed, first
promising to sleep on the couch but Sana caught her an hour later climbing in next to her.
There was still a mina sized hole, but Momo did her best.

As Sana walked into Nayeon’s house, she expected a hug, maybe just an enthusiastic,
“Sana!” but there was nothing. Just Mina sitting on the couch, Peng in her arms, staring
daggers at her. She looked pissed, like the sight of Sana had offended her in some
unspeakable way. Kookeu was happy to see her, bouncing around her feet as she walked over
to the child, “Hi Mina?”

Nothing. Mina even turned her head away, not bothering to look at Sana. The detective felt
her heart snap into two. It made sense Mina would be mad, if Sana was in her position she
would probably be mad too. It didn’t mean it hurt any less.

“Mina, say hi.” Nayeon coached standing in the kitchen, looking at the scene while she set
the table. Mina just diverted her attention to Peng, pretending like Sana wasn’t even there.
With a sigh, Sana stood up and made her way to the adults, who both looked a bit confused at
her behavior. “She’s been grumpy all day, don’t take it personally.”

“She needs to take a nap.” Jeongyeon frowned, shaking her head as she finished putting the
food on the plates. “She woke up early, and I think she’s just tired.”
“It’s fine,” Sana assured, grabbing a few forks out of the drawer and set them on the table as
Nayeon put the plates of pasta on the table. Sana herself felt exhausted and fragile, like just a
breeze could send her crumbling.

“Mina, honey, c’mon let’s eat,” Nayeon called, the child wasting no time to take the seat next
to where Sana was sat. It was only natural, they all had their predetermined spots they got
used to, Sana tried not to get her hopes up.

They started eating, and honestly, Jeongyeon was a good cook. Maybe it was a requirement
of being a lawyer, Momo cooked well also. Wait, why are you thinking of Momo. Jeongyeon
was the first to speak up, “So Sana, are you feeling better? Momo was telling me you took a
few days off from work so she stayed with you.”

That was partially true. Sana did take a few days off from work, she just couldn’t bear to get
up and out. Momo did take a few days off, lazing in bed with her as Sana switched between
sleeping and just laying there. She would stroke her hair, or make some food and force Sana
to eat. This wasn’t like Sana, they both knew it. She just had a lot on her mind, and Momo
understood. She didn’t push or dig, she just was there, a source of comfort. Sana pretended
that she didn’t see the look of relief on her face when she finally got up and dressed on
Wednesday morning to go to work. It was easier to pretend that Momo wasn’t concerned,
rather just enjoying her company.

Mina seemed to perk up at the name, the scowl getting deeper on her face. How dare Sana
have time for Momo, but not her.

“Yeah, I wasn’t feeling well.”

“It is getting close to that time of year again.” Jeongyeon mused, immediately getting
elbowed by Nayeon who sent her a warning glare. They both knew it was a sensitive topic.

Sana just hummed in agreement. The bile in her throat twisted and turned.

“Mina, why don’t you show Sana you’re spelling test?” Nayeon suggested, a gentle smile on
her face as she turned to the child. The softness in her eyes, the upwards curl of her lips, it
reminded Sana why she was even feeling the way she was. Nayeon was happy. “I heard
someone got an 86.”
The kindergartner looked upset at that, Sana understood why it was lower what she had been
getting previously, shaking her head. That hurt. Sana could feel it in her chest, a sharp pain
that ached. She just wanted Mina to look at her. Nayeon sighed, “Do you want to show her
the drawing you made her?”

“No. I don’t.” Those were the first words Mina had said all night, and they cut through Sana.

“Are you sure?”

“Can she go home? I don’t want to see her.”

That felt like she had been stabbed. All the adults paused, the couple flittering between Sana
and Mina. Sana understood, she really did. Mina was upset that Sana had just left her here. It
still hurt, it hurt so bad. She could barely choke out, “I’m going to use the bathroom.” Before
rushing off. As soon as the door closed, she leaned up against it, holding a hand to her chest,
trying to fight off the constricting feeling that kept building up in it. Usually, this wouldn’t
get to her, she was just being sensitive, she needed to get a grip. She threw a hand over her
mouth as the first few tears started escaping, as Sana desperately pleaded for it to stop.

Knock Knock Knock

“Sana, you okay in there?” Nayeon asked softly from the other side.

Gripping onto either side of the sink, Sana tried to clear her throat quietly, trying to get the
watery tone out of her voice, “Yeah, I’ll be out in a minute.”

There was a slight pause like Nayeon was trying to figure out what she wanted to say,
“Okay.”

She heard her footsteps fade into the kitchen before she turned on the sink and cupped some
water before splashing it over her face. She did this a few more times, trying to relax and
erase the red blotchy patches that appeared on her face when she cried. It was clear Nayeon
was suspecting something, and if she kept her waiting too long Sana wouldn’t put it past her
to pick the lock. After a deep breath, she opened the door, plastering a smile back on before
going back to the table where the girls were just looking back at her. Sana was never subtle
when she cried, with puffy eyes and blotchy skin, she knew it was obvious. She could see the
way Jeongyeon stared at her, the way that Nayeon avoided eye contact and gripped her fork
just a little tighter. And Mina, just looking at her, it was obvious she was thinking but what
about Sana couldn’t be sure.

It felt suffocating, coiling her stomach, twisting up to wrap around her throat and choke her.
With a painfully phony smile, she gritted out, “You know, I’m not feeling too good. I think
I’m going to head home now.”

“Were you crying in there?” Ever the subtle one, Jeongyeon exchanged a look with Nayeon,
“Sana are you okay-”

“I’m fine, I just have a stomachache,” Sana reassured, they didn’t look convinced. She stood
up, taking her coat off the back of her chair, and shrugged it on. She bid a quick goodbye
before all but rushing to the door, only stopping when she felt two arms wrap around her
legs.

“I’m sorry I’m being mean. Don’t go, I’ll stop.” That made the detective paused, turning
around to see Mina looking back up at her, hand raised like she wanted to be held. Sana
obliged, reaching down and setting her on her hip. Mina looked tired, immediately resting her
head on Sana’s shoulder as Sana swayed back and forth, holding on tight. “Can I come home
now?”

“No honey, not today.”

Mina didn’t say anything after that, just digging her head back into Sana’s shoulder. Taking a
quick glance back at Nayeon and Jeongyeon, they both looked a bit shocked. It only took a
few minutes for Mina to fall fully asleep, head rolling limply to the side. Wordlessly Sana
made her way to Mina’s bedroom, the second door on the right and laid her in bed with a kiss
on the forehead.

“She fell asleep?” Jeongyeon asked, astonishment in her voice as Sana remerged, “We’ve
been fighting with her to go to sleep for the past week.”
“Just read to her and then she’ll go to sleep,” Sana responded, her whole body just felt heavy.
“She’ll pass right out, and then she’ll wake up and climb in bed with you. She doesn’t like to
be alone.”

“I know, we’re trying to break that habit. She keeps waking us up asking to sleep in our bed.”
Jeongyeon shook her bed, “She’s a big girl, and she needs to stay in her own bed.”

“She’s six years old with people she doesn’t know, cut her some slack for being anxious.”
Sana didn’t even know why she was feeling so defensive. So what if Mina wanted to sleep in
their bed, it made her feel safe. Jeongyeon had no business trying to make her sleep in her
own room if all she just wanted was to feel like she wasn’t alone. What was so wrong with
that?

“I can deal with her whining and need for attention, but I draw the line at our bed.”

Nayeon looked a bit torn. Like she agreed with Jeongyeon, but also Sana. Sana really wished
she would just make up her mind. She was tired, too tired for whatever this was, too tired to
stay here and think about all this. It was a mistake, she shouldn’t have come. “I’m leaving
now.”

Sana tried not to think about it as she left, but the small burn of rage in her stomach wouldn’t
seem to falter.

***

She was absolutely drenched. The rain had been brutal, leaving Sana soaking as she tried to
run from her car to her apartment. Momo wasn’t home yet, but Grumpy was there, greeting
her with a gentle rub around her ankles. It wasn’t much but it was good enough. She let her
backpack fall to the ground, and let her body flop onto the couch letting herself rest for a
minute. She just felt so tired, drained of all energy.

Ring Ring

With a groan she dug her phone out of her pocket, checking the ID; Nayeon. She just let it
drop on the couch next to her, closing her eyes. She didn’t want to talk to Nayeon, she was
just too tired for that.

Ring Ring

Jesus Christ. Opening one eye, she picked up the phone. If Nayeon kept calling there was a
chance of it being important, so begrudgingly she accepted holding it to her ear, “What do
you want?”

“Sana?” There was something off in Nayeon’s tone. She sounded worried and cold.

The anxiety spiked in Sana’s stomach, reaching down to pet Grumpy who jumped onto the
couch to lay next to her, “What’s wrong? Are you okay? Is there something wrong?” There
were only one reason Nayeon would be calling her right now, Mina. She was supposed to be
picking the girl up from school if gay squad let her. Joohyun had sent a whole paragraph the
other night about a party Taeyong was hosting and she and Mina were invited to, making it
very clear Nayeon and Jeongyeon were not.

“Well. No. Actually kind of.” She heard Nayeon take a loud sigh, “We’re actually still at
Mina’s school.”

“Okay?” Why was Nayeon calling her to tell her this, slight irritation was starting to bubble
in her stomach. “And I should care why-”

“She has this habit of just standing here for twenty minutes after she gets out.” Nayeon cuts
her off, “She just stands there and stares at the parking lot. Usually, it’s not that bad and I
don’t mind, but it’s raining today and she’s going to get sick. She just won’t move. I’ve asked
her nicely, bribed her with candy, the only other option I can think of is physically moving
her but I really don’t want to do that. I don’t know what to do.” Nayeon sounded
overwhelmed. “What did you do when she did this?”

The thing was, Mina never did this. She’d come out running, sometimes they’d stay a few
minutes to finish talking with Tzuyu but that was really it. Grumpy rubbed his head against
Sana’s hand as if he knew her hesitation. “Let me talk to her.”
She heard a small conversation and quiet rumbling before it settled, “Satang?”

Sana clenched her fist so hard her knuckles started to turn white. She had really been trying
to just avoid the kindergartener, save them both the heartache. But Mina just sounded so
hopeful, it physically wounded her. She sounded tired as well, Sana couldn’t help but wonder
if she was still having trouble sleeping and if Jeongyeon still wouldn’t let her into the bed.
“Why are you still there? You need to go home, sweetie.”

“I’m waiting for you to pick me up.” She said it like it was nothing. Tone light, like she was
expecting Sana to show up any second. Sana could only close her eyes and slam her head
back into the cushion. “Mrs.Nayeon told me you were busy, that you and Scooby were
catching bad guys so you can’t be here. I think she’s silly, you used to pick me up all the
time.”

“Mina, go home.”

“Are you still busy?” Mina sounded defeated, in a tone way to somber than Sana thought was
acceptable. “That’s okay, I can wait for you tomorrow.” Sana worried her lip between her
teeth, biting down hard to try and hold back the assurance that she would be there.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“Tzuyu told me if people love you they don’t leave, they find a way back to you. Tzuyu is
really smart, she got a 100 on her spelling test, so she has to be right. And you told me you
love me so it’s okay.” Mina sounded so sure, Sana prayed she couldn’t hear the choked sob
she let out, tasting iron. She didn’t even realize she split her lip.

“Mina we need to go now.” That was Jeongyeon in the background.

“I’ll wait here tomorrow, so if you’re not busy come please.” Mina pressed a kiss to the
phone before it slipped into something small and vulnerable, “I’m sorry for making you cry, I
didn’t mean it. Satang? I miss you so much. Please come back”
The hangup tone sounded as Sana just laid there, holding it to her ear. She didn’t even know
how to feel. “I miss you too.” She let the phone fall back onto the couch as she just laid there
looking up at the ceiling. She should pay Eunha a visit, she would probably like it if Sana
brought those blue flowers she loved so much. It’s been too long. Maybe she could convince
Nayeon to let her bring Mina to meet her.

She heard the click of the lock before Momo walked in, a bag of groceries in her arms,, still
dressed in her work clothes; grey trousers with a white button-up and those circular glasses.
Momo sent a smile at her before walking off to the kitchen. Maybe she should bring Momo
too.
 Chapter 15

Jihyo was always someone to get attached to her kids. She spent a good chunk of her money
on supplies and books, and the little prize bucket that sat near her desk simply because she
loved her class too much. All thirty of them, even if they had a range in closeness. Snack
time was probably her favorite time of the day, the kids would play and entertain themselves
while she could either relax and watch them for fifteen minutes or prepare whatever she
needed for the rest of the class. She got attached to how they tried really hard to do well on a
quiz, or frustrated because they couldn’t figure something out. It didn’t pay much, but it was
incredibly rewarding.

No one ever told her how nerve-racking the job could be. There was one time when
Jungkook broke his arm on the monkey bars outside and Jihyo thought she was going to die
of nerves. She sat and waited with him until the paramedics came, trying to calm him down
and divert his attention. But the scariest time in her career was when Myoui Mina walked
into class one morning, a large bruise covering her right eye, jumping at every noise,
completely petrified. She made her stay for lunch, gently probing on how she got that bruise,
why she wasn’t feeling well, what was bothering her. Mina wouldn’t say. Knowing she
wouldn’t get any answers she let her go back to class, only for Mina to lash out on one of the
boys in her group. Apparently, he took her pencil, and Mina cussed him out so viciously and
angrily the entire class went silent. Jihyo made a report to family services that night, nothing
happened. Family day was worse. Truth be told, she wasn’t really expecting her mother to
show up, but she still hoped. Mina seemed to share her sentiment, sadly glancing over at the
door the entire day like she was waiting for someone. Halfway through Jihyo and Mina had
to camp out in their classroom as everyone else had fun outside, Mina quietly crying, scared
and sad. For once, Jihyo had no idea what to do. On her way to her car that afternoon,
longing to get home and try to figure out what she should do, she saw Mina just standing
there, staring out at the parking lot. After a bit of light questioning, Mina said she was
waiting for her mom. Jihyo drove her home that day, catching a glimpse of Myoui Mizuko.
She made her second report that night.

Things seemed to get better since then. Mina finally came to school dressed in weather
appropriate clothing. She brought lunch to school, granted it was just takeout leftovers it still
fed her, her grades started improving. Jihyo had never felt more relieved in her life. Mina
started making more friends too, branching off to become friends with Yeri, Sooyoung, and
Lucas. She was so energetic and happy, it feels like the past week had been a ninety-degree
turn, not completely back to the starting line, but progress was hindered a bit.

“I just don’t think that Santa is real.” Yeri huffed, slumping back into her seat as Sooyoung
and Lucas laughed, the idea of the man not being real completely ridiculous.
Sooyoung slipped more of her popcorn into her mouth, “You’re not going to get presents
then.”

“What? No! I believe!”

Funnily enough, Mina and Tzuyu just watched it all go down. Mina had her head laying on
the desk as she had for most of the class, trying to fight off sleep as Tzuyu ate her favorite
gummy snack. Without a doubt, Tzuyu would come in every day and offer Mina a few
pieces, which may be just out of habit at this point. Mina just lazily opened her mouth, letting
Tzuyu plop it in. Those two were always quite amusing, attached to the hip since day one.
Jihyo knew for a fact, Mina hated those gummies that Tzuyu would offer her, her nose
always wrinkled up in disgust but she chewed and swallowed anyways, telling Tzuyu that
they were good and Tzuyu would smile and offer her another because she thought it made
Mina as happy as it made her. Before Mina was removed Tzuyu used to split her lunch with
Mina, perfectly evenly saying that she wasn’t hungry and that Mina should help her finish it
so her moms won’t be mad, and it was obvious Mina was starving so she’d eat quickly,
silently thanking Tzuyu.

Today Mina seemed to not even be interested in the gummies, or her own snack, cute
homemade ants on a log in a pretty green plastic container, opting to lay her head down on
the desk instead. She looked completely and utterly exhausted. Mina normally had a hard
time paying attention in class, but this was something different. Jihyo got up from behind her
own desk making her way over to Mina’s, placing her hand on it first as a warning that she
was there so the girl wasn’t startled, “You feeling okay Mina?”

“I’m just sleepy.” Mina hummed back, pressing her face further into her arms.

“Do you want me to call Ms.Nayeon so you can go home and sleep?”

“No!” Mina exclaimed, sitting up with heavy sleepy eyes, “I want to get picked up at the end
of the day.”

“You’re falling asleep buddy.” Jihyo cut in, squatting down to rest her chin on the desk
making herself eye level with Mina, she seemed to calm down whenever she did that, “Don’t
you want to just go home and get some sleep?”

“I’m okay.”

“Do you feel safe at your new home?” Jihyo pressed, “Do you feel scared and you can’t sleep
or will they not let you sleep?”

“I don’t want to sleep alone.”

That was probably the first confession Jihyo had ever gotten out of the child, and honestly,
she had no idea what to do with that information. There was only so much she could do, she
couldn’t overstep and say, hey how about one of you sleep in the kid’s room. She just sighed
and stroked the girl’s hair, “If you want to take a nap here I won’t mind, you can go over to
the beanbag chairs. And Tzuyu and go over too if she wants and do her work from there.
After a silent discussion, Mina and Tzuyu were heading over to the beanbag chairs, an
important feat because they were only reserved for people who could get ten gold stars.
Tzuyu looked comfy, Mina was sprawled out in no time, passed out reaching over to grab
Tzuyu’s hand.

It wasn’t much, but it was the best Jihyo could do.

***

With a satisfied hum, Nayeon tacked the polaroid to her cubicle, smiling as it joined her
collection of others. This was her first one with Mina, the detective crouched down next to
her as they both looked up at the camera and smiled. They took this when Kookeu was on a
walk, right after Mina and Jeongyeon were done playing around, almost giving Nayeon a
heart attack as Jeongyeon held her upside down. Mina loved it, giggling and asking to do it
again, Nayeon was quick to refuse to cause both her girls to pout.

She sat back in her desk and sighed, looking up at the picture. The last week admittedly had
been rough. Mina’s a good kid, they both knew that, but they definitely underestimated the
number of problems she would have. Sure they knew that she would have some issues, it was
only natural, but she seemed to have problem after problem and they weren’t sure how to
solve it. Last night, for example, they were playing Mario Kart, but apparently Nayeon had
gotten too loud causing the child to burst into tears, hiding behind her penguin. It took fifteen
minutes to calm her down. She was stressed and overwhelmed, Nayeon tried to remind
herself of that.

And Jeong was being so headstrong about certain things. Mina couldn’t sleep in their bed,
Mina couldn’t just eat whenever she wanted to, she needed to do her homework before she
could play. Nayeon got it, she was just trying to create some structure in the child’s life, a
sense of stability. Jeongyeon’s parents were strict, and while Jeongyeon had expressed that
she didn’t want to be as strict, for someone like Mina maybe having more strict boundaries
would help her. It wasn’t like she just said these things, she tried to help as well. Jeongyeon
set a certain snack time, and made sure she prepared food that Mina would like beforehand,
she would sit there and help her try to figure out her homework, the only thing she wouldn’t
budge on was the bed thing, so Nayeon had tried to take care of that. Her neck still ached
from laying on the kid’s floor for an hour as she waited for her to fall asleep, when she
eventually did not even thirty minutes after Nayeon had slipped into bed Mina was already
there asking to climb in. It was just exhausting. Plus how much she asked about Sana, she
could tell Jeongyeon was starting to get a little annoyed. It was a new experience for all three
of them and they were trying to do the best they could.

The detective took a quick glance over to where Sana was sitting, scrolling through
something on her computer. She looked tired too. It was starting to unnerve her a bit.
Especially after she cried over her house, that was so out of character of her. Sana didn’t
mention it, and neither did Nayeon. But she still found herself grabbing two lollipops off her
desk, walking over to the younger detective and sat down, holding out a lollipop. Sana just
looked up at her, irritation written all over her face. She’s never as subtle with her emotions
as she thinks. The younger just looked back at her computer, “I actually had something to ask
you.”

This piqued Nayeon’s interest, “Yeah?”

“Can I borrow Mina on saturday? I want to take her to meet Eunha.”

What? She didn’t even invite Nayeon to go with her to see Eunha. “Y-yeah, that’s okay.”

“Okay.”

There was something wrong. Nayeon knew it. She could tell. The little bubble of anxiety that
was always there when she thought of her friend started to increase, making her palms
sweaty. Sana has been off lately, and Nayeon had a good feeling why. She just wanted to
pretend she didn’t know. Sana let out a loud sigh, looking back up at her, annoyance covering
her face, “What is it? I know you came here to ask me something.”

“Are you okay?” Nayeon found herself blurting out, “I noticed it the other day, something is
bothering you. I’m not sure what it is. Are you relapsing, or thinking about it again? I’m just
concerned.”

“You always fucking dance around the issue,” Sana spat, standing up now. “Say it.”

“Sana, I don’t know what you mean.”

“No, you do.” Sana snapped, “If you want to rub it in my face that she killed herself then just
do it. If you want to rub it in my face that I killed your kid, do it. I’m so sick of you alluding
to these things and not following through. Say it. Say what you want to say. Say that you hate
me, that you wish I went through with it. Say it Nayeon. Say it and stop pretending to care
about me just so you can make me miserable.”

Where was this coming from? Nayeon had no clue, but it was scaring her. Other officers were
looking over in their direction, they were concerned as well. Sana was never a really open
person, but this was the closest they would get to a breakdown from her. The older woman
slammed her hand down on the cubicle, “You still blame yourself for that? Sana, that was my
fault. I ran in there, you couldn’t do anything. We talked about this. And she is dead, and
you’re hurting. It’s only been three years, I know you haven’t gotten over it. Don’t you dare
say I wish you went through with it. Do you not understand how scary that was? If
Jeongyeon didn’t get there, I-I would have lost you too.” Nayeon closed her eyes and tried to
take a few deep breaths, “Something is bothering you. Is it all this, is it something else? I
don’t know. As your friend, I wish you would tell me. But as your supervisor, you’re a
liability right now. I’m going to have to put you on paid leave until you go to employee
services and have a psych eval.”

That was really the last thing she wanted to do, but if that was what was bothering Sana, she
needed to make sure she was sound of mind before she even considered having her here.
They were friends, but Nayeon also held responsibility as her supervisor to ensure not only
everyone else's but Sana’s safety as well. Nayeon tapped on the cubicle, having so much
more to say before sighing, leaving it alone. “You should go home now, I’ll redistribute your
cases for now.”
“Just because you’re mad at me doesn’t mean you need to interfere with my job.” Sana
gritted out.

“You’re distracted. You could hurt someone or mess up an investigation. This is final.” She
could only watch as Sana grabbed her bag and stormed out, completely pissed. She’d come
around, especially if they had to see each other in a few days. She needed a vacation as well,
this was the best decision. Nayeon sent a quick text to Momo, giving her a warning and
asking her to take her out to relax. Momo sent a thumbs up emoji back. That made her feel a
bit more relieved. It was still a bit unnerving though, and even if she knew what was the right
thing to do, Nayeon didn’t know if she was strong enough to do it.
 Chapter 16

Sana was starting to get anxious the closer they got to their destination. Mina seemed
ecstatic, sitting in the backseat strapped into her car seat, gently kicking her legs singing
along with Momo to the obnoxious bubblegum pop on the radio. Maybe this was a mistake,
maybe she should turn around and just make up an excuse. No. Sana wanted them to meet
her.

They were driving for about an hour now out to Incheon and were quickly getting closer and
closer to the building that made Sana’s stomach churn. Momo let out a particularly bad high
note, causing Mina to crack up, her laughter filling the car. It helped calm her down. Mina
calmed down, “Satang?”

“Yes?”

“Are we almost there?” Mina asked for what had to be the third time in the past half hour,
letting it go Sana hummed an agreement. Mina had been so energetic the entire car ride,
perking up as soon as she saw Sana. It was almost sad that Sana was just as excited to see her.
They pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car, Sana not forgetting to grab the pretty
blue flowers she bought from the florist a few streets away. As soon as Mina was out of the
car, she was holding Sana’s hand, pointing at the building, “Is your friend in there?”

“Mhmm.”

“I hope she’s nice, but if she’s friends with you she has to be.” Mina rambled, “Should I grab
my book, do you think she’ll want to read?”

“No, we’re just going to go in and say hi,” Sana answered, not liking how Momo was
grimacing at the situation like she was waiting for Sana to snap. The past couple of days on
leave had been weird, she wasn’t used to having free time and was currently going a bit stir
crazy at home. It was refreshing, she could relax. But it didn’t mean she likes it. Poor Momo
had been caught in the crossfire a few times.
Mina was content at that, letting Sana lead her into the building. Confusion immediately
washed over her face as it was just rows and rows of glass boxes with big vases in it. Sana
led them over to a familiar spot and placed the flowers on the small notch next to the box.
“Satang, where’s your friend?”

“She’s in here.” Sana pointed to the box. The set up was pretty, the dark ebony ern, a few
flowers, her class ring, and a smiling picture in a gold frame. Mina seemed to pick up on
what was going on quickly.

“Oh.” The kindergartener looked up at it, “Why is she in there?”

“She was sad, so she left,” Sana answered, clenching her jaw as she looked at the small set
up.

“Why was she sad?”

“That, I don’t know kiddo.” That was the honest truth, Sana had no clue why. Maybe it was
because she lost her job, or that their relationship was starting to become strained, or maybe
she was just tired. Sana had no clue. All she knew is that she left for work and came back to
find her dead. She felt Momo’s hand slip into her’s as well, looking over to see the woman
smiling back at her, a solemn one, comforting. She looked back into the case, and at Eunha’s
smiling picture in that gold frame, and for once she didn’t feel bitter. Didn’t feel it eating her
alive, angry, and betrayed. A farewell. It still stung, it hurt like hell, but instead of blame
Eunha looked relieved. “Hey baby girl, I brought some people to meet you. This is Mina, and
this is Momo. I think you would have liked them, I wish you could have met them. Are you
feeling better now? I still miss you.”

Usually, Sana would be met by silence, but this time a tiny voice spoke up, “Hi Ms.Eunha!
I’m sorry you’re sad, I hope you feel happy now. You’re really pretty, Satang thinks so too.”
Sana let out a little chuckle at that, “I wish I could have met you too, did you know Scooby-
Doo? Sana knows him, Sana knows a lot of things. But you know that already. Okay, I’ll stop
talking now, but don’t be sad anymore, it makes Satang sad. Bye-Bye.”

Sana looked down at Mina who simply looked back up at her, a big smile on her face. Sana
smiled back. Strangely, it felt like a weight was lifted off her chest. There were still so many
things she wouldn’t know and maybe able to let go, but the chance that she could be okay
with that started to sound more and more appealing. The past three years had been hell, but
strangely it almost felt like it could get better. She wasn’t sure how much she liked that
thought, it almost felt like she was allowing herself to forget Eunha. That wasn’t something
she was willing to do. Mina lifted her hands, and Sana picked her up, the younger wrapping
her arms around her neck. It was comforting.

Maybe Eunha sent Mina and Momo her way as an apology, trying to pick up the pieces she
left behind. Sana wouldn’t put it past her, she was never one to not tie up loose ends. If this
was Eunha’s apology, Sana accepted. She was still madly in love, still hurt, and that would
probably never go away, but the dull ache she always felt started to become just a bit more
manageable

They left and headed to the beach, just laying in the sand as Momo and Mina sucked on the
pineapple popsicles they had bought from a vendor near the entrance. The sun had already set
but it wasn’t all too dark, just that weird vertigo where the entire world was painted in light
blue. Mina was curled into Sana’s side on the sand, fingers sticky as she finished her
popsicle, Sana had her head resting on Momo’s lap who sat up watching the waves kiss the
shore. Momo had music playing on her phone softly, and it was a combination of that and
Sana’s warmth next to her that drew Mina into sleep. Momo nudged Sana, motioning over to
the kindergartener, “She’s out.”

“She had a big day.” Sana giggled, craning her neck so she could get a good look.

“Jeong was mentioning the other day she doesn’t sleep well anymore, maybe she’s just
exhausted.”

“Maybe,” Sana sighed, “I know Jeongyeon is trying her best, I just want to jump in there and
yell at them what to do.”

“Sometimes things are just out of your control.” Momo voiced, breathy, and calm. That was
Sana’s problem a lot, she wanted things to be in her control. She wanted to have a sense of
control over whatever was bothering her or conversations because it made her feel less
vulnerable. Eunha’s death was out of her control, Nayeon was out of her control, and now
Mina. “How are you feeling about today?”

“Better?”
“Yeah?”

“I still feel guilty, I could have stopped her. But, today I wasn’t mad. It felt like...I don’t know
how to describe it like I wasn’t over it but I felt okay with it?”

“I get what you mean.” Momo played with the ends of Sana’s hair, “I used to be so angry
when my parents died. Why did they leave me? Why would they do this? Did they hate me?
Angry to the other driver. But over time it got better, I still miss them, but it’s easier to
manage.”

“I went kind of crazy after she died.” Sana admitted, “I shouldn’t have blown up at Nayeon
the way I did, she’s done too much for me. She used to bring me food and make me eat, made
sure I would get up and walk around, checking up on me. She was sad too, she lost a good
friend. But she still took care of me.”

“And you feel like you need to take of her?”

“Maybe.” She did, she was trying to compensate and it was starting to become clear. A
seagull called overhead, as the streetlamps switched on. “I know I’ve been acting off, and
she’s just scared for me. But-” Momo waited patiently for Sana to continue. For a second she
almost refused to, clammed up into herself. Swallowing whatever was holding her back, Sana
decided to let herself open up, “I don’t think I can tell her what’s wrong.”

“And what’s wrong?”

“I regret letting Mina go to her.” There it was. Confessed plainly, yet Momo didn’t look
outraged or disgusted like Sana expected. She just adjusted her weight resting on her hands,
looking down like she knew all along. “I would never tell her that, but I-I really wish I just
kept her with me. I know Nayeon’s so happy, I know they’re taking care of her well and
better than I could, I know these things. But I still want to wake up and eat cereal next to her,
or help her with her homework, or read her a book before bed. It felt like losing someone all
over again.”
“I know.” Momo sympathized, “You’ve been sad since she left, and I saw this all happening
for a while.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Would you have listened?”

Momo had a point. Sana sighed, “She called me Mommy.”

“She’s missing you bad too.” Momo looked up to see the stars slowly starting to peek out
from their hiding places, “She still waits for you.”

“What do I do?”

“I have no idea.”

“I think I should start up with therapy again.” Sana mused, closing her eyes.

“Yeah?”

“I think it would probably be for the best.”

“I do too.” Momo hummed, “You need to take care of your health, physical and mental
before you start thinking of other things.”

“Like us?”
“I was thinking of someone else, but if you feel like we should wait, then we can.”

A pause, “I don’t want to wait.” Sana admitted, “I like what we have.”

“Me too.” Momo started running a hand through Sana’s hair.

“You know I have a question.”

“Ask away.”

“Why are you working Mina’s case? Aren’t you a defense lawyer?”

“Well yeah. But I used to work for the prosecutor’s office, plus they need someone who
speaks Japanese. Mina’s mom barely speaks Korean.” She chuckled when Sana’s eyes
popped open.

“Mina speaks Japanese?!”

“Sana, I’ve spoken to her in Japanese right in front of you before.” Oh. Well, now she felt
like an idiot. Either Sana didn’t notice they were talking, or her brain just registered it for her
without even knowing, she always tended to do that. Especially when she was younger, she’d
realize she just said something entirely in her mother tongue with the other party looking at
her confused. Momo just slid her hand over Sana’s face closing her eyes, “Joohyun’s lead
prosecutor on the case.”

“She is?”

“Mhmm. She has a reputation for being merciless during child abuse cases.”
“Good, she deserves it.”

“Last case she had where child abuse was involved she made the guy pee himself while
questioning him before making him break down in tears.”

“I hope she can do that to Mina’s mom.”

“I feel a bit bad for her the more I look into her case. Came here trying to make money for
her daughter, ended up destroying both their lives.” Momo shook her head, “She’s a lot like
Mina, it’s a bit scary. They look almost identical, I can tell that’s how Mina will look when
she’s older, but their habits and temperments are so similar. The more we find out, the more I
despise her, but- I hope she can get the help she needs. She won’t be getting Mina back, but I
hope she can get her life in order after she serves her time.”

That was the difference between the two, Momo had a giant heart. Sana was starting to
realize that, she may not point out everything she notices, but she sympathizes with everyone.
Sana just wanted the woman to die, no forgiveness, nothing, but Momo still wished for her to
be able to be better one day. Sana wasn’t sure who was wrong between the two of them.
Maybe both, maybe neither. “Can you drive me to my psych eval on Tuesday? I don’t want to
go alone. It’s after you get out of work.”

“Of course.”

“Momo?”

“Yeah?”

“How are we going to get her home without waking her up?”
 Chapter 17

Of all the things Sana could have expected to see when she walked out of the hospital with a
note to return to work and a new schedule for therapy, Hirai Momo aggressively rapping
along to Super Bass by Nikki Minaj was not anywhere on that list. She just stood there for a
minute, taking in the sight, Momo still dressed in her blue and white striped dress shirt and
circular glasses rapping along in broken English. A complete dork. She knocked on the
window, startling the lawyer, who in turn whipped around turning a shade of bright pink.
Sana laughed, going around the car before taking her own seat in the passenger. “Didn’t take
you as a barb.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me Minatozaki,” Momo shot back, starting the car and
pulled out of the parking lot, “How did it go?”

“I can go back to work next week, I got them to push the date back a bit because I thought it
might be good if I take a small vacation.”

“That’s good.” Momo hummed, “And therapy?”

“I made appointments twice a week for the next month.”

“I’m proud of you.” Momo smiled, pulling into their, stop, Sana’s apartment parking lot.
Sana grabbed Momo’s briefcase she carried around to and from work, and Momo grabbed
Sana’s free hand as they made their way into the apartment. Grumpy greeted them as they
shed their layers and stepped in, sighing at finally being home. “Do you want noodles or fish
for dinner?”

“Noodles.”

“Good, me too.” Momo giggled, making her way to the kitchen. This has been their new
routine, they would get home around the same time and Momo would make dinner while
sana “helped”. Momo got out her ingredients, starting to move around as Sana sat on the
counter and occasionally stole something to eat.
“How was your day?” Sana asked half a pepper in her mouth.

“It was good, I just worked on a few cases,” Momo responded, chopping up green onions
before throwing them into the broth she created. She set down the knife and made her way to
Sana, standing between her legs as the younger wrapped her arms around her shoulder. “I was
thinking about you all day.”

“Yeah?” Sana hummed, leaning in.

“Mhmm,” Momo leaned up to capture her lips onto her own, giggling internally when she
felt Sana reciprocate enthusiastically. Sana was pulling her in closer, running her hands
through the back of Momo’s hair as Momo started to slide a hand up the detective’s shirt,
leaving a trail of goosebumps in her wake. The noodle be damned, Sana was taking off her
shirt, Momo’s quickly following as a gentle battle of dominance started. Momo won, like
usual. The lawyer was trailing bite up Sana’s neck, gently sucking at that space under Sana’s
ear that the detective loved. Sana’s hands always had to be busy, trailing up to grasp Momo’s
chest.

They didn’t hear the first few knocks on the door.

“Fuck, you’re so hot.” Momo groaned, sending straight heat to Sana’s core. Her hand was
trailing up her thigh, getting closer to the hem of the detective’s pants.

Knock Knock Knock

They definitely heard that one. A mad scramble to throw on their previously discarded shirts
ensued, before Sana made her way to her door, checking through though the peephole,
frowning when she saw nothing, “Babe, there’s no one-”

Knock Knock Knock

The couple looked at each other, now in a mild panic. Momo was a bit more dramatic than
her partner, “It’s a ghost!”

“I don’t think that,” Sana spoke as she moved to open the door, being met with nothing. Until
she looked down. A teary-eyed Mina staring back at her, who immediately ran into her legs,
clinging on and sobbing. She was shaking, gripping tiny fingers into her thigh so tightly it
almost hurt. The detective sent a look to Momo before squatting down just to have Mina grip
just as tightly onto her shoulders, tucking her face into Sana’s neck. “Mina?”

Mina said something, but it was incomprehensible. So Sana just sighed and picked her up,
gently rocking her until she calmed down to soft sniffles. A million scenarios raced through
the detective’s mind; Did something happen? Where was Nayeon? Did Mina walk all the way
here by herself? Why was she crying? Was she hurt? Momo seemed just as curious, gently
asking when Mina calmed down enough, “Mitang, why are you here?”

“Jeongyeon yelled at me,” Mina admitted sadly, tucking her face back into Sana’s shoulder.

“Why?”

“Because I tried to draw a picture for their fridge, but I guess it was on important paper.”

Momo nodded, Jeongyeon did have a big case today. She mentioned she needed to pick Mina
up from school, bring her home, make her a snack before rushing out to try and meet her
client before the appearance. If she had let out anything and Mina had drawn on it...it
wouldn’t be good, especially depending on what Mina destroyed. Sana did not share the same
understanding, mentally preparing to give the lawyer the cussing out of her lifetime. “Did
someone bring you here?”

“I walked. Ms.Nayeon tried to put on a movie for me but she fell asleep so I left and came
here,” Mina almost seemed proud of that. Like a six-year-old had any business walking alone
three blocks. She tightened her grip on Sana impossibly, “I don’t want to go back, I’m scared.
Please, can I come home now?”
Sana didn’t have an answer. She just stayed quiet as Mina trembled and shook in her arms,
making small cooing noises as she tried to calm her down. After about fifteen minutes she
was calm enough for Sana to stop holding her, just trailing Sana around the house. She needs
to call Nayeon, as soon as possible, the woman was probably panicking at this point. “Mina,
how about you go ask Momo to play with you while I go make a phone call.”

Complying, the kindergartner padded off to Momo who was more than willing to keep her
entertained. She stood in the kitchen, keeping an eye on them as she dialed Nayeon’s number
and waited for her to answer, the woman picked up on the second ring, “Nayeon-”

“Sana!” Nayeon sounded completely panicked like she had been crying just before Sana had
called, “Mina’s gone! I fell asleep for two minutes, and she’s gone! I’m a horrible parent, I
can’t find her. I’ve torn out entire house apart.”

“She’s with me. She walked here.”

“She- She what?”

“She’s safe. Momo is playing with her right now.” Sana relayed, looking back to where
Momo was holding up the stuffed raccoon that lived in their room playing with Mina’s
penguin. Mina seemed mostly calm now, playing along but Sana could see her mind was still
somewhere different. “She came crying, saying Jeong yelled at her.”

“Mina drew on some of Jeongyeon’s court documents, it wasn’t even really yelling more so
scolding,” Nayeon sighed, “But Mina was still scared, and Jeong feels bad she was going to
buy her a treat on her way home as an apology.”

“I can keep her for the night,” Sana suggested, maybe a bit too eagerly, “It might be better if
the two of them cool off, plus Mina needs time to relax before Jeongyeon stresses her out
again.”

“Jeong doesn’t just try to stress her out.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, it’s just- Mina gets stressed when these things happen. She needs
to be able to think clearly and calm down or she is going to start crying the moment she sees
Jeongyeon again.”

Nayeon went silent for a minute, “Can we meet at our spot?”

“Nayeon-”

“Please?”

***

After sneaking out of her own house like a teenager, Sana found herself waiting on the small
swingset her and Nayeon had adopted over the years. The first time was completely by
accident, both young and much more naive than they are now. Nayeon was sat there, after a
particularly bad fight with Jeongyeon, a tub of ice cream in hand, Sana had the same idea
after being cussed out on her second day on the job. It had been their spot when something
was bothering them ever since.

Nayeon approached quickly after she arrived, sitting on the other swing. She seemed a bit
calmer now, but it was clear the pure adrenaline she was feeling earlier was coursing through
her veins still. Sana just swung, “I can go back to work next week.”

“That’s good,” Nayeon sounded distracted like her mind was somewhere far far away than
right at this moment. There was silence for a few minutes before Nayeon dropped her first
bombshell of the night.

“I’m pregnant.”

Sana snapped her head over in her direction, watching as she just lazily swung looking up at
the night sky. She’s what? The detective’s mouth opened then closed a few times trying to
come up with something, anything to say. She sighed, settling on, “When did you find out?”
“I’ve had my suspicions, but I went to the doctors and confirmed on Saturday when you took
Mina out. I’m three months along.”

“Does Jeong know?”

“I haven’t told her yet.” Nayeon admitted, “We both thought this try failed again, and she just
gave up. I don’t know how to tell her while she’s still trying to adjust to Mina.” Nayeon
stopped swinging, “Jeongyeon is really trying her best, it comes off as bad sometimes, but
you know how she is. Mina despises some of her rules, but I caught Jeongyeon up in the
middle of the night researching the best ways to take care of someone like her. She just wants
Mina to have structure, but I don’t think Mina’s happy like that.”

“She’ll come around.”

“I’m not so sure.” Nayeon took a look back in the direction of Sana’s apartment, “I’m starting
to think we’re not making the right decisions for her.”

Sana had no idea what to say.

“I want you to be my baby’s godmother.” Nayeon looked over at her, placing a hand on her
stomach. She chuckled slightly at Sana’s shocked face, the younger woman trying to stammer
out an answer, she clicked her tongue, “ No Nayeon! ” She mocked in a high pitch voice,
“Don’t even try, I know what you’re going to try and say, and guess what Minatozaki, it’s not
going to work. I love you, but you’re so hard on yourself. You know when I lost my
pregnancy it wasn’t your fault, right? You were just doing your job, and I was doing mine.
And things just happen. To be completely honest with you, I think your projecting Eunha
onto what happened. I miss her too Sana, but you can’t ruin your life over that. She told me
to take care of you, and I haven’t been able to visit her because I’ve been so ashamed of how
bad of a job I’m doing.”

Nayeon never told her that. Eunha told her to take of her. That made a lot of sense looking
back at it. Maybe Nayeon was right, she was projecting.
“And I’m so selfish .” Nayeon just sounded ashamed of herself, resuming her light swinging,
“Because I tried to put my happiness above yours even when I knew I was making you
miserable. I’ve been making you both miserable, and today just proved it to me. I’m such a
coward.”

Im Nayeon, the woman who would run into any active scene to protect someone. The woman
who ran after criminals while pregnant just so they could pay for their crimes? A coward?
Sana disagreed. “You’re not.”

“I am,” Nayeon stressed, gripping the chain of the swing tighter, “I saw your expression
when you were saying bye to her, and you cried over my house. And she waits for you every
day and wants to call you before bed to make sure you’re okay after fighting bad guys. I
knew this, but I tried to ignore it because I wanted to be a mom. And I’m so sorry for that
Sana.”

“Nayeon-”

“Mina doesn’t belong with me. Last night she cried in her sleep and when she woke up she
wanted her mommy, she meant you. Sana, I can’t keep doing this to both of you. I’m so sorry
.” Nayeon put her head down, her voice cracked and waived, “You want her, don’t you.”

A pause, before Sana spoke, uncharacteristically small, “I do.”

“I’ll contact her worker in the morning, tell him to place her back with you.” Nayeon took a
second to collect herself, before turning to look at Sana. A kind of strange smile one her face,
somewhere between solemn and relief. “Don’t worry about me, okay? Me and my baby will
be fine, Jeongyeon, I don’t know what she’s going to think. She likes Mina a lot. But Mina
just doesn’t like us. She’s funny like that. But, I can’t sit back and watch you two suffer
anymore. You deserve this.”

For the first time in a while, Sana believed that.

 Chapter 18

“Is Nayeon busy today?” Taeyong asked, trying to hide his frown. He was a nice boy, Sana
would give him that, and from his perspective, it probably was confusing why Sana was
waiting to pick up Mina with the rest of them. It was just Dahyun, Seulgi, Wendy, and
Taeyong this evening, they looked surprised but not upset to see her. It was no secret that they
didn’t like Nayeon, why? Sana wasn’t exactly sure. But Mark had gossiped about it in their
group chat before realizing that Sana was in there and left.

“No, I- I’m actually taking Mina back,” Sana answered, watching all of them accept that
almost immediately. Mina’s worker, Seokjin, had called her earlier in the day and confirmed
that Mina was cleared to stay with her. Sana had nothing to do all day anyway, working on a
few small projects around the house after dropping Mina off at school. Jeongyeon had texted
her, Sana hadn’t looked at it yet.

“Oh really? That’s great.” Wendy cut in.

“Are you two still going to come to our party?” Taeyong asked, “You can bring your
girlfriend too, she was really nice at parent’s day.”

“Uh- Maybe?”

“Sana?!”

The amount of excitement and shock present in Mina’s voice almost made her feel a bit bad
like Mina wasn’t really expecting her to ever show up. Before she could even turn her head
Mina’s body crashed into hers, gripping onto her leg. She looked down to see Mina smiling
back up at her, without much thought she picked her up and tucked her on her waist grinning
as the girl gave her a hug. “Are you bringing me to Ms.Nayeon’s? Did you catch all the bad
guys so you’re not busy today?”

“I’m not bringing you to Ms.Nayeon’s, you’re coming home with me. If that’s okay with
you?”
Mina gasped, breaking away from her so she could look at her, excitement tainting her voice,
“Really?”

“Really.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Mina suddenly jerked around facing Tzuyu who looked equally as excited,
the sudden movement almost having Sana losing her grip and sending the girl tumbling to the
pavement. Tzuyu just grinned and sent her a thumbs up, relief evident on her face. She was a
good friend, and Sana was going to make Mina invite her over soon. She’d much rather have
her be friends with Tzuyu then Yeri and Sooyoung who were practically wrestling on the
pavement a few feet away. “Can we go home now?”

“Okay,” Sana waved a quick goodbye to the parents, who eagerly waved back at her. Mina
decided the walk back to the car would be the best time to tell Sana, every detail of her day,

“Guess what? Ms.Park let me use the beanbags again but I told her I wasn’t tired today
because I slept over our house last night and Momo was there too and we had fun and I went
to sleep early. She gave me a gold star for that, isn’t that crazy? I have four now, I need one
more to pick a prize out of the prize bin. I got a bad grade on my last math test though, I
don’t understand it.”Mina rambled so fast and so much, Sana wasn’t sure exactly what she
was talking about now but she just let her speak. It was clear Mina was happy, and if Mina
was happy then Sana would be happy as well. “Can we get a pet? I was thinking one of those
fuzzy spiders, or maybe a snake? They’re really cute, what if we got a green one?”

Wait. What? Sana’s head snapped toward the kindergartner, blinking a few times to see if she
heard her correctly? A spider or a snake? Absolutely not, Mina’s choice in animals she
deemed cute was starting to scare her a bit. If she ever came home and saw a snake chilling in
her house, Sana was sure she’d just pass out right then and there.

Quick to put an end to that thought, the detective cut in, “We are not getting a snake or a
tarantula. We have Grumpy, who do you want another pet?”

“But Grumpy is Momo’s cat.” Mina’s voice trailed off, before gasping, “Is Momo living with
us too?”
Was Momo living with them? It seemed like that, Sana can’t remember the last time the
woman had been back to her own apartment in weeks, she even had her shampoo set up next
to Sana’s in her shower. But was Momo really living with them? They didn’t even have a
label for what exactly they were, sure partners seemed pretty cut and dry, plus Momo didn’t
seem all too worried about it, but still, it left Sana stranded in this grey zone where she wasn’t
exactly sure what to do. She just wouldn’t worry about it for now.

She set Mina in the car, helping the girl buckle up before giving her a kiss on the forehead.
Sana couldn’t remember the last time she felt this happy.

***

Momo could tell Joohyun was starting to get frustrated, the woman sighed for what felt like
the fiftieth time only twenty minutes in their interrogation session with Mina’s mother and
they still were not making any progress. The woman was shaking, but Momo couldn’t tell if
it was nerves of withdrawal from whatever drugs still were trying to make its way out of her
symptoms or lingering side effects or what. Joohyun gritted her teeth, “Look, we’re trying to
do you a favor here. If you take the plea deal this doesn’t go to trial and you only get seven
years for the child abuse and neglect and three for the drug possession. If you don’t take it,
then you can be looking at a lot more.”

Of course, the woman had no idea what Joohyun just said, turning to Momo with those big
doe eyes, silently asking her to translate as she has been this entire session, “If you take the
plea it’s seven years for child abuse and neglect, and three for drug possession.”

“But I-I- I didn’t hurt her.”

Momo sighed, a small bubble of anger starting to burn in her stomach. She did hurt her, she
hurt Mina in so many different ways. Yet Mizuko continued to insist that she had nothing to
do with it. The lawyer adjusted her expensive pantsuit and looked at the woman. She looked
so much like Mina, it was unnerving. “She was sleeping in a suitcase, has bruises all over
her body, there was no food in the house, she was wandering around at night alone while you
were taking drugs. These are all the facts, and we haven’t even gotten Mina’s testimony. Are
you betting on the fact she won’t tell on you in court because you made her promise to not
talk about those things?” Mizuko paled a bit. “I have a good feeling that Mina would be
willing to talk to Prosecutor Bae and I. So let me ask you one more time, will you plead
guilty?”
“No.”

“This will move on to trial then.” Momo shook her head at Joohyun who let out a groan,
signaling to the officer standing near the door to take her away. Mizuko didn’t put up a fight,
just letting them take her away. She looked tired. Momo wondered what in her life led her to
this moment, and if she even regretted it. The lawyer couldn’t get a grip on how she was
supposed to feel, because, on one hand, she caused all this pain and suffering on a child, her
child. On the other hand, she herself looked like a scared little girl that got led down the
wrong path in life, and for that Momo did feel a bit sorry for her. It was something she
learned over the years working in the field she did, everyone had a story.

It was safe to say Joohyun did not share Momo’s heart, cussing as soon as the woman was led
away standing up gathering her files, “What did she say?”

“That she didn’t hurt her.”

Joohyun’s jaw dropped, angrily snatching up her files and placing them in her bag, “Are you
kidding me? Momo you saw that kid as I did, and that wasn’t even the worst of it. You see
how she reacts to people or anything that scares her, or even how skinny she was. I used to
send Yeri to school with extra food to give her, Yeri used to tell me Tzuyu would split her
lunch so Mina would refuse, but I just- Didn’t hurt her?” She scoffed.

That was something Momo admired about the older woman, if Momo had a big heart, then
Joohyun had a heart of gold. Yeah, Joohyun was known for being ruthless, but that was for
good reason. She defended people who couldn’t defend themselves. The lawyer could sleep a
little better knowing that Mina was in good hands, but there was still that nagging chance
Mizuko could be acquitted, and Mina could be back in her custody. Was that chance big?
Absolutely not. But it was still there, and Momo didn’t like that.

How attached Momo had gotten to the little girl was almost pathetic, always thinking about
her or buying small gifts that she would keep in her car until she knew Mina needed a pick
me up. Currently, Momo had two books, a stuffed lobster, and a new pack of crayons in her
glove box just in case she went to go pick Mina up from school and she had a bad day. She
started keeping gifts after Mina broke down to Sana, she had a feeling some days would be
better than others and she just wanted to be prepared. And Sana, damn. Momo was sure she
was in love. But that was a worry for another day. It would be a lie if she didn’t say she was
proud of the woman for finally taking Mina back, but she still felt like she put them through
unneeded stress.

Momo cleaned up, bid a quick goodbye to Joohyun before rushing home. The trial was going
to be rough, and there was only so much Momo could do to try and help Mina through it.
Sure it might be reassuring to know that Momo and Joohyun, both people Mina knew and
trusted would be questioning her, but honestly, Momo had no idea how much loyalty Mina
still felt towards her Mom. If she would lie or not, because it’s one thing to break down to
Sana, it’s another to get in front of a room of people and say in detail things you would rather
forget. Plus Mizuko’s defense lawyer, a public defender was the huge bear of a man, and
Momo didn’t trust the kindergartener not to clam up or start crying when he started
questioning her. Still, it was a few weeks away and she could prepare by then.

Grabbing one of the books from her glove box, Momo got out of the car, making her way up
to their- Sana’s apartment. She punched in the code she knew by heart now, and let herself in,
taking off her shoes as grumpy wrapped around her legs greeting her with a soft meow.
Making her way in, she saw Mina sat at the table doodling while Sana frowned at a cooking
video on her laptop. It almost felt like Mina never left, how naturally these things worked.
Mina looked up, “Momoring!”

“ Hey buddy, guess what? I got you something? ” Momo saw out of the corner of her eye as
Sana whipped around, finally recognizing that Momo was speaking their mother tongue.
What a goofball.

“You did?” Mina grinned, setting down her blue crayon. Physically Mina looked a lot
different than when Momo first met her, she had put on a healthy amount of weight, her eyes
didn’t hold the same sadness they used to. It’s amazing what showing a kid just a little love
and affection could do. “Why?”

“Cause you’re back!” Momo cheered, pulling the book out from behind her back. Mina got
up from her seat, tugging on Momo’s sleeve.

“Can we read it tonight?”

“Of course!” Momo set it down on the counter and gave Sana a quick peck. It was domestic,
it was natural, it was love. Momo was just a bit too afraid to admit it out loud yet.
…
 Chapter 19

Momo wasn’t sure how many times she had to reassure Sana she was okay with picking
Mina and Tzuyu up from school while she was at her therapy appointment. She knew the
woman still felt uneasy asking that of her, but quite frankly she was totally okay with it. Mina
ran up to her, holding Tzuyu’s hand and tugging her along, Momo had expected for her to be
excited to see her, instead anxiety was written all over her features, “Where’s Sana.”

“She’s seeing her therapist, so I’m bringing you home.”

“Like Ms.Sunmi?”

“Mhmm.” Mina seemed to relax at that, turning to Tzuyu and smiling.

“You know Tzuyu right? She’s my friend.”

“We met before, remember? At parent’s day.”

She watched Tzuyu smile back at her, gripping onto Mina’s hand tighter. She was probably
shy, Mina was as well so they probably balanced each other out well. Tzuyu was a cute kid as
well, walking alongside Mina blabbering to her about something in class that Momo
imagined was hot gossip for kindergartners. It’s only been a few days since Mina came back
with them, and Momo could already see the change in the child simply from getting enough
sleep now. Momo had started using the couch, letting Mina take her place next to Sana
simply to make the girl comfortable. Sure she could return to her own apartment, but she just
didn’t want to. She wanted to make Mina lunch before she went to school and kiss Sana a
goodbye before they left. Mina had woken up with night terrors the night prior and Momo
was kind of glad she decided to sleep on the couch, it took a few minutes for Sana to get her
to calm down as she screamed and thrashed around not registering it was Sana if Momo was
there too, she wasn’t sure if the girl would have come to so quickly.

Sana calmed her down, and eventually Momo and grumpy made their way into the room as
well. Mina didn’t exactly say what it was about, and maybe it was just a normal night terror
kids her age had about monsters and alligators (the second part may have just been Momo’s
reoccurring night terror as a child though). Momo had her doubts about that though, Mina
sounded too scared and too much of a reaction for it just to be a monster. And honestly, as the
trial started, Momo was expecting them to start to occur more.

Mina’s mother’s attorney had blocked her and Joohyun’s request to do Mina’s testimony
digitally, citing some bullshit reasoning that Momo didn’t even remember. Sure she can still
have a guardian with her, probably Sana, for comfort, and her psychiatrist that she has been
seeing will be there to monitor and cut in if she needs to but Momo still felt uneasy about it.
Two options were starting to become abundantly clear in Momo’s mind, the defense was
either batting on the assumption that Mina would lie and defend her mother, or Mina’s
mother genuinely felt like she did nothing wrong. Both made her angry.

“Do you hear that?” Mina asked suddenly, braking Momo away from her train of thought,
tugging Tzuyu into a small ally as Momo scrambled to follow caught off guard. She didn’t
even get to question what they were doing when Momo say what they were looking at. A
small golden dachshund crying out as Mina reached down to pet him. She looked around, and
there was no trace of a mother in sight. Shit.

“Why is he alone?” Tzuyu questioned, “He looks tiny.”

“I don’t know, what do we do Tzu?”

“Maybe we wait for his mommy to come? She has to come back, Mommies come back.”

“I think his mommy left him kiddo.” Momo cut in.

“His mommy left him?” Mina questioned, looking up at Momo watching her nod. She turned
back, reaching out to run her fingers through his fur. Tzuyu looked just as concerned,
squatting down next to Mina taking her backpack off to dig through it, coming out with a few
pieces of ham that she held out and offered to the puppy, in which it was quickly devoured.
Momo watched as a smile spread across Tzuyu’s face as he ate, Mina just seemed to get more
and more upset, “Why didn’t his mommy take care of him?”

“Uh-” Momo stammered, not expecting the watery tone in Mina’s voice. The situation was
upsetting yes, and probably more so for a child, but Tzuyu seemed to be okay- oh. Mina was
projecting. Momo made sure to smooth over her voice, calming her stress levels down so
neither of the younger girls would pick up on it and freak out as well, “Sometimes they just
can’t. My mommy couldn’t.”

Both of the children’s heads snapped in her direction, and Momo just shrugged, reaching
down to pet the puppy as well. She could hear the children’s silent discussion on what that
meant, before Tzuyu spoke up, “Why?”

“My dad died in a car accident when I was around your age, and my mom was sad. So she
left.”

“Like Sana’s friend?” Mina asked.

“Yeah, like Sana’s friend. I was born where you were born Mina, but when my parents died
my sister and I got sent here. And now I have really nice parents that I love just as much.”
Momo could see both the girls staring back at her, “Sometimes mommy’s just can’t take care
of you, it’s not your fault, it happens.”

They were both quiet for a few seconds before Tzuyu spoke up, “My mommy couldn’t take
care of me either. I don’t know why.” She stared down at the puppy, “But my moms adopted
me and that’s good enough for me.”

Mina was quiet, and Momo could tell she was thinking. About what exactly, Momo wasn’t
entirely sure. Honestly, it hadn’t been all too long since Mina was placed with Sana, just a
few months, how much Mina still wanted her real mother’s love and approval was still a bit
of a mystery. She saw this often at work, how kids still tried to defend and cling onto their
parent’s love and attention even when they’re being abused. Mina seemed to be able to
distinguish that what her mom put her through wasn’t normal, but Momo couldn’t expect her
to just be over it already. The kindergartner threaded her fingers through the puppy’s hair,
“Can we take care of him?”

“I-” Mina looked over at her with big puppy eyes. Sana was most definitely going to kill her,
but oh well, “Sure, let’s take him home. We should stop at the store to pick up some food and
a collar for him, don’t you think?”

Both girls were extremely excited, letting Momo pick up the puppy and tuck it securely into
her arms as they held onto her shirt and walked a little way to this pet store that Momo
sometimes visited to pick up things for Grumpy. Controlling two excited kids and a puppy
that started to wiggle in her grasp was not an easy feat, but somehow Momo prevailed
successfully walking out with a dog of food, a bowl, a leash, a collar, and finally a small
raccoon stuffed toy because Tzuyu insisted he needed a friend like Peng and Minjoong.

The only thing Momo wasn’t sure about was how to explain this to Sana when the woman
got home.

***

“What is that and why is it here?”

Sana was tired, both emotionally and physically. After Mina’s meltdown last night, she
couldn’t fall back asleep afterward tossing and turning trying to find some sort of rest before
giving up and moved to just grab some case files reading over and thinking through a few of
her cases. Then today, Nayeon decided to complain for nearly an hour about how she and
Jeongyeon were now in a big fight for her giving back Mina without telling her first, and that
was after they ran nearly a mile chasing a suspect. Add the hour of unloading years of
emotional trauma onto that, yeah she was exhausted.

“What do you mean?” Momo asked, but the guilty look on her face gave her away as she
tried to maneuver her body on the couch to block Sana’s view of the puppy.

“What is that and why is it here?” Sana questioned, putting her hands on her hips as she
stared at the curled up sleeping puppy on her couch. Grumpy didn’t seem too pleased as well,
flicking his tail in annoyance from where he was sat on one of the kitchen chairs glaring over
at where the dog laid. Momo just sent her a guilty look, reaching out to pet the small dog in a
way that completely contradicted her face. Mina looked unbothered, bouncing around Sana’s
feet excitedly.

“Guess what? Momoring and I were coming home and we found him! Look he’s sad, we
need to help him.” Mina pulled on Sana’s pant leg, and honestly, Sana was just too exhausted
to fight it so she nodded, walking over to the couch and just sat down on Momo’s lap, letting
the older wrap her arms around her.
“You’re not mad?” Momo asked, pressing a kiss to her temple when Mina turned away to run
back to the kitchen table with Tzuyu. Tzuyu had brought a new Lego set that the girls were
starting to build, giggling amongst themselves. This was the first time Tzuyu had been over
Mina’s house, for good reason. When Sana had brought it up to Dahyun the other day she
was totally okay with it, saying Tzuyu hadn’t been allowed too previously because she knew
something was off about Mina’s home situation. Tzuyu seemed comfortable though,
diligently looking through the instructions booklet as Mina tried to gather the pieces.

“Oh no, I’m mad. You brought a dog into my house.” Sana deadpanned, relaxing into her as
Momo held her tighter. “I better get an explanation.”

“Mina just found him, and then she gave me the puppy eyes. I couldn’t say no.”

A sigh, “Did she name him yet?”

“Rey.”

“Great so she’s attached.” Sana groaned, “I guess it’s better than the snake she wanted.”

“I can take him if you really don’t want him.” Momo started to rub small circles on her
stomach, “I wouldn’t mind, he’s pretty cute.”

“No it’s okay, I think Mina would cry if I said she couldn’t keep it.” Sana laid her head back
on Momo’s shoulder, “Are you coming to the party tomorrow?”

“Of course.”

Momo was warm. She gave off warm vibes, yes, but she was actually physically warm as
well. Blanketing Sana in this comfort after a long day at work while the kids played in the
kitchen, giggling about whatever they were doing with a dog lying next to them and Momo’s
cat walking around. Sana looked over to where Mina and Tzuyu were playing, now having
built half of the camper they were so determined to create. Maybe Mina would sleep in her
own room tonight if Tzuyu and the dog were in there as well, she would help Momo read
them a book before bed and make her take the dog out in the middle of the night when it
inevitably had to go to the bathroom. Mina looked happy though, Sana couldn’t ask for much
more.

“Tough day?”

“I just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”

“Yeah,” Momo hummed, “Did she settle after I went back to the couch.”

“Mhm, but I still couldn’t go back to sleep.”

“I think she’ll sleep fine tonight, you can get some rest too.” Momo mused, reaching up to
brush a hand through Sana’s hair, making the woman’s eyes start to flutter shut.

Maybe it was just the simple comfort after a long day, maybe it was Sana’s sleep-deprived
brain, but she couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out of her mouth like a poor ballerina.
“I love you.”

She could feel Momo tense under her for a second, before responding, “I love you too.”

Instead of letting herself try to ponder and agonize over what this meant, Sana just relaxed
smiling a bit at Momo’s words. “You’re still responsible for this mutt though.”
 Chapter 20

“Should we wake them up?”

Sana could just feel Momo smiling over at her from where she was sat at the kitchen table,
cup of coffee in hand, still in her pink barbie branded pajama pants and black oversized sleep
shirt, hair wet and dripping onto her shoulders, finishing her look off with circular specs.
Sana herself was still in her sleep shorts and top, gently pacing through the kitchen. It was
nearly nine, and Mina and Tzuyu still haven’t emerged from her room. They had lasted the
whole night in there with the dog, allowing Momo to slip into Sana’s bed with Grumpy. But
when Mina hadn’t woken her up and still hasn’t emerged from the bedroom nearly an hour
after she usually did, Sana was starting to question it.

Momo just giggled, taking another sip from her cup, a blue mug with yellow fish painted
onto it, “They probably just stayed up late last night, we did hear them giggling until what
ten? That’s kinda late for Mina.”

“I know, I know.” Sana waved a hand, taking one of the bananas off of the counter before
stopping, “Are you sure I shouldn’t just check on them.”

“If that’ll stop whatever this is, please.”

Sticking her tongue out at Momo, she made her way out of the kitchen and down the hall to
Mina’s closed door. Cautiously she opened it just peeking her head in. Both Mina and Tzuyu
were curled up on the bed, most of the blankets were on Tzuyu’s side, just a small corner
covering Mina. Mina had peng in her arms, similarly, Tzuyu had her stuffed dog in her arms
as well, snoring softly into its fur. Rey was curled up on the end of the bed, wagging his tail
as he got up and stretched at the end of the bed. He shook his body, the jangling of his collar
stirring Mina who opened an eye and looked around. Internally, Sana was expecting Mina to
start freaking out trying to figure out where she was, but instead, she just looked over at
Tzuyu and smiled, wrapping her arms around her friend before noticing Sana in the doorway,
sending her an excited wave. All the movement stirred Tzuyu, who was now pouting and
opening her eyes. Sana opened the door a bit so the dog could walk out, before closing it
giving the girls a bit of privacy. She walked back into the kitchen where Momo was refilling
her coffee.
“The verdict is?”

“They just woke up.” Sana took down a mug as well, holding it out and letting Momo fill it
up for her, “We don’t have to leave for a little while, I just wanted to check if she was okay.”

“You’re cute, you know that?” Momo smiled into her cup, before making her way to the
fridge to grab a few things to make for breakfast. Sana wrapped her arms around her waist as
she did so, letting the woman start to cook some eggs as she rested her chin on her shoulder
occasionally pressing small kisses to her neck. It took a few minutes before Mina and Tzuyu
were walking into the kitchen, sitting at the table as Momo scooped the eggs onto the plate.

Sana took her seat opposite of the girls, watching as Tzuyu put a bit of her eggs on Mina’s
plate before Mina shook her head and put it back. The whole sleepover really did prove two
things to Sana, One, Tzuyu was extremely smart. Mina had always bragged about how smart
Tzuyu was, never jealous of her friend but excited that someone as smart as Tzuyu would be
her friend. But it was clear Tzuyu had a very, very clear understanding of the situation at
hand and how she should try to handle it. Little things throughout their friendship that Mina
mentioned started this train of thought, how she would sneak Mina in at night, even the
notebook that Mina would bring everywhere. But throughout the night Tzuyu would do small
things such as letting Mina choose what she wanted to play with first, complimenting Mina
on her hair which Momo had braided, never bringing up things that made Mina upset. All
things she knew Mina never had the privilege of experiencing before. Tzuyu was not only
book smart, but extremely emotionally intelligent as well. And Two, for every bit Tzuyu
seemed to care about Mina, Mina adored her back. Mina was constantly making sure she felt
included or was comfortable. It was nice to see.

Momo sat down next to her, making quick work of her meal as the girls ate while chatting
amongst themselves. Momo paused, clearing her throat garnering the attention of the
kindergarteners, “So did you girls have fun last night?”

“Yeah, we did.” Mina smiled, “Tzuyu taught me how to make a frog out of paper!”

“Oragami.”

“Yeah. That!”
“That’s awesome,” Momo smiled, “Tzuyu do you think you could teach me too?”

And that’s how breakfast turned into origami class, and that’s also how they were late to the
party.

***

Mark and Taeyong’s house was nice. Really, really nice. That was to be expected as Taeyong
was one of the cities most sought after cardiovascular surgeons, Sana figured he must be
making a pretty penny. Thinking about, she can’t remember a time she saw Lucas in clothes
that weren’t branded.

The gay squad was a strange entity. The group itself was this hodgepodge of personalities
kind of smushed together by nothing more than their sexuality. Normally that was something
Sana would despise, she always thought that her sexuality was not that big of a deal, it wasn’t
her personality and with or without it she would still be the same person, the only thing that
would be different was who she loved. It was clear most of the group shared her same
sentiment, but it was the other parents that saw them as others that made their group a
necessity. It probably didn’t help that they were a bunch of very successful individuals,
Joohyun being the districts top prosecutor, Wendy being a pediatrician, Chaeyoung the
museum’s top art historian, even the three with more humble jobs such as Seulgi’s restaurant,
Mark’s flower shop, and Dahyun being a stay at home mom just selling soap as a hobby were
very successful.

Even if formed out of necessity, they never failed to make Sana feel loved. Offering to pick
Mina up if she was ever called to a scene or had to follow a lead, checking on her in the
group chat, even Joohyun had texted her occasionally when Mina was living with Nayeon.
That’s partly why Sana even bothered to show up at this party, making her way to the back as
instructed by text where the rest of the squad was already lounging on the back patio while
Sooyoung, Lucas, and Yeri splashed around in the impressive in-ground pool. The
temperature was just starting to warm up enough that the pool could be used, and Sana had a
good suspicion the water was heated to a comfortable temperature as well. Tzuyu broke away
from them to greet her moms who greeted her back with just as much enthusiasm, leaving
Mina glued between Momo and Sana.
Today there was a new addition to the squad, Jihyo sitting next to Seulgi sipping on her drink
deep in conversation with Wendy. That’s new, but Seulgi did mention she was starting to see
someone new. Mina seemed just as confused, not getting to think over it much as Tzuyu
came back and led her away to the pool both girls squealing as Yeri splashed them. Shit,
maybe Mina wanted to play in the water. She didn’t have a swim suit, Sana never even
considered this. Maybe she should just say she needs to go pick up some drinks from the
store and come back with a suit for Mina real quick, that could work.

As if sensing Sana’s thoughts, Chaeyoung shook her head stretching out a hand to stop her in
her tracks, “Don’t bother, both her and Tzu are afraid of water.”

“Huh?” Mina was scared of water? That made no sense, she loved fish and the ocean. She
was consistently watching those boring documentaries on their TV, or having Momo read her
a fished themed book. Maybe she just didn’t know how to swim, Sana didn’t for a while.
Granted the detective had never seen Mina go into a pool or try to take a bath, she trusted the
girl to shower by herself as both of them were more comfortable with that, and Mina had
never been unclean since they started living together.

“We set up a kiddy pool at our house a few weeks ago, and Mina refused to go anywhere near
it and started crying,” Chaeyoung shrugged, “Tzuyu has always been afraid of water, even
since she was a baby. She used to cry for hours when it was bath time.”

Momo took a seat, tugging Sana onto her lap, and Sana just let her. Letting Momo wrap her
arms around her and rest her head on her shoulder. Momo and she didn’t mention what was
exchanged last night, but it was becoming increasingly apparent they needed to sit down and
discuss whatever this was between them. Joohyun smiled over at them, “Long time no see.”

The lawyer just let out a groan, a teasing smile on her face, “Not long enough.”

“You jerk,” Joohyun laughed, handing over a drink which Momo accepted, “I head Tzuyu
spent the night over, maybe I should have Mina spend the night over my place, Yeri has been
mentioning she wanted to have a sleepover with someone other than Sooyoung.”

“Hey what’s wrong with Sooyoung,” Seulgi cut in.

“She put flour in my hairdryer last time she slept over.”

“As she should.”

Joohyun let out a huff, causing the rest of them to giggle. Taking a quick glance over at the
kids, they seemed all set, Tzuyu and Mina now sitting a few feet away from the edge of the
pool playing around with a few of the fish toys. She turned back to see Dahyun smiling at
her, “Mina’s happy.”

“She is? I’m glad.”

“Better than that other woman,” Mark stated, immediately hushing when everyone sent him a
look. Sana was aware they weren’t Nayeon’s biggest fans, still, that did feel a little uncalled
for.

“What’s wrong with Nayeon?” Maybe there was a bit too much bite in her voice as she said
that because the entire patio’s heads snapped towards her.

They went quiet for a little while as if all silently daring the other to say something.
Surprisingly, Jihyo was the first one to speak up, “I think it’s better that Mina’s with you,
she’s not falling asleep in class anymore.”

“It’s not that we don’t like Nayeon,” Wendy sighed, pausing to collect her thoughts, “Mina
was just miserable, and you were too. She’s probably a nice person, but if Mina is going to be
the way she was when she was with her we don’t want her around.”

Sana always knew they were nice people, and they knew Mina longer than Sana had known
her. As parents and as people they just wanted the best for the child. She could throw a fit and
defend her friend, but instead, she just decides to let it go. Letting the patio fall back into
comfortable chatter as she just listened in and sometimes chimed in when prompted too.
After about an hour and figuring the kids must be getting hungry, they started to distribute the
sandwiches Mark had prepared. Mina seemed hungry, making her way over as soon as she
was called, standing between Sana and Momo as Taeyong extended a plate to her.
At the motion, Mina immediately ducked behind Momo’s leg, gripping on and looking up.
The spike of anxiety started to build inside of Sana, Mina was going to start crying, and then
she was going to freak out. It was a bit surprising that Mina dove for Momo when Sana was
right there too, but neither adult minded, actually this was a bit welcomed. And in some
miraculous turn of events, Mina actually detached herself and grabbed the plate from
Taeyong with a small thank you. No tears, no wails. Mina looked back up at Sana, and Sana
smiled. Mina trusted her. She wouldn’t put her in a position that would be dangerous. If Sana
brought them around then they must be okay.

Momo reached down and picked Mina up, taking a bite of her sandwich when the younger
offered. Having a family was something Sana never considered after Eunha’s passing, but
sitting here watching as her kinda girlfriend interacted with her kinda kid, she let herself
dream of that once again.
 Chapter 21

It was safe to say Tzuyu’s position as Mina’s best friend had some good competition now.
Momo trailed just behind her, always being there to play with her and read her books before
she went to bed. Momo was pretty and strong and always made sure Mina had a lot of food to
eat, and Mina loved her for that. Sometimes Mina would make her little origami animals with
barely legible words written on them and slip them into her work papers. More than once this
week has Momo gotten to court, taken out her papers, and saw a little folded shark with, ‘I
luv u MomOring! Gud luCk!’ inscribed on it. Sana was her best friend two, but Sana was
different than the other too, Mina couldn’t describe it.

But both Momo and Tzuyu now had a new challenger in the form of one small furry dog;
Rey. It was no secret Mina adored animals, but having one of her own was different. He
would sleep in bed with her, letting her wrap her arms around him when she got scared or just
wanted cuddles. With him, she was able to sleep in her own bed for the first time alone. She
had gotten up the night prior, checking on Momo who was snoring on the couch, one hand
hanging off and the blanket barely covering her while Grumpy laid on her chest head resting
on her own in a way that would make Momo’s face scrunch up when his whiskers tickled her
face. It confused Mina sometimes as to why she just didn’t sleep with Sana, she and Tzuyu
always shared a bed when she slept over so why couldn’t Sana and Momo? Then she pattered
over to Sana, seeing the woman laid out in bed, now only taking the right half of the bed,
unlike when Mina first started living there where she’d be sprawled out and make it difficult
for Mina to slip in, now the left side was always open for her. But for some reason, she made
her way back into her own room, curled up with Rey, and fell back asleep. He just made her
feel safe.

They were a lot alike, Mina had come to realize that. Rey’s mommy didn’t want to take care
of him either so he had nice people who would do it for her. Sometimes she wondered what
she did to make her mommy so mad at her, was she just not good enough? She tried hard, so
why didn’t she want her? Sometimes it made her sad, sometimes she just shifted her attention
to other things and tried to ignore it. Like now as she giggled and ran around the living room
couch, Rey chasing slightly behind. Momo was going to be home late today, Sana said she
was questioning a bad guy and it was taking a while. That was bad for one reason, Sana had
to make dinner.

Mina adored everything Sana did. Everything except cooking.

She’d eat it with no complaints, just having a dinner to eat was a luxury and Mina wasn’t sure
how much longer she’d have it. But Momo’s dinners were always better, they just tasted
better. Momo said she put love in it, Sana disagreed.

Finally stopping her run, she decided to check up on the detective, pittering into the kitchen
where Sana was frowning over a cooking video on her phone. There were a few boxes on the
counter which Mina had to jump to see, before locking eyes on a plate of...something.
Stepping onto her tippy toes, she grabbed the counter trying to get a better look, “Sana?”

“Hm?” The detective hummed, tearing her attention away from her video over to the child.

“What are these?” She pointed to the small grey creatures piled up on a plate, they had little
arms and whiskers.

“Those are shrimps,” Sana responded, smiling over at her, “They live in the ocean.”

Woah. Sana turned back to her video as Mina reached up and poked the shrimp. Wait a
second, she paused. If the shrimp lived in the ocean, why was it out of the water on the
counter? Mina frowned, this didn’t seem right. Reaching up to grab one of the bowls on the
counter, she took it down and grabbed a shrimp tossing it into the bowl. Looking back to see
if Sana had noticed, she was still occupied with her video, so Mina made her escape making a
beeline for the bathroom, Rey trailing right behind.

Setting the bowl down on the counter, Mina climbed up to the sink with the help of the small
red step stool Momo had bought for her when the two of them went food shopping last week,
then turned on the water, filling up the bowl. It was a shrimp, it needed to be in water. She
took the shrimp out to the living room setting it down, looking into the bowl. The thing was
awfully still, it must be sleeping. She laid down on her stomach as Rey peered into the bowl
as well, his tail wagging in excitement.

“Hi, Shrimpy.” She slipped into her native tongue as she started talking to the shrimp. She
talked to Rey like that too, as she was now Rey’s mommy so she had to use mommy
language. She and her Mom spoke together like that, and no one at school could understand
her if she used it and most of the bad guys didn’t know it too. Mina figured all Mommies had
their own language, Tzuyu knew a language that she spoke with her real mommy. The only
thing that confused Mina was how Momo knew and could speak with her, and it was
becoming obvious Sana knew as well.
The shrimp didn’t respond, because it was a shrimp. So Mina just took that as confirmation
he was sleeping. Rey seemed like he wanted to be friends with the shrimp too, but Mina had
a suspicion that she shouldn’t let him. Ever since Sana took Mina to the aquarium, ocean
animals had been her favorite thing. She wanted to go back, but she was too shy to ask.

“Mina, why are you being so quiet?” Sana rounded the corner into the living room, stopping
when she saw the bowl, “Did you steal the shrimp? Why did you put it in water?”

The detective took a seat as Mina stood in front of her, puffing out her chest like she was
about to talk about the most important thing in the world, “Because Shrimps live in the
ocean.”

“Did you put him in there so he can swim?”

Mina hummed an agreement, “Mhmm, Shrimpy is just sleeping right now.” She accentuated
it by closing her eyes and leaning back. Before opening.

Sana always looked at Mina with honey dripping from her eyes, and this soft smile on her
lips. She should have known Mina was going to try and save one of them, she was just a kid.
But Mina smiled back at her, and Sana cleared her throat, “How about you go was your
hands, they smell fishy.” That was Sana’s way of showing affection, Mina knew.

What Mina didn’t expect was to come back and see the shrimp flopping around a bit, making
her stop. She didn’t realize that Sana had tied a string around it, or that she was using a high
pitched voice, “Hello? I woke up because you were taking care of me.”

Mina’s eyes widened as she looked down at the shrimp, “You- You’re awake?” She looked
back up at Sana who had a phony shocked expression too. “Satang! Shrimpy’s awake!”

“He is? Wah, that’s so cool!” Sana smiled, “Can you hear him? I can’t.”

“I can hear!”
Sana started humming a small tune, making the Shrimp dance back and forth in the small
bowl. It was clear that Mina was excited, getting up and jumping around dancing with the
jumbo shrimp. She giggled and started running around as Sana made a silly song. Sana was
getting excited as well.

SNAP

Maybe Sana got a bit too excited. The shrimp was now in two, as both girls stared at it in
horror. Instantly everything felt still, as Sana worriedly glance between Mina and the now
decapitated shrimp. The girl was just staring in shock at it, her lips slightly parted as she tried
to figure out what happened. On instinct she crawled into Sana’s lap, staring down at her
friend. There was no way Sana was going to get out of this, “It must have danced too hard.”

Mina’s head shot over to look at Sana, her bottom lip quivering as she glanced back into the
bowl, a look of heartbreak covering her face. “Shrimpy!” No answer, her voice quivered,
“Why aren’t you answering me.”

Shrimpy was still, just floating back gently in the water. It reminded her of when her mom
used to lay on the floor still after the men left, speaking in tongues or completely
unresponsive. Mina hated this feeling. She blinked a few times, before Sana cut in, “Mina,
I’m sorry. The shrimp must’ve gotten too excited.”

“Shrimpy,” Mina called, “Get up.”

As expected the shrimp didn’t move, and that’s all it took for Mina to burst into tears.
Gripping onto the woman’s shoulder as she cried, she almost didn’t hear the front door
opening and Momo shuffling in, stopping as she took in the situation. She furrowed her
brows, “What’s wrong?”

Mina got up and made her way over to Momo, crying so hard it was barely coherent, “I was
dancing-” She trailed off as fresh tears trailed down her face. Momo crouched down to the
girl’s level, looking over to where Sana was covering her face trying to contain her laughter.
The woman’s body shook as a few quiet laughs escaped. Mina tried to collect herself, “I was
dancing and it broke like this!” She pointed to shrimp, and Momo had to bite her own lip to
contain her laughter.

The lawyer reached out at Sana, “What’s going on, who did this?”

“It happened when Shrimpy was dancing!” Mina explained, a look of realization washing
over Momo’s face.

“On its own?”

“It was dancing” Sana chimed in, curling her body up and rocking back and forth a few times
trying to contain her laughter, Momo was too.

Finally getting a grasp on what was going on, Momo nodded, wiping away Mina’s tears and
cooed to calm the girl down. “Aw, did the shrimp have too much with my best friend? How
about we go flush him down the toilet so he can go back to the ocean?”

That seemed to calm Mina down a little, taking Momo’s hand as the three of them made their
way to the bathroom and unceremoniously disposed of Shrimpy. Sana was still trying to
choke her laughter down, she just found it all too cute and funny. Mina just wanted to be held
afterward, letting Momo hold her as she helped Sana prepare dinner. Sana kept stopping to
lay small kisses on Mina and Momo’s cheeks, no doubt feeling bad for the shrimp incident.
“Did it go well?”

Momo shook her head, and Mina had no idea what they were talking about. But she could
feel Momo tense up, so it made her feel uneasy.

Trust. Ms.Park had talked about it a few times, and Mina never really fully understood the
concept. Putting your faith in other people, being assured they have your best interest in
heart. Mina trusted Tzuyu, that was about it. Adults weren’t to be trusted, adults just wanted
things from her that made her scared. But Mina trusted Momo and Sana, they hadn’t given
her a reason not to.
“How about we just grab ice cream for dinner instead?” Momo offered, causing Mina to perk
up as she noticed that Sana’s dinner was starting to look far from edible. Begrudgingly Sana
eventually agreed and they made their way to the convenience store down the street. Mina
holding Sana’s hand as they made their way through the aisles until they eventually reached
the ice cream.

“What flavor buddy?” Momo asked, smiling down at the kid as she looked with wide eyes at
all the containers, Mina pointed to a container of chocolate, and Momo smiled. Opening up
the fridge she grabbed the container and turned her attention back to Mina, pausing at what
she saw.

Mina looked like she saw a ghost, her grip on Sana’s hand border lining painful as she stared
at a tall man standing on the other end of the aisle looking at a few packages of frozen curly
fries. “Can we go home now?”

“What?” Sana asked, frowning as she looked over in the direction Mina was staring at,
“Okay? Let’s just pay for this and then go home.”

“No!” Mina’s tone took on a tone of panic now, tugging Sana along and away from the aisle,
Momo hastily shoving the ice cream back as she tried to keep up. For someone as small as
Mina, she sure was strong. They made their way out of the convenience store, and the child
was trembling as Sana reached down to pick her up, holding her close the way she knew she
liked to be held.

Trying to peer into the store, Sana got a glimpse of him. He cut his hair, but Sana recognized
him almost immediately; Lee Jiho.
 Chapter 22

The station was buzzing with life, not caring if Sana felt exhausted and couldn’t keep up.

She slumped back into her chair, looking at the photograph in her hand. A young foreign girl,
Chou Lìhuá, only about 23 with striking features, was found dead in an alley with her one-
year-old child, whose name had been redacted for privacy reasons in the documents, crying
and beaten. It’s been about four years since then, so the child would be five now. Even trying
to uncover the name would be useless because Sana severely doubted that they would
remember anything. She sighed, setting it down, closing her eyes trying to go over the facts
in her mind.

According to her friends back in Taiwan, Lihua got pregnant, kicked out of her house, and
was lured to Korea with the promise of work. No work visas or visas, in general, were ever
completed, so in the seven months between her arrival and eventual death, Sana had no clue
what had actually been going on. She had her suspicions, the autopsy showed high levels of
heroin use in her system, but the cause of death was blunt force trauma. And a small tattoo on
her wrist, a snake insignia wrapped around her wrist with roman numerals tattooed under it;
XII-X-VIXX. Trafficking maybe? That’s what Sana’s current theory was.

“Make any progress on that yet?” Nayeon’s voice startled her eyes open as she looked over to
see the woman leaning over her staring at the file on her desk. First thing Sana had noticed,
she cut her hair. A good chop, now it ended just above her shoulders, the top half tied up into
a half-up ponytail. She was starting to gain a little weight, if you weren’t looking you
probably wouldn’t notice, especially not with the three sizes too big jacket she insisted on
wearing to cover her increasingly obvious baby bump.

“No.” Sana groaned, “No CCTV, no witnesses, this case is also like four years old now. Why
was it even reopened anyways?”

“I guess she was the daughter of some big Taiwanese politician.” Nayeon shrugged,
“Apparently he kicked her out when she got pregnant to save face for his campaign, but that
didn’t end well for either of them. He demanded we reopen the case.”
“Do you think this tattoo has anything to do with it?” Sana tapped the photo on her desk, “It
just keeps nagging me.”

Nayeon went quiet for a few seconds, “Isn’t that the same symbol that patrols picked up last
week?”

“Which one?”

“The one that was running and crying half-naked down near Hongdae.”

Sana snapped, straightening her posture before looking over the file once more. Her fingers
flew over to her computer, typing in trying to get the report. Maybe she could interrogate her
and try to find something out. She could feel Nayeon taking a seat next to her, not so subtly
reaching over to grab the bag of potato chips Sana had bought from the vending machine in
place of a proper lunch. (Don’t tell Momo). “You can just take them.”

With that permission, Nayeon snatched the bag letting it rest on her lap as she watched Sana
work. The loud crunching sound starting to get on Sana’s nerves she sighed, “Don’t you have
a case to work on?”

“I’m on break.”

“So?”

“I’m not sure if you know this, but a break is when you don’t work for a little bit and relax so
you don’t overwork yourself.”

“Wow? Really?” Sana deadpanned, glaring over at her friend who just rolled her eyes in
response. “Speaking about breaks, are you and Jeongyeon doing better now?”

“Yeah,” Nayeon sounded relieved by that, and quite frankly Sana was as well. Jeongyeon’s
text to her had been very angry, and Sana thinks it was fair. They made a big decision that
affected the lawyer without her knowledge or consent, and Jeong was never a person to take
very kindly to things like that. “We talked about it.”

“Did you tell her about the baby yet?”

“Actually, I think I’m going to do it tomorrow on our date.”

Sana cracked a smile at that, Jeongyeon was going to be thrilled. “That’s great.”

“Speaking of babies,” Nayeon smiled followed by a particularly loud crunch, “How’s yours,
isn’t the trial on Monday? Is she going to be okay with seeing her Mom again?”

The detective wasn’t sure. Momo and she had tried to bring it up to Mina, tried to explain
what exactly was going to happen and that she was going to have to talk to Momo and
everyone in court about what Joohyun asked her. Mina’s first question was if she was going
to have to go back with her mom, but Sana wasn’t all too sure if that was out of fear or if she
genuinely was missing her mother. She knew for a fact Mina missed her, even if she wouldn’t
tell that to Momo and her, she had overheard Mina talking about it with Tzuyu. Tzuyu, being
five, had no idea how to respond but she tried her best and it seemed good enough for Mina.c

The trial, another reason why Sana was losing sleep. The detective had little reason to believe
Mina would be going back with her Mom for a very long time, but the sentence was what
was bothering her. From what Momo had been telling her, Mina’s mother had not been
cooperating, insisting that she wasn’t guilty of hurting her, that she didn’t do anything wrong.
And if the judges believed whatever she was about to say on the stand, she could be looking
at only five maybe ten years behind bars. Sana wanted her to rot in there, for her to never see
the light of day again because from what Mina told her, when Mizuko was in the position to
protect her child, she failed. There was nothing Sana hated more than a failure.

Instead of letting her word vomit rush out, and overwhelm Nayeon, she just shrugged. Sana
had a therapist to unload this all on, Nayeon had other things to worry about. She didn’t see
Nayeon frown in disappointment when she did so. The supervisor didn’t let that settle
though, “Are you leaving to go pick her up soon?”
“No, today is her sleepover day with Tzuyu.”

Nayeon chuckled, “Those two are going to get married one day, mark my word.”

“Absolutely not, Mina is never going to date ever.”

“C’mon, think about it. Childhood sweethearts turned lovers-”

“She’s six!”

“She won’t be six forever!”

“I’m tuning you out now.”

Nayeon laughed.

***

“I’m home!” Sana called out, kicking off her shoes as Rey greeted her enthusiastically
wagging his tail as Sana bent down to greet him. She heard a muffled- something come from
the living room, she rounded the corner and saw Momo laying face down on the couch, still
dressed in her work clothes. She chuckled, sitting on the other side of the couch as Momo
slowly sat up. The detective’s entire body ached, she felt sleepy, all she wanted to do was
order some takeout and relax with her kinda girlfriend.

“Long day?” Momo asked, opening up the container of chinese food on the small coffee table
in front of them. Sana just nodded, letting her body sink into the couch.

“Mina’s not home,” Momo mused, looking over at Sana with that glint in her eyes, “Do you
wanna...you know?”
It had been a while, at least a few weeks now since they had been intimate, and Sana didn’t
blame Momo for suggesting it. Honestly she wanted to as well, but she was just so tired.
Momo seemed to pick up on that, diverting the situation and scooping a spoon of rice into
Sana’s mouth. Sana quirked a brow, “Yeah?”

“You seem tired,”

“I am, how about you?”

“Exhausted.” Momo sighed, “This fucking trial is going to be the death of me.” The lawyer
passed Sana her own spoon before starting to chew on some of the food, “And Mina..I hope
she’s going to be okay.”

“I booked a few extra appointments with her therapist next week just in case.”

“Good.”

Momo had seemingly taken over every single surface in Sana’s apartment, everything
screamed Momo. Looking around she could see Momo’s set of knives and kitchen equipment
in the kitchen, her shoes near the door along with her coat draped over one of the kitchen
chairs, even some of the toys she would play with Mina were out on the living room floor.
Every night after dinner those two would play, and sometimes Sana would join in, sometimes
she would just watch. It was a bit scary how absolutely in love she felt.

There was something nagging at her though, as things got more and more serious the fact that
they didn’t really have a label was starting to bug her. She just wanted to know if Momo felt
the same way about her that she felt about the Lawyer. She knew Momo didn’t like she went
quiet, it meant she was thinking. She could feel Momo looking at her, before she sighed,
“Momo-”

“Yeah?”
“Do you,” Sana tried to work up the courage, she felt like a highschooler asking out her crush
again, “Do you maybe want to be official?”

“Sana-”

Sana held her breath, anxiety bubbling in her stomach as Momo looked at her with this
expression like she couldn’t believe the detective was even saying that. This was a mistake,
she should have said anything. Sana wasn’t sure her heart could take it if Momo rejected her
now. The lawyer had become such a stable part of her life, someone who she was so
absolutely in love with if Momo left- Oh god what if Momo left. She’s going to leave, this
was a mistake-

“You thought we weren’t dating? Babe, I’ve practically moved in.” Momo sounded surprised
before giggling, “Of course we are girlfriends. You know, for someone whose job is to look
at the small details of things you really do miss a lot.”

Oh. Wait-

Sana’s mouth opened a little bit, before nodding slowly. “R-right.”

“What am I going to do with you?” Momo giggled, leaning in to place a soft peck on Sana’s
lips. Sana kissed back harder, pulling Momo onto her lap and wrapping her hands around the
woman’s waist. Momo let out a small whine when Sana nipped at her neck-

Ring Ring

Godfuckingdamnit. Sana fished her phone out of her pocket before looking at the caller ID;
Dahyun. As cute as Mina was, she really had the worst timing.

“Hey Dahyun, what’s up?”

“Sana?” It was Mina, her voice sounded watery like she had been crying, “Can you pick me
up?”

Frowning, she shot a look over at Momo before humming an agreement, “Of course, did you
and Tzuyu get into a fight?”

“I’m scared.” Mina sure did sound it, gently crying into the phone as Momo now sat up and
Sana set it to speakerphone.

“Why are you scared?” Sana pressed gently.

“They’re going to hurt you! He saw you!” Mina sobbed, Sana could hear Chaeyoung
speaking gently in the background and slight sniffles from Tzuyu. In hindsight, Sana should
have expected this, Mina had been a nervous wreck ever since they had seen Jiho in the store,
she wouldn’t leave Sana or Momo’s side. She had thought maybe a fun night with her best
friend would take Mina’s mind off of it for a little bit, but apparently she was wrong. “Sana,
he’s going to do it to you too!”

“Mina,” Momo cut in, her voice calm and steady like she was talking to one of her clients,
“Hey, calm down. We’re okay, guess what Sana’s a cop. It’s a rule, cops can’t be hurt. And if
Sana is with us then they can’t hurt any of us, okay?”

“Promise?”

Momo paused, “We’ll come to get you, how about you put Dahyun on the phone so we can
talk to her?”

After a bit of shuffling, Dahyun's voice rang through the phone, it was clear she was stressed
this probably wasn’t something she had to deal with before, “I'm so sorry. She fell asleep
while we were watching a movie and she just jerked awake and scared all of us. Tzuyu’s a bit
upset too right now, I don’t think she likes seeing Mina so upset. I don’t know if we spooked
her or something-”
Cutting Dahyun off mid-rant Sana sighed, “No it’s okay, she’s just a little stressed right now.
She’s been having nightmares recently, and I bet the stress of the trial and everything else just
is starting to get to her.” She got off the couch and slipped on her shoes as Momo tossed her
the keys to her car, “We’ll be there in ten.”

True to her words they arrived in seven minutes (Momo may or may not have broken a few
traffic laws in their panic), and Mina all but dove into Sana’s arms as soon as the front door
opened. She gripped onto her shirt so tightly her tiny fists were starting to turn white, and she
was shaking. Sana cooed, “Hey, hey, I’m here, don’t worry.”

Mina didn’t respond, just dug her face into Sana’s shoulder as the detective picked her up.
Momo took Mina’s bag from Chaeyoung, tucking it onto her shoulder as they bid a quick
goodbye. Mina didn’t speak the rest of the way home, or even after Sana sat them both on the
couch and pulled a blanket over them, or when Momo took one of the new books she had
bought the other day and started to read it to her under there. Sana wasn’t sure if Mina didn’t
have the energy to speak, or the vocabulary to express exactly what she felt.

Sana was going to make sure Mina was never worried about any of those fuckers ever again.
She pinky promised.
 Chapter 23

“Mina please don’t play with my uniform,” Sana groaned for what felt like the hundredth
time when she felt the kindergartner start to fiddle around with the couple shiny silver badges
adorning her chest. She was excited, Sana knew, Mina had never seen Sana in her actual
dress uniform. For good reason too, Sana hated the thing, it was stiff and scratchy, she much
preferred the jeans and jacket with her badge hanging from a small chain getup, she wore
nearly every day. Mina complied, instead, wrapping her arms around Sana’s neck as the
detective carried her into the courtroom. Mina was nervous, the reappearance of Peng
sandwiched between her and Sana just proved that to Sana. Originally she was going to tell
Mina that she shouldn’t bring it, it would be unprofessional, but Momo stopped her before
she left telling her to let her bring a stuffie, a blanket, and her journal with some crayons. It
was going to be a long day, and for Mina to have some comfort could be the difference
between her testifying or her completely shutting down on the stand.

After finding the correct room, Sana let herself in, spotting the small gathering of their
friends quickly. Nayeon was there, also dressed in her dress uniform, Jeongyeon next to her,
Jihyo, Dahyun, and Tzuyu as well. Momo was contemplating having Tzuyu testify for nearly
a week, ultimately deciding that the five-year-old had been the closest to Mina throughout the
year and she knew a lot. Sana made her way over to them, offering a quick hello as Dahyun
helped take the rolled-up blanket and notebook out of Sana’s free hand. Mina let her head lay
on Sana’s shoulder as Nayeon smiled up at her, “Hi Minari, you look pretty today.”

She better. It took nearly a half-hour to convince Mina she couldn’t go to court in her favorite
pair of jeans and sweatshirt, another to actually get her into the nice clothes and hair brushed.
Mina just nodded and tucked her face into Sana’s neck, Sana sighed, “She’s a bit nervous
right now.”

“That’s fine,” Nayeon brushed off taking her seat, Jeongyeon sitting next to her. Jeongyeon
was quiet, but she didn’t look angry. Right now wasn’t the time to try and resolve any sort of
issues between the two. Sana took a seat as well, smiling as Tzuyu unrolled the blanket and
tucked it on Mina who looked back at her and offered a smile.

“Here, I brought some gummies because I know how much you like them.” Tzuyu smiled,
holding up a plastic bag with quite a few gummies inside, she opened the bag and held one
out to Mina which the girl scrunched her nose up in disgust before eating it. “I also brought
the coloring book and Mommy said we can play games on her phone too. I downloaded the
one with animals because you said it looked interesting and-”
“I tried to explain what was going on,” Dahyun leaned over and whispered to Sana, “I told
her she needs to be nice to Mina because today was going to be rough, I didn’t think she
would be like this though.”

“It’s okay, she just wants to show Mina she cares. I think Mina likes it.” If the wide smile on
Mina’s lips was any indicator, Sana was right. She seemed calm right now, Sana hoped it
would stay like that the rest of the time.

Then they brought Mizuko in. Mina nearly bolted out of her seat towards the woman as soon
as she saw her, Sana only catching her by her wrist as Mina tried to make her way to her
mother.

“Mommy!” Sana tightened her grip on Mina’s wrist as the girl tugged to try and get over to
the woman who looked over in her direction, her expression dropping when she saw the
child. This was the first time she saw the woman with her own two eyes, she looked better
than she did in the photo, her long black hair tied back and a certain life back in her eyes. The
young mother suddenly diverted her eyes, focusing on her shoes instead. Mina didn’t seem to
like that very much, “Mommy it’s Mina! You remember me right?”

“Mina,” Sana cut in, “You can’t talk to her right now.”

“But- I haven’t talked to her this whole time.” Mina pouted, looking up at Sana who just
nodded in understanding. She sent another look at the mother who just looked scared and
confused, nervously biting her fingernail. Her sleeve rolled down and Sana saw it; the snake
wrapping around her wrist. Wait a second. Sana didn’t have time to dwell on it because the
judge was already entering and opening statements were beginning.

Joohyun was every bit as good as she heard, standing up and presenting the case as she knew
it. Showing pictures of the terrible state the house was in and even some of the bruises on
Mina’s body. Telling how she put drugs over the safety of her daughter, exposing her to
unspeakable horrors and abuse. Mizuko’s lawyer tried to paint the picture that Mizuko was a
victim too, and that she actually wasn’t the perpetrator.
After those were finished it was witness time, which meant Sana was up first. After nearly
prying Mina off of her and letting her sit with Tzuyu who made sure to cuddle her and wrap
the blanket around the older girl’s shoulders and fed her snacks. Sana made her way to the
witness stand, made her oath and let the process begin.

“Can you please state your name for the record.” Joohyun started, adjusting her microphone
gently.

“Detective Sana Minatozaki.”

“Alright, and Myoui Mina has been in your care for about three months now, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Can you share with the court how you and Ms.Myoui met?”

Sana cleared her throat, the feeling of everyone’s eyes on her was never something she
enjoyed, “I got off of work and went to get some pizza, Mina was staring at my piece from
outside. It was cold and late so I invited her in to eat and then brought her to the station. I had
done a demonstration at her school prior in the day, and her teacher had asked us to do a
wellness check, but I did not interact with her at that point.”

Joohyun nodded, “What was Ms.Myoui’s state when she first came into your custody?”

“Physically she was very skinny and had bruises all over her body. Mentally-” Sana trailed
off thinking back to it, “She used to walk around like all of the weight was on her shoulders.
She got scared of men very easily and would cry whenever someone new came over our
house. She wasn’t in a good state.”

“Has Ms.Myoui ever talked to you about anything that happened in her old household?”
“Yes.” Sana spoke, “Mina only has opened up once, and she told me how her Mom used to
have friends over and they would play games . She spoke about how she didn’t like them and
how they would hurt her. She also said that her mom made her help her get medicine.”

“Do you know what helping meant?”

“I do not know for sure.”

Joohyun hummed and gave the signal for the defense lawyer to question her if she wanted, he
withheld. He could probably tell Sana wasn’t about to speak in the way he wanted her to.

This was going to be a long day

***

Both Jihyo’s and Tzuyu’s testimony went fairly quickly, just a few questions about Mina and
what she had disclosed with them. Both of them seemed eager to help, and answered clearly
to whatever Momo asked them, Tzuyu especially, almost skipping back to her seat with pride
feeling like she defended her friend.

As much as she didn’t want it to come, Mina was called up. Gripping onto Sana for dear life,
the detective managed to bring them both to the stand, situating Mina in her lap and gave her
a reassuring smile. Mina insisted on having Sana there with her as soon as the option was
presented, and neither party had any objections if that meant Mina would speak. This was
going to be a balancing act, trying to gently prod Mina into giving information, and back off
before she decided she was done talking. Mina looked terrified, fumbling around with Peng
looking around the courtroom with her big eyes trying to get a grip on what was going on.
Momo almost wanted to question Mina, but Joohyun insisted and Momo complied. She
trusted Joohyun.

“Hi, Mina,” Joohyun smiled, stepping in the opposite direction of Mina’s mother and her
defense attorney trying to distract her, “How are you feeling right now?”
Momo could see Mina was tense, fiddling around with Peng in her arms. She held the
penguin’s wing in her mouth, muffling her response, “Scared.”

“Don’t be scared, I just need to ask you a few questions and then you can go home,” Joohyun
always had this comforting aura around her, Momo was thankful for that. This seemed to
relax Mina the smallest amount, even though she took Sana’s arm and wrapped it around her.
“So Mina, did you use to live with that woman over there?”

“Yes.”

“Who is she?”

“My mommy.”

Joohyun nodded, “Has your mommy ever hit you, or hurt you in any way?”

“One time.”

“When was that?”

“When she didn’t get her medicine,” Mina spoke, really softly Sana had to reach over and
adjust the mic, “She told me that I needed to help her friends, but she didn’t want me to a first
but, but they wouldn’t give it to her so she let them.”

“How did you help them?”

Mina shook her head, bring her hands over her eyes, almost crying. Joohyun shot Momo a
quick look, trying to see if the woman knew what that meant. Momo had no clue. Sana tried
to pry Mina’s hands away to no avail, Mina was making herself clear that she didn’t want to
talk about it.
“Okay, okay,” Joohyun backed off, “What happened after you helped them.”

Mina’s eyes had this haze to it when she removed her hands, it was honestly scary. It was
clear Mina was traumatized, even so, the point of even trying to formulate what she wanted
to say sent her reeling because she had to think about it. Sneaking a peek over at Mizuko, she
could see a tear dripping down her cheek as well. Whatever happened probably would stay
between the two forever, especially if both of them were adamant about not speaking. “She
gave me a bath because she told me I was dirty and disgusting. And-” Mina took a deep
breath tightening her grip on Sana’s hand, “She got distracted because she had her medicine
and Mr.Viper did it, but he held my head under the water until she cried and tried to get him
to stop.”

All the air felt like it had been sucked out of Momo’s lungs. She looked up to see Sana’s
horrified expression along with their friends. Momo could almost see it, the dingy bathroom
she had agonized over through photos, whoever Mr.Viper was holding Mina underwater as
her mother screamed and cried. Joohyun looked equally as disturbed, having to collect herself
before moving on with her questioning, “What happened after?”

“He hit her and screamed at her. She cried.” Mina sniffled, “I tried to stop him but then she
hit me and told me to leave. So I did, I went over Tzuyu’s and she snuck me in her window
and went and got food from her fridge without her mommies knowing.”

“Did Tzuyu give you food often?”

“She would share her lunch with me and I’d go over her house for dinner sometimes.”

“Why didn’t you just eat at home?”

“There wasn’t any food, and I wanted to be good so I didn’t ask.”

“Did you feel safe?”

“No.”

“Why?”

Momo watched as Mina tightened her grip on Peng, shaking her head. She let out a sigh,
‘C’mon Mina, you can do it.’ Mina looked like she had so much to say, but not enough words
to describe what she wanted to say. In any other situation, Momo would think about how
similar Sana and the child were, but right now Mina needed to answer. She looked like she
was about to burst into tears at any second, her bottom lip trembling, to her credit though she
was holding back quite well. Mina kept glancing over at her mom, before leaning close to the
microphone again, “I was scared. I just wanted to be good! But-But-”

This wasn’t going anywhere. Joohyun relented and gave the signal to the defense attorney to
start his line of questioning. Momo watched Mina retreat into herself as soon as he stood up
and stood in front of her adjusting his cheap JCPenny suit, granted a good distance, but gave
her a smile, “Hello, I’m Mr.Shin. I just need to ask you a few questions.”

Hesitantly Mina nodded but buried her face in Sana’s uniform-clad shoulder, she was
trembling. This wasn’t good. Momo knew Mina well enough to recognize when the girl was
head towards a meltdown, and if this questioning didn’t stop soon then it was going to have
to if Mina refused to cooperate. “Now, was it your Mommy who hit you usually?”

Mina shook her head.

That motherfucker. At that moment Momo realized his whole plan, first, he was going to
paint the picture of Mizuko as being as scared as Mina was, then he was going to get the
child abuse charge dismissed because Mizuko didn’t regularly hit Mina, only allowed others
to do it, and ultimately have her serve a lesser time for only child neglect, drug possession,
and resisting arrest because the judge would take pity on her. Momo rubbed her face, this
wasn’t good.

“Who is Mr.Viper?”

“A bad guy.”
“How?”

“He hurt us and would bring mommy her medicine. I don’t like him.” Mina’s voice was
starting to get strained and she was starting to fidget in Sana’s arms not even looking at him
anymore, just trying to hide away in Sana’s embrace. “I don’t want to talk about this.”

He clenched his jaw a bit, shaking his head, “But he was the one to hurt you not your
mommy.”

“She just let us play games.”

“What type of games?”

“We would play catch and he would throw the ball really hard. Or we would play hide and
seek and if he found me he could kick me.” Mina was starting to cry now, and Sana was
concerned as well, it was written all over her face. “Please stop talking about it.”

Momo sent Joohyun a look, she looked concerned biting the tip of her pen. He pressed once
again, “But it wasn’t your Mommy right? She didn’t actually hurt you?”

“She did hurt me! She let them hurt me!” Mina was starting to get frustrated.

“Did she actually do anything herself though?” He pressed. Momo could almost see the
exact moment Mina shut down completely. It was probably a mix of things, the stress of this
all, the pure panic when she saw that man in the supermarket, this man she had no idea
asking her a lot of questions, having to remember things she would much rather forget, but
everyone heard Mina’s first cry as she dug her face deeper into Sana’s shoulder.
“Ms.Myoui?”

The kindergartener suddenly covered her ears, shaking her head as she squirmed in Sana’s
arms, the detective just trying to bounce her gently and calm her down. It took everything in
Momo not to walk over there and comfort her, but Sana looked like she had a good grip on it.
Lawyer Shin let out an annoyed huff, “We are done with questioning the witness.”

Sana was quick to take Mina out of the room, sending Momo a text that she was in the
bathroom with her trying to calm her down. Sending her a picture of Mina sitting on the floor
coloring next to her, and a message not to worry and wrap things up. They only reemerged
about two hours later after final statements and when during the break for the judge to
deliberate. Apparently Mizuko was about as talkative as Mina, they even shared similar
nervous habits during her questioning.

Her lawyer’s final statement was quite powerful, telling the narrative how a nineteen-year-old
girl desperate to take care of her daughter was scammed into coming here, and this ‘Mr.
Viper’ stole her passport, got her hooked on drugs, and then made her work for him. That she
wasn’t a monster, just a mother trying her best. To an extent, Momo guessed that was true,
but she deserved to pay for not protecting the person who couldn’t protect herself.

Ten years. As soon as the verdict escaped the judge’s mouth, the atmosphere in the room
changed as everyone let out a collective breath. Ten years felt like a long time but somehow
not long enough. Mizuko seemed to have accepted it, just nodding her head slowly as she
was about to be led out. But this time Sana wasn’t fast enough to stop Mina.She slipped
under the divider and threw herself at her Mom’s legs, the mother melted down to the floor to
give her a hug.

“I miss you,” Mina admitted, her voice muffled by how she had her face buried in Mizuko’s
shoulder. “I broke my promise, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Mizuko comforted, looking up at the ceiling trying to will away her now glossy
eyes, she grabbed onto Mina just as tightly as the young girl was holding her. The tension in
the courtroom was thick, Momo could tell the guards on either side of Mizuko would jump in
if anything went wrong but they were just watching like the rest of them, Sana also looked
stressed, standing still staring at the scene. Mizuko broke away first, waiting for Mina to look
up, a few fat tears running down her chubby cheeks. The expression on her face was
something Momo couldn’t describe, staring down at her child with this sad but almost
relieved smile as she let herself look at Mina’s state, eyes full of remorse. Mizuko’s bottom
lip trembled as she ran a hand through Mina’s hair, before wiping away one of her tears, “Are
they taking care of you?”
Mina sniffled and nodded, “I live with Momo and Sana now, can you come over soon? Momo
makes really good food and reads stories to me, and Sana is so cool, she gives me cuddles
and catches bad guys!”

Letting out a slight watery laugh, Mizuko smiled a few tears slipping down her cheeks, “I’m
glad they’re taking care of you, that’s all I want-” Her voice cracked, “I can’t come over,
Mommy needs to go away for a long time now.”

“Where? You can just live with us, it’s safe.”

“Mommy needs to go to jail now baby.”

“W-what?” Mina furrowed her brows, “Only bad guys go to jail. You’re not a bad guy, the
uncles are the bad guys.”

Opting to be quiet, Mizuko just stroked Mina’s hair a few times gazing at her child. Momo
could tell she was trying to memorize the girl’s face, it was going to be a very long time until
she would ever see it again. “Mommy wasn’t very nice to you. I-” Mizuko let out a choked
sob, struggling for breath, “I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry Mina, I hurt you so bad. I-”

This time it was Mina’s turn to wipe away her Mother’s tears, “It’s okay, I still love you.”

That’s all it took for Mizuko to break, letting her upper body fall down to the floor in a full
bow as she sobbed. Empathy, That was always the thing that Momo’s parents had always
instilled in her. Being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, as Momo stared at the
young mother’s hysterical form she tried to do just that. Young, and desperate, she got tricked
and scammed into a life she didn’t want. Mizuko still needed to face the consequences of her
actions, what happened wasn’t acceptable, but Momo felt pity still. The young mother just
offered broken apologies that were barely coherent before Joohyun motioned for the guards
to take her away, Mina didn’t need to see all that. They did so surprisingly peacefully,
Mizuko letting them help her up and out of the courtroom trying to send Mina one last
reassuring smile, trying to have her daughter’s last image of her something good, not the
pathetic woman she had become.
Just the quiet murmur of people leaving and the soft rustle of the lawyers organizing their
papers pertained, as Momo made eye contact with Sana before they both made their way to
Mina who just stared in the direction that her mother left. Mina sounded almost angry when
she spoke up, “You said you sent bad guys to jail.”

“Mina-”

The child whipped around, angry tears streaming down her face. “Why does she have to go
away but Mr.Viper is still out there! It’s not fair!”

“Mina, she hurt you. She deserves this.” Sana just sat down, letting her head rest against the
wooden divider separating where the crowd could spectate and where the action happened.
“Mommies to make sure their kids have food and clothes, and mommies shouldn’t have made
you do the things she made you do. She’s a bad guy too.”

Mina just sat there stared at her, betrayal written across her features. Peng was clutched in her
arms, her lip wobbling. “You lied.”

“I didn’t-”

“You didn’t catch the bad guys!” Mina sounded angry, but Momo wasn’t entirely sure what
at. Sure she was saying this, but Mina had a habit of hiding what she felt behind fake anger or
sadness for something else. They’d let Sunmi handle trying to explain this to Mina, now they
just needed to get her home and maybe to bed. She looked exhausted. Sana stood up,
reaching down to pick Mina up, but was met with resistance.

“Don’t touch me.” Mina growled, pushing Sana’s hands away. The detective obliged, moving
her hands back to her sides as she just let out a sad sigh. Mina walked past her to where
Tzuyu was, the girl didn’t say much, just held out her hand for Mina and the older took it.

Sana looked heartbroken at that, ironing her face to it’s usual flat expression in a few
seconds, turning to Momo and motioning that they should start heading home. They did the
right thing, but now the challenge was to get Mina to see that.
 Chapter 24

Tzuyu had not expected Mina to be in such a bad mood when she saw her in school the day
after the trial. Mina had been upset afterward, but Tzuyu had given her hugs and gummies so
the younger assumed everything would be alright. Her moms had even brought Tzuyu out for
ice cream on their way home, praising her for doing such a good job taking care of Mina and
telling the truth, assuring her she wasn’t in trouble for sneaking Mina in so many times but
made it a point to tell her she needs to tell them when things like that happen. They told her
that she helped put Mina’s mommy in jail and that she was bad and made Mina sad. Tzuyu
didn’t know why anyone would make Mina sad, she was the nicest, prettiest, and smartest
girl in the world. They told her Mina would be happier and safer now.

Tzuyu was starting to think they were wrong.

“Mina, you need to do you work like everyone else.” Jihyo came over to remind her for what
had to be the fifth time in the past half hour, and just like every other time Mina shot her a
glare, crossed her arms, and shook her head. Tzuyu liked their teacher, she was really nice
and always asked how they were feeling and cared about the answer. Jihyo sighed, “Mina-”

“I don’t want to.” Mina all but growled, pushing the sheet of paper away from her. Jihyo
squatted down to her level, letting her arms rest on the desk.

“Do you want to take some quiet time?” Jihyo asked, it wasn’t a threat or ultimatum, just a
suggestion, leaving Mina the choice. “I know what happened was really stressful and if you
don’t want to do your work because your sad that’s okay, you can take some quiet time and
relax if you feel the need to.”

“Quiet time is stupid,” Mina grumbled Tzuyu had never seen her act like that towards Miss.
Park. Mina had once told her she really liked the teacher so this behavior really seemed
strange.

“Well if you don’t want to go have some quiet time, then you have to do your work.” Jihyo
reiterated, softly pulling the paper back in front of Mina. “You get to choose what you want
to do.”
“Go away.” There was so much bite in Mina’s voice, Tzuyu could see Jihyo was visibly taken
aback.

“Mina, where’s this coming from? Do you want to talk about it?”

“Why? So you can go back and tell them everything I tell you and put other people in jail?”
Woah. Jihyo blinked a few times trying to take in what Mina just said. “I don’t want to talk to
you anymore.”

Tzuyu had expected Jihyo to say something, but she just sighed, stood up, and walked away.
She knew when to leave Mina alone, unfortunately Tzuyu didn’t have the same capacity. She
learned that quickly when recess came and Tzuyu found herself trailing Mina as she walked
away from the small group of friends. “Are you not feeling good today?”

Mina didn’t answer, just continued walking. Tzuyu tried again, “I have some gummies if you
want some.”

“I don’t want your disgusting gummies.”

“You said you liked them.” The hurt was obvious in Tzuyu’s voice, she could tell Mina heard
it as well. She saw the girl’s shoulder sag as she sped up, trying her best to leave Tzuyu
behind.

“Mina, wait-” In her attempt to follow her friend, Tzuyu had failed to miscalculate how far
her foot actually was from a rock laying on the pavement in her panic. Her ankle rolled
painfully as she tumbled down to the ground, throwing out her hands to try and cushion her
fall, letting out a loud gasp of pain. When she gained her bearing, the pain in her ankle,
knees, and palms, causing tears to well up in her eyes as she started to inspect them and saw
they were bloody and scraped up.

The whole commotion was enough to gain Mina’s attention, turning around to see the teary
Tzuyu sniffling as she held her scraped up knee, a small amount of blood oozing from the
cuts. Concern started to pool her stomach as she rushed over to her, taking the sweatshirt off
herself and pressed it to her knee. “Are you okay?”
“Mhmm, I need to go to Ms.Park for a band-aid.” Tzuyu’s lip trembled as she tried to hold
back her tears. It was just a little cut and she was a big girl, big girl didn’t cry over little cuts.

To her surprise Mina turned around, still crouching, “I’ll give you a piggyback ride.”

It took a bit of maneuvering, namely because Tzuyu was a solid two inches taller than Mina
and Mina wasn’t the strongest little kid, but they managed. Mina had Tzuyu on her back,
walking down the path back into the classroom, and Tzuyu could feel the tension coming
from the older.

“Are you mad at me?” Tzuyu asked after a couple of seconds of silence, adjusting her hold
on Mina’s neck as the older strained to hold her up. After a bit of maneuvering and finally
getting Tzuyu into a more comfortable position, now the tips of her toes just lightly brushing
the ground as Mina walked.

“No.”

“Why are you mad then?”

Mina often went quiet when she was thinking, Tzuyu had noticed a long time ago. They
could be having a whole conversation about what was going on in class and Mina would go
silent as she tried to figure out a problem or every day in math Mina would go quiet and close
to tears when she couldn’t figure out what was going on. Tzuyu had asked her about it one
time when Mina snuck into her room, as she held a bag of frozen peas to her face. The light
blue of Tzuyu’s Finding Nemo themed night light reflected off of Mina’s face as she played
with the grey shag of the rug on the floor, just shrugging and saying that she just needed time
to think and it was hard for her to do both at the same time. Sometimes Tzuyu wished Mina
would be a bit more open, but she let it go.

“I’m mad at Sana,” Mina admitted softly, “She lied to me.”

“Why won’t you talk to me if you're mad at Sana?”

“Because I don’t want to be mean to you, and if I talk I’m going to be mean.” Mina shrugged,
“I love you too much to be mean to you.”

“You love me?” Mina had never told her that, and in turn Tzuyu had never said that either.
Tzuyu absolutely adored Mina, from the mole on her nose and one forming on her chin, to
how she talked, to even how she looked when she just sat there and did nothing. But she
never considered love. So Tzuyu kissed Mina on the cheek, because that’s what her moms do
to her and they love her. In turn, Mina had a bright pink blush dusting her face as she made
her way into the classroom. “I love you too.”

Jihyo was quick to take care of Tzuyu’s cut, giving her a pororo band aid and a sticker for
both her and Mina. Mina was a bit hesitant to take the sticker, but eventually relented with a
shy smile on her face as Jihyo praised her for taking care of Tzuyu.

***

Sana was about ready to rip her hair out if Mina didn’t fix her attitude fast. It started with a
call from Jihyo saying that Mina wasn’t having a good day at school and refused to do her
work, Jihyo had been clear that she wasn’t doing it to get Mina in trouble but just to give
Sana a heads up on what she should expect. And while she tried to prepare herself Mina,
pouting and crossing her arms at the kitchen table refusing to do anything except play with
Rey, was starting to creep on her nerves. Mina’s therapy session had not gone so good either,
the girl completely refusing to speak to Sunmi, maybe tomorrow would be better.

Not wanting to fight, Sana relented and just let Mina go off and do whatever she wanted
instead of her homework. Jihyo would understand if it was just one night and it was getting
close to the girl’s bedtime anyways. With a heavy body the detective plopped back onto the
couch next to Momo, the lawyer watching a movie idly. “Is she still giving you problems?”

Sana groaned, “Yeah, I mean she probably didn’t get much sleep last night and yesterday was
a big day.”

“Give her time.” Momo smiled, lifting up her arm so Sana could snuggle into her side,
giggling as the detective took full advantage of that. Momo had decided to take the day off
now that she could, and Sana could see she made a trip to her own apartment and grabbed a
few things based on the new appearance of grumpy’s scratching post and toys laying on the
ground. ‘I was talking to one of the social workers that come by more work today actually,
there are a few classes we could attend to help Mina deal with all of this if she doesn’t seem
to be getting better soon.”

“She just has an attitude.”

“She’s confused.” Momo corrected, “Kids have no one else to idolize but their parents, and
Mina’s entire world is probably flipped upside down. Patience.”

“I know, I know.”

“You look pretty today.”

“Yeah? I feel gross.”

“Well if this is your gross, I’m jealous.” Momo laughed, “I talked to my sister today, she said
she’d give Mina dance lessons if she was interested. She also wants to meet you.”

“What?” Sana looked up at Momo, “Why?”

“Cause you’re going to be a part of my life for a long time, and so is she. She’s nice, you’ll
like her.” Momo smiled, taking a glance at her phone, “Mina, you need to start heading to
bed.”

A minute went by, both women just assuming Mina wanted to be left alone and would put
herself to bed. Boy, were they wrong. A few seconds later Mina stomped into the living
room, standing right before both of them, giving Momo an expectant look.

“What’s the matter?” Momo asked, and Mina looked taken aback by that.
“Are we not going to read a story?” Mina asked like it was the most obvious thing in the
world. Sana could tell she was still fighting to keep the scowl on her face, but the look of
nervousness at the possibility of rejection was still there.

“Oh, I thought you wanted us to leave you alone.” Momo explained, “Do you want to read a
story?”

Mina nodded, and Momo let out a light laugh standing up as Mina immediately grabbed her
hand. She paused for a second, looking back at Sana, “Can you come too?”

Now that surprised both the adults. Book time was usually a Mina and Momo only event, not
that they disinvited or told Sana she couldn’t come, but the detective knew they both liked to
have a little bonding time and something that was special to them. But If Mina wanted her to
come, Sana would, getting off the couch as well she followed them into Mina’s room. The
room looked a bit more lived in, a few of Mina’s lego’s at the desk, her school uniform just
dumped on the floor, Rey’s bed in the corner of the room. Momo hopped on the bed, letting
Mina snuggled up next to her before Sana took Mina’s other side. Today’s story was one of
the spin offs from Monsters Inc. Momo had seen it on sale and picked it up a few weeks ago.

By allowing Mina and Momo time alone, Sana failed to realize what exactly she was
missing. Mina’s eyes would light up as Momo changed voices and did little sound effects to
the story, in turn Momo would smile wider when she realized Mina was enjoying what she
was doing. Sana never really realized how in tune to the child Momo was, but she just
watched as she let Mina dictate how the cuddled or what they did, all in her comfort zone.
Sana could watch them for hours; Sana’s girls.

“Did you guys know that 23-19 means white sock?” Momo tapped the book, looking over at
the other two.

“Huh?”

“W is the twenty-third number of the alphabet, S is the nineteenth. WS, white sock.” Momo
explained, “My sister told me that like years ago and I still remember it to this day, It’s pretty
smart.”
Then things clicked into place.

As soon as Mina fell asleep, Sana bolted out of bed, a confused Momo trailing behind her.
Twelve, ten, eight. She grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled down the alphabet alongside
the corresponding number.

“Babe? What are you doing?”

Ignoring her, Sana identified what she needed quickly. Twelve, L. Ten, J. Eight, H. LJH. Lee
Ji Ho. Sana just slumped back into her seat, staring at the piece of paper a hint of a smile on
her lips. “I got him.”

“Huh?”

Ignoring Momo, Sana bolted up and for her phone, sending a quick text to Jackson. She had a
certain someone she needed to visit, however she was a bit doubtful if she could even get her
to talk.
 Chapter 25

It took four days for Jackson to get Sana a meeting, which was actually really fast. Usually,
they would have to go around in circles to try and meet with the convicted, but Mizuko really
made Sana’s life easier by wanting to see her. She was already in there as Sana walked in,
staring at her with her sad puppy eyes, an expression that Mina always had. Yes, they were
mother and daughter, but Sana always got surprised about how strikingly similar they looked,
Mina was going to grow up to pretty. And Sana was going to have to grow up to be paranoid
because no one will ever be good enough for her baby. Maybe Tzuyu, but that is a whole
different book.

Sana took her seat across from the woman, taking in her appearance. She saw her at the trial,
but Sana had so many things going on in her head during the trial she never really got a really
good look. She looked healthier now than she did in her mugshot. “Myoui Mizuko, thanks for
meeting me. I’m Detective Minatozaki Sana.”

“I know who you are, you’re the one taking care of Mina right?”

“Right.” Sana nodded, “I am.”

“Has she been with you this whole time?”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“Do you-” Mizuko trailed off before taking a breath and looking up at the detective, “Do you
have any pictures of her?”

“Huh?” Taken off guard, Sana blinked a few times, looking back at the mother who was
looking at her anxiously. She was fiddling with her fingers, so pitifully hopeful that Sana
found herself digging her phone out of her pocket, unlocking it, and looking through it for a
good photo. She settled on the one she had taken a few weeks ago when Momo and Mina
were playing, the photo capturing as Mina ran towards Momo, arms open with this huge grin
that made her eyes disappear into tiny slits holding her penguin stuffie in her hands. She had
a new sweatshirt that Sana had just picked up for her because it was soft and she knew she
would like it, and her hair was up in cute pigtails that Sana had to watch a youtube tutorial
how to do because she knew nothing about hair. Sana set her phone down on the table,
sliding it over at her, taking in the woman’s reaction as she looked at it.

Picking up the phone, the younger woman just stared at the picture, “She looks happy.”

“She is. She’s sad you’re not there though, she’s been throwing a fit all week.” There was no
point in sugarcoating anything, Sana was not as compassionate as Momo. Sana was here for a
reason, and showing Mizuko photos of the daughter she is supposed to have no interaction
with was not her purpose for this trip. “She’s also been really stressed after we saw
someone.”

“Me?”

“No,” Sana shook her head, pointing at Mizuko’s tattoo, “The same man who gave you that.
We both know him, don’t we? Lee Jiho.”

She watched the color drain out of Mizuko’s face.

“Can I ask you a few questions? I intend on putting this fucker away so he’ll never see the
light of day again, but I need some information. I can get you, and Mina justice. But I need
you to trust me.”

Mizuko went quiet. Sana could tell she was weighing her options. It was clear she was
scared, she was probably just as traumatized of him as Mina was, and getting Mina to speak
was like pulling teeth. But then Sana saw her eyes flick towards the detective’s cell phone
before she looked up and nodded, “What do you need to know?”

“First, how did you come in contact with him?”

“Mina’s dad left us when she was two, and he provided while I took care of the baby. I
dropped out of high school because I was pregnant, so I couldn’t find a job. And I was almost
evicted.” Mizuko looked down, fiddling with the metal of her handcuffs, “But then I saw a
listing online. It was an office job looking for a Japanese translator in Korea, that also
included housing so I applied, and got it. He paid for my flight here but when I got here I
realized it wasn’t what was posted. He stole my passport and got me hooked so I couldn’t
leave.”

“How long were you working for him?”

“Three years.” So she arrived after the death of Chou.

Sana pointed to the tattoo, “Did he tell you his name?”

“No, I only learned it when we got arrested. Everyone only knew him as Viper.” Mizuko held
up her wrist, tracing her fingers over the inked in a snake, “I want this removed or covered
up. I can’t stand looking at it.”

So Mr.Viper was Lee Jiho. Sana already had her suspicions, but this just confirmed it. “You
know where he is at?”

“He runs a brothel. Rainbow Karaoke is Hongdae, it’s a front. He has maybe twelve girls? I
got my own place because of Mina and I was what he called, ‘Special Interest’.”

“When would he be there?”

“I’m not sure, probably during the day. He goes to a few of the special girl’s houses at
night.”

Sana nodded, “You’d testify in court, right?”

“I would.” Mizuko set her jaw, “He ruined my life.”

Sana left a few hours later, on the phone with Nayeon who was now stuck to paperwork duty
only, to get her a warrant for arrest. She was going to finish this.

***

Momo was working late, not that Sana minded, but that meant she was going to be left alone
with the grumpy monster that was Myoui Mina. She came stomping out of school, pouting
the whole way home and didn’t say a word, instead going into her room to play alone.

She had been doing this the past few days, which while getting on Sana’s nerves wasn’t too
bad if she just left her alone, checking in every so often to see if she needed something or
company. Mina would let her know if she was hungry or needed help with something. So she
just sat on the couch, staring at her phone waiting for Nayeon to get back to her with that
warrant and Momo to finalize Mina’s dance class. It would be a nice surprise. What took her
off guard was the sobs erupting from Mina’s room, sending her into panic mode.

Rushing into the room, Mina was kneeling on the floor near the bed, face red as she wailed.
Dropping down to her knees, Sana started trying to inspect the girl for injuries. Maybe she
fell off the bed and hurt herself, maybe she dropped something, or maybe she cut herself.
Finding no immediate injuries, Sana frowned in confusion, “What’s the matter?”

“Peng!” Mina cried, pointing at the stuffed penguin laying on the ground. Cocking an
eyebrow, the detective picked the doll up looking it over. Oh. There was a small tear on its
wing, not anything terrible but Mina was sensitive to tears in her clothes or toys. Plus this
was her comfort object, Sana noticed the kindergartener clung onto the toy every time she felt
anxious or scared, and she was probably feeling that a lot right now.

Wordlessly, Sana picked up the doll and walked into the kitchen, Mina trailing closely behind
her. She set the doll down on the table before digging into their junk drawer where she knew
she had one of those old two-dollar sewing kits she bought for sticking patches onto her
uniform a few years ago when she had to buy a new one. The cheap kit thankfully was there
and she sat down, taking the string that would best match Peng’s coat out and tried to get it
through the eye of the needle.

As Sana started finally got it through and started to sew the wing, Mina just watched silently,
her chin resting on the table, both hands gripping the side. She had noticed the small tear
after she was playing with the toy, bursting into tears as soon as she saw it. Peng just made
her feel safe, he was soft and had just the right amount of weight that when Mina held him
against her chest it helped calm her down. Sana was also like Peng, she was warm and
comforting, but Mina didn’t want to have anything to do with her until her mom could come
home. Actually, that intent was starting to fade a bit, after talking it over with Sunmi the
woman had made a few good points that Mina hadn’t thought about. She also had heard
Momo talking about her on the phone late one night, talking in Mina’s language with another
woman who looked a lot like Momo, saying she was a bit concerned and that even though
Mina was too young to understand what was going on she should come around soon. Mina
didn’t really understand what she meant, but Momo sounded sad as she talked about her, and
she didn’t like that.

Maybe Mina was wrong. She was starting to play with that idea, but she still wasn’t entirely
sure. Sana was supposed to go after bad guys, but her mom wasn’t a bad guy. She couldn’t
be. If she was what did that mean for Mina, was she bad too? Her mom had hurt her, she
could recognize that, and she could also recognize that what happened wasn’t normal. Tzuyu,
Yeri, Sooyoung, Lucas’s, parents didn’t act like that. Plus a lot of people’s moms couldn’t
take care of them, Tzuyu couldn’t and so couldn’t Momo. And they were her best friends.
She was just confused and angry. There was no one else to be angry at other than Sana, so
that’s who she picked.

“Fuck!” Sana hissed after accidentally stabbing her thumb, shaking the limb before returning
with what she was doing. Mina just watched, taking in how she concentrated and made sure it
was sturdy and wouldn’t open up again through wear and tear. Mina’s ears perked up at that,
it was a bad word, but it was her language.

Deciding to test it a bit, “Is he going to be okay?”

“Yeah” , Sana assured, she went quiet for a minute, “We don’t usually speak in Japanese, do
we?”

“No.”

“Do you want to? Would that make you feel a bit better, Momo can speak it too.”

“Then why do you two speak to each other in Korean?”

That actually was a good question to which Sana had no answer, they were both so used to it
that it was instinct for them to speak in Korean normally. She just shrugged, tying the thread
into a knot and handed it back to the child. Instantly Mina was snuggling the penguin,
promising to never be rough with him again. She looked back up and looked a bit torn, before
eventually going over and giving Sana a hug, “Thank you.”

“If he ever breaks again just tell me and we can fix him up, okay?” Sana just responded, not
angry or spiteful like Mina felt like she deserved after being mean to her. Last time she was
mean to Sana, she made her cry. Mina still felt horrible about that, the image of Sana rushing
off to the bathroom before eventually returning obviously crying, and it was her fault. Mina
was still mad, she still felt like Sana deserved it, she lied to her, she tricked her. But maybe
she shouldn’t be mean.

“Can you-” Mina cleared her throat, before finishing her statement, “Can you help me build
my lego set?”

“Which one?”

“The camper.”

“I thought you already finished that one.”

“I took it apart because I wanted to build it again.” Mina shrugged, looking up at Sana and of
course the detective couldn’t deny her, following her into her room waiting patiently for Mina
to set everything up how she wanted. Mina was particular about things lately, crying if her
bowls weren’t in a certain order, or if her shoes weren’t in the right spot, wanting to do it
herself. Mina didn’t sit with her, instead sitting across from her signaling she was still mad,
but the attitude that she had for the past few days started to fade away a bit.

That’s the sight Momo came home too, peeking in the door to see Sana laying on her stomach
helping to put a few blocks together, Mina mirroring her humming along to the music that
was playing from Sana’s phone speaking to each other in hushed Japanese. The lawyer just
inserted herself into the situation, and couldn’t stop thinking how lucky she was to come
home to this forever.
 Chapter 26

“Where are we going?” Mina asked, holding onto Momo’s hand as the woman walked the
two of them into a small building in a part of town Momo bet Mina had never been into
before. She herself had only been here a few times, once when the studio opened, another
when Hana’s car had broken down and it was late so she didn’t feel comfortable taking the
subway. The building was nice, a clean white and gold theme with fake plants everywhere.

“We are visiting my sister, you two are going to dance together.”

“Is that why I need to wear this bathing suit?” Mina pointed at the black longsleeved leotard
over white legging that Momo had to fight to put her in. Mina lived to be in comfy soft
clothes, the tight material of both the tights and the leotard was not up to the kid’s standards.

“It’s not a bathing suit Minari, it’s a leotard. You wear it to dance. She wants to teach you
ballet, do you know what that is?”

“No.”

“That’s okay, she’ll show you,” Momo assured, walking past the secretary and into the studio
down the hall that Hana had made it clear to go to. Hana was already there, turning around
with a smile as she noticed them

“ I was a bit scared you were going to get lost.” Hana teased, walking over to give her sister
a hug. Momo saw Mina perk up as soon as Hana spoke Japanese, both her and Sana had been
making more of an effort to speak it in front of Mina noticing the girl was more comfortable
using it sometimes.

Momo playfully pushed her sister, rolling her eyes. She got lost one time when she was
twelve, and the dancer to this day would never let her live it down. “Mina, say hello.” Mina
was a shy kid, so she half bent down in greeting, still hiding behind Momo’s leg. Hana
squealed, squatting down to meet the girl eye to eye. Momo could feel Mina digging her
fingers into the flesh of her leg, clearly nervous. “This is my sister, Hana.”
“Your sister?” Mina looked up at Momo and she nodded, with that Mina took a few steps out
from behind her. Hana knew exactly what was going on, from Sana and Momo’s very first
night to Mina’s new attitude. They were close and didn’t keep anything from each other. It
had been Hana’s idea to get Mina into dance, both the sisters had started it when they moved
to Korea as a stress reliever and something to put their focus on, Hana thought it could give
the same comfort to Mina.

“Are you ready to have some fun?” Hana asked a gentle smile on her face, “We’re going to
do a little dancing today. Momo told me you like to dance.”

“Last time I danced Shrimpy lost his head.”

“Shrimpy?”

“Don’t ask,” Momo warned.

After a bit of coaxing, Momo was sat on the studio floor, Mina next to her as they started the
class. “Can you reach all the way down to your toes, like this?” Hana asked, demonstrating.
Mina took a glance at Momo who nodded in encouragement, before following in her
footsteps leaning over and touching her toes. Hana cheered, “Good job!”

Mina loved praise and attention. Momo had noticed that when she would proudly show Sana
her spelling tests and schoolwork because the woman would tell her she was proud of her and
offer her a treat. Mina smiled and did it again, gathering more cheers. And just like that, Hana
was Mina’s new best friend. Momo watched with a smile, Peng resting in her lap, taking out
her phone to film clips to show Sana when they went home.

“Momo do you want to do this too?” Mina asked, running over to her with this giddy smile.

“I’m good, my knee is bad. I can’t dance anymore.”

“Really?” Mina pouted. “How?”

“I hurt it when I was in high school,” She shrugged, “Go have fun with Hana, I’m just going
to watch, okay?”

Mina didn’t seem very pleased with that but relented, walking back over to her sister who
was now showing her a few steps. Mina was good, having a natural talent for these kinds of
things and picked up everything quickly. She’d look back at Momo occasionally, checking if
the woman was still there and if she was okay. Mina didn’t seem angry, and Momo was
thankful for that. Originally Sana was supposed to come, but she had left for work without
explaining herself properly and it honestly pissed her off a bit. They had discussed it before,
Hana wanted to meet her and both of them were important to Momo so why couldn’t Sana
just take one day off to show it was important to her as well. Momo hadn’t responded to any
of Sana’s texts, even the one asking if they had gotten there yet. She would have known if she
came.

After going of the routine a few times, Hana had to go and teach her actual class. Mina
seemed a bit sad, but let it go, skipping over to Momo letting the girl put her coat on her
before they left. Mina just wanted to be held, that’s how Momo knew she was truly happy,
snuggling into her side telling her about everything as if the woman did not just sit and watch
for the last hour. “Can we stop at Sana’s work so I can tell her? And we can meet Scooby.”

“Um, I don’t know if she’s busy.” Momo shrugged, “I thought you were mad at her.”

“I-I am. But I still want to tell her.”

Momo laughed and got her phone out of her pocket, handing it to Mina. “Here, call her and
see if she’s busy.”

Sana didn’t pick up.

***
“You ready for this?” Jackson asked, adjusting his belt while the two of them looked at the
neon RAINBOW KARAOKE. It was just them, two officers from the trafficking department,
Kim Namjoon and Vernon Chwe, and a few beat cops Sana had never met before. Nayeon
was doing dispatch, an earpiece in both their ears so she could relay the floor plan to them as
they needed it. There were always nerves going into things like this, Sana had quite a few
experiences under her belt. Eunha always used to get mad at her, but it was a part of her job.
She needed to do it. This time, she needed to do it for Mina. She needed to get justice for her
little human. There was always a risk, she knew that. Maybe she should have hugged Mina
before she left or told Momo how much she loved her. Oh well. She wouldn’t need it. Things
were going to go fine.

“Yeah,” Sana took a breath, setting her cellphone in the cupholder after sending a quick text
to Momo asking if they had arrived at her sister’s studio. Momo had wanted her to come, but
this was more important. “Let’s do this thing.”

Mizuko’s information had been critical, and if Lee Jiho was in this building, they were going
to find him. She got out of the car, slamming the door behind her, gripping her pistol that was
on her hip.

‘According to the floor plan behind the karaoke is a bunch of rooms originally supposed to
be rented out as apartments,” Nayeon spoke through the earpiece, “Just go in and take a
right. And Sana?”

“What?”

‘Don’t do anything dumb.’

Sana was never that smart anyway, she just looked over at the other officers, nodded, and
kicked the door in. “POLICE, HANDS UP.”

A few teenage kids were standing by the front desk, seemingly had come to hang out after
school along with a college aid part-timer stared back at them terrified, all instantly raising
their hands. A few beat cops took care of them, Sana paid them no mind as she rushed past
them, taking her gun out of her holster rushing through the halls. Jackson opened a door, and
sure enough, there were a few young women resting in the room. Mizuko was telling the
truth.
The halls were absolutely filthy, chipped paint, and flickering lights. It has Sana the heebie-
jeebies by just walking through them, she couldn’t imagine being forced to live here. They
opened a few more doors, only finding a few more girls working or resting. It was strange,
Sana couldn’t tell if they were relieved or scared to see their presence. Then a door opened,
and out he walked, freezing when he saw them. Lee Jiho.

Then he took off in a sprint, Sana taking off after him. She had no idea if Jackson was with
her, or if there were others, her focus was just on him. He hurt Mina. The incredible little
person that had completely stolen Sana’s heart, that Sana felt so strongly about, that came
into her life when she needed her the most. Mina who liked to draw, dogs, and sharks. Mina
who had a fascination with the ocean. Mina who couldn’t sleep alone because of what he did
to her and just wanted to cuddle and for Sana to catch the bad guys. Sana had made a
promise, and she was going to keep it.

They rounded a corner, and down stairs, throwing the door to the outside open. Sana was
never a good runner, it was always more Nayeon’s specialty, preferring to outsmart them and
cut them off before they could escape. She didn’t need to run much though, because the door
opened into a fenced-in area, one he would not be able to climb up enough. He paused,
staring at the fence. Sana got him, she just had to keep running and take him down. Then he
turned, and Sana caught a flash of silver in his hands.

BANG BANG BANG

Sana heard the three shots before she registered what was going on. She heard glass break
over her shoulder, raining down and coating the floor in shards. It wasn’t until she was
already on the floor staring up at the sky that it fully clicked in her head. The gun that was in
her hand was discarded onto the floor, she couldn’t reach for it. Her head felt fuzzy, but she
wasn’t in pain just a bit numb in her left arm and a slight burning sensation in her abdomen.
There was a lot of yelling that she couldn’t distinguish, it was too loud.

BANG

She flinched but heard a thud, and footsteps rushing in that direction. Lulling her head over to
the side, she saw Namjoon administering first aid to a now handcuffed Jiho lying on the floor.
His pant leg was soaked in red, and the handgun was thrown away from him as the
trafficking detective took care of him. Black danced around the edges of her vision. Good, he
was not going to getaway. Sana caught him. Mina didn’t have to be scared anymore.
“Sana!” That was Jackson, she had never hear that tone of voice come from him. He dropped
to her side, looking over the situation, “Shit, you’re bleeding.”

She was what? She groaned when his huge frame started putting pressure on her stomach,
that fucking hurt. She cried out, loud and pained, looking up at Jackson who lust looked
panicked. His hands were stained with red, not moving as Sana’s own weak one tried to push
his away from her as her vision faded in and out, he was talking but he sounded muffled and
far away. She could vaguely hear Nayeon speaking through her earpiece, ‘Sana? Are you
there?’

“This Wang 2327, we have shots fired and an officer down. Requesting medical attention.”

Then the world went black. Back in her cruiser, her cell phone rang, while across town Mina
waited excitedly Momo’s phone in hand in the lawyer’s arm as the older encouraged her,
wanting to relay the events her dance class completely unaware that her best friend may not
be able to hear about it ever.
 Chapter 27

Momo has dealt with death a few times in her life.

Her dad died suddenly when she was young, and her mother followed soon after. Her
adoptive grandmother passed away from old age, even she herself had a near-death
experience when she was in high school when a car decided it wanted to hit her as she rode
her bike to school on the sidewalk. Death was scary, death was something that made her feel
uneasy. Sana never shared her same sentiment. She didn’t fear death, it was a part of life.
Sana would die and that was it, lights out, game over. Momo thought she was reckless, Sana
thought she was realistic. Both of them have almost had to cross the river, Momo with that
driver and Sana by her own hand, Momo could never understand why Sana was at such peace
with it. Momo was completely terrified by the idea of death.

That fear was reignited as soon as she opened the door after dinner to two officers standing
there with grim expressions. Sana hadn’t texted her again after the one asking if she had
arrived or responded to the voicemail Mina left her asking if she was busy. Momo didn’t
think much of it, she was probably busy. She was still mad, especially when she didn’t show
up for dinner. But that anger turned into pure terror as she opened the door and they told her
Sana had been shot twice, once in the stomach, another time in the left arm. She was in
emergency surgery, and that they had no word on her condition.

Momo’s world had been flipped upside down.

Mina could tell something was wrong immediately, getting nervous as Momo closed the door
rushed into Sana’s room grabbed a bag, and started throwing some of her clothes in it.
“Momo?”

“Mina, go pack a bag, we’re going to go somewhere and I don’t know when we are coming
back.”

“Where-”

“Please.”
It took fifteen minutes for them to gather everything, and rush to the hospital. Momo knew
she should probably inform Mina to what was going on, but she didn’t know how and she
didn’t want her to freak out just yet. Mina nearly tripped a few times as they were walking,
Momo racing towards the emergency wing, doubling her speed and nearly dragging Mina as
she spotted Nayeon. “What happened?”

“We went after that Viper guy and he shot her.” Nayeon sounded pissed, running a hand
through her hair, “Dumbass decided to chase him without backup and got shot.”

“Is she okay?” Momo knew she sounded desperate, her tone teary.

“Her heart stopped for two minutes in the ambulance.” Momo thought she was going to pass
out. “They brought her back though, and the last I heard she’s going to be okay. The bullet
when clean through her shoulder, but they had to remove the bullet from her stomach-”

“Satang is hurt?” Mina was confused.

“And make sure she wasn’t internally bleeding, she lost a lot of blood. She’s resting in her
room right now, she’s not awake. I came out here to see if you wanted me to watch Mina for
a bit, she might get scared seeing her like that.”

“Sana is hurt?” Mina cut in again, frustration that no one was listening to her evident in her
tone. Momo was too frazzled to think about how to word it, she couldn’t handle Mina
flipping out because she was upset. Thankfully, Nayeon was trained for this.

She got down to Mina’s level with a bit of effort, her baby bump was starting to effect
movement. “Sana went after bad guys today she just got a little booboo.”

“Is she okay?”

“Mhmm,” Nayeon reassured, “How about you and I stay here while Momo goes and visits
her and we can draw Sana a picture? She’s really sleepy right now so if all of us go in we
might wake her up, and she won’t be able to get better if she gets up.”

With a little more convincing Mina agreed to stay with Nayeon while Momo made her way to
Sana’s room. It was empty when she got there, but a few small bouquets of flowers on the
stand next to Sana’s sleeping body indicated that she had a few visitors earlier. Upon closer
inspection, one was from Jackson, another from Wendy who must’ve heard and rushed over
from the pediatric wing of the hospital when she had the chance. Then there was Sana, laying
on the bed, this mess of wires and tubes, small and pale. She was asleep, a neutral expression
on her features as she dozed, that made Momo feel a bit better, at least she wasn’t in pain.

Momo let out a shaky exhale, making her way to the side of her bed, and sat down in the
uncomfortable beige chair, taking in the full extent of her. She had bandages wrapped around
her left shoulder, along with a lot wrapped around her abdomen, along with a white cast on
her left wrist. She must’ve hurt it when she fell. Sana was reckless if Momo thought that
before, she knew that now. She should have taken the day off, Momo just had that feeling
that something was off, and she was right.

Two minutes. Sana was dead for two minutes. That fact made Momo want to puke. What
would she do without Sana? She’d take Mina, but what else. Sana had weaseled her way into
her life, had made her fall completely head over heels for her. She didn’t even realize she was
crying until it was too obvious to not notice, reaching over to grab Sana’s free hand. She was
scared. What if they weren’t able to bring her back, what if something went wrong. Sana
died. All because she was hellbent on getting an evil man. Why did Sana have to get hurt?
Sana who loved everyone so deeply and purely, even if she hid it a bit. Sana didn’t deserve
that. Momo could put money that when Sana was shot she wasn’t thinking of herself.

She wished Sana could be selfish. But that wasn’t in Sana’s nature and that’s why she loved
her. Momo sniffled, trying to collect herself. She was glad Mina was with Nayeon, Momo
didn’t want to have her see her like that, the girl already had enough issues, Momo didn’t
need to add onto it.

She was going to be okay. Momo tried to repeat that in her mind, Sana was going to be okay.
She looked scary, but she was going to be okay. Still, Momo cried herself to sleep on the
uncomfortable chair only waking when she heard soft murmurs coming from the other side of
the room.
“Mommy, wake up.” Mina’s voice dragged Momo of her sleep. She peaked an eye open to
see what exactly was going on. At first, she wasn’t sure if she heard Mina correctly, did she
actually call Sana what she thought she said. Sure Sana had said she did it once before, but
Mina hadn’t since, as far as Momo knew.

Mina was standing next to the bed, gently poking Sana in an attempt to wake her up. It was
dark now, and Nayeon was nowhere to be seen which meant either she fell asleep and Mina
sneaked off, or she just snuck out when Nayeon wasn’t paying attention. The kindergartner
took Peng and placed it on top of Sana, “Here, you can use Peng right now. He’s really soft
and good at cuddles. When I don’t feel good I just cuddle him and I feel better, do you want to
try? Nayeon told me I need to be careful with you because you’re hurt, so he can cuddle you
for right now. Is that okay?”

No response just the steady beep of the heart monitor.

“I made you a picture too, look.” Mina held up a piece of paper that Momo got only vaguely
make out. There was a police figure with a cape holding Mina’s hand, another woman next to
her that Momo presumed to be here, a cat, dog, and shrimp. “Look, it’s me and you and
momo, and I drew Grumpy and Rey.”

Again silence. Mina looked distraught by that. Sana was her idol, and to see the person she
idolized the most, the person she looked up to in such a position was probably terrifying for
her. Sana was always strong, but she didn’t look very strong right now.

“Nayeon told me you caught Mr.Viper. I-I knew he was going to hurt you.” Mina’s voice
wobbled, as she reached over to brush some of Sana’s hair out of her eyes, “I’m sorry I was
mad at you, I promise I won’t be mad if you wake up. I pinky swear, okay? So wake up.”

Momo knew she should probably cut in, but she also felt Mina needed this.

“I shouldn’t have been mean to you. You were just trying to help me. Ms.Sunmi told me that,
she’s really smart, maybe even more than Tzuyu. She told me I was mad at you because I was
mad at Mommy but she wasn’t there and you were. I believe her. You put bad guys away, like
a superhero. And superheroes don’t get hurt. Except for Ironman. But he isn’t a real
superhero.”
Mina waited for something, anything.

“You know I met Momo’s sister today? She’s really nice and pretty like Momo. She’s not as
pretty as Tzuyu but that’s okay, no one is. When you wake up I can show you what I learned,
is that okay? You just need to wake up.”

Mina was starting to cry.

“Please, I’m sorry you got hurt. I was being mean, I don’t want you to catch him anymore.
You can let him go and be better, I won’t be mad. Please just wake up Mommy.” So Momo
did hear correctly, Mina was calling her Mommy. The lawyer wondered how much Mina
referred to Sana as her mom when she was alone. “Okay, just wake up. Please-” Mina was
now fully crying, sniffling as she tried to take deep breaths and wipe away her tears.

“Why are you crying?” That cuts through the room like a knife, both girls turning towards
the horse, scratchy voice. Sana is staring at Mina, cleary sleepy and drugged up on whatever
pain medication that gave her, a soft smile on her face, “Guess what, I got Mr.Viper.”

That flipped a switch in Mina, the girl bursting into tears, reaching up to grab a hold of
Sana’s hospital scrub. The detective just cooed, reaching up weakly to stroke her hair with
her uninjured arm, “I’m sorry, did I scare you?”

“You’re hurt.” Mina cried, but Sana just shrugged, Momo could see how that movement
pained her. “He hurt you!”

“I’m okay, look.” Much to Momo’s surprised Sana pulled a funny face, sticking out her
tongue and crossing her eyes. Her words were slurred, and her eyelids seemed heavy as they
kept slipping close before Sana would jerk awake. Mina let out a watery giggle, before
pouting again, leaning her head down to snuggle Sana’s arm, it was clear she wanted more
but also was trying to be cautious of Sana. Even more surprising, Sana slowly pushed over,
groaning in pain as she did so, so a little space was open on the right side of the bed, “Want to
cuddle?”
Cuddle monster Mina was never one to deny that offer, cautiously sneaking into the open
spot, careful not to touch Sana that much. She laid her head on Sana’s uninjured arm, looking
up at her with her big puppy eyes. Sana, in turn, could barely stay awake, eyes drooping
close. Mina adjusted Peng on Sana, “Here, you can cuddle with Peng tonight.”

“Thank you, Minari.” Sana slipped back into sleep, but Mina didn’t seem panicked or tried to
wake her up, she just closed her eyes as well a small smile on her lips.
 Chapter 28

Two weeks went by before Sana was finally released from the hospital. If you asked the
detective, she should’ve been home a week ago, if you asked Momo she wanted her to stay
for another two weeks. Sure Sana was healing well and was ready to go home, but they both
knew Sana sucked at actually following directions. She couldn’t be walking around, no
strenuous activity, and no intimate time (Sana was the most upset about the last one).

While the detective just brushed it off, it was quickly becoming apparent that Momo was
taking it very, very seriously. That’s how Sana found herself stuck in her bed, pouting as
Momo simply walked out of the room after she started whining about helping clean up after
dinner. “C’mon, I can just sit down and dry dishes. Please.”

“Nope,” Momo called from down the hall, leaving Sana huffing.

She wasn’t alone long though, because Mina walked into the room as soon as Momo left her
favorite blue fuzzy blanket and a few stuffies and books Momo had given her over time in
hand. She smiled in greeting to the kindergartner, Mina smiled back climbing up into bed
with Sana, taking the blanket and carefully laying it on her. Sana didn’t have the heart to tell
Mina she was already sweating. Then Mina took Peng and placed it on Sana’s good arm,
laying next to her with a good foot between them.

Mina was only going to be home today, having convinced Momo to let her stay home from
school for today only. Mina had been missing a lot of school lately between the trial and now
Sana, she tried to be lenient and let Mina come with her to the hospital however she had to
put her foot down and say when enough was enough. Mina was her little buddy, Sana
wouldn’t mind if she just skipped school to hang out with her. Unfortunately for Sana, Momo
had taken two weeks off to care for her. She was grateful, but Momo was paranoid,
micromanaging everything Sana did right now. She got it, she scared her. It was still a bit
annoying.

Mina hasn’t touched her in a good few days. She accidentally hit Sana’s shoulder one time,
and with all the padding and bandages she didn’t feel a thing, but Mina noticed. Ever since
then she had been terrified of hurting her, Sana kept trying to tell her it was okay, that she
wouldn’t break if she just grabbed her hand, but Mina wasn’t convinced. “Do you want to
read a story? Momo reads to me when I go to bed, so if you’re here I can do it for you.”
“You want to read to me?” Sana asked, raising an eyebrow. Mina nodded, holding up the
book. It was a new one that Momo had bought at the hospital gift shop in case Mina needed
something to calm her down. “Okay.”

Detective Penguin solves the case, this had to be Mina’s third or forth book from that series.
The girl settled and held the book so both of them could see. Sana relaxed back into her
pillows, she was going to enjoy it or at least pretend to.

Sana forgot one thing. Mina couldn’t read.

She was learning, but she was definitely not there yet. That came quickly apparent when
Mina placed one finger on a word and slowly started to sound it out, “d-e-t-e-c-“

“Detective.”

“I was going to get there.”

“Go on”

“P-e-n-“

“You know what, how about we just watch a movie instead!”

And that’s how they ended up watching Finding Nemo. Sana had invested in a Disney Plus
subscription because she knew Mina (and Momo) would love it, and the multicolored fish did
a great job from distracting Mina from her original task of reading a book. Reading was
going to be a Momo task, Sana didn’t have the patience for that. Mina watched the movie
intensely, getting particularly excited when the sharks got on screen. The detective almost
had to laugh every time Mina would reach over out of reflex to pull Peng towards her before
realizing she wanted Sana to use him.
“Mina, how about you go get ready for bed when I change Sana’a bandaids?” Momo
appeared in the doorway, hair tied up into a loose ponytail and towel draped over her
shoulder. Mina pouted but left, pulling Momo down to whisper something in Momo’s ear that
Sana couldn’t quite catch. Momo shut the door and crawled on to the bed. “You better not
talk to me the entire time we do this.”

“What? Why?”

“I might start to cry.” There was real truth in that statement. So Sana just nodded and helped
Momo lift her shirt up so she could change the bandage on her stomach. Momo got it over
with quick, but Sana could still see the way her eyes lingered on the wound. Next Momo
started on her shoulder.

“You’re a dumbass,” Momo grumbled, taking the dirty piece of gauze off and replaced it with
a new piece. Gently she wrapped the bandage around the shoulder once again, going over the
steps the nurse had taught her in the hospital. Sana hissed in pain a few times but other than
that the process went smoothly, Momo frowning the entire time, “Please don’t do this again.”

“It’s not that I asked him to shoot me.” Sana’s tone was way too light-hearted for Momo’s
liking.

“I’m not joking. You died.” Momo’s voice cracked at that, “I could’ve lost you.”

“You didn’t. I’m right here.”

“I almost did.” Momo sighed, and Sana knew she messed up immediately when Momo
brushed her hand through her hair and stood up. She stayed silent as the woman stood up,
“How can you sit there and laugh as I’m cleaning your bullet wounds. Are you stupid? Sana-
You died. And you didn’t even tell me where you were going, you just left and the only way I
found out was because two officers showed up at my door saying you were hurt. I- I’m so
mad at you right now I don’t even want to talk to you.”

“Baby look at me,” Sana waited patiently until Momo looked up at her, “I’m okay. It’s a part
of my job, and honestly it was worth it.”
“It was worth it?” Momo scoffed, “Really?”

“Yeah, Mina can go to sleep now and not be terrified he’s going to hurt her while she does.
Mina’s mom got justice. Things are bigger than just this.”

“What are you talking about?” Momo was starting to raise her voice, “You know what, we'll
talk about this when Mina’s at school I don’t want her hear me scream at you over her.

“If you want to say that protecting Mina isn’t worth it, then you should leave now. I don’t see
why you’re mad.”

“Protecting her from what! You and I are always with her, no one was going to hurt her!”

“She was scared!”

“I’m scared!” Momo yelled, “What do I have to do to get the fact that you died through to
you. You seem fine with that. I’m not saying Mina doesn’t deserve justice, but you made
dumb decisions! You just ran off after a dangerous man! You ignored all your training and
procedures because you wanted to play hero! And what did that get you? Two bullet wounds!
What if they couldn’t bring you back? Was I supposed to raise Mina all by myself? Throw
her somewhere else? She already has been through so much, imagine losing you too? I don’t
think she’d recover from that. I’m mad because you were dumb because you wanted to play
hero and don’t even seem sorry for it!”

The room fell silent. They just stared at each other, tension so thick it was heavy in the air. A
few gentle knocks brought them back to reality, Mina peaking her head in now dressed in her
pajamas. If she heard them, she didn’t say anything slipping inside and starting to climb up
on the bed.

“You can’t sleep in bed with me tonight.” Sana was not prepared for the look of heartbreak
on Mina’s face as soon as she said that. Almost instantly the girl’s eyes filled with tears and
her lip trembled.
“Is it because you got hurt because of me?”

“Huh?” Momo you fucking idiot. That just wasn’t true, but Sana could understand why she
thought that she herself had felt guilt for something that happened out of her control for a
long time, she obviously had heard Momo’a whole rant, “Hey, hey, it wasn’t your fault.
Okay?”

“But-”

“Nope. Sorry I can’t hear you.” Sana cut her off, “You just can’t sleep here because you move
a lot when you sleep and I just don’t want you to accidentally hit me. How about you put
some blankets and pillows on the floor right next to me, and you can even hold my hand and
Rey can sleep with you, and maybe if you ask nicely Momo will sleep down there with you..”

While not completely satisfied, Mina nodded and ran off to grab some blankets from where
Sana stored them in the closet. Rushing back to set them up on the floor, Momo helping.
Falling asleep was a tense affair, Sana seemed to have no issue but that was probably because
her medication made her drowsy. Mina had a bit of a hard time, eventually falling asleep after
Momo read her three books. She didn’t remember when she dozed off.

A strangled scream woke Momo up. Sometimes Mina screamed in her sleep and it would
wake Momo right up, the woman immediately trying to find her way to the girl. Usually,
she’d let Sana handle it, as Mina had a tendency to not know where she was and both of them
trying to comfort her just made the child freak out more. Last time she tried when Mina was
in that state the girl just screamed and tried to get away from them, smacking Momo in the
face in the process before realizing who it was and breaking down in apologies for hitting
her. Sana was good at comforting Mina, she always knew what to do and what Mina needed.

But this scream wasn’t Mina’s, as the girl bolted up right next to Momo, rubbing sleepy eyes
looking confused as well. That left one perpetrator, Sana. Turning her attention to the
Detective, all Momo’s questions were answered when she saw her thrashing around on the
bed, mumbling, and whimpering. Then she woke up, gasping in pain as she tried to calm her
breathing, tears pooling in her eyes. “Sana?”
Sana just shook her head, taking her right arm and placed it over her eyes, a shaky sob
escaping from her. Momo could feel a bit of a panic bubble in her stomach as she sat up on
her knees and touched the arm she had shielding her away from Momo. Sana didn’t seem to
like that too much, frantically pushing Momo away from her making the woman fly back
onto the ground with a light thud. “Don’t touch me.”

Momo had no clue what to do. But Mina did.

The kindergartner sat up on her knees as well, looking at where Momo was sitting back up,
rubbing her now sore arm she landed on to try and break her fall.

“Satang, it’s me, Mina,” Mina spoke softly, laying her chin on the mattress the same way
Jihyo would when she wanted to talk to Mina at school, “Is it okay if I touch you?”

After a minute, Sana nodded, and Mina took that confirmation and gently grabbed Sana’s arm
and pulled it away from her eyes. “Did you have a bad dream?” Sana nodded, trying to wipe
her tears away so Mina didn’t have to see that. Mina took care of that for her, using her tiny
hand to wipe away the tears that spilled from Sana’s eyes, “I get them too sometimes, they
can be scary. It’s okay.”

Momo had no words.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Mina asked, carefully climbing next to Sana, making sure not
to touch anywhere near the bandages. Sana shook her head, and Mina hummed at that
stroking her hair the way Sana always would when she had a bad dream. Again Mina took
Momo by surprise and took the comforter and held it over both their heads, “This is the
magic shield remember, nothing bad can happen while we are in here. You can go back to
sleep, I’ll stay up and make sure you’re safe.”

Apparently it worked because about ten minutes later, soft snores were coming from the
blanket, and Mina peaked her head out to shoot Momo a thumbs up. Momo gave her a
thumbs up in return and Mina just smiled and went back inside their makeshift fort. Mina
was starting to grow, not only physically, but mentally too. She learned from the people
around her and was able to empathize with Sana. Momo laid back down, grabbing onto the
hand Mina reached out from on top of the bed. It was going to be a rough night.
 Chapter 29

This is what Sana was dreading.

As soon as Momo walked back inside after dropping Mina off at school and picking up a few
groceries, she expected another earful from the Lawyer. She watched with bated breath from
the couch as Momo put away a few groceries, fish, and vegetables, she had picked up for
dinner. Much to her surprise after she was done Momo walked over and sat down on the
couch, pulling Sana in so she was leaning against her chest. Momo was being careful, and
Sana could tell she wanted to pull her much tighter than the grip she actually had on the
detective. “Hi.”

“Hi to you too,” Sana responded, tucking her head further into Momo’s side.

“How are you feeling? Do you need ice or medicine or something?”

“No I’m okay.”

“I’m sorry for yelling at you yesterday,” Momo hummed, “I shouldn’t have done that.”

Ah. There it was, Momo felt bad.

Sana had been doing a lot of thinking over the last night, and honestly, she thought that was
probably what triggered her nightmare. Momo was scared. Sana wasn’t dumb, she knew her
past. Losing someone suddenly happened to her before and changed the entire trajectory of
her life, Sana just running off and doing what she did probably scared the shit out of her.
Momo probably had never considered the dangerous aspects of her job, and seeing Sana in
the hospital after almost kissing death must’ve been upsetting. Momo was usually good at
communicating what she felt, and Sana was usually good at listening. Last night both of them
struggled with that.
“I’m kind of glad you did.” Sana looked up at her, “I don’t want you to hide what you’re
feeling from me.”

“But I can talk instead of yell.”

“You can.” Sans agreed with a shrug, “I’m sorry for pushing you last night, I just- I freaked
out and someone touching me made me panic.”

“What did you dream about?”

Sana took a deep breath, “I was at the scene again, and he shot me. Well, that’s what I
thought, but he didn’t actually shoot me, he shot you and Mina.”

“Sana, this was really traumatic,” Momo sighed, “I can talk at work and see if there was
someone you can talk to.”

“No need, I called my therapist this morning and we talked a bit because I can’t really go
anywhere right now.” Sana smiled, “We talked for a bit because I can’t go in, she told me it’s
normal for people who have just been through traumatic experiences to have nightmares or
panic attacks, but if it gets worse then I need to get more help than just her.”

“Mina did a good job.”

“She did, I didn’t know she knew how to do all that.”

“She probably learned from experience.”

“Mm.”
“I’m still mad at you.”

“I know.”

“I-I love you so much.” Momo confessed, “But you made such a stupid, stupid decision. And
then you didn’t even seem sorry for it. It just reminded me of when I was young, and they
died in an accident. You almost died because you were reckless.”

“I won’t do it again.”

“I know, you’re joining Nayeon doing paperwork until further notice,” Momo teased, earning
a groan from the detective. She buried her head into Momo’s side, a small whine falling past
her lips.

“I thought I was free from her hormonal self, a few months of peace and quiet. Why must I
be cursed like this.”

Momo laughed at that, and Sana smiled. Momo was always prettier when she laughed.
Eventually, they flipped on a movie, Sana lost track of how long they watched it. But just
when Sana felt like she was going to fall asleep, Momo’s phone rang, and the lawyer quickly
answered, “Hello?”

Sana couldn’t exactly make out what the other voice but Momo sat up suddenly, accidentally
jostling Sana. “What? Okay, I’ll be right there.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Mina punched a kid a school.”

***
Mina blames Yeri for distracting her with her Nintendo Switch. She’s brought it to school
before and Mina was absolutely enthralled by the device. Yeri has all sorts of games; Zelda,
Animal Crossing, Super Smash Bros. Yeri brought it during playtime sometimes and they
would spread out on the carpet playing together. She loved it so much Mina had started a
little jar in her room of change and dollars she would find laying around to buy one herself.
She was current only three dollars into her three hundred dollar goal but hey, she was trying.

Sooyoung would make little comments every so often, and Yeri would snap back and the two
would end up bickering. They always were fighting or bickering, but when Mina was trying
to play a game it was incredibly annoying so she would end up just watching from the
sidelines with Lucas. Usually, Tzuyu would be with them too, but today for some reason she
wasn’t.

As Yeri launched herself at Sooyoung once again, Mina sighed setting her controller down
and looked to her right side to talk to Tzuyu, only she wasn’t there. A quick scan of the
classroom later, Mina locked onto Tzuyu’s figure, reaching out for her beloved stuffed dog
Minjoong from a group of three boys. Mina knew those boys, they were mean, no one liked
them. So why were they talking to Tzuyu, and why were they touching Minjoong? The
moment Minhyuk, the boy who was most notoriously evil pushed Tzuyu, Mina was up
rushing over to her friend’s aid.

“Give it back,” She didn’t sound that intimidating as she reached out a hand waiting for him
to hand her back the dog. Tzuyu looked teary-eyed, and Mina didn’t like that.

“Why should I?” He raised an eyebrow, smirking a bit, “It’s just some dumb toy.”

“Give it back.”

“Or what?”

“I’ll call my mom. She’s a cop.”

Minhyuk laughed, “My Dad says your Moms are freaks. The two ladies you came in with on
Parent’s day, Tzuyu’s moms, all of your freak group’s parents.” He spat, “You know my dad
saw your Mom in the hospital where he works, he says she should have died. That’s what she
deserves for sinning.”

Mina blinked trying to take that all in. Sana deserved it? Those three words sounded like the
most offensive swear as they flew through his mouth. Sana didn’t deserve that at all. Sure
Tzuyu had two moms. so did Yeri and Sooyoung, what was so bad about that? Their moms
took care of them and loved them, something Mina wasn’t sure her real mom ever did. Momo
and Sana were her moms, and what was wrong with that? Sana was one of the best people in
the world. She fought for justice, she loved to cuddle, she always made sure Mina was happy
and safe, she saved her. How dare he.

Her fist clenched and shook at her side, “Take that back.”

“Why? I’m only saying what’s true. That dyke deserved it.”

Mina didn’t know what the meant, she wasn’t sure if he knew either, but it sounded ugly. It
festered and curdled in her ears, deafening her so much she almost didn’t hear Tzuyu speak
softly, “C’mon let’s just go.”

He was still holding Minjoong. He insulted Sana, Momo, and Tzuyu. She deserved it?

Well, Mina guessed he deserved what she did next.

Kim Minhyuk got punched square in the face by Myoui Mina who was half his size. He
tumbled down to the ground, holding his nose as he started wailing. Satisfaction settled over
her for a quick second as she picked Minjoong off the floor and handed it to Tzuyu, that was
before she remembered the all-knowing being of Park Jihyo. She heard a gasp before the
teacher rushed by to check on the fallen student, anger apparent on her face. Minhyuk was
crying, and Jihyo turned around, pointing a finger towards the door, “Go to the office. I’m
going to be calling your guardians to pick you up.”

Tzuyu tried to follow her, now gripping onto Minjoong so tightly her fingers started to turn
white, obviously distressed about everything that just happened. Mina ignored her, storming
out of the room. How dare he. Sana deserved it? Freak? What was he even talking about? She
stomped over to the small bench outside the office and waited like she was told. Sana
wouldn’t come, Mina already knew that. Sana was hurt, and Momo thought it was her fault.
She just sat there and swung her feet until she heard footsteps approach her. She looked up
and saw Momo standing there, she obviously had rushed there, the woman huffed and took a
seat next to her.

Oh no, she was mad. Mina could feel that bit of terror she used to be all too familiar with
when she used to have to walk home, that sinking feeling in her stomach that amplified with
every step she took. Momo wouldn’t hurt her, at least that was what Mina tried to convince
herself. Momo must’ve been able to sense her uneasiness and let out a light sight.

“Why did you hit him?” Momo asked, she sounded a bit mad but that was probably deserved,
Mina did just get into trouble. “You wouldn’t hit him for no reason.”

“He was making fun of Tzuyu.” Mina settled on a half-truth, Momo’s feelings might be hurt
if she heard what he actually said. She fiddled with her fingers, she wished Peng was here but
she let Sana use him. “He took her stuffie and said mean things.”

“Like what?”

“About her moms.”

Momo went quiet for a minute, before speaking up, “Did he say anything else?”

Just then Mina knew she knew. She paused looking up at Momo, how could she have
possibly known? Sure she was a lawyer, but Mina thought she was being very good at
sneaking around the truth. She stammered a bit, “What?”

“I’m just asking,” Momo shrugged, “I just want to make sure I have all the facts before I yell
at his parents.”
Why would she yell at his parents? Mina was the one who hit him, Momo should be mad at
her. Mina was never a good liar, and Momo was used to getting the truth. It burst out of her
all at once, “He called them freaks, and then he called you and Sana freaks too. He said Sana
deserved what happened to her and then called you guys a bad name.”

“What bad name?”

“Dykes.”

“Do you know what that means?”

“No, but I know it wasn’t nice.”

Momo sighed, getting off her chair and squatted down right in front of Mina, grabbing both
her hands. She didn’t look mad, just a bit annoyed but it didn’t seem like it was directed at
Mina. She looked like she was thinking hard, “You know, some people don’t think Tzuyu
should have two moms. They don’t like the thought of two women and two men together.”

“Why? They love each other.”

“I know, they just don’t.” Momo paused, “Sana and I are dating.”

“You are?”

“Mhmm, and you know us. You know that we love each other and we love you and try to
make sure you’re safe and happy. That word he called us, that’s a really ugly word. But, you
just need to ignore it. He’s stupid, and you know the truth, that’s all the matters. I’m upset
you hit him, and you should not do that again, but I understand why you were mad. People
are going to say things, but you just need to know the truth. The truth is that Sana and I are
good, Tzuyu’s moms are good, Joohyun and Wendy are good, Taeyong and Mark are good.
Stupid people don’t need to understand the truth, you just need to. Okay?” Momo waited
patiently until Mina nodded in agreement, before reaching up and ruffling her hair, “Now
let’s go home. Sana’s probably losing her mind waiting for us.”

“She doesn’t like to sit still.”

“You’re right about that one.”

“So you guys are dating?” Mina questioned taking Momo’s hand as they made their way out
of the school, “Actually that makes sense, I’ve seen you kiss her like Tzuyu kissed me. That
means you love each other.”

“Tzuyu kissed you?!”

 Chapter 30

If Sana had correctly done the math she would have about two hours before Momo officially
got home. While the lawyer was her temporary nurse, she still had a life and clients who
needed to see her even if she took two weeks off. From what Momo has told her she was
representing the victims in a sexual assault case and today she was supposed to be there for
something that had to do with results, Sana didn’t listen all the way as she was watching a
Disney movie (she’a reaches a new level of boredom). But she did catch the part where she
Momo said her plan was to pick Mina up, bring her home and then rush off to wherever she
was going, giving Sana plenty of time to enact her plan. Usually Sana would pick up Mina,
except for Monday’s when Sana has a therapy session and sometimes would run late so
Momo just decided that Monday’s were ‘Mimo’ days, and seeing as Sana was currently on
house arrest she couldn’t exactly pick her up. If Momo couldn’t do it, the lawyer did have a
consistently busy day and trying to take these two weeks off had been hell, Sana could
probably ask Nayeon to (all the woman did was text her all day now, so it wasn’t like she was
actually even doing work) or maybe ask Dahyun to drop Mina off seeing as she was going to
be there already, or maybe even Jeongyeon.

The sound of the gentle click of Momo unlocking and then opening the door drew Sana’s
attention, watching as it cracked open and Mina came barreling inside immediately locking
into her position on the couch and running towards her. “Sana look! I got a B on my math
test! Tzuyu got a better grade, but that’s okay I did good too! How are you? Are you better
yet? Did Peng help you today?”

Blinking at the sudden assault of questions, Sana just nodded and took the offending test out
of Mina’s hands. She did in fact get a B, and worked hard for it judging by the times she had
visibly erased dark messy letters inked into the page. “Wow! This is so good! Good job!”
Praising Mina had come much easier now than it used to, finally finding the words to say
without it sounding tacky or making her uncomfortable, and Mina seemed to absolutely love
the attention, smiling wide and preening on the praise.

Momo came in swiftly, the need for her to go still written on her features and gave her a
quick peck on the lips, “I got to go, call me if you need anything or she gets out of hand.”

“Mina? Getting out of hand? Psh!”

“Still, I’ll have my phone on me.” Speaking of which Momo let out a slight hiss as she
checked the time on it, “Shit, I gotta go. Bye, Love you.”

“Love you too.”

“Bye bye Momoring!”

“Bye best friend! I’ll be back soon!” Momo was really an observant person. The three of
them had recently attended a family session with Mina’s therapist, Sana’s first trip out since
all this happened, and the woman gave them some good advice. If Mina decided she wanted
to be a grumpy monster, chances are something was bothering her she couldn’t vocalize so
they just had to be patient with her and let her get it out on her own. Some things Mina
needed to start doing on her own for a sense of independence. Things like that, stupid things
that Sana didn’t need for a therapist to tell her when her own common sense could’ve. But
the one that she never would have thought of was to tell Mina they were coming back.
Apparently Mina had made it clear to Sunmi that she still had this fear that Sana and Momo
were just going to disappear on her. Sana figures it makes sense, her mom left, Nayeon and
Jeongyeon left, Mina didn’t exactly have a great track record when it came to that kind of
stuff. So just simple affirmations like ‘I’ll be right back’ or ‘I’ll be home for dinner’ helped
set a time and comfort in Mina’s mind. Sana had completely forgotten to do that all together,
but Momo hadn’t. Ever since the session she always told Mina she’d come back. When Sana
asked why, Momo just kinda danced around it saying if the therapist told them to do it, it
wouldn’t hurt to try. While Sana supposed that was true, she still felt like there was more to
it.

The door closed and then there were just two, perfect. She motioned Mina over, “Mina. We
have a special mission today.”

Intrigue spread over Mina’s features as she nodded and leaned in closer, “What is it?”

Ever since Momo and herself had been making more of an effort to speak to Mina in
Japanese, there were a few funny things Sana had noticed. Mina expresses herself better in
Japanese, maybe because she learned from her mother who exclusively spoke the language or
she just felt more comfortable doing so. She liked to speak Japanese when she wanted to say
something more private too, Momo told her that Mina had slipped into the language to talk
about the boy she punched in her class. (Sana had given her a high five over that whole
debacle, Momo was not too happy with that).
Sana leaned in as well, “We’re going to make Momo dinner!”

Mina gasped and sat up straight, “That’s a good idea!”

Was it? Neither of them knew how to cook, and Sana couldn’t actually stand and walk
around. The plan was to use the recipe from the food video Momo had watched last night,
commenting that it looked good, have Mina run around and get all the ingredients so Sana
didn’t have to move too much, and Sana herself would handle things live knives, boiling
water, and any else that was dangerous. With that in mind, they set off.

Sana took perch at the kitchen table pulling up the video while Mina stood right next to her
and watched on. It took a few trials and errors but eventually Sana found the exact video;
soufflé pancakes. Even the name sounded hard.

‘Step one; add two eggs and whisk them together. Then add a tablespoon of milk and whisk it
in.’

Mina was efficient at her job, quickly running across the kitchen and opened the fridge. She
was still a bit short to reach the eggs that sat on the top shelf, but just managed to get them by
standing on her tippy toes and reached it by spreading her fingers. The milk was a different
story, having to carry the milk with both arms struggling a bit. “Satang? What’s a whisk?”

“Something I don’t own, a fork should do the same thing. Right?”

“Sure!”

“Oh I don’t have measuring spoons either, so a regular spoon should be a tablespoon two
right?” Sana asked the kindergarten, who in turn shrugged and grabbed a spoon and fork. The
ingredients were added and stirred together, then things went south.
‘Add four tablespoons of soft flour.’

Wait was there hard flour? The four that Mina returned with was all purpose, that should
work right? It felt soft. She added four spoonfuls and mixed it together then added a half
teaspoon of baking soda as the video instructed. This didn’t look right, but who cares it
should still work. This is when Sana stopped watching the video, deciding to wing it.

Standing up and pouring some batter into a pan, she knew how to make pancakes, they
weren’t as fluffy as she thought they’d be. Mina now relieved of her duty, starting playing
around with Rey, running back and forth around the kitchen as he chased her. Sana was
distracted, so was Mina. It was inevitable something was about to go wrong.

Sana picked up the batter, about to try and add something to it for the next pancake when
Mina ran right into her, her head bouncing off her stomach. Usually that wouldn’t be a big
deal, but Sana’s wound had been particularly sore today; the impact made her drop the batter
it, spilling out onto the floor as she clutched her stomach and gasped in pain. Mina fell back
landing on the floor with a thud, tears welling up in her eyes when she looked up at Sana,
immediately trying to rush to get an ice pack for Sana. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Please put the dog in the living room.” Sana wheezed our, pointing to where Rey was now
trying lick the batter that spilt. He squirmed his way out of Mina’s hands as she tried to pick
him up.

It the chaos they didn’t realize the pancake had started burn, the room becoming a bit smoky.

That’s what Momo came home to, walking into the kitchen, pizza box in hand gasping at the
mess. Quickly she turned off the heat of the stove, and took the pan off the burner placing it
into the sink, grabbed the dog, cleaned up the spilt batter, and helped Sana sit down and
regulate her breathing as the pain subsided. After all that was over, she looked between the
two girls, “What the hell did I just walk in to?”

“I’m sorry,” Sana sighed, frustration dripping from her tone, “We tried to make dinner, but I
burnt it. I know you’ve been doing a lot lately, and I just wanted to try and help you out but I
burnt it.”
“You two did this for me?” Momo’s voice sounded tiny, taken off guard that the mess in their
kitchen was for her, “What were you trying to make?”

“The pancakes from that video you watched last night.”

Momo just stared at Sana with honey dripping out of her eyes, a soft smile, and light blush on
her cheeks. Suddenly a tear dropped down her cheek, sending both Mina and Sana into panic
mode. Mina was the first to react, starting to cry herself, anxiety soaked in her tone, “We’re
sorry! We ruined dinner and made you sad! Please don’t cry!”

“No, I’m not sad,” Momo assured, wiping the tear away with the back of her hand, looked up
and blinked a few times before reaching down to pick up Mina, wiping away the few tears
that fell onto her cheeks, “I’m just really really happy.”

“Promise?” Mina stuck out her pinky.

Momo took it with her own, linking them together, “Promise.” Adjusting the child, she then
set the pizza box on the counter, opening it up, “Let’s eat.”

They settled on the floor of the living room, Mina sandwiched between the two of them a
slice of pizza in her hands munching happily. Momo sat down with a groan, very visibly
tired, it made a bit of guilt creep up in Sana. Maybe she should start to try and do some more
around here, even if Momo opposed saying she was healing.

“So Mina are you going over Tzuyu’s house on Friday? I know she was supposed to come
here, but I don’t think it’s a good idea with Sana.”

“It’s not like I’m paralyzed!”

“Sana shh.”
“Yeah,” Mina hummed, “Mrs.Son said it was okay and she didn’t mind because Sana is still
healing and she likes having me over. Mrs.Kim told me she’s going to teach us how to make
soap!”

“That’s so cool!” Sana loved how Momo talked to Mina. She always at least pretended to
care about what Mina was saying, never making her feel unwelcome or like a burden for
speaking. “I think I’m going to take Sana on a date.”

“You are?” Was she just not there? Momo and Mina were speaking as if she was not two feet
away from them. Mina smiled. “What’s a date?”

“Well usually we go out and have dinner or do something together, but you can have dates at
home too. You just need to be together and spend time together.”

“I’m going to take Tzuyu on a date!”

“What? No!” Sana cut in, looking at the kid like she’s crazy. She shook her head, reaching
over to take a sip of her drink.

“Why? She kissed me like Momo kisses you, that means she loves me.”

Sana coughed, nearly spitting her drink out as she looked over at Mina who seemed blissfully
unaware of the Detective’s heart palpitations, and Momo who sent a motion for the kid to be
quiet. “Kiss?”

“Mhmm,” Mina smiled, “Right here.” She pointed to her cheek and both adults let out a sigh
of relief. It was a fucking cheek kiss, thank god. Sana liked Tzuyu, she didn’t want to have to
punt the kid like a football for messing with her daughte- Mina.

“Momo, you fix this.”

“What? Why me?”

“You started this whole thing!”

With a sigh, Momo turned to Mina, “Buddy that’s not what that means. She gave you a kiss
on the cheek, I give you kisses on the cheek all the time that doesn’t mean you and I are
dating. It’s different, you can’t take Tzuyu out on a date.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re not thirty yet!” Sana cut in.

Ignoring her, Momo rolled her eyes at the detective then calmly answered Mina, “Because
there are differences you learn when you get older. You and Tzuyu love each other as friends,
it’s different when you date.”

Both adults expected Mina to push back, but surprisingly she nodded and accepted that
explanation. “So are you two like Tzuyu’s moms?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, Tzuyu has two moms, and they love each other and tell each other and Tzuyu all the
time. I used to be jealous of Tzuyu because of that, my Mom only told me she loved me
when she wanted me to do something, Tzuyu’s moms tell her all the time even when she’s
just sitting there doing nothing.”

“Yeah, we’re kinda like Tzuyu’s moms.”

“And you guys won’t break up and leave me right?”

“Nope, I won’t leave you buddy, neither will Sana.” Momo took a piece off her own plate and
placed it on Mina’s plate which the kid happily took and offered a quick thank you.

Sana thought she got really lucky in life, Momo was everything she could ever dream about.

(Maybe it wasn’t luck, but her soulmate that finally found its way back.)
 Chapter 31

“What are you doing here?”

Nayeon probably should’ve expected that Mina wasn’t going to run at her with open arms,
but still the absolute grumpy aura the girl admitted as soon as she saw her took her a bit off
guard. She came out of school smiling, chasing after Lucas as the boy laughed and ran to his
dad, but her entire body language changed when she saw Nayeon standing there with no
Momo or Sana by her side. A few emotions passed over her face, fear, confusion, and then
anger. She had marched over, scowling then asked the question.

“Sana called me and asked me to pick you up while she and Momo went to a check-up.”

“Is Sana okay?”

“Oh yeah, the doctors just wanna make sure she is healing alright.” That was a half-truth.
From what Sana had grumbled about over the phone, she woke up running a slight fever and
chills, and Momo had freaked out. Sana had made it clear that she just thought she caught
something from Mina, as she went to school where illness passed through children constantly,
but from what she was saying Momo wanted to make sure her wounds were infected or she
was having a bad reaction to the medicine. Personally, Nayeon was on Momo’s side, Sana
was always one to minimize her state, even when Eunha was alive that was the thing they
fought the most about. Eunha would always say how was Sana supposed to care about her if
she couldn’t care about herself. Nayeon thinks now she was a bit of a hypocrite for saying
that.

“But I’m going back home, right?”

“Of course, they just needed someone to pick you up because they are running a bit late,”
Nayeon assured, holding out a hand that Mina took after a few moments. She leaned down
and whispered into Mina’s ear, “I was thinking you and I can get some ice cream on the way
home.”
She was absolutely craving ice cream with fries right now, just the thought of dipping the
salty fries into the cool vanilla milkshake felt like heaven. Pregnancy cravings were just as
intense as she thought they’d be, Jeongyeon was still trying to get used to being woken up in
the middle of the night to go down to the corner store and get random combinations of food.
Along with taming the beast of her hunger, it would give her and Mina a chance to talk. The
only time she saw Mina since giving her back to Sana was at the hospital, and they didn’t
really talk at all. Both of them were upset and nervous, Nayeon didn’t have the words to
comfort Mina, Mina didn’t want to talk. Jeongyeon had shown up later on, but just brought
food and a change of clothes for Nayeon.

Mina nodded and let Nayeon lead her down a few blocks until they reached ‘The Ice Box’ a
small family-owned ice cream restaurant that handmade all their flavors. And sold burgers
and fries on the side. A solid yes. The two of them made their way inside and made their
orders. Mina just wanted a simple vanilla cone, Nayeon copied her and got an order of fries
for them to share.

“So how’s school?” Nayeon tried to make conversation when they settled in.

Mina shrugged, “it’s okay.”

“Sana told me you got into a fight.”

“Yeah.”

“Good job,” Mina seemed surprised by that, “I bet Sana gave you a high five for that.”

“She did.”

“I actually wanted to tell you something,” Nayeon smiles, reaching into her purse and took
out the ultrasound she was planning on giving Sana later on. She had gotten it done a few
times and immediately asked for a few extra copies to give to her and Jeongyeon’s parents
along with a copy for Sana and Momo.
Sana wouldn’t admit it to her, but she was still nervous and Nayeon knew that. Her last
pregnancy had been traumatic, but it was also her own fault. She knew she shouldn’t have
been doing field work yet wanted to for the selfish reason she thought she’d be bored. And
Sana was just in a bad place when it all happened, and the baby was probably the only thing
keeping her holding on. Nayeon would never forget it, when Sana had her complete mental
breakdown after Eunha’s passing. It started at work that day, something was just off about
her. Then she went home early, complaining she didn’t feel good, which set off red flags in
Nayeon’s head because Sana had stayed for shifts before while throwing up. It all came to a
head about an hour later when Sana had called her bawling and blabbering about how sad and
upset she was, how she couldn’t take it anymore. The pure panic that ran through her while
she was on the phone trying to talk Sana down while simultaneously texting Jeongyeon to get
to her apartment as soon as possible to make sure she didn’t do anything stupid was
something she had never felt before and only felt one other time, when Sana got shot.
Jeongyeon got there in time, and the two of them spent the better part of the night convincing
Sana to go to the hospital. When she announced she was pregnant months later, Sana had
something to look forward to, a new little niece. It was the first time she had seen her look
happy in a long time. To lose that probably took a lot out of her, maybe even more than
Nayeon herself. That’s why Nayeon wanted to give her the ultrasound, to assure her she’s
okay if she wants to feel happy about this.

She laid the picture down on the table, which Mina took and looked over, squinting her brow.
“What’s this?”

“You’re new cousins.”

“What?” Mina was confused, her brows furrowing as she took another bite of her ice cream.
Nayeon let out a little chuckle, placing her hand on her stomach.

“I’m having babies!” Nayeon cheered, smiling a bit before pointing out the picture, “Look
see, this is one baby and this is another. The one on the left, this is a boy, and this one is a
girl.”

Mina went quiet, really squinting at the photo, “How did you take a picture of them when
they’re in your belly?”

“They put a machine on my belly and it can see them and take pictures.”
“Is this why you gave me back to Sana?” There was no bite to that, just a simple question.
“You had babies of your own so you didn’t want me anymore?”

“Huh?” Of all things, that was not what Nayeon was expecting. “Of course not sweetie.”

Mina didn’t answer, just took another bite. From Mina’s point of view, Nayeon figures that
being tossed around probably was a bit traumatic for her. She was with her mom, then Sana,
then her, and then back to Sana, all without Mina getting a say in it. She was probably trying
to look for reasons why. Her real mom couldn’t take care of her, Mina seemed to understand
that. Sana had made it clear at first she was just watching her until she went to Nayeon. But
Nayeon never explained to her why she was letting her go back with Sana, she had just
assumed she would think she’s getting what she wanted. She didn’t think about how it would
impact her. And that was her mistake, and she was sorry for it. “No, you wanted Sana to be
your mommy, and Sana wanted to be your mommy. Both of you were unhappy, so I let you
go back.”

Nayeon was no Sana, she didn’t know how to read the girl. So when Mina took another bite
of her cone and looked back over the image, she didn’t know if she should say more. Mina
made that decision for her, “So do they have names?”

“Not yet, Jeongyeon and I are trying to come up with some.”

Telling Jeongyeon about this had been a rollercoaster. It all started out with a really bad fight,
honestly Nayeon wasn’t sure they had ever fought like that before. Jeongyeon had come
home with a small cactus stuffed animal, a tub of ice cream, and an apologetic expression,
looking around for Mina to apologize. She hadn’t even yelled at her, just scolded her a bit but
Mina’s reaction had been one of pure terror, trying to put as much space between Jeongyeon
and herself as she could. She even hid in a closet for hours after Jeongyeon had left, leaving
Nayeon to gently try to coax her out. That was what proved to her this wasn’t right, if Mina
had the capability of bring that scared she didn’t trust them. And her walking all the way to
Sana just for comfort showed who she really trusted. So when Nayeon informed her of what
she did, Jeongyeon had flipped. She was trying, she really was and Nayeon knew that. Her
and Mina just never got along, and Jeongyeon felt sensitive about that. It felt like a slap in the
face to be trying so hard and just have a decision made without her.

Cue the fight to end all fights. It was coming, they both knew it. Mina had been a catalyst for
it. Nayeon wanted the girl to sleep in their room, and Jeongyeon was so stubborn about it.
Mina got anxious about not being able to eat whenever she wanted; she started stealing food
at night and hiding it under her bed. When Nayeon had discovered her stash and told
Jeongyeon they should let her eat when she wanted, Jeongyeon bunkered down on that she
needed to have set times with meals available at that time. Mina had very obvious signs of
PTSD, Nayeon had seen it in a lot of victims and witnesses throughout her career, but
sometimes Jeongyeon accidentally triggered her by nothing more than her personality and
left Nayeon to pick up the pieces. Nayeon was loud by nature, and Mina didn’t like that,
covering her ears and crying whenever her voice got too loud, leaving Jeongyeon to ask
Nayeon to kindly be quiet which the woman got a bit offended at. Little arguments like that
built up to that one moment where both of them were screaming at each other til they were
red in the face. It got pretty bad, Nayeon was sure the neighbors were going to call the cops
with how loud they were both screaming. Jeongyeon was upset that she made that decision
without her, and that Nayeon continued to go against everything she tried to implement based
on the research she did. Nayeon was upset that she was talking to her that way, and that
Jeongyeon was so strict with Mina who very obviously was suffering because of it. It had
underlying meaning she was afraid of what their kids would think of her when they were old,
but at the time Jeongyeon had no way of knowing that.

They reconciled a week later with apologies and promises to talk things out next time. Their
anniversary was coming up, and Nayeon had it all planned. They had dinner at a nice little
restaurant by the river and finally told Jeongyeon. The lawyer had started crying, and rushed
to embrace her. Things have been going good since then. They started attending some classes
teaching them how to parent, how to care for babies, that kind of stuff. A small set back had
happened when Sana was shot, but they were right back on track now.

They finished their ice cream cones and made their way to Nayeon’s car. Mina was good on
the way home, playing around with Peng. Nayeon smiled at that, that the little toy she gave to
her the first day they met still gave her a bit of comfort. Sana and Momo were already home
when they got back, Momo opening the door and immediately scooping Mina up into her
arms pressing a series of quick kisses onto her cheeks, “Hey you! How was school?”

And just like that Nayeon was completely forgotten.

“I learned how to subtract today! And Tzuyu brought in new gummies and they actually
tasted good!”

“Wow, that’s so cool!”

“Is Sana okay?” Mina asked, squirming out of Momo’s grip to take off her bag and shoes
when she was set down.

“Sana’s fine.” Sana grumbled walking up behind them. She was looking better, Nayeon
noted. Her left arm was still in a sling, and she walked kind of funny, as if she was trying to
be as stiff as possible so she didn’t agitate the area on her abdomen that was still healing. But
her face had that health back to it, one that was far gone when Nayeon last saw her in the
hospital bed. “I just have a little cold, and Momo overreacted.”

“I did not!”

“Sure, keep telling yourself that,”

Mina tugged at Sana pant leg, looking up, “Can we watch the fish movie again?”

“Nemo?”

“Yes!”

“After you do your homework.”

Mina took off into the house, no doubt ready to do her homework as possible. Sana chuckled
and then turned back to Nayeon, Momo wrapping her arms gently around the detective’s
waist and resting her chin on her good shoulder. “Was she good for you?”

“The best, I don’t think Mina could be bad.”

“Grumpy Monster Mina disagrees with that.”

“Oh actually I have this for you,” Nayeon dug the ultrasound out of her purse and handed it
to Sana, as Momo looked at it from behind her. She watched as Sana took it in.

“TWO!?”

“Surprise.”

“You are crazy, Im Nayeon.”

“And you’re going to babysit both of them for me.”

Sana signed, and shook her head before looking back at the picture. Nayeon could see it from
the soft twitch on the corners of Sana’s lips to how she had practically melted into Momo’s
embrace; she was happy again. Mina ran back over, saying something in Japanese Nayeon
didn’t understand, but Momo answered back and Mina seemed content with whatever she
said. They all were happy. And Nayeon didn’t regret her decision one bit.
 Chapter 32

By The road to recovery was never a straight path, and Momo knew this and understood this.

She stayed up at night gently tracing over the bandages wrapped around Sana, trying to hold
back tears at the thought that she almost lost her. Mina would sometimes grumble something
in her sleep, and scare the daylights out of Momo thinking she was awake causing the lawyer
to quickly pretend like she was asleep. Nine out of ten times it was her just dreaming, and
Momo would open her eyes back up and stare right back at Sana. The whole situation shook
her up much more than she would like to admit. That nagging thought kept tugging at her,
she almost lost her too.

Night was always a strange time for them. It was Momo’s favorite and least favorite time of
the day. She loved having a family to sit down with at the end of a long day, help Mina with
her homework whenever Sana didn’t know how to help, and read a story to Mina. It made her
happier than anything else in the world. Night was also the scariest time for her. It’s when
demons of the past would crawl around in the dark, striking terror into their victims. Sana had
only had one other episode since her first night back, but she just woke up and fell back
asleep. She was doing well, going to her therapy, making sure to pace herself, Momo was
proud of her. Her own demons would come out sometimes, when she just couldn’t fall asleep
thinking about everything, work, Sana, Mina, even the pets. But Mina, Mina was the
problem.

The kindergartener was getting much, much better as time progressed. Where she used to
have nightmares almost daily, she had them maybe once a week now and they were much
more manageable then they used to be. Overall Momo had seen major improvements in her
since she started staying with them almost six months ago now. She didn’t freak out as much
anymore, she communicated better, she trust not just them but the adults around her. She
didn’t look as sad as she used to, she used to have this heavy load she dragged around with
her everywhere draining her energy and the life from her eyes. Now she was open to what
Momo could offer her of a childhood, and Momo tried her damn best.

There were always a few setbacks, that was how life went. Like last night when Mina wanted
to stay up late and watch another Disney movie and Sana had to tell her no because she had
school. Mina was usually behaved, but she was also six and inclined to occasional throw fits.
After a brief struggle where Sana just kinda said no again and Mina let it go (Momo thought
they were so funny, they never really argued.To think about sheras never even heard Mina be
scolded.), she was sent to bed in her own room with both the cat and the dog. She still
climbed into bed with them often, but occasionally just slept through the night in her own
room now. Momo didn’t remember falling asleep, but she did hear the screams coming from
Mina’s room down the hall. In all 27 years of her life, Momo has never moved that fast,
rushing down the hall into the room, waking Mina up and held her as she calmed down. It
didn’t take to long for her to fall back asleep and Momo just decided to sleep in her bed with
her just in case it happened again, Rey curled up happily at their feet and Grumpy plopping
down on Momo’s chest. Nightmares usually had a friend, an attitude in the morning. Momo
figures it was just Mina trying to deal with whatever she dreamt about but it was still a bit
annoying.

Usually that attitude was gone by the time Mina returned home. But the scowl on her face
when she marched out of school and grabbed onto Sana’s hand proved very quickly that was
not the case. She didn’t say a word on the way home, stomping into the house and made a
beeline for Sana’s room. Unfortunately for her Sana was asleep, her cold was only getting
worse and Momo had practically suplexed her into bed before she left for her to take a nap.
Mina wasn’t one to wake Sana up just because she wanted attention, so she left and stopped
into the kitchen.

“Where are the crackers?” Mina asked, head buried in the snack cabinet. “You know the little
animal one, or the nilla wafers?”

“Um- I may have finished the nillas last night and you had the last packet of crackers last
night too, remember?” Momo recalled, watching Mina’s reaction. Her shoulders sagged, like
the thought of eating those snacks was the only thing keeping her together.

“We don’t have Nillas?” Mina asked, but it was more a rhetorical question. Her bottom lip
trembled, and suddenly Momo felt like the worst person in the world for finishing the box.

“Hey come here,” Momo opened her arms and Mina obliged, letting Momo pick her up and
bring her to the couch. She laid Mina on top of her, the kindergartener getting comfortable
before flipping through Disney Plus and turned on Zootopia. Mina liked that movie.

The laid like that for a bit, before Momo felt it was okay to break the silence.

“What’s wrong,” Momo asked, gently stroking a hand through Mina's hair. The
kindergartener went quiet for a minute.
“We’re having another parent day at school.”

“Okay?” She wasn’t exactly sure where Mina was going with this, she could feel her tense a
bit under her. “Do you want me and Sana to come?”

“No!” Mina answered a bit too fast. She started to squirm a bit in Momo’s arm, and she could
tell the younger was getting antsy.

“Why?”

“Because Minhyuk’s dad is going to be there, and he might be mean to you and Sana.”

Oh. Mina was scared for her and Sana. Homophobia was something so complicated, and
Momo quite frankly had no idea how to explain it to Mina. She tried her best, and for the
most part Mina seemed to understand her. She understood, and of course she didn’t want to
put herself or Sana in an uncomfortable position, but Mina deserved to have her parents-
guardians there for her. “So? If he’s mean Sana will just arrest him.”

“She can do that?”

“Well no. But Scooby Doo can.”

Mina was quiet. She settled once again, melting into Momo’s embrace. “It’s career day.”

“Maybe we can ask Sana when she wakes up if she can wear her uniform and I’ll wear my
robe. Okay? I’m thankful that you were thinking about me and Sana, but don’t be scared to
ask me because you don’t want me to get hurt. I’m an adult, I can take care of myself and
you.” Momo patted her back, looking up as the cartoon fox ran across the screen, “Is that it?
Is there anything else bothering you.”
Suddenly, Mina turned and tucked her head into Momo’s neck, talking so quietly Momo
almost didn’t hear her, “I failed my math test.”

“You did? That’s okay. You tried really hard, I could see.” That was the truth. Sana and Mina
had spent nearly an hour with her math homework every night, she just couldn’t understand
subtraction. Mina hates math, and usually would cry while doing her worksheet because
she’d get so frustrated. Momo had actually talked to Mina’s after school tutor about it,
apparently she fell really behind in the beginning of the year. She never attended pre-school,
and add how stressed out she was in the beginning of the school year there was no way Mina
could compete on the same level as her classmates. Still she tried so hard, it broke Momo’s
heart to see her so crestfallen.

“I’m stupid.”

“You’re not stupid, don’t say that.” Momo urged, carefully placing a hand on Mina’s back.
Mina didn’t seem to tense up or signal she didn’t like it, so Momo started drawing comforting
circles on it. She was always very cautious about actually touching Mina, the two of them
had a lot of mutual trust and Momo would hate to break that by overstepping a boundary or
making Mina feel uncomfortable. And Mina would often vocalize if she didn’t want
something, such as when they were reading at night sometimes Mina didn’t want to be
touched or had her hair played with so she would say stop and Momo would.

“I am!” Mina sounded so ashamed with herself, her tone becoming watery. “Everyone else
can do it, but I can’t.”

“Not everyone has had the same circumstances as you.”

“I wish I was smart like Tzuyu.” Mina admitted, frown evident in her voice, “I know
everyone thinks I’m dumb because I cry sometimes and bring Peng to school. And I can’t
even do math. I got a thirty-nine. The closest anyone else got to that was eighty-four.”

“Can I tell you a secret?” Momo waited for Mina to slowly nod, “I had to stay back in third
grade.”
Mina looked up suddenly, confusion written all over her face, “But you’re smart! You’re a
lawyer.”

“My parents died and I just fell behind,” Momo shrugged, “Then I came here and I didn’t
know the language so I really fell behind, so I just stayed back. I never did good in school.
Do you think I’m stupid?”

“No!” Mina was firm on that, “You’re really smart, even smarter than Sana. I seen your
papers for work when I leave you notes, they have big words.”

“Just because you’re struggling a bit with math doesn’t mean your stupid Mitang.” Momo
hummed, “So what if you got a thirty-nine? You tried hard. That’s what matters. You can
always try again next time.”

Mina was probably embarrassed. Momo remembers the shame of having to tell her friends
she was staying back, how she was so afraid they were going to think she was dumb. Mina
was smart, so what if math wasn’t her thing. Mina had a lot of emotional intelligence, and in
Momo’s eyes that was more important than numbers. The kindergartener snuggled deeper
into her, now calm.

“Do you ever miss you mom too?”

That took Momo off guard. Did she? Sometimes. Time passed, she moved on and had a life.
“Sometimes. I used to miss her a lot when I was little.”

“I miss mine too.” Mina admitted. “But, but you have another Mom right? Like Tzuyu and
Yeri?”

“Yup, and I love her very much. We talk all the time.”

“But because you love her doesn’t mean you don’t miss or not love your real mom, right?”
Was that bothering Mina? Sana had definitely taken her mother’s role, Mina had even called
her by the title. Momo herself had that same dilemma for a long time. If she opened herself
up to new parents did that mean she was forgetting about her real ones? Over time she
learned the answer was no, but to a child the answer wasn’t as clear. It caused a lot of fights
and resentment between her and her parents, the whole thing being magnified as Momo was
struggling to speak the language and they only spoke a bit of hers. “Right. You know you can
love a lot of people, and it doesn’t mean you don’t love others. I love you, but I also love
Sana. Doesn’t mean I love you any less if I also love Sana too.”

Mina was starting to get sleepy, Momo could tell how the girl lazily played with her hair and
how she snuggled onto her more. So Momo deployed the tactics she knew worked well to put
Mina to sleep, running her hands through her hair and humming soft lullabies. It worked,
because Mina was practically out in a matter of minutes.

“Goodnight mommy.” Mina mumbled out, half asleep.

There it was, and it took Momo completely off guard. Sana had earned that spot in Mina’s
eyes, but Momo? Had she? She wasn’t sure. Still, tears started welling up in her eyes as those
words registered in her mind. Mommy, Momo hadn’t expected that simple word to elicit such
a response out of her. Mina had her head on her chest, listening to the steady thump of her
heartbeat as she drifted off to sleep, leaving Momo to try and look up to blink away her tears.
She held the girl just a little closer, a promise to live up to that title and make sure she did her
best for Mina.

She just felt so unbelievably in love with the little human resting on her, it radiated off her
and made the air feel electric. Mommy. That’s what Mina said. She heard that correctly.

That’s the sight Sana came out to, Zootopia still playing on the TV, Momo laying on the
couch with Mina on top of her, both of them asleep. As quietly as she could, she grabbed the
light blue fuzzy blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over the two of them.
Looking over them with this warm fuzzy feeling in her chest.

‘I should marry her,’ The thought ran through her mind before she could stop it. And Sana
wasn’t too sure what she wanted to do about the small bubble of panic that she felt when she
came to terms with how true that statement was.
 Chapter 33

“One more, you can do it.”

Sana was so close to punching her physical therapist in the face. That would be an exercise
she could get behind. She was sweating, her arm hurt so bad she wanted to cry, and this
bastard was telling her to lift her arm up one more time. Mustering all the energy left in her
body, she tried to raise her left arm just past her waist again letting it fall back.

Her physical therapist was a younger woman, and she didn’t seem like she deserved the way
Sana was fantasizing about throwing her out the window of this goddamn office. Eventually
the session ended and Sana wasted no time practically running as far from there as she could
go. And she had to go back for an undetermined amount of time. If Momo wasn’t pushing
her, she probably would just give up and live with only one arm. But Momo had made a good
point that Sana needs to be able to pick Mina up, play with her and the dog, and the fact her
job requires two working hands.

The summer air was just starting to cool off as September rolled in. Now a few days into
September, it was still warm enough for a trip to the beach but that opportunity was slipping
away quickly. Sana had been wanting to go to the beach, she went once with Mina and Momo
and the youngest seemed fine being that close to the water. She just didn’t want to push the
girl too far and make her uncomfortable. Thankfully the office was close to her house so she
could just walk home, that way Momo could bring Mina to her dance lesson. The two of
them have been making too many sacrifices for her lately, she was an independent adult she
didn’t need to be babied all the time. Momo was just about to return to work, so what was she
supposed to do after that? Take care of herself, that’s what.

There was a small jewelry store on the way back home that normally Sana would pass
without a second thought but today it was just calling her in. So she caved and entered. All
the jewelry was handmade by a smiley old man that sat near the entrance, peeking up when
he saw her enter. “Looking for anything?”

“No…” Sana trailed off, “Actually, do you have engagement bands?”

He smiled, “Yes, over here.” He led her to a small display case near the rear of the store, and
tapped on the glass a few times.

While the choices weren’t extensive, they were absolutely stunning. About three rows of just
dazzling rings, all in different combinations some gold with light pink diamond, a silver band
with a small blue princess cut diamond embedded into it. There was one that caught Sana’s
eye; a thin silver band with a slight design twisting around it and a singular diamond resting
on top. She couldn’t help but imagine how perfect it would look on Momo’s hand, how it
would compliment her short fingers and- Get ahold of yourself Minatozaki.

The man must’ve picked up on the look on Sana’s face, unlocking it and laid the ring on the
counter. “You can look at it a bit closer if you’d like. Are you looking for a boyfriend to buy
for you?”

Sana picked up the ring and held it a bit closer to her eyes, inspecting it, “No, I’m not.”

“A girlfriend?”

Sana’s expression must’ve given it away. He smiled, “I made this for my daughter before she
passed away a few years ago, this was supposed to be for her girlfriend.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

He bowed his head, a sorry expression on his face, “I wasn’t that good of a father, I never
even met the woman she loved. She tried to tell me about her, a cop with a heart of gold. But
I-I let my problems get in the way, and now it’s too late.” He motioned at the ring, “It’s
stunning isn’t it? I finished it after she passed, poured everything I had into it. For some
reason I just knew it would end up with the right person.”

“Oh, I’m not-“

“I can see it on your face, how in love you are.” He smiled, “Why are you so hesitant?”
“What if she says no?” Sana asked, running her fingers over the metal. She must look cray,
one arm aligned up, hair messy because she gave up halfway through brushing it, looking at
engagement rings. Rejection was scary, Sana would rather be shot again than Momo say no to
her.

“What if she says yes?”

He had a point. She placed the ring back on the display case, “Can you hold it for a few days?
Give me some time to think?”

He smiled and let her leave. She tried not to think about how the small object was screaming
for her, like it was destined for her. She got all the way home before she knew it, too lost in
the thought of Momo in a pretty white dress. As soon as she opened the door, a small body
came running in her direction, “Sana!”

“Hey buddy!” Sana greeted, leaning down to place a gentle kiss on the top of Mina’s head,
the younger melting into the embrace, “How was class?”

“It was really fun! You can come next time, right?”

Mentally checking it over, Sana nodded, “I don’t think I have any appointments next week,
so I’ll come.”

Mina helped her take off her shoes, she could barely lean down to take them down herself
and she was just so sore. Her shoulder ached, her body felt in a similar state. “Auntie Hana is
staying for dinner.”

She was? Sana wished Momo sent her a heads up beforehand, she really didn’t feel up for
guests especially not Momo’s sister. What was she supposed to do about that now, nothing
she guessed. “Are they making dinner?”
“Mhmm. Momo told me to ask you to help me with my math. We tried to do it before class
but I got angry so we had to stop. Me.Park is letting me retake my test tomorrow , but I still
don’t understand it.”

“What is it on?”

“Subtraction.”

Sana nodded, “Go grab it, we can do it together.”

She made her into the living room, sitting on the floor with her back resting against the couch
so the small table was right in front of her. Laughter and high pitched Japanese would flow
from the kitchen, Momo was having a good time. She probably didn’t realize Sana had gotten
home. Mina came back quickly, math binder in hand. She set it down on the table and
gripped her pencil, looking back up at Sana for confirmation.

Momo had expressed her concern over Minas’s math a few days ago, saying Mina failed her
test and was starting to feel bad about it. They both got on the same page, talking about it late
at night, they weren’t going to punish Mina for bad grades or call her stupid, lazy, etc. Sana
couldn’t fathom ever speaking to her like that, especially when she worked so hard. Momo
wanted to have her tested for a learning disability, and while Sana was a bit apprehensive to
that she agreed. If Mina needed extra help then she could get it that way, and seeing as school
ended in February Mina still had a long way to go.

“Okay let’s start with this one,” Sana pointed to the first question. Thirteen minus nine. Mina
looked at the question, and spread her fingers, pouting.

“I can’t do it!”

“Calm down,” Sana coached.

“I don’t have enough fingers.” It took everything in Sana not to bark out laughing, Mina
sounded so distraught by that. This is probably partially Sana’s fault, she taught her how to
use her fingers and didn’t warn her sometimes numbers went longer than ten.

Time for a new strategy. Sana grabbed Mina’s blue journal, turning to get permission to open
it. While confused, Mina nodded and Sana flipped to an open page making sure not to look at
any of the drawings in there. She grabbed an extra pencil and threw thirteen small circles,
“Okay, we have thirteen circles, right?”

“Right.”

“Now take away five.”

Mina counted out five and erased them before looking back up at Sana. “Count how many
you have left.”

“One..two,..eight!”

“Right! Good job! Write it down.”

Mina scribbled down the number with a smile, and they continued on like that. Sana would
write the correct number of shapes and Mina would erase it and count. She learned better
when she could visually get a grip of it. She hadn’t even realized that the laughter had died
down and two pairs of eyes were watching the scene, smiling as Mina would get a question
and Sana would give her a high five. Mina finished the page and Sana smiles, “I think
someone is ready to get at least an eighty tomorrow.”

“Why not a hundred?”

“Set your expectations low, so if you do better than that’s awesome, and if you do worse you
expected it.”
“Sana, no,” Momo cut in, shooting her a glare, “Mina baby, I’m sure you’re going to do great
tomorrow.”

Mina loved every second of the attention, getting up and hugging Momo’s legs, “Is dinner
ready?”

“Mhmm, we were just coming to get you.” Momo hummed, brushing Mina’s bangs out of her
eyes, they were just starting to get to shaggy and disturb her vision, “You need a trim, I’ll
schedule one.”

Sana sent a quick nod of acknowledgement to Hana, and helped set the table. She could feel
Momo watching her every move, and she wasn’t too sure if she liked it.

Dinner was an awkward affair. To her credit, Mina was the one keeping things together,
blabbering about school and her friends. She felt comfortable, something Sana was far from
feeling. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Hana, she actually seemed quite nice, but she was
Momo’s sister. If she didn’t like her, then what would happen? She never had to deal with
Eunha’s family, they didn’t have a good relationship so this was all uncharted territory. Sana
was also shy by nature.

“So I heard you’re a detective?” Hana was trying to make conversation, Sana appreciated
that, “What department do you work in?”

“Homicide.”

“Sana’s the best detective in the whole world!” Mina cut in, beating with pride, “She works
with Scooby Doo!”

“She does! That’s crazy!” Hana played along.

“I heard you’re a dancer?” This was Sana’s turn. Hana nodded.

“Yeah. I own a studio in Hongdae. Originally Momo and I were supposed to run it together,
but someone decided to pursue a law career.” Hana teased, causing Momo to roll her eyes.

“You dance?” That was something Sana never knew, but the more she thought about it she
could picture it.

“I used to,” Momo shrugged, “I got hurt and messed up my leg so I can’t anymore.”

“Oh.”

Dinner went like that. Sana was just never good with conversation. Eventually the sisters just
started their own conversation, which Sana was thankful to be apart from.

Instead of focusing on them, she decided to give her attention to Mina. The girl sat next to
her, marker in hand sketching something intensely into her cast. The thing was going to come
off in a few weeks, and Mina had been asking for Sana to let her draw on it. The
kindergartener had her tongue gently between her lips in concentration. Mina
drew...something. Sana couldn’t exactly make out what it was.

“What’s that?”

“Scooby, so he can protect you when you go back to work.”

It looked more like a giraffe than Scooby Doo, but Sana kept mum. Making idle conversation
with Mina, they started drawing together, creating a little scene.

Hana left eventually, saying she had a good time. Sana knew that was far from the truth, it
was awkward for everyone. They put Mina to bed, and eventually retired themselves. What
Sana didn’t expect was Momo to turn away from her and even shrug her hand away when
Sana tried to wrap her arm around her. “Babe?”
“You didn’t talk to Hana, you just kept talking to Mina.”

“Wait, are you mad at me?”

“I’m just saying you could have tried just a little harder.”

“Momo, you know I don’t just start talking with everyone especially with people I don’t
know.”

“It’s my sister-“

“Your sister that I don’t know.” Sana corrected before Momo could even start. “I’m bring
Mina to class next week so I’ll see her again.”

“I just want you two to get along. I know you're nervous, and I’m going to be too when I
meet your parents. But you know- I just want her to like you.”

“You’re not going to meet my parents.” Sana confessed. If she was younger and the scars
were still open she would avoid this at all costs, but it’s been a while and they could do
whatever at this point.

“Huh? Why?” Momo sounded a bit taken aback by that, almost like she thought Sana was
starting a fight.

“My parents disowned me when I was sixteen. You’re not meeting them.” Sana shrugged,
cringing when Momo turned around and looked at her, “It’s not a big deal.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“I don’t really talk about it.”

“Why?”

“Because ‘You choose to dishonor is by being a dyke Sana. You can stop.’ “ Sana wasn’t
affected by it anymore, it used to eat her up inside but now it didn’t matter. She was older,
she knew her worth (she was trying to learn at the very least). “I get you want me to get along
with your family, and I’m going to try Momo. It’s just been a while, so please have some
patience. That’s all I ask.”

Momo took a breath, her gaze softening, “I just want them to like you if you’re going to be in
my life forever.”

Forever. The little silver ring from the shop down the street called for her.
 Chapter 34

Curse you Hirai Momo for being perfect and giving Sana unreasonable expectations to live
up to.

It all started the day after the three of them got their hair trimmed. For some reason Mina
hated getting her haircut, she would just sit in the chair and frown as the stylist tried to cut
her hair. The attitude would fade away as soon as the trim was over, becoming smiley when
Momo would tell her the hair looks good and she’s proud of her for being so good.

There were a few things Sana had started to notice about Mina. One, she liked her hair
shaggy and her clothes baggy so she could hide in them. Mina loved comfy clothes, jeans and
a sweatshirt was her go to look, she’d play with the sleeves or tuck her face slightly under the
neckline when she felt nervous. Peng offered similar levels of comfort, Sana had talked to her
about it once before and she said she liked how soft he was and his weight, the same way
Mina loved to be held when she was upset. Sana was actually considering buying a weighted
blanket for her, after looking up some things to help anxiety in kids she stumbled upon it and
maybe it would help her spend nights in her own bed. Or at least make her feel safe when
they couldn’t afford to just drop everything and hold her for hours, but that was something
for another day.

Mina didn’t like when things changed. She didn’t like when Sana told her to wear her school
uniform, not the grey hoodie she wanted to wear. She didn’t like when she got her haircut
because it was different. She didn’t like when her homework was completed in a certain
order. She didn’t like when food touched because the flavors would combine. She hated
change. But Momo had been good at introducing it into her life.

The lawyer had been the first to suggest doing Mina’s hair up and Sana honestly expected
Mina not to be a fan. At first she wasn’t, squirming as Momo made a few tiny braids near the
crown of her head and pinned them back, it was cute but Mina didn’t seem to like it that
much at first. They didn’t have time to take them out so Mina was sent off to school like that,
and came home smiling and hugging Momo. At dinner when questioned on her good mood
Mina said her friends really liked her hair and kept complimenting her throughout the day.
Even Yeri. So the next morning Mina asked Momo to do her hair once again, but the lawyer
had to rush off to work. It was her first day back and she was swamped, her cases falling
behind and just knew it was about to be a long time of long days. Her clients had been
understanding when she explained why she hadn't been at the office, a fruit basket had even
been sent to their apartment by one. It made Sana reassured she was well liked at her job.
So when Momo said she maybe tomorrow and rushed out the door with a kiss on the
forehead for Mina and one on the lips for Sana, that responsibility fell onto Sana. She was
already at a disadvantage judging from the fact that she only had one hand, her cast was
coming off next week, the whole thing was now covered in drawings from Mina, and she was
making slightly more progress with her shoulder. Add on the fact that the only way to style
her hair Sana had any idea how to perform was to tie it up into a ponytail, this was a recipe
for disaster.

Mina was patient at first, sitting still on the floor while Sana tried her best to do a small braid
on the side of her hair. But then Sana started going just a bit too hard, knotting her hair in the
process. Eyes widening, she attempted to brush it out drawing out a whine from Mina in the
process. The whole thing lasted for too long and just kept getting worse and worse as time
progressed. By the time Mina had to go to school, her hair was frizzy and knotted, looking
more like a birds nest than the sleek do Momo managed yesterday.

The kindergartener didn’t miss the way people took double takes at her throughout the day,
laughing at her hair. They used to do the same thing before she started living with Sana, her
grown out messy and greasy hair that Jihyo would always tie into a ponytail for her in the
mornings. The teacher had suggested it one morning after watching Mina try to brush her
bangs out of her eyes, tying her hair up and pinning her bangs back. Yeri had openly made
fun of her, she probably was just trying to make Mina feel better in her own way. Tzuyu
grimaced but didn't comment on her thoughts, that hurt the worst seeing Tzuyu’s eyes flicker
over her hair and cringe. Add the fact that she only got a seventy-three on her retake of her
math test, Mina was having a bad day.

She assumed it would get better, Momo would pick her up and she would be able to cuddle
her on the couch and lay on top of her chest talking about her problems. She was mad at Sana
but maybe she could talk to her about what was wrong and that maybe only Momo should do
her hair. But that comfort she felt knowing they would be there at the end of the day started to
stumble a bit when Dahyun told her she was bringing her home today. It wasn’t there
sleepover day, and Tzuyu had soccer practice later so she couldn’t hang out but Tzuyu tried
her best to cheer her up on the way home. Dahyun did too, recognizing Mina’s teary eyes and
pout as soon as she said that Momo wasn’t coming, picking up two blue coolattas on the way
home. They walked her up to the apartment, and when the door opened Mina was all but
ready to throw herself onto whoever opened it.

But it wasn’t Sana or Momo, it was Jeongyeon. Dahyun left quickly, Tzuyu needed to get to
practice and suddenly Mina was left alone with Jeongyeon. Feeling unsafe for the first time
in her home. Jeongyeon looked just as nervous as she felt, anxiously taking a seat in the
kitchen, milk bread set up on the table. “I made some snacks.”

Mina didn’t respond at first, but she was hungry. So she slowly went into the kitchen and
took a piece before running out the room into the living room. Ray seemed to read her
emotions, jumping up on the couch and sitting in her lap as she took a bite of food. He was
good at calming her nerves. Jeongyeon scared her last time they were together. Sure she was
at the trial, and the hospital but other people were there and Mina had bigger things on her
mind. She was always nice to her, but the things she did just made Mina feel nervous. She
didn’t like not being allowed to just get a snack if she was hungry, it made her anxious
because what if Jeongyeon forgot about her and she got hungry? She didn’t like sleeping
alone. And most of all she didn’t like how Jeongyeon yelled at her.

Mina just wanted to draw her a picture, and she asked for paper. Nayeon said on the table, she
never specified what piece. So Mina went to work, drawing little fish and animals, it honestly
was one of her best works yet. But apparently the work she did was on the wrong paper, and
Jeongyeon got angry. In Mina’s eyes she was livid, waving the paper around and two second
away from snapping at Mina. In everyone else’s eyes, Jeongyeon gasped, taking the paper out
of her hands, running a hand through her hair as she tried to figure out what she was going to
do.

“Why did you touch this?” She asked, anger evident in her voice as she looked over the
colorful fish on top of legal jargon. Mina just looked at her with big tearful eyes, “I told you,
you can’t touch my stuff do work!”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Did you not see that this was on top of my briefcase?” Jeongyeon pressed, this was bad.
This was the original copy of a housing deed that Jeongyeon needed in two hours. How was
she going to get another one in two hours?? “Bad! Just- just go in time out.”

“I’m not bad!”

“Do you see this?” Jeongyeon snapped, shaking the paper. It was the stress of everything,
work, Nayeon, Mina, even Kookeu. She made sure to keep distance between her and Mina,
there were some boundaries she still needed to keep in mind. “This is being bad! Fuck, what
am I going to do? Look at all the blank paper, why couldn’t you use this? You know what?
Just go in timeout. Five minutes.”

She wasn’t even sure if Mina was still listening at that point, but when she took a step
towards her Mina snapped back to reality, screaming and running past Nayeon who was
coming into the kitchen to see what was going on. They heard the closet in the hallway slam
shut and small cries leaking out of it. Without speaking to her, Nayeon shook her head and
tried to coax her out of her hiding spot. Jeongyeon left before she was successful at that,
feeling like the worst person in the world.

Sana had texted her earlier, asking if Nayeon or her could watch Mina for a few hours while
she went to her therapy appointment and Momo was at work. And it just so happened
Jeongyeon had the day off. So here she was, standing in the entrance way of the living room
as Mina turned on Finding Dory, not knowing if she should take a step forward or stay where
she was. Her backpack was still next to the couch, so she decided to take the seat on the
opposite side of the couch from Mina. At first it seemed like Mina’s strategy was to ignore
Jeongyeon’s existence, but as the woman started to get fidgety she needed a change. Rey
offered a good distraction, raking her fingers through the dog’s soft fur as his tail wagged.
Even Grumpy got up on the couch, laying on the cushion above Mina’s head, purring low and
soft. So instead of focusing on the woman sitting on the opposite side of the couch, Mina
decided to focus on other things like how bad of a day she was having and the colorful fish
on screen.

A subtle sliding noise slipped past Mina’s unwavering attention, making her turn her head to
see Jeongyeon slowly pushing a small smiling green cactus stuffie in her direction, looking
ahead at the TV. The cactus hit her leg, and Jeongyeon stopped pushing, folding her hands in
her own lap, waiting. Mina was the first to cave, “What’s this?”

“A cactus.”

“I know, but why?”

“I shouldn’t have scared you like that. I’m sorry.” Jeongyeon finally turned to look at her, and
Mina could really see the apology written all over her features. “I got mad, and I didn’t
realize I was scaring you. I bought you that as an apology, but you were already over here
when I got home.”
“You got me this?”

“Mhmm.”

“But I was bad.”

“Everyone is bad sometimes,” Jeongyeon shrugged, “Kookeu is bad sometimes. Last night I
came home and Kookeu had destroyed my pillow. But do you think Kookeu is a bad dog?”

“No.”

“Exactly. It was a mistake, and I know that. Just like what happened with us was a mistake.”
Jeongyeon waited for Mina to move. Slowly Mina reached out to accept the cactus, pulling it
into her arms and ran her hands over the fleece of the stuffie. She knew her apology was
accepted at that moment.

The thing was, Mina wasn’t dumb. She knew when people didn’t mean their apologies. Yeri
never meant her apologies when Jihyo made her apologize to kids she insulted, Mr.Viper
never meant his apologies when he hit her. Jeongyeon felt bad, she could see it from the way
she looked nervous and actually made an effort. She didn’t feel at ease yet, but it was enough
to keep the peace until Momo and Sana came home. They just sat on the couch watching a
few movies, sitting at least a few feet apart with Grumpy napping between them. Neither of
them talked much, they both didn’t trust themselves to say the right thing without upsetting
the other. Mina could feel Jeongyeon glance over at her hair a few times, eyebrows
scrunching in confusion as she tried to figure out what exactly was going on, but she never
commented on it. The first burst of life into the apartment was when the door unlocked and
Momo and Sana walked in, grumbling about how it started raining without warning.

Mina had sped faster than lightning over to them, throwing herself into Momo’s arms. (There
was no reason for that other than the fact she was closer.) Jeongyeon said her goodbyes,
citing the fact she needed to do something for work and headed out maybe just a bit too fast.
Momo cooed at Mina, she could tell something was wrong from the second she launched
herself at her it was written over her face and as soon as the door shut she squatted down,
stroking Mina’s hair down with her hands. “What’s the matter.”
It came out like a broken dam, “I asked Sana to do my hair like you did and it looks like this!
And people laughed at me and so did Yeri! And Tzuyu didn’t like it either! And I only got a
seventy-five on my math test! That’s it! I did the drawing thing, but- I don’t know what I did
wrong! And then you weren’t here!”

Momo hummed, picking Mina up off the ground and started bouncing her a bit as they
walked around, Sana trailing closely behind looking like a kicked puppy. She really did try
her best because she wanted Mina to be happy, but that wasn’t the case. So instead she just
watched as Momo brushed out Mina’s hair, talking over their days, she watched as the
tension literally drained out of Mina’s body the more attention and love she got from them.
She had something she needed to pick up tomorrow, the sight was only solidifying it in her
mind.

Late that night, Momo was drawn from sleep once again, eyes jumping open anticipating it
was Mina. But Mina was right next to her, a snoring mess. It was just Sana watching a hair
tutorial, frowning and muttering questions on how they did that before rewinding the video.
She didn’t interrupt her, instead drifted off back to sleep. Maybe her mother’s ring Hana
offered to give her to make forever a reality was actually a good idea.
 Chapter 35

The weirdest cat Sana has ever met, Grumpy had a habit of wanting to go into the bathroom
while people were showering simply because he wanted to drink the water that came out the
tap. She had found out about that habit one day when she was showering up when the cat had
just crawled in making her scream and kick him out. Apparently Momo thought it was
normal, even now as he was gently pawing at the bathroom door as Mina showered.

Momo knocked twice, “Hey buddy, is it okay if Grumpy comes in? He’s scratching at the
door.”

A muffled yes came from the inside and Momo let the cat in before taking her seat next to
Sana. Mina needed to shower, not because she was dirty but math had gotten her especially
riled up tonight and she needed time to think and relax. That was always Sana’s time to do so.
Mina really tried hard, but she was really starting to get discouraged and Momo was starting
to get worried. Sana tried to assure her that she would get better as she got older that she’s
just playing catch up right now and eventually she will be okay, Momo wasn’t all too
convinced.

“She gets tested next monday.” Momo reminded her for what felt like the fourth time today.

“Okay, damn between career day tomorrow and testing we are going to be living at her
school.”

“Sana-”

“Okay, Okay, I won’t joke about it anymore.”

“Thank you.”

“Should I grab a treat for her? Like ice cream or something?” Sana suggested, that always
seemed to cheer her up when she was sad. Momo agreed. And ten minutes late Sana was out
of the house and down the street intending on going to that small supermarket a few blocks
over.

Maybe subconsciously Sana had ulterior motives for taking that path. Because she found
herself distracted and walking into the small jewelry store she visited a week ago. The man
perked up immediately when he saw her, a grin on his face as he wordlessly grabbed the ring.
“You’re back.”

“I thought about it, I think I’m ready to grab it.”

“That’s good to hear,” He hummed, taking the ring and placing it in a small velvet box.
“Eunha would be happy to know this is finally going to be used.”

Just then her whole world stopped. “What did you say?”

“Huh?” The sudden change in her emotions must’ve taken him off guard because he gave her
a bit of a strange look, stopping his motions.

“Did you say Eunha?”

“Yes.”

“Jung Eunha?”

“..Yes.”

Sana thought she was going to throw up. “I’m Sana.”

The old man looked at her, her name was obviously familiar to him. He was quiet for a
minute, the silence deafening.

“Have you eaten?” As strange as the question was in this context, Sana understood he was
just trying to hold out an olive branch. Her shaking her head was her accepting his truce.

For some reason against every instinct as a woman and as a detective, she followed him
through the back into a small one-room apartment above. It was dingy and a bit cramped, the
orange lighting the exposed light bulbs put off did not help, filled with random tools for
building jewelry and sketches of pieces tacked on the walls. She took a seat at a table that
looked like it was just one breath away from breaking completely, watching as he took out a
small pot filled with water and hot plate, letting it bubble before placing two packets of
ramen inside. However she couldn’t focus on any of that, she was just fixated on the small
framed picture of a Eunha wearing her blue nursing scrubs outside of the hospital. She was
smiling, but her eyes held a certain sadness compared to all her friends.

“That’s the only one I have of her that’s recent. All the other photos I have of her she was like
ten.” Mr.Jung pointed in the direction of the photo with his chopsticks as he stirred the
ramen. “I took it from the funeral.”

“I didn’t go.”

“I know, I would have remembered you.” He mused, pulling out two bowls and waited for
the ramen to cook. “I heard from others that you found her. I don’t blame you for not wanting
to go.”

“I kinda regret it though. I never got to say goodbye properly.”

“You didn’t miss much. Just a lot of crying and the funeral stuff.” He talked about it casually,
as if his heart didn’t clench violently every time her even thought of her. Sana envied him for
that. Often she felt like she was drowning whenever the woman came into her mind, gripping
her windpipe and choking her for every bit of life she had. Lately the feeling has been
subdued. “I did want to talk to you though.”
“I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?” He laughed, deep and gruff leaning over and clapping a hand on
her uninvited shoulder. “We all have our reasons. Your reason to be absent for one day was a
lot more than mine to be absent for eleven years.”

Eunha had mentioned her father had abandoned her at a young age. Said he was going out to
get milk and never came back. She said her parents had always fought, but it still took her off
guard, completely destroying her relationship with them in the process. Near the end of her
life, she had shared that she got in contact with her father. She probably wanted to talk with
him before she went. “Did you two meet up before she went?”

“Yeah, we had brunch maybe half a year before and she asked me to make this ring. I kept
getting side tracked and never finished it until after she passed. She left me a text saying she
still wanted me to make it for you.” What? Sana tore her gaze towards the man, and the
confusion must’ve been written all over her face because he laughed once more, “Do you
think she would want you to stay alone forever? God no. She talked so highly about you, she
wants you to be happy.”

She wants you to be happy. Did she? Breathing felt like a punishment for a long time. Living
felt like torture. Because she left. She just got up and left. She stole her happiness the second
Sana found her in the closet, dead by Sana’s belt. To have her possession touch her, it felt like
Sana had done it. She doesn’t remember much, just running out the room and throwing up,
calling 911 while screaming incoherently, and finally Nayeon and Jeongyeon arriving at the
hospital holding her as she tried to stutter through what happened. Remembers feeling numb
for weeks, laying in bed, Nayeon stayed over with her for a while forcing her to eat and get
up sometimes even if just to wash sheets. How she was so close to just giving up and
following her, how she really might have if she hadn’t caved and called Nayeon. How could
she put her though all that if she wanted her to be happy?

Looking at the small ring on the table, she thought back to it; When was the last time she was
happy? Lately, it was often. She was happy for no reason, smiling as she folded laundry or
tried to help with the dishes because Momo wouldn’t let her stand for too long. She was
happy when Mina would burst into the house and tell her about her day. She was happy when
she helped Mina with her homework, or would see her playing with the pets. She was happy
when Nayeon would text her thirty times in a row simply because she was bored. She was
happy when Jeongyeon sent her a random video with no context. She was happy when Momo
smiled or just said good morning to her.
This still felt like a betrayal in some ways. Like she was cheating on Eunha, like she was
finally forgetting her. And that was never something Sana wanted to do. She never wanted to
forget her. She was so afraid to heal because what if she forgot her? Eunha was too good to
be forgotten.

“What’s her name?” Mr.Jung asked, a knowing look on his face.

“Momo.” Sana responded, turning on her phone so her lock screen was visible. It was a photo
of Momo and Mina asleep in the kindergartener’s bed after Momo had read their nightly
story. Momo had the book resting on her chest, while Mina had curled up next to her. He
looked it over and smiled.

“Is the little one hers?”

“No, well kinda.” Saying Momo wasn’t equally Mina’s mom felt weird. Did she just say
mom? She meant guardian. Without Momo, Sana isn’t sure she would be able to do it. She’s
the glue. “That’s Mina. I’m fostering her.”

“They’re gorgeous.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re apprehensive. Why?” Normally, Sana would be defensive denying anything was
wrong. But this man just seemed to have this aura around him, it reminded her of her own
father when she was young. He scooped a serving of the ramen into a bowl, pushing it in
front of her.

She accepted.

“I just- I don’t know if I’m ready to move on.”

“If only you could see the look in your eyes when you look at that picture.” He tapped the
phone. “You don’t have to ‘move on’, I don’t like how that sounds. You just keep living,
that’s all you can do.”

“You don’t miss her?”

“Every day.” He hummed, taking a bit of his ramen. “I think about how I could have been a
better father. I could have done more, and she would have been here.”

The struck a part of Sana’s chest that made it clench uncomfortably. Someone else felt the
same way that she did.

“But I don’t know if we could have made much of a difference in the end.” He shrugged.
What? Of course they could have. They could have talked to her, convinced her not to. He
must’ve saw the outrage spreading across her face, “Why do you think she did it?”

“Because she was lonely and sad.”

“Why do you think she was that way?”

Sana paused. She had never thought about that part. She took a bit of her ramen as he reached
out and touched the ring on the table, “You’re a homicide detective right?”

“Yes.”

“And you’ve seen some horrible things.”

She has. She had seen some things that still haunt her to this day. But the force was pretty
good at making sure their officers could handle it mentally and were in good health. Nayeon,
as one of the higher ranking officers in her personal unit, had practically reinvented mental
help, requiring mental screenings and therapy for officers after particular heavy cases. Sana
had her own therapist to talk about these things with so she never had to go. She nodded.

“Eunha wasn’t built for that kind of life.” He continued, “She always wanted to help people,
but she never helped herself. She worked in the emergency room, I can only imagine what
she saw daily. She mentioned it once to me but I didn’t think of it. I looked into it after she
passed, a lot of nurses meet the same end as her.”

Could that be it? Sometimes she would come home with this blank stare, barely eating or
sleeping. He seemed to have pinpointed this one reason, she thought it was more of a
kaleidoscope of reasons. No one knew who was correct. The one who would have answered
all their questions was no longer there.

“I tried to look for you,” He admitted, “I thought I’d find you and give you the ring. But I
couldn’t so I just decided to put it on display, I believe in fate. Take it, I’m not going to
charge you for it.”

“What? No.”

“I’m serious. I wasn’t going to charge Eunha for it, so I won’t charge you for it either.” He
took the ring off the table and handed it to her, tucking it into her hand, “You look happy. You
deserve to be happy. She wants this for you. Take the ring.”

Sana did. She left the small shop with the ring tucked away in a small velvet box in the
pocket of her jacket, before stopping at the store and picked up three small cartons of ice
cream like promised and a five pound grey weighted blanket. She also had his number,
promising to keep in touch with him and visit Eunha soon.

Trying to carry both the box and bag was a bit of a struggle but she made it back eventually,
letting herself into the apartment, taking off her shoes before arms wrapped around her.
“What took you so long?” Momo mumbled, “I thought something happened.”
Sana chuckled and turned her head so she could press a kiss on Momo’s forehead, “I just ran
into a friend. Sorry I took a bit.”

“It’s okay.”

Sana walked past her into the kitchen, smiling as the little footsteps of Mina approached as
she started taking the ice cream out of the bag. She grabbed one and turned around, handing it
to her. “Here, this is for sticking with your math homework.”

Mina took the treat into her hands, looking at it before smiling. Her hair was still a bit damp,
and she looked sleepy but happy as she opened the carton and started eating. Momo took her
own and ate as well. That night they decided to try out the blanket, and Mina seemed to enjoy
it laying under it looking calm and content as Momo read to her. The sleepiness must’ve been
present in everyone because they all passed out early. For the first time in a long time Sana
fell asleep with a light chest, Momo curled up next to her mumbling about how she needed to
get up early to iron her uniform and Sana’s for career day.

Late that night Sana’s phone flashed with a notification.

UNKNOWN NUMBER

Sana, It’s your father. I’m going to be in Seoul next weekend. Let’s meet up.

[3:49AM]
 Chapter 36

For what felt like the hundredth time Sana’s fingers hovered over the phone keyboard,
reading over the text she had received. How does she respond to that? She has no idea. Her
father wanted to meet up with her, for the first time in eleven years. The question was did she
want to? The pure shock when she read that text when she first checked her phone that
morning still hadn’t worn off, making her hide away in the bedroom as Momo and Mina got
ready, worrying her lip between her teeth.

A gentle knock pulled Sana away from her thoughts, quickly clicking her phone off and put it
face down on the dresser as Momo peeked her head in. The lawyer frowned, “Why aren’t you
dressed yet?”

Sana could’ve shown her the text, could have told her what was going on. But the nagging
feeling of not being exactly sure what she was feeling first off, and how she knew Momo
wouldn’t understand what she was feeling came bubbling to the surface. She was trying to be
more open, but there were still some things she’d rather keep to herself.

She shrugged, she had gotten her pants completely on and just needed help buttoning up her
blue dress shirt. The buttons were just a bit too small for her to do with just one hand. Momo
picked up on this, coming in the room completely and helped her, chuckling at her. Sana
whined, “Why do we even have to dress up? I hate wearing this thing.”

Momo simply hummed and flipped up her collar, placing her tie around it and started tying it,
“That’s what Mina’s teacher said, she encouraged us all to dress up like our careers. She also
encouraged the kids to dress up like one of the parents or what they wanted to be when they
grew up. It was in the email.”

“You know I don’t check that thing.”

“I know, that’s why I check.” Momo finished the tie and handed Sana her jacket. They were
still inside and honestly it was a bit stuffy in the apartment. Taking Sana by surprise, Momo
trailed a hand up to her cheek tilting Sana’s head so she was looking at her, “Is everything
okay? You look stressed.”
Fuck. She was onto her.

“I’m just worried about that devil kid and his father. You said Mina was scared that he would
be mean to us, I don’t want her to feel uncomfortable.” That sounded convincing, partly
because it was real. That was something that had been festering in the back of Sana’s mind
ever since Momo told her about this whole thing. Momo frowned while taking Sana’s sling
off the bed and helped her put her arm in it before securing it.

“She’s not going to be uncomfortable, we had a talk this morning about it. I don’t think she
really understands why he wouldn’t like it.”

“She’s six, of course she doesn’t understand homophobia. She just sees that we are in love
and that her friends parents are in love and sees nothing wrong with it.”

“I know. We just talked about how she doesn’t need to be nervous and that you and I can take
care of anything if something were to happen.”

“Damn right, I’m up for fighting in a kindergarten classroom.”

“No.” Momo shook her head, “We are going to ignore anything that happens, no fighting.”

“But that’s what makes it fun.”

“No.”

Sana whined and flopped down on the bed making Momo giggle and open the door. Tiny
footsteps immediately pattered down the hall and into the room, the bed dipping next to Sana
as Mina crawled next to her. Sana lifted her head and let out a laugh at what Mina was
wearing. “What is that?”
“It’s my police uniform!” Mina declared proudly, standing up. Momo must’ve picked her up
one of those cheap costumes because while incredibly cute, it was not very accurate. But
Mina seemed happy with it, “Now I’m just like you!”

Other than the fact Sana never wore her uniform, and that she had been a cop longer than
Mina was born, she supposed that was kinda true. (It wasn’t but she wouldn’t burst Mina’s
bubble like that.) Instead Sana just reached over, grabbed her hat and plopped it on Mina’s
head. It was too big so it dipped slightly, obscuring her vision but Mina seemed to love it. “I
thought you wanted to be a shark when you grew up?”

“I do! But Momo said we couldn’t find a shark career costume, so we picked a cop!”

“Do you wanna be a cop?”

“No. I want to be a shark. And if I can’t be a shark I want to work with fish like the people in
the aquarium.” Mina answered proudly, causing a light laugh to escape Sana as she sat up.
Only Mina.

Momo was just wearing her usual work clothes, there was no real uniform to be a lawyer. She
still looked good though. Sana thought she looked good with anything she did wear, and
especially when she didn’t wear- God Sana get a grip on yourself. Her involuntary spell of
celibacy was starting to get to her head. When Mina started jumping on the bed Momo just
laughed and picked her up, bringing her out of the room. After a final glance at her phone
that still laid down on the dresser, Sana left with them and tried to push out any thoughts of
that whole situation out of her mind.

Career day was packed, much like family field day. Kids and families all huddled together in
Park Jihyo’s microscopic kindergarten classroom, Momo commented that it was nice
everyone was together, Sana grumbled that it was an outbreak waiting to happen. Sana saw a
few plumbers, a construction worker, and a chef mixed into the crowd. This time the
classroom looked even more cliquey than the last, parents and children huddled into small
groups not even attempting to interact with others. Sana shouldn’t judge, gay squad was
doing the same.

Walking in this time felt different. Last time it was awkward, Sana just being thrust into a
world she had no clue of. This time she felt a bit better about it, like she was more in control.
It also helped to have backup. The group of parents immediately stood up, a collective
expression that Sana wasn’t quite sure if it was relief, happiness, or maybe a mixture of both.
To be honest Sana didn’t remember much of the first couple of days after she was shot, it was
mainly due to all the pain medication she was put on. She just drifted in and out of sleep,
catching glimpses of what was going on around her. Momo didn’t leave the chair next to her
bed, being in the same position every single time Sana opened her eyes, neither did Mina.
She remembers Wendy coming in and checking on her, deep bags under her eyes from
working a seventy-two hour shift on call in the pediatrics department, checking if her doctor
was doing everything right and that Sana was healing. Taeyong popped in as well at one
point, flowers in hand, but Sana can’t exactly remember when that was. Dahyun and
Chaeyoung had been the only ones to see her since being shot, but they probably didn’t think
she was going to come.

“Sana!”

“You’re okay!”

“You look good!”

Sana let out a chuckle as they all spoke over each other. Looking at them Sana didn’t feel like
such a crazy person all dressed up like this, maybe she really was the only one who didn’t
check her email. Not Wendy and Taeyong were wearing their white doctors coat, Seulgi was
wearing a white chef’s hat with Ratatouille embroidered into the side, Joohyun in her
prosecutor robe,the rest were wearing kind of normal clothes, but Sana guesses that is what
they would wear to work. She sat down, Momo taking a seat beside her as the kids started
playing. The adults started chatting but Sana wasn’t really paying attention, instead focusing
on how the kids interacted.

The five of them played well, greeting each other and slipping into a comfortable routine.
Mina and Tzuyu were cute, even though Sana was keeping an extra eye on the younger from
now on, and Sooyoung and Yeri seemed to be a bit closer, accidentally leaving Lucas out.
The boy to his credit didn’t seem to care much, fluttering between friends and getting
attention when he did so. She was grateful Mina had friends, and she hopes that they’ll stay
with her as they grow up.

A light shove tore her attention away from the kids as she turned to see Joohyun smiling at
her, “How are you feeling.”
“Better, My shoulder has been acting up lately.” Sana replied honestly, Joohyun always had
that sort of calming aura around her.

“I’m glad you’re doing better. You gave Wendy and I a heart attack when she heard you were
in ICU.”

“It wasn’t really my plan.”

“I know, I’m glad you’re okay though.”

“Thanks.”

“Mina looks so cute dressed up like a little cop.” Joohyun commented, a soft smile on her
lips as she looked over at the kids. Mina was cute, still wearing Sana’s cap and holding Peng
who was now wearing the costume version that came with the outfit Mina was wearing. The
other kids were dressed up too, Tzuyu in a pair of costume scrubs and a stethoscope,
Minjoong tucked under her arm (Sana guesses she wanted to be a Vet), Lucas a race car
driver. Sooyoung was wearing a princess dress, which while a bit off topic Sana figures a
little kid would want to be a princess, Yeri though.

“Why is Yeri-“

“A transformer? I have no idea.” Joohyun sighed, looking over at her daughter’s Optimus
Prime costume, “She said she wanted to be a transformer and threw a fit when I told her to
take off her old Halloween costume. I gotta pick my battles.”

Sana giggled, “If it makes you feel any better Mina wants to be a shark when she grows up.”

“Like Shark Tank?”

“No, an actual shark.”

Joohyun let out a chuckle. “She would be a cute shark.”

“Of course.”

Three quick claps sounded out, before the thirty kindergarteners repeated it back, all their
attention focused on Jihyo who was standing in the front of the classroom. Her hair was in a
frazzled ponytail, but had a wide smile as well, “Alright everyone! How about we start this
thing! So I’m going to call the student up and the parent or guardian can come up with them
and they will give a little intro and then the parents can answer any questions the class may
have.”

Yeri was called up first, dragging her Moms with her excitedly talking about how Wendy was
a doctor and Joohyun put bad guys away. For being dressed up as a transformer Yeri was very
articulate with what she said, going over some of the details of her parents' jobs in a very real
way. She had a good idea of what they did. The kids in the class, not so much. Asking
questions like has Wendy ever done surgery or seen bones, things that only five year old boys
would care about. That was only the beginning. Each kid went over and the kids would
excitedly ask questions, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Some parents brought
in props, such as Dahyun (she brought her soap and Sana finally understood why

After what seemed like forever Mina was called up last, Sana figures it was on purpose. Jihyo
would know the kids were going to have questions for Sana, especially since she was the
only cop in the whole classroom. Mina gripped both Sana and Momo’s hands, dragging them
to the front, standing proudly before her entire class. She faltered for a second, turning back
to Momo who gave her a reassuring nod. She took a deep breath and turned to the class.

“These are my mommies! Mommy,” She motioned to Momo, who seemed to have a shocked
expression on her face. Sana felt a similar way, she had fully expected Mina would just call
them by their names and talk about their jobs. A smile fought to get on her lips as she heard
the title. “Puts bad guys away in jail. And my other mommy works with Scooby Doo and
catches bad guys and solves crimes!”

Gay squad in the back looked stunned at this as well, everyone except Chaeyoung. For Mina
to get up there and just call them her Mom was out of the norm. She’s done it before, but
circumstances were different. Jihyo seemed to get out of her shock first, turning to the class
who now had a hands raised pointing at a random boy. “Do you have a gun?”

“I do. I try not to use it though.” Sana answered.

“Did you get hurt getting a bad guy?” Another little boy asked.

“Yeah, she did.” Mina cut in, “He tried to run away so she chased him down!”

The class started murmuring in excitement. Great, Mina probably just became the coolest kid
in clas. A little girl raised her hand, “Is that why you have that sling.”

“Yup.” Sana hummed.

“So you hunt bad guys?”

“With Scooby Doo?”

“How do you catch them?”

“Do they leave clues?”

Holy shit. The questions came so fast and so out of nowhere that Sana barely had any time to
process them, much less answer. She blinked a few times trying to get a sense of what to do,
opening and closing her mouth. Hearing her prayers, Jihyo cut in, “Okay, Mina how about
you go take a seat.”

They returned to their small circle where Mina broke off to play with Tzuyu, and the adults
were all left to stare at each other. Mommy. Mina had just stood up there and proudly
declared it to everyone there. A certain glow lasted through the rest of the day, talking about
how kids should take interest in careers and start thinking and dreaming about the future.

It was almost perfect. Almost.

Sana didn’t hear it at first, furrowing her brows as Mina came over and grabbed her and
Momo’s hands trying to tug them out of the classroom. Then she caught an ear of it. The man
who worked as an radiologist in the hospital who had spoke earlier, ranting to an
uncomfortable looking Jihyo.

“No wonder she’s stupid, she had fucking dykes that come up and show their sin off in front
of everyone.” He spat. Mina ducked her head, tugging Sana’s hand in the opposite direction.
“That whole group shouldn’t be allowed to interact with our kids. It’s dangerous. As a teacher
you should be making sure our kids are safe. Shame on you.”

A bubble of anger started to rise in Sana’s stomach, what the hell was he trying to insinuate?
That Sana was dangerous? That any of them were dangerous? Showing off her sin, Sana
wanted to scoff in his face. The words still did hurt a bit, tugging at the part of her that was
still sixteen years old crying to her pastor as he berated her for telling him she liked girls.
Worst of all Mina seened, embarrassed? Scared? She kept trying to tug Sana and Momo out
of the way. The entire squad paused, waiting for her to say something.

“What the hell did you just say!?”

Surprisingly, it wasn’t Sana. Momo shrugged Mina’s hand off her, marching right up to him,
wagging a finger in his face. “What the hell did you just call my kid? Stupid? She’s
incredibly bright, you’re the stupid one for being stuck twenty years ago. You have the
audacity to try and publicly humiliate my daughter, my girlfriend and me? ‘That group’ is
incredibly capable and loves their children.”

He clearly wasn’t expecting the hurricane of Hirai Momo to sound off, opening his mouth a
few times before settling on, “I won’t let my child get corrupted by people like you.”
“He isn’t. But he will be by you, and all the hate in your heart. If you ever, ever try to pull
something like this again and insult my daughter I will sue you for defamation of character so
fast you won’t know what hit you. And I do have to warn you, I have a lot of friends that
could make it happen.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It’s a promise.” Momo spat, sending him a glare before picking Mina up and marching out
of the classroom, Sana trying to follow behind. Momo was livid, she could tell. Walking
briskly, rubbing comforting circles on Mina’s back, this was a Momo Sana had never seen
before. It was kinda hot.

“Baby?”

“How dare he!” Momo exclaimed, spinning around when they reached the parking lot. “In
front of everyone!”

“I know.”

“Mina, look at me.” Momo instructed waiting till Mina looked at her, “Don’t ever let anyone
talk about you like that. You are so smart and perfect, he’s stupid and doesn’t know what he’s
talking about. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“I love you so much, please don’t be sad about today. I’ll make Mac and cheese for dinner.”
Momo ran a hand through Mina’s hair, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself
down. Momma bear Momo, Sana liked that concept. “Let’s go home.”

Momo would got up to bat for either of them. Sana knew that. But for some reason she found
herself glancing at Momo late that night as she slept, looking at her own phone. She could
wake Momo and talk this over, but she didn’t. This wasn’t something she was ready to open
her soul about just yet. She was older, she was over it, Sana survived. She survived on her
own. Momo wouldn’t understand, at least that’s what Sana tried to justify it to herself.

This was just a meeting. He wanted to talk to her, maybe he realized he was wrong. Maybe
he missed her too. He was her Dad. For years Sana tried to figure out how he could just kick
her out, and now especially with Mina she was still just as confused. She’s had to do this all
alone all this time, relying on others was something she was still trying to learn. It was going
to take time and mistakes.

Minatozaki Sana

Okay. Where and when?

[7:50PM]

Father.

That restaurant near the library we used to eat at. And how does 7 on Saturday sound?

[7:52PM]

Minatozaki Sana

Sounds good. See you there.

[7:52PM]

Minatozaki Sana

I missed you.

[Message not delivered.]

 Chapter 37
Chapter Summary

slight trigger warning

Dyscalculia, Sana had never even heard that word in her life much less knew how to actually
pronounce it. In layman’s terms it was a math learning disability where the student can have a
hard time understanding numbers or how to manipulate numbers. After a bit of testing that
was the diagnosis the school had come up with for Mina. From how they described it, it
actually made a lot of sense. Mina was smart, both Momo and her knew that, but she literally
couldn’t understand how numbers worked or how to use them. They left the school on
Monday with a plan on how they wanted to handle all this, and even now on Saturday of the
same week Sana could see then change in Mina.

She had a practice sheet out on the kitchen table, going over a few questions that Jihyo had
assigned her over the weekend. While originally Sana thought it was cruel to assign her
weekend homework, Mina hadn’t had an assignment all week and Jihyo probably figured that
the weekend would be the time they had the most time to work on the new methods they gave
her. Momo was having an easier time understanding all this than Sana was, Sana chalked it
up to her having problems in school when she was younger so she could sympathize with
Mina. Sana had always been told things like this were just excuses for not working hard, and
while at her age now she didn’t agree with that it still was going to take her time to
understand it completely. Her only requirement until then was just not to be an asshole.

Mina bit the tip of her pencil as she was thinking over the problem, causing Sana to slowly
remove the pencil she had from her own mouth. The kindergartener was starting to pick up
on habits that her and Momo had, it was so subtle that Sana almost didn’t realize it. It was
small things like the way Mina would sway while she stood, much like how Momo would
when she cooked dinners. When Mina was concentrating she’d scrunch up her nose like
Sana. It was cute, but Sana needed to be careful what she did now.

“Babe, are you still going out with Jeongyeon tonight?” Momo asked, walking into the
kitchen dressed in her fuzzy pink Barbie pants and an old t-shirt. She took a seat on the other
side of Mina, rubbing the girl’s shoulder.
There was also that. The crushing guilt Sana was starting to feel from purposely not telling
Momo the truth. Sure she was going out, but not with who Momo thought. And Sana didn’t
know how to feel about lying, she didn’t want to destroy the trust they had with each other.

But she was already lying, so she had to follow through with it, “Yeah. We’re meeting up for
seven.”

“You should probably start heading out soon then.” Momo hummed motioning towards the
clock. Sana was crushingly aware of that. She was just so close to calling it all off and telling
him she couldn’t go.

As much as she wanted to say she was over it, she wasn’t. There had been so many times that
Sana just wanted to call her Mom and talk, or ask her Dad for a hug. The last time she tried to
get in contact with them was just after Eunha’s passing, she had messaged her Mom on
Facebook telling her all about what happened and asked if she could stay with them for a few
weeks while she tried to find a new apartment because she really didn’t want to be in a hotel
and most importantly alone. She watched as the little icon notified her that she read it, the
little bubbles pop up, and the message: Please don’t contact me again.

So she pushed it down. Somewhere she barely even thought about it. She was doing well on
her own, she had a good career, she had a family, a beautiful girlfriend. Why should she be
concerned with someone like them. Eunha had fucked her up, Sana was aware of that. Most
days she forgot about her parents, she didn’t need them.

Reluctantly Sana got up off the table, laying a light kiss on Mina’s forehead and then
Momo’s. She could tell Momo knew something was wrong, the lawyer was too observant for
her own good. But she didn’t say anything, she trusted Sana to tell her if something was
wrong. “I’ll be home in like two hours.”

“Take your time,” Momo dismissed, puckering her lips. Sana let out a laugh, giving her a
peck on the lips before grabbing her wallet. “Love you!”

“Love you too!”

And with that Sana was out of the apartment, and into the cab she called, making her way
down to the restaurant near the library. They used to have family dinners here on Thursday
nights for as long as Sana could remember. The food was always good and the place had a
great atmosphere. The sense of dread started to fill her stomach. Sana would have rather
driven, but the fact her arm was still in a sling was starting to kill her. She was impatient, and
she especially didn't want her father’s first impression of her to be her injured.

She got out of the cab and entered the restaurant, after talking to the hostess and being led to
the table she stopped in her tracks. There he was. He had more wrinkles now, the crinkles
around his eyes from smiling too much more pronounced and his hair had taken on a silver
sheen. But there he was.

The last time Sana had seen him was after her mother had caught her making out with Jisoo
from down the street. She had always made excuses to get out of going to evening mass, that
day it was that she had a stomach ache, letting Jisoo up into her room as soon as she heard
her parents drive away. Jisoo, her chemistry tutor that her parents loved. It was young love,
sweet, and a bit stupid. It was Sana’s fault really for getting too caught up in the moment, in
her bubblegum pink room still dressed in her blue cheerleading uniform that she wore to
school surrounded by trophies and medals, all relics of a happy childhood. She knew what
she was doing was wrong, but it just felt right in a way Sana couldn’t describe. She tried to
talk to her pastor about it once, but he wasn’t as welcoming as Sana would have liked, telling
her she would burn in hell if she acted on those urges.

A part of her knew her life was over as soon as the door opened, her mother standing in the
doorway shocked as both girls looked back at her lip gloss smeared across their swollen lips.
Jisoo has been kicked out swiftly, leaving Sana to be dragged downstairs by her hair as her
mother screamed for her father to get in there and tell him what happened. She still
remembers his gruff unforgiving voice as her marched under the sink, grabbed a black trash
bag and shoved it into her chest so hard she was left wheezing, “You have ten minutes to grab
your things and leave.”

She didn’t want to believe it at first, but as she started throwing clothes, her red lobster
stuffed animal she got when she was little, the allowance she had saved up, and her winter
jacket, into the bag it was clear their mind was made up. True to his word as soon as that ten
minutes was up he was dragging her out of the house and shoving her into the cold February
night. After spending about a half an hour pounding on the door sobbing, she grabbed her bag
and started walking. Jessica’s parents were never home and thankfully they weren’t that night
either, the door opening and the cheek captain took a sobbing Sana in, offering her couch for
the time being.
Things only got worse. The first few weeks were rough, Jisoo had dumped her. She wasn’t
trying to be cruel, but Jisoo had to think about her own safety and Sana never blamed her for
that. Jisoo’s father was a pastor, if he found out she would probably be in a worse position
than her. Junior year was already hard academically, but this made it damn near impossible.
She had to pick up a job after school washing dishes in a small restaurant downtown, where
the owner was this fat smelly old man that always made her feel uncomfortable. She had to
quit cheer, she simply didn’t have the time for that luxury anymore. The team for the most
part was understanding, Jessica had made sure there wasn’t a single peep about it. She had
heard one freshman talking one day and the verbal lashing she got later at practice had put
not only her but the entire school in line. She ran the school, if Jessica said it was okay then
the school would let Sana’s sexuality go.

Nearly a month in, Jessica’s mother had come from her business trip, meaning Sana had to
leave. And just like that she was effectively homeless. Well she was before but she had at
least Jessica’s couch to rely on. Now she just slept on anyone’s couch who would let her,
slipping from house to house to stay for a few days. The holidays were the worst, no one
could take her in so she was forced to break into the school library between rows of books,
and once that got compromised she slept on a park bench a few streets away from the school.
And that was just her reality. Sana always had a reputation of being bright and happy, the
bubbly girl that was friends with half the school, but people just watched as life slowly
drained from her as the year progressed.

She tried once to get them to take her back. It ended with her father coming out on the porch,
shoving her off the steps sending her crashing down onto the pavement. She stopped trying
after that.

Senior year was just as rough. Jessica’s parents went away again this time, letting Sana have
a stable place to stay for a few months. She had to leave eventually though, and on Sana’s
eighteenth birthday she learned the real value her body had to sell to older women in return
for a place to spend the night. Her grades were a mess. She just barely graduated. She walked
across the stage, received her diploma and had no one there waiting to clap and take pictures.

Then it was time for her to be in the real world. She was at a very clear crossroads, her grades
weren't good enough for her to go to college and she also had no plan for trying to go into the
workforce. Jessica was going to college out of the country, Sana was about to be alone for
real.

It happened by chance really, two months after Jessica left Sana was on her own. And she
was desperate, getting caught shoplifting a few cans of energy drinks, a box of cheez it, and a
jacket. The cop who had to bring her in was nice, telling her, her name was Nayeon and tried
to talk to her about why she did it. Sana didn’t steal the dollar amount for the store to
prosecute, maybe she did and they just took pity on her. All she knew is that she walked out
of the station and had a place to sleep that night, Nayeon’s couch. The pair never talked, just
a quick hello in the morning when Nayeon would rush out of the house and Sana would leave
later on rushing to her shitty fast food job. Nayeon brought it up one morning, pushing an
application to join the police in her direction.

Sana had nothing to lose. And thirteen weeks later Sana had a badge and a stable income.

The first thing she did with her bonus she got for joining was pay the first month’s rent for an
apartment and a small green couch. She had no furniture in that place, just that singular
couch. She was satisfied with that though, she didn’t have to rely on others to let her crash on
their couch she had her own. It felt like poetic justice. Nayeon was annoying, never focusing
on things that mattered and Sana really didn’t like her at first. But slowly she grew on her, it
took one night swinging under the stars for them to start to become closer. Nayeon was older
than her by three years, and while it often felt like the opposite she helped place some of the
spark back in Sana’s life that was robbed from her.

Eunha was introduced to her through Nayeon’s girlfriend. She just came along one time as
Nayeon forced Sana out of her apartment to go out for food. Usually Sana would just sit and
watch them eat and talk, eating overpriced food made her feel uneasy. What if all the money
she worked so hard for disappeared and she was put right back where she started. But Eunha
surprisingly had made Sana come out of her shell, sharing an order of French Fries while
they chatted, Jeongyeon and Nayeon watching on excitedly.

Three weeks later Eunha moved into Sana’s apartment. Anyone else would have thought they
were crazy, but they were just stupidly in love. Eunha, a fourth year nursing student at Korea
University, Sana an exceptional police officer. Life started to be kind to Sana once again. She
was just happy. She was so happy when she would come home from work and just sit on
Eunha’s lap talking about their day, so happy when Eunha got her job in the emergency room
at one of Seoul’s most prestigious hospitals. She didn’t even realize years started to slip by.

She was offered a promotion and unit change the same time Nayeon was. The homicide
division. Sana was mostly tempted by the paycheck, but it turned out she really really liked
what she did. It felt fulfilling, it felt thrilling. Life only got better when Nayeon and
Jeongyeon got married, Sana right by her side as her maid of honor. Nayeon looked so
beautiful and happy that day, it made Sana start to wonder what it would be like when her and
Eunha got married. They had been together for nearly six years now.
Of course she should have never been so naive.

It started off with petty fights. Eunha would snap at her for seemingly no reason, leaving
Sana questioning what the fuck was going on. They started to get worse and worse. But she
chose to ignore it, all couples had rough patches.

(Looking back at it, this may have been Eunha’s cry for help. Asking for Sana to realize how
much she was struggling, asking her to save her. Sana just never heard her.)

The crushing reality of life came back all at once, when Sana had come home flowers in hand
as a form of apology for a particularly nasty fight the night prior. It was dead silent which
was weird because usually Eunha would be doing something that made noise whether it be
listening to music or watching TV, she hated the quiet. The house was immaculate, she must
have cleaned because Sana swore she had never seen the apartment as shiny as it was. The
overwhelming scent of lavender Fabuloso filled every nook and cranny. Then Sana entered
the bedroom and let out the loudest scream she had ever produced. She was just hanging
there, and Sana already knew. She was gone.

The bile in her throat wouldn’t go down so she had to run out of the room and throw up into
the toilet, fishing her phone out to call 911. Nayeon tried her best to comfort her after it was
all said and done. Laying in bed with her as she cried for days on end, sometimes crying with
her, sometimes begging Sana to just take a sip of water or eat a bite of food.

Sana never returned to that apartment again. She did bring the couch with her, and a
cardboard box of a few of Eunha’s belongings. The overwhelming guilt started to build and
build, culminating in her breakdown. She got help, she got a bit better. But she was never
really whole again.

Not until three years later when she decided it would be a good idea to have a Hawaiian pizza
after work.

She took a seat across from him, and he was quiet. It was clear he was taking in her
appearance, eyes fluttering over her face then the sling her arm was in briefly. Then he spoke
for the first time in eleven years, “You look good.”
There was an underlying meaning to that. Sana could hear it. You survived and then some,
didn’t you? She nodded, “You do too.”

An awkward air filled the table, neither of them knew what exactly to say. He reached up to
grab his cup of water, taking a deep breath, “What do you do for work?”

“I’m a detective.”

That seemed to surprise him, he raised an eyebrow, “I thought you wanted to be a Marine
Biologist?”

“I wasn’t exactly able to go to college.”

“I see.”

“What happened to your arm?”

“I was shot twice.”

It went quiet once more. He pursed his lips, seemingly trying to decide if he wanted to
actually ask what he was planning on asking, “Are you married yet?”

“Uh, I’m actually thinking of getting engaged.” Sana replied, a small smile on her lips, she
pulled out her phone and flipped to one of her favorite pictures of Momo and Mina, “This is
her, she’s a lawyer, her name’s Momo. And this is Mina, she’s my foster daughter.”

He bit his lip looking at the photo, it was clear he wanted to say something but was holding
back. “So you’re not over this thing.”
This thing. Her sexuality. Sana just clicked her phone off and tucked it back into her pocket.
She shook her head. He sighed. She nervously took a sip of her own water. “I’m happy.”

“You’re sin-“ He cut himself off and took a deep breath setting his cup back down on the
table. He looked down at the table grain, “Your mother wanted to be here tonight.”

“She did?” Sana tried to hide the hope the started to blossom in her chest at that. She felt
stupid for even being excited that her mother wanted to talk to her. “Why didn’t she come.”

“She isn’t very well these days.” Her father frowned. “She’s having kidney failure.”

“Oh.” Sana didn’t know what to think of that. A part of her felt concerned, a part of her felt
like it was the universe giving her the revenge she always dreamed of. Both of those
emotions made her feel sick with herself. “Is she going to be okay?”

“That’s actually why I wanted to meet up with you. She needs a transplant and we need to
test close relatives for a possible donor.”

There it was. He wanted something from her, he didn’t actually care about her. Sana’s eyes
snapped towards him, blinking as she tried to process that information. He fucking- After all
this time. What about when Sana needed something. When she just needed a bed or food or
her fucking parents. What about when she tried to contact them after Eunha killed herself and
Sana needed someone. “That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“I survived by the way.” Sana spat, “I couch surfed for years or slept outside, had to fucking
sell myself to survive, and you caused that. Do you feel any guilt for that?”

He was silent.
“And you want my kidney? Are you fucking kidding me?” She could physically feel her blood
pressure rising.

“Please don’t cause a scene.”

“No, I’m going to do whatever the fuck I want.” Sana stood up, grabbing her purse, “Don’t
contact me again.”

“Sana wait-“

This time Sana left on her own. Finally taking her revenge after all these years.

It didn’t feel as great as she imagined.

***

Momo wasn’t sure what time she heard Sana come in. She heard the open and close of the
door, the quiet footsteps to the bathroom and the start of the shower. Sana did love her night
showers, but something about it just felt a bit off. When she heard soft scratching, Momo had
to detached the passed out Mina off of her side and slowly made her way to the bathroom
where Grumpy was gently pawing at the door.

Momo chuckled, opening the door to let the cat in. Grumpy walked in like he owned the
place, stalking towards the shower. It was late, it was strange that Sana was taking a shower
at this time, but maybe she just needed to clean after dinner. Momo herself had spilt drinks on
herself before and had to shower if she didn’t want to sleep covered in the sticky and smelly
residue. But then Momo heard it.

It was covered by the steady stream of water at first, a small cry. It almost sounded like Sana
had her hand covering her mouth trying to muffle her sound. “Baby?”
“I’ll be out in a minute.” Came Sana’s clipped response, tone watery and heavy. It was clear
she was just trying to get Momo out of there. Momo took a quick glance at the clothes tossed
on the floor of the bathroom carelessly, they looked fine, not torn or bloody, so that helped to
calm her a little bit. A particularly loud sob cut through the bathroom.

That made up Momo’s mind. She slid her shirt over her head, slowly stripping herself of her
clothes before peeling back the curtain and letting herself inside the shower. Her heart broke
at what she saw, Sana, red eyed, trying to sniffle and calm herself down. She wouldn’t make
eye contact.

“Hey, look at me.” Momo coaxed, putting her palm on the side of Sana’s face. She waited
patiently until Sana eventually looked up at her, connecting their eyes. “What’s wrong. Did
something happen?”

She probably should have expected it, but she still was a bit shocked to see Sana just break at
that. Launching herself forward, Sana tucked her head into Momo’s neck gripping onto her.
In turn Momo just wrapped her arms around her, letting Sana just try to sob out an
explanation, “My dad- He- I-“

“Hey, hey, shhh.” Momo cooed, “I got you.”

And they stayed like that for a while. Just standing I’m under the warm water, waiting until
Sana could calm down and Momo could get some answers out of her. Sana went over what
happened briefly when she could finally form coherent sentences.

Momo didn’t understand the way Sana wanted her to. But she tried her damn best. Sana
never talked about her childhood, Momo had come to realize that Sana didn’t like to talk
about the past all that much. The past was painful and heavy. Momo felt similar in that
aspect. There was something intimate about just standing there, talking under the shower
head.

Sana was still trying to learn how to let people in, and they both knew it was going to take
time. But Momo was willing to wait. Her mother’s ring that was hidden in her sock drawer
was a testament to that.
 Chapter 38

Mina loved attention these days. She used to run from it, because attention meant bad things.
But now it means praise and hugs and good things. She loved getting attention from Sana and
Momo, always shyly asking for it. Momo was always willing to give it to her, Sana was a bit
more shy about it.

Attention from Tzuyu and her parents was also nice. Like now as she sat on the couch and
Dahyun applied a sheet mask to her face, it was a makeshift spa night, and apparently this
was part of it. Mina’s mask had an alligator on it, Dahyun’s had a horse. Chaeyoung was
trying to round up an excited Tzuyu.

“Mina here!” Tzuyu called, running up to them a dollar bill and a proud smile on her face.
She thrusted it into Mina’s hand, “For your switch. I found it on the floor!”

Mina took the dollar and looked at it, “Thank you.” Bit giggled as Chaeyoung scooped Tzuyu
up and applied the mask to her.

“You want a switch?” Dahyun asked gently, applying a bit more of the face mask onto Mina,
“You and Tzuyu could play together then.”

Mina nodded, “I’m saving my money for one. I only have five dollars now though, it’s going
to be a while.”

“Why don’t you just ask Sana or Momo to get you one?” Tzuyu asked, squirming a bit as
Chaeyoung finished applying the sheet mask onto her face. Her’s was a panda, it suited her.
“Or Santa? Santa gave me mine last year.”

“It’s a lot of money. What if I ask Sana and then she doesn’t have enough money for food?”
The thought of asking Sana for something like that seemed a bit weird. Sana gave her food
and clothes and cuddles, even a bed. Those were all things Mina really never had before, her
clothes were all old and had holes in them given to her by the nice old lady that lived down
the street, Tzuyu gave her food at school before that her mommies friends would give her
food sometimes telling her to eat with her hands and in a certain amount of time, her mom
never cuddled her she was always busy or sick, and she never slept in a bed before sleeping
over Tzuyu’s house instead just in a suitcase that she could zip up when people got too loud
outside, she knew they could unzip it if they wanted to but it still felt like a little bit of
security. How could she ask Sana for things when she already gave her so much? And Momo,
Momo always gave her toys and books but she never asked for it. “Plus Santa has never
visited me. I must be on the naughty list.”

“How could Santa not visit you?” Tzuyu questioned, “He even visits Yeri, she should be on
the naughty list.”

He even visited Yeri? How could he visit Yeri but not her? Maybe she really was bad. Maybe
Sana was wrong. She really wasn’t good. Mr.Viper had always told her she was bad and
deserved what she got, maybe he was right-

“Your mom must have forgotten to send him a letter telling him that you moved.” Chaeyoung
cut through Mina’s mental spiral, “We almost forgot to do that when Tzuyu came with us.”

“Huh?” Mina had never heard of that, telling him that you moved? Wasn’t he magical and
supposed to know these things?

“Yeah, when you move you need to tell him. Think about it, there are billions of people in the
world and you think Santa and his elves can keep track of every single person?” Chaeyoung
had a point. “Maybe you should tell Sana that she needs to send him a letter and I have a
feeling he’ll come this year.”

“You’ve been so good this year.” Dahyun joined in, “You’ve been so good for Sana and
Momo, at the trial, with your therapist, and in school. Even here, you’re always polite. He’s
going to come this year, I promise.”

Mina didn’t see the sad glance Dahyun and Chaeyoung exchanged as she looked down to
think about it. They were going to have to include her on their Christmas budget this year,
maybe they would even talk to the rest of gay squad to buy her a few things, they would they
adored her.
“I’ll ask Sana to send him a letter.”

“Did you have fun at career day?” Dahyun questioned, reaching up to take a stray piece of
hair out of Mina’s face, “You looked happy, even though that man disturbed things.”

“I did! Momo told me he’s mean and that I should listen to people like him, then she made
Mac and Cheese!” Momo was such a good cook, all the food she made was really good. Sana
was…Mina would eat the food she made because it was food, but it wasn’t good. Momo
would usually pack when lunch in the morning, making cute little animal shaped bento
boxes. Mina’s favorite part was the little notes she always wrote on the side;

I love you, and I’m so proud of how well you're doing in school! Have a good day!

-Momoring

She wouldn’t tell them, but she kept the notes and sandwiched them inside her journal.
Sometimes she would think about bad things and they would make her sad, so she’d flip back
to them and it would make her feel better.

“That’s good!” Dahyun cheered, “I bet it was yummy.”

“It was.” Mina hummed, climbing up into Dahyun’s lap.

Both adults paused. This was new. Mina didn’t like touch, making it very clear to them that
she didn’t want them touching her or being too close to her. Dahyun will never forget the first
time Mina had slept over her house, it was a random Friday and Tzuyu had dragged her over
after school saying Mina’s mom said it was okay. It became clear throughout the night that
there was something very wrong with their daughter's new friend. Mina was nice, she was
quiet and polite. She ate so fast though, as soon as Dahyun placed a plate in front of her she
basically devoured it on site. She flinched away from any sort of contact that accidentally
happened, such as Chaeyoung walking past her and brushing her arm or Dahyun asking for
Mina to hand her something and moved a bit too fast Mina looked like she was about to start
crying. Things just got worse as Mina kept coming over.
The worst of it was late one night when Dahyun heard noise coming through the walls in the
direction of Tzuyu’s room. Thinking the girl might have snuck her switch in and was playing
late into the night, she got up, wrapping her fluffy robe around herself before peaking into
Tzuyu’s room through the cracked door. She didn’t expect to see Tzuyu dabbing blood off of
Mina’s very bruised face, the latter sobbing quietly.

“I can go wake my mom up, she’ll know what to do.” Tzuyu said, it was clear she didn’t
know what to do.

“No!” Mina exclaimed, grabbing onto Tzuyu. Dahyun has never seen a child look so scared,
her eyes wide as she visibly trembled, “She’s going to hurt me. She’s going to- you can’t.
Please. Please don’t!”

“Okay,” Tzuyu tried to calm down her friend, wrapping her arms around Mina. “I won’t wake
her up. Do you want to stay here, I can sneak you out before anyone wakes up.”

“Please.”

The next morning Dahyun talked to the girls teacher, but there really wasn’t much else she
could do. She tried to call the police once, but she figures they never checked on it. It was
frustrating, everyone had failed Mina because they didn’t want to do their job.

Mina had changed in the past few months, becoming more open and trusting of them. And
even now as she made herself comfortable on Dahyun’s lap, it was proof that things were
getting better. Slowly but surely.

***

Sana had worked hard to make reservations at that restaurant Nayeon suggested she went
with Jeongyeon too. They never ended up making their dinner reservations.
Sana wouldn’t have it any other way though, watching as Momo laid sloppy open mouth
kisses down her stomach, biting down on that part of her navel that made her weak. It’s been
so long since they had time to be like this, so painfully long. It’s been starting to corrupt
Sana’s mind, when Momo would come back sweaty from her Sunday morning jog, when she
was cooking, even while Momo was just sitting on the couch playing games on her phone,
Sana just wanted to ruin her. There were a few problems with that though, even though the
cast was removed earlier in the week, she still only had one arm to work with and Momo had
been insistent that if they were to be intimate she didn’t want Sana accidentally reinjuring
herself. While Sana didn’t really like it, she agreed. It started with a heated makeout session
as soon as Momo got back home, deciding she wanted to do Sana’s makeup before they went
out in the lost erotic way possible. Straddling the woman, and with Sana’s increasingly erratic
hormones it was a recipe for disaster.

“Momo please!” She was surprised at how desperate she sounded already as Momo trailed
teasing kisses down her thighs, but Momo seemed to like it basing on the way her eyes
darkened. It didn’t take long for Sana to fall over the edge after that, linking her fingers
together with Momo as she did so. It took her a minute to recover, but eventually she was
sitting against the headboard, watching as Momo grinder against her thigh letting out the
prettiest little whimpers Sana had ever heard.

Hirai Momo was absolutely gorgeous, and Minatozaki Sana was completely and utterly in
love.

Sana was always one to be sappy after sex, as Momo curled up next to her after she finished,
she couldn’t help but close her eyes, a small smile on her lips, listening to Frank Ocean play
on Momo’s phone she had turned on before this all started.

I thought that I was dreaming when you said you loved me.

This felt like a dream. To have Momo lay right next to her, to have her inside the house that
Sana worked for, in Sana’s bed. Momo chuckled, pressing a light kiss to Sana’s cheek, “Why
are you so smiley?”

“I’m happy.”

“Babe if you wanted some so bad you could have just asked.”
“I know, but I was hurt and Mina-“

“We can always find time.” Momo whispered, “We can get a bit creative.”

“Okay.” Sana laughed, pressing a gentle kiss to Momo’s forehead.

“Would you want to get married in the future?” Momo asked.

Sana’s heart stopped. She looked down at Momo who just looked back up at her expectantly.
Did she find the ring? Did she know? What if she didn’t want to? Relax Sana. Play it cool,
“Why? Would you?”

After a moment Momo spoke up again, “I would.”

“I would too. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” Sana spoke honestly. “Whenever I
think of my future, you’re always there.”

“Me too. Me, you, Mina, maybe another kid?”

“No. One is enough.”

“But we could have a little baby!”

“A little baby that only cries and poops, I’m good. Mina is potty trained and independent, her
level of dependence is my limit.” Sana shook her head. No. They were not going to have
another kid. “Beside Nayeon is about to pop two brats out, you can have your baby fix then.”
“She texted me the other day.” Momo commented, “Something about making sure you were
doing okay and not having any more nightmares.”

“She could have just asked me directly.”

“Would you have answered her?”

“Probably not.”

“Exactly.”

“I love you.” Sana confessed suddenly, “I just- I love you so much.”

“If I didn’t know any better I would think you’re proposing to me.” Momo giggled. Sana
froze. “I love you, but I think I deserve better than your post nut clarity.”

“Of course you do.” Sana hummed, leaning down to place a gentle kiss on Momo’s forehead.
“I have a question too.”

“What is it?”

“Why don’t you just move in officially? I think it’s silly to keep your apartment and pay rent
on it when you don’t use it.” Really it made no sense. Why waste all that money when they
could just share one place and split the rent. She couldn’t even remember the last time Momo
had gone back to her own apartment.

“I was actually thinking about that the other day. I was going to ask if you guys wanted to
move into my apartment.”
“Huh? What’s wrong with mine?”

“Nothings wrong with it.” Momo assures, “But mine’s bigger, in a bit nicer part of town, and
it's closer to Mina’s school and Tzuyu.”

“I like this place.” Sana liked the price of the rent. A two bedroom apart for seven hundred
bucks a month. Yes please.

“What if we bought a place? After we get married? Like a nice little house with a yard that
Rey can run around in and grumpy can sleep in the windowsills.”

“That sounds expensive.”

“Think about it though, you wouldn’t be evicted ever, rent doesn’t change, and it would be
ours.”

The more Momo spoke it sounded a bit nicer. But maybe it was because it was Momo that
was talking. “Maybe.”

“And maybe we can get another dog?”

“No.”

“Please?”

“We are not going to be animal hoarders.”

“Having two dogs and a cat does not make us hoarders.”

“Whatever.”

“You know I was thinking about this the other night, if we bought a house we could decorate
Mina’s room. I’d like to put a little aquarium in her room, she loves fish.”

“You wanna know something funny? I wanted to be a marine biologist when I was a kid.”
Sana commented, “My dad used to take me to the fish market so I could look at all the fish
and watch them. I like going to the aquarium, and I entered the raffle to win tickets there
before I even got Mina.”

“Why did you become a cop then?”

“I didn’t really have any other choice.” Sana shrugged, “I know I told you I wanted to be one
when I was little, I lied. I was desperate and it was there.”

“You don’t really talk about your childhood.”

“I don’t like to.” Sana mused, “Too many bad memories.”

“I know your parents kicked you out. But didn’t you go live with a family member.”

“Everyone lived in Japan.”

“So what did you do?”

“I was homeless for a long time.” She wasn’t sure why it slipped off her tongue so easily.
Usually her therapist had to struggle to get her to talk about anything related to this. But
Momo just made her feel safe, like it was okay to talk about this part of herself. “I know I
told you I got kicked out, but I struggled for a long time after that. I got into theft and
prostitution for a little bit. I’m clean though, it’s been years and I got tested. Nayeon got me
out of that type of life.”

Momo stayed quiet, letting Sana talk.

“I know I do things that you might think are weird, but it’s just how I am. Like when Hana
came over and I didn’t really talk to her, I’m just shy. I know you want me to do certain
things, but it's hard for me. I got my life together for it just to fall apart again.” She didn’t
look at Momo, if she looked at her she might lose her confidence, “I have a hard time talking
about what I’m feeling, and I’m trying to get better at that. Just please be patient with me for
a bit. I can answer questions if you have any.”

Momo was quiet for a bit. “How long were you homeless.”

“Two, three years? I forget. My junior, senior, and some of the year after that.”

“And it was your parents that kicked you out? Because you were gay?”

“Yes.”

It was clear Momo was thinking, Sana could practically hear her thoughts screaming. Momo
laid a gentle kiss on Sana’s bare shoulder, “You know, I think you and Mina are really
similar.”

That’s not what Sana was expecting.

“I didn’t get it for a while, how you two seemed to just get along so well. I really had to try
and understand along with following your lead. But you always knew what to say or do, it’s
because you two are so similar.” Momo commented, “It makes sense to me now.”

“Yeah?”
“Mhm.” Momo hummed, “I have a question for you though.”

“What is it?”

“Are you going to help them?” Momo lazily ran her fingers over Sana’s stomach, tracing the
ragged scar that tore through pure flesh, “They abandoned you.”

“I-I’m not sure.” Sana admitted, “I want to just never see them again. If I want them in my
life that means so can’t have you in my life, and I’d pick you over anyone. But, what if she
dies?”

“So be it.”

“I get what you’re saying. But it’s still my mom.”

“Let me ask you this.” Momo placed gentle kisses on Sana, “If Mina’s mom were to come
back right now and ask her the same thing would you let Mina get tested?”

“No.”

“Why? That’s her mom.”

“She gave up her right to be a mom the second she chose drugs over her daughter.”

“Didn’t your mom give up her right to be a mom the second she abandoned you?”
Sana blinked. Momo had a point. She just brought her hand up to rub lazy circles on Momo’s
back. “I need to think about it.”

“Whatever you decide to do, I’ll support you.”

Sana smiled, it felt nice. To be understood, to feel respected. It created trust. She could trust
Momo with her entire being. “I wonder how Mina’s doing right now.”

“She’s probably playing with Tzuyu.”

“I should call her and wish her goodnight.”

“Whipped.”
 Chapter 39

Sana had no clue why Mina was so hyper today. Ever since she had come home from school,
greeting Sana with a loud shout of Tadaima , she’s been bouncing off the walls, jumping
around, dancing, basically anything other than sitting still. At first Sana just thought she was
excited that she had gotten a good grade on her math test, a respectable eighty-two.
Admittedly Sana wasn’t sure what they were doing with Mina now they had her diagnosis,
but it seemed to be working well. Apparently putting a red screen over what she was trying to
do was doing wonders along with extra time allotted for her to take her tests. The fear she
had from going to school was starting to fade, and it was nice to see that.

Usually Mina would show the test, Sana would put it on the fridge next to her other tests and
drawings and that would be the end of it. But not today apparently. She sat on the couch next
to Momo watching as Mina ran throughout the house giggling happily as Ray chased her, his
little paws just barely touching her leg. It was rare that Mina would get loud and hyper, but it
was inevitable she was still a kid after all. Sana herself didn’t mind, but the look of
exhaustion on Momo’s face made it clear that she just wanted a night of peace.

Work was kicking Momo’s ass lately, missing two weeks meant the work built up to
dangerous levels when she got back. Momo didn’t complain, but Sana could see she was
tired. Bringing Mina to school, doing a full day, picking Mina up, cooking dinner, doing other
chores such as folding laundry and washing dishes because Sana simply couldn’t do it was
probably overwhelming. Sana had been trying to relieve a bit of her responsibilities, she had
done a load of laundry and folded it (with one hand she must add), tried to wash the dishes,
she even cleaned the whole bathroom. Having no cast was amazing, she could just kind of
plop her hand where it needed to go and boom. The progress in her left shoulder was slow,
but she was starting to be able to raise it more.

Momo let out a sigh, angrily typing away at her phone. Her brow furrowed and shaking her
head in annoyance every few seconds. At first Sana stayed quiet, she knew she hated to be
confronted when she was in a bad mood, Momo was probably the same. But as time
progressed she caved, “Everything okay?”

“My parents want to stay in a hotel when they come for Christmas!”

“Okay?” Sana couldn’t exactly see what was so wrong with that.
“Why don’t they just stay with me? Save them money, they can meet you and Mina? Sounds
like a great deal.” Momo motioned to phone, exasperated. “They’re so stubborn.”

“How much have you told them about Mina?”

“Almost everything.”

“They probably don’t want to make her feel uncomfortable,” Sana shrugged, “If they know
she doesn’t like meeting new people why would they come into her space for a week and
disrupt her schedule and sense of safety she has here?”

“She shouldn’t feel unsafe around them, they’re my parents.” Momo stressed, “I can tell her
they’re coming over before they come and maybe they can talk on FaceTime so she feels a
bit better.”

“That might be a good idea actually.” Sana commented, “But I’m just nervous that she’d feel
uncomfortable. Why don’t they stay with your sister if you don’t want them to stay in a
hotel?”

“She lives in a studio apartment, she doesn’t have room for them.” Momo sighed, “Also
speaking of her she told me you picked her up a smoothie when you brought Mina to her
dance class.”

“Yeah, I mean I got one for Mina it’d be rude not to get her one too.”

“Thank you.” Momo leaned over to place a kiss on her cheek, smiling. That didn’t last too
long as something crashed behind them, making them both jump and turn back to a scared
looking Mina, a Rey who was running away, and the vase Jeongyeon had bought her as a
welcoming gift shattered on the floor.
Letting out a groan Momo stood up, walking over to the edge of the mess. Sana stood up as
well, walking next to her. This was kind of a blessing, Sana had always hated that vase
anyways but never threw it out cause it was a gift. She didn’t notice it at first, but when she
stopped looking at the royal blue shards on the ground and focused on Mina standing there
she felt her heart sink. The kindergartener was trembling, eyes teary as she stared at the two
of them. Momo apparently didn’t notice how terrified she looked, because she sighed and
picked up the broom, going to start sweeping Mina a clear path out. The movement caused
Mina to flinch about to take a step back.

“Don’t move!” Momo barked out suddenly, “If you move you’re going to step on a shard and
hurt yourself.”

This caused Mina to burst into tears, mumbling out apologies as the broom faltered in her
hands. Sensing she needed to step in before Mina really lost it, Sana rushed to put on a pit of
shoes near the door and then back to pick Mina up. While it was a bit of a struggle with one
arm, koala baby Mina had climbed onto her and let Sana carry her out the break zone. She
buried her head into Sana’s neck, hiding away from both of them. “Hey,” Sana cooed,
bouncing gently, “Why are you so scared?”

Mina mumbled out something but Sana couldn’t understand it.

“Momo’s not mad at you if that’s what you’re scared about, she was just scared you were
gonna hurt yourself.” Sana assured, “Did you think she was going to hit you?”

She felt Mina nod into her shoulder. “We’re not going to hurt you Mina, okay? Trust us.”

It took a few more minutes, but the vase was cleaned and Mina was calmed down now just
sniffling. Momo looked guilty, not making eye contact with either of them as she put the
broom away, and sulked off into the bedroom. Sana got it, if she had made Mina afraid she
was going to hit her she would feel horrible too. Plus Momo was always so cautious and
respectful of Mina’s boundaries and fears, she sighed.

“Do you wanna go for a walk?” Sana asked, setting Mina down, “We bring Rey and go walk
around the park. Maybe we can get a drink too.”

“Okay.”
After a quick yell to Momo that they were leaving, fastening Rey’s harness on, and making
sure Mina’s coat was zipped up tight they were off and out of the apartment. As the months
started to slip into October the air started to chill, it wasn’t unbearably cold just yet but just
enough that it pricked at Sana’s skin and made her feel uncomfortable. Rey seemed happy to
be going on a walk, proudly strutting down the sidewalk as Mina held onto the leash really
tight, Mina held on just as tight to Sana’s hand as well.

Sana loved walking at night. While maybe it wasn’t the absolute safest thing to do, something
about the night always spoke to her. The way the street lamps would emit soft orange light, or
the way streetlights bathed everything in green and red, or the soft chatter and lights coming
off from houses and restaurants still teaming with life as everything else spelt. And the moon
was out. Tonight it was out fully, smiling down at her as she greeted it. Everything could
change but the moon was always there. Maybe teenage Sana just needed something to
desperately cling on to, but she always thought of the moon as her protector. Lazing on park
benches, one arm propped under her head as she looked towards the stars and moon,
whispering wishes. Wishes of a family, of pets and kids, a wife of her own, an actual bed,
money, food, anything she could think of. It was easy to wish when she had nothing, but now
that she had everything she wanted Sana wouldn’t know what she would wish for. Mina
stumbled a bit, pulling her attention back to the child who was walking next to her happily.

Maybe the moon listened.

“I have a question for you.” Sana hummed, looking down at the pavement. “Would you be
okay with me marrying Momo?”

The detective had no idea why she was so nervous asking this, Mina probably didn’t even
have a grasp on the concept of marriage. But Mina was just as important to her as Momo
was, and her proposing would impact her just as much. In a way this wasn’t asking Mina for
her blessing, but for confirmation that she was okay with really becoming a family. That’s all
Sana wanted. A family. Momo and Mina, their dog and cat, her apartment, dance classes,
parent teacher conferences, family dinners, movie nights. She just wanted confirmation that it
was tangible that it was permanent, and a ring on Momo’s finger would be that and a glaring
reminder of how absolutely in love Sana was.

Mina looked back up her, stumbling a bit as Rey pulled on his leash just a bit too hard. “You
want to marry Momo? I thought you guys were already dating?”
“Well we are. But it’s different than being married. When you’re married you are supposed to
be together for your life. A family.”

“A family.” Mina repeated, then nodded her head. “I think you should marry Momo.”

“Good.” Sana smiled, “That way she can’t run away from us ever, it’s always gonna be the
three of us.”

“And Rey!”

“You’re right and Rey.”

“When Mommy gets out of jail she’s going to come stay with us too, right?”

Sana almost tripped. She looked down at Mina who seemed unbothered as they entered the
gate of the park. “What?”

“She’s going to need to stay somewhere when she gets out, and she’s my mommy and so are
you and Momo so why can’t we all stay together?”

“Buddy, how long do you think she’s going to be there?”

“I don’t know. A couple of months?”

“Mina, she's going to be there for ten years.”

“Ten years?”
Sana had been avoiding this conversation because it was uncomfortable and ever since she’d
been shot Mina had shied away from it. She led Mina over to a park bench, sitting down and
helping Mina up. “You’re not going back with your mom ever. She is in a lot of trouble, and
can’t take care of you. I’m sorry, but that’s how it is. She’s not going to come and stay with
us, she’s not going to be able to be here, she’s gone.”

Mina looked down at Rey who laid down on the pavement, panting slightly. “You and Momo
aren’t going to leave though, right?”

“Right. We’re here forever.” Sana assured, questioning how the hell she was supposed to
explain this, “Some people do bad things, some people don’t. Your mom did bad things,
Momo and I don’t. Because we don’t, we get to stay with you and she doesn’t.”

“Can I visit her?”

“Not right now. If you really really want to we have to talk to your social worker and your
therapist.”

“Okay.” Mina seemed a bit deflated at that, “Did you know Momo has parents like me?”

“Huh?”

“Momo’s parents aren’t her real parents, but they love her a lot. She can’t see her real parents
either.” Mina explained, “We talked about this the other day on the way home from school.”

“That’s good.” Sana commented, “Are you okay with all of this?”

“It’s okay. I love you and Momo. Maybe more than my Mom.”
“I love you so much too.” Sana reached over and hugged her, “Momo was telling me her
parents are going to come visit on Christmas, she wants them to stay at our house.”

“Why? It’s our house not theirs.”

“Because she wants them to meet us.” Sana shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“Oh!” Mina exclaimed suddenly, looking up at Sana with big excited eyes, “Can you send a
letter to Santa telling him I moved! Tzuyu’s mom said the reason he’s never visited me was
because I moved and he didn’t know, so can you tell him I moved please?”

Sana’s heart broke. The thought that Mina never experienced Christmas has never occurred to
her, and she could already tell when she told Momo the woman was going to freak out and
make Christmas a huge deal. “Of course I could tell him. Is there anything you want me to
ask him to get you?”

“A switch!”

“A what?” Switch? Light switch?

“A switch!” Mina repeated, “It plays video games, Tzuyu and Yeri has one and they bring it
to school sometimes so we can all play together. I started saving money to buy my own.”

“You could have asked me for one.”

“You buy food.”

“I can buy more than just food Mina.”

She shrugged, and Sana could that was Mina’s way of saying she wanted to drop the
conversation. “What do you want to dress up as for Halloween?”
“Huh?”

“Don’t you want to go trick or treating with Tzuyu? You need to dress up in a costume.”

“I haven’t done that before.” Mina swung her tiny legs, “I don’t like Halloween.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s scary.”

“It won’t be scary if I’m here.” Sana shrugged, “Plus you’ll be with Tzuyu and her moms.”

Mina went quiet thinking about it for a minute, “I want to be a shark.”

Oh god. Sana forced a smile onto her face, nodding, “Okay, you can be a shark.”

They left the park, walking back down towards the apartment. The detective expected Mina
to start slowing her steps, and start feeling anxious as they got closer. If this whole situation
happened earlier on, Mina would have never willingly gone back to Momo so soon, but here
she was practically skipping towards the apartment. Maybe Mina really trusted them, or
maybe she had just forgotten.

They came back inside, and took off their shoes, letting Rey out of his harness. Momo was in
the kitchen, quickly making her way out and handed Mina a bowl of cut up fruits, which
Mina quickly accepted holding it with both hands. Momo looked like she had so much to say,
but Mina cut her off, “Thank you Mommy, can we go watch a movie now?”

Momo looked taken aback, but nodded making her way over to the living room as Mina
trailed behind her happily munching on her fruit. Progress, they were making progress. And
Sana was so proud of her.
 Chapter 40

It felt like a breath of fresh air to finally be back in the precinct.

Sure Sana wasn’t cleared for field work for the next few months or until she had full mobility
back in her shoulder, but to finally have something to do and be actually working for her
money just felt right. She could just catch up on some paperwork, work on a few cases, and
try to ignore the very pregnant Nayeon that kept trying to get her attention. The woman had
ballooned up as she passed the eight month mark, Sana was a bit surprised she hadn't been
demoted to bed rest yet. It was entertaining though, watching her waddle around the bullpen
one hand on her back one on her stomach. It wasn’t as fun when she’d wave or try to mouth
things in Sana’s direction. Eventually that seemed to bore her as she made her way over to
Sana, rolling her chair right next to the detective.

“Don’t you have a case to work on?” Sana immediately asked, tossing the bag of chips on her
desk in Nayeon's direction. Cheddar cheese and sour cream was one of Nayeon’s pregnancy
cravings, and Sana was a bit shy to admit she bought a bag just in case she wanted some.

“Not really, I’m about to be out for a bit so they just kind of redistributed my cases.” Nayeon
pouted, “I’m bored.”

“I can tell.”

“You finally decorated this place!” Nayeon exclaimed in Sana’s cubicle. She was right,
sitting and staring at the plain grey of the walls didn’t sit well with her anymore for some
reason. After spending a few months at home filled to the brim with constant remnants of
Mina and Momo, she had to bring some things. She printed up a few photos of Mina and
Momo, one from when they went on a walk with Rey, another of the two of them reading a
book, and one of all three of them that featured a pouting Sana covered in paint, a happy
Mina showing off her paint covered hands, and a smiling Momo taking a selfie with the two
of them. A few of Mina’s drawings shared the space, a few drawings of fish, Rey, and
Grumpy. Mina hasn’t been drawing as much lately, the little blue notebook she once took
with her everywhere now laid on the desk in her room. Sometimes Mina would draw in it,
especially on days she seemed to be thinking a lot, Sana thinks it’s her way of getting
whatever is bugging her out without having to talk about it. Hey if it worked it worked.
Sana had learned she liked having things everywhere. She found herself sticking up picture
frames while she was on break, or rearranging the fridge and all the drawings and tests that
were proudly displayed. Momo had a bad habit of leaving her jacket on the couch but Sana
never moved it because it was a constant reminder that Momo was there. That she wasn’t
leaving.

Sana shrugged, “I thought it’d be nice to put some stuff up.”

“If you say so.” Nayeon teased, before gasping suddenly scaring the ever living shit out of
Sana. “Give me your hand.”

Hesitantly Sana outstretched her good arm which Nayeon immediately grabbed and pressed
onto her stomach. A small thud hit Sana’s hand, making her try to take her hand back but
Nayeon shook her head and smiled, “This feels like that scene from Alien.”

“They’re happy to see you!” Nayeon exclaimed, “They always start moving when they hear
your voice.”

“Maybe they don’t like me, they’re like ahh get me away from this woman.”

“Is that how my children sound to you?”

“Yes.”

Nayeon shook her head, standing up with a groan, “I’m going to be right back, I have to pee.”

“You literally went five minutes ago-“

“And?” Nayeon shot back, “I have two babies using my bladder as a trampoline, I gotta go
when I gotta go.”
Sana just waved her off, attempting to bury her head in the case once again. The stupid
Taiwanese one, they had an interrogation session set up with Lee Jiho in a few days about it,
they already gathered some CCTV with him in the area at that time, but still it. Joohyun had
been assigned to his case, she had called her and told her all about it a few nights ago, it was
almost guaranteed he was never getting out of jail. Mina wasn’t going to be called as a
witness this time, instead they were going to have her psychologist speak for her and do a
prerecorded questioning session by her psychologist. Momo had assured her this would be
much less stressful on Mina this time around, and because she already knows and talks to
Sunni that it’s going to feel like another session and Mina probably won’t even realize what
is going on. Sana doesn’t know if Mina was called if she would even allow her to go through
all that again, putting the child on the stand the first time was cruel and should have never
happened.

She flipped a page of the report, reading over the same details that she had read a thousand
times. Pausing when she read something new. The child’s name was now in the record,
meaning whoever took it over while Sana was gone requested for it and got it approved;
Chou Tzuyu .

Huh. The two kids would probably never know it, Tzuyu had never said anything to Sana that
indicated she even knew what happened to her mother, but they were very similar. She
wouldn’t tell Mina, there was no need.

Just as she started to get her groove back her phone pinged again, causing her to slam down
the file in annoyance. She looked over, it was Momo...again. Sana got it, the lawyer was
probably nervous about her going back to work especially after what happened. But it wasn’t
like Sana could just quit, and she had assured Momo many, many times she was just on desk
duty but still. She didn’t even get to read the text before a few gentle taps on her shoulder
grabbed her attention. Nayeon stood behind her, a slightly freaked out expression adorning
her features, “Sana..”

“Yeah?”

“You need to promise not to freak out.”

“Holy shit, okay fine. I promise.”

“I think my water just broke.”

“WHAT THE FUCK-“

***

Jackson had never driven so fast to the hospital in his life. From the outside you would
probably think he was being carjacked, not Sana screaming instructions at him like he had
never driven a car before. Nayeon had started going into labor on the way there, squeezing
Sana’s hand for dear life as they both sat in the back seat. Trying to diffuse the situation,
Jackson had turned on the radio, the sound of Britney Spears blending with the rest of the
chaos in the car.

They got in, rushed Nayeon in and were instructed to wait. Jeongyeon showed up sometime
shortly after, looking like she was about to pass out as she rushed past Sana and Jackson who
were sat in the hallway. She had sent a quick text to Momo and the lawyer agreed to pick up
Mina after school and meet her there. Then they waited. Eventually Jackson had to leave,
apparently murders couldn’t just stop for a minute so Nayeon could have her babies, leaving
Sana alone.

The floor was about to have a hole burned into it based on the amount of times Sana walked
back and forth, before she eventually settled for sitting in the chair biting her nails.
Something was going to go wrong, Sana knew it. Things didn’t work out, maybe it was
because Jackson didn’t drive fast enough, or that she let Nayeon walk around all day in the
precinct or-

“Sana,” Jeongyeon called her in, a wide smile on her face. That put Sana’s heart at ease a
little bit, but she wouldn’t be satisfied before she could see everyone was okay. Sana
practically bolted from her seat making her way into the room where a very tired looking
Nayeon was laid on the bed, a swaddled up baby resting on her chest.

“Are you okay? Are they okay? Did everything go well? Did-“
“Sana breathe.” Nayeon cut in, a gentle smile on her lips, “Everyone is fine, you need to stop
assuming the worst. Come here.” She waited patiently until the woman walked closer to her,
“Look, this is Hyunjin, and that” She pointed at the sleeping baby in the small container next
to the bed, “Is Yeji.”

Sana was at a loss for words. When Jeongyeon asked if she wanted to hold one she stuttered
through an answer before Yeji was entrusted into her arms. She made sure to support her
head and secure her, but there she was. And she was perfect.

“Hi little one.” Sana whispered, looking down at the bundle in her arms. She thought she
imagined it at first, but Yeji’s eyes opened looking back up at her as Sana starred back. Her
little hand clutching around Sana’s finger. “You’re so pretty.”

She couldn’t believe it. She was holding Nayeon’s child. Nayeon, the person who had cared
for her all these years, who just wanted to be a mom more than anything else, who was the
sole reason Sana’s life was the way it was. She was holding her baby. Suddenly everything
else didn’t matter, all the heartache, the suffering, it was irrelevant. She looked up at Nayeon,
who was holding Hyunjin up to her chest Jeongyeon reaching down to touch him, both
watching the scene affectionately. “She’s so pretty Nayeon.”

“She is, isn’t she.”

“She’s so tiny.” Sana commented, mostly to herself turning back to the baby. She was really
tiny, Sana’s one finger was enough for her entire hand to grasp around, she just stared back
up at her with those big monolids.

Sana wondered how many times she could fall in love. She fell in love countless times
throughout her life, with Momo, Mina, Nayeon, Eunha, even the otter she had when she was
younger. The twins were simply just added to the list of Sana’s loves. How Sana longed for
this day, when Nayeon could fulfil her dream and be happy. That’s all Nayeon deserved, she
deserved to be happy and everything good in the world. When they lost the baby, it crushed
her and in turn crushed Sana as well. But here they were, holding Nayeon’s children.

“I’m your auntie Sana.” She cooed. Yeji just blinked up at her, adjusting her grip on Sana’s
finger. The detective let out a watery laugh, a happy tear leaking out. “We’re going to have so
much fun. You two can play with Mina, and we’ll go out for ice cream, and when you get old
and can’t stand your Moms you can sleep over.”

Now neither Nayeon or Jeongyeon spoke Japanese, and Nayeon figured Sana chose to switch
languages for that reason. It was such an intimate moment Nayeon almost felt like she was
intruding. Watching her usually reclusive best friend openly sob in happiness was a sight to
see, but it being over her child was another thing. Sana just looked at the children with such
affection, such joy.

The decision to let Sana crash on her couch had been a bit of a rash one. She didn’t know this
girl, and she was just arrested , but something just told her she could let the girl go. It was a
bit of a struggle financially for a while especially when Sana needed to borrow money to
enroll in the academy, but Sana paid her back every penny over time. Sana was just so angry
back then, she could never relax or take a break. To this day Sana was still a bit like the girl
who slept on her couch with sad eyes, she was a bit hesitant to accept Nayeon’s affection,
acted like the older annoyed her, but she loved every second of it. Her growth as a person was
something special, as despite the fact Nayeon was only three years older than her in a way
she still felt like Nayeon’s kid.

Watching Sana talk to her children, cooing at how small and precious they were only
reaffirmed the fact that Nayeon never once regretted her decision to help Sana. A gentle
knock tore Nayeon’s attention towards the door, where an excited looking Momo and a
confused looking Mina stood in the doorway hand and hand. Damn, they were here even
before either or their parents. Momo probably had left the office the same time Jeongyeon did
and swung by to pick up Mina. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired.” Nayeon smiled, “But it’s worth it.”

“Nayeonie didn’t you have the babies?” Mina cut in, excited. She let go of Momo’s hand and
gasped when she saw the small bundle in Nayeon’s arms, “She’s so tiny!”

“This is a boy Mina.”

“He’s so tiny!”
“Do you want to hold him?” Nayeon asked, grinning as Mina quickly nodded yes. “Okay sit
in that chair right there,” Mina followed instructions well, staying still as Jeongyeon put a
pillow on the hair next to her and walked her through how to hold him. Carefully Jeongyeon
let Mina hold him, sitting right next to her just in case. Mina was a good kid, Nayeon was
grateful she was going to be the older kid influence in the twins life.

Momo had made her way over to where Sana was still cooing at Yeji. She wrapped her arms
around her waist, resting her head on the detective’s shoulder as she looked at the baby.
Momo reached over, gently tickling the baby’s side with this gentle smile on her face. She
picked her head up and looked at Sana, taking in the way the woman was practically glowing
while she held her godchild. The pure physical effort of everything was starting to catch up
with Nayeon and she knew she’d have to feed them soon, but her eyelids started to slip shut.
Everything was okay.
 Chapter 41

This was the absolute cutest thing Momo had ever seen in her lifetime. Mina looked so happy
walking out of her bedroom, Peng clutched in her hand, a slightly oversized shark costume
on. Momo couldn’t stop herself from taking out her phone immediately, snapping picture
after picture of the child who simply whined and waddled over to her, the costume hindering
her movement a bit.

The lawyer felt a bit bad seeing the costume was just a bit too big, the man at the store had
told her this was a good size for a six year old. But she hadn’t taken into consideration that
Mina was pretty small for her age, even if she had grown a lot since Sana first took her in.
She had convened with the social worker that frequently visited her office a few weeks ago,
just with a few questions regarding Mina such as her nightmares she still had, her size, and
some lingering habits she still upheld such as getting scared when people she didn’t know
cane over. She was getting better, but Momo just wanted to make sure there wasn’t anything
else she could be doing to help her. She reassured her all those things were normal, and they
took time. Mina was probably small either naturally judging from the fact that her mom was
quite small as well or the lack of nutrition she received from a long time. Tzuyu was younger
than her by a few months yet towered over Mina, and no matter how many fruits and
vegetables she made Mina eat she just wouldn’t catch up, something about it just never sat
well with Momo. The felt teeth attached to the hood of the costume just obscured Mina’s
vision as she pushed it up so she could see, her bangs peeking out underneath, the plush
bottom of the costume ending right at her knees slightly making it hard to walk.

But it was just too damn cute.

Hana had always been the one to want to have her big dream wedding, have a daughter, you
know all that. But Momo was never super interested in that kind of stuff, it may be because
she just could never picture herself with a man as a child and that whole fantasy always
involved a man. As she got older though, the thought of motherhood did cross her mind.
Momo got really lucky with Mina. She crouched down, immediately being hugged by Mina,
“Are you excited for tonight?”

“Kinda.” Mina was a bit nervous, she had been all week. While Sana had a hard time
understanding why, Momo had been a bit more understanding. This was something new, and
she was going to be surrounded by strange people with scary costumes on and she was still
little. They had tried to carve pumpkins before dinner, but Mina put her hand in the pumpkin
to take the guts out and started crying because she didn’t like how it felt.
“Don’t worry,” Momo assured, reaching up to brush her bangs away from her eyes, “You’re
going to be with us and Tzuyu, Yeri, Sooyoung, and Lucas, and their parents. That doesn’t
sound too bad does it?”

“No.”

“Then they’re all going to come over and sleepover here afterwards, and Sana’s going to
pretend to be grumpy but really she loves having all your friends over. And you guys can
swap candy after I check it all and eat some of the snacks I made.”

Mina seemed to consider this before nodding, “Are the babies coming trick or treating too?”

“No, they’re too little for that.” Momo smiled. That didn’t stop Nayeon from dressing the two
of them up like pumpkins and sending a picture to Sana. The younger squealing and gushing
over the photo as she showed it to Momo. Over the past few weeks Momo had gotten used to
how much Sana loved the twins, always stopping over Nayeon’s house on her way home
from work bringing diapers or anything they needed and made sure everyone was alright. It
was clear Sana loved babies, she just didn’t want to have any of her own. Momo tried not to
think about it too much. Speaking about Sana, “Sana, come out now, we need to go.”

“I look stupid.” A muffled response came from the shut bedroom door.

“You look cute, c’mon.”

A moment passed before the door opened and a pouting Sana made her way out, a large red
crab hat on her head with only her face peaking out. The juxtaposition between it and the
jeans plus leather jacket combo she was wearing was hilarious. Momo kinda wished she wore
a crop top under the jacket just once, but it was starting to get cold so she didn’t blame her.
She herself was bundled up along with Mina who had put a grey sweatshirt under the grey
costume. Momo tried to hide the smile that was threatening to leak out and Sana sulked,
“Momo. This is dumb.”
It was Mina who save the day, breaking away from Momo as she went up to Sana with her
big wide eyes and reached up. Sana picked her up with her good arm, tucking her swiftly
onto her waist. Every time she did something like that Momo breathed a little lighter, Sana
wouldn’t tell her but she saw how the detective would come home groaning and sore from
her physical therapy appointments, her picking up Mina was something that just a month ago
wouldn’t have been possible. Mina smiled, reaching up to touch the hat, “Mommy I like it!
You’re a crab! Like the ones we saw at the aquarium!”

Momo melted twice in the span of two seconds, first because Mina couldn’t really pronounce
aquarium and always muddled up the word, and second because Sana smiled at that shaking
her head so the little legs would flap around, “Do you like it?”

“I do!”

“I’m guessing I’m going to have to keep this thing on. Aren’t I.” Sana sighed, succumbing to
her fate. Momo held up her phone more time and both of her girls turned to her, Mina smiling
widely and Sana still sulking as she took the photo. That one was going to be her
background.

They got to Tzuyu’s house with Mina falling only once in the process. Everyone was already
there when they arrived, Sooyoung and Yeri chasing each other, Lucas just watching, in the
front lawn while the parents chatted. Yeri was dressed up as a light green dinosaur, Sooyoung
a zombie, and Lucas was a train. None of the parents were dressed up, causing Sana to sulk
more as Mina wiggled out of Momo’s arms and ran over to a cow Tzuyu. Dahyun waved
them over, offering Momo a green drink as soon as she got there, “Is this-?”

“No it doesn’t have any alcohol in it. It’s just a vanilla milkshake colored green.”

Momo brought it to her lips at that. She really didn’t want to be tipsy trying to chase kids
around in the dark. Honestly she didn’t think Mina would dare to stray too far from them, but
Yeri and Sooyoung might and knowing them they’d try to drag Mina along because they
don’t want her to feel left out. While Momo was thankful they always seemed to go the extra
mile to try and include Mina especially when she was in a more shy mood, she wasn’t exactly
sure if they were the absolute best influence. Tzuyu and Lucas were both much more
subdued, while Lucas could get a bit crazy too it wasn’t in the same sense.
She watched as Joohyun elbowed Sana playfully and made conversation with her. She was
glad Sana made a friend, and Joohyun was a great one at that, always checking up on Sana
and even Momo herself making sure they were doing well.

From what she heard Yeri had a really hard time adjusting when she was first placed with her
and Wendy a few years ago, the then three year old would throw fit after fit, constantly
screaming and crying if anything didn’t go her way. It faded over time, and Wendy
mentioned that it was probably just her way of dealing with being taken from her parents and
placed with them without really being able to express how she felt. Dahyun later chimed in
on that conversation saying that Tzuyu did that a lot too when she was younger, when she
was placed with them she didn’t speak any Korean. So she would try to get their attention or
tell them what she wanted and of course they wouldn’t understand. The worst was when
Tzuyu just wanted a cup of juice but she kept repeating herself in mandarin getting more and
more worked up until she was full on throwing a fit, before Chaeyoung finally realized what
she wanted. All three of them attended Mandarin classes now, to preserve Tzuyu’s heritage
and help them bond a bit.

Momo considers herself lucky Mina was really never like that. She had never full on thrown
a fit, anything close to that was induced by fear. And if Mina had a hard time formulating
what she wanted to say in one language they would just switch to the other. Though she did
wish Mina could just be a bit more like a normal kid, while she really appreciated Mina never
asked for things and threw fits it’d be nice to see her trust them enough to do so.

After talking for a bit they decided it was time to start heading off, the kids all bunched
together in the front happily chatting and holding their empty pillowcases. The entire street
was covered in decorations, apparently people took Halloween seriously around here.
Dahyun led them past a few houses, down the street much to the kids dismay as they just
wanted to get started. But when they went to the first door it was clear why. Yeri pushed the
doorbell and all the kids waited, before it finally opened and Jihyo stood there dressed like
Miguel from Coco. “Ms.Park!”

“Oh hey guys, are you guys having fun?” Jihyo smiled, holding up to big bowl full of candy.

“Trick or treat!” Tzuyu smiled as Jihyo started placing candy into each of their bags, putting
a few extra pieces in Sooyoung’s. When she got to Mina though-
“I love you.” Mina looked at the bag of m&ms places into her bag and smiled back up at
Jihyo. Momo could practically hear the entire gay squad melt at that. While Mina may be tied
with Sooyoung as the oldest of the group, she was they baby in everyone’s eyes.

“No, Mina you need to say trick or treat,” Sana coached gently, hiding her chuckled.

“But she gave me m&ms, I love her.” Mina mumbled opening the package and popping a
piece of candy into her mouth.

Sana closed her eyes and shook her head, “Mina you can’t just tell random people you love
them. Ms.Park is okay because she’s your teacher, but no one else. Okay?”

“Okay.” Mina nodded, waving goodbye, as she took Tzuyu’s hand as they made their way
out. The parents lagged behind just a bit, but Momo was still up in the front with the kids to
make sure no one decided to run off. She caught a glimpse of Sooyoung staring back at
where Seulgi gave Jihyo a quick goodbye kiss in distaste. Apparently the kids noticed as
well.

“I thought you said you were okay with them.” Yeri prompted, nudging Sooyoung softly,
“Are you back to being mad?”

“I don’t know.”

“Why would you be mad?” Tzuyu questioned, “Isn’t Ms.Park your mom too?”

“She is not my mom.” Sooyoung frowned, walking a bit better.

“But she comes to our hangouts and kisses your mom?”

“Mommy and Daddy broke up because Mommy wanted to date Ms.Park,” Sooyoung sighed,
“I don’t know. She’s always over whenever I spend time with my Mom.”
“Do you like her though?” Lucas asked, “She’s our teacher and really nice!”

“I do- it’s just I wish my parents would love each other again.” Sooyoung looked
uncharacteristically small, “I don’t like having to go over their separate houses. I want to be
back with how we were.”

“I thought people only got married because they wanted to spend the rest of their lives
together,” Mina chimed in furrowing her brow, “You can break up after you get married?”

“Yeah.” Sooyoung dug a piece of candy out of her own sack, “It’s called divorce.”

The kids didn’t dwell on that for too long though, rushing off to ring the doorbell of another
house. And the rest of the night progressed like this, they each took turns ringing the doorbell
yelling trick or treat and eventually each of them had a good stack of candy.

The house of the end of the street seemed the most daunting, it had this big inflatable arch
over the front lawn and tons of decorations that seemed to freak even Yeri out. She could tell
Mina was on edge as soon as they started walking up the driveway, reaching out to grip
Sana’s hand as well as Tzuyu’s. Little fake tombstones and zombies decorated the lawn until
they walked up to the front porch where a scarecrow was sitting on a bench with a bowl of
candy next to it. The kids fought amongst themselves to actually grab the candy and then-

“Boo!”

“Ahhh!” All the kids screamed as the scarecrow jumped to life with a loud yell, though they
mostly were laughing it off in a matter of seconds. Everyone except Mina, who bursted into
tears hiding her face in Sana’s pant leg. She was already nervous about tonight, and this
probably just set her off. Usually Sana would just reach down and pat Mina on the back and
she would calm down but not today. There was just something just off about how sobbed and
cried, hiding behind Sana. In the back of her mind, Momo had a good feeling she knew what
it was and why Mina was so scared about today.
“Mina,” Sana tried, but it was almost as if Mina couldn't hear her, digging her fingers into
Sana’s thigh as she shook. Sana sighed and picked her up, simply walking away from the
situation and taking Mina out of the environment. That left Momo to give this man a piece of
her mind, but someone got to it first.

“That’s not funny.” Yeri crossed her arms, scowling at the man. If she wasn’t dressed up like
a dinosaur and five she would actually be intimidating. “You can’t just scare people like that,
it’s not nice.”

“I know.” He actually looked guilty, peering over to where Sana had walked away. “Usually
it’s just teenagers around this time of might, I saw the adult with the crab hat and not you
guys through my hat and thought they were going around. I didn’t mean to scare her.”

“You need to apologize.” Sooyoung stepped in now, scowling, “You made Mina upset. No
one makes Mina upset but us.”

“Right.” Yeri agreed.

He nodded, “If she wants to come back over we have puppies you guys can look at.” He
shrugged, “and I can let her pick out a bunch of candies.”

As much as Momo wanted to literally throw that man as far as she could, he did look
genuinely sorry like it was a mistake. Plus Yeri and Sooyoung might kick his shins if he tried
to mess with Mina again. Mina calmed down after a bit and rejoined the group, just eyeing
the man a bit suspiciously, but she did do something that surprised Momo a lot. She stepped
behind Taeyong, not touching him in any way but using him as a barrier between her and
whatever was scaring her. Seeing as she used to cry whenever he even looked in her direction
this was a lot of progress.

He offered practically the entire bowl to her, which she accepted a bit suspiciously but was
encouraged by Tzuyu to take some. Then he brought out the puppies, seven bouncy Norwich
terrier puppies. All the kids started to play with them, even Dahyun got in on the action. But
when one plopped down on Momo’s lap, she could already hear Sana grumbling.
“These little guys are all up for adoption,” The scarecrow man said, holding a puppy
affectionately, “We’re trying to give them away for free, so if you guys know anyone who
wants a puppy let them know.”

Momo looked up at Sana and gave her puppy eyes.

“No.”

They came home with a new puppy.

Momo had named him Boo, and he seemed really happy to be coming home with them.
While Mina was excited too, she wasn’t as excited as when they got Rey, the dachshund was
her baby after all. Rey seemed unaffected by the new addition, while Grumpy was
scandalized flocking his tail as the puppy tried to sniff her. It took awhile but they settled all
the kids down in the livingroom, spookley the square pumpkin playing softly on the TV as
one by one they all started to fall asleep.

Momo really hoped that Mina was going to be fine through the night, if she had a nightmare
she’d probably not only freak all the other kids except Tzuyu out and be super embarrassed.
But they would cross that bridge when they got to it. For now Mina was curled up with
Tzuyu, Rey resting on her chest. Lucas was playing with Boo, while the three other girls
slept. The lawyer plopped on to her bed where she saw Sana on her phone, looking intently at
something on the screen.

“What’s wrong?” Momo asked, crawling up to lay next to Sana.

“Nothing, I’m just trying to figure out what a switch is.”

Momo let out a laugh taking a peek at the screen and true to her word Sana was watching a
YouTube video on the Nintendo switch. Sana tended to watch YouTube a lot. The lawyer
placed a light kiss on Sana’s cheek, “Did Mina tell you why she freaked out?”
“No, I don’t think she will.”

“Hopefully she’ll tell Sunmi.”

“Maybe.”

“I’m so glad we got Boo,” Momo gushed, “He’s so cute.”

“Rey is going to end him. Not to mention Kookeu is never going to put up with his crap.”
Sana put down her phone and closed her eyes, “Are you happy?”

“Yes.”

Sana smiled. Momo did too. They laid like that until Lucas came in their room a little bit later
complaining that his belly ached from all the sweets he ate.

Sana’s phone lit up with a notification, she just ignored it.

 Chapter 42

Sana was done with her hair. It was long, it tangled, she actually had to spend time brushing
it. It wasn’t fun. Nayeon had told her about the benefits of cutting her hair, especially now as
a new mom. With the twins she simply didn’t have time to do her hair, and plus the shortcut
prevented babies from gripping on painfully. To be honest, why she even kept it as long as
she did was a mystery to her. Maybe it was because she was always told to keep her hair long
as a child, her mother always telling her it was a sign of femininity and as she got older and
entered highschool it was. She would strut around the hallways with her high ponytail,
winking and flirting with whoever she saw fit. Then as things changed it was never a priority,
why spend money on a haircut when she could buy food or a blanket? Eunha loved her long
hair too, always braiding it or begging Sana to let her dye it. One time she caved and let her
bleach her hair, they dyed it back two days later after Nayeon teased her about it and Sana
felt self conscious. Nayeon felt horrible following that and even offered to bleach her hair,
but Sana refused saying she liked her black hair better.

It was never a conscious thought, she never paid too much attention to it. So why was
chopping it all off her first reaction? As soon as she picked up the phone, and let her eyes
glide over the notification she was itching to do something.

UNKNOWN NUMBER.

Sana, this is your mother. I’m going to be in Seoul during the holidays, let’s meet up. Your
father was wrong, I’m sorry for his behavior. Let’s talk, okay?

[10:47PM]

All night she kept glancing over at it. All the kids were sleeping peacefully in the living
room, tired out from the excessive walking and candy. Momo was passed out too, snoring
softly next to her, Boo curled up on the end of the bed, his face resting against her legs. The
detective just laid looking straight up at the ceiling, flipping on the phone, rereading the text,
before turning it off again. She was sorry. She thought his behavior was wrong. Did Sana
believe that? She wasn’t too sure. Maybe she should invite her over, that way she could meet
Momo’s parents. Wait- that may be a bad idea.

She needed to do something . Her hands were itching, her mind was racing, she needed a
distraction. If this was before she would have just left for the precinct and maybe not come
home for a few days before Nayeon would throw her out and threaten to fire her (she never
actually would though, they both knew it). But she had responsibilities now, a kid to look
after her, and Momo who would probably not take too kindly to that. That’s how she
processed things, well maybe avoided processing things. She needed to find something new.

With all her three am wisdom, Sana decided her hair had got to go. As quietly as she could
she got up and made her way to the other side of the bed, where Momo always kept the
scissors in her nightstand. Sana had questioned her why they just didn’t keep them in the
kitchen like normal people, Momo had argued they shouldn’t leave dangerous things out
where Mina can just grab them. The logic did make sense, Mina was the type of kid to cut
her own hair or decided to give one of the pets a haircut, but Sana had tried to point out the
fact that Momo’s very sharp, very dangerous cooking knives also lived in the kitchen. (Momo
tuned her out). She successfully grabbed the scissors, when something else caught her eyes.
A little green box, that looked much like the one Sana held Momo’s ring in. After sneaking a
glance at Momo, she opened it to see a small ring sitting proudly. Fuck, was Momo planning
on proposing? No fucking way, this was Sana’s time to shine and make Momo feel special.

She had already worked out the plan in her head, she was going to propose at a dinner she
was going to make on Momo’s birthday in a few days. Hana has actually been the one to
suggest it when Sana revealed what she was planning at one of Mina’s dance lessons, the
older sister screaming and hugging her. Maybe Mina would help her out, who knew. She
closed the box and put it back, trying not to think about it too much.

Marriage terrified her. She was with Eunha for six years and neither one of them ever brought
it up. It was too risky, too permanent. But for Momo, Sana was willing to open herself up to
the possibility being hurt like a dog rolling on its back. Trust.

As quietly as she could she marched to the bathroom and flipped on the lights, and for the
first time in a long time she really looked at herself in the mirror. She used to not even be
able to look at herself, but here she was staring back at someone she finally learned to
recognize. She took the scissors to her hair, and cut.

Momo screamed when she woke up the next morning. A lot.

The detective was in no way a hairdresser, and her new do came out choppy and uneven. It
,in Momo’s words, looked horrible and they needed to go to an actual hairdresser as soon as
possible. To be fair Mina also needed her bangs trimmed as they were starting to poke her
eyes again. Somehow along the way Momo convinced Sana to let her decide what they do.
The detective walked out of that salon with a really nice short haircut, it ended just on her
shoulders and was dyed an ash brown color. Momo said it made her look like a milf, Sana
wasn’t sure if that was a compliment. Mina had been supportive, constantly touching and
looking at the hair in awe as they left.

Even with the few extra inches off, she still felt the same. She always felt the same. She’d
talk about it with Momo later.

Dinner had been a bust. Again. Sana had insisted that she was going to cook for Momo’s
birthday, but when dinner caught fire the lawyer had taken control and banished Sana from
the kitchen. Honestly she just wanted Mexican food anyways, so in the end it all worked out
for her. She hadn’t expected Sana to look so crestfallen, but Momo just tried to chalk it up to
her constant need to being trying to show she appreciates Momo. It was cute, really.

She placed the order, and watched as Mina crawled onto Sana’s lap, pulling the blanket up to
her neck while covering Sana too. After watching yet another YouTube tutorial, Sana had
downloaded a few games on the XBox that lived in the livingroom and the two of them had
started trying to test the out. Fortnite was the newest edition. It worked out well because her
parents wanted to FaceTime, so she could just chat now before either of the girls wanted
attention again. (Sana was just as needy as Mina).

The smiling faces of her parents filled the screen, waving excitedly as she waved back. They
were obviously up to their antics once again, her mom wearing her glasses down on her nose
squinting at the screen and her dad just smiled affectionately, “Hey honey!”

“Hey guys!”

“Wah, you’re getting so old now.”

“Byungwoo don’t say that!”

“Sorry.”

Momo chuckled at her parents' antics, they never could just chill. It made her childhood
exciting and refreshing, while helping her bond with them. She was about to respond when
Sana’s voice distracted her.

“All you have to do is press this button.” Sana instructed, placing Mina’s hand over the
correct place and pressed down. Her character on the screen then shot once and Mina’s eyes
widened. “Then you just kill everyone and win.”

“Babe, is this the best thing to be showing her?” Momo cut in.

“It’s good, don’t worry. Jackson was telling me a lot of kids play it, his boys do too.” Sana
waved off, turning her attention back to where Mina was running around on the screen.

Momo rolled her eyes, before turning back to the screen where her parents just stared back at
her, this smile on their faces that made her brows furrow in confusion. “What?”

“Nothing.” Her Mom hummed, “I just like you like this. Momma bear mode.”

“I am not a momma bear.”

“ Sure.” Her mom laughed, “Am I gonna be able to see you in action when we come up for
Christmas?”

“Yeah, when you guys stay with us you can spend time with both of them.” Momo smiled,
“That way you can bond a bit.”

“Honey, we can just go to a hotel.”

“No,” This was final. “I don’t want you guys spending money on an overpriced room when
we could all stay together. Plus it’s going to be Christmas, we need to stay together.”

“Honey, I’m just worried it’s going to be a lot for the little one.” Her father argued, “You told
us she was shy, and I work with kids like her usually they don’t take well to people suddenly
invading their space.”

“How about I introduce you guys right now?” Momo suggested, not waiting for an answer
and turned to look at Mina again, “Mina come here bud.”

Mina looked over, before sighing and handing Sana the controller and slowly made her way
over to Momo, occasionally glancing back at the game. Eventually she made her way onto
Momo’s lap, looking up at her before looking at the phone.

“Say hi,” Momo encouraged, even though she knew damn well all Mina wanted to do was go
back and play with Sana.

“Hi.”

“Hi honey,” Her mom greeted, cooing at the child, “Do you know who I am?”

“No.”

“I’m Momo’s mommy. We’re going to be coming over for Christmas, how does that sound to
you?”

“Good, can I go play now?” Mina asked. Gee, thanks for the effort. Momo nodded and Mina
practically sprinted back to Sana, boo chasing her and nipping at her ankles. She was going to
have to fix that.
They only talked for a little bit more, being cut short by the arrival of the delivery food. As
entertaining as it was to see Mina try and eat a burrito the size of her head, Momo was
starting to get tired. They finished and just laid on the couch, Monsters Inc (Momo’s choice)
playing softly in the background. Mina was sat on the ground, both dogs on either side of her
all focused on the movie, giggling at how Boo would perk up when he heard his name
sometimes. Momo just kept glancing over at Sana, letting herself take in just how good she
looked with her new haircut.

“I love your hair.” Momo let her fingers tangle into the strands, smiling inwardly as a light
blush spread over Sana’s cheeks. “This suits you so much.”

“I’m glad you like it, you did pick it out after all.”

“Your right.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t make you something for your birthday.” Sana still looked saddened by
that. “I tried to follow the tutorial but it just caught on fire, next time I’m going to try harder
and-“

“Sana, it’s okay.” Momo laughed, pressing a kiss to her cheek, “I honestly wanted Mexican,
so don’t feel bad.”

“I still got you a gift though,” Sana made a very obvious motion behind Momo’s back that
the lawyer had to be in a Hellen Keller state to not register. Mina’s little feet ran off
somewhere into the apartment, ahh, Sana’s wingman. The two of them, as cute as they were
together, caused a lot of trouble when Momo wasn’t looking. But Sana looked shy, her
fingers trembling slightly as she brushed a hand through her hair, it was a bit unusual for her.
Momo just chalked it up to Sana being worried she wouldn’t like the gift.

Mina came back and handed a little box to Sana, reaching over to whisper something in her
ear. Sana smiled and nodded, letting Mina climb onto her lap, the youngest looking excited.

“Um, I don’t know what to say.” Sana started, “I love you a lot, I hope you know that. You’re
just so patient and perfect, and I don’t know how I’d do this without you.” Sana was tripping
over words, and Momo understood, she never usually spoke like this. “I know it hasn’t been
too long, but I really want to be with you forever. I want you to be my family.”

She flipped open the little box, revealing the ring. Momo’s world stopped, she let her eyes
flutter from the ring to Sana. She felt tears starting to prick her eyes as she looked back at the
two girls who looked so excited, and a bit nervous. “Momo, will you marry me?”

It took a minute for her to find her voice, “Y-yes!”

A audible sigh of relief escaped Sana, as she took the ring out and tried to slip the ring on
Momo’s fingers. It was a bit difficult with how hard she was trembling, but they made it
eventually. She just stared down at the ring, sniffling a bit. Sana spoke up, “If you don’t like
it I can just get a new one, or I can get it sized or-“

Momo shut her up with a kiss, grabbing either side of her head and pulling her in. She broke
away, “I was going to propose too.”

Sana just shrugged, “Should have been faster.”

Momo shook her head and laid a kiss on Mina’s forehead, the youngest giggling. She was so
lucky, and so in love. This was the life she always imagined.
 Chapter 43

Aside from Sana and Momo, Jihyo was probably the only other adult she fully trusted. It was
a slow and tedious process to get that level of trust between them. In the beginning of the
year Mina was cautious of the woman, eyeing her as she walked around the classroom and
helped kids tie their shoes or read stories, things like that just felt suspicious. Now she really
liked her and would actively seek her out for comfort and attention. So when Sana told her
over the phone at lunch that she would have to stay a half an hour after school later than she
usually would because Momo had a court case and she was at a crime scene, she wasn’t too
upset about it.

Yeri stuck her tongue out at her and Sooyoung as she ran away, throwing the doors open to
greet her Mom, finally leaving the two of them alone. Sana was going to be there soon, and
Jihyo was going to take Sooyoung home, something the girl didn’t seem all too pleased
about. Sooyoung had been pouting all day, and even now asked Mina to color with her in the
hallway so she wouldn’t actually have to spend time with the older woman. Mina liked her
friend group, the five of them always had a good time, and each offered something different
to their dynamic. As much as she liked it though, some people were just closer to others; Yeri
and Sooyoung, Mina and Tzuyu, Lucas the only boy, often accidentally were excluded but
they made a point to actively rope him into their games.

It still took Mina by surprise when Sooyoung decided to speak up, breaking their temporary
spell of silence, “Was it hard to leave your Mom?”

Mina stopped coloring for a minute, before shrugging, “Kinda. At first it wasn’t, but then I
realized she wasn’t coming back and it got hard.”

“My mom wants us to move in with Jihyo.”

“Is that bad?”

“I don’t know.” Sooyoung shrugged, “I’ll live with them during the weeks and with my Dad
during the weekends.”
“That sounds like a good plan.”

“I just want to be with both of them. I don’t want Jihyo to be there.”

“I like Jihyo.” Mina mused, “She’s a good person.”

“I don’t like her.” Sooyoung pouted, “She’s mean.”

“How?”

“My parents were fine before my Mom met her.”

“That doesn’t make her mean,” Mina pointed out. Mina has seen mean people, Jihyo was far
from it.

“I don’t know.”

“Remember the family day at the beginning of the year?” Mina pointed out, Sooyoung
nodded.

That day was a mess. Mina had brought it up to her Mom nearly a week before and she said
she would try to come, but when Mina walked to school alone that morning, it was pretty
clear to her that no one was coming. It was just so much the entire day, there were so many
people, so much noise, and while everyone else seemed to be enjoying the day, Mina felt
miserable and scared. Tzuyu really tried to include her, making one of her Moms be Mina’s
partner, even Yeri offered one of her parents as well. But Mina didn’t know them, and when
Lucas tried to get his dads to help the floodgates opened. She was just so overwhelmed and
terrified. Looking back at it, it was a bit embarrassing, but in the moment when Lucas was
proudly holding Taeyong’s hand bringing him towards Mina, she just went into survival
mode; screaming and crying. Everyone stared at her, Wendy tried to comfort her but it wasn’t
enough, so Jihyo took her inside the classroom leaving the next classroom’s teacher to
combine both classes and handle everything.
The two of them just sat on the beanbags for what felt like hours as Mina calmed down. She
cried and hid her face into the soft fleece of the chair, but never once did Jihyo touch her or
hurt her. Instead the teacher just hummed soft tunes, calming her down to the point she could
look over at her. Jihyo just smiled back at her, her body was too big for the child sized chair,
her legs folded at an awkward angle, but she didn’t move. Mina dictated the pace, something
she had never the privilege of doing before. They didn’t talk much, instead they laid on the
floor and drew while Jihyo played soft music in the background. Mina tried her damn best to
tell Jihyo what was wrong, drawing picture after picture of her home. Jihyo didn’t seem to
understand what she was trying to say.

“Or remember when she used to do my hair?” Mina asked again. Sooyoung looked down at
her shoes.

Following that day, Mina found herself opening up a bit more to the teacher. Every morning
before they entered the classroom, they could even get a fist bump, high five, or hug. Usually
Mina would just shake her head and enter the classroom, but the day after family day she
found herself pressing the hug button, visibly surprised Jihyo obliged pulling her into a tight
hug. So incredibly love deprived, Mina had started bawling clutching onto the teacher.
Morning hugs became something Mina treasured. Mina’s bangs always tickled her eyes,
causing her to swipe them out of her eyes repeatedly. She knew she looked dirty, other kids
had pointed out the holes in her clothes and how her hair was greasy. But Jihyo had taken it
upon herself to tie Mina’s hair up into a ponytail every morning, pinning her bangs back with
Bobby pins. She had even bought Mina a heavier coat under the excuse she bought it for her
niece and it didn’t fit. She would give Mina just a bit more attention when she felt the girl
needed it, and backed off when Mina made it clear she wanted to be left alone.

Going into school the day after it happened was tough. Everything hurt. Her ears hurt from
all the screaming all night, her face hurt, her body hurt. But she wanted to go to school so
desperately, wanted to be in the safety that Jihyo provided, that Tzuyu, Yeri, Sooyoung, and
Lucas provided. She just wanted to feel safe. She didn’t feel safe. She watched Jihyo’s
expression drop as the teacher let her eyes flutter over the bruises covering her face, her
scared expression, Mina didn’t want to dwell on it for too long so she pressed the hug button
and dove into Jihyo’s arms. Of course Jihyo made her stay during lunch, the two of them
coloring as she asked her how she got the bruises and why she was so sad. Mina couldn’t
answer, again she tried to show. But by now she just figured she was a bad artist.

“There are worse people your Mom could be dating.” Mina hummed, passing a blue crayon
to Sooyoung.
“I tried to talk about this with Yeri.” Sooyoung said, “But she doesn’t understand. Her parents
are together, and she doesn’t even remember her real parents. I just can’t understand why
they don’t love each other anymore.”

“Maybe your Mom just likes girls?” Mina suggested, “Momo tried to explain why some girls
like girls and boys like boys, she said sometimes people try to hide it. Maybe she tried to hide
it too?”

“Why?”

“Maybe she was scared of what people like Minhyuk’s dad would say?”

“Maybe.” Sooyoung blinked, “If she can just stop loving him, can she just stop loving me
too?” Insecurity laced her tone.

“I don’t think she stopped.” Mina stated, earning a confused look from Sooyoung, “People
love each other a lot of different ways. If she married him, she had to love him maybe just not
in the love love way. Maybe it’s in the way I love you, I don’t want to date you but I love you
still.”

“That makes sense.”

“Did you talk to her about it? All this?”

“Kind of,” Sooyoung shrugged, “I don’t want to bother her.”

“Maybe you should. I always ask my mommies questions, and they usually answer. It’s not
being a bother, she should be able to explain things to you.”
“But-“

“She’s not going to not love you.” Mina started, her voice firm. It’s okay, I still love you.
Those were the words Mina said to her mom, after everything. And her mom still loved her,
she could see it. “I pinky promise.”

Love was a tricky thing. You never really stopped loving, it just found new ways to show
itself.

“Mina,” Jihyo peeked her head into the hall, smiling at the two of them, “Sana texted me,
she’s outside. Do you want me to walk you out?”

“No, it’s okay.” Mina smiled and picked her bag pack up, waving goodbye to both of them
before running as fast as she could outside, nearly toppling Sana over.

“Hi penguin.” Sana smiled, reaching down and picking the kid up, “How was school.”

“It was good!” Mina smiled, “I read all by myself today!”

“That’s great!” Mina always wanted to do good so Sana would be happy, the kindergartener
loved the way Sana would smile and hug her a bit tighter when she did good. “The babies are
coming over tonight.”

“They are?”

“Yeah, Nayeon’s been tired lately. She’s probably going to fall asleep as soon as she gets to
our house.”

“MINATOZAKI SANA YOU BITCH!”

“I CAN EXPLAIN.”

“Babe, please put the baby down first.”

Nayeon carefully set the carrier down on the ground, before looking up and glaring at Sana
who stood on the other side of the couch hands up like she was trying to calm an animal.
Sana could see her eyes zero in on the ring on her finger as soon as she went to go take the
carrier from her hands. It was her own fault for underestimating the senior detective. If Sana
could just put a bit of space between them-

Nayeon jumped over the fucking couch.

“What is this!” She screamed, grabbing Sana’s hand and pulling it up to her eyes, “Is this
what I think it is?!”

“Surprise. We’re engaged.”

“You-“ She could almost hear Nayeon’s brain exploding as she looked over the piece of
metal, “SHE PROPOSED?”

“Technically I did first.”

“YOU-“ Nayeon’s mouth dropped, “And you didn’t tell me?”

“I didn’t get the chance.”

It took nearly five minutes for Jeongyeon to pry Nayeon off of Sana, another ten to convince
the senior detective not to kill her. Eventually she relayed the events of the proposal, to which
Jeongyeon barked out in laughter and Nayeon looked at her in disapproval making comments
about how she can’t expect anything out of Sana. They had to leave though if they wanted
any sort of real sleep, and it took a lot to push Nayeon out the door.

Sana got it, Nayeon was nervous of leaving her kids for the first time. But she was also fairly
certain that the young parents were about to pass out any second, the babies keeping them up
all night. When Mina first stayed with her, Sana figures she was a bit like them, crying in the
middle of the night and had to be calmed down. But Mina was pretty low maintenance, if she
was hungry, she ate, if she was sad, she said why (sometimes), if she needed something, she
asked. The babies didn’t do any of that. Sana had seen just how needy they were first hand
when she visited the Yoos, and it wasn’t really something she was interested in.

They were just so dependent, and if Sana messed up it could be devastating. Momo had been
bringing up babies and houses lately, and everything in her still just told her no. The house
across the street from Tzuyu was about to go up for sale, and maybe Sana had peaked around
on a few websites for listings. But a house was very different from a human. And quite
frankly Mina was all she needed, even if Momo argued it would be best if Mina had a
sibling.

Still, Mina looked cute holding up her stuffed toys to the babies asking them if they wanted
to play. Of course the babies just babbled back at her, but it was the thought that counted.
Both the dogs were interested, looking into the carriers their tails wagging as Grumpy stood
back and tried to peer in as well. This felt strangely comfortable.

That was until the babies started wailing.

Yeji started crying first, her face scrunching up as she let out high screams and angry tears
running down her cheeks. That seemed to set Hyunjin off who started crying as well.

Fuck.

The two of them exchanged a quick glance then looked at the now crying babies. Mina didn’t
like it, her hands immediately flying to cover her ears as she peered into the car seat. Babies
crying had to be one of the worst sounds on planet earth, it was just so loud. The way
Hyunjin’s eyebrows would furrow or Yeji’s fingers would curl as she squirmed around was
just ugly. The crushing realization hit all at once; Sana had no clue what to do.
Babies had never been a thing to her. She was an only child, and no one around her ever had
any until now, she was completely in the dark. Maybe they were hungry? Sana rushed into
the kitchen and placed the bottles into the microwave just like she had seen Jeongyeon do a
million times. Yeji for some reason had completely rejected Nayeon and would only be bottle
fed, Hyunjin was indifferent as long as he was fed. Nayeon was a bit bummed by that, but
that was perfect for Sana. She took the bottles out and tested to make sure, offering one to
Mina before holding it to Hyunjin’s lips. The room hushed as Mina did the same, and both
twins started eating. Carefully, Sana removed Hyunjin from his seat, cradling him in her arms
as she fed him. Mina just sat next to the carrier, holding the bottle up.

Who knew babies could eat so much? The bottles were finished eventually, and Sana even
taught Mina how to burp the babies, watching over as Mina carefully helped. They fell back
asleep soon, and that’s when Momo came in. She looked exhausted but she still smiled as
Mina excitedly ran up to her, never once letting it dampen her mood. She came over to her
and pressed a kiss onto her temple, peering into the baby carriers, “Have they been good?”

“They cried a bit earlier, but they’ve been sleeping ever since.”

Momo went quiet, looking at the babies with this soft smile, “You know, I think Mina
must’ve been a cute baby.”

It never dawned on her before, but Sana had no clue what Mina looked like as a baby. Sana
pictures her as the type of baby that just slept all the time, never making too much noise. She
missed Mina’s first words, her first steps, and she wasn’t too sure how she felt about that.
Even though she wasn’t really supposed to, maybe Sana would look through the evidence
room tomorrow to see if any baby pictures of Mina were seized. “The cutest.”

“My parents come next week.” Momo hummed, plopping down onto the couch, “I need to
start decorating the house.”

“What?” Sana shook her head, “I think the house is fine as is.”

“Babe I have two full containers of Christmas decorations that are going up, and a fake tree.”
Sana knee she wasn’t going to win so she just sighed and nodded along, laughing as Momo
picked up Boo and tucked him into her arms.

Even when the babies started crying a little bit later, Sana still felt happy. Sure her head hurt a
bit and the babies crying still freaked her out beyond belief, but this felt fine. This felt like
home. Sana had a home.
 Chapter 44

Sana really wasn’t sure if this was going to work.

First off Momo had never mentioned her father was a Goliath of a man. One little detail that
would have thoroughly prepared not only Mina but Sana as well. The second he walked into
their apartment dressed in a pair of shorts and tight athletic shirt, Sana knew this man had to
either live at the gym or was part hulk. Even her Mom was quite fit, it kind of explained why
Momo willingly worked out while Nayeon had to drag Sana to the gym. Momo had a great
body, it was clear where she learned her fitness habits from. As if Sana wasn’t already
intimidated by the prospect of meeting Momo’s parents, to know they looked like they made
things ten times harder.

Momo had left a few hours earlier, waking her up and telling her to wake Mina up and get her
ready while she was gone. The two of them had a pretty lazy morning, watching a few
cartoons together with the dogs, and ate some sugary cereal that Sana had bought and hid
from Momo. There wasn’t much to do anyways, Momo had already mostly decorated the
house. It looked like the North Pole threw up in their living room, garland and small figurines
covered the place. There were a few unpacked boxes or ornaments and a toy train for the
bottom of the tree they hadn’t set up yet. Momo had argued that they needed to do it with her
parents, and plus she wanted to paint ornaments with Mina first as well. If she remembered
correctly Momo said she wanted to do it tonight as a way to bond them all together, but she
wasn’t really listening so she could be wrong.

Their youngest was a bit nervous too, she didn’t say but Peng had been sandwiched in her
arms all morning. Even if she said she was excited to meet Momo’s parents, Mina had asked
to be picked up as soon as the door started to open. She could feel the way Mina started to
tense up in her arms when they both laid eyes on the bear of a man that was Momo’s dad.
The detective had been a bit concerned about this ever since Momo first suggested it, Mina
didn’t like men, she warmed up to Taeyong and Mark, and was starting to like Jackson, but
outside of that Sana had no idea how she was going to react. As much progress as she had
made, things still took time and even in Sana’s care, Sana herself was hurt by a man.

The trio made their way into the apartment, Momo’s parents immediately set their sights on
both Sana and Mina. Her mother smiled, waving as Mina just buried her face into Sana’s
neck. Momo helped her dad bring their bags in, stopping and staring at Sana, “ I thought you
said you were gonna wear something nice!”
She looked down at her outfit, blue jeans and a grey turtleneck, Mina was even wearing a
matching outfit. T-this was her nice?

“Momo, leave the poor girl alone.” Momo’s mom shook her head, brushing past the girl to go
give Sana a hug, taking both her and Mina by surprise. Sana was expecting a handshake at
most if she absolutely had to have contact, “I think you look great honey.”

“You speak Japanese?” That wasn’t exactly the first thing Sana ever wanted to say to her
girlfriend’s parents. Maybe a hey, how are you? Or it's very nice to meet you ma’am.

She didn’t seem to mind though, barking out in laughter in a way that was warm and
comforting, her eyes crinkling up, “No, but I know our Momo too well.”

Our Momo. That was strange, Sana had only met this woman for a few minutes but she was
already including her. This felt weird. Her parents were never affectionate with her, and while
Eunha spent a long time slowly getting Sana out of her shell it took a while, even Nayeon and
her weren’t super affectionate with each other. It was almost-nice? It was nice for a second,
until another much Mather body encompassed the two of them: Momo’s dad.

This time it didn’t go over as well. Just as Sana had been expecting her to do ever since they
walked into her house, Mina burst into tears sending him flinging himself off of them and
both parents looking at the child with worry written over their faces. Great, fucking great.
Sana bounced her gently, cringing when she felt Mina hide her face away into Peng’s fur.

“Taecyeon! Look what you did!”

“I only did what you did!”

“You made the baby cry!”

“I didn’t mean to!”

In any other circumstances they might have been amusing, but right now it was starting to
stress Sana out. In a hushed tone, she spoke to Mina, “Hey, why are you crying?”

No response, not that Sana really expected one.

“Buddy, don’t cry. That’s Momo’s dad.”

“Momo’s dad?” Mina sniffled, finally calming down as she looked up at Sana. Sana just
nodded, and this seemed to calm Mina down a little bit. She could see it in Mina’s eyes,
complete and utter trust. Sana wouldn’t bring someone dangerous into their house, so if Sana
wasn’t worried she didn’t have a reason to be as well.

“Suzy, the gift.” Momo’s dad motioned, to which she quickly reached into their carry on and
pulled out a book. She handed it to him, which he held out in Mina’s direction, “Momo told
me you like these books.”

Detective Penguin and the case of the missing snowman. How many of these damn books
were there? Mina already had six, this made her collection go up to seven. But this seemed to
be the right move, Mina looking over at the book, hesitating for a second before reaching out
to grab it, her face lighting up as she recognized the character on the cover of the book. She
looked up at them and then back down at the book.

And just like that the Oks were officially in, and they seemed to be just like Momo filling the
entire space with their presence and warmth. It was strange they talked like they had all
known each other for ever. Suzy smiled and walked over to a shelf picking up a picture frame
with smiling Mina with the two dogs on either side of her, “This place is really cute!”

It was small. They must’ve known Momo’s old place and how much nicer it was than here.
Were they mocking her? Her father looked around as well squinting his eyes before pointing
to the corner of the living room, “We can set the tree up here!”

“That’s what I was thinking!” Momo smiled.

These two weeks couldn’t go by fast enough.

This was working.

Momo could tell. Her dad was busy setting up the tree, which was honestly a pretty good
choice for him because she wasn’t too sure how Mina (and Sana) would be surrounded by
both of her parents all at once. Mina seemed a bit calmer now, sitting on Sana’s lap as the
ladies decorated ornaments. The kindergartener always did love to draw, so this was probably
the best way to get her calm.

Sana was the problem. She was just so damn shy she didn’t even attempt to talk to her
mother, instead conversing with Mina in soft Japanese. It didn’t stop her mother from trying
thought.

“I heard we’re having dinner with your mother tomorrow.” Suzy smiled. Momo knew she
really didn’t mean harm by that, she was just trying to engage Sana in a conversation but this
probably wasn’t the best thing to talk about. Momo had been very against Sana’s mother
coming over the second Sana had told her about it and showed her the texts.

She didn’t have good intentions. Momo just had this gut feeling as she read over the text,
after what happened last time she just didn’t trust them. Sana had kinda told her about her
past, glossing over some parts but Momo still had a pretty clear timeline in her head of what
happened. The look in Sana’s eyes when she talked to Momo about it was heartbreaking.

“She apologized, Momoring.” There was this hint of disbelief in Sana’s voice as she said
this, like she was sure this was a dream. Momo didn’t have the heart to point out that it
sounded more like she thought the way he acted was wrong, not that she was sorry for
anything she had ever done to her.
Of course she hadn’t told her parents about Sana’s turbulent past, primarily for two reasons.
One, it wasn’t really their business. Two, she didn’t want it to affect the way they thought of
her, not that she thought they would really care but still. Still she could see the way Sana
tensed up a bit before muttering out a small, “Yeah, she is.”

“What does your family do?”

“My mom does data processing, and my dad is an architect and a preacher.” That was new,
Momo had no idea of that. Sure she knew they were religious, but she didn’t know he was a
preacher or that they had good jobs.

“Oh, are you religious?” Suzy asked. “Are you going to want to have the wedding in a
church?”

“No. I’m not religious. I don’t believe in God.”

Her mother wasn’t dumb, she could see her start to try and connect the dots in her head.
Thankfully she just let it go, “So you’re a detective?”

“Yeah.” Gee. Thanks for that Sana, so informative. Go girl, give us nothing.

“That’s cool. I’m a teacher.”

Mina’s head popped up at that, “You are?”

“Mhm, I teach seventh grade math.” Mina lowered her head. With her diagnosis, Math was
getting a lot easier. Mina didn’t cry during her math anymore, she seemed to be taking to the
new techniques they were teaching her well.

“Maybe if you ask, Grandma can read you your new story before you go to bed?” Momo
suggested, “She’s a teacher so she must know how to read.”
“Do you not want to?”

Huh? “What? No, I’d love to. I just thought maybe you two would want to spend some time
together.”

“But reading is our thing.”

“Okay, okay.” Mina was starting to become more like Sana every day and Momo wasn’t too
sure if she liked it all too much. (Of course she loved it, but the both of them were so
frustrating at times. She loved them more than life itself either way though.)

BANG

“Sorry!” Taecyeon called from the living room, sending them an apologetic smile. He
knocked into a box sending it crashing down to the ground while trying to put the second part
of the tree onto the first. While it scared her for a second, Momo just shook her head and
turned back to the three girls at the table. Mina and her Mom seemed fine. But, there was
something off about Sana that Momo just couldn’t put her finger on. Her breathing was a bit
off, and her hands flew up to cover her ears.

“Babe, you okay?”

“Yeah,” Sana nodded, but Momo could tell her mind was somewhere far away, “I-it’s hot in
here. I think I’m going to go breathe in the hall for a minute.”

“Huh?” Before she could say anything Sana was already out the door, and Momo couldn’t
help but feel a bit concerned.

“Is she okay?” Her mother asked, looking over at the now closed front door.
“Yeah, I’ll check up on her in a minute. She doesn’t like to be crowded when she’s like this.”

“Is she doing okay? You know, after what happened.”

For the most part Sana had been better that Momo had anticipated. The lawyer had gotten
some pamphlets of how to deal with traumatic experiences, but between Sana’s therapy and
willingness to take care of herself she had been handling everything fine. Other than her first
night back, she maybe had two other episodes that weren’t as bad and both of those had been
triggered by stress. “Yeah she’s good, I just think she’s stressed out right now. She’s a bit
shy.”

“Oh, should I leave her alone then?”

“Maybe, just for a little bit.” Momo shrugged, “I don’t get why she’s so nervous.”

“She probably just wants us to like her.” Suzy offered, adding a Pom Pom to ornament.
That’s true- Sana always wanted people to like her. She may not show it, but especially
people close to Momo she really sought for the approval of. Hana was a prime example, after
Momo had told her off for not making an effort, Sana really tried. She needed to take a deep
breath and lay off of Sana for a bit.

Eventually Sana came back in, made herself a glass of orange juice and helped Mina with her
ornament. The two of them looked so cute with their matching outfits, even if it wasn’t that
dressed up. Sana would hand Mina some glitter or a marker and the girl would draw just to
show it to the detective and grin when Sana told her it looked pretty. Two goofs. Apparently
her Mom thought so as well, watching the two of them quietly a small smile on her lips. You
picked a good one. She could see it written all over her face.

The tree was set up and the five of them started placing the ornaments on the tree. Momo was
never one for the perfectly themed trees with matching bulbs, instead having a bunch of
mismatching ornaments that all held meaning. She even bought a few new ones for this year
already, a small family of snowmen with Sana, Mina, and her own name inked into it and a
baby’s first Christmas ornament that had a little space to put a picture of Mina into it. When
she first moved here this was her favorite part because she didn’t have to talk, they could all
just put the ornaments on in peace and not have to worry about the language she constantly
tripped and stumbled over. Even though now she was fluent she still enjoyed the peace it
brought.

Mina was getting along with her parents surprisingly well. Her mom and her were engaged in
a small conversation, well it was more one sided of Mina telling her about her best friend
Tzuyu. And when her Dad tried to engage in the conversation, Mina didn’t freak out instead
she just held Peng a bit tighter and spoke to him as well. Of course Mina was going to sleep
in their room tonight, she wasn’t that comfortable yet but to see Mina call them Grandma and
Grandpa was a good sign. Even Sana seemed more relaxed now, wrapping her arms around
Momo when she felt like they weren’t looking.

“You know you can hug me while they’re looking.” Momo teased.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Momo giggled, leaning back into her as she put a few ornaments up, “You feeling
okay.”

“Yeah, sorry, it got a bit too loud-“

“The bang scared you huh?”

“A little.”

“Sorry.” Momo frowned, “Is your mom still coming tomorrow?”

“As far as I know.” Sana bit her lip, turning to look at where Mina and Momo’s parents were
now happily playing with the toy train that ran under the tree. “She’s getting along well with
them.”
“I told you, as long as we are calm she’s going to be calm too.” Momo turned her head to
press a kiss on Sana’s cheek, “So make sure to chill.”

“Okay, okay. I-I just don’t want them to hate me and say we can’t get married.”

“I don’t know anyone that could hate you, plus even if they didn’t approve I’d still go for it
anyways.” Momo turned around, pressing a soft kiss on her lips, “Relax.”

“Okay, okay.”

Sana was still very far from relaxed, but she was trying. That’s all Momo could ask for.
 Chapter 45

“Babe stop pacing.” Momo called for what had to be the fifth time in the past twenty
minutes. Sana couldn’t help it though, she felt- well she wasn’t sure how she felt. Hana,
Nayeon, and Jeongyeon were already getting acquainted in the dining room while Momo’s
dad cooked with Mina and her Mom entertained the babies. Everyone was here, well
everyone except one person.

She was already nearly an hour late, was she just not going to come? Did something happen?
Sana should call her. She should- Two arms stopped her, hands gripping onto either side of
her face. “Relax.”

She took a deep breath. Trying to will herself to relax. She was okay. Everything was going
great so far. Mina was really getting along well with Momo’s parents, especially her dad. She
woke up to the two of them dancing to the baby shark song in the living room while Momo’s
mother watched and recorded it on her phone. As nice as it was to see Mina start to bond with
them, Sana wasn’t sure her mental well being could withstand Mina’s newfound love for
baby shark. She found herself being at ease with the two of them all morning, chatting about
Momo’s love for Disney movies and how Boo was her baby for the majority of the morning.

This was going to be fine. This was okay.

Knock knock knock.

THIS WAS NOT GOING TO BE FINE. THIS WAS NOT OKAY.

As if sensing her internal panic, Momo rubbed her finger on her face before breaking off,
grasping their hands together as Sana opened the door. Just like her father, she still looked the
same. Sure she was a bit older, and she now had some white hair and wrinkles. But there she
was. “Hi.”

“Hi.”
“Do you want to come in?” Sana stepped aside and her mother walked in. She gripped
Momo’s hand a bit tighter. She watched her Mother’s eyes narrow as she looked around,
taking in the place.

“It’s..cozy.” A thinly veiled smile spread across her lips. It’s small. That’s what she meant.
Sana guessed that was fair, Momo had given up the lease on her apartment last week when
she finally convinced Sana to start house hunting with her. The house across the street from
Tzuyu was really calling her name, and even better it was being foreclosed. The previous
owners just stopped paying, which worked out perfectly for her because that meant it would
be cheap. Still, she liked her current apartment. Sure it was a bit on the smaller size, and
having everyone over was a bit of a squeeze however it still got the job done.

“This is Momo, my fiancé.” Fiancé. That word almost felt surreal. Her mother just offered a
small bow of acknowledgment. Momo frowned, but she was just shy too. That was at least as
Sana told herself.

Dinner was delicious. Momo’s father was definitely where she got her cooking skills from.
Him (and Mina, though she really did nothing) made a wide spread of side dishes and food,
even homemade strawberry milk. It was honestly amazing, and despite the one mishap of
Sana trying to feed a strawberry slice to the babies and everyone yelling at her all at once
they were having a great time.

“We used to go on walks as a family when we first moved here,” Hana laughed, brushing
tears out of her eyes as she tried to finish the story, “And so Momo and I would play rock,
paper, scissors. She would walk backwards and I would walk forwards, but one day she fell
off a small cliff. And I thought she died, so I got to the side of the cliff and call out, ‘ Momo?’
No answer. I try again. The third time, emerging for the depths below is nine year old
Momo’s voice, ‘ YOU BITCH YOU BETTER HOPE I NEVER GET UP THERE!’”

“ I did not swear!”

“Yes you did!” Momo’s mom laughed along, “That was the first time I ever heard you yell
and it was so hilarious.”
“Back when Sana and I lived together, one morning I woke up to all the smoke alarms going
off in the house.” Nayeon cut in, a smirk on her lips, “I go into the kitchen, and there is just
smoke everywhere and Sana, trying to fan it out. I turn the microwave off and grab these
charred squares out. Sana tried to microwave pizza rolls for sixty minutes because she
misread the packaging.”

“I take it Momo is the one that cooks.” Momo’s dad laughed.

“I try-“

“Yes dad, I cook. She’s ruined our kitchen twice.”

“Speaking of kitchens,” Jeongyeon cut in, “I got the number to our realtor if you want to use
her.”

“You’re buying a house?” Hana asked

“We’re thinking about it-“

“Yes! We are!”

“After the wedding.” Sana sighed, reaching over to place more meat on Mina’s plate. If she
ever wanted to be taller than Tzuyu she was going to have to eat a lot more veggies.

“When do you guys plan on having the wedding?” Hana asked, “I’ll need to plan ahead and
clear my schedule for that day.”

“Soon? Next month maybe?”

“NEXT MONTH?” Sana almost choked on her drink. Sure she knew they were actually
going to have to have a wedding but so soon. They hadn’t even discussed any of the details,
they needed a venue, and dresses, and food, and a cake, maybe an ice cream cake cause Sana
didn’t like cake, and-

“Sana was the maid of honor at my wedding.” Nayeon giggled, “You guys should have seen
her, wearing this dusty pink dress and frowning the entire night. Half way through she
changed into a pair of sweatpants and sneakers.”

The room erupted in laughter- it was just so Sana. She could feel her face starting to turn red,
yet she laughed along. Suzy smiled, “I guess we’re just going to have to get you a pair of
white sweatpants for your big day.”

“Mom! Don’t! She’ll actually try that!”

“Hey, if it what the brides wants-“

“I’m the bride too, and I don’t want that.” Momo pouted.

“What do you think Mrs.Minatozaki,” Suzy motioned to her mother.

She just shrugged, a look of indifference adorning her face, “Whatever Sana wants to do is up
to her. I won’t be at the wedding, so I don’t care.”

“You’re not going to be at the wedding?” Momo’s mother’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
So did everyone’s. Sana could hear Nayeon grumbling under her breath right next to her, she
could really blame her; this was news to her as well.

“No. I have no intention of going to something like that. ”

The table fell silent. Even Mina was quiet, and Sana wasn’t even sure if she knew what was
going on. That stung a bit. She wasn’t even sure why she was expecting her mother to want
to come, this was the first time she was hearing about this. She probably just needed to think
about it. Plus she was sick, she needed to rest. It’d be too much. It was just because she was
sick.

Right?

She hoped so.

She really did.

But when the silence got too thick and her mother just stood up and grabbed her purse, Sana
watched her walk out. And suddenly Sana was sixteen years old again, sobbing to Jessica
Jung because her mother caught her kissing Kim Jisoo. She hated it.

Not this time. This time, Sana wasn’t going to be left behind.

She stood up as well, brushing past worried faces as she rushed into the living room.

“Why are you leaving?” Sana grasped onto her mother’s arm as she made her way down the
hall. Her fingers gripping into the flesh, trying to tether her to herself. “We haven’t even had
dessert yet.”

“ I need to go. ” There was something cold and uncaring in her mother’s tone that unsettled
Sana.

She tried to step in front of her, still holding onto her arm, “Wait, wait, don’t go yet.”

“ Why not?”
“What do you mean why not?” Sana squinted at her. What did she mean? How could she just
leave, especially right now, Momo and her parents were waiting in the other room and all she
had done all night was be rude. “My fiancé and her parents are in the other room.”

Her mother just reached around her and grabbed her dark grey peacoat, slipping it on in one
smooth motion, “I don’t care about meeting those people.”

“You don’t?”

She shook her head, crossing her arms.

“Why?” Sana’s tone was starting to rise, she could feel her temper starting to rise. “Then why
would you come!”

“I need you to get tested.”

Six words is all it took to critically wound Sana. They hit her in her gut, impaling themselves
and twisted, leaving her writhing in pain. She didn’t care. She didn’t care about Sana, she
didn’t care about reconnecting, she didn’t care about Momo or Mina, she didn’t care about
her job. She wanted something from her. Sana would only ever be valuable to her when she
had something she wanted. “What?” She really hoped it wasn’t true. “You don’t mean that. Is
that really all you want?”

“Yes.” Her mother sighed, glancing back in the direction of the kitchen where she knew
everyone was inevitably listening to their conversation. Sana wouldn’t put it past her to
purposely speak in Japanese so Momo’s parents couldn’t understand to save face. “Sana, you
live a life of sin and don’t even seem sorry for it. You may be going to hell but you won’t be
bringing me with you.”

“Then why did you come back?”

“Do you really think I wanted to leave you? Why can’t you just be normal?” Her mother
asked, “You choose to be like this, everything that has happened to you is your fault. I want
to help you Sana, but I don’t think I can.”

“Do you have any idea what I’ve been through because of you, Mom? Do you not understand
what I’ve been through? I was homeless because of you, I was starving because of you, I
slept on park benches and stole, and did way worse things than that just to survive!” Sana’s
tone just kept getting louder, angry tears starting to spill down her cheeks as she flung her
arms around. She caught a glimpse of the Hirai’s in the corner of her eye, Momo’s mother
and father standing in shock as they watched the exchange, Hana holding an upset looking
Mina, and Momo, Nayeon, and Jeongyeon glaring at the situation no doubt ready to step in.
“I’ve been so hurt for so long, and it’s all your fault. All I’ve ever wanted from you was a
phone call, or one of those stupid christmas letters I know you and Dad still make. That’s it! I
really needed you, and you were never there!”

Momentarily her mother’s expression softened, trailing her as Sana started to make her way
deeper into the living room, reaching out to hold onto her as Sana desperately swatted her
arms away. “Sana-“

“Why now! Why when I finally got my life together you come crawling back to me cause
you need me! What about when I needed you!” Sana was yelling now, and she didn’t care.
Her voice cracked and trembled as she tried to angrily wipe away tears and distance herself
from her mother. “Why!”

“Sana you need to calm down.” She reached out to her, which Sana desperately pushed back
at. She kept trying to grasp her, as Sana sobbed and tried to kick her off. It was messy, it was
loud. “You’re being too emotional.”

“I begged you to take me back. I cried and I begged, when I was a child, when she died. And
you turned me away. When I was suffering, you ignored me. And you want me to help you!”

“Sana-“

“Get off of me!” Sana screamed, thrashing her arms, backing up until she finally freed
herself, the moment of which made her stumble back and crash into the tree. The poor
Christmas tree came tumbling down, landing on the floor with a loud crash. “How dare you!
How- I hate you!” She got up, reaching out and swiping the stupid Christmas decorations
stacked up near the base of the tree. She wasn’t even sure what she was saying anymore, just
screaming and covering her face as she tried to get a grip on herself. She grabbed one of the
mini Christmas trees that Momo had so carefully put up off the mantel and threw it, the base
of it shattering as soon as it hit the wall.

It was funny, Sana had been shot before but this still felt like some of the worse pain she had
experienced. Years and years of hoping and wishing and begging, and this is what she got.
She vaguely registered someone stepping between them, either Momo or Hana, as Sana
started screaming again, “Get out of my house! I never want to see you again!”

She couldn’t breathe. Her chest felt tight and constricted as she clutched onto the front of her
shirt, she needed to breath. Turning on her heel she stomped to her bedroom, slamming it
shut and locking it. She looked around, eyeing the god awful vanity that Momo brought from
her old place. With trembling hands, she started pulling it, and by some miracle managed to
wedge it in front of the door. She could hear pounding on the door and the door knob rattle.
Momo’s voice flooded through the door, “Sana! Sana please open the door!”

“Please go away Momo.” Sana pleaded, lowering herself down onto the floor her legs not
being able to support her anymore. “I can’t breathe! I need to breathe! I’m suffocating!”

“Sana please-“

“Don’t come in! Just make that bitch leave! I never want to see her again!”

She heard a small commotion outside the door, and finally the front door open and close.
Stupid. She was so stupid. Why would she think she wanted to have her back in her life.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. She dug her face into her hands, trying to will herself to calm down.
She could hear the tree being propped back up, decorations being put back into their place.
And then the sound of Christmas movies started playing. They were giving Sana the space
she asked for.

It took an hour, but Sana eventually moved the furniture out of the way, opening the door and
walking into the hall. With slow steps she walked into the livingroom and saw seven pairs of
eyes staring back at her. They didn’t leave. It was Momo’s mom that moved first, grabbing a
blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders and pushed her into the living room. The signs
of her breakdown were gone, and no one commented on it. Maybe they just didn’t know what
to say, maybe they knew she was one syllable away from shattering into a million tiny pieces.
Either way she appreciated it.

While it may have not been the best Christmas Eve ever, it did teach Sana two lessons. You
can’t try to cling onto people who just don’t want you. And two.

Sana didn’t have to run from her past anymore. She had a future to look forward to. And
maybe she was finally ready to let go and embrace that.
 Chapter 46

“Can’t sleep?”

“No.”

Even over the soft rain of the sound machine that Momo had brought from Mina’s room, she
could hear the lawyer sigh. Sana wouldn’t point out the fact that Momo wasn’t sleeping
either, and that they needed to get up in a little bit now that Mina was snoring with both dogs
curled into her sides on the floor. Telling the kid she shouldn’t sleep with them in bed was
hard, but Momo had to foresight to know if they didn’t Mina would wake up as soon as they
tried to slip out.

Their room was still a mess, various pieces of makeup and lotion littering the floor totaled
around when Sana had dragged the vanity. The furniture itself was still crooked and where
Sana had pushed it out of the way so she could open the door. No one had the energy to pick
up. The rest of the night was kind of nice, Momo’s dad made cookies and they laid some out
for Santa and watched movies. Nayeon had to go home early, the babies weren’t used to
being out so late, but she slipped a bag full of gifts under the tree and gave Sana a tight hug
before she left. They definitely would be chatting about what happened tonight sometime in
the future, just not now, Sana was too tired for that.

“I’m done with them. I mean it.”

“I know baby.”

“I’m blocking their numbers and that’s it, I don’t want to hear from them ever again. I’m not
getting tested, I’m not even going to go to their funerals. I’m done.”

“If that’s your decision, I’ll support you.” Momo gave her this sad smile, leaning over to
press a kiss on her cheek. “I’ll tell Mina to leave you alone tomorrow if you need space.”
“No,” Sana shook her head, “It’s Christmas. I’m feeling better, I’m just-“

“Sana, if you’re upset you don’t have to pretend that you're fine. I know you really wanted
things to work out.”

Sana fell quiet for a minute. “I’m upset.”

“Okay, and how can I help you feel better?”

“Just- just cuddle me.”

“I can definitely do that.” Momo smiled, wrapping her arms around Sana’s waist pulling her
back flush against her. It wasn’t often Sana was the little spoon, sure Momo was all for back
hugs but usually it was the detective that either was the big spook or cuddled upon. It was
kind of nice, Mina’s fish night light allowed Sana to see Momo’s face when she turned
around to snuggle into her shoulder. Their legs tangled as Momo brushed a strand of hair out
of Sana’s face.

“Mina wasn’t scared, right?” Sana asked. The thought dawned on her all at once. Her little
episode was embarrassing, she made a fool out of herself in front of Nayeon, Momo’s family,
and especially Momo and Mina. “I just lost my cool, I-“

“Why do you always think about everyone else instead of yourself?” Momo cut her off,
disbelief tainting her voice. “Babe, I have never seen you lose your cool like that. Sure, I’ve
seen you cry a few times but that wasn’t normal for you. Your hurting and you’re talking
about if Mina was scared, unbelievable.”

“I just- I don’t want her to be scared of me.”

“It would take a lot for her to be scared of you. The fact that she's sleeping on the floor not
hiding away right now is a good sign that she isn’t too affected.” Momo leaned down and
placed a kiss on Sana’s forehead, “How are you feeling.”
Sana went quiet for a minute. How was she feeling? Not good, that’s for sure. She was angry,
so angry she could barely sit still her hands itching to do something. But Momo would kill
her if she messed up her hair again, so she just took to gently playing with Momo’s. Grumpy
stretched out next to her, rolling on his back and extending his paws. “Hurt.”

“Yeah?”

“I feel like I was played. They were never great parents,”

“Understatement of the century.”

“No, like I mean before all this. We weren’t ever super close but I think I just wanted them to
love me. And it’s never really gone away. Then Eunha passed and I felt like I lost everything
all over again.” Sana went quiet. “I feel stupid right now.”

“You’re not stupid.”

“I keep replaying the same thing in my head. Everything that’s happened to you is your fault.
That can’t be true. Right?” Sana let her fingers dance around through Momo’s hair.

“No. It’s not. If you really want to put blame somewhere it’s them. It’s on them. Even if they
didn’t agree with you, they should’ve tried to understand, or something. Don’t listen to what
they say, they’re wrong.” Momo whispered, “I mean it. Please don’t let this be one of those
things that you let eat at you. You're such a good person Sana, I love you so much. And
you’ve been through a lot, but you tried your best through all of it.”

For once, Sana felt comforted by that. She believed that. “Okay.”

“I do have something to ask you too,” Momo hummed, “The other day my dad dropped the
tree, you got scared.”
“I did.” She couldn’t explain it. It was just loud and she was already a bit on edge with
Momo’s mom sitting right there next to her, the moment it sounded through their apartment
she couldn’t breathe.

“Are you doing okay?” Momo asked her this often. It was more nice than annoying most of
the time. She was just trying to check in with her. Sana liked to try and do the same.

“Yeah,” Sana shrugged, “I just don’t like loud noises too much. It makes me feel like I’m
back in the moment. I sound crazy.”

“No, I get it.” Momo went quiet for a minute, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No, I’m just going to keep getting help. Hopefully it’ll just go away.”

“Sana, things just don’t go away. Especially things like this.” Momo sighed, “What do you
want to do for New Years then?”

“Huh? I don’t know. Why did you get invited somewhere? I can just watch Mina if you want
to go and enjoy yourself.”

“No, but thank you for the offer. I’m thinking there’s going to be a lot of fireworks, are you
going to be able to handle the noise? I don’t want to see you cry because it’s too much, I hate
seeing you cry.”

“Maybe I can just play some music through my headphones and chill in our room?”

“I don’t know. I’ll think of something. Okay?”

“Okay.” Sana mused.

“Are you sleepy?”

“A little.” Sana murmured, “Talk to me about our wedding.”

“Well, I know you want a small wedding and that’s what I want too. So we can rent out a cute
little hall for a night and invite our friends and my family, and even some of Mina’s friends
because I know you don’t like to stay out too late.”

“I do-“

“No you don’t. It’s okay.” Momo giggled, “I was thinking Mina could be our flower girl, and
maybe even Tzuyu. They’d look so cute in the fluffy dresses. And my dad is going to walk
me down the aisle and then I’ll wait. Then you’re going to come down the aisle and everyone
is gonna think I’m the one to start crying first, but no it’s going to be you because you’re a
sap. Then we’re gonna say our vows and mine are going to be so good, and yours is gonna be
‘I love you. Let’s love each other forever.’ But that’s okay cause that’s so you. And then we’ll
kiss as Nayeon starts sobbing because she’s dramatic and then we’ll be Mrs. and Mrs.-
actually what are doing about that.

“Sana thought for a moment, “I kind of want to take your name.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. I don’t want to be reminded of everything every time I hear our names.”

“We could always hyphenate.” Momo suggested, “Make a new name to start our life
together.”

“I don’t know.”
“Let’s think about it.”

“And then we dance the night away, or until nine thirty and you get tired. Then Mina sleeps
over Tzuyu’s and we have some fun. Then the next morning we go and pick her up and the
three of us go on a honeymoon.”

“You want to bring Mina?” Sana was a bit surprised by that. It was never a doubt in her mind
that she wanted to bring Mina, but she wasn’t too sure how Momo would feel about that.
Leaving the kid alone, well she wouldn’t be alone she’d probably be with Tzuyu or Nayeon,
just didn’t sit right with her.

“Why would we not?” Momo shrugged, “I want to go to Japan, see the cherry blossoms with
her. I don’t know if we need to talk to her case worker, or if that’s even doable, but still-“

“When we get married, will you become Mina’s mom too?”

“Huh? Babe, I don’t know if you noticed but it’s the three of us in this together.”

“No, I know that. But would you get your fostering license and officially become her foster
mother with me?”

“I’d love to do that.” Sana could hear the smile in Momo’s voice. “I’ve been meaning to talk
to you about this, but what if we tried adopting her.”

“Wouldn’t that be difficult?” It would be a lie to say the thought hasn’t crossed her mind a
few times. The lingering fear that Mina could just be taken from them at some point dated to
swallow Sana whole sometimes, life without Mina- she couldn't imagine it.

“I was thinking that as well but I started talking to one of the family affairs and for us I
actually think it would be quite easy. Mina’s mom’s parental rights have been terminated
because of what she was convicted of; child abuse and neglect, and in the severity of what it
was for Mina there was no way she was ever going to get custody back. So right now Mina is
in the sole custody of the state, but we can start the adoption process and be granted custody
officially.”

“Really?”

“Mhmm. We could talk to Mina about it, see if that’s what she would like to do.”

“She’s six, I don’t think she understands.”

“I don’t think so either.” Momo shrugged, “But when I first was adopted my parents came
over to meet us and we had a really good week together before they asked us. If I was just
sent over here, I don’t know how I would feel. Even if she’s probably going to say yes when
we explain that’s how she can stay with us forever, it’s still nice to talk to her about it.”

“You’re right.”

“I can’t wait to marry you.”

“Me too.” She meant it.

“Sana wake up!”

“Five more minutes.”

“Santa came!”
“My name is Sana.”

“Not you, Santa.”

Finally Sana cracked an eye open, her soul leaving her body for a second when she saw
Mina’s eyes two inches away from her own. She jumped, but regained her composure
groaning and stuffing her face back into the pillow. This time tiny hands went and grasped
Sana’s arm, pulling gently. “ Mommy lets go!”

With a groan Sana sat up, letting Mina take her by the hand into the living room where
everyone was already awake sitting around the tree. First thing Sana noticed is that there
were more presents than the ones her and Momo set out last night, which either meant Momo
bought more presents without telling her or her parents bought some and didn’t tell her. Both
seemed equally possible.

Mina was so excited, this small goofy smile on her lips as she looked at all the presents. The
past two weeks Sana could tell Mina was a bit doubtful Santa would come, asking Sana if she
told him where she moved to and how long it took letters to arrive at the North Pole. Mina
hadn’t even given either of them a Christmas list when they asked, saying if he gave her a
note saying she knew where she was now and if she was on the naughty or nice list would be
good enough for her. It was sad, but also so distracting for Sana who had no idea what to buy
for her. Her phone pinged,

Joohyun

Hey SaMo, Santa must’ve accidentally dropped these off at the wrong place. They’re
addressed to Mina ;)

[8:32AM]

Joohyun

[Image attached]

[8:32AM]

A photo of a pretty sizable amount of presents sat, and Sana groaned. She had a feeling they
were going to do something like this ever since Joohyun asked what Mina liked and if she
needed clothes. Three more text messages rolled in, one from each of the parents saying there
were more presents at their houses. Dorks.

Mina settled on her lap as Momo’s dad started passing around presents. When the first one
addressed to her was given to her the entire family stopped, Sana knew exactly what this
was- she had wrapped it herself. A medium sized box with penguin wrapping paper and a
huge bow. Sure the wrapping job wasn’t good by any means, crumpled and a bit wonky, Sana
tried really hard. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Momo hold up her phone
recording everything, still dressed in red Christmas pajamas and her hair in a messy ponytail.

“Read the label bud.” Sana instructed, pointing to the tag that was stuck to the front.

“...to mi..mina” Mina squinted. Maybe Sana should have just read it for her, “from..santa.
Santa?!” Mina looked back up at Sana, who just nodded in encouragement before she went to
rip the corner of it pausing.

“What’s that?” Sana asked, a smile painting her lips as Mina paused. The kid slowly tore
back more paper, eyes widening. A picture of a mint green and blue switch was printed onto
the cover along with a sad looking...raccoon? Sana had no idea what that thing was. Honestly
she thought it looked kind of cute and Mina liked animals so she picked that one up instead
of the regular ugly blue and red one.

“A switch!”

“What? Santa got you a switch!” Momo gasped, a wide smile on her face as Mina held up the
box to show her. “You must’ve been really good this year!”

“Can we play with this now?”

“Now?” Sana laughed, “Let’s finish opening presents and then we can take it out and set it
up.”
Mina got a few new plushies, mostly various sea creatures that Sana and Momo had thought
she’d like, tickets to the aquarium, books, a few games to go with the switch, and a lot of new
clothes. Momo’s parents had also taken to spoiling her by buying her books and a few games
for Momo’s Xbox. While Mina showed her appreciation for all the stuff, Sana could just tell
she wanted to take the switch out and play with it as soon as she could. Mina was a bit
spoiled, but she never acted like it and she deserved it.

Everyone else got gifts as well, Momo bought her a new padded jacket saying her leather one
wouldn’t keep her warm and that she was going to get sick. Sana had bought her the blender
Momo had talked to her about a month ago, a really random gift but still. At first she was
thinking about buying her some lingerie, but if Momo opened that in front of her parents and
Mina, she might die. But Momo apparently didn’t share her foresight, snatching a bag out of
Sana’s hands, whispering that she needed to open it up when they were alone. Sana had
bought Momo’s parents a fancy ornament and they bought her a cute little photo album and
Polaroid camera.

The biggest surprise came when Mina handed her a small blue bag, and did the same for
Momo. What’s this? But Mina looked excited and so she opened it and immediately came
across a letter with her name etched on it in big messy letters along with a penguin sticker.
She opened it and let her eyes trail across the barely legible writing.

HI SaNa! MeerY chismast! I hoop u have A gud chIstmast! I lUV u! Becos oF U i have A bed,
and Doggys. IM sory for being loOud and SlEeping in ur bed, I’ll try tO be beter.

I luv U!

Minari :)

Inside was a small stuffed dog, a Shiba Inu if she remembered correctly. She took the small
plushie out and held it in her hands, it was definitely cute made in that sort of kawaii style
that was popular these days and a circular body. Momo had a raccoon stuffie in a similar
style. A smile washed over Sana’s feature, “What’s this?”

“I bought these when I went with Tzuyu to Daiso. Do you like it?”

“I love it!”
“I used my switch money for them because I wanted you to have something from me. Now
you can bring them to work like I bring Peng to school!” As much as Sana wanted to argue
and say she wouldn’t, she caved nodding in agreement.

Christmas progressed like that, easy and carefree. Her phone rang once, a call from her Mom
but she blocked the number and turned off her phone. She honestly didn’t care what it was
anymore. She was done, for real this time. She helped Mina set up her switch and the two of
them booted up Animal Crossing, designing Mina’s character. Momo and her parents made
some food, their laughter echoing out of the kitchen. She’d call Nayeon later, see how the
babies were enjoying Christmas more than the mall Santa the twins had started crying as
soon as they were handed over. The past few Christmas she spent working going over
Nayeon’s for dinner because the woman would make her.

This was nice.

 Chapter 47

Apparently someone was listening to Sana’s internal thoughts, because Sana did not expect to
get a box full of Mina's baby stuff in the mail three days after Christmas. It came with another
box, but that one had just some random items in it seemingly not of importance. One call to
Mina’s social worker later, she found out that it was just the last of Mina’s mother’s
belongings that were lingering in the old basement apartment. Why it was at Sana’s doorstep
though was a whole process, apparently Minzuko had nowhere to put the belongings so she
sent it to Sana’s police station for them to pass it on to her. It was a bit confusing but she
guessed it worked out in the end.

Mina had already gone to bed, just leaving Sana, Momo, and Momo’s parents lounging in the
living room when finally the contents of the box started nagging at Sana just a bit too much.
She peaked in both of them when they arrived but she hadn’t gone through them fully. So she
caved, dragging it into the middle of the living room. She could see the strange looks the
other three were giving her, “Babe what are you doing?”

“I’m looking at Mina’s baby stuff.” Sana answered simply, sitting cross cross on the floor
before she opened the box. The first thing she laid eyes on was a little pink and white jumper,
flipping it around so Momo could see, “Look.”

Momo reached her hands out and caught the garment when Sana threw it over, cooing at the
tiny piece of clothing. She smiled at the little piece, holding it up to show her father that was
sat right next to them. Maybe in a different life this would be Momo showing her parents
baby clothing they picked out together for a child of their own. She didn’t dwell on that
thought for too long.

What caught Sana’s attention almost immediately was the navy blue photo album tucked into
the box. She picked it up and observed the cover, aside for a few knicks and scratches it was
in shape. She opened it up seeing neat handwriting etched into the first page.

Hi Baby!

This is Mommy, if you’re reading this then you’re probably big enough to read now. That’s
crazy! Right now you're still in my tummy, I can’t wait to meet you.

Love you,
Mommy.

Sana let her eyes trace the lines of the ultrasound, smiling at the tiny baby. She flipped to the
next page, a picture of a newborn sleeping Mina. She could tell Mina had just emerged into
the world without having to read the caption based solely on the state of the baby. Newborns
were always downright ugly, anyone who said otherwise was a damn liar, they were all
wrinkling and looked like a sad deflated potato. They needed a few days to marinate before
they became cute.

The detective’s inkling that Mina was a cute baby was proved true as she started flipping
through more and more photos. There was a picture of Mina’s first bath which she didn’t
seem to enjoy one bit, as a tired looking Mizuko shot a worried look at the camera. There
were a few of a smiley Mina laying on a green blanket, the ear of a stuffed bunny grasped
between her fingers as she showed off her wide gummy grin.

A few more pages she found a photo of Mina sitting on a young man’s lap, Sana assumed it
was Mina’s dad because they had similar cheeks, pointing off camera. Mizuko had inked all
major accomplishments under their respective picture diligently.

Mina’s first words : no good (in reference to peas)

Mina’s first steps !!!

Mina and Mommy!!

They looked..happy. It was weird. Sana had only ever connected that woman to suffering, but
to see Mina’s mother’s wide smile as she took pictures was just a happy teenager with her
daughter. It felt weird. The last photo in the album was a picture of Mina holding onto her
Mother’s hand looking up at the camera and smiling.

Off to start our new lives in Korea!

There were no new pictures after that. Just empty pages. It just didn’t sit right with her, it was
probably because she knew what happened afterwards. Well kinda. It was strange, Mina was
really comfortable with them now, and would divulge small pieces of her past every so often
especially when it was bugging her. Why she kept so quiet was frustrating, all Sana wanted to
do was help her but she couldn’t help if she didn’t know what was wrong. The kindergartener
was really getting better, she hadn’t had a nightmare in nearly three weeks, her attitude has
been pretty steady, she seemed happy.

A few more clothing pieces were in the box, including a pair of tiny shoes that Sana swore
she almost died from cuteness. A few loose photos that never made it into the album or fell
out, one of chubby baby Mina dresses like a penguin scowling at the camera in a pumpkin
patch, and another of her trying to eat her fist. Maybe Sana would slip these two into the
photo album Momo’s parents got them.

There was a little green notebook in there as well. She picked it up, reading the barely legible
writing on the front; Mina. Sana’s brow furrowed, as she opened it. Mina had grown into
quite the little artist over the past few months but these drawings scribbled on the front were
sloppy and messy, much like how Mina’s art was right when she started staying with Sana.

The images in it were a bit confusing, the first one was a woman asleep on what looked like a
couch, and a dark figure next to her. The next page was one of the figure that Mina usually
drew of herself crying. The more Sana flipped the more she felt her stomach drop. There was
one of baseballs being thrown, another of Mina underwater.

“What’s that?” Momo’s dad asked from where he was looking through the photo album wig
Momo and Suzy. Sana just shrugged and shut the book.

“It’s nothing.”

In the end Sana kept three pictures before closing the box back up and stuffing it into the
closet in the hall. Momo’s dad went to bed an hour later, followed shortly by Momo leaving
Sana with a kiss on the lips and telling her not to take too long.

The lawyer had just assumed Sana would follow her to bed soon after she decided it was late
enough. They had to drive for nearly three hours tomorrow and had to leave by at least
twelve if they wanted to get to Mark’s cabin at a reasonable time.
Surprisingly enough Mark was the one that offered for them to stay at their little log cabin
near the sea when she sent the Mom group chat of her, Wendy, Seulgi, and Mark, a text about
recommendations about somewhere quiet to bring them for New Year’s Eve after Wendy
invited them over for a party.

What Momo didn’t expect was for Sana and her Mother to be deep in conversation on the
couch, cups of hot coco in their hands. Sana set her cup down, nodding along to whatever her
Mom said before Momo leaked her head into the living room.

“I take it your family isn’t going to come to the wedding.” Why was her Mom bringing that
up? Even Momo herself wouldn’t dare too after Christmas. Sana hadn’t really talked about it
so she just assumed she wanted to forget about it.

Much to Momo’s surprise Sana seemed indifferent to her questioning. “Nope.”

“If you want Taecyeon can walk you down the aisle.” Suzy smiled, “We were talking about
this last night, he wouldn’t mind. He likes you a lot. I do too.”

“No, that’s Momo’s dad. I don’t want to infringe on that. That’s special for her. I’m just going
to go alone.”

“Just think about it please.”

“I will.” Sana nodded, fumbling around with the stuffed bunny in her hands, almost dropping
it when two arms wrapped around her pulling her tight.

“I’m so glad Momo met you.” Suzy hummed, “Honestly at first when she told me she was
getting engaged I was a bit hesitant because I never met you, but after being with you these
past weeks, I’m so glad you’re the one marrying her.”

“Thanks.” Momo almost snorted at Sana’s lack of response. Thanks Sana, really reassuring.
“Seeing you with her and Mina when you think I’m not looking really proves to me how
much you love them.” Suzy smiled. “I can see how soft you get with them. You know
something really stuck out with me. The other night when you were screaming and crying,
you still said please to Momo.”

“I didn’t even notice I did that.”

“That’s because you respect her.” Suzy hummed, setting her cup next to her on the small
table next to the couch. “I heard you guys are going away tomorrow.”

“Momo’s making us go to the countryside because she thinks I’m too weak to handle the
fireworks that are going to go off.”

“She doesn’t think you're weak,” Suzy frowned, “She’s just afraid you’re being too strong.
It’s okay to be weak sometimes.” She went quiet, looking over Sana, “You’ve had to be
strong for a long time. Haven’t you.”

Sana didn’t have a response.

“Come here,” Suzy drew Sana back into a tight hug, and unlike all the other times Sana
seemed to melt into the affection that Suzy offered. “I hope I’m not overstepping my
boundaries, but I heard what you said to your Mom. I’m so sorry Sana.”

“It’s okay-“

“It’s not. You’ve been all on your own, you shouldn’t have. Sometimes you just look sad, it
goes away when you interact with Mina or Momo, but when you think too much it’s written
all over your face. You’re marrying my baby girl, so I’m your mom now too. Okay? I want
you to know you’re fully welcome into our family.”
“Thank you.”

“Family is about letting each other take some of the burden for others.” Suzy strokes a hand
through Sana’s hair, mirroring the affection Sana usually showed Mina, “You always try to do
that for others, but you never do that for yourself. Momo cares about you so much, you know
that. I saw how you got scared too, she just doesn’t want you to feel anything other than
happy. You’re not weak.”

Sana again didn’t respond, instead just letting herself sink deeper into the woman’s embrace.
As much as this shocked Momo, she couldn’t help but feel absolutely enlightened by this.
This is all she wanted, for Sana to feel as comfortable with her family as she did. Mina had
already taken to both of them, more so her dad, surprisingly enough. The two of them had
become buddies, watching TV together, having epic Mario Kart races on Mina’s switch. But
Sana was struggling a bit, this was amazing.

Quietly she snuck bad to bed, giving them the privacy they needed. Later on when Sana
snuck into bed, Momo curled into her side, not even trying to hide the smile on her lips.

When Mark said Cabin, Momo was expecting some sort of like log cabin. You know,
something small and quaint. The absolute monster of a house that she was currently standing
in was far from what she imagined. Mina and Sana seemed to like it, walking around the
house with awe. It had everything, a kitchen, bedrooms for all of them and more, and even an
indoor pool.

“I think I’m gonna go for a swim later,” Sana hummed as she plopped down on the bed,
adjusting so she could look over at Momo. Her chin was resting on her hands as she looked
down at the lawyer, a soft smile on her lips.

“You didn’t bring a bathing suit though?”

“I’m just going to go in some shorts and a t-shirt.”

“Maybe you and I can go for a swim after Mina goes to sleep. We can even play with the
presents I got you.”

“You brought them?!” It was always fun to see Sana turn red. It used to be so easy, she would
just compliment her and boom all of a sudden the girl was blushing, but nowadays it was a
bit trickier. Apparently gifting her fiancé lingerie and a vibrator for Christmas was one of the
things that would make Sana blush bright red.

“Well, we are going to be alone in this big house.”

“You’re silly if you don’t think Mina’s going to want to sleep in our room tonight.” Sana
mused, placing her hands over her rosy cheeks.

“You’re right. My parents go home next week though, and it’s going to be Mina’s week to
sleep over Tzuyu’s.”

“I’ll make a reminder in my phone.”

“That has to be the most Sana statement I have heard in a while.”

“Gotta keep up my charms.”

“Did you and my mom talk after I went to bed?”

“No, we just watched a movie.”

“Are you sure?” Momo frowned, why was Sana lying to her? She always did stuff like this,
and while Momo trusted her it was just frustrating. Sana hummed in agreement. She just tried
to shake off her annoyance, “I found a cute little venue that we could rent out for next month
if you wanted.”

“Next month?” Sana choked on her drink, setting on the counter. “Why do you want to rush it
so much?”

“Rush it?” What? Wasn’t Sana as excited as she was? Rushing felt like the wrong word.
“Well when do you want to have it?”

“...I’m not too sure.”

“So that’s Sana code for never.”

“No. It’s not,” Sana sighed, “It's all just really sudden. We have to get wedding dresses, invite
people, have them take the day off from work. I’m just worried that we need to think this out
a bit more.”

“Babe, who do you plan on inviting? It’s literally just going to be my parents, and our friends.
I don’t know who else would come?” Momo shook her head, “I don’t get why you're
stressing so much.”

Sana went quiet. “Fine, if you like the venue you can just book it for whenever. I’m going to
go check on Mina, she’s being too quiet.”

“Sana-'' The detective walked away before Momo could say anything. Was she- mad? Momo
just couldn't read her. Getting Sana to do anything was like pulling teeth half the time, truly.
Momo had already written everything down that she needed to do.

Food ; Hire Seulgi

Music ; get a DJ ~ Taeyong’s cousin (?)
Dresses ; go shopping with Hana, Sana can go with Nayeon
Venue
 Guests
Her parents
Joohyun + Wendy (+ Yerim :( )
Dahyun + Chaeyoung ( + Tzuyu :D )
Mark + Taeyong (+ Lucas)
Nayeon + Jeongyeon (no babies)
Seulgi + Jihyo (+ Sooyoung )
Hana ( + Hana’s stupid boyfriend)

All Sana needed to do was show up, Momo had already spent hours figuring out prices and
specifics. At this point it felt more like Sana was scared of actually getting married than
getting everything together. It was frustrating watching her constantly flirt between the lines
of being excited and being nervous. Momo just needed to leave the topic alone for a bit,
before either one of them ended up blowing up at the other.

Welcoming the new year could have maybe gone better, Sana didn’t really talk to her the rest
of the night. Instead finding excuses to do something else, playing with Mina, cutting up
vegetables for dinner, swimming was now her excuse. Treading around the water, while Mina
stood on the edge looking in.

“Do you want to come in?” Sana asked. Mina definitely did look like she wanted to go in, but
she was afraid. Momo got it, Mina wasn’t a big fan of big pools of water, especially after
what she told them. Hesitantly Mina nodded her head.

Jumping out of the pool, Sana sled over to the small basket of pool supplies near the
entrance. She smile and came back with a life vest that had arm floaties connected to it and a
smiling frog on the front. It must be Lucas’s. She helped it onto Mina before jumping back
into her pool and held up her hands. “I’m not going to let you go under.”

Mina just stood on the first step, water only up to her ankle. She wasn’t going to do it, Momo
could tell. She wanted to, but she was just too scared. Too scared to take the final jump and
really get into the pool. It made sense, she was hurt before, nearly being frowned and that’s
traumatizing.

Maybe that’s why Sana was a bit hesitant too. She was just a bit scared to take that last jump.
The kindergartener reached down and gripped Sana’s hand. “Promise?”

“I promise.”

Mina jumped. She hit the water with a small splash immediately being swept into Sana’s
arms, and held so she was mostly out of the water, only being submerged from her hips
down. Momo could only smile on as Sana cheered and the two started swimming around a
bit. Sana wouldn’t go into the deep end, instead just cruising around with Mina holding onto
her or dragging Mina through the water by her hands. And Mina seemed to be enjoying it for
the most part, only squinching her face up when a wave hit it before laughing.

That’s how they welcomed the new year, with Momo watching Mina and Sana swim.
Thankfully no one set off any fireworks, or if they did they couldn’t hear it from inside. Sana
looked happy, spending time with Mina always put the same look on her face. So Momo had
no regret when she hit book on the small venue, setting the date for March 1st. That gave
them two months to prepare. Two months until they made forever official.
 Chapter 48

In a way their first fight was way overdue.

Momo supposes the honeymoon period has worn off. Her constant annoyance with Sana the
past five days should have been a glaring warning sign of that. Sure they had little
disagreements, but they usually were able to resolve it before it turned into a full fledged
argument. They came close, that day Mina got sick, and when Sana was shot, but always
found a way to diffuse the situation and let it go. It would be foolish of her to believe they
wouldn’t fight, all couples did it. Her parents, who love each other very very dearly, had a
few screaming matches throughout her childhood, she had arguments with some of her ex-
girlfriends, but for some reason she couldn’t imagine fighting with Sana.

Maybe it was just the detective’s relaxed disposition, or her pretty much unwillingness to
feed into Momo’s anger when they disagreed, but she couldn’t imagine it. Well, that was until
now because Sana was really, really starting to get on her nerves. Momo just assumed after
New Years they would do what they always did, either forget about it or talk about it the next
day and apologize for being upset. But Sana had taken to avoiding her the next day, she even
sat in the backseat with Mina on the way home. And when Momo told her she booked the
venue and made a down payment, the detective had started avoiding her like the plague.

It was really starting to piss Momo off.

To be honest she’s been feeling mildly annoyed at Sana ever since she got shot. It wasn’t
more air the fact she got shot, it was because she was so reckless. Momo was constantly
jumping through hoops and really putting herself out there to try and hold everything
together, and sometimes it just felt like Sana didn’t care. Sana gets shot, Momo has to clean
and replace her bandages every night, clean, make dinner, pick Mina up. While she didn’t
mind, it was easy to feel like she wasn’t really being appreciated for everything she did. Plus
Sana was just so guarded, she really, really, tried her best to be understanding, try to
sympathize with her but Sana continuously would keep things from her or hide how she was
feeling. She could only try to be so understanding.

If her parents realized the change in mood, they didn’t say anything. They both really liked
Sana and Mina, welcoming them into the family with open arms and heart. Both girls started
to really accept it and offer the same back to them. Sana and her Mom has become really
good buddies ever since their talk on the couch, and Mina and her dad had become almost
inseparable. And as much as she loved every second of it, she couldn’t help it get tainted with
something ugly that festered in her belly and begged to be unleashed. This constant
annoyance from literally anything Sana did. She was pretty sure Sana felt the same well as
well.

It was just a matter of time before one of them was pushed over the edge.

Jeongyeon really meant well, she really, really did. She walked into Momo’s office with a
smile, placing a gift down on her desk. Stopping her paperwork, Momo looked up and eyes
the gift before looking up at Jeongyeon, “Huh?”

“Can you give that to Sana for me? I didn’t have time to stop by and I don’t know when I’m
going to be able to, especially when Nayeon goes back to work.” Jeongyeon smiled, “It’s not
much, but-“

Momo figures she must have just forgotten to give it when they exchanged gifts on Christmas
Eve. Sana had accidentally forgotten to give them a bottle of baby lotion she had bought, and
with the chaos of the babies one present getting lost wasn’t unfathomablr.

“Oh yeah, of course,” Momo shrugged. It was a cute little bag, a dark blue with pink Happy
Birthday printed over and over. It had matching pink tissue paper coming out the top, and-
wait. Happy birthday? “Wait? Is this for Christmas?”

“No?” Jeongyeon tilted her head a bit, “It’s for her birthday?”

“Wait when’s her birthday?”

“The twenty-ninth.”

“Of January?”
“What? No. Of December.” Jeongyeon sounded confused, like this was something Momo
was already supposed to know.

Wait it was Sana’s birthday, and she didn’t tell her? Was she just supposed to magically
know? The constant spark of annoyance with the Detective erupted into a full wildfire in that
moment. Her face flushed with embarrassment, Jeongyeon probably thought she was a
horrible fiancé. Forgetting Sana’s birthday. So fucking ridiculous. Was Momo a mind reader?

Jeongyeon left, and Momo tried to calm herself down. Key word tried. But the more she
thought about it the more pissed off she became. It was the combination of the week’s, hell
the past few month’s stress funnel into one singular moment. As she made her way home, she
dreaded it. They were either going to fight or Momo was just going to yell at it and the
Detective was going to take it like a kicked puppy.

Sana felt like she was hit by a truck. All she wanted to do was flop into bed and never move
again. It started with the constant tension between her and Momo the past few days
dampening her mood. Then at work Jackson completely messed up taking evidence
compromising the whole case. It was just exhausting. The only thing that made her feel better
was seeing Mina’s smile when she picked her up from school.

The two of them were cruising through Mina’s math homework, and Sana was just about to
call it a success when they were about ten questions in without tears. Mina was doing so well
now, and she had finally caught up. They were starting methods that worked for her, and
Sana couldn’t be prouder. “Okay try this one now,” Sana pointed at the next problem. She
heard the door open and Momo kick off her shoes along with Boo’s excited feet scurrying in
that direction.

Honestly Sana had no excuse for why she was avoiding Momo. She was mad. Yes she told
Momo to do whatever she wanted, but it’s pretty clear when people say things like that you
need to actually talk about it before you just go and do whatever you want. Mina nodded,
writing down the weirdest looking nine she had ever seen, “I don’t understand this one-“
“Sana!” Momo barked as soon as she came into the kitchen, slamming her keys down onto
the counter. Huh? She watched as Momo threw a bag onto the counter, turning around and
glaring at the detective. “Is there something you forgot to tell me about?”

“...No?” Why was she so mad? Especially in front of Mina, Sana could tell it was making her
feel uncomfortable by the way she was squirming. Even Suzy was a bit confused at Momo’s
sudden outburst. Mentally she ran through a list in her head, what didn’t she tell her? The
only thing she could think of was her grabbing Taco Bell for lunch, she spent her own money
and just didn’t tell Momo because she knew the woman would get on her about her health.

“Want to try and answer that again?” Momo crosses her arms. Shit, she was pissed. What the
fuck did you do Minatozaki?

“Babe, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“How about the fact that it was your birthday last week?” Momo exclaimed,

“Oh, was it?” What day was it? January 5th. Oh. She didn’t even realize.

“ Oh, was it?” Momo mocked, “I get to work today and Jeongyeon asks me what we did for
your birthday. Do you know how stupid I felt?”

“Okay?”

“Were you never going to tell me?”

“I forgot too.” Sana shrugged, “Sorry, there’s been a lot on my mind lately. My birthday isn’t
really my top priority.”

She stood up and walked over to the counter taking a sip of her drink. She was starting to get
a little pissed off. Momo had just burst in here and started shit. “What is your top priority
lately?”

“I don’t know, work, Mina, you.”

Momo scoffed. She was really starting to get on Sana’s nerves. “Really? You haven’t even
talked to me for a week.”

That- that was fair. She hadn’t. Momo was probably not taking kindly to that. “I just needed
to think.”

“What the hell did you need to think so hard about that you run away every time I come
within a six foot radius of you?”

“You.”

“Oh so I’m the problem.” Sana really did not appreciate Momo’s tone. “Right. You’re so right
Sana, I’m always the problem.”

“Momo, I don't know what you’re trying to insinuate.”

In the back of her mind Sana knew Momo was just upset and trying to lash out in any way
she could. But it was really, really starting to make her mad. “Oh I don’t know. I just think I
misunderstood that being engaged actually means that you want to get married.”

“Is that what this is about?”

“Well isn’t that what this all is about? You started avoiding me the minute I booked the
venue.”
“Why are you trying to make me mad?” Sana asked, trying to keep the anger out of her voice,

“Oh so that is it. Isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“Jesus Christ, Sana.”

“What? Do you want me to lie to you?”

“I feel like that’s all you’ve been doing to me lately. Did you talk with my Mom? No. Is it
okay if I book the venue. Yes. ”

“Okay, my personal conversation with your mother isn’t really your business. And I told you
I wanted to wait.”

“Why? Why do you want to wait so bad. You’re the one who proposed!”

“I’ll be back later.” Sana announces grabbing her keys off the counter along with her phone
and stuffed them into her pocket, walking right past Momo. This wasn’t going to end well.
She needed to cool off before she really started getting mad. Well, she was already mad but
before she lost her temper. Momo just didn’t seem to back off though.

“Where are you going?! We’re having a conversation!”

“This isn’t a fucking conversation! It’s you being pissy about nothing again and trying to get
me upset! I don’t know what the fuck your problem is but I’m starting to get sick of it. You’re
right, I am scared. But you don’t seem to care about what I feel and keep doing whatever the
fuck you want to do.” Sana stopped in front of the door, turning around, “I didn’t want to
have the wedding so soon, I told you that. Yet you still went and booked the venue and we
already made a payment, so I’m going to have to deal with it. I didn’t say shit though, did I?
So what if I forgot about my birthday? We had a lot going on, between Christmas and your
parents and Mina, I just didn’t think about it. Sorry you feel embarrassed.”

“Don’t make me sound like the bad guy!” Momo exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air,
“I’m constantly trying and I feel like you never do. You’re always keeping stuff from me, and
I’m starting to get sick of it. I’m always trying to keep this house together and you don’t
seem to appreciate it!”

“How! How don’t I?” Sana shot back, her voice finally rising. What the fuck was Momo
even saying at the point? She doesn’t appreciate it? She tried really damn hard to show how
much she appreciated her, it just fell flat sometimes. She tried to cook and it ended up in a
disaster, she tried to make her feel special. What the fuck else was she supposed to do?

“It feels like you're not trying half the time!”

“I am.”

“I feel like you only proposed to me because you found my ring and you were afraid if you
didn’t I would leave.”

“What are you even saying? I proposed because I want to marry you.”

“So why don’t you?!”

“I'm done with this.”

“No. You always do this. Tell me what’s wrong!”

“I’m scared!” Sana screamed, “That's what's wrong. Marriage is a big thing Momo, and it’s
scary!”
“It’s literally just a piece of paper.” Momo shot back.

“It’s more than that.”

“It’s really not.” Momo grumbled. “Everything would be the same, you just have a different
title, that’s all.”

“You don’t get it.”

“What don’t I get?” Sana could tell Momo was really starting to get frustrated now, she was
throwing her hands all around, “ You’d don’t get it Momo, You wouldn’t understand . Bitch
how am I supposed to understand when you don’t tell me shit?”

“Firstly don’t call me a bitch. Secondly, what the hell am I supposed to tell you! You already
know my thoughts on the matter, you don’t understand.”

“Do you just not want to get married then!?”

“Of course I want to get married, don’t be stupid.” Sana sighed, “I don’t think you understand
how much work is going to have to go into this thing.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit excuse.”

“There are other people that are coming! We can’t just rush into things.” Sana felt like
yelling, her voice was already raised and straining as she spoke.

“Why the fuck do you even care? You don’t have anyone to come anyways.”
They both knew Momo fucked up as soon as that came out of her mouth. Silence fell over the
living room. In any other circumstance Sana would have tried to calm herself down and
realize that Momo was just upset and trying to hurl any sort of insult she could. But this
poured salt into an open wound that hadn’t even begun to heal.

She saw red.

“What the fuck did you just say?” She spat, taking a step towards Momo. She- she couldn’t
believe what just came out of Momo’s mouth. Why would she say that? She knew how hurt
Sana was about all that, and the fact that tried to weaponize it. She needed to get out of there,
or she was really going to start saying things she would regret.

“Sana, I didn’t mean that-“ Momo’s tone softened, eyes filling up with tears as she tried to
meet Sana’s eyes. She reached out just to be shrugged off, as Sana made her way to the door
shaking her head.

“Don’t call me.” That’s all Sana could get out that wasn’t going to be a long list of explicits
thrown in Momo’s direction. She slammed the door on her way out, not even caring if it
disturbed their neighbors. She stomped all the way down to the exit, throwing the door open
as she stepped onto the sidewalk.

She didn’t even want to think about what was happening in the apartment right now. Momo
was probably crying, her parents were probably pissed at Sana, Mina probably hated her now.
She just needed to think. She marched down the streets, trying to take in deep breaths and
stop her shaking hands.

This fight was probably building for a while and they just didn’t realize. She’s just been
stressed, between Momo, Mina, Momo’s parents, the babies, her parents, it was building
secretly. She just needed to clear her head before she went back in there and Momo needed
time as well. She reached the park, and she could hear her phone start to vibrate.

Momoring ❤ 🥰 is calling…
She really couldn’t deal with Momo yelling at her over the phone. She just pressed decline
and took a deep breath. That stung. As her head became it bit more clear, she knew Momo
was just hurt and trying to wound but it hurt so bad. It-

Bang Bang Bang

Sana hit the ground almost immediately, crouching low and placing her hands over her ears.
She couldn’t breathe. It was just a motorcycle backfiring, why was this affecting her so
much.

A flash of silver.

Three loud bangs.

The blood on Jackson’s hands.

Momo crying. Mina crying.

The screaming.

She’s dead. Oh god. She’s dead. It’s Sana’s fault. It is her fault. It’s her fault. Nayeon hates
her, Jeongyeon hates her. She was dead.

She couldn’t breathe. She gripped her shirt, trying to catch her breath. Why was it so hot?
She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t breathe. Her phone- with trembling fingers she tried to
open it up, messing up the passcode twice. She couldn’t call Momo. Momo hates her.
Nayeon. She pressed Nayeon’s contact waiting for the phone to ring as she bit her nail.

“ Hello?”
“Nayeon-“

“Sana? Are you okay?”

“I can’t breathe!”

“Huh?” She could hear Nayeon sitting up, “Babe take care of the babies for a second,
somethings wrong with Sana. Sana, honey, what’s the matter?”

“Momo and I fought, and then there was a noise, and I can’t breathe, I’m dying. Nayeon, I
think I’m dying!” This wasn’t like anything Sana had felt before. Her stomach twisted and
turned, her heart was pounding so hard she thought it was going to burst out of her chest, she
couldn’t move. “Nayeon- I’m dying. I’m-“

“Sana listen to me. Where is Momo?”

“She’s- she’s at home.”

“Where are you?”

“The park- I can't breathe!”

“Do not move. I’m coming.” She could hear a door open and close, “I’m going to be there in
a few minutes. You need to try and stay calm for me. Okay? Take some deep breaths.”

“I can’t!”

“Yes you can.” Nayeon spoke softly, “Try it with me, in, out.”
She tried to follow along the best she could. It seemed like it took years for Nayeon to get
there, for a bit she even doubted Nayeon was coming to her. But alas the woman showed up,
sprinting in her direction crouching down on the ground, trying to get Sana to breathe. “Calm
down, follow my breathing.” She grabbed Sana’s hand and placed it on her chest, “In, Out.”

Eventually Sana calmed down, sitting on the pavement as Nayeon sat next to her. Both of
them were quiet, neither one knowing what exactly to say.

Sana brought the silence. “I fought with Momo.”

“You told me.”

“Did you doubt wanting to get married to Jeongyeon?”

“Of course, it’s scary.”

“She wants to get married in March.”

“Is that what you guys fought about?”

“Mhmm.”

“Well, why are you hesitant?”

“I’m scared.”

“Why?”
“What if I fail her too?”

Nayeon went quiet. “I miss her too.”

“Huh?”

“Eunha. I miss her too.”

“I didn’t bring up-“

“It’s so hard for everyone who loves you to see you continue to mess things up for yourself
because you still feel guilty about that.”

“I don’t-“

“Sana could you honestly sit here and tell me right now that the reason that you're scared
right now is because your afraid you're going to let your guard down and Momo and Mina
are going to be taken away from you.”

Sana paused. “I can’t.”

“I also think Momo’s being an asshole though.”

“Me too.”

“Do you need to crash on my couch tonight?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Do you need me to bring you to the hospital? You just had a panic attack.”

“No- the motorcycle set me off.”

“Okay. Call your doctor tomorrow though.”

“I will.”

“You need to talk to Momo too. Maybe tomorrow.” Nayeon sighed and stood up, “I don’t
want to see you mess this up because you're scared to be happy.”

“I will.”

Nayeon reached her hand out and Sana grabbed it. “Let’s go home.”
 Chapter 49
Chapter Summary

tw// mentions of suicide and past abuse

As soon as the door slammed shut, Momo just felt all fight leave her body. It was silent in the
house, save for her sniffles as she stared at the door where Sana had stormed out of. She had
never seen Sana that angry, well maybe on Christmas Eve but that was different. She was
more sad than anything. This was anger.

She just felt like a loser. Why? Why would she say something so stupid? She was angry, that
was really her only excuse. Should she go after Sana? The woman was probably out of their
building by now- and Sana needed time to calm down. Momo needed some too. She sighed,
and started making her way to the kitchen.

As soon as she stepped foot in the kitchen, Mina bolted out of her chair into a standing
position, her chair falling to the ground with a loud clang. Momo furrowed her brows.

“No!” Mina stuck out her hands, taking a step back as Momo took one towards her. “Please
no. I don’t- No.”

“Mina-“ Momo sighed. Mina looked petrified, visibly shaking as she tried to distance herself
from Momo. The lawyer guesses it was justified, she walked in there yelling even though she
knew of Mina’s past and how they should act around her.

It reminded her of the first time she came over Sana’s, when Mina sobbed and begged her not
to hurt them. She could feel her heart crack for the second time in the night. She should have
dragged Sana into the other room or the hall, because now Mina was scared of her as well.
Big fat tears were starting to roll down Mina’s cheeks, “P-please don’t hurt me.”
Momo had to close her eyes at that one. It felt like someone had taken her heart and squeezed
it as hard as she could. “I’m not going to-“

“Momo, how about you go wait in the living room or your bedroom.” Suzy cut in, standing
between them.

“Mom-“

“Now.” Momo was almost taken aback by how serious her mom sounded. She wasn’t in the
mood to fight it. She just stumbled into the living room, sitting on the floor next to the couch.
She’s never seen Mina look so afraid of her.

“Hey, look at me, you’re okay,” She could hear Suzy’s voice come from the kitchen. Mina let
out a little noise, and there was shuffling. “Mina.”

“I don’t- Momo- she’s going to hurt me.”

“Mina I promise you Momo is not going to hurt you. She isn’t mad at you.” Suzy’s tone was
the same. She was a teacher, she probably had training to do this. “You need to calm down
first buddy. No ones going to hurt you, okay? Momo’s in the other room cooling off, you and
I are just going to sit here until you feel a little better.”

“Can we call Sana, I want Sana.”

“Let’s try.” A bit more shuffling and Momo could hear a phone ringing. It must have been
her’s because she was sure her mom didn’t have Sana’s. It rang a few times before meeting
the voicemail.

Her father walked into the room, he still looked half asleep, all the yelling must have woke
him up from his nap. He spared her a glance before walking into the kitchen, the crying child
obviously making him nervous. As soon as he entered the kitchen though, Mina snapped,
screaming and crying in a way that made Momo stand up. She’s never heard her sound like
that, it was terrifying. He backed out, walking over to Momo, “What happened?”

“Sana and I got into a fight.” They watched as Suzy carried Mina across the living room,
down the hall, and finally into her own room, the door closing.

“Why is Mina freaking out?”

“I think I must’ve spooked her.”

“Do you guys know what happened to her.”

“We know she was hit,” Momo shrugged, “She won’t tell us anything else.”

He nodded, “Do you think I should crash at a hotel tonight? I don’t want her freaking out
because I’m here.”

As much as she really didn’t want to leave, maybe that was for the best. She just shrugged
and sat back down, burying her face into her knees. He placed a hand on her shoulder and
gave it a gentle breeze before gathering his stuff and leaving. Eventually Mina went quiet and
ten minutes after that Suzy came back into the living room.

“I’m sorry for snapping at you.” Suzy sighed, sitting on the floor with her back against the
couch. “You were just going to scare her more. From what you told me about her past, you
can’t be acting like that in front of her.”

“I know. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Mhm.” Suzy reached over and wrapped her arms around Momo, “She’s asleep now. I read
to her and she passed out. The dogs are with her too.”
“Okay.” It took everything Momo had not just to break down right then and there. She wasn’t
even mad anymore, just concerned. She fucked up, she fucked up so bad.

Suzy didn’t say anything, instead just rubbed a hand up and down Momo’s back. It was
comforting, they had been living together long enough to know when Momo just needed to
be quiet.

Later the mother went to sleep but Momo stood up, sitting at the kitchen table staring at her
phone. Where was Sana, it was almost two am. She should have come home by now. Did
something happen to her? She shouldn’t be out at this time it’s dangerous. Her phone
buzzed.

NAYEONIE

Sana’s at my place and she’s asleep. She had a panic attack so I don’t know if she’s going to
want to stay over tomorrow too. You’re fucking lucky she’s soft, if you ever talked to me like
that I would have dumped you on the spot.

[2:21AM]

MOMO

Can I come over?? I need to apologize. We need to talk~

[2:21 AM]

NAYEONIE

Did you completely ignore my text? She’s asleep, she’s upset. Give her some space. She
wants to talk too. I’ll try to see if she wants to go home tomorrow.

[2:22 AM]

It made her feel a bit better to know she was okay. Why would she do that? She messed up.
She was just so frustrated with her, it came bubbling out all at once. She needed to make this
right.
…

Sana came home at noon the next day. It wasn’t anything spectacular, she literally just walked
into the living room and sat down next to Momo on the couch not saying a word. Mina was at
school, and her parents had gone out to do something (Momo was just sure they wanted to
give her time to think).

“I was at Nayeon’s.” Sana was the first one to speak, surprising both of them. She just
sounded tired.

Momo nodded. “She texted me.”

“Okay.”

An awkward quiet fell over the two of them

“I’m sorry.” Momo hummed.

“I’m sorry too.” Sana dipped her head, “I didn’t know you felt that way. I’m sorry.”

“I should be the one apologizing, I was way over the line.” It would be a lie if Sana didn’t
agree. What Momo said hurt. Honestly Sana wasn’t sure if she even wanted to come home
today because of it. You don’t have anyone to come. That was just cruel and unneeded. She
knew Sana was still really hurt by everything.

But Momo looked so regretful, like she really meant what she was saying. Sana just let it go.
“It’s okay.”

“This is why we fight,” Momo sighed.

“Huh?” Wasn’t she avoiding a fight this way? If she continues to make a problem it would
just drag it out? Shouldn’t Momo just go along with it?

“Sana, I’m not going to be able to do this if we can’t learn to talk to each other.”

“We do.”

“We don’t.” Momo shook her head. “I don’t want to put an ultimatum on you, but Sana I
can’t do this if you can’t open up. I’m really trying, but sometimes I can’t read you. It’s
getting harder for me to forgive you the more you lie to me and push me away. It’s not going
to work, and if we can’t start to at least try then maybe we need to maybe rethink our
engagement.”

Sana’s heart stopped. Her eyes fluttered up to Momo. “You want to break up?”

“No,” Momo shook her head, “I really don’t. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying we need
to really sit down and talk about everything, and then start to talk about things as they come
up.”

“Let’s talk then. I’ll talk.”

“Let’s talk.” Momo hummed.

“...about what?” This was completely out of Sana’s league. She couldn’t help but feel a bit
uncomfortable.

“Do you want to push the wedding back? I can just book another day we both agree on.”
Sana paused. Would pushing it back make her feel better? Probably not. “No. We can keep it
that day.”

“Sana I don’t mind. I want this to be something we both agree with and feel comfortable
with.”

“No, I’m sure.” Sana shrugged, “You hurt my feelings last night though with all that.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You know I want to marry you right? You know I really do want to and I wasn’t just saying
it so you wouldn’t leave.”

“I didn’t mean it that way. I just thought you would be as excited as I am to do all this.”

“I am. I’m just- I’m just really scared Momo.”

“You said.” Momo put her chin down on the back of the couch, looking over at Sana. “Why
are you so scared?”

“I’m afraid I’m not going to be good enough for you.” Sana admitted softly. “I wasn’t good
enough before and I’m not going to be good enough for you.”

“Babe, you’re good enough for me.” Momo sounded a bit unsure, like she wasn’t sure where
Sana was coming from. “What’s going on with you lately.”

“I feel pathetic.”

“Why?”
“All these things happened a long time ago and I still feel just as affected. I can’t enjoy
anything the way I want to because of them.”

“All these things?” Momo frowned, “You’re parents?”

“Them, Eunha. Everything.”

“Just because what happened with them doesn’t mean you’re not good enough.”

“I keep thinking I’m better, that I moved past it all. But I feel like I’m making no progress
and I’m so frustrated.” Sana huffed, the words coming out of her mouth before she can even
think about what she’s saying, “I do everything I’m supposed to do. I go to therapy, I take my
meds, I have a support system. Why isn’t it working?”

“Maybe we need to look at what’s going wrong with your therapist and try to fix the system
then?”

“I’m done with that. I just want it to be fine already. I want it to go away.”

“It’s not just going to go away.” Momo bit her lip, “Nayeon told me you had a panic attack.
Has that happened recently?”

“No. I was just way too upset and then a motorcycle backfired and I don’t know what
happened.”

“You were scared of the noise too...” Sana could see the lawyer thinking, “Why didn’t you
tell me this?”
“I don’t know how.” That was the truth. Sana had no idea how to approach these topics. She
never had to. All she’s ever had to do was push it somewhere far in her mind she didn’t need
to think about it anymore. It usually worked for her, at least it protected her from having to
open up.

If she opened up she was making herself vulnerable. A prime example was last night, Momo
knew she was still upset about her parents not coming to the wedding, yet she still attacked
her on that. If someone knew, they could hurt her.

“What do you mean?” Momo furrowed her brows, “You just say it.”

“You don’t understand. We don’t think the same.”

“I hate it when you say that.”

“I know. It’s true though.”

“Make me understand.”

“Huh?”

“Tell me everything, and I promise you I’ll try to understand.”

Maybe it was the look in Momo’s eyes telling her it was okay to finally talk about these
things, maybe it was just her exhaustion. Maybe it was both. Maybe she was just so done
with trying to be strong all the time.

But it all came tumbling out of Sana’s mouth all at once. “I can’t remember being happy.”
“Huh?”

“I used to go to confession and just sob for an hour. Especially in highschool. I just felt
horrible about myself, I was disgusting and sinful. I grew up in a pretty religious community,
I feel like I told you that before.”

“Mhm.”

“And then I caught feelings for a girl I went to highschool with and everything fell apart. I
was never able to really communicate whatever I felt with my parents because I always felt
like I was lying to them, and honestly I don’t think they really cared. They also were pretty
strict too so I didn’t trust them a lot. You know I was kicked out. I just couch surfed or found
somewhere else to sleep, working whatever minimum wage job I could.” Sana closed her
eyes, “I’m twenty eight now. It’s been twelve years since then , but I still wake up in a panic
sometimes because I forget where I am, or I hear Mina coming into my room and I forget it’s
her not someone who wants to hurt me.”

Momo was quiet, just nodding along, encouraging her to continue.

“I met Nayeon, and I didn’t like her at first. But she gave me a job and a place to stay and we
got closer. Then I met Eunha. And I finally was able to be happy. I had money, I had a home.
I didn’t notice how much she was struggling. I never checked in on her, she never seemed
unhappy! If I just asked her how she was doing, or- or if I did something she would still be
here. How could I have done that?”

“You can’t know what’s going on inside someone else’s head.”

“I went to work, and she was just acting weird that day. She seemed...happy? I don’t know
how to describe it. She gave me a hug and even packed me lunch before I went to work, and
then texted me when I got there asking if I was there and told me to have a good day and text
her when I’m coming home.” Sana’s voice shook and trembled. She can’t remember the last
time she talked about this. With Nayeon when the detective came running to the hospital and
had to calm a hysterical Sana, and maybe once with her therapist. “Then I came home. And
she was dead. I still have that image stuck in my head, I can’t get rid of it no matter how hard
I try.”
“Sana-“

“I’m so scared.” Sana heard her voice crack, “I love you so so much Momo, I want to marry
you, I want to spend forever with you, but I’m so scared. I’m scared that marrying you means
I forget about her, I’m scared that the second I’m happy again something is going to happen,
I’m scared that I’m not going to make progress and I’m going to disappoint you, I’m scared
I’m going to be as bad as my parents, I’m terrified . I don’t know how to tell you that.”

“You can just tell me.”

“It’s not that easy. I don’t know how. Momo I’m really trying, I really really am. I’m starting
to get frustrated, I know you're frustrated. This whole thing a lot for me, and everything is
happening so fast, I’m not having any time to process anything or work through it. I’m not
doing as well as I say I am, and I’m scared if I tell you you’re going to realize you could be
happier without me and leave.”

“Baby,” Momo slid to the other side of the couch, gripping onto the detective. She pushed her
head down into her shoulder and then wrapped her arms around her, “I’m not going to leave
you. You don’t have to be scared of being happy. If things aren’t working for you, we can get
through it together. But we need to talk. We’re not going to work if we can’t talk about
things.”

Sana felt like crying. She wrapped her arms back around Momo, breathing in the calming
smell of the cherry blossom. Momo paused before continuing, “You scare me a lot.”

“I do?”

“Yeah. You’re so reckless sometimes. I know it usually comes from love, but it’s so scary.
When you were shot I was so mad at you, and I think it just it carried over into everything
else.”

“I’m sorry I made you feel like I didn’t appreciate you. I tried to show you with dinner and
stuff but-“
“I know. I just wanted you to talk to me.” Momo hummed, “But I think I’m a bit of a
hypocrite because I didn’t talk to you about that either.”

As childish as it was, they sealed everything off with a pinky promise. A promise to talk
more, and not hold everything inside until it came bursting out again. They both could tell the
other still wasn’t super comfortable with the other again yet, but it was manageable. They just
talked about their concerns, and Momo even took out her list and showed it to Sana, the
detective pointing out things Momo didn’t even realize. It wasn’t perfect, but it was progress.

Dahyun brought Mina home, Momo had asked her as soon as Sana came over. Dahyun didn’t
mind, and as soon as Mina saw Sana when the front door was opened, she took off.

“Satang!” Mina ran right past Momo, crashing into Sana’s legs, latching onto the detective as
soon as she crouched down. “Please don’t go again.”

“I’m not. I’m sorry, did I scare you last night?” Mina nodded, “I didn’t mean to yell.”

“It’s okay.” Mina buried her face into Sana’s shoulder, “Can we take a nap? I’m tired.”

“Okay, lets just wait for Momo to joi-“

“No, I don’t want her. I just want you.”

Sana was just so tired she let it go, she’d address whatever this was later. She let herself and
Mina curl up in her room, Rey laid across their feet.

It wasn’t perfect. But it was progress. Sana tried to remind herself of that.
 Chapter 50
Chapter Summary

tw//mentions of abuse

Never in her life did Sana think she was going to be one of those people that became
obsessed with a cell phone game, but Penguin Isle had taken over her life in the past week. It
started with her downloading it to give her something to do when she didn’t want to talk to
Momo, but now as much as it pained her to say it she had a bit of an obsession.

It was just so cute, and the background music was so calming. Everything about it was
perfect. While she knew she needed to scale it back before she spent a bit too much money
buying coins and gems, it was great for situations like this. Mina was in with Sunmi, and she
was waiting for her to be entertained. She didn’t even realize the woman standing in front of
her until she coughed, making Sana jump and look up.

Mina really liked Sunmi, and Sana was glad. She seemed to actually look forward to their
sessions, and if something was troubling her she’d save it to talk to Sunmi with. She seemed
to have a good grasp on what Sunmi’s position was and what she was there for. Multiple
times has Sana caught the youngest trying to implement Sunmi’s techniques, like when she
got a bit too frustrated she’d close her eyes and count to ten. For that Sana was grateful.

That didn’t make them friends though. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Sunmi greeted back, holding out a piece of paper. Sana accepted it, “Here’s a couple
of recommendations that I think would be suited for you. I actually strongly recommend
Dr.Kim, she specializes in specifically LGBT patients.”

Sana looked over the paper.

Kim Jisoo, PHD. Trauma Therapist. XXX-XXX-XXXX.

Trauma therapist. That seemed like a bit much. She didn’t even know the type of therapist her
current one was. There were different types of therapists? Well, she knew there were child
therapists, that’s what Mina saw. But- Trauma therapist. It just sounded scary. She’d have to
actually face up to everything and- no. She wanted to get better. She wanted to be better. She
had to stop trying to ignore it and hope it goes away, she needed to be proactive.

That’s why she asked Sunmi for a recommendation in the first place. She promised she was
going to get help, she promised she was going to try. If not for Momo and Mina, for herself.
She deserved this.

The detective nodded, “Okay. I’ll give her a call. Thank you.”

“I’ll send her an email tonight so she can squeeze you in whenever you call.” Sunmi smiled,
taking a glance back into the office where Mina was still playing with a toy truck. “We talked
about what you told me about today.”

Good. It’s only been two days since Sana came back, but she could already start to see cracks
in the foundation between Mina and Momo’s relationship. Momo’s parents had gone back
home yesterday morning, and without them there the house had been pretty quiet. Momo told
her about what happened with Mina, and Sana’s first instinct was to just sigh. Of course Mina
was scared. Momo came in there tossing bags around and her keys, snapping at Mina. It
probably scared the hell out of her. And the two of them haven’t talked since. Which actually
wasn’t really Mina’s fault, Momo was trying to give her space. Sana to her, and took care of
everything and Momo stayed at work until she knew Mina would be in bed.

“Good,” She didn’t ask more, Sunmi couldn’t tell her anyway. She stood up looking into the
office, making eye contact with Mina who put the truck down and came running.

Usually Mina liked not to talk after sessions, which Sana respected. She needed time to talk
and work through whatever they talked about during their session. So Sana helped her put on
her ginormous winter jacket that Nayeon had bought her. The thing was mint green and
Mina’s size, but the amount of padding it had made her seem a bit more like a marshmallow
than a person. It was cute, with a match hat with a Pom Pom that Boo had already tried to eat.
Even Sana had her new padded jacket Momo bought her on, even if she pretended to grumble
about it as she put it on in the morning. It was actually pretty nice. They bid their goodbyes
and made their way home.

It wasn’t cold enough that they had to take Sana’s car, and their apartment was within
walking distance, plus the earth was dying and could benefit from the lack of carbon
emissions. January wasn’t off to the best start to say the least. They made their way down a
few streets before passing a playground, and Sana felt how Mina slowed down a bit as they
walked by. She sighed, “Do you want to go play?”

Mina looked back up at her and nodded. Sana sighed and motioned towards the park, earning
a happy squeal from Mina who rugged her along towards the swings. She handed Sana Peng
and hopped up, looking back at Sana expectantly. The oldest tucked Peng under her arm and
gently pushed Mina.

Mina kicked her legs, making herself go bit a higher, “Is Momo going to be home tonight?”

“Yeah she’s waiting for us at home.”

“Okay.” Oh so Mina wanted to speak in Japanese? There was literally no one around that
could overhear their conversation. Sana just let it go switching languages.

“Why, do you not want her to?”

“No, it’s okay. I guess.”

“You know Momo isn’t going to hurt you right?” Sana hummed, pushing Mina a bit higher.
“She didn’t mean to scare you.”

Mina was quiet for a few seconds, before nodding. “I know.”

“So why are you avoiding her? It’s not nice.”

“I don’t know.” Mina shrugged, “She was just loud, it-“ She trailed off.

“It what?”

“It reminded me of when Mommy’s friends would come over and start yelling, and- I just
didn’t like it.” Sana could empathize with that. Certain things just set her off and she can’t
help it. Mina seemed to cope with things by avoidance, if she didn’t like something she
would try and avoid it, if someone upset her she would avoid it. Sana was like that too,
maybe not to the same extent. “And I just wanted you the other night because you left and
you fought with Momo, and she didn’t talk to me last night, and-“

“It’s okay. I understand.” Sana hummed, slowing the swing down when Mina kicked her legs
like she wanted to get off. Mina jumped down and made her way to her side, grabbing onto
Sana’s hand. “Are you still scared of her?”

“A little. ” Mina frowned, reaching her other arm up for Peng, which Sana quickly gave back
to her, “What if she gets mad at me next time?”

We’ll, it would be a lie to say Momo was never going to get mad at Mina. She definitely
would, so would Sana. That’s just a side effect of being with each other for so long. “She
might, but she’ll never hurt you. You don’t hit people you love, when Momo and I fought did
either of us hit each other?”

“No.”

“Exactly.” Sana hummed, crouching down so Mina could hop on her back. The
kindergartener gripped on, giggling as Sana stood back up. “Weren’t you scared when I was
yelling at my Mom?”

“No. I want to yell at my mom too.”

Sana nearly tripped. “You do?”

“Yeah. Auntie Nayeon told me that your mom was mean to you, a lot like me. I don’t like it
when you yell, but I get it.” Mina cocked her head, “Did you Mom hurt you too?”

Sana grit her jaw a bit. “Yeah.”

“How?”

“She kicked me out.”

“Like me?”

“No it was a bit different. I couldn’t come back.”

“So did you stay with someone like I stay with you?”

“Um kinda. I stayed with a lot of different people before I met Nayeon. Then I stayed with
Nayeon, and then I stayed with a friend like Momo.”

“The girl who lived in the little vase?”

“Yeah.”

“Why do people hurt us?” Sana almost had to do a double take at that question. Mina
sounded so serious. “Dr.Lee keeps telling me that’s just how some people are and we can’t
control it but I can’t understand. Not everyone is bad, but why are some people bad?”
“Sometimes they just have a hard life.”

“But you had a bad life, and you’re the greatest person ever.” Mina shrugged, “I want to yell
at my Mom too. I keep going between missing her and being mad at her.”

The detective wasn’t sure if she should tell Mina this. She had pretty much kept the boxes her
mother had sent hidden away and hadn't told her about it, mostly not to upset her. “I’m not
that great Mina.”

“No you are!” Mina exclaimed, “You’re like the best, bravest, prettiest person I know! Even
more than Tzuyu.” Wait, how did Tzuyu come into this? “You’re not mean to me.”

“Do you want to talk about it? What used to happen at your home?”

“I told you.”

“You and I both know more happened. You know why Momo and I fought right? Because I
don’t talk to her about everything.”

“Are we going to fight if I don’t want to talk about it?”

“No, I’m just saying it’ll probably make you feel better.”

“I don’t want to tell you.” Mina whispered. “You’re not going to like me anymore.”

“I will, I promise.”

“Mommy told me people aren’t going to like me now.”

“Well your Mom was wrong.”

“One time Mommy’s friend made me breathe this stuff and it made my head feel funny.” Mina
gripped onto Sana a bit tighter, “And then we played games and Mommy got really mad. She
started throwing things and telling people to leave. Mr.Viper came that night and hit her, but
she kept crying the entire day.”

Every time Mina talked about this stuff with her, Sana just wanted to arrest them all. She
didn’t know how many people there were, but she would find out. Sure last time she went off
gallivanting it didn’t have great results, she- well she wouldn’t do that again but you get the
point! “I’m sorry.”

“What bad thing happened to you?”

What? Mina, a six year old, wanted to know what happened to her? Um, no. Mina turned
around and looked at her. “I used to sleep outside. Even when it was raining.”

“Didn’t you get sick?”

“Sometimes.”

Mina just shook her head, and she almost looked angry? It was kind of cute. “Don’t worry
about it.”

“See, that’s why I’m not mad you yelled at your mom. Moms deserved to be yelled at.”

“Not ALL moms.”

“You’re right. Tzuyu and Yeri’s moms are pretty great. And you. You’re a great mom.”
Mom?! Wait- it was one thing for Mina to call her mommy sometimes. But for Mina to really
think of her as a mom?! Sana was sure she was going to combust. She was going to call
Nayeon soon and scream at her about this. “So why are you mad at Momo?”

“Because she yelled at you. And she threw things. I don’t like that.”

Okay, she did have a point..still. Sana really couldn’t have her being pissed at Momo on her
behalf, especially when the detective knew damn well it was more Mina being terrified in
that moment more so than actually being mad at her. She got it, to have someone that she
loved and trusted as much as Momo start acting the way the people who hurt you acted, it
probably shattered Mina’s trust with her into a million pieces. From what Momo told her,
Mina was pleading with her to hurt her and started panicking the second her and her dad got a
bit too close. Mina had made so much progress, but they still needed to be careful.

“People fight, and that doesn’t mean they don’t love each other or they want to hurt other
people. It’s just- they don’t see eye to eye or people do things to get them upset. Momo does a
lot for you and me, right? She reads you stories and makes food, and tells you she loves you
all the time.”

“Mhm.”

“I know she scared you. And you’re allowed to be scared, but we can’t be mean to Momo.
Okay?”

Mina was quiet, and Sana almost relaxed because that meant she was thinking.

“How about we pick her up a gift?”

…
“What?”

Boo just whined and pawed at Momo’s leg more, eyeing the carrot in her hand. She smiled
and cut the piece in half giving one piece to Ray and the other to Boo. She took a glance at
the time once again, the girls should have been home a while ago. Which either meant Mina’s
appointment was running later than expected, or Mina didn’t want to come and was throwing
a fit. Both of those options made Momo’s heart clench violently.

She tried to give Mina her space yesterday, coming home late after she knew Mina would be
asleep. It felt a bit weird to be tip-toeing around in her own home, however she knew it was
needed. Her and Sana had a long talk the night before, and Momo kinda told her what
happened and she’s been feeling horrible about it ever since it happened. To see Mina so
scared of her, it just didn’t sit right with her.

So tonight she was making Mina’s favorite, shrimp pasta without the shrimp and with
broccoli instead because Mina was still traumatized about the time Sana had murdered a
shrimp in cold blood in front of her. It was just a small peace offering, she had even stopped
at the store after work and picked up a new controller for Mina’s switch so the three of them
could play together tonight now that Sana finally figure out how to set it up with the TV.
She’s been watching Sana and Mina play Animal Crossing since Christmas and as
entertaining as it was to see Sana complain about the “ugly raccoon” (Tom Nook), she
wanted in on the action.

The door opened and the dogs ran to greet them. Maybe this was a mistake, was Mina going
to start crying when she saw her again or maybe not want to speak to her? She didn’t want to
make her feel uncomfortable or make her really upset. She heard footsteps approaching and
turned to see Sana holding Mina with one hand, and a bouquet of sunflowers and roses in the
other, “We’re home.”

“Dinner's almost ready.” Momo hummed, taking a few cautious steps forward to plant a kiss
on Sana’s lips pausing when she got to Mina. It was Mina who took her by surprise and
reached up to hug her. She smiled, opening her arms so she could take her from Mina. She
held her tight, gently rubbing circles on her back. “I’m sorry for yelling.”

“It’s okay.” Mina mused, wiggling a bit signaling she wanted to get down and run around.
Momo oblidged, watching as she ran out of the room with the dogs trailing right behind.
“These are for you.” Sana handed over the flowers. “Mina picked them out.”

“She picked pretty ones.” Momo smiled, grabbing the ugly blue vase she bought for two
dollars at a thrift shop once off the top of the fridge and filled it with water before placing the
flowers in it.

“We talked on our way home. I don’t think she’s going to avoid you anymore. So you should
avoid her either.”

“Okay,” Momo put the vase on the counter, and hoped grumpy wouldn’t get to them. He had
a tendency to eat flowers much to Momo’s dismay.

“I need to make a call real quick. Sunmi got me a therapist recommendation, so I should
probably call her now.”

“Now? Babe she’s probably at home or eating dinner or both.” Momo couldn’t help but
smile, as Sana looked at the time and nodded in agreement. She took the paper from her and
placed it on the fridge, using a magnet to stick it up next to Mina’s spelling test and her
drawing of a giraffe. “Just call tomorrow on your lunch break.”

“Okay, are we still going out tomorrow? Mina is sleeping over Tzuyu. You said you wanted
to taste cake.”

“Mhm, and then we can have some fun at home.” Momo winked, enjoying the blush that
spread across Sana’s cheeks.

“You’re really going to be the death of me.”

“You love it.”

“I know.”
 Chapter 51

She could still leave. She had the opportunity to bounce before the therapist actually got
there. Her old therapist would probably still see her if she asked, and she wouldn’t have to go
through all this again. It was just exhausting, having to go over everything even though
someone else already knew, plus she had no idea who this new person was.

Sana’s leg kept bouncing as she looked around the office. It was a bit more comfy than the
other one that always smelt like hospital. It had an incredibly comfortable blue couch, a
matching armchair, and a desk. She was nervous, meeting new people always did that to her.
She tried to distract herself by standing up and looking at the frames on the walls.

There were multiple pictures of two young girls, they must have been around Mina’s age.
One had full bangs, smiling up at the camera while the other who was a bit taller held up
bunny ears behind her head and smiled as well. They were cute. There was another with the
two of them and a woman. She was gorgeous, dressed to the nines, but still had this cute little
gummy smile she was right next to- wait.

“Hey, sorry I’m late. My last client ran a bit over-“ She knew that voice.

She spun around, pausing when she saw the woman who just walked in. The therapist paused
as well. “Jisoo?”

Wait, Kim Jisoo? Her Kim Jisoo? Her junior year chemistry tutor, that just happened to make
her realize that yeah she actually liked women in a way that wasn’t just admiration. She
looked older now, but not in a bad way. She looked mature, like she had grown into herself. It
made Sana smile a bit. She was wearing an expensive looking suit, and had the same shocked
expression Sana was wearing.

“Sana?”

“So this is what you’ve been up to all this time.” Sana chuckled, making her way over to
Jisoo.
The therapist rubbed a hand on the back of her neck and nodded a bit sheepishly, “Yeah. It’s
good to see you again Sana, you look nice.”

“Thanks.”

Jisoo took a seat in her chair, motioning for the detective to take a seat on the couch. Jisoo
looked a bit troubled, and Sana got why. When Sana needed her, she abandoned her. Even
back then Sana understood though, she needed to look out for her own safety and seeing how
Sana was struggling as well they just weren’t meant to be. But now for her to show up at
Jisoo’s work, her trauma therapy was probably concerning for the older. It did make Sana a
bit curious though, how she went from that to specializing in LGBT patients.

She decided to start light, “Are those your girls?” She pointed at the frames on the wall.

“Yeah those are my kids, Lisa and Chaeyoung. And my wife Jennie.” Jisoo smiled.

“How old are they?”

“Lisa is four, Chaeyoung is five.”

“They’re around my daughter’s age then.” Sana smiled, “She’s six.”

“You have a daughter?” Jisoo smiled as well, eyes flickering down the ring on Sana’s finger.
“What’s her name?”

“Mina.”

Things fell into a gentle rhythm after that. And before either of them knew it their time was
up and it was time for Sana to leave. It felt good, like catching up with an old friend. Maybe
it should have been a bit concerning how easily Sana was able to open up with her already
instead of dancing around topics like she had done with her previous therapist. It was only
their first session but Sana could see this was going to go well. She needed it to go well.

“Are you all set?” Momo smiled, standing up when she saw Sana approaching. She slung her
tan tote bag over her shoulder, reaching out a hand for Sana to take, which the detective
gladly did. “How did it go?”

“It went well.” Should she tell her that Jisoo was her ex? She tried to weigh the options. She
was sixteen back then, and they broke up. There were no lingering feelings, quite frankly she
was happy the woman was married and had kids now. Knowing her put Sana at ease, the
therapist had never proven herself to be someone who wanted to hurt Sana. It was easier to
open up this way. Keeping it from Momo might make her think that something more was
going on. On the other hand Momo could get jealous, and want her to stop seeing her.
Granted this was the first session, Sana really felt like she could make some good progress
with her.

“I can hear you thinking, what’s wrong?”

“I dated my therapist in highschool.” Maybe Sana could have said that in a better way.

“Oh?” Momo cocked an eyebrow, “So are you going to switch again?”

“..no? If that’s okay with you.”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Momo asked like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Okay,
that was definitely not what Sana was expecting. “I trust you. So if you say it’s okay, then it’s
okay.”

“Oh.”

“Let’s just go home dork.”

Friday nights meant date nights. Well when MiTzu wasn’t over their house at least. Sana
really liked when they came over and movie nights with them, something about hearing
Tzuyu and Mina’s hushed giggles through walls in the middle of the night was reassuring.
Even if Sana had to sleep with one eye open because god forbid Tzuyu decided to kiss Mina
on the cheek again. Both of them were tired this week though, so date night was being moved
to the apartment. Which Sana didn’t mind one bit.

Momo already had everything set up, simply just taking the styrofoam container out of the
fridge and setting it on Sana’s nicked coffee table, before taking a seat on the floor with her
back resting against the couch. Sana made her way next to her, giggling as Boo tried to jump
up on the couch and nearly missed. The lawyer opened the container revealing four different
slivers of cake.

Was this a big deal? It was just cake. Momo talked about going cake testing briefly last week
but Sana didn’t have the energy to go to a restaurant and go through the whole process. It
seemed like Momo didn’t either. This was better. Momo took a bite her eyes winding.

“Here,” Momo held up her fork, which Sana opened her mouth a bit reluctantly at. She took
the piece of cake into her mouth, cringing at the sponges texture. It wasn’t bad, she’s had
worse, but it definitely wasn’t good. Momo took the second piece and placed it into her
mouth, smiling at the flavor. Strawberry was going on the ‘yes’ list apparently. Sana took
another sip of her wine, the quicker she could get this over with the quicker she could just
forget about cake all together.

She forced herself to swallow the rest of the pieces, washing it away with red wine and
distracting herself by petting Rey who had sat himself next to her looking up at the food and
begging for a piece. If Momo wasn’t right next to her she probably would have given him
and Boo a bite. Momo seemed happy, she was always one to love sweets. Mina seemed to
like sweets too, but she was more of an ice cream girl like Sana.

“Which one did you like the most?” Momo hummed when they were finished, closing the
container and pushing it further onto the table.

Now Sana could just lie and say she liked whatever one Momo liked, and just not have any at
the wedding. Honestly cake wasn’t really the most important part to her, more so dress,
decorations, music. But she promised she would be involved and tell the truth. She sighed, “I
don’t like cake.”

“Huh?” Momo gave her a look, “You don’t?”

“No, I don’t like the texture and the flavor. It’s not my thing.”

“Oh,” Momo frowned, “What do you want to do then?”

“What if we got an ice cream cake?” Sana suggested. Now, that was something she could get
behind. The watermelon roll one from the supermarket or if she was really feeling fancy the
ones from cold stone or Baskin Robbins. She could eat that all day. Her first birthday living
with Nayeon was when she was still in training, but in that weird time between actually being
a police officer and having to quit her part time job so she could train. She felt horrible
putting both of their financial burdens on Nayeon, but the older officer insisted it was no big
deal. When she bought an ice cream cake after work and surprised Sana with it, which
slightly creeped her out because she didn’t remember telling Nayeon her birthday she could
describe what she felt. Both of them pretended that Nayeon didn’t hear her sobbing on the
couch in the middle of that night.

Momo smiled, “An ice cream cake?”

“Yeah, we can get one from Baskin Robbins or Dairy Queen!”

“Okay, um- Let’s compromise on the ice cream cake, but we’re going to get an actual cake.”

“They’re really good though-“

“You’re such a dork.” Momo giggled, pressing a gentle kiss on Sana’s collarbone. Sana’s
phone buzzes with a notification and she briefly checked it, rolling her eyes when it was a
text from Momo’s mother asking if she had dinner and that she needed to eat. Honestly, Sana
expected the woman to not like her especially after the state of the house when she left. But
Suzy seemed to be fine with it, texting Sana every night asking about her day or pictures of
Mina she could send her friends. Sometimes Sana wonders if that is what her relationship
with her mom could’ve been like, other times she’s just grateful Suzy doesn't hate her.
Momo’s dad would text her sometimes too, mostly about Mina though.

“Babe-“ Momo giggled. Sana looked where she was looking and zeroed in on her phone lock
screen. It was a picture of Mina and the twins. What was so funny about that? It was
seriously a cute photo, with the twins on either side of Mina sleeping as Mina smiled up at
the camera. She had sent that to Momo’s mom and the woman replied with three heart emojis
and a demand that she made sure she ate that night.

“What?”

“You’re so cute.” Momo smiled, nuzzling a bit further into Sana. “You always say you don’t
want any more kids, yet you are constantly talking about the babies.”

“Yeah, because they're not my kids. I get to be the fun aunt and then they go home and
Nayeon has to deal with them.” It’d be a lie if the thought of having a little Momo running
around hadn’t crossed her mind every so often, but honestly she was firm on not wanting a
kid. She had to know her limits, and taking care of a baby just wasn’t the right fit for her. She
had Mina, she had Momo, she was satisfied. Sure Sana never had a sibling herself even
though she really wanted one when she was younger, and Momo seemed to be very happy
with her sister, she still didn’t think it would be right for Mina to have a little sibling. Mina
needed constant attention, and a baby would take away from that. While Momo could handle
a baby mentally, Sana couldn’t. She knew her limits and it would be selfish of her to do
something like that.

“I saw Mina’s baby picture in your wallet last night.” Momo hummed.

“It’s too cute not to carry around.”

“You’re so weird.”
“You know the house across from Dahyun and Chaeyoung is up for sale.” Sana mused, “It’s
way under our budget and it looks great from the pictures.”

“Do you want to make an offer?”

“Kinda.” Sana shrugged, “I’m up for a promotion soon so I’ll be getting a raise.”

“I make a lot of money. We don’t really have to worry about that.”

“I don’t like to feel like I’m not contributing.”

“You definitely are.”

“I might be able to switch divisions.”

“At work?”

“Mhm.”

“Why?”

“There are some leadership positions open in other divisions I might be able to take. Plus
you’d like it more if I switched.” Now, Sana loved her job. She had been doing it for a while
now, and honestly she was quite good at it. She liked everyone in her division, really there
was no downside to it. Well, except for the long hours and inherent risk of it all.

This was something she had been thinking about for a bit. Firstly, with Mina she’s had to take
time off and switch her schedule around to the point she’s sure others are starting to feel
annoyed. She had to leave early to pick her up, and she even enrolled Mina in the after school
program so she could stay two hours later. Then she’d come home and help Mina with her
homework and spend time with her as either Momo cooked or Sana ordered food. Then
Momo would come home and Mina would shower and get ready for bed, then Momo would
put her to sleep. After Sana would have to stay up and work on cases as Momo went to sleep,
finally going to sleep when either Momo would wake up and make her go to bed, Mina
would try to slip into her room and remind Sana she needed to sleep as well, or it just got late
enough that Sana knew she needed to sleep. It was starting to take its toll on her.

Add on the fact that Momo was texting her multiple times throughout the day because she
was scared Sana was going to get hurt again, it was only natural. She could tell it was eating
at Momo the more she started going back to her original position and not this weird hybrid
one that she was forced to take as she healed. It wasn’t fair to Mina, Momo, or anyone around
her for her to keep this job even if she liked it.

“Baby I don’t want you to switch just because I’m a bit nervous. You like your job.” Momo
frowned.

“But you would like it more if I didn’t have it.” Sana hummed, “Maybe I should just quit all
together and get a job at the aquarium.”

“Mina would love that.”

“She would.” Sana mused, “We should get her a fish tank in our new house. That way she
can look at them all the time.”

“Are we still going to the aquarium next week? Momo looked over at Boo who was sleeping
peacefully on the couch, “Boo wake up something happened!”

The dog popped up and looked around before laying back down with a sigh. Momo had tried
that on Sana once, but it only made her fly out of bed and run into the living room before
actually getting annoyed when Momo said it was a joke. She just shook her head, “Yeah, we
are. Plus I’m taking Mina dress shopping with me, Nayeon, and Jackson next week.”
“Okay, Hana is going with me sometime next week too.” Momo reaches over to put her wine
on the small beat up coffee table in front of them, “I can’t believe the wedding is in a few
weeks.”

“Me either.”

“You’re still okay with that right?”

“Right.” She was. She wanted to marry Momo, and yes while she was still terrified this was
the right decision. She had a family that loved her, she had Momo, she had the dogs, she had
Mina, the babies, Nayeon, Jeongyeon, everyone. She felt whole again.

“Well I was thinking, because we’re getting married and buying the house, I just- Here-“
Much to Sana’s dismay Momo broke away from her, digging around in her tote bag. She took
out a manilla folder and handed it to Sana. The detective took it, giving Momo a questioning
look. “Open it.”

Slowly Sana opened it up. What was this? If it was a marriage certificate, Sana would have to
refuse. They already agreed to wait. Wait what if it was divorce papers- wait you needed to
be married to get divorced. The detective let her eyes flutter over the first few words.

Petition for adoption. Blah Blah Blah. More legal jargon. Minatozaki Sana. Hirai Momo.
Myoui Mina.

“What’s this?”

“I know we talked about this, and I'm not trying to rush you into it. We can sign it whenever,
and we still need to go to court with Mina to have her officially adopted. But I don’t know, it
felt weird for you and I to get married and not have Mina be legally ours as well, I’m not
trying to force you-“
Sana shut her up with a kiss, wrapping her arms around Momo’s neck. She loved her so
much. She pulled away, resting her forehead against Momo’s, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.”

“We should ask her when we go to the aquarium.” Sana mused, breaking away from Momo.
She interlaced their fingers once again, looking down at the folder fondly.

Motherhood wasn’t something Sana ever really considered. And while she guesses she
should be terrified and itching to run as far as she could from this responsibility, she wasn’t?
She was excited. She loved Mina, and this would just make things permanent. She wouldn’t
have to worry about her case worker taking her away or something like that. She didn’t have
to be scared anymore.
 Chapter 52

It wasn’t like Sana to be late. But here she was strolling up to the dress shop ten minutes after
the time they had agreed to meet up at, Mina on her shoulders the two of them goofing
around and laughing. It wasn’t what Nayeon expected, but it was definitely welcomed.

The detective felt half dead, the babies were a lot more work than she expected. She couldn’t
remember the last time she had a full night of sleep, and now she was about to go back to
work. Sana helped a lot though, coming over for a few hours sometimes with Mina or letting
Nayeon drop the babies off at her house for a few hours after she was off from work. From
what Nayeon had seen, Mina was really good with the babies, always trying to play with
them and make sure they were comfortable and in turn the two of them would always laugh
at her. The kindergarteners only reservations with them was when they cried, she didn’t like
the noise, and when Sana would have to ignore her to take care of the babies. She’d seen it
once, Sana having to brush her off for a minute to pick Yeji up because she wouldn’t stop
crying, Mina pouted and went to play by herself. Even though Nayeon was pretty sure she
was going to fall asleep the moment she sat down, she was still here. She was Sana’s maid of
honor after all.

About that, Nayeon had a bone to pick with Sana. When she asked Sana to be the maid of
honor at her wedding she took her out to a nice dinner, bought her a necklace, and asked her.
In return Nayeon had just got a text, a very boring one to add to that.

Detective Grumpypants

Wanna be my maid of honor?

[Tues 3:21PM]

It wasn’t the way she was expecting, but hey this was Sana we’re talking about after all. She
was forgiven as soon she and Mina approached the group, the detective lowering Mina to the
ground with a whooshing noise. “You can never get on my case for being late ever again.”
Jackson teased, opening the door to the shop.

“Why are we late?” Sana asked, taking a peek at her phone. Her eyes widened when she saw
the time. “Oh, sorry.”
“You’re good.” Jackson smiled, punching her playfully on the shoulder. For a minute Nayeon
was afraid Mina was going to start crying from that action, taking it as aggression or him
trying to harm Sana but instead Mina seemed distracted by looking around at all the dresses
not trying to size Jackson up as a threat.

“So what type do you want to get?” Nayeon asked, eyeing the rows upon rows of pretty
dresses. Honestly, she expected Sana trying to go to the wedding in a T-Shirt and jeans, that
her and Momo were going have to battle her to actually wear a dress or a suit.

“Uh- there are different types?”

Nayeon sighed, “Let’s look around.” Just Sana wanting to wear a dress was good enough for
her.

They needed a few things, a dress for Sana, a dress for Nayeon, a tuxedo that would
compliment Nayeon’s dress for Sana, and a dress for Mina. Momo had texted her a picture of
her sister’s dress, a pretty dusty pink. Sana’s favorite color was purple so they would
probably go for something like that in a similar style. That could wait though, right now they
just needed to get Sana into a dress before she decided this was too much effort and she
wanted to go home. They started going through rows upon rows of dresses, trying to get a
feel for what exactly Sana would like.

“So do you want something on the looser side or tighter?” Nayeon flipped through a couple
dresses, she turned to Sana who just shrugged.

“I kind of want it looser but not too big and poofy? You know what I mean.”

Nayeon didn't- but that was okay. She got this. Sana was going to be fucking beautiful, and if
Nayeon had to make her try on thirty dresses just to figure out her preference she was going
to do so.
From the looks of it Mina and Jackson were having a good time as well. They were looking
at dresses for the kindergartener, and he seemed to be getting along well with her and she
seemed happy. Nayeon did have to give them a look when she heard him do his god awful
Scooby Doo impression, but other than that she was happy Mina was happy.

“Why were you late?” Nayeon hummed, looking over at Sana, “Are you and Momo okay
still?”

“No no, were good.” Sana looked a bit shy, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand,
“Mina and I stopped at McDonald’s and it had one of those play places and we got a bit
carried away.”

That would have been a sight to see; Sana pouting around whiny kids as Mina went on the
play place and ran around. “Cute.”

“It was,” Sana took out her phone and turned it around, showing Nayeon the photo of Mina
eating a chicken nugget Happy Meal. “You know she never had a happy meal before? I was
shocked when she didn’t know what it was.”

“I mean- Look at where she came from.”

“I know, but I’m surprised Momo hadn’t picked her up one.”

“Momo isn’t one to eat junk food regularly,” Nayeon pointed out. “She gets toys but not fast
food.”

“Still,” Sana bit her lip looking over at Jackson and Mina, “I feel bad. I would have gotten
her one sooner.”

“Maybe it’s a good thing you didn’t, she’s grown a lot, it’s probably because of all the
vegetables Momo shoves down her throat.”
“Yeah, Momo is lucky Mina isn’t a picky eater.”

“I don’t think she would be, she’s thankful for food.”

“I don’t know,” Sana mused, “Lately she’s been a bit more like a normal kid. We went
grocery shopping the other day and she asked for a packet of Swedish fish. I don’t think she’s
done that before.”

“Cute.” Nayeon then dumped three dresses into Sana’s arms, causing a small oomf to escape
the younger detective. “Now try these on.”

“Wow, thanks.” There was no real bite to her tone, just a teasing color to it that made Nayeon
smile as well. Sana played along with her nowadays, it was great. Actually she was just more
expressive all together, while still a bit shy and reserved it wasn’t like it used to be.

She watched the store attendant help Sana put the dresses in a fitting room, the detective
sticking her head out, “Mina, how about you try a dress on while I do too?”

“Wait I have to wear these?” Mina pouted. Thinking about it, Nayeon doesn’t think she had
ever seen Mina in anything dresses up. She didn’t wear dresses or skirts, instead wearing a lot
of t-shirts and sweatshirts. Sana was rubbing off on her, Nayeon had to get her out of there
before Mina’s sense of style was ruined forever.

Nonetheless, Mina complied. Going into a fitting room with a few dresses her and Jackson
had picked out together. Jackson sat next to her on the couch, laughing a little, “Tired?”

“I didn’t know having Twins was going to be this rough.” Nayeon whined.

“They’re doing good though, right?”

“Right.”

He went quiet for a bit, looking at the closed door of the fitting room. He was thinking,
Nayeon wasn’t sure what exactly about. She didn’t have to wonder for long, “Sana’s happy.”

“She is.” Honestly, Sana from a year ago and her today was a completely different person.

“I was so worried about her for so long.” He admitted quietly , “I’m so happy she’s happy.”

Jackson had known Sana for about the same amount of time as Nayeon, and while the two
were casual drinking buddies after work they were never super close. Honestly for a long
time Sana was happy, from when she was hired to Eunha’s passing she was doing very well
in life. She was a bit serious sometimes, and a bit closed off, but that was just her personality.
It was terrifying to see her go from that to the ghost of herself that still haunted Nayeon in a
matter of weeks.

She loved Sana. She really did. But it was so hard to be her friend these past few years. Not
that she didn’t want to, but the endless nights of not being able to sleep because she’s so
worried about her or the constant attitude Sana would give her. She had her moments when
she would joke around or say something that sounded like her old self, but it wasn’t the same.
Nayeon made herself comfortable on the ugly red couch, stifling a giggle when she heard
Sana curse from the closed fitting room door. She had come so far. Nayeo didn’t like to
reminisce on the old days, it was too painful, but sometimes she couldn’t help her mind
wandering.

Looking back at it, the worst of it was when Sana had holed herself up in their spare
bedroom. She had said she texted her parents about staying with them, but Nayeon didn’t
expect them to respond. Quite frankly Nayeon thought it was a bad idea all together, she
wasn’t sure if Sana could take her heart being broken again by their rejection. It was already
shattered, the splintered pieces piercing her lungs making it hard to breathe. She felt better
having Sana only a door away, she could check up one her frequently, not that Sana did much
anyway. She usually would just lay with her back facing the door either crying quietly,
staring off into the distance, or just sleeping. The only downside to having her so close was at
night she could hear her sob for hours, curling into Jeongyeon’s embrace as she tried to block
out the sounds of Sana’s anguish. Every day Nayeon would come in and try to get her just to
eat something, anything, laying next to her and pressing fruits and sweets to her lips just
trying to take one bite.
The service was nice. It felt a bit rushed, but she wasn’t blaming anyone. It was all a bit
sudden anyways. They picked up a pineapple pizza on the way home and made their way into
the silent apartment. Nayeon didn’t even bother taking off her heavy black pea coat off, still
wet from the rain outside, as she made her way to their spare bedroom, knocking twice before
opening the door.

She was sat up. That was a good sign, wasn’t it? She was watching out the window, tensing
up when she heard Nayeon walk in. Nayeon tried not to take it to heart. Jeongyeon just
stayed in the doorway as she set the box down on the bed, climbing up next to the junior
detective, “Sana, We bought pizza. It’s your favorite! I need you to eat something for me, you
haven’t eaten in a few days.”

“Go away.” Sana’s voice sounded weak, from days without use. “Please. Just leave me
alone.”

Nayeon set the box down, looking over at Sana. She could feel how miserable she was, it
rolled off of her in waves gripping Nayeon’s throat and squeezing the air out of her. “I’ll
leave you alone if you eat a bit. But you need to eat, I’m not asking.”

“Nayeon.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry.” Her voice was almost a whisper, cracking into a sob at the end. Sana couldn’t
even look at her, looking closing her eyes and keeping her head faced away, but Nayeon
could see she was crying, fat tears rolling down her cheeks. “This is all my fault. I’m so
sorry.”

For the nth time in the past week Nayeon’s heart clenched uncomfortably. “Sana, none of this
is your fault. It was her decision. You- She- Sana. Please just eat.”
For a second Nayeon wasn’t sure if she would turn towards her. She let out a shaky sob,
shaking her head. But to her surprise, Sana slowly faced her, sending Nayeon throwing open
the box to grab a slice, turning back to Sana. She held up the slice, meeting eyes with Sana.
Her face was puffy from crying, and her eyes were just so sad, hopeless, her entire expression
scrunched up into a shaky sob. C’mon. Please. “I’m so sorry Nayeon.”

“Sana, please. Just one bite.”

The younger detective slowly took a bite, and it was honestly a ghastly sight; Watching Sana
slowly chew it as she cried. They went through two more slices like that. Nayeon wasn’t
satisfied with just that, but she had to let it go.

The door to the fitting room opened, sending Nayeon crashing back to the real world. She
looked up and her jaw dropped. Fuck you Sana, for finding the perfect dress on the first try, it
took Nayeon two hours. It hugged her body up to her waist, then draping down loosely, it was
sleeveless with lace detailing. “Sana-“

“It’s a bit much isn’t it.” Sana pouted, looking at herself in the mirror.

“It’s gorgeous.” Nayeon smiled.

“You’re getting this one.” Jackson clapped, “This is the one. Plus you can wear the
sweatpants we talked about under it.”

“The WHAT?!” Nayeon was about to jump up from the couch and strangle both of them. No,
Sana was not going to wear SWEATPANTS under her dress. Why would she even need to do
that? Part of Nayeon had never forgiven her for doing that at her own wedding.

“Mommy?”

The three adults turned to see Mina had now come out from the fitting room as well. The
dress wasn’t anything too special, just a very light pink that was almost white sleeveless dress
with a poofy skirt. But Mina looked so cute. Before Nayeon could even say anything though,
Sana had jumped in, “Minari! You look so pretty!”

It was cute to see Mina get shy immediately as she walked over to the mirror to look at her
and Sana. She turned to Sana, “You look like Mrs. Fox.”

“Who?”

“The princess of the North Pole!”

“Is this from your penguin book?”

“Yup!”

Jackson had barked out in laughter at that, causing Sana to flip him off. Nayeon didn’t
comment, simply just watched Mina and Sana interact. Sana looked so happy, bouncing
around with Mina as the two of them had to apparently test the mobility of their dresses. Peng
even had a little bow tie on, which Mina had announced Sana had bought for him at the store
the other day so he could come to the wedding too. It was only when Sana and Mina almost
knocked over a mannequin that she had to step in and tell them to change back to their
regular clothes.

Mina was probably the best thing that ever happened to Sana. At first Nayeon had been a bit
skeptical that Sana could care for her when she could barely care for herself, but now they
worked as perfectly moving parts. Two halves of a whole. The two of them and Momo had
wormed their way into Nayeon’s family and her heart. To be able to watch their kids grow up
together, discuss the difficult aspects of marriage, and just see Sana so unconditionally happy
wasn’t something she ever thought she’d see. For once in her life, she was glad to be wrong.
 Chapter 53

“Baby shark do-“

“If you sing that one more time, I'm going to turn us around and go home. I’m not kidding.”

Tzuyu was a great kid, she really was. But Sana was about ready to feed her to the sharks if
she got Mina to sing baby shark with her one more time. First time it was cute, second time
was a bit annoying, now on their- what were they on? Seven? Eight? Honestly she didn’t care
anymore, they just needed to stop.

Seeing fish day, as Mina has coined it, was upon them. And to say Mina was ecstatic the
entire morning would be the understatement of the century. She woke up before both Sana
(not unusual) and Momo (highly unusual), bouncing around about how excited she was to see
the fish. They did have one set back of Mina wanting to wear her shark costume, which Sana
shot down, instead compromising Mina was allowed to wear her sweatshirt she got for
Christmas that had various fish stitched into the sleeves and she could bring Peng. The swung
by Tzuyu’s house and picked the girl up, which might have been a mistake because she
started singing Baby Shark and Sana wanted to throw her out onto the highway.

This was going to be a nice little break. Their wedding was literally in five days, and while
Sana spent a good portion of her time freaking out about that, she needed time to relax as
well. Everything was ready. Momo’s parents were flying in, the music, the cake, the dresses,
decorations, it was all set. It wasn’t going to be something big, just a small little gathering
with all their friends. Just the way Sana liked it.

The aquarium they were at today was bigger than the one Mina and Sana went to last time, a
personal favorite of the detective. While Mina seemed slightly bummed that they were going
to a different one, she didn’t seem to care that much as soon as she walked in. Tugging Sana
along as she looked up at multicolored fish.

“Tzuyu look!” Mina pointed at a tank that was taller than her, her eyes just reaching the
bottom of it, “It’s Nemo.”
“Mina’s excited.” Momo hummed, intertwining her fingers with Sana’s.

“Yeah. She had a great time when we came to one of these last time.”

“That was almost a year ago now?”

Holy shit. She was right. Where had the time gone? Almost a year. Sana found Mina near the
end of March, and now the first week of March was approaching again. That was insane.
How could so much change in such a small amount of time?

“Mina,” Sana called, holding out her hand, “You need to stay with us.”

While the kindergartener did walk over close to them, she didn’t grab Sana’s hand. Instead
she grabbed Tzuyu’s. Sorry, was Sana’s hand not good enough for her? But Tzuyu looked
happy, letting Mina tug her along as they started walking through the aquarium pointing out
fish that Mina liked. Momo must’ve saw Sana pouting at being rejected, because she
playfully bumped her. “Stop it.”

“What am I doing?”

“Let her have fun with her friend.”

“I am!”

“Look! They’re feeding the fish!” Mina shouted, while Sana probably should have reminded
her about her volume but she looked so excited looking at a big tank full of various sea life
that had a few feeder fish dumped into it. Mina turned around suddenly, looking at Momo
and Sana, her eyes scrunched up and her gums showing, “Tzuyu and I are going to live
together when we’re older.” Mina announced, “She’s going to be a puppy doctor and I’m
going to be a fish doctor and we’re going to have puppies and fish in our house.”
“Mhm.” Tzuyu hummed in agreement, “Four puppies and a whole big tank of fish!”

Um no. Mina was going to stay little and in Sana’s house forever. She wasn’t allowed to grow
up. Oh no, she was going to get big and start having an attitude. Could she deal with grumpy
monster teenage Mina? Then adult Mina, and- married, Mom Mina. That very thought made
her want to shudder. She looked down at the kindergarten who was looking around at all the
fish decorations, “Why don’t you just live with us forever?”

“No,” Mina laughed, “It’s okay. I’ll still come over and eat dinner with you guys though.”

“Wow. Thanks.”

Momo snorted at that, pulling Sana along as Mina led them into the jellyfish exhibit.
Honestly, Sana was a bit nervous that Tzuyu was going to be afraid of all the water around
them, but she seemed to be just as engaged as Mina audibly gasping when she saw the
Jellyfish floating around their tank, all lit up.

“You know jellyfish are probably my least favorite sea creature.” Sana hummed.

Momo chuckled with amusement, “Yeah?”

“Yeah. There is this one jellyfish that has the brain size of an almond but is essentially
immortal.” Back in highschool she learned that, laying between rows of books with her
backpack as a makeshift pillow. It was pouring outside so she had snuck into the library to
sleep, and stumbled upon a few books about marine life. She may have stolen those books,
but hey they helped keep her sane for a while. Whatever works. “So it basically makes a
clone of itself and passes on its three brain cells. I don’t get it. I could literally just squish the
thing and end its whole career.”

“You have so much useless knowledge,” Momo laughed, “I love that about you.”
“Thanks.” She looked over at the kids, both pressed up against the glass looking at the
jellyfish that swam by. “Hey guys, did you know Jellyfish don’t have a brain?”

“They don’t? How do they think?” Mina gasped, looking up at Sana.

“They don’t. They just float there being useless.” The detective grumbled.

“Tzuyu did you hear that? They can’t think.”

“What?”

Mina pulled on Tzuyu’s hand throughout the rest of the exhibit, pointing out anything
interesting she saw. So basically everything.

“Sharks!” Mina shouted, breaking off from Tzuyu and running over to the tank, pressing her
fingers against the glass as she stared up at all the sharks. She turned around, jumping up and
down when the rest of them caught up, pointing up, “Look! Look!”

“We see Minari!” Momo smiled, reaching down to pick her up, tucking her on her hip as they
both looked up.

“Please don’t sing the song.”

Instead Mina put her hand over her head, like a fin wriggling a bit. That caused Sana to break
out in laughter, again. What a dork. This wasn’t the first time she did this, the first time was
on their first trip to the aquarium, but she would randomly do it sometimes, always causing
Sana to burst out laughing because it was so random. Sana fished her phone out of her pocket
and opened her arms, which Tzuyu quickly climbed up on and smiled when Sana held up the
camera. Nice, that one was definitely going to be her new wallpaper. They set the girls down
and decided to take a picture of just the two of them, Momo kissing Sana’s cheek as the
detective smiled.
Out of the corner of Sana’s eye she saw it, Mina puckering her lips and leaning in Tzuyu’s
direction. Wait! With almost i humans speed she slipped out of Momo’s embrace and inserted
herself between them. “What are you doing!”

“Huh?” Mina looked back up at her, furrowing her eyebrows.

“I said thirty!”

“Babe-“ Momo cut in, shaking her head and laughing, “Chill.”

“I was just doing what you did.” Mina pouted. Goddamnit, Sana hates when she pouted. No,
no way. Tzuyu was about to be banned from their house, their street, hell, planet earth.

“No.” Sana grumbled, placing Mina on one side of her, and Tzuyu on the other. She
pretended she didn’t hear Momo’s giggles.

They continued like that for the rest of the way up to the food court. Surprisingly enough it
wasn’t the kids who wanted to eat, but it was Sana, whining that she was hungry and wanted
some fries. They ordered three small containers of chicken tenders and fries and set it on the
table happily eating. Sana was nervous, Momo could tell. The detective didn’t go to sleep
until late the following night, worrying about how Mina was going to react when they finally
asked her. Momo herself was a bit concerned, but honestly she didn’t think Mina would
refuse. She kicked the detective under the table, making Sana go into action.

Sana took the Manila folder out of her bag and placed it down on the table, opening it up and
placing the papers on top of it. She slid it over to Mina who just looked at it with confused
eyes, munching on a fry. “What’s this?”

Momo watched as Sana tried to figure out what she wanted to say. The detective opened and
closed her mouth a few times, before a small smile grew across her face, “We want to adopt
you.”
“What’s that?”

“We want to be your mommies for real.” Momo offered. That was probably the simplest way
she could explain it and Mina would still understand. “Right now Sana is your foster Mom,
you know that right?” She waited for Mina to shake her head, “That means Sana is incharge
of taking care of you, but it’s only for a little while. You remember Mr.Kim right? The man
that Sana and I talk to sometimes and he came when you first left your mom? If he decides,
he could take you away from us.”

“What?” Mina seemed really upset by that. Maybe that wasn’t the best way to describe it to a
six year old-

“Not that he will! You’re very safe right now and Sana has all her paperwork so you are
staying with us forever. But we want to adopt you, so both me and Sana would be your
Mommies.”

“I’m adopted too!” Tzuyu offered, sending Mina a smile. “You know my mommies aren’t my
real Mommy but it’s okay because they chose me!”

Thank god Tzuyu was there. That seemed to make things register a bit better in Mina’s mind.
Sana seemed to notice this and jumped in as well, “You know Yeri and Lucas are adopted
too?”

“They are?”

“Mhm.”

Mina was quiet for a minute looking over the piece of paper. It was clear she was thinking
hard, raising her thumbnail between her teeth in a way that reminded Momo so hilariously
like Sana. The detective next to her was nervous, Momo could tell by the way she just
couldn’t sit still. “What about my mom?”
“What about her?” Sana shot back, earning herself an elbow in the ribs from Momo.

“What happens to her?”

Mina was kind. Really painfully kind sometimes. Momo understood, this persistent kind of
guilt where you feel like you’re abandoning your parents by trying to move on ate at her too
for a while. Momo shrugged, “Nothing. She still has to serve her sentence and she won’t be
able to see you until you turn eighteen.”

“Eighteen?” Mina repeated. “That’s so long.”

“I thought you were mad at her?” Sana asked.

“I am- I just don’t want her to be sad because she thinks I left her.” Mina looked down, “It
hurts to be left behind.”

“I understand Minari,” Momo stroked a hand through the kindergartener’s hair, “You’re not
leaving her behind. You’re just- you’re just learning to be happy for yourself.”

“She hurt you buddy.” Sana cut in, “She doesn’t deserve your love. Remember when we
talked about my mom? Do you think I should be nice to my mom?”

“No. I don’t like her. She made you sleep outside.”

“And yours did too.” Sana hummed, “You don’t need to give us an answer right now. If you
want you can take some time and think about it, we’re not in a rush. I just want you to be
happy, and Momo and I love you so much. I really want to be your Mom, Mina. Officially.”
Lunch was quiet after that. Tzuyu tried her best to interact with Mina, trying to get her to play
with their plushies or just talk but Mina was quiet. She was thinking, and she needed a bit of
time to do so. Sana grabbed the papers and tucked them back into her backpack, going to
pick up the now empty food containers.

“Okay.” Mina said all of a sudden, looking up at them with a smile, “I want to do it too.
Adaption”

“Adoption buddy.”

“That too.” Mina waved her hand, grinning, “Let’s go do it right now.”

“Right now?”

“Yeah! We can call Auntie Nayeon and the babies and go do this thing! I want you guys to be
my mommies.” Mina grabbed Tzuyu’s hand, tugging her to stand up, “I’m ready.”

“Mina, I’m glad you want to, but it’s going to be a few months until we can do this.” Momo
laughed, “We need to go to court again and tell the judge you want to be adopted, that’s going
to take a couple of months. Plus the paperwork-“ She trailed off when she saw the crestfallen
look on Mina’s face, “But it won’t take too long, I promise.”

“Pinky promise?”

“Pinky promise.” Momo held out her pinky, which Mina quickly interlocked with her own.
They broke apart, but Mina took her by surprise, launching herself towards Momo holding
onto her.

“I love you Momoring. Thank you.”

“I love you too Mina.”

 Chapter 54

Sana was going to throw up. She really was. She couldn’t do this. What was she thinking?
The detective paced back and forth, looking at the closed doors that would lead to where the
ceremony would take place. She could already hear soft chatter of their friends waiting
patiently, Momo’s mom was in there too. She hadn’t had a chance to say hi yet, mostly
because Sana was sure she was going to barf all over her shoes.

She was getting married .

Married.

For some reason that fact hadn’t fully set in until this very moment. Even when she got
dressed, it wasn’t that bad. Sure her eyes lingered on the ugly bullet scar on her shoulder that
was partially exposed, cursing herself for not getting a dress that would cover it fully. Momo
wouldn’t like to see that. Sana thought it was disgusting as well, but Jisoo has pointed out she
could think of it as a reminder of the time she took a bullet for the one she loved. She liked
the meaning of it more metaphorically than literally though.

Mina was excited. Running back and forth with Tzuyu, holding her stuffed animal and using
silly little voices like Momo would. The detective was glad at least one of them was calm, if
Mina was nervous, Sana might really run. Jackson was no help as well, worrying about his
hair in the mirror, frowning when a piece wouldn’t go where he wanted.

She was going to have to walk down the aisle alone. In all honesty, Sana hadn’t really
thought about it too much, aside from the one time Suzy offered for Taecyeon to walk her
down as well. She appreciated the offer, but that was Momo’s moment, she couldn’t infringe
on that. Was she still a bit upset that her parents weren’t coming? Yes. But her sessions with
Jisoo had really been helping her; If they were there she’d only be stressed the whole day.
This was about her. And Momo. And Mina too. But you get what she means.

All Sana had to do was take a deep breath, wait for the music to play, and then walk down the
aisle. Nayeon would be there, Jackson would be there. Mina and Tzuyu were going to walk
out with Momo, so she didn’t have to worry about that. She just had to go out there. So why
did she feel so nervous?
An arm slipped to link with hers, surprising Sana a bit. She looked over to see Nayeon
standing there looking ahead, a smile on her lips. Maybe it was just their nerves of the day,
but Sana felt her lip wobble. She wasn’t going to be alone. In a way her journey to stability
would begin and end with Nayeon. From being a scared teenager that Nayeon let sleep on her
couch, to the strong woman who was about to get married. None of it would have been
possible without Nayeon. She got her off the streets. She set her up with a job. She
introduced her to Eunha. She comforted Sana when Eunha left. She set her up with Momo.
She made Sana watch Mina. It was all Nayeon. And she was so, so thankful for her. Damn,
the ceremony hasn’t even started and Sana was sure she was about to cry.

That was until Nayeon opened her mouth of course, “Daddy’s here.”

“I hate you so much.” Sana sniffled, but her laughter took out any bite from her tone.

“That’s no way to speak to your father Missy.” Nayeon teased, before looking over at Sana
with this soft expression. She looked her up and down, taking in the sight. “You look
beautiful.”

“Really? You can see scar on my shoulder and-“

“Sana,” Nayeon cut in, putting her hands on both of the detective's shoulders, “Relax. You
look beautiful, scar or not. I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks.” Ah, some things will never change.

“Are you ready?”

“No.”
“I wasn’t either.” Nayeon shrugged, “But you’re doing it. I’ll drag you in there by your hair if
I have too.”

“Gee thanks.” Nayeon’s presence was always calming. Even if the woman was threatening
her constantly. The babies were with Jeongyeon in the room where the ceremony would take
place, Sana had gotten a glimpse of them earlier and almost died. Hyunjin had a tiny suit on
and Yeji a dress, both of now nearly six months old still didn’t do much more than sleep and
move around a bit. Sana’s personal favorite was when they would babble back to Sana when
she talked to them, laughing in that infectious way babies do.

The detective tried to ignore the way Momo’s eyes softened when she saw Sana and the
babies. She knew she wanted this for them, but it wasn’t the time.

“Okay, it’s time to go out.” Dahyun stuck her head into the back, smiling when she saw Sana
nervously clutching onto Nayeon. She disappeared once again, and they waited a few
minutes until the music started up.

Now if Sana was a bit calmer she probably would have seen Jackson grab a basket full of
flower petals. But she didn’t, and he did. Walking, he looked back at her and winked.

He wasn’t-

Jackson put his hand into the basket, dramatically throwing petals into the air with a little
jump. Sana was going to kill him. It only got worse when he spun around in a circle and blew
petals right into Seulgi’s face. Finally he reached the end of the aisle and made his way to the
front. He did.

Nayeon was close to losing it already and they haven’t even walked out yet. This was going
to be a disaster. But she clutched onto Nayeon anyway, taking a few breaths before they
started walking. If Sana remembered correctly they were supposed to do some sort of timed
step, but they were ignoring that just walking down the aisle together.

At first she was taken aback at how many people were there, and how many of those people
she knew. There were a few of Momo’s coworkers but other than that she knew everyone in
attendance. Even the idiots for her station had shown up, hooting and hollering when she
came out. There were a lot more people that cared about her than she ever knew.

They reached the end, and Nayeon turned and gave her a tight hug before going to her spot
next to Sana. Then Momo’s party started walking.

Hana came first, wearing a dusty rose dress that looked beautiful. Sana had to give it to
Momo, she had an eye for that kind of stuff. Nayeon was wearing a light lilac dress that she
had picked out, Sana didn’t know about dresses that much. She had a small bouquet in her
hands, before taking her place standing and waiting for Momo to come out.

Next was Mina and Tzuyu. Admittedly Sana almost dried right then and there. Tzuyu had the
basket of flowers in her hand, hesitantly throwing a few petals down, while Mina held both of
the dog’s leashes, Peng tucked under her arm. Peng, Ray, and Boo all had matching mini bow
ties that Mina had asked for Sana to buy her, and it was adorable. Mina’s eyes lit up when she
saw Sana at the end of the aisle, stopping and waving at the woman. The crowd laughed and
Mina kept moving, taking her seat next to Momo’s mom as he smiled and greeted her.

Then the doors opened again, and Sana’s breath was sucked out of her lungs.

Momo was absolutely breathtaking. Sana was short on words to describe how she felt
watching her walk down the aisle. Taecyeon was next to her, arms linked as they spoke in
quiet whispers, smiling softly. Her hair was tied back into an elegant low bun, the sides
twirling down to frame her face, and the dress she picked out was a white satin that hugged
her body in all the right ways.

Minatozaki Sana was the luckiest person in the world.

Momo looked up and locked eyes with her, smiling as she looked her up and down. They
reached the end of the aisle and Taecyeon gave Momo a kiss on the cheek before sitting down
next to Suzy. Momo just stared at her, “Hi.”

“Hi.”
“You look beautiful.” Momo whispered.

“You do too.”

The justice of the peace went through his spiel, honestly Sana didn’t care too much about
what he was saying all she could focus on was Momo. Momo. She looked so beautiful. They
were getting married right now. She was making forever a reality, right now. Sure fifty
percent of marriages ended in divorce, but Sana was willing to push that intrusive thought
away only if for just the next half hour. Momo was into the ceremony though, nodding her
head as he mumbled on and on about commitment and love.

The only part she cared about was when they finally got the rings and were about to put them
on. Mina had taken good care of them, just like Sana thought she would. She handed one to
Sana and the other to Momo, before going back to sit. Momo grabbed her hand, putting the
ring on the end of her finger.

Momo took a deep breath, looking up at Sana, “If I were to tell you everything I loved and
admired about you I would be here for hours. Growing up, I always envisioned this perfect
princess that would sweep me off my feet and show me everything the world had to offer. I
didn’t know when Jeongyeon offered to set me up on a date with her wife’s coworker that I
would meet that princess. You drew me in with your shy disposition, that was always
overshadowed by how deeply and purely you loved. Your eyes always talk for you, and even
to this day it always takes me back when you just look at me with nothing in your eyes by
love. I cannot believe I am standing here in front of you today, looking into those love filled
eyes and marrying you. I promise from this day forward, and until my last breath, I will lift
you when you are down, laugh at all your jokes even if they’re only funny to Mina, attempt
to teach you how to cook, I promise to be true to you, to cherish you. And most importantly I
promise to love you harder and stronger each and every day.”

Momo smiled, pushing the ring up Sana’s finger. Now it was Sana’s turn. The vows had been
stressing her out for the last week. What did she want to say to Momo? How could she
communicate the things she wanted to say in a way Momo would understand her? She
grabbed the ring, putting it on the end of Momo’s finger, her hands shaking so bad that
Momo actually had to help her.
“I was so lost-“ Her voice trembled, she could feel her eyes pricking with tears. Momo’s eyes
were glossy as well, “I was so empty inside. But ever since the day I met you, everything,
everything has just got so much better. I stand here, a person who is now happy. I stand here,
a woman who is now whole. I stand here, a woman who is full of love. And I am so thankful
for you. Because you’ve been in my corner, rooting for me and supporting me as I messed up
time and time again. When I couldn’t see my own worth, you reminded me that I was
enough. You and Mina have been the best things to ever happen to me. I promise to give you
everything that I have, for the rest of our lives. I love you.”

In any other circumstance, she’d be embarrassed of the tear that dropped down her cheek. But
Nayeon’s obnoxiously loud sobs next to her was sure to take all the attention away from that.
Momo was crying too, reaching up to try and fab her eyes to not mess up her makeup. They
both let out a little laugh, before Sana pushed the ring up Momo’s finger.

The justice of the peace smiled, “By the power invested in me, and the city of Seoul. I now
pronounce you Mrs. and Mrs. Hirai?” He faltered a bit, Sana figures this was his first gay
wedding, “You may now kiss your bride.”

The venue erupted into cheers, raising in volume when Momo dove forward, cupping her
hands on either side of Sana’s face as she kissed her. Someone started throwing flower petals,
and it was loud. But Sana wouldn’t have it any other way. They broke apart, hands grasped in
one another, turning to the aisle.

Sana wasn’t really big into parties. Never had, probably never will be. For a long time
partying was just something she couldn't afford to do, and as she got older it was just loud
and crowded, all things she hated. Momo on the other hand, she was living it up. Maybe one
day Sana would take her out dancing, maybe if the detective put enough alcohol in her
system she could dance with her. That was a thought for another time.

Everyone was having a really good time. Sana had to tip her hat to Momo, she did have an
eye for this kind of stuff.

“Sana!”
Oh god.

Suzy squealed, nearly knocking her over as the woman ran into her. The mother looked the
bride up and down, babbling so quickly that Sana almost couldn’t understand what she was
saying, “You look so beautiful honey! And your vows were perfect! Everything is so perfect.
I’m so happy for you!”

Instead of answering, Sana just hugged back. She liked Suzy’s hugs, they reminded her of
sunny days walking home from school as a child, when her and her friends would pick up
freeze pops from the convenience store chatting happily as the sticky liquid would melt down
their fingers. It felt like home. Momo felt like home too. Two more arms wrapped around her,
Momo’s dad. He just clapped her on the back a few times. “Hey kiddo, you look good.”

“Welcome to the family!” Suzy smiled, cupping Sana’s face and pressing a kiss to her cheek.
“Now you are required by law to come for Christmas every year so I can see you and my
grandbaby-ies?”

“No.”

“Give it time,” Suzy winked, elbowing her playfully as Mina came up to her and dragged her
away by her hand. She barely had time to apologize before Mina was looking up at her.

“What?” Sana looked up, both the dogs were behaved, everyone was fine. Was something
wrong? Was Mina okay? Was-

“I want to dance with you.” Mina frowned, “The babies got to and I didn’t.”

“Oh.” Sana wouldn’t call bouncing a baby on her lap as she talked to Yeji dancing, but Mina
looked angry. It was quite cute honestly. She’s have to talk about it with Mina one day, but
for now she let it go.
Mina stepped onto her toes, grabbing onto Sana’s hands. People were watching, and honestly
neither of them liked that too much, but they both just pushed it away and focused on the
other. Sana smiled down at her as they gently swayed to the music. “Are you having fun?”

“Mhmm.” Mina hummed looking up at Sana. “You look happy.”

“I do?”

“Yeah, your eyes are all crinkled like Tzuyu’s.” That goddamn kid. This was her wedding,
she didn’t want to hear about Mina’s crush on Tzuyu just for one day. Please. “I like it, it’s
pretty.”

“Thanks Minari.”

“Did you mean it?”

“Mean what?”

“That me and Momo are the best things that happened to you?”

“Mhmm.”

“Me too.” Mina nodded, “Well You and Momo. I love you a lot. You know that right? You
give me clothes and toys, and cuddles. I love you.”

“I love you too Mina.” Sana smiled. Boy did she mean it.

“You know, now that you’re married you need to be giving Momma flowers every day.”
“Every day? That sounds expensive.”

“Oh! Oh! You could write her letters! Momma writes me letters for lunch everyday. She tells
me how proud of me she is, and she tells me a different reason she loves me every day.
Maybe you should do that for her?”

“Write letters?”

“No, tell her why you love her.” Mina giggled, “She tells me she loves me because I walk the
doggies, or feed them. Stuff like that.”

“Maybe I’ll do that.” Sana smiled.

They stayed like that for a while until eventually Mina decided Tzuyu was more important
than her. (Not really, she was six and had a short attention span.) Momo was sat at their table,
probably taking a break from the constant attention she had been getting all day. She made
her way over to her, tapping the lawyer on the shoulder.

“Can I have this dance Mrs.Hirai?” Sana smiled, reaching out her hand, which Momo gladly
took.

“Of course Mrs.Hiari.” Momo smiled back, intertwining their fingers.

She led her to the dance floor, letting Momo’s hands wrap around her neck as she held onto
Momo’s waist. Sana wasn’t a dance by any means, so they just just swayed softly to the beat,
humming along to the song. Who thought it was a good idea to play Frank Ocean at a
wedding was beyond her, but she didn’t care much. All that mattered was Momo. It repeated
in her head like a broken record, and from the look in Momo’s eyes she felt the same. “I love
you.”
“I love you too.” Momo hummed, tucking her face into Sana’s neck.

“You’re mom gave me a nice warm welcome earlier.” Sana chuckled, “Nearly squeezed the
life out of me.”

“She just gets worse as time goes on, get used to it.”

The detective looked up, smiling when she saw all their friends dancing around them.
Joohyun and Seungwan were both holding one of Yeri’s hands as they jumped around,
Sooyoung doing something similar with both Jihyo and Seulgi. Jihyo had told her Sooyoung
was starting to come around to their relationship, and honestly she was glad about that. Lucas
and his dads were sat on the floor playing with his toy cars, peng and minjoong sat next to
them. Jackson was chatting with Momo’s parents and he had them laughing. Tzuyu and Mina
were dancing together, which Sana would let go for now. Only for now.

“I love you because your eyes crinkle up when you’re happy.” The confession slid off her
tongue randomly. She could feel Momo crack an amused smile.

“Huh?”

“Mina told me to tell you one reason why I love you everyday.”

“What a little romantic.” Momo laughed, “What else?”

“You’re gonna have to wait for tomorrow to find out.”

Tomorrow. For a long time the thought of tomorrow was something that made Sana nervous.
Things changed, time was cruel. It was filled with uncertainty, with misery, with loneliness.
But now- it didn’t feel like that. She was excited to wake up next to her wife, to bring Mina
to school, to go to work and have people to come home to. The future wasn’t scary, because
she didn’t have to face it alone.
Sana just let her head rest against Momo’s, softly swaying to the song with her. She closed
her eyes, trying to keep this moment forever in her mind.
 Chapter 55
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

- FIVE MONTHS LATER -

“Mina are you ready?” Sana stuck her head into Mina’s bedroom after calling her for the fifth
time in ten minutes. A smile spread over her face when she saw Mina was carefully
sprinkling food into her fish tank. The fifty gallon tank she bought while expensive, was
probably the best thing Sana had ever purchased- well aside from their house.

Fortunately they won the bid for the house across the street from Tzuyu. The neighborhood
was great, quiet, tucked away from the main road but close enough Sana could make a trip to
the store by just walking. She missed her old apartment sometimes, but now she saw the
appeal of being a homeowner. Momo was constantly coming home to the sight of Sana fixing
or redoing something in their house, and turns out she wasn’t half bad at it. In the past month
she put new hardwood flooring in the kitchen and living room because she thought it was
stupid to hire someone else to do it. Their kitchen was beautiful now as well, Sana having
replaced their backsplash and painted the cabinets one consistent theme. Never underestimate
the power of Hirai Sana and YouTube tutorials.

Her pride and joy so far was by far Mina’s room. It was right across the hall from Sana and
Momo’s, and when they first moved it was like pulling teeth to get Mina in her own room for
the night. So Sana took it upon herself to decorate Mina’s room. They spent a solid month on
it, and it was beautiful. The walls were now a light blue, with little fish painted on it. LED
lights wrapped around the ceiling, and they put a little dog bed next to Mina’s which was
never used because the dogs always just slept in Mina’s actual bed but it still was cute. The
crown jewel was the fish tank though. They had gone to the fish store together, picking out
fish and they had become Mina’s babies. She was really good at caring for them too, washing
the tank once a week, feeding them the perfect amount.

“ Yeah .” Mina set down the food container and got off the little red step stool. She was
already dressed, just in a nice blouse and jeans, Momo nearly three fit but Sana had already
approved so she couldn’t go against her. They needed to pick their battles, and Mina wearing
this versus her Shark costume was something she’d gladly take. Everyone was already
waiting at the courthouse, and Momo was starting to freak out about them being late. Mina
picked her arms up, a signal she wanted to be picked up so Sana obliged tucking her onto her
hip and making their way downstairs. Momo was already waiting for them, paperwork in her
hands as she frantically waved her arms.

“We need to go!”

“Baby, we have a few minutes.”

Momo still rushed them there in record time. All their friends were already there by the time
they arrived, gathered around the entrance to the court. They were all waving them- wait.

Sana was going to make an orphan out of Yeji and Hyunjin.

Jeongyeon brought up the idea of getting Happy Mina Day shirts for everyone weeks ago, but
Sana had shot it down and that was supposed to be the end of it. But now, here they were all
of them wearing a matching mint green shirt with the words printed onto the along with a
shark and penguin. Hell, even the babies had one. How the fuck did they manage to get one
that sized.

“There she is!” Seungwan cheered as Taeyong took out his camera to take photos of Mina.
“It’s the special girl!”

And Mina blossomed under the attention, letting herself get led inside with Sana and Momo
trailing closely behind. Just like their wedding, Sana didn’t realize how full the courtroom
would be until they actually were in there. Unlike last time this courtroom was filled with
life, promises of a future instead of the chains of the past weighing them down. Originally
Mina had been a bit hesitant to go back, but now she seemed content settling into her lap as
the judge walked in.

He was a middle aged man with kind eyes, his face lighting up when he saw the young
family. Sana bounced Mina a bit on her lap, drawing giggles of delight from their youngest.
He settled in his seat looking at them, “I feel like I’m not in dress code.”

Nayeon shot up from her spot, t-shirt in hand. Sana could only watch in horror as the judge
laughed and took off his robe, slipping the t-shirt over his dress shirt. “Now we’re cooking.
So let me look, we are here for an adoption hearing!” He looked at the security guard
standing off to the side of his desk, “We don’t get a log of those do we.”

“No sir.”

“Then let’s have fun, this is a special day after all.” He smiled, “So we have one Myoui Mina
with her Moms Hirai Sana and Momo. Wow, Mina, is this for me?” He held up a little folded
up origami shark. Mina nodded proudly as he looked at it and set it on his desk, “That’s very
nice of you. Thank you. Are you excited for today?”

“I am.” Mina hummed, “I want Momma and Mommy to be my real mommies.”

“Well, I am very sure we can make that happen.” He grinned, he looked at her file. “I see
you’ve been through a lot, kiddo. Let me ask you, do you feel safe with your foster moms?”

“Mhmm.” Mina was sincere in that, “I do.”

“And you love you’re mommies a lot.”

“To the moon and back!”

“Well that’s all the questions I have.” He shrugged, focusing in on the parents.

“Sana and Momo Hirai,” The judge smiled. Sana tightened her grip on Momo’s hand, “Do
you wish to adopt seven year old Myoui Mina?”

Momo nodded, “Yes your honor.”

It took a second for Sana to find her voice, but soon enough she was nodding in agreement,
“Yes your honor.”
He smiled wider at that, looking at Mina, “Mina, do you wish for these two to become your
mommies?”

“Yes!” Mina almost yelled, bouncing in her seat slightly. She was running her fingers through
Peng’s soft fur, not in nervousness this time but excitement.

Any trace of the scared sad child that had come into her care nearly a year and a half ago was
gone. Mina had grown a lot, now still a bit shorter than Tzuyu but nowhere near the height
difference they used to have. She also gained a healthy amount of weight. Mina didn’t cry as
much anymore, at least for things that shouldn’t have been expected of her. Sana figures she
would probably never know everything that happened, but Mina was recovering well. It
wasn’t a linear line, but they were walking towards recovery; together.

“Well then by the power of this court, I now pronounce you a family!” He hit his little
hammer thing on his desk, and Sana wasn’t prepared for the cheers that erupted from the full
courtroom. She looked back to see everyone cheering, even the kiddos. Tzuyu slipped under
the gate to hug Mina, followed by Nayeon nearly knocking Sana out of her chair.

Taeyong held up his camera, “Let’s get a picture!”

Everyone tried to climb into the frame, squishing into each other. Sana looked around at
everyone’s smiling faces, and the sheer amount of peace signs being held up. They were all
dorks, but they were Sana’s dorks. She already knew Jihyo was going to put this in her
classroom, and Joohyun on Facebook with her gazillion photos of Mina, but that was okay.

They all decided to get pizza afterwards, at the same place Sana first found Mina. It felt like a
rightful end to that chapter in their lives. Everyone was joking in the parking lot, chatting
happily like they weren’t the biggest dorks ever wearing matching t-shirts .

“Peng!” Mina exclaimed, stopping suddenly. Her bottom lip quivering, “I left him in the car!”
That was it? Sana suppressed a laugh ruffling Mina’s hair, “Do you want me to go grab him
from the car for you?”

“Yes please.”

Sana pressed a quick peck on her wife’s lips before breaking off from the group walking
through the now empty parking lot to their grey Subaru. She unlocked it and found Peng
sitting next to Mina’s car seat, quickly securing the stuffed toy under her arm. She closed the
door and locked it once again, starting to make her way through the parking lot.

Call it divine intervention, or just mere coincidence, but for some reason though she looked
up and was greeted with the soft glow of the moon looking back at her. The moon was
constant, always there, always willingly to listen to Sana’s words. She was her only
companion for years, when Sana had no one. Nights of laying on the one bench in a park that
was only a few miles from where she stood right now we’re always filled with Sana
whispering wishes to the moon.

She used to beg for someone. Just anyone. She just didn’t want to be alone anymore. She
could have wished for a roof to sleep under, or money, or food. But she just wanted someone.
It ate at her from the inside, this empty hollow feeling. Looking back it was fear, but in the
moment it was all encompassing, threatening to swallow her for everything she was.

The first time Sana thought her wish was granted was when Nayeon offered her a couch to
sleep on. It’s wasn’t comfortable, but it was dry, it was warm, and it was safe. She was just so
scared and young back then. Anyone else would have never given her a second look, with her
torn hoodie and unwashed hair. She smelled so bad she used to make herself gag.

Nayeon was in all of her authority that night just to lock Sana up. Back then she would have
liked that, at least she would be guaranteed three meals a day. She knew she was fucked when
the store clerk made her empty her pocket and the officer was called. Nayeon was kind,
calming the situation down and removing Sana in handcuffs to process her at the station. She
was silent the entire way to the station, nearly crying in embarrassment when Nayeon was
questioning her and her stomach growled loud enough for her to hear it. Nayeon had paused
her typing on her computer, as Sana felt tears prickle her eyes. She was pathetic. Without a
word, Nayeon reached into her desk and set down a granola bar on Sana’s side of the desk,
which the younger practically devoured. She hated how desperate she was.
She would never forget it, Nayeon picking up Sana’s backpack and slinging it over her
shoulder, “C’mon, Let’s go home. If I miss the last episode of my drama because of you,
you’re going to owe me a bowl of ramen.”

The moon looked through the window that night, as Sana sat on the couch next to Nayeon,
cradling a bowl of ramen between her fingers. It was the first meal she had in days and she
had nearly started crying when she took her first bite. Her hair was still wet from the shower
she took, left over water dripping onto Nayeon’s oversized clean t-shirt. The officer didn’t
ask any questions, instead talking to her like an old friend as they binged a drama series just
so Sana wouldn’t be lost. She sobbed that night when Nayeon had gone to bed, trying to
muffle it into couch cushions. Nayeon was kind enough to not mention anything the next
morning, instead letting Sana borrow her computer to apply for a job at a local fast food joint
and offered to let her stay until she was able to move out into an apartment.

For a while she thought that wish was fulfilled, but when Eunha left, Sana thought the moon
had turned its back on her. That she too had left Sana. That Sana didn’t even deserve the
moon’s company anymore.

Her thoughts briefly drifted to her honeymoon. The image of Mina staring wide eyed up at
tree upon tree full of cherry blossoms in Japan, being held up by Momo who pointed out
different things in the trees. Sana had just stood back and watched the two of them, listening
to their giggles and whispers as her wife and her daughter interacted. It was very minuscule
things that she remembered from that moment, the pink petal that had fallen into Momo’s
hair or the slight ketchup stain on Mina’s sleeve that they couldn’t get out with their tide to
go pen.

That night she had spoken to the moon once again. She sat on the beach outside their hotel
room alone once both of her girls had fallen asleep, letting the gentle waves kiss her toes in
the still warm sand. The moon was full, she had been waiting for her. This time instead of
wishing for someone, she just thanked her. Thanked her for the lessons she taught the
detective, for the happiness she had introduced into her life. And she apologized for believing
that she turned her back on her. Momo had come out at some point, wrapping a blanket
around Sana’s shoulders and rested her head on her wife’s shoulder listening to the detective
softly gently sing out a song.

A gentle knock on the window interrupted her thoughts, and once again she was greeted by
Mina’s wide eyes pressing against the glass looking up at Sana. Mina just smiled at her,
 Momo was looking at her too, a soft look on her face with Mina sitting in her lap, both of
them motioning for her to come inside. With one last lingering look at the moon, she went
into the pizza shop down the street from the station.

Maybe the moon did listen.

This may not have been what Sana signed up for, but she wouldn’t have had it any other
way.

The End.

Chapter End Notes

Let me wipe away my tears to write this farewell letter.

When I first started writing this about four months ago I never realized the impact this
would have on my life or for this to touch as many people as it did. This is my first fic,
and I’m glad to know you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I had fun writing this.

See you in the sequel. And maybe my other fics.

Until then, take care :)

Brtozaki
 PHYSICAL VER

HI GUYS !!

Not an update but I am offering a physical version of this story on my Twitter @brtozaki

checked my pinned tweet for more information :D

End Notes

Yell at me on twitter @brtozaki // Use the hashtag #TWICETTTM for reactions or questions
:)

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