Ice Cream, Hearts Scream (1/1)

The ice cream in Dahyun's hand is sweet. It is creamy and cool in the face of a warm summer day as she licks at it slowly, savoring each melty bite."You're so slow when you eat," Momo chuckles.She is sitting beside Dahyun, on the park bench, her fingers gently intertwined with the younger one's free hand. Her ice cream cone is long gone now, devoured in an instant. With nothing left to do as Dahyun eats, Momo is merely sitting on the bench and gazing at Dahyun fondly, her head propped against her arm on the bench's backrest. Momo's fingers drum out a tune of impatience on the back of Dahyun's hand, but Dahyun knows that the older one would wait a lifetime for her to finish her ice cream if that's what it takes.In response to Momo's observation, Dahyun licks her ice cream languidly, her actions slowing deliberately, knowing from years of practiced teasing that her belligerence would drive Momo mad. And as Momo scrunches up her nose at Dahyun, her eyes narrowing into an affectionate and dangerous glare, the younger one merely kicks up her legs and continues licking her ice cream with a smile.There's something comforting about the way everything seems to be holding steady as the years of their friendship grow. There are patterns of behavior that never ever change, like how Momo always waits for Dahyun without fail and how they always hold hands no matter what they do. How they share mugs of hot chocolate during the winters and how hot summer days are for ice cream on their favorite park bench. How Momo always eats quickly, devouring her ice cream recklessly, risking brain freeze with big bites and yet she still rushes in head first anyway. How Dahyun always eats slowly, her actions taken much more cautiously, no risk whatsoever in the careful way she eats.People always question why they always hang out together when their personalities are opposites; Momo is loud while Dahyun is rather quiet. Momo is outgoing while Dahyun is reserved.

It's like fast and slow, hot and cold, recklessness and caution. But it doesn't matter to Dahyun how their differences outweigh their similarities. As long as Momo smiles at her in the gentle way that is possessing her right now, it's enough for Dahyun to know that she wants to stay with the older one for as long as she can."Dahyuni," Momo says, the affectionate and familiar tone drawing Dahyun out of her thoughts. "Can I..."Dahyun laughs as she holds out her ice cream. It is normal for Momo to take a bite of her food even after finishing her own, so Momo doesn't even need to complete her question for Dahyun to understand. A gentle laugh follows and then Momo takes a bite rather than a lick of the ice cream, most likely to help Dahyun finish it even though Dahyun wanted to eat all of it on her own. Dahyun tightens her grip on Momo's hand, a reflexive action whenever something surprises her. Perhaps their friendship isn't so steady after all whenever Momo does something absurd like that. But Dahyun really doesn't mind. She only rolls her eyes at the girl and then puts her focus back on enjoying her ice cream.The walk back to the apartment is a real struggle for Momo, as Dahyun decides that what Momo did wasn't alright whatsoever, almost eating half of her ice cream. It is only when Momo grabs Dahyun's hand and drags her to run behind her that makes Dahyun stop complaining. Well, when they arrive there, Momo gets into big trouble again. They step into the living room where the girls are watching TV and Chaeyoung, being the humorous person she is, immediately starts teasing Dahyun."It looks like your face ate more ice cream than you did, Dahyun." Chaeyoung points at the girls lips.With that, Dahyun immediately runs to the bathroom to look in the mirror. Shortly after, a groan can be heard. "Momo! I have chocolate all over my lips! Why didn't you tell me?""I didn't feel the need to," Momo says with a grin as she comes up behind Dahyun, placing one hand on the girl's waist and raising the other to her face.She then peeks around Dahyun's head to look at her through the mirror before slowly wiping the chocolate away with her thumb. The action is almost too slow for Dahyun as she watches closely, frozen in her spot, but also somewhat charmed of Momo's smooth ways of doing things."You looked too cute." Momo pinches the girl's cheek before letting go of her, making her way back to the living room. She can't help but smile to herself.Meanwhile, Dahyun rolls her eyes for the second time today, but it's more of a "What am I gonna do with this girl?" one than an annoyed one. Then, she also joins the others.The sweet summer day is filled with lots of love, fun, and games between the girls, which is why time flies by so fast. But it's always been like this. Despite being together for seven years, there has not been a day that was spent boringly. Eventually, darkness prevails as the girls separate to go to their rooms. Even if staying outside for too long during the day would make sunburn likely, a pleasant breeze occurs at night.Dahyun and Momo brush their teeth together, do their skincare routines together, and even get into bed at the same time. They really enjoy doing everything and anything together, which some people would get an ick from, but they really could not care less. They also fall asleep together, hand in hand.In the middle of the night, Dahyun sits up in bed with a choked gasp. She has woken up from a nightmare once again. She starts continuously whispering to herself over and over that it really is just a nightmare as she slowly lays back down, trying to catch her breath, hoping that she hasn't woken Momo up."Dahyuni?"Oh no, Dahyun thinks to herself. She quickly tries to wipe her tears away, but a warm hand is quicker to caress her wet cheeks."You're crying," Momo whispers, her voice full of concern.Dahyun thinks about denying the truth for a moment, but there is no point in doing so when Momo is already brushing away her tears, already lacing her hand into Dahyun's, already sidling up to her. Momo is always her protector when they sleep because when Dahyun cannot do anything to shield herself against the intense nightmares that invade her sleep, it's only Momo who can soothe her when the nightmares come. Momo will gently intertwine their fingers, which seem to always separate during the night, and provide a steady reassurance to Dahyun's hand until the younger girl is able to fall back asleep.This time, it seems like the nightmares were a little worse. Dahyun has woken up with a startled cry, her breathing shallow and fast. But even so, before Momo, there was no remedy for any kind of nightmare. If Dahyun woke up in tears, she used to stay huddled under the covers, alert and distressed, waiting for morning to come so that someone could distract her from the images she saw. She didn't want to bother Tzuyu and Chaeyoung either, so she just dealt with it. But after exchanging rooms with Jeongyeon and sleeping by Momo's side, Dahyun learned that Momo is like magic. Momo is no way of making the nightmares stop, but she is the only person who has ever been able to put the younger one back into sleep."I'm good, it's fine,'" Dahyun says shakily as she feels Momo sit up beside her. She tugs at Momo's arm, urging her to lie back down. She hates troubling Momo as they sleep, forcing Momo to comfort her. "Go back to sleep.'""No, I won't," Momo says with a huff. "You're crying."And without listening to another word of protest, Momo rolls over and climbs onto Dahyun's hips, settling down gently on top of the younger girl like a human blanket, like a shield to protect her from all the bad thoughts that try to invade her mind. With a soft caress of Momo's warm hand against Dahyun's cheek, Momo leans down and plants a soft kiss to her cheek before hugging her. It's not the first time Momo has helped Dahyun overcome a nightmare in this manner, effectively ridding her of troubling thoughts with a kiss, a hug, an embrace bright enough to end the night, but it is the first time that it is almost more troubling than the nightmares for Dahyun."What's wrong?" Momo asks, seeing Dahyun's tension remain even after. "Is this not enough tonight?"Dahyun shakes her head and tries to gather up her courage. "Would you ever..." she averts her eyes, "...kiss me like this if I wasn't having a nightmare?""Yes," Momo says simply, the answer coming more easily than Dahyun thought it would. "I would."Momo is about to lift herself back up when Dahyun's arms wrap themselves around her body, making her stay in place. Momo smiles. "Will you be able to go back to sleep?""No," Dahyun admits. "I want to talk with you.""Then, I'm all ears."There is an embarrassed pause before Dahyun speaks. "Thank you for making me feel like this."Momo chuckles, touched but still amused because the words are very unlike Dahyun.

"No need to thank me, but how do you feel?"I feel..." a smile forms on Dahyun's lips, "...safe."Momo manages to lift herself up this time, sitting on Dahyun's hips and looking down at her with adoring eyes. "Thank you for letting me make you feel safe."The fact that Momo is thanking her when she should be the grateful one makes Dahyun realize how lucky she is to be in the same group, to be friends with the girl. The only problem is that the younger one has no idea on how to show Momo how thankful she is for everything. That is something she has been training to improve on herself, and this time, she manages to explain herself clearly.Dahyun grabs the girl's hands. "I think I love you."She can only smile as Momo settles back comfortably onto her, fingers intertwined, bodies pressed into each other. Shortly after, a nightmare turns into a dream as Dahyun gently pushes Momo off of her and to the side before climbing onto the girl's body. With an adorable giggle from Momo, Dahyun's heart, which was beating fast with fear, is now beating in excitement, in love.Then, Momo changes the world, changes Dahyun's world, with a question so simple and yet so meaningful. She places her hands onto Dahyun's hips, caressing them up and down as gently as possible. "May I kiss you?"Dahyun didn't know what she was expecting, but it wasn't this. Although, she wouldn't want it to be anything else. The only thing that shocks her more than Momo's question is the fact that the impulsive girl didn't just jump in head first and kiss her. Instead, Momo decided to ask her first, which Dahyun finds wonderful. Still, knowing how big of a joker Momo can be, Dahyun carefully looks into the older one's eyes for any signs of teasing.But she is only able to find affection in her gaze, only kindnes, warmth, and a comforting sense of home. Those feelings are making it so easy for Dahyun to ignore the overwhelming wave of cowardice that is urging her to brush off Momo's question as a joke and makes it even easier for Dahyun to embrace the single drop of recklessness in her existence. So, she takes a shaky breath and lets her heart melt with adoration for Momo, whose smile remains steady and confident even as she is patiently waiting for Dahyun's response. It's just like before when Momo waited for Dahyun to finish her ice cream.With lips that tremble out of anticipation rather than fear, Dahyun lets the world melt away until only her and Momo are the ones remaining. And then she answers the girl's question with all the sincerity in her heart. "Kiss me."The recklessness returns to Momo in this instant, causing her to pull Dahyun down to take the kiss that Dahyun has offered her so willingly, licking into the younger girl's mouth as though Dahyun would melt if Momo did not consume her quickly enough. Then, she pulls back to look at Dahyun in the eyes, making sure that she really did mean her answer, but Momo doesn't have to worry at all because soon enough, Dahyun is the one pulling Momo to sit up before catching her lips. The kiss is slow and languid, making the girls smile as they feel each other reciprocate....