It was the third day of Junmyeon’s absence and Hyejin finally caved. She asked Jongdae if she could be the one to give the homework to him and he belatedly accepted. She was careful not to glower at him as he just in case he decided to change his mind.

However, the day seemed to drag on. The students were all called down to the main hall for a special event, with no idea of what it was. The trio found themselves amidst the big crowd of students but thankfully managed to find three seats next to each other.

The teachers were filing in too, taking up the first two rows. There were a few empty seats in the centre, most probably reserved for the important guest.

“Who is it?” Seungwan grumbled. “As much as I love missing out on class, assemblies are super boring.”

“I have no idea,” Hyejin responded, eyeing some more people who entered the hall. They had cameras and notepads ready. “I haven’t heard anything.”

“Guys, get this,” Jongdae spoke up, a cheeky smile already forming at the curl of his lips. “What if the special guest is Chanyeol? Stalker level: ninety-nine.”

Right at his statement, the tall man strode in, full of charisma and confidence. Escorted by the principal, he was dressed up nicely, with a hint of a smirk on his face. His eyes scanned the crowd but didn’t land on a specific place.

“Speak of the devil,” Hyejin breathed. “What on earth is Chanyeol doing here?”

Her friends were speechless at what was happening.

As if to answer her question, the principal went up to the rostrum after guiding Chanyeol to his seat. “Good morning, the school board, teachers and students. Today, I have called for an assembly to celebrate a very generous donation to our school by our benefactor. He has expressed his interest in rebuilding our school’s laboratories, which were unfortunately burnt down about a week ago. Without further ado, I would like to invite the man himself to present his speech here.”

Immediately, there were whispers between the students about the handsome man who had contributed greatly to the school. The reporters started clicking away and some of them had their pens poised above their notepads. Hyejin couldn’t fathom how this was all happening.

“Good morning everybody. My name is Park Chanyeol, and I am the son of Park Jumin, the owner of Park Industries. It has come to my attention that the school laboratories were caught on fire, for unknown reasons, and I have taken to contributing to rebuilding them.

“I have donated two hundred million won to help rebuild the laboratories, and supply new equipment and apparatus. This school was actually my school for some time before I became home-schooled, so I feel a strong pull to this place. It was a place where I met new friends and had wonderful teachers. So, I have taken to the responsibility of helping in a time of need.

“I hope no such accidents occur in the future. The safety of the students and staff are always a priority. Thank you.”

Hyejin could only gape at the man at the front of the hall. With a few mere sentences, he had managed to solve her questions as to what he did or why he appeared so often in the vicinity. The Park Law Firm was located in the same area as the school, so it was only natural that they ran into each other often. Also, he was the heir to a highly successful company, explaining how he could afford expensive cars and how he bought the food for her.

There was thunderous applause resonating from the entire hall. The principal was smiling so hard that she thought he would rip his cheekbones.

The programme went smoothly with Chanyeol producing a giant cheque for the school, complete with pictures and wide smiles. At the same time, Hyejin was in a daze. The man she thought to be a creep, or even thought to have liked her, was the future owner of perhaps one of the top companies in South Korea.

She peered at her friends to observe their reactions, but found that they had taken to doing the same thing. They were already staring at her, their gazes penetrating. Once they were caught, they quickly looked away. She wondered what they were thinking.

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