12.

.,¡i|¹i¡¡i¹|i¡,.
`"¹li¡|¡|¡il¹"`

"I can sense a beautiful day ahead of me..." Hana mumbled in her sleep, smilingly. Her eyebrows twitched, knitted and arched when she heard a couple of excited knocks on her door. A soft groan escaped her dry throat as she slowly opened her eyes and got up to her feet.

"Hana! Open the door!" She heard her Grandmother cheerfully called from outside. She raised an eyebrow as she quickly and unsteadily slipped on her bedroom slippers. Well that's odd. It was usually her mother that wakes her up in case her alarm decides to go idle or calls her at this time...

She opened the door and found a beaming Mrs. Gong. "Halmeoni?" She rubbed her tired eyes. The older woman nodded and forced a big and heavy box into her arms.

"E-eh? Mworagoyo?" She looked at the brown box in her arms, it was with a thick, lilac ribbon on the top that told her it was made with elegance and all.

"This is for me? It's not my birthday yet-" Hana looked up and found her grandmother no more. She muttered some words and tell you what, our Hana is utterly confused right now.

She wasn't exactly really happy upon receiving this gift. She was still contemplating if it ought to bring her joy, trouble orrrrrrr KRIS. Yeah, that's right. She happened to recall what he told her in the bathroom.

"This is it?" She placed the big box down her bed and happened to glance at her bedside clock. Dang, it was exactly five freaking o'clock. The sun barely distributed it's rays in Seoul. She looked down at the object in front of her and a little colorful sticker on its side caught her eye.

She squatted and turned that side with a kawaii sticker to her. "Hannah." She read and rolled her eyes in disfavor... but, but the sticker was so cute that she actually planned on keeping the box. "Okay, let's see this." She turned the lights on for her to see better.

Hana sat on her bed, beside the box and started opening it. She finally removed the top cover and she instantly smiled when there, she saw two neatly folded pairs of uniform for her. She clapped like a child and snatched the blazer from the box.

She even grinned when she saw LEE on the nameplates. "Woah, it's really mine! Like, mine. Mine." She kept on repeating. She got all the remaining parts of her uniform when a little note flew out of a skirt.

"Oh." Hana tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and picked the note up. "Who writes like this!?" Her eyes turned into slits. She nearly laughed before she even started reading. "You should... be glad... I... I... didn't put WU." She read in broken words. "You should be glad I didn't put WU." She scoffed after she repeated it faster.

She smilingly kept one uniform set in her closet and smiled at the other one which was ready to be worn. And must I remind you, it smelled so sophisticated, crisp and cottony(?) at the same. Hana just couldn't figure out what word describes it more.

Hana turned to the clock again and noted that it had only been eleven minutes after five. There were still tons of time. As in, TONS with a capital T for Tools... wait, what?

"Tons of school tools!" Hana said gaily as she gazed admiringly at the set of kawaii erasers in colors blue and lavender. Next to it were also a bunch of rulers, protractors, triangles and high-end ballpens. She closed her dangling open mouth and restrained herself from pulling them out the box.

She got up on her feet and quickly searched for her grandmother. She passed by her mother in the kitchen and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Morning, Eomma."

She looked around the place. Her mother returned the greeting as well. She placed the spatula she was holding down the counter and turned the stove off. "Are you looking for Mother?"

Hana turned to her beautiful and calm mother. "Neh, where is she?"

Mrs. Lee giggled, knowing what brought her to search like this for Mrs. Gong. "She went to the wet market." She informed as she transferred the freshly-cooked viand from the pan to a big, mint green-colored bowl. "We're having fried fish for dinner."

"Mm." Hana nodded with a smile. "I'll go prepare already!" She said as she jogged up her room.

※ ※ ※

After making sure everything was arranged and that she was good to go, Hana reached for the doorknob but stopped and turned around. "Cellphone!" She fished through her pillows and found out that it's battery drained.

"No distractions, PRO!" She shrugged with a small grin.

Her eyes were locked at the pretty box (which was still on her bed) and debated on how cheap and easy she would appear if she were to actually receive that wholeheartedly... especially when she knows that it came from a man: the Kris Wu, to be exact.

She slowly approached the box and first saw the oh-so-new protractor that seemed to call her name. "Aniyo!!! This is too much. That Kris Wu is too much!!!" She shook her head firmly as she took turns in looking at all the things still untouched in that box.

She transferred her gaze to the brand new uniform she was happily wearing. "And I only agreed with the uniform..." she thought out loud, "...because it was because of him anyway why I got into that incident!" She concluded and closed the box.

"Therefore... no." She decided and went out her room; with a stubborn (but just) heart.

※ ※ ※

"Why is she not answering!?" Kris growled as he refused to dial her number again.

Mr. Park smiled at the young man before asking. "Should I?" He led Kris to the other car which will bring HIM to the airport. Kris sighed momentarily before a huge smirk appeared in his face. "Ndeh, take her there quick."

The older man nodded with a grin and went to the car which will bring HER to the airport.

※ ※ ※

Well... today's Math class seems strange. Hana thought.

The moment a substitute male teacher entered, Hana could hear the faint scowls and early signs of real contrition in her classmates' faces as they stood up to greet him. She wondered why they were like this.

She looked at him. He was wearing a white plaid polo and a midnight blue-colored slacks. He wore a glossy pair of leather shoes that looked very sharp. He wasn't this attractive, but he had style... and a very strict-looking visage despite his youthful, glowing skin. He somehow resembled Ms. Ahn's skin... but Lee Hana never saw him before.

And oh by the way, why is he here instead of Ms. Ahn?

"Oh man. It's Ms. Ahn's older brother." She heard her male classmate next to her whisper. The guy in front of him nodded and clicked his tongue. "Poor those who missed yesterday's assignments."

They not-so-secretly hi-fived and smirked. "That includes your ex, hyung, Saemi." The one in front inaudibly chuckled as all of them settled down. "And her weakling bestfriend who ignorantly dumped you last year, Bomin." They clasped their hands again in triumph.

Hana disregarded the girls part they they talked about. "Wae? Is this sub-teacher so bad?" She asked as lowly as she could. The guy beside him heard her and nodded slowly.

"You'll see..." he glanced at Hana then to this Mr. Ahn. "...how different he is from Ms. Ahn."

All and sundry shifted their attention to the teacher as he banged his fists on the table. "I bet most of you already know me. So... let's get to the point." Mr. Ahn placed his briefcase on the teacher's table and nodded twice.

"Those who did not do their homeworks, stand up!" He stated, his eyeglasses glistening with discipline- like the ones in anime.

Hana grinned inwardly and flipped to page 33. She looked at all the blanks that were all filled in. Letters D and E were proudly answered by her and then...

...it hit her.


Kris was actually the owner of such thin handwritten answers that occupied the blanks for activity letters F and G. Her eyes scrutinized the way he answered that part of the homework, wondering how he knew that this number one was a 36 degrees angle... how number three was an obtuse one when it looked like a right angle to her.

It was actually fairly understandable, she was juuuuuuuust exaggerating.

I bet these are wrong. She scowled and one by one, she watched her classmates stand with their heads hung low in shame. There were a few girls who looked thrice embarrassed than the guys which were used to these kinds of happenings already.

Hana felt someone one seat away from her rise from her seat as well. And it was a... girl, again. She inwardly shook her head. There were five of them now.

This standing classmate of hers sighed and pinched her own arms. "Aish, why didn't I recall having this homework!" That girl grumbled under hear breath and stared at Mr. Ahn who scolded all of them until their ears bled.

Hana looked at her, the same time that girl happened to turn to her too. This girl flashed Hana a feeble grin, and Hana knew why she did that. Lee Hana felt like smiling too so she did because she understood her. Rare times we have here.

"I'm so unlucky!" She pouted. They were quite obscured since they sat on the very back. "It's one of those unfortunate days where Ms. Ahn's brother has to substitute her class because she's in that fundraiser for animals!" She told Hana as if they were close.

Hana smiled understandingly again and nodded, but her smile turned into a shocked frown when the class heard Mr. Ahn loud and clear: "OUT, THOSE WHO DON'T HAVE HOMEWORKS!" He neatly folded his arms and observed the regret in the students' faces. "Boys, clean the bathrooms until 12:00! Girls, arrange the books in the libraries and don't come back here without the all boys accomplishing their punnishments!"

Hana's mouth was slightly apart. "Does that mean they only get an hour or lesser for lunch?" She inquired her seatmate again. He nodded. "Poor girls." Then he shook his head at Hana. "Worse if the boys slack off."

※ ※ ※

There are four periods for Geometry. Four sets of sixteen minutes. And usually, it was always fun and cheerful around the room if it was Ms. Ahn and her conservative humor. Time would seem to fly so quickly for the young ones and they'd usually have a blast learning Math.

But today... it seemed REALLY DIFFERENT. Even the ways of Mr. Ahn were odd.

Right now, he is currently checking all nineteen books of those students that had their complete homeworks. Yep, he's doing it himself, one by one.

Hana glanced at him, slightly amused. Then proceeded on taking notes when he shot up and went to the door as a man in suit called him.

She pouted as she wrote down two memorized sentences from the board. "I probably have a low score thanks to that bastard." She grunted to herself and looked up again, searching for the next words on the board but found Mr. Ahn staring at her intently.

She swallowed and looked away. W-why is he-

"HANNAH LEE?" He boomed in a curious voice. Hana gulped again and turned to look at him. "N-neh?" The class, too, looked at her. Oh no, I must have a very bad score and Kris was just playing with my book and faking that determined face-

"One mistake." He said all of a sudden, smiling. Hana blinked at him. "Huh?"

"Let's give her a hand, she got the highest score." He announced to the whole class and all remaining nineteen of them clapped. Yep, even her in complete desbelief. "Jinjja?" She faintly said. "One mistake in the first number of..." It's Kris' right, right, riiiiiiiggghttt?

"...letter E." He finished. Hana sighed and approached her book in his hands. "Ohp," he warned with his hands. Hana instinctively took a step back. "Bring your things with you." He said and signaled her out.

Hana's jaw dropped. "W-waeyo? Sosaengnim, wae?" She melodramatically asked. Mr. Ahn shrugged and with a sharp tone, he answered. "Just do as told." Hana nodded dejectedly and quickly started collecting her things. Along with her other classmates, she too, didn't understand what the hell was happening.

She got the highest score and yet her teacher's sending her off? How? To where? WHY?

She wore her backpack and walked shakingly to him. He placed her book in her hands and patted her head. "Go with Mr. Park." He told her with a friendly smile. Who? Mr. Freaking Park who works for Mr. Freaking Wu??? Her eyes widened as she turned around to look at the familiar, old and smiling employee of her boyfriend.

 ※ ※ ※

"Come on, come on Hannah, appear already." Kris kept on mumbling under his breath as he smiles at all the other businessmen and women that greets him. All of them, representatives of each company in Seoul, were to ride on one airplane.

Estimatedly, there were forty of them. From car companies, mall companies, alliances, and a lot more. There were more men than women. And most of the classy-looking ladies her gave their attention to Kris AND his friends.

Yep, there was Kim Min Seok (Xiumin) and Kim Jong Dae (Chen) of the Kim Autos and Motors. Zhang Yi Xing (Lay) of the Zhang Enterprise. Lu Han and Huang Zi Tao of HuangLu Group of Companies-- all are close brothers of Wu Yi Fan (Kris) of Wu International.

"Uhm, mister." Hana awkwardly poked Kris' shoulder. Kris finally sighed in relief and faced her with his cocky visage activated. Their eyes were locked with each other the moment they faced. He leaned in and dropped a kiss on her left cheek.

Hana did her best not to react. Keeping herself cool, she waited until Kris would remove his dreaded lips off her cheek... but her burning insides told her to kick him in his shin already. First and foremost, she didn't know Mr. Park was fast...and mighty to actually catch her before she runs away. This old guy actually made her do what Kris wanted her to.

"Just act as if you're really there so bid Kris a goodbye." Mr. Park had told her as they arrived. "And eat lunch like a good girlfriend and all, then, you're good to go."

"Nice uniform." Kris slyly complimented as he looked at her, almost-too-loudly as he pulled back, smirking unceasingly. "And I'm pretty sure you're ecstatic about your score in Math."

Hana could feel the intense glaring that girls sent her and Kris sensed the amused faces of his friends. His oh-so-ready-to-be-defeated friends.

"Yeah." Hana forced a crooked smile and followed what Mr. Park said. She gulped and hesitantly hooked her arm around his... well, no. She defiantly cheated. She just held Kris arm with one hand and waited for him to speak.

She reminded herself not to puke for whatever Kris had to say... or do.

Kris smirked proudly to his friends who gathered nearer. "Don't think about me too much. And eat your lunch everyday even if that means I'm not around." He said and pulled Hana in a bone-crushing hug that his friends gave their amused claps for.

Hana scoffed. "I can manage."

"Still."

 ※ ※ ※

"Hold this for a while." Kris quickly said as he gently placed his leather bag on Hana's lap. When Kris was nearly out of the area of sound waves, his friends' faces turned really different.

Creepy and somewhat... cute but ah well, she still doesn't like them.

"You came here by yourself?" Lay inquired as he popped a piece of chicken in his mouth. Hana rolled her eyes and shook her head, watching Kris go to the comfort room. "Of course not. That giant kidnapped me and-wait, why am I talking to you?" She spat in a very mocking way.

"Because we're your friends... now." Tao quipped with a wicked smirk. Hana blinked at him and lightly shook her head. "I don't want to be friends with the friends of that man." She obviously was talking about Kris.

"I remember when you two first met!" Luhan laughed like a kid and placed his shake down the table. "You two really hate, hates, hated, whatever tense, each other!" Xiumin joined in and discussed about how Kris raves about his dislike for Hana in every way. "You should hear him!" They chortled.

Lay and Tao only nodded but still grinned. They got what their geges meant.

Chen stood up and pretended to go all-cool, Canadian-style like Kris. "I don't want to be involve with anything about that Hannah but ah oh well, gull please, I can do everything~" he imitated their so-called duizhang. And laughter erupted again.

Hana rolled her eyes but a little smile was noticeable on the corner of her lips, of course she knows how Kris would act behind her back. And vice versa. "What do you want to talk about anyways without Kris?" She said quickly, impatiently, rather. "You've always told me you wanted to say something without that bastard!"

Having lunch with these six men in the airport was really uncomfy for her. And to think that their table always had the highest attention... it was suffocating.

Luhan gave her the most adorable smile in the whole world that somehow spelled trouble. Albeit that perfect little nose, what Luhan's mouth processed were always the most problematic in every little way. "Can you actually date Kris longer than a month?"

"I hate him." She responded almost too quickly that it sounded so natural. Yep, a 100% accurate and 100% from the heart.

Luhan stared at her. "That is not an answer." The other four nodded. Hana rolled her eyes. "Of course that mean a no! I'm really looking forward to ending this thing already."

Xiumin pouted and pondered while the others continued eating. He was already finished five minutes ago... His face lit up as he started: "Well, tell you what," Hana looked up at him, and so did the others. "This couple thing would never end unless we see something." He said with a very mischievous grin.

Hana looked interested even though her mind was quite chaotic. "See what?" She glanced at Chen and Luhan who already got it. But Lay and Tao looked utterly confused like her.

"If duizhang actually falls in love." Chen simply said. Hana tilted her head to the side. "What are you talking about? He had tons of girlfriends!"

"But none of them were taken seriously." Lay inserted when he and the youngest finally understood. "Not one of them melted that cold barrier he puts up." Hana raised an eyebrow. "Cold barrier?"

Chen nodded with a really pretty smile.  "He has everything, but not someone who could control him, not someone that could actually care for him like a... you know, girlfriend."

Hana still didn't get it. "Like I said, he had and has tons of girls who love him!" She retorted with her hands tightly holding Kris' bag. "So I don't think-"

"He's cocky yes, but he has a heart that doesn't function for love." Tao explained sadly. "It would be a reaaaaaallyyyyy nice deed of you if you change him."

"Change him?" Hana considered what they said and reconsidered again. To get out of this... she thought, you need to change the cocky Kris Wu... "How am I supposed to do that?" She scoffed. "If not even one of his beautiful girlfriends did-"

Xiumin grinned for like the tenth time today. "It's not quite hard. We'll help you!" Lay nodded. "We're fed up with him. So just pretend that you really, really, really like and appreciate him so he'd go confused and all."

Tao glumly nodded. "Act all caring but still hate him and accept him for who he is but don't tolerate his cruel actions and maybe he'll... fall in love-"

"Whoa, Tao, do you want to change him instead?" Lay guffawed like mad and so did Hana. But luckily, Hana now understood her mission. And that mission, would be accompanied by these allies: Kris friends.

But still... she still hates him... and guys... and ARGH THIS IS FRUSTRATING.

"Who's falling in love?" Kris asked as he sat beside Hana. All of them suppressed their laughters while Tao scowled and stared at Hana, giving her a I-was-just-telling-you-what-to-do-you-little-one look.

Hana did a little smile and gave Kris his bag. "You should proceed now." She said and stood up, searching for that Mr. Park who promised to be just around. "I'm gonna be late for class." She muttered and felt all of them rising from their seats too.

"Yeah, Fan, let's go now. They're probably waiting for us." Luhan called over his shoulders as they walked ahead. Hana happened to glance at Xiumin and Chen who winked at her. She almost giggled and rolled her eyes.

Kris blinked at her. "What the heck happened while I was gone?" Kris continued to stare at her as they walked side by side. Hana and shook her head while debating if she should listen to his friends or not. "Well I decided to uhm take this serio- uuh what no, bye now!"

Hana sputtered and turned around. But stopped when Kris made her face him again. "What?"

Hana saw Kris' friends waving over from far away. Begging her to do something... lovey-dovey. She swallowed her pride and sliiiiightly wrapped her ams around Kris' waist. "Be safe." She inaudibly said.

Kris turned quiet but instictively, he held her closer and tighter. Not minding if his friends were watching, or if this was still for display... he was... stunned. They stayed like this for maybe ten seconds or so without them minding anything... strange.

"Did they poison you?" He managed to say as they pulled away. Her actions were totally confusing him. Kris looked dead serious as he raised one thick eyebrow. "Have you fallen for me already?"

What on earth did they possibly tell her?

Hana rolled her eyes and gently pushed him. "Dream on." Kris chuckled. Good, still the same. "Thanks for coming." He grinned and walked backwards, still facing Hana, not minding if he'd bump with anyone because he surely won't fall with this height.

Hana frowned. "You mean thanks for being caught and dragged here?"

Kris smiled and nodded. "Yes, I mean that." He smirked and coolly approached his giddy friends. She finally sighed and dusted the invisible dust off her brand new unifrom. What did I just do?

...that just meant I actually listened to them! She shook her head at Luhan and Xiumin who gave her a thumbs up with a few flying kisses and ugh, yuck.

"So this is why the girls are moody today... their crushes are gone." She muttered and walked to where Mr. Park was waiting with a huge grin. It appears that he saw what she did. That was so disgusting. She thought to herself.

"So much for acting." She rolled her eyes and entered Mr. Park's car.

※ ※ ※
 

Chen smiled as he made himself comfortable in his seat before the plane started. "I'm really glad she's talking to us now..."

"..and kinda listening." The nodded.

"Do you think it will work?" Xiumin asked with a hint of disappointment upon seeing Kris' usual poker face. Lay beside him seemed perfectly cool too.

Well, it has no effect on Kris for now. Luhan glanced at Kris too. "Keep calm and trust Lu Han." He grinned. "And Chenchen." Chen smiled.

Xiumin snickered. "This is gonna be fun."