Min Young guarded Shin Hye the whole night against her will.

"It's because you're out there brawling with guys that this has happened," she reprimanded Shin Hye. "If only you acted as a girl..."

"Shut up, Noona," Shin Hye said. "I have no more room for your rhetorics."

"Pfff... you and Jay, why are you so alike? Arghhh! Only Yoon Ji understand me and my girly frills," Min Young whined.

"Like wearing high-heeled pumps even if your calf muscles ache after a day?" Shin Hye retorted. "Aigoo."

"Just sleep now," Min Young told her spitefully. "You have to get out of here by tomorrow."

"Arasseo, arasseo..." Shin Hye replied in disgust.

****

The next day, Min Hyuk visited Shin Hye with a bouquet of flowers. Shin Hye looked at him strangely, while Min Young sighed at the sight of the roses.

"Annyeonghaseyo?" Min Hyuk greeted them before introducing himself to Min Young.

"Shin Hye, how come I never knew you have three boyfriends?" Min Young sister.

"Are you trying to be sarcastic?" Shin Hye retorted. "Boyfriend, mwo?"

"Aish, now I know why you are hiding behind the tomboy persona."

"Tomboy persona?" the younger sister reacted.

"Ne! So you can get all the handsome boys to be your friends, and pretend to quarrel them in order to fall in love with them."

Min Hyuk blushed at the explanation given by Min Young.

"Ah, geuman hae, huh, Noona?" Shin Hye told her sister, asking her to stop. "What fall in love?"

"See here, you managed to get a hot and delicious enemy like Jong Hyun, and a funny and sweet casanova like Jung Shin-ssi, and a sweet one and a gentleman like Kang-seonsaengnim... though I still prefer Jung Shin-ssi, of course," Min Young said.

"Why are you hitting on my fellow teachers?" Shin Hye asked her, though she wished she did not include the Lee teachers for fellows.

"Ehem, just....just think of what I said as a fact," Min Young dismissed. And to Min Hyuk, "Kang-ssaem, please take care of my sister, arasseoyo?"

"Ne, algesseumnida," Hyukkie said with his eye smile and cute demeanor.

Shin Hye was discharged, and Min Hyuk offered to take the two sisters home. Min Young liked that she would be able to ride a Lamborghini once in her life, so she invited the cutie teacher to eat breakfast with them.

"Jae Beom cooks breakfast for us ladies," Min Young explained, much to Shin Hye's dismay.

****

Shin Hye exited the black shiny car as Min Hyuk turned off the ignition, and the tomboy earned the happy sighs and jealousy in school, both from teachers and students alike. She did not mind because she just wanted to do her job of teaching the students about the subject-verb agreement, and to insist on not teaching gerunds.

When she got inside the faculty room, the first thing that she did was to greet the other teachers, who greeted her out of respect, boredom, or disdain. Kahi did not return her greeting, showing Shin Hye that she, the other teacher, was a snob. The next thing that caught Shin Hye's eyes was the naughty smile painted on Jung Shin's face.

"Annyeonghaseyo?" Jung Shin greeted playfully.

Shin Hye could not forget how the other teacher twirled her around inside the boutique yesterday evening, and she hated seeing that silly smile painted on his face. She did not greet him back. Jung Shin watched her with interest as she gathered her books for the first session that day. And the tomboy did not mind as the gay casanova continued watching her with so much regard.

The tomboy exited the room to go to her first class when her wounded arm was brushed against the arm of another teacher. To her anger, it was Jong Hyun, who looked at her with fire in his burning eyes.

"Aha! Now that you are discharged, we might as well continue with our brawling yesterday," he jeered at her.

"Geurae! I really do not mind," Shin Hye retorted. "If it will be for your own happiness, Sweatheart, I can even knock your teeth off."

"Bring it on!" Jong Hyun replied. "For sure, I will win again."

He patted her on her hair, so she punched his arm away. He sneered and walked away, but behind her back, Jong Hyun lit up an inspired smile. His smile was that of a guy who gets shy around a girl who caught his eye.

He, too, had started to fall in love with Shin Hye.

*****

During lunch time, Min Hyuk was worried that Shin Hye's sleeve was stained with blood, so he brought her to the clinic.

"I am hungry," Shin Hye protested.

"You can eat later," Min Hyuk replied in worry. "You might bleed yourself to death."

"Aish, I told you I am not Cinderella," Shin Hye insisted.

Min Hyuk did not insist. When they got inside the clinic, the school nurse smiled at the two and began attending to the wounded teacher. Min Hyuk was close with the nurse, who was his cousin, so he requested her silently to take care of Shin Hye's every need. Shin Hye, soon, discovered that the nurse was being extra nice to her, and paying attention to her wound. When asked if she was all right, the nurse just smiled silently and went on with her duty silently. And it left Shin Hye baffled.

"We can take our lunch now," Min Hyuk told her gently.

"Eung," she replied.

The two of them exited the clinic and headed for the cafeteria, where most of the teachers were almost done with their meals. Jung Shin smiled to see the two coming in to order, but was distracted by Jong Hyun's grunts.

"Wae, chingu? Wae geurae?" the gay teacher asked.

"None of your business," Jong Hyun glared at him as he said that before biting off his banana.

A naughty smile was painted again on Jung Shin's lips. Did he just sense something?

"Jealous?" he teased the rough teacher.

Jong Hyun hated to admit it, and he hated how the other teacher was able to find him out.

"Aniya! I just... you know how I still resented Park Shin Hye," Jong Hyun said in defense.

"Ah~~ so you are in denial," Jung Shin said as he twirled the spoon he was using. "Well, you can lie to me, but you cannot lie to yourself."

"MWO?" Jong Hyun asked in anger.

Jung Shin grabbed his phone and flipped through his pictures before showing his phone to the Korean literature teacher. When Jong Hyun saw the picture, his eyes grew wide, and he grew pale. But what made Jung Shin amused was the fact that Jong Hyun blushed.

JH blushed at the sight of the tomboy Shin Hye in a cute pink mini dress, pump heels, and head accessory.

"Kyeopta~~" Jung Shin crooned.

Jong Hyun shook his head before laughing.

"Omo, Jung Shin-ah, since when did you learn to edit pictures professionally?" Jong Hyun mocked him.

Jung Shin smiled at him and batted his eyelashes, much to Jong Hyun's ire.

"She really wore that yesterday," Jung Shin shared.

Jong Hyun scoffed. "Shin Hye and I knew each other for many years already. She would never wear that kind of outfit."

"Not when I am involved," Jung Shin said merrily.

Jong Hyun punched the other teacher before looking back at the other two, eating sweetly, or so he thought. He began to jealously look at Min Hyuk, who was smiling widely at the boring stuff that Shin Hye probably had shared to him.

****

"It was a relief that Lee Jong Hyun-seonsaengnim and you knew each other before coming here," Min Hyuk asked before putting the piece of oyster to his mouth.

"Tsh, he has been my boxing buddy, after all...erase it, make it, 'my enemy,'" she shared.

"You said that you and Lee-ssaem are of the same year.... so that makes the two of you the same age as me and Jung Shin too," Min Hyuk said. "But why did you teach only now?"

"I graduated last year along with my friends...and along with that damn guy, but Noona had me rest for a year," she shared. "Nae Noona insisted on having my skin cleared of all the visible scars I got from my chickenpox. Ugh...I hate that dreaded disease."

Min Hyuk looked at Shin Hye's face. It was smooth and fair, like she had no traces of her scars at all.

"Your Noona sure is smart," Hyukkie said in admiration. "Did you undergo plastic surgery?"

"Pl...plastic surgery? Who needs plastic surgery with scars from chickenpox?" she asked. "I did not. It's just that my scars lasted even for decades, and nae noona thought it would not look good for someone to have rough skin. You know how vain she is... and she stubbornly insisted I undergo those silly rituals."

"Silly rituals?" Min Hyuk asked.

"I don't really care what to call that. All those creams and whatnot... What do I care?" Shin Hye asked him. "I never cared for smooth skin anyway. I just want to look handsome even with some scars."

Min Hyuk nodded.

"You are right about that. Sometimes, some scars make you look good," he told her. "But your Noona is right. Now, your skin looks so flawless and perfect."

He stared into her face and swept her bangs away, making her cringe in agony. Why does Min Hyuk treat her like a girl?

"Because you are a girl," he rationalize. "You just do not act like one."

It got into Shin Hye's nerves.

"Nal johahae?" she asked in irritation.

"Molla," he lied, unable to tell her that he liked her a lot.

"Stop treating me like a girl," she whined.

"I am just glad to have a friend like you," Min Hyuk said. "You are really adorable."

Shin Hye cringed. She hated to be called by terms related to girls and girly stuff. As she pursed her lips, her vision landed to the angry stare given by Jong Hyun.

"Why does he seem angry?" she thought.

But when Jong Hyun saw her pursed lips, he thought she was giving him a flying kiss, so he diverted his gaze away and continued eating. Shin Hye found it odd that Jong Hyun blushed.

"Aigoo," Shin Hye muttered.

Min Hyuk looked at the other teachers. Jung Shin gave him a salute, but the cutie teacher saw the gaze Jong Hyun gave him after munching on his food. Jong Hyun was a bit angry, but Min Hyuk just smiled at him. And then, Hyukkie saw Jong Hyun suddenly blushing and lowering his food to eat. It never occured to him that the Korean lit teacher was jealous, or that the other teacher saw Shin Hye's pursed lips.

*****

After classes, Shin Hye headed straight back home to avoid further trouble. She loved Jay so much that she was willing to stay safe for her hyung. As she passed by Lotte, she caught sight of Min Young's muse having a date with Jay.

"So...is it already them?" Shin Hye thought, slightly nettled. "Or did she pursuade him?"

She felt it was not her business to meddle with other people's love lives. As she kicked the pebbles along the way, she was looking intently at her shoes.

"Ssaem..." some students crooned.

She looked up to see her students gathering and handing her a piece of paper.

"What for?" she asked.

"Autograph," one student replied in a cute manner.

Shin Hye had always thought that the students in the school were a bunch of serious people who cared for CSAT and the college entrance exams. She had no idea that these students were as shallow as the other students in other schools, and she had learned that just yesterday during the first day of classes.

"Mianhamnida," she told them. "But soon, you will hate me for the low scores I might give you should you fail in my class."

"Anio, Ssaem, we will top our scores, that is for sure," the leader said. "We always had."

Shin Hye glanced at her students, who were all girls wearing cute skirts above the knees. She took the paper and signed her name before giving them winks.

"Kyeopta~~~" they crooned.

"Ya, shouldn't you be polite?" she snapped at them for using banmal.

The students apologized and walked away, leaving her alone to gaze at her own shoes. Later, she noticed another pair of shoes walking beside her, so she gazed to see Jong Hyun walking beside her.

"Ready for my brawling?" he asked her. "You promised."

"You are like a kid who is deprived of his favorite toy, seriously," she told him before scoffing.

The two of them bonded silently that afternoon, walking along the pavement. It was the only time in their years of being together that they did not let legs and fists fly. Jong Hyun knew where Shin Hye lived, and he had gotten familiar with Jae Beom and Min Young in the negative way.

"I'll walk you home," he offered.

"Only guys walk girls home," Shin Hye told him in spite. "Ya, did you just see me as a girl?"

"A girl, your eye!" he taunted her. "Since when? I just want to walk you home so that those thugs won't come after your wounds."

"Thanks but no thanks," Shin Hye told him.

"I insist," Jong Hyun replied.

As the two of them walked home, a pair of sad eyes watched them.

It was Min Hyuk, who silently followed Shin Hye around. He suddenly became jealous of Jong Hyun because Shin Hye can act as herself around her nemesis.

"If I had known her earlier, will she act the same around me?" Hyukkie asked himself in pain.

*****

"Errrrhhhh!!!!" Min Young screamed. "I can't take it anymore!"

Shin Hye saw her elder sister sweeping her magazines and patterns in an angry frenzy.

"Noona, wae geurae?" Shin Hye asked.

"Wae geurae? Wae geurae?" Min Young echoed her. "Everything's wrong! First, Yoon Ji decided to ditch the fashion show which was scheduled next week, and now, Jae Beom will not help me find another muse! I am sooooo.... ugh!"

Shin Hye smiled.

"Why not let Lee Jung Shin do the modeling for you?" she asked her sister.

A lightbulb moment came to the fashion designer.

"Matda! You gave me a brilliant idea!" Min Young squealed. "I had been using a female model for my clothes. Why not try a male model?"

Min Young jumped in happiness. "And Jung Shin-ssi looks so androgynous. Maybe he can also wear the female clothes!"

"Yuck! Just stick with him wearing male clothes instead!" Shin Hye cringed.

"Geunde, he is a teacher. Surely your principal will not allow it," Min Young said.

It suddenly felt good to be bonding with her sister again, the elder sister thought. After years of being alienated, it was the first time that they agreed on something.

"Sheesh, it does not matter," Shin Hye dismissed.

"Arasseo," Min Young said.

She grabbed her phone and called up Jung Shin.

****

Meanwhile, Jung Shin was in the bathtub, taking a warm bath, when Min Young called.

"Oh, Noona," he greeted merrily in his y voice.

The two of them talked, and he agreed to model. Something mischievous crossed his mind as he talked, and his eyebrow raised in glee. After hanging up, he squinted his eyes and his lips.

"What can I do?" he spoke to his image on the mirror at the right side of the tub. "I am just too smart."

****

Shin Hye saw the grim expression on her sister's face after hanging up.

"What is it, Noona?" she asked.

Min Young was a bit pensive. She fidgeted and played with her fingers.

"Geuge... he agreed, but on one condition," Min Young stated, not knowing how to start.

"Mwoya?" Shin Hye asked bluntly.

"He agreed to model, provided that you... stay in his house," Min Young finished.

Dun dun dun....

"MWO??????" Shin Hye reacted.

~~~~