The Daejun Gardens are already bustling with senior citizens and nursing home attendants by the time Hana arrives there.

“Don’t get your hands too dirty,” Sehun instructs Hana. “You’re wearing an old tshirt, right?”

Hana rolls her eyes. “Duh.”

“Did you remember your lunch?”

She holds up a crumpled brown paper bag. “Yup. Can I go now?”

“Have fun with the geezers!” Sehun calls as Hana jumps out of his car.

“They’re not geezers!” she hollers after her brother as he peels out of the parking lot. A few passersby stare at Hana and she sheepishly ducks her head. The scent of fresh flowers wafts up into her nose with the cool wind. Hana pulls the drawstrings of her baggy grey sweatshirt tighter.  The December weather is uncomfortably frosty; however, Hana still has high expectations for today.

After all, it is the HSC’s first volunteering event.

“Professor Oh! You’re here!” Yoojin hurries over from an open shed full of begonias. She is wearing thick, rubbery yellow gloves, which are covered in dirt.

“Whoa,” Yuri says, emerging out from behind Yoojin. Yuri’s faded pink tshirt is covered in grass stains and what looks like compost. “You look like a university student, Professor Oh. You look so young!”

“Er, thanks,” Hana says, slightly laughing. “So what do I do?”

“Well, we’re supposed to be helping a few senior citizens with a plot of land,” Yuri says. She points to a large square of grass, delineated by a red line. A familiar head of blond hair is visible near the plot, its owner halfheartedly digging into the ground with a shovel. Surrounding him is an elderly lady and man.

“Kai surprisingly hasn’t started any trouble,” Yoojin laughs. “He’s actually working hard. I’m surprised. Well, Professor Oh, you can start digging with him. Take this.” Yoojin tosses Hana a long, steel-bladed shovel.

“Oh, hello, dear!” The old man greets Hana when she reaches the plot of land. “You must be these kids’ professor. Boy, you don’t look so old, really!”

“When I was young, I looked just like you,” the elderly woman giggles. “You’re so pretty.”

“Thank you,” Hana smiles, and bows deeply. “My name is Oh Hana. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I’m Kim Heol and this is my husband, Kim Daesung,” the woman smiles. “But you can call us Grandpa and Grandma.”

A wide beams spreads across Hana’s face. “That’s so sweet! Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa!”

“Aww, honey.” Grandpa ruffles Hana’s hair. “We’ll go get you and Kai water, alright?”

“Thank you so much,” Hana grins, bowing once more. After the elderly couple has left, she strides over to Kai, gets down on her hands and knees next to him, and helps him dig holes in the dirt.

“It’s about time you got here,” Kai grunts. “I’ve had to do all the work. Kris ran away with Kyung Mi somewhere to take care of some documentation of club activities business for the student council.”

Hana throws Kai a strange look. “Um, why didn’t you ask Grandma and Grandpa to help? Just because they’re senior citizens doesn’t mean they’re incapable of doing anything.”

Kai doesn’t answer for a few moments. He works in silence, scooping out dirt, until he finally mutters, “Ididntwantheirhandtogedirty.”

Hana tilts her head. “Uh, that made sense.”

“I said I didn’t want them to get their hands dirty,” Kai repeats in a gruff tone. “I know it’s cheesy... but they’re nice. Don’t you dare say anything.”

Hana stares at Kai for an entire minute. He freezes.

“What?” Kai says, his face turning red. “Why’re you looking at me like that?”

“Aww, Jonginnie! You actually have a heart!” Hana exclaims in mock-surprise. She pinches his cheeks with her dirty hands, eliciting a shout of pain from Kai. “Look at you, offering to dig their garden because you don’t want their hands to get messed up. I’m so proud of you.”

“Get your dirty hands off of me!” Kai yelps, flailing wildly. “It’s not that big of a deal! Stop making fun of me, okay? I was just being nice!”

“Wooooow,” Hana teases, shaking Kai’s head from side to side. Her pincer-like grip on his cheeks still has not weakened. “I thought that you were a demon from hell, judging by your rude attitude and disgusting taste in food. But you’re too kind! I thought you said they were geezers?”

“Screw you, Hana,” Kai grumbles. His face is flaming hot. “If you don’t let go, I’m going to make you let go.”

“Try me,” Hana scoffs. She draws Kai’s face close to hers. “One, I am never going to let you forget this. And two, I’m never going to let go of your cheeks.”

Kai narrows his eyes. “If you don’t let go, I’m going to-,”

    “Young love!” The sound of Grandma’s voice causes Hana and Kai to jump away from each other in an instant. Kai falls back onto the pile of dirt and fertilizer he was digging up before Hana arrived.

    “My shirt!” Kai moans. “Damn it!”

    “You two are so cute,” Grandpa gleams. “But son, you shouldn’t be dating your professor. Go for someone your own age.”

    “Grandpa, we are not dating. In fact, we don’t like each other at all.” Hana states firmly. “I was making fun of him right now for being nice. In a very rude manner. I was also pinching his cheeks.”

    “Yeah,” Kai agrees, bobbing his head furiously. “I was threatening to punish her.”

    Grandma and Grandpa’s eyes widen to the size of saucers.

    “Oh, I see,” Grandma says faintly. “Well, that’s strange.”

    “Really, we aren’t in that kind of relationship,” Kai affirms.

    “It all makes sense now,” Grandpa says slowly. “Well, I suppose all the young ones are like that these days.”

    “Well, not all young ones,” Hana says. “Just Kai and I.”

    “Ah, I see.” Grandma nods. “It’s okay, we understand. I suppose all that forbidden love business is a... new kind of relationship.”

    “Yeah... wait, what?!” Kai and Hana shriek simultaneously.

    “You two are into that kind of thing, right?” Grandpa whispers scandalously. "It's okay, I won't tell anyone."

    “There was this one novel at the drugstore about a student-teacher relationship," Grandma continues. "And the way you two treat each other-,”

“NO!" Hana screeches. "Oh god, that’s crazy! I would never do that with this idiot! Student-teacher relationship? Wha-,”

    Kai shouts, “I don’t do that kind of stuff.... well, not with Hana.” Hana throws Kai a disgusted look. “But I’m not joking. We really are not in any kind of relationship like that at all.”

    “Well, that’s nice,” a voice says. Hana and Kai whirl around.

    Kris is smirking at the two, his arms crossed. Beside him, Kyung Mi is doubling up with laughter. Tears of laughter are coming out of Yoojin’s eyes, while Yuri is literally just clapping.

    Hana realizes with a horrible sense of dread that everyone in the gardens is watching Kai and her right now. They must have been listening to our conversation the entire time. How loud were we?

    “Kris,” Kai says quietly. His eyes are shut tight. “Speak of this to no one.”

    “I’ll think about it... only if you pay for dinner.” Kris gives his friend a smug look.

"I will annihilate you, Kris," Hana hisses. Kris blanches.

"Y-Yes, ma'am."

Although Hana is mortified beyond her wits, she is satisfied to know that she hasn't lost her touch.

A/N: This chapter is so dumb and random and weird, but it was so fun to write xD im tired