Hana and Kai’s sudden change in attitude towards each other has left the HSC speechless. How did the stern, unyielding Professor Oh, hater of Kim Kai, suddenly start calling him Jongin so tenderly? Why is she speaking like someone their age, instead of a stiff adult? Why did Kai, who hated Professor Oh and hated when people called him “Jongin”, suddenly act so protectively toward her?

    Hana swivels back around to face the HSC. Their expressions almost cause a smile to come to her face.

    “So, I guess I’ll start with this.” Hana pulls the rubber band from her hair, and her dark locks come tumbling down. She rubs off the fake wrinkles from her face, and loosens her tight business clothing.

    “Holy ,” Yuri swears, cupping a hand over .

    “W-wow,” Yoojin stutters, blinking rapidly.

    “How do you suddenly look 12 years younger?” Kyung Mi shouts. “Please, tell me your secret!”

    Kris jolts up. “The Illuminati! That’s what’s behind this !” He grasps Hana by the shoulders. “Who are you? What have you done with Professor Oh?!”

    “Shut up, moron,” Hana huffs. She shoves Kris’ hands off her body. “It’s me. I’m 19.”

    “What the ?!” Kris, Yoojin, Yuri, and Kyung Mi chorus.

    After managing to placate the HSC (she had to give Kris a box of tissues), Hana sits them down. And she explains everything.

How she wanted to appear as a strict professor to push her students, how Kai ended up being her brother’s best friend, how they initially hated each other but grew to be close friends. Hana leaves out certain parts of the story; parts that are more sensitive and personal.

But the impact of her story is not lost on Hana’s students. They sit, silent, through her entire tale.

    Finally, Hana says, “And now Joonmyeon’s caught us. He’s going to blackmail Jongin with it, so he beat Kai and gain his Father’s company.” She exhales slowly, rubbing her temples. “Jongin... Jongin told me not to trust Joonmyeon. He told me Joonmyeon was a bad person. I didn’t believe him, but that was a mistake. I should’ve deduced his true intentions...,”

    Suddenly, Hana feels a pair of arms wrap around her. She looks up in surprise. Kyung Mi is embracing her, patting her gently on the head.

    “It’s not your fault,” Kyung Mi whispers. “Profes- Hana... just... I’m sorry. I’m sorry for all the crap we all gave you about being a hard teacher. You’ve helped us so, so much. And I’m super happy that you sponsored the HSC; you’re the coolest teacher sponsor I’ve had. You’ve done so much, and you’re younger than us. So don’t beat yourself up.”

    Hana looks up at Kyung Mi, taken aback. Suddenly, she realizes that Kyung Mi is older than her. This understanding causes Hana to start giggling uncontrollably, prompting Kyung Mi to quirk her eyebrows up in confusion. “What’s so funny?” she asks confusedly.

    “Nothing,” Hana laughs, and suddenly, Kyung Mi is laughing too, and Yoojin and Yuri and Kris have all joined in, and all of them are hugging and none of them know why but it feels so right.

Hana has never truly experienced a community of people her own age that has accepted her. It’s a wonderful, unfamiliar feeling that Hana loves.

    “Thank you for supporting me,” she says softly. The HSC grins.

    “Thanks for supporting us,” Kris smiles.

Suddenly, Yoojin’s eyes widen.

“Wait. We have to stop Joonmyeon.” she says. “Let’s go find Kai.”

Kai is on the verge of a breakdown.

He tears through the hallways of the building, throwing open doors, desperately looking for Joonmyeon. I’m going to kill him, Kai swears, sprinting to the next hallway. I’m going to kill that bastard and end it once and for all.

Suddenly, he collides with a long-haired figure head-on. “Hana,” Kai says, gasping for air. “I- I can’t find him. I’ve called him 10 times, but he’s not picking up. Where could he be? I’ll kill him!”

“Jongin, calm down,” Hana says, grasping his arms. People are beginning to stare. “Take a deep breath. Let’s think about this rationally.”

Kai inhales, exhales, and repeats. The dizzying panic clouding his brain slowly clears. Gradually, he realizes that the HSC is standing right behind Hana.

“You told them?” Kai whispers. “How did they take it?”

Hana nods. “Well. They were really nice about it.”

Kai manages to crack a smile. “Good. It’s different from how I took it, hm?”

“Oh my god, are you two married or something?” Yuri exclaims, causing Kai and Hana to jump away from each other. “Hello? We have a situation at hand!”

“Right!” Hana says, her face bright red. “Sorry! Okay, we’ll split up. Everyone branch out and go to a different place, looking for Joonmyeon. If you find him, call the rest of us immediately.”

“Got it!” the HSC exclaims, and all of them run off in separate directions. Hana hangs back with Kai.

“Let’s think about this. Where would Joonmyeon go?” she speculates, tapping her chin.

Kai bites his lip. “We could try the Student Council room.”

    “Okay.” Hana and Kai sprint upstairs, racing past doors and halls. As they run through the school, students look at them- and then double-take when they see Hana.

Who is that? Why does she look so familiar?

That looks like Professor Oh... but it can’t be.

Oh my god, it’s Professor Oh! Why does she look so... young?!  

    “He’s not here!” Kai shouts as they are greeted with a dark, empty Student Council room. “Hana, we’re dead. We’re so dead. Once those pictures get released, you’ll be in huge trouble, too. I can’t let that happen... this is all my fault.” Kai’s body thuds against the wall as he buries his face in his hands. “I’m sorry, Hana, I’m so sorry-,”

    Suddenly, Kai feels a warm pair of arms wrap around his waist. Hana is resting her head on his chest, grasping him towards her firmly.

    “You’re so dumb, Jongin,” she says softly. “Don’t worry about me. I can deal with it. I’m just worried about you. Your situation is more important.”

    Kai reciprocates Hana’s hug, squeezing her tightly. “How am I not supposed to worry about you?” he asks tenderly. “My situation isn’t ‘more’ important. I can get over it eventually. But if something happens to you... I’ll never forgive myself.”

    Hana basks in the comfort of Kai’s embrace. “We’ve come a long way, huh. From hating each other’s guts to liking each other, all in the span of a school year.”

    The two are silent until Hana suddenly realizes what she said. “Oh, by liking each other, I meant liking each other as friends,” she says hastily, her face burning in embarrassment. “Not, like, you know, like liking each other. Not necessarily. I mean. Well-,”

    “Just be quiet,” Kai chuckles softly, and kisses her on her forehead. Hana goes still. her entire body is being overtaken by a pleasant tingly feeling, reaching all the way from the tip of her toes to the top of her head.

And in that moment, Hana knows.

I like Jongin.

She has no idea how the hell it happened. Maybe it was because of the time Hana ate pizza with Kai after his business meeting, and they played Fact-O-Rama and Kai looked like he was concerned about her.

Maybe it was because of the teacher-student tennis tournament, that fierce look in Kai’s eyes as he played, the tender way he carried her to the hospital after she dislocated her arm.

The way Sehun, Kai, and Hana became like a real family, how they laughed and joked and yelled at each other. How Kai always had Hana’s back, whether it was from her parents or Kim Joonmyeon. The fun times they had with the HSC.

How he comforted her, assuaged the horrible pain she had been hiding for years.

Jongin was her milk and honey, except a million times sweeter.

After several moments in each other’s arms, Kai gently pulls away from Hana. “You keep me sane,” he breathes.

“As do you,” Hana murmurs. “Now let’s keep looking.”

A/N: SO HANA FINALLY ADMITS IT. Do you think that was too fast? o: 

Also.... how harsh should I be on Suho? Like, should I be you-lose-everything harsh or legit ruin-your-life harsh?