DaeHyun was sitting all alone in his class, finishing his last assignment that the teacher was waiting for. He had totally forgotten about it and Mr Kim was not going to give him another chance and insisted him to do it there and then. He even waited for DaeHyun in the class and while DaeHyun was quickly finishing his work, Mr Kim read his book silently.

He was trying to write as fast as he could and at the same time not making any mistakes. He didn’t know how in the world had he forgotten to do it. Mr Kim was really not someone to mess with. If he said he wanted the work to be handed in on that day, he will make sure that each and every student handed them on that very day. No . 

DaeHyun sighed in relief as he had finished writing down his last paragraph. He read every paragraph through to make sure that there was no spelling error as Mr Kim was fussy about it. Feeling satisfied that everything was okay, he stood up and strode towards Mr Kim who had put his book down, noticing DaeHyun had walked up to him.

He slid the papers on Mr Kim’s table and waited while Mr Kim checked his work briefly. With a nod and stiff smile, Mr Kim told him that he can leave. DaeHyun sighed in relief and bowed at Mr Kim before grabbing his bag to go home.

All of his friends had left already and even though they offered to wait for him, DaeHyun turned them down politely and asked them to go home instead. As he himself didn’t know how long will it take for him to complete the assignment.

With a slow pace, DaeHyun walked from his classroom and passed by a toilet where he heard someone singing emotionally. He stopped and tried to listen more carefully, wondering whose voice was it. He glanced at his watch and couldn’t help but to wonder who else was still staying back at school, as school hour had finished long ago.

He knew then that the voice came from the girl’s bathroom, and slowly he stood closer to the door as the voice got louder from in there. The closer he stood, the clearer he could hear. He frowned to himself as he recognized then whose voice was it actually.

DaeHyun looked around to see if there was anyone nearby. Sensing that there was no one else, DaeHyun carefully stepped into the bathroom and tried not to make any noise. Though he doubt that he steps will be heard as the person was too busy singing her heart’s out.

Walking in, DaeHyun saw a figure who was holding a mop and back facing him. That person was still singing and used the mop as the microphone, clearly not noticing that DaeHyun was just behind. She was still in her school uniform and her hair was in a mess. Her school shoes were wet and so was her pants.

DaeHyun was about to call her but she cut him off when she started to sing loudly again.

“GEURAE NAL SEUCHYEO JINAN HYANGGICHEOREOM ~ SUMANHEUN NALDEUL MALGO CAN YOU SAVE CAN YOU SAVE ME ~~” She screamed and even dropped on the wet floor, one of her hands on her chest as she was too into the song. DaeHyun rolled his eyes to SungMi’s emotional moment and shook his head disapprovingly.

“Lee SungMi.” DaeHyun called sternly but SungMi couldn’t hear him as her ears were plugged with the earphones, and DaeHyun tried his best to keep a distance as the girl was holding a mop. If he happened to startle her, there was a high chance that she will whack him with it.

“DORAWAJWEO ! I WANT YOU BACK BACK BACK BACK ~”

“Lee SungMi.”

“BACK BACK BACK BACK BACK ~~~”

“For goodness’ sake, SungMi.”

“GIDARILGE NA YEOGI NAMGYEOJIN CHAE DORASEON CHAE !! I SAY-”

“YAH LEE SUNGMI !!” DaeHyun shouted at her ear and the girl spun around in shock. DaeHyun quickly ducked as SungMi swung the mop at his direction. She was so close to slap DaeHyun with the wet mop but quickly retreated her hand once she saw him backing away.

“Oh, hello !” SungMi said excitedly while taking off the earphones from her ears. “What are you doing here ? Lost, are you ? The boy’s toilet is .. that side !” She said as she tried to point the direction of where the boy’s toilet was. She looked at DaeHyun questioningly as to wonder what was he doing in a girl’s bathroom.

DaeHyun scoffed and said while crossing his arms, “I know where the boy’s toilet is, Lee SungMi. I’ve been studying here for five years.”

“Then what brings you here ? You can’t keep this up, you know. It’s a bad habit.” SungMi said and narrowed her eyes at DaeHyun. DaeHyun rolled his eyes and knocked her head. “Yah, what do you take me for ? A ert ? I heard you wailing like a choked seal from the outside so I came in just to make sure that it wasn’t really a seal dying inside here.”

SungMi pursed her lips and continued moping the floor, ignoring DaeHyun’s comment. DaeHyun laughed and asked, “Anyways, why are you being so kind to clean the toilet today ? The rest of the students have already left and you’re all alone cleaning the toilet. Aren’t you afraid of being alone ?”

SungMi shrugged and rinsed the mop. “Nope. I’m not scared at all. Anyways about cleaning the toilet, if I could I wouldn’t want to do it but I have to. I assume you’ve already heard about the girl with the broken nose right ?”

DaeHyun nodded as he recollected what Zelo told him and his friends a few days back. “Yup. I have. So this is your punishment, yes ?” SungMi nodded and began changing the water for the mop. “I’m given a week to do it but I thought why not just do it as fast as I can ?” Her eyes then turned to DaeHyun and she grinned.

DaeHyun backed away a little and asked with arms akimbo as he knew what the grin meant, “What ? You’re not going to ask me to help, are you ?”

SungMi’s shoulders fell and clasped her hands together and begged, “Awe please please please please ~~ ! The faster I’m done with cleaning the toilets, the sooner I’m done with the punishment !”

DaeHyun crossed his arms and looked at her with narrowed eyes, “And why should I help you ? This is your punishment. And to teach you an important lesson too, I might add. Especially on how to control your temper and not go breaking someone’s nose when they piss you off. I’m going to go soft on you if I help you.”

SungMi pouted and grabbed the mop again, “I know that. And trust me, I’ve really learned my lesson. I know I shouldn’t have done that and it won’t happen again. I just couldn’t imagine having to clean the toilets for a week. By the time I get home, I’ll be too tired to play with my skateboard anymore. Besides, I’m not asking you to help me clean each toilets in school. Only this one, since you’re already here.” She explained and looked at DaeHyun expectantly.

For a moment then DaeHyun kind of had a familiar feeling with the look on SungMi’s eyes. He couldn’t fathom the reason why he felt such urge of familiarity when SungMi looked at him like that. He was about to call himself crazy when a name crossed his mind, who once looked at him like that too.

With a sigh, DaeHyun said, “Fine, fine. But is that a promise I heard just now ? That you won’t act so rashly after this ?” He crossed his arms and looked at her sternly as if she was a little child being given a punishment.

SungMi nodded eagerly and raised one of her hands up. “Yup, definitely a promise. The same one I made to DanBi as well. So .. are you really going to help me today ?” She asked hopefully. “It would be nice to have a company once in a while. I’ve been cleaning the toilets on my own for a few days now. It does get a little lonely.”

DaeHyun softened a little and nodded his head. He took of his bag before putting it on the sink. He rolled his sleeves up and turned to SungMi and asked, “So, what is left to do ?” He looked around and noticed that the toilet was already half way clean. Besides, the girl’s toilets were always clean anyway.

SungMi picked up a piece of cloth and handed it to DaeHyun. “I’ve done most of the cleaning actually. Maybe you can help by wiping the mirror at the sink ?” DaeHyun nodded with a shrug and grabbed the cloth handed by SungMi. He turned the tap and let the water to fall on the cloth.

SungMi was about to enter one of the cubicles in the toilet with a mop when she asked, “Oh, do you need a pair of gloves or something ? You know, in case you have a sensitive skin. That cloth isn’t of a very good quality anyway.”

DaeHyun turned to her and simply said, “Nah, it’s okay. My hands are not that sensitive. But I have to agree that this cloth has a bad quality though. It’s not really absorbing the water.” He twisted the cloth to get the not so excessive water out of it.

SungMi shrugged and began brushing the toilet bowl. No one said anything as they both worked in silence. Only the sound of water being splashed could be heard and also the sound of SungMi brushing the toilet bowl. But not more than 15 minutes later, DaeHyun jumped in shock when he heard a squeal coming from SungMi. He quickly turned around to see what happened but all he could see was SungMi pouring some water in the toilet bowl.

He was curious though, so he asked, “Yah, Lee SungMi.” He called but the girl didn’t answer. He tipped his head to the side and called again, a bit louder this time. “Lee SungMi.” No answer. Deep down he started to feel a bit scared when SungMi wasn’t answering him and kept doing her work instead.

He took a deep breath as realization started to seep in. He was alone in the toilet with SungMi, and most probably alone with her in the whole school as well. It was still bright outside but he can’t deny that it was actually already a bit late. And now, this girl was not answering him when he called to ask why she was squealing.

Call him overreacting but if you were in his position, you would be scared too, would you ?

DaeHyun calmed himself down and stood straighter while trying to fight the fear he was starting to feel. “Lee SungMi !” He yelled and this time, lucky for him, SungMi turned around with a questioning look. “Yes ?”

DaeHyun looked closer and noticed that her ears were plugged in with earphones. SungMi took them off and asked again, “Why ? What is it you called ? I’m done here, anyway.” She said as she stepped out of the cubicle.

“Didn’t you hear me calling you ?” DaeHyun asked as he watched her movement, half expecting her to do anything scary. His heart was beating a bit fast that moment and he tried to assure himself that nothing was actually wrong. That he was just freaking tired and that he was on the process of imagining stupid things.

SungMi washed her hands and said sheepishly, “Sorry, I didn’t. I’ve got my earphones plugged in my ears. I only heard you calling me for the second time. Why ? What is it you need ?”

DaeHyun sighed in relief as what he was thinking before was not true a