Hana’s first week at school had been a mixture of wearying and excitement, but with that positive mind set of hers, she had let the latter took over her mind. Every single morning, she had gone to school with an excited heart, to learn new things and also to discover unfamiliar knowledge. The fact that she also had Suzy as a close friend comforted her by a lot. Although Suzy already had her cliques, she had still made the effort to make sure that Hana had not been completely isolated in the classroom full of cold people.

                As for the wearying part, Krystal and her gang just could not take their eyes, and sometimes even hands, off her. She thought that she had made it clear that she had definitely nothing to do with Sehun, but the girls had been pretty much not convinced. Hana had tried her best to keep a distance from Sehun, but sometimes the boy had been very dense. Like on Tuesday when Hana had accidentally left her notebook on her table in the class before going back home, Sehun just had to grab it and chase after Hana to give it to her. Although thankful, she had heard murmurs of girls (What the , Sehun never cares about others, that one girl had said) and from afar, she could see and, terrifyingly, feel Krystal’s menacing stare on her.

                Another one had been during Thursday when the Biology teacher had asked them to partner up for their mid-term project. Although Suzy had been a great friend, she still had her own best friend so that had left Hana alone in the corner of the lab, awkwardly looking around. Without any signs or cautions, Hana had heard Sehun said while putting his right hand up in the air, “Teacher, I’ll partner up with Hana.” The whispers of others had been suffocating to say the least, and Krystal stomping out of the lab had definitely not been helping. However, the shout of “You ungrateful idiot, are you abandoning me now?” by Jongin had managed to crack a small smile on Hana’s face.

                On the Monday morning of her second week of school, as usual, Hana was in the kitchen making breakfast for both of them, this time with grilled cheese as the menu. She had wanted to cook something more satiating such as spaghetti, but her headache and pain in her back prevented her from doing so.

                “Good morning.” Sehun walked into the kitchen and sat on the high stool near the counter while adjusting his cuffs.

                “Good morning.” Hana managed a tiny squeak despite the severing pain in her head.

                But of course, her slightly different tone did not go unnoticed by Sehun. Standing up, he approached Hana.

                “Are you sick?” He asked while testing Hana’s temperature using the back of his left hand.

                “No, it’s just a slight headache. Sit down, breakfast’s ready.” She politely removed his hands and went to the drawers to take out the utensils.

                Although slightly sceptical, Sehun still listened to her. After Hana put all the food and drinks on the table, she sat opposite of him to also start eating.

                Sehun noticed that Hana’s skin was paler than usual so yet again he inquired to make sure.

                “Are you sure you are okay? Do you want to skip school today?”

                “Yeah, I’m fine. But, Sehun,” she started to voice out her thoughts on Sehun’s unintentional closer behaviour to her at school (and also to change the subject). “Don’t you think that you’re being too friendly to me at school lately? I think people are starting to talk about it.”

                “Really? I don’t think I even did anything to cause suspicions though,” he replied casually before taking a gulp of the fresh milk.

                “Didn’t do anything? Sehun, do you really think that wanting to partner up with the new girl or chasing her to give her things screams ‘nothing’?”

                “I was just being helpful. I expected a ‘thank you’ though.”

                “Well, thank you so much, I’m flattered, really. But I don’t want the girls to keep harassing me.” She whispered out the last sentence, while training her gaze on her glass of orange juice.

                Sehun’s eyes hardened. “Has someone been bothering you at school?”

                “No.” The fact that Krystal had tripped her in the cafeteria the previous week did not have to be known by Sehun.

                “Good, but tell me immediately if anyone starts pestering you.” Sehun seriously doubted Hana’s answer but he let it go when he saw that Hana had no mind to tell him anything.

                Quickly finishing her bread, she put her plate in the sink and after yet another “Just leave everything there; I’ll wash them when we get home”, she went to put on her school shoes.

                When her vision turned hazy and her head started spinning, she only braced herself and held onto the knob of the front door tightly while chanting to herself that she was okay. With that, she left the house.

-

                The periods before the recess were pure torture for Hana. Her head just would not stop throbbing and her spine hurt so much that she could not even sit straight. Every time the teacher showed her back to write on the board, she would bury her face in both of her hands in hope that the pain would slightly go away. It’s much stronger this time, she thought.

                Unbeknownst to her, Sehun was watching her every movement. He was sick worried, but abruptly standing up in class to tend Hana would be inappropriate.

                By the time recess time came, Hana quickly stood up from her seat to head to the cafeteria. She figured the cool mineral water from there could at least lessen her headache. When she momentarily looked towards Sehun, she could see him striding towards her. Not wanting any trouble to erupt, she immediately mouthed a ‘Stay’ and promptly made her way out of the class.

                Sehun wanted to chase after her, but he then remembered how she had mentioned that morning of how she was nowhere near comfortable of Sehun’s evident affection towards her at school, so he decided against it and slumped back into his chair. However, the image of Hana’s back in pain did not even leave his mind even for a minute. If Hana was sick, why did not she ask the teacher for a break? Why did she decline his offer of skipping school? Why didn’t she tell him anything? With a frustrated groan, he buried his face in his folded arms on the table.

-

                When Hana reached the cafeteria, she instantly went to the fridge to search for the refreshing drink. Her worsening headache definitely ordered her to do so. After paying for the drink (using the money that had been provided by Sehun), she briskly opened the cap to take the first gulp while walking out of the cafeteria to look for a less-crowded place. Just before the mouth of the bottle touched her lips, a hand rudely pushed her left shoulder, causing her grip on the bottle to loosen thus causing the bottle to fall onto the floor, with its content spilling all over.

                Although she was aggravated, due to the pain in her head and back, she weakly lifted her head to see the figures in front of her. Her eyes then met those of Krystal’s. She was folding her arms and staring at Hana with an annoyed expression.

                Muttering enough strength to form a coherent sentence, Hana voiced out, “Do… you have anything to say to me?”

                Rolling her eyes, Krystal flipped her hair then replied, “Of course. Do you think that just because you’re the new student, you can get away from everything?”

                Not really catching on, she inquired. “What do you mean?”

                “The cleaning duty of our class. Other classmates have been continuously taking turns sacrificing their recess time for the sake of it, so what do you think you’re leisurely doing here right now? As far as I’ve seen, you’ve never even held a broom ever since you came here. Are you really that stupid? Do you think that you’re some kind of princess or something that does not even need to do class duty?”

                Hana was rendered speechless. She only managed to gawk at Krystal all throughout her tantrum. She completely knew that this was only one of her tricks to put any little trace of blame on her. Everyone in the school knew that the school had its own cleaning lady; therefore the students did not even have to take on the responsibility of keeping their classrooms neat and organized.

                However, she was too tired to contravene Krystal’s words, plus her headache was deteriorating, so she muttered out, “Okay. I’ll head back to class now.”

                Just as she passed by Krystal, she pushed her from behind while screaming, “Well, hurry, you moron!”

                Little did she know that that one push caused Hana to completely lose it. Her sight blackened, and without any warning, her fragile body dropped to the floor.

-

                After silently thinking by himself in the class, Sehun finally raised his head and decided to head to the cafeteria to search for Jongin, and probably he could also use a nice egg sandwich. Stuffing his hands into both of his pants pockets, he paced towards his destination.

                When he was nearing the cafeteria, he could hear a faint scream of “Well, hurry, you moron!” and immediately recognized it as Krystal’s. She had always been much of an attention seeker, he thought. Who’s her victim today?

                When he stepped into the cafeteria through the main door, he could witness a crowd in the middle of the cafeteria, with incessant whispers by the girls. Paying no heed, he continued his journey to his usual table. When he was near enough to the crowd though, he froze on his track when he heard a girl whispering “That’s the new girl right? Krystal’s gone overboard this time, though.”

                Snapping her head towards the middle of the crowd, he quickly squeezed through to reach the middle. True enough, his biggest fear was happening right in front of him. There, Hana was lying lifelessly, with a shaking Krystal by her side.

                When Krystal spotted Sehun, she quickly stood straight. “Sehun, I swear I don’t…”

                He did not even wait for Krystal to finish her sentence. Without hesitation, he kneeled beside Hana and scooped her frail body into his arms. Standing up, he carried her bridal style and went straight to his car. He could hear whispers of the girls, but he could not care less at the moment.

                When Krystal came back to reality after overcoming her shock from what has happened before her, she glanced towards the window of the cafeteria only to see Sehun’s sport car drifting away. All my inklings had been right all along, she begrudgingly thought.

-

                Throughout the journey, Sehun just could not let go of Hana’s hands. Her hands were freezing, and only that one reason caused him to break into cold sweats. Unconsciously, he stepped onto the gas pedal, causing his car to swiftly pass through the traffic.

                He knew that bringing her to the clinic would be the best choice, but his mind was in too much of panic to even think coherently. So, instead of heading to the doctor, he entered the parking section of his penthouse. Right after parking his car, he urgently went out of his car and went to the opposite side to once again carry Hana in his arms. His movements were frantic, but he could not help it. He was distressed, yet also frightened.

                When he finally reached Hana’s bedroom, he gently laid Hana on the mattress and covered her lithe body with the comforter. Sitting beside her on the edge of the bed, he focused his eyes on Hana’s pale face. Instinctively, he fixed Hana’s bangs that decorated her forehead. Only then that he felt the hectic of the day spreading throughout his entire body. Yawning once, he glimpsed at the small alarm clock on Hana’s bedside table. 12.23 p.m. After making sure that Hana was cozy enough and that she did not show any signs of discomfort, he slipped into bed beside her, and wandered to dreamland.

-

                When Hana opened her eyes, she could sense that she was in a snugly bed. Her vision was still blurry, so she rubbed her eyes using her right hand. When her vision became clearer, she could see that she was in her bedroom. The window in her room portrayed an orange light from outside, so she peered at the clock beside the bed. 5.56 p.m., no wonder.               Thankfully, she felt better and the pain was no longer there.

                Turning her body to get out of the bed, she noticed Sehun sleeping beside her, but with still an evident space between them, so she stopped her actions. Sehun looked so peaceful in his sleep that she could not help but lay on her side to stare at Sehun. She put both her hands under her left cheek, imitating Sehun’s posture.

                As Sehun was sleeping, Hana shamelessly ogled Sehun’s face. His features were sharp when he was awake, but when he was sleeping, she could see that his face become like that of a baby. His lashes were long and looked like they were tickling his cheeks. His nose was pointed, giving him an edgy look. His lips were rosy and pink, making him looked pure. She took in everything at that moment, knowing that a chance like it would not come twice.

                When Sehun stirred in his sleep, she panicked and quickly pretended to stare at the ceiling. She then heard Sehun saying “Good morning?” with that husky sleepy voice, followed by a sheepish giggle.

                Too embarrassed to look at him, she continued boring holes into the ceiling and said, “It’s already evening, though.”

                Glancing at the bedside alarm clock, he acknowledged it.

                Hana could literally feel Sehun’s gaze on her, but she ignored it and continued counting the non-existent stars on the ceiling.

                “Why are you avoiding looking at me?”

                Flustered, she replied, “I’m… I’m not.”

                “Really? Then look at me.”

                Having no other choices, she turned and laid in the exact position as before but her eyes were casted on the door behind Sehun. She could not bring herself to look at Sehun in the eyes.

                “Hana, look at me.”

                Cautiously, she looked into both of his eyes.

                “Are you okay now?”

                She gave a slight nod as an answer.

                “What was that just now? Why’d you faint?”

                She tried to cover up the truth, so she replied, “Just a slight headache.”

                “Really, Hana? One does not faint just because of a slight headache.”

                Still trying to dodge the question, she whispered, “It’s nothing.”

                “Answer me truthfully, Hana.”

                Silence.

                “Ji Hana.”

                She knew that she could not avoid it any longer. She was terribly embarrassed, but she knew that Sehun would not stop questioning unless he got the truth.

                “Just… it was my pre-menstrual syndrome.”

                This time, it was Sehun who was silent. Seeing that Sehun was not going to say anything, she continued. “I have been like this. Every time my period was nearing, I would get a terrible headache and sometimes it caused me to lose my energy drastically. But this month is quite severe, as you could see. But I’m fine, really. It’s not my first time fainting because of it.” She explained in a timid voice.

                A few minutes passed with Hana trying to hide her red face under the comforter and Sehun looking everywhere but at the girl in front of her.

                With a tone just slightly more than a whisper, he inquired, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

                “Well, firstly it’s a girl problem so…”

                She discontinued her sentence. Sensing the awkward atmosphere, he asked, “So… do you need anything? Medicine, maybe?”

                “No, I’m fine really. But thanks, though.”

                “For what?”

                “For taking care of me.”

                “Well… what do you want for dinner? You are now in no condition to cook so just tell me what you want to eat. I’ll go and buy it.”

                “I’m fine with whatever.”

                “Just give me one name, Hana.”

                She knew that he would not budge without an answer. “Kimchi fried rice sounds great.”

                “Okay, then.” He then rose from the bed and went to the door. “I’m going to wash up first, then I’ll go. Tell me if you need anything.”

                After an ‘Okay’ by Hana, he went out and Hana too got out of the bed. Only then did she realise that she was still in her school uniform. Grabbing her towel, she went to the bathroom.

-

                Hana was doomed. She felt so stupid for not remembering about this. Sitting on the lid of the toilet bowl, she contemplated whether to ask for Sehun’s help or not. She should have thought about this before. Although it seemed trivial, it was still a necessity for girls.

                Sanitary pad. That was the item that she desperately needed at that moment. After seriously racking her brain, she knew that she had no choice but to ask for Sehun’s assist.

                Gathering all her courage, she went to the door and opened it slightly.

                “Sehun…”

                No answer. But by the volume of her voice, she was not even shocked.

                So, she tried again, with a slightly louder voice. “Sehun…”

                “What? Just a minute!”

                When she heard his nearing footsteps, she quickly closed the bathroom door.

                As Sehun arrived in Hana’s bedroom, no one was there but he could see from the space below the bathroom door that the light in the bathroom was on so he went to it and knocked.

                “Hana? Do you need anything? Are you okay?”

                Standing right behind the door, she replied without even opening it. “Sehun, can you please get something for me when you go out?”

                “Sure. What?”

                She was thankful that she was behind the door because if not, Sehun would already witness her red as a tomato face. “Umm… I need… sanitary pads.”

                Hana could hear nothing from outside the door that she even thought that Sehun had left. Little did she know that the boy was fidgeting outside, with his face no less of a red compared to Hana’s.

                Sehun’s answer assured her that he had got the message. “S-sure. Anything else?”

                “No, that’s it.”

                “O-okay. I’m going, then.”

                And out he went.

-

                After getting two packs of kimchi fried rice from the Chinese restaurant, Sehun went to the convenience store near his house. Entering, his eyes quickly searched for the ‘Toiletries’ section. However, upon arriving, Sehun was met with one of the biggest conflicts of his life, yet.

                Mini, light, regular, maxi, super maxi, classic, super long maxi, extra heavy weight are just some of the words on the plastics.

                Clueless and baffled, he took one of each and went to the counter with his hands full.

                He was sure that the woman at the counter was staring at him strangely while scanning the price tags, but Sehun tried to act nonchalant despite his crimsoning face. After paying for the items, he quickly took the plastic bags and went straight home.

                When he entered Hana’s room, he could see that Hana was still in the bathroom. Knocking slightly, he uttered, “Hana, here’re your… things.”

                Not wanting to face Sehun yet, she responded, “Thanks.. Just leave them in front of the bathroom door.”

                When she heard her bedroom door closing, she hastily opened the bathroom door and immediately grabbed the plastic bag (although she was quite surprised by the amount of pads that Sehun had bought).

-

                After calming herself down from embarrassment in the bedroom, she decided to join Sehun outside. When she stepped out of her room, she could see Sehun watching the television while sitting on the couch.

                Sensing Hana’s presence, he turned around and turned off the television.

                “You’re okay?”

                Casting her gaze towards the floor, she answered. “Yeah.”

                “Great. Let’s eat now.”

                Hana was gratified that she had a considerate and chivalrous Sehun as a friend.

 

 

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Quite longer than usual. Subscriptions, comments and upvotes are very much appreciated!