After the luncheon, Sung Mi avoided Teacher Yang. He tried to talk to her in private, but she always rejected his offers claiming she had work to catch up on. She did not want him talking to her father again.  

One Wednesday, she met Dong Jae for lunch and he handed her a banana milk. Then, they pulled out sandwiches and munched quietly, enjoying each other's company.  

"Sung Mi-ah, can I hug you?"  

Taken aback, Sung Mi coughed as she chewed. She looked at him, making sure he was serious. When he looked unfazed, she nodded. 

He stood up and held her hand in his, bringing her to her feet. Then, he slowly brought his arms around her. He was taller than she, so her face met the top of his chest. When he got close enough, he pulled her closer to him and held her. She felt his heart beat increase as he managed his breathing.  

Sung Mi wanted to reduce her discomfort, so she raised her head so that it rested on his shoulder. When she did, she saw a few people staring at them, but her eyes instinctively fell on Ha Joon's confused expression. He stared back at her, and began to walk over.  

Immediately, Sung Mi pushed Dong Jae away. To be honest, she enjoyed being around Dong Jae as he hardly ever brought out negative emotions when he touched her, so it was a nice break for her psychometry.  

Dong Jae turned, upon hearing approaching footsteps. When he saw Ha Joon, he stiffened. Rather than talk to them, Ha Joon grabbed Sung Mi's arm and dragged her with him, away from Dong Jae. Even though Dong Jae called after her, he didn’t follow her. She couldn’t blame him; Ha Joon had that effect on people.  

When he released his grip, they were behind the school, where delivery trucks arrived, so it was almost always empty. She leaned against the brick wall and waited for him to talk.  

Before facing her, Ha Joon paced up and down, as though deciding what to say. 

"Why did you do that?" Sung Mi prompted. 

"What do you think you're doing with Dong Jae?" He countered. 

"Why does it matter to you?" 

"It matters because I spent my childhood trying to touch you while he just gets away with it." 

"If you must know, I don’t feel anything when I touch him." 

Ha Joon scoffed. "So that makes it okay to play with his emotions?" 

"Who says I'm playing with him?" 

At that, Ha Joon rushed forward and placed his palm flat against the wall, staring intently at her.  

"Why are you doing this?" Sung Mi asked, tense. 

"Why do you think?" 

He suddenly pushed off the wall and stormed off, heading towards the school.  

Sung Mi watched his back as he walked away. She knew that he was saddened after Yeol and Yeon Doo had made themselves exclusive right after midterms, but she had no idea it affected him that much.  

After lunch, she returned to Teacher Yang's math class and waited for the lecture to begin. She was aware of Ha Joon's gaze on her back, but she kept her gaze forward. Before class began, Dong Jae passed her a note.  

"Thank you for helping me get over my phobia! Sung Mi, fighting!" 

She smiled to herself and folded the note. When Teacher Yang entered, he directed them to a textbook exercise and said, "While you all get started, Sung Mi, could you meet me outside please?" 

Yeon Doo nudged her as Teacher Yang made his way outside, but Sung Mi shrugged, clueless.  

Once outside, she asked. 

"What's the matter, Teach?" 

"Your father called the school to inform them that he will be picking you up for the weekend." 

"What? He hasn’t told me anything." 

"Do you need me to make up a reason for you to stay here?" 

She thought about the offer, but declined. It would look more suspicious if she refused to see him.  

When they returned to the classroom, Sung Mi was unable to focus on the lesson, thinking of reasons why her father suddenly wanted her home for the weekend. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn’t notice the bell sounding that class has ended. When the students dispersed, Sung Mi remained seated.  

Suddenly, Ha Joon appeared in front of her desk. 

"What's wrong?"  

There was no point in lying to him now. "My father is coming to take me home for the weekend." 

Ha Joon's eyebrows drew together as he too wondered what her father wanted.  

"Let's go and find out, right now." 

Sung Mi looked at him, surprised at the spontaneous offer. Even though she didn’t want to see her father that day, she was sure that Teacher Yang would cover for her, so the two left school ten minutes after.