It was a hot and humid day. That would have been normal weather if it were summer, but considering that it was the season of early autumn and that it was quite unusual weather to have while attending classes in school, the ones employed in the institution and students themselves didn’t really like it that much. But, oh well, like in every case, there were exceptions. It appeared that as if some teachers sincerely enjoyed themselves to the fullest by making the both mentally and physically exhausted students do tests, oral interrogations, or even worse - attending P.E. classes.

The noises of sneakers squeaking and balls hitting the wooden floor echoed through the spacious area of the school’s gym. Strangely, but not quite unexpectedly, the voices of the students couldn’t be heard at a high volume. Or be heard at all. Judging by their facial expressions it could be safely concluded that the kids were forced into playing meaningless ball games just so their exercising-addict of a teacher would be satisfied. Each one of them cursed the man inwardly, but they had no choice but to comply with his instructions. It was their last class for the day and after it finished they would be free to take a shower and go home.

“Come on, Ai! Come over here and play with us!” Kyungsoo shouted at the girl sitting in one corner of the gym.

Ai was sprawled on the cold floor, her back leaning against the equally cold wall. Unlike the other students, her P.E. uniform consisted of slightly different clothing items. Instead of wearing just a plain white T-shirt and black shorts, the girl was clothed in full, long-sleeved track suit. Her pants were rolled up to her knees and sleeves of her zip-up top rolled to her elbows. The top was also ped enough to make her collarbones and porcelain white skin visible, indicating that she wasn’t wearing a shirt underneath it.

As always, her untamed golden hair was tied up in a high ponytail. Ai justified her way of dressing herself as having her own style, but Kyungsoo had another opinion on that assertion. The black haired boy strongly argued that she was a narcissist that simply strove to be different from the others. As if that wasn’t enough already with the looks she was bestowed on upon her birth. ‘Little, annoying ingrate’ was a term Kyungsoo used to refer to Ai.

A single, unintelligent groan was all Kyungsoo got in response to his invitation. The boy completely averted his body in Ai’s direction and placed his hands on his hips. “Come on! It’s just some catch ball for god’s sake! It’s not like your spine is going to fall off!”

When he caught the sight of Ai grumbling and shoving her head in between her knees as if trying to shut out the sound of his voice, Kyungsoo went berserk. He pitched forward, ready to strangle the girl, but was stopped from behind. He felt someone grasping his wrist, and when he whipped around he found out that it was Tao.

The taller of the two simply shook his head and enunciated. “There’s no point in trying to force her to join us. Let her be. You know to whom she’ll come crawling to organize her diets and accompany her while jogging when she gains weight.”

Kyungsoo creased his eyebrows and nodded in understanding. He whipped his head back one last time and yelled. “Fine! You can have your way! I hope you get fat!” Tao smiled a little at his friend’s aggressive behavior, as he wondered about how the short boy never learned martial arts since it would really help in managing his anger.

The missing teacher finally stepped his foot into the gym with a smirk on his face and a plan in his head. Twenty eight years old, Lee Hyukjae was a person with less maturity and more energy than people his own age had. Whilst his own students called him a ‘slave-driving bastard’, Eunhyuk preferred to think of himself as a good person who stimulates youngsters to get more engaged into physical activities which will later on help them develop into healthy and, hopefully, grateful adults.

“Yo, Eunhyuk! Come play basketball with us!” One of the male students called out from way across gym. He was holding a basketball above his head and the other boys around him were gesturing for the teacher to come their way.

“It’s Mr. Lee for you, brats!” Eunhyuk shouted back without paying much attention to their invitation. Teacher’s frown fell in a flash of a second and was replaced with a sinister smirk. “Oh, you’ll be playing basketball. It just won’t be me playing with you.” He murmured to himself before chuckling darkly and making his way out of the gym once again. Half of the students were looking after the teacher that just left and were about to groan in protest, before the same man reentered the area, but this time he wasn’t alone.

In a matter of seconds, the large gymnasium was swarmed with students. Another class, that was a year older, joined the one that previously occupied the space. The reaction from Ai’s class to the new visitors was anything but positive. The seniors exuded intimidating aura and the smirks and mocking glares on their faces didn’t help a bit at giving the impression of friendliness. Eunhyuk clapped his hands to bring the attention of both classes to himself and it immediately worked.

“Okay, then. So these guys’ teacher for today’s class is absent due to personal reasons so I was appointed to take them over. Henceforth, you kids will be sharing the gym with them. As you all may know, I’m not intending to let you remain idle, so I’m generously willing to make today’s P.E class interesting and entertaining for you. You are all going to participate in a game of basketball. Class versus class. Boys will be playing first, while the girls will be second. Now discuss it among yourselves who’ll be playing and who’s more suited to be on the bench.”

The teacher breathed in air after speaking too quickly. “I’m going over to my desk to write out your names and you’ll have an each representative of your respective classes come to tell me what are your positions going to be. You’ve got five minutes!” Eunhyuk ignored the groans and quiet curses from one side of the gym as he twirled on his heels and continued strolling towards his desk.

As he was heading over to his designed point, Eunhyuk couldn’t help but notice a body lifelessly sprawled in one corner from his peripheral vision. The man instantly perceived to whom the body belonged to, that realization drawing a frown on his previously jolly face. He hurried towards the body and, whilst looming over it, he subsided the urge to mercilessly kick one of his female students.

“Ai. What the hell do you think you’re doing, lying here indolently?” Eunhyuk interrogated with clenched jaw. Ai lifted her face and gazed at the teacher above her with half-lidded eyes. She then dropped her gaze to the floor once again and shrugged her shoulders once. “Mm. Just resting, I guess.”

Eunhyuk bit his lip, trying to prevent himself from cursing at the girl. “Resting from what?,” he spat.

Ai opened to utter an answer, but as soon as she realized that she doesn’t have one, her lips collected in a thin line. Annoyed to the core with girl’s inability to even make up an excuse, Eunhyuk stomped his foot against the wooden floor. “Your class is playing basketball, go over there and participate in a group activity for once in your life.” The man ordered, with a clear trace of impatience in his voice.

“How about no?” Ai crossed the line with her short, yet mocking question.

“HOW ABOUT YES?” It seemed as if all Eunhyuk’s efforts to stay calm and composed were hurled out of the window, his current state replaced with a state of utter wrath. “You know what, Missy? I’m sick and tired of your disrespectful and lethargic attitude! You’re either going to participate in the game or I’ll personally make sure that you fail my class this semester!”

A strained sigh trickled from Ai’s mouth, as she raised her head, locking her eyes with Eunhyuk’s. “Teacher. You remember what happened the last time I had a ball in my hands?”

Eunhyuk’s eyes widened at the remembrance of the unpleasant incident. His hand moved on its own accord and found way to the place where his nose was.

Ai shook her head slightly with an obviously fake repentant expression painted on her face. “I almost broke your nose that day.” She almost whispered, attempting to sound compassionate. “As much as I was sorry, it wasn’t my fault that I simply couldn’t control my aim. This time some student can end up being hurt, and I think both you and me know that it’ll be the school and the teacher in charge that will be suffering the consequences.”

Eunhyuk gritted his teeth in annoyance and let his hand fall to his side. As much as he hated to admit, the girl had a point. It was definitely not a smart move to let Ai handle the hard and rough basketball. Not to mention that the principal warned him the last time not to allow the said girl to be engaged in activities that included big, hard balls. Eunhyuk scratched the back of his head and let out a bitter sigh.

“Alright, alright then. You won’t be playing, but you won’t be lazing around here either. While the game is on, you’ll be cheering for your class. Loudly as possible! And when it’s all over, it’ll be you who’s going to put away ALL the equipment.” The teacher laughed, satisfied with his freshly-conceived assignment, deciding that it was even better than making her join the game.

Ai smirked inwardly and immediately thought up of a plan that comprised of her sneaking out of the gym just before the school bell goes off and skiving off the duty that was appointed to her. “Works out for me,” Ai declared while bringing up her body from the floor, using the chance to crack her joints, and as she straightened her posture she noticed that her height matched Eunhyuk’s.

Ai cackled with laughter and looked her teacher up and down. “Aigoo, you should drink more milk, seongsaengnim~” Before Eunhyuk managed to utter a curse word, the giggling girl successfully escaped from his vicinity, skipping her way over to her two friends, who seemed to be busy with something, which appeared to Ai as gossiping.

“Oh hey, check out who’s coming our way.” Tao said and nudged Kyungsoo with his elbow.

Kyungsoo’s curiosity was sparked for a moment, but as soon as he turned around and saw for himself, it died out. He scoffed and half-yelled wit