"Uh-oh, someone didn't do their homework…"

Haechan scowled as he heard Hana's voice echoing from somewhere beyond his chemistry homework, breaking his concentration as he tried to remember the molar mass of lithium bromide. "Damn it, you made me lose track!" He slammed his pencil on the paper and looked up with a pouting glare, but Hana just laughed back.

"If you really cared about your homework then you should have finished it." She said, turning around as Mrs. Park snapped at her, sending another wave of giggling oohs from the class.

"I would have if my sis hadn't kept me up all night cleaning the mess she made trying to bake cookies!" Haechan hissed at her back. Hana just shrugged, and signing, he went back to frowning at his paper.

Then somebody tapped him on the shoulder, and he looked over to see Mark's handsome face. It gave him a bit of a start – he'd forgotten about him.

"Was that the moles' worksheet we got yesterday?" Mark asked, his eyes wide.

"Yeah, why?" Haechan said. Let me guess, you didn't finish it? Mr. Perfect isn't that perfect?

"If you want, I can lend you mine." Mark smiled sheepishly. "I mean, if you care about the homework mark that much."

Haechan bit his tongue. Yeah, I want the homework mark, but I've got my pride too, you know. After treating someone like a jerk, it was awkward accepting their kindness.

Seeing Haechan's hesitation, Mark drew back a bit, expression guarded. "But if cheating's not your thing…"

Haechan held out his hand. "It's called teamwork." He muttered, gesturing with his fingers for Mark to give him the homework.

A grin swept over Mark's face and Haechan smiled back before grabbing the piece of paper and turning away quickly, shoving all his concentration onto the task at hand. It took a lot of effort – he couldn't help but remember Hana's endearing expression as she greeted Mark like they were boyfriend and girlfriend holding hands rather than two people giving each other handshakes for the first time. And it really didn't help that Hana kept looking over her shoulder, no doubt sneaking glances at Mark. It wasn't fair. He'd watched her go through all the wrong people dozens of times, but this was different. She hadn't even known Mark a day, and already Mark was ahead of him.

                                                                                      .............

Thanks to Mark, Haechan finished his chemistry homework and ended up rushing his in-class English assignment – of all days Mrs. Park had to have an in-class assignment! – meaning he was still writing sentences about diction and tone while Hana led Mark out the door, giggling and looking totally delighted whenever Mark laughed back. He handed in his essay five minutes after class ended, avoiding Mrs. Park's glare of hatred as he slipped out the door, staring at the ground.

Right away he crashed into someone and looked up, about to snap what kind of idiot stands in the doorway when Hana beat him to it.

"Watch where you're going!"

"What kind of idiot stands in the middle of the doorway?" Haechan snapped back before he realized something was off and looked around her. "Hey, where's Mark?"

"He went to the bathroom." Hana sighed. "I've been waiting but it's been an awfully long time."

"Yeah, well, you can't rush a dump," Haechan said irritably, slipping his binder into his backpack. He took a few steps towards his next class, then paused and looked back. Hana gazed at the posters on the wall for a moment, brown eyes hazy. When she realized that he'd stopped she turned and her eyes sharpened, her dazed expression turning into a smart- smirk.

"What are you looking at?"

Haechan blinked, realized he'd been staring, and looked distractedly down the hall. "Looks like he's not coming." He observed, carefully maintaining a nonchalant tone. "Why don't I walk you to class today, princess?"

Hana laughed, then hesitated and skipped up to him. "You don't mind? We're already late and my class is on the opposite wing of the school."

Haechan shrugged, struggling to ignore the small hands gripping the loose fabric of his jacket. "Well if you get a stranger to do it for you, why can't I?"

"Mark's not a stranger," Hana objected. "He likes me!"

"Hahaha." Haechan said dryly, and she shoved him a bit.

"Come on! I'm serious this time!" Hana pouted. "You never believe me, Haechan!"

"Yeah I did," Haechan objected, "I believed you when you said you thought Hyuk would last a week."

Hana wrinkled her nose. "Well that's cause he's a douchebag. But Mark's different, I can tell." She sighed happily. "He's hot, and nice, and gentle, and honest…"

"And boring, and dumb…" Haechan continued, laughing when Hana shoved him harder. "Oh come on. I'm way better." He said before he could stop himself.

Hana just laughed out loud. "Oh really now?" She said, and Haechan waited for her to deny it but she never did.

It was silent for a while, then Hana sighed again.

"What's up?" Haechan said, shooting her a concerned look. "I was just joking, you know –"

"Jeno asked me out again yesterday…" She said, brushing her bangs aside. "I told him 'no' but he said he's not giving up. He's getting annoying, this is like, the third time."

"I'll talk to him," Haechan said calmly, trying to sound like it was no big deal.

"Really?" Hana turned around as they stopped around the corner of her classroom door. She gazed up at him with bright, dark eyes, grinning questio