In the library, a super secret mission was being planned.

Min Hyuk and the Hibari Four - Kanna, Juri, Erika and Komari – had switched their uniforms for sophisticated black suit-jackets and pants.  Their eyes were covered with black sunglasses.  All of them were sitting around a table full of maps and pictures that none of the other Saint Blossoms students were allowed to see – on pain of having their hair pulled out.

“Psssst!  Unni!” Min Hyuk waved his sister over to the group when she entered the library.  “You’re just in time for the briefing.”

“Briefing?”  Shin Hye sat down in the empty seat next to Hibari.  She noticed that her roommate was the only one of the team who had kept her school uniform on.  Hibari had reached a new low.

“Yes!” Erika pointed to the recent pictures of Yong Hwa on the table.  “We have decided to choose Teacher Jung for our assignment.  He is not an idol, but he was once famous, and it will be good for us to learn more about the head teacher of Hibari.  Min Hyuk said that you would want to join us.  Is that true?”

Shin Hye’s eyes glittered.  “Hai!  But why isn’t Hibari leading us?”

“Hmm?” Hibari lifted her droopy face from the table.  “I’m not in the mood to lead this time.  Erika will take my place as the temporary leader.  So treat her well!”

“Thank you, dear leader.  I hope that you get better soon so that you can return to your rightful place as head of the Hibari dorm,” said Erika.  “Min Hyuk is a walking history book of Jung Yong Hwa’s career, so his information just needs to be fact-checked before we submit it as our project.  However, for extra credit, we have decided to spy on Teacher Jung to see what he is doing now.  We’ll be taking shifts so that we all have time to study and sleep, but make no mistake, we be watching him around the clock.  Before we begin the mission, Min Hyuk will give us a quick summary of Yong Hwa’s history, so that we are all in tune with one another.  Min Hyuk?”

“Thank you, Erika-ssi.”  He got out of his chair and bowed to the group.  “Jung Yong Hwa was spotted by a head hunter during his middle school years.  His talents in guitar, singing and composition impressed the Manager of CNPink, and he was signed up to the band not long after.  The band members of CNPink were...”

He flipped over three photos and dropped them in the centre of the table.

“Kang Ho Dong – a former wrestler.  Eun Ji Won – an experienced kpop idol. And Lee Su Geun – now cursed with a premature balding problem and combs his hair sideways to disguise it.  They were famous for making their fans laugh during concerts.  With Yong Hwa’s talent, the group enjoyed almost three years of fame before the illegal drug rumours began to surface.  However even today, there is still no evidence that confirms or denies these rumours.”

Min Hyuk pulled out an old newspaper article and placed it on top of the photos.  “The band’s downfall came in the form of a crazed fan.  She was able to get past the security while the band was walking from their van to a show.  She flung herself on Jung Yong Hwa and tried to talk to him.  No one knows what she said.  The girl would have been dragged off him if he hadn’t refused the help of security.  He then flung a towel over the girl’s head to hide her identity from the public and led her into the building.”

Shin Hye frowned.  She had heard this story before.  Min Hyuk had told her about it on the day he’d first asked her to help him get into Saint Blossoms.  However, it affected her more now that she knew Yong Hwa in person, and she listened carefully.

“Things went downhill from there,” continued Min Hyuk.  “The band refused to talk to anyone about the incident, and the girl’s identity was kept secret.  The suspicious public CNPink.  Rumours went wild about an old girlfriend, womanising behaviour, alien abduction, pregnancy, abortion, a North Korean conspiracy, gang membership and illegal drug use.  It was only a matter of time before the band was forced to announce their break-up.”

“Jung Yong Hwa was accepted as a teacher for Saint Blossoms a few months later.  A small section in the paper announced it.  It stated that he had no tertiary education in teaching, but that the school board had his licence granted based on his experience and several character references given by the higher-ups in the music industry.  The media then left him for dead.”

Min Hyuk looked around the table.  The group was solemn.  It was a sad tale to hear.

“He’s been teaching at Saint Blossoms for three years.  He’s known for his bad fashion, bad attitude, bad temper, bad behaviour and his genius as a musician.  That is his story in a nutshell.”

“Thank you, Min Hyuk.  You told it well.”  Erika got to her feet.  “Let’s see what more we can uncover about our mysterious teacher.  Always carry your spy equipment on you in case of an emergency.  Remember, we only have one week to smoke his secrets out, so keep your eyes and ears open.”

“Yosh!” chanted the group.

Over the next few days, Yong Hwa began to notice strange things happening around him.

On Tuesday night, he had gone out into the mess hall to play piano.  When he’d heard footsteps, he’d assumed that it was Shin Hye – his ghost.  He’d asked for a cup of camomile tea without looking over his shoulder, and to his surprise, the student had run away.

A couple of days later, he noticed that his toothbrush had been moved from one side of the sink to another.  His shoes had somehow crept out from under his bed to trip him over when he walked to his robe to change his shirt.  And he could definitely detect a feminine scent in the room that had never been there before.

He was feeling paranoid by the time he met Seung Gi for their one-on-one weekly music tutorial.

“Are you okay, Teacher Jung?” asked Seung Gi.  “You keep looking at the walls as if they have eyes and ears.”

Yong Hwa shook his head.  “It’s nothing.  Maybe I feel like the students are watching me closer lately.”

“I think you’re just feeling guilty about attacking me, Teacher.”

“I doubt it.  Besides, I barely touched you, and it scared you better than if I’d been doing it for real.  No.  There's no regrets there.”

Seung Gi covered up his embarrassment with a smile.  “All right, all right.  Don't rub it in.  I promise that I will treat all girls well from now on.  I swear that I have turned into the Prince of Good Manners.  Speaking of girls, how are Snow White and Dopey?”

“Fine.”  Yong Hwa lifted an eyebrow at his student.  “Leave them alone.  They’re busy with school activities, like you should be.”

“Don’t be like that, Hyung.  If you forbid me to see her then I’ll transform into a very pathetic Romeo, and we both know how boring that would be.”

“You’re wrong.  It would be very entertaining for me.  Play A Minor again-”

“I wonder if she thinks about me; Snow White.”

The elder glared at him.  “How would I know what she thinks about?  Haven’t you got someone else to talk about girls with?”

“You’re the only one I can talk to about her.  You know that.”

Yong Hwa squared his jaw.  “I don’t talk about that.  Not even with you.”

The pair stared at each other for a long time.

“Okay.”  Seung Gi nodded.  “Sorry Teacher.  I won’t bring it up again.  How about this A Minor, huh?”  His hands ran up and down the piano.  “Waaaah, I’m so great at playing A minor that I bring tears to my own eyes.”

In spite of himself, Teacher Jung’s frown faded into chuckles.  He was all too aware that he could laugh only because Shin Hye had come into his life.

Outside of the music room, Shin Hye was leaning against the wall and smiling.  Teacher Jung’s chuckles were coming more free and easy these days, and she enjoyed hearing them very much.  She lingered outside of the room in the hopes that she would hear more of them, but Seung Gi had switched to playing the good student, and he was only asking neutral questions related to the A Minor scale.

The alarm on her phone went off, telling her that she was off spy duty.  She gave the music room door one last look, and then made the short walk back to the Hibari dorm.  The time was enough to puzzle over the strange conversation she’d heard between Seung Gi and Yong Hwa.  There was no making heads or tails of it.

“You’re back.”  Erika was pinning all the project information up on a wall of the bedroom.  It was the same wall that had been used for Hibari’s pictures of high school boys.  The crumpled photos had been put in the bin a long time ago.

Shin Hye yawned and sat down at her desk.  “Nothing special to report.  He tutored Seung Gi on music theory and practice.  They talked about...”  She looked around the room.  “What is that music?”

Erika pointed at her own laptop.  “Teacher Jung’s compositions.  On Wednesday night, he rented out a recording studio near the school and ran this CD until dawn.”

“I like his songs,” murmured Shin Hye.  She was exhausted from looking after Hibari, complying with her spying duties and doing Jong Hyun’s boot camp training.  Her hand moved to prop her head up so that she could listen to the music.  “Yong Hwa grizzly is talented.”

“Yes, yes, but it’s unacceptable for him to be such a loner when he’s head of the very social Hibari dorm,” complained Hibari, appearing from the bathroom with wet hair.  “I didn’t realise what a hermit he was until we started this project.  We have to do something about it because I won’t have him continue like this.  Any suggestions?”

“Mmm.”  Shin Hye’s lashes dropped down to her cheeks.  “Hold him tight until he stops being grouchy.”

“It won’t work.  He’d probably throw you out of a window like your apple.  Any serious suggestions?”

Erika shrugged.

Shin Hye yawned.  “He likes music.  Help him find other people who like music.”

Hibari tapped her finger on her lips.  “That could work.  We might start a music club up for him in the local district.”

“No.”  Shin Hye’s head dropped down on the desk.  “Not a club.  He was in a band.  Remember?”

Hibari’s eyes widened.  “Yes!  We’ll ambush him with his very own brand new band!  You can make up the flyers for band member auditions and take the calls.  Then you’ll send those you pick to that recording studio he likes so much.  We can lock him in there with them.  Erika can find out when his next booking is for.  Wake up, Shin Hye!  You have lots of work to do!  Erika can’t do it all.”

“Mmmmmm!”  Shin Hye’s head slumped on to the desk.

Hibari stood over the girl and her expression softened.  “All right, Shin Hye-chan.  Rest for now, but your work isn’t done yet.  Understood?”

“Haiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.”  Shin Hye pressed her nose into the keys of her laptop.