From his bedroom, Yong Hwa could hear the cafeteria staff putting out the Hibari dorm’s breakfast.  The adults were going about their daily routine unhindered by students, which is what he should have been able to do.

He turned back to his wardrobe and muttered curses inside of his head.  Somewhere in the last twenty-four hours, Hibari had stolen his clothes.  He was now looking at a small but unfamiliar row of outfits zipped up in clear plastic dry-cleaning bags.

His hands balled into fists as he tried to decide whether he should go now and yell at her in his pyjamas, or dressed in one of the outfits.  The former meant that the students would have to see him with less on than usual, the latter meant that the students would have to see him in whatever scary outfit she had picked out for him.

After a sharp intake of breath, he started yanking the clothes off the rack and onto the floor.  If he was going to have to wear them, then he was going to wear them crinkled and messy so that Hibari would not get as much satisfaction from seeing him in them.

He smirked as he jumped up and down on the clothes, hoping to create a tear or two in the stitching.  He then lay the stuff out on his bed and picked out an outfit that would be the least offensive to him.  Faded jeans and crinkled blue jacket.  Yes, he could live with that.

He was about to picked the most crinkled work shirt too, when he felt something sharp dig into his bare foot.  He picked it out of his skin and narrowed his eyes at what looked like a cufflink.

A silver cufflink with the initials LSG engraved on it.

“What is that doing here?”  Yong Hwa flipped it over in the gaps between his fingers and looked back down at the clothes with a sharper eye.  He noted the expensive labels on the clothes, the flawlessly starched work collars and snorted out loud at the polished Italian shoes.

Hibari had stolen for him a selection of clothes directly from Seung Gi’s casual wardrobe.  He wondered if it was her way of taking revenge on the handsome boy.  Well...good for her.

Yong Hwa continued to play with the cufflink with a smile on his face.  He wondered if Shin Hye would recognise the clothes if he put them on.  She had looked Seung Gi up and down when the kid had brought her freaking fresh bread that morning.  Maybe she liked that sort of clean cut thing?

With Shin Hye on his mind, he picked the least crinkly of the black jackets and held it up to eye-level.  He thought that it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to wear nice clothes every now and then.  Dressing badly had always protected him from unwanted attention, but it seemed that nice clothes held some power of their own too.

He did not think too hard about what sort of power he wanted it to yield (ShinHyeShinHyeShinHye).  He did not think about anything relating to impressing a certain girl when he put on the clothes and he certainly did not look for her when he went into the mess hall to get his usual breakfast.

Okay, he looked.

Shin Hye was in a more quiet part of the hall, leaning against the wall.  Her hair was wet from having a shower after her morning training.  She was pulling the wet strands away from the mobile phone pressed to her ear, and she seemed annoyed by whatever the person was saying.  One of her school shoes was tapping the floor impatiently.

“Yes, and he was okay with it,” he heard her say.  “Teacher Lee gave me permission to hug him as much as I need from now on.”  She looked down at the toy bear on the piano stool and her lips curled into a laughing smile.  “Come here, Yong Hwa Grizzly.”

After a few seconds of petting the bear, Shin Hye chuckled, lowered her phone from her ear and put it in her skirt pocket.

“Thank you.”  She bowed to the toy.  “I feel much better now that I have finally gotten my own back at that mean Lee Seung Gi.  You can sit in peace now.”

Yong Hwa chuckled and went back to pouring his coffee.  There was no doubt in his mind that Seung Gi deserved to be humbled by the accursed therapy bear.  He himself hadn’t liked the way Seung Gi had joked about her ‘walking funny’ the day before.

Still, he couldn’t resist saying something to her on passing.  She was now sitting with Hibari and the others, so he leaned down when he reached her chair.

“Using me to make your boyfriend jealous?  I don’t know how to take that,” he said in a low tone.

Shin Hye gasped like a fish on dry land at the sound of his voice.  He watched, amused, as she drooped and buried her face in her hands, too humiliated at being overheard to look up at him.

The Hibari Four and Min Hyuk looked up at his clothes and choked on their breakfast.

Hibari was the only one who was unmoved by his sudden appearance.  She put down her cup and nodded to him as if she’d been expecting him all morning.

“Hello, Teacher Jung!  Wow.  May I say that you are looking exactly like a true Head of Hibari Dorm should?”

He marvelled at her gall.  “Is this what a true Head of Hibari wears?  Stolen clothes from a rich kid’s wardrobe?”

The Osaka girl’s eyes widened.  “They’re not stolen!  They’re...borrowed.  Besides, they’ll have to do for now because your clothes are being cut up by my fashion surgeon.”

“Ah.”  He grimaced.  “That sounds...gruesome.”

“Don’t pretend you aren’t pleasantly surprised by my efforts for you, Teacher Jung,” rebuffed Hibari.  “Hmmm.  Not a bad effort for your first day, only...something’s missing.  An accessory or some such.  What do you think, Shin Hye?”

Yong Hwa smiled.  Shin Hye’s face was still buried in her hands.

“Come on, Shin Hye.  I need a second opinion,” urged Hibari.  She rocked Shin Hye’s chair so that the feet rattled on the floor.  “I need a bo-I need a different opinion.  Tell me, what is missing.”

Unable to avoid him for any longer, Shin Hye turned around in her seat with eyes scrunched closed and hands clapped together in prayer.

“I’m so sorry Teacher Jung.  Don’t punish me for what you heard earlier,” she begged.  “It was wrong and unkind and it’s not fair that I just used what I did to you yesterday as a joke but he was really asking for it and he didn’t know about Yong Hwa Grizzly so I...”  She blinked.  “I...”  She opened her eyes to look at her teacher.  “Ah.”

“Ah?”

Her brown eyes softened.  “Ah...you look...so nice, Teacher Jung.”

His lips twitched.  “How can I punish you now after hearing that?”

She gaped in horror.  “No-no-no!  I didn’t say that last part to get out of trouble!”

“I know you didn’t.  Just the first part.”

“D-did it work?”

“Not without the last part.”

“Aaaaah.”  She relaxed at the sight of his smile.  Her hands moved up on the back of her chair and rested her chin on them so that she could take a closer look at him.  “So...Hibari stole your clothes?”

“I wasn’t the only person she stole clothes from.  So...you got your revenge?”

Her eyes shone.  “He won’t care that much.”  She reached out to touch the lapel of his jacket.  “Hmm, Hibari’s right.  Something’s missing.”

“Like?”

“Like...”  She looked back at the table and paused when she saw her sister's hair.  “Min Hyuk, give me that hairclip.  The one on the right side of your head.”

Min Hyuk touched her perfectly coiffed hair.  “Unni, no!  Do you know how long it took me to do my hair this morning?  Half an hour!  Half an hour!  Can you believe it?”

“Little sister.  I believe you, but I also know that you took that clip from my jewellery box.  Hand it over with a grateful smile.”

She handed it back with a pout, but Shin Hye was already squirming back around in her chair to pay him any attention.  She was about to slide it on Yong Hwa’s jacket pocket when something behind him made her pause.

“What?” asked Yong Hwa.

Her hands lowered, as did her eyes.  “Nothing...Hibari, can you put this on for me?  I’m not sure how to do it right.”

“Of course, Shin Hye.”  Hibari smiled.  “Good try though.  You did better than most...others of your kind would have done.  Lean forward, Teacher Jung.”

“Forget it!” he huffed, wondering what had spooked Shin Hye.  “Give me the thing, Hibari.  You’ve gotten your way enough times for one day.  I’ll put it on when I feel like it.  Besides, my coffee is getting cold.”

He ignored Hibari’s protests as he took Shin Hye’s clip and turned around to see what had...

Ah.

The students from the surrounding tables were staring at Shin Hye like she was bad news on legs.  Their eyes were watchful, as if they were waiting for her to do something else wrong.

He frowned and went over to another table to finish his coffee.  Girls sometimes.

Bang!

The students murmured in surprise.  Someone had decided to make another dramatic entrance to the Hibari Dorm.

“Shin Hye!  You traitorous and beautiful wench!  Come here and explain yourself to me right now!” bellowed Seung Gi.

Yong Hwa raised his eyes to the heavens.  Seung Gi sometimes too.

Juice cup still in mid air, Shin Hye gaped up her fake boyfriend as if she couldn’t quite believe her eyes.

He was a really good actor.

On his face was the perfect mix of adoration and irritation.  His jaw was set so tightly that she wouldn’t be surprised if he bit the head off Yong Hwa Grizzly when she told him the truth.

“Seung Gi,” she uttered, not really sure of what to say.  It felt like he was really jealous, and she had to keep telling herself that it was just a brilliant illusion.

The others made room as Seung Gi leaned over the table to talk to her.

“Enjoying your breakfast?” he asked.

She thought of the room of critical eyes watching her and how they hadn’t let her put a clip on Teacher Jung’s jacket.  Not fair.  “Not really.”

“That’s a pity.  Then you won’t mind giving me your hand so that I can drag you out by the wrist.  We need to talk in private.”

Her chin rounded.  “Why?  Can’t we talk later?  I still haven’t finished some of my homework for the first class.”

He leaned close enough so that she could count the lashes around his eyes.  “Indulge me.  This morning I discovered that half of my wardrobe disappeared overnight, and right now, my smart phone is bathing in a coffee that I did not get to drink because of the y voice you used for a man that sadly wasn’t me.  You even gave him a nickname.”

Shin Hye wanted to laugh, but she held it in.  “That’s a shame.  All right, I’ll indulge you, but I don’t think taking your morning out on me is going to make you feel any better.”

“Thank you, Shin Hye.”

Neither of them moved.

“You...ah, have to hold out your hand first,” he whispered.  “Teacher Jung has to know that you’ve given me permission.”

Surprised, Shin Hye looked around for Yong Hwa.  He was sitting at his usual table with his coffee in one hand.  Her hairclip was now nestled on the pocket of his jacket, and the sight of it there touched her.  His brown eyes were focused on nothing in particular, but she felt like he was watching over her, just like he had for the debate.

With a smile that could not be avoided, she stood up and held out her wrist to Seung Gi for everyone to see.  The dark haired flower boy led her out of the room as proposed, but she kept looking back, hoping to catch a glimpse of Yong Hwa’s watchful brown eyes and her red clip on his jacket.

It was a hopeless case.  She was in love with him, and she knew that she would love him more each time she saw him.  Running from him was useless (he chased her the last time she ran), but she thought distancing herself from him by transferring to another dorm might prevent future disaster.  It was for his sake as much as her own.  She didn’t want him to get in trouble.

“Shin Hye, are you listening to me?”

“Hmm?”  She blinked and realised that they were already outside.

Seung Gi’s jaw flexed.  “Aiiiish!  This girl.  Earth to Shin Hye!  Calling Shin Hye!”

“Ah!  Stop shouting.  I’m listening.  I’m listening!”

“Good.  Who am I?”

She lifted one eyebrow at him.  “Is this a trick question?”

He chuckled.  “Shin Hye.  Sweet girl of mine.  Who am I to you?”

“You are...a fake boyfriend who’s acting very jealous...and it’s getting annoying.”

“I’m sure.  So, are the rumours true?  Did you really hug our Ssaem?”

“Yes,” she hissed the answer in between her teeth.

“No more than once, or were you telling the truth on the phone?”

“No more than once.  What I said on the phone was a lie.”

“Why did you hug him?”

“Why do you care!” she blasted at him.

“I care.”

“Then stop making such an effort to care.  I can take care of myself, more or less, and when I make mistakes like hugging a teacher, I’m...I’m not alone.  Haven’t you got other things to focus your effort on besides me?  PS3 games?  What about study?”

“You think I like hanging around you all the time?” he countered.  “It has to look real, Shin Hye!  If it doesn’t, then I’ll soon get girls calling me again.  So there’s no point to this if you can’t play your part.”

“I play my part.”

“No you don’t.  You give Teacher Jung hugs and go out on night adventures with him.  I don’t get any attention from you unless I’m picking a fight with you.”

“Stop acting spoiled.  It was one hug!  One!  And you don’t get any attention from me because we’re not real!”  She huffed.  “Why are we doing this anyway?  Wasn’t it easier for you back when everyone thought that you were single?  You didn’t have to work hard at an empty relationship back then.”

“Aiiiiish.  It would have been so much easier if you had just adored me like all the other girls do.”

“You adore me enough for the two of us, Romeo,” she grumbled.

He blinked, confused.  “What?”  He pointed to his own chest.  “Moi?  I don’t think I’m being that nice to you.  I talked about you walking funny in front of your teachers.  Remember?”

Shin Hye’s hands clenched.  “I’ll be honest with you.  I overheard you talking to Teacher Jung about me...well, about Snow White.  You seemed so passionate about her.  You were talking about me, weren’t you?  Doesn’t that mean you like me?”

His lips thinned.  “If you think I’m giving you an explanation of that, you can think otherwise.  I don’t explain conversations to people who weren’t meant to hear them.”

“Fine.  If you’re expecting me to continue this deal when you really like me, then you can forget it because I won’t be tricked into a relationship, and right now you’re really getting on my nerves.”

“Tricked?  Aigoo!  You just liked hugging your Ssaem so much that you want to break the deal.  I guess you’re not interested in keeping your brother’s secret anymore.  Not now that he’s in the way of someone you like.  Great!  Who should I tell first?  Hibari?  She’s more viral than an online video.”

“No...no!”  She felt herself getting angrier.  “Don’t you dare say anything to anyone about Min Hyuk or I will go and get that baseball bat of mine and beat you until you can see stars!”

“Of course I won’t.  I-it was only a mild threat.”  He took a step back.  “Aish!  That Noona-temper of yours is terrible.”

“Then don’t provoke me by threatening my family,” she warned.  “I will be your fake girlfriend, I will work harder at it if you want, but I think that you’re hiding your true motivations for this deal from me, and I don’t like it.  You’re leaving me in the dark on purpose.”

After a long pause, he nodded.  “I will tell you, when I’m ready.  It’s nothing that will hurt you or your family, so don’t get so worked up.  I’m just not ready to talk about it with anyone yet.”

She paused for a long moment and stood back.  Her shoulders relaxed.  “Okay...that’s okay then.  I can handle that.”

“Thank you, Shin Hye.  I have just one more thing to ask of you before I let you go.  He is not worth competing with, but it has to be done or people will get suspicious.  Can you call me on my dorm’s landline if you go out on another night adventure with him?”

“Him?”

“Teacher Jung.  I have to come along and look jealous at least once.”

She blushed.  “What?  Why?  I didn’t go on a night adventure just with him.  Didn’t the girls explain to you about the band we put together?”

He dimpled and waved her off.  It seemed that he was determined to believe that there was something between her and Teacher Jung.  He was acting jealous, while at the same time openly contradicting it with his words, and she couldn’t decide what to believe.  He was too clever to let her find out.

Shin Hye stamped one foot in frustration and went inside.

“Testing...testing...itchy, knee, san,” echoed Coach Lee’s voice.

In Teacher Jung’s classroom, the students looked up at the old speaker in the corner of the room where his voice was coming from.

“Attention all students, I have just received news that the first ‘Joint School Dance’ of the year will be held in two weeks time.  Tickets and information will be made available to you online by noon today.  Just to sum up briefly, it is Seoul High’s turn to host the dance, and they have decided on the theme of a pyjama party.”

There was a murmur of excitement from the girls.

“Pyjama party?” Erika clapped her hands over her cheeks in glee.  “Does that mean we can wear less than usual?  It’s still so hot at night.”

“No bras!” cheered Min Hyuk.  Shin Hye gave her a dirty look.

“No!  The theme is not an excuse for girls to wear less clothing just to increase skinship possibilities,” replied the speaker.

Komari frowned.  “How did he hear Erika’s question?  Isn’t he using a one-way PA system?”

“Be quiet, Komari!” said Coach Lee’s voice.  “Where was I?  Ah, yes.  There will be a competition on the night to see which dorm will be allowed off school grounds for the first three day weekend.  This year, you and your date’s mission will be to capture evidence of the Hibari ghost.  I wish you all the best of luck in this challenge.”

There was a collective outburst at this news.

“What?  But the Hibari ghost isn’t real!” protested Erika.

“It was Teacher Jung lurking around at night, not some ghost,” said Kanna.

“We have evidence!” added Hibari, holding up a USB stick.  The sun sparkled off of it.  “Which means that the Hibari Dorm already wins.”

“Don’t be so sure, Hibari,” warned Coach Lee’s voice.  “Just because you have evidence of Teacher Jung lurking around, it does not mean that there is no Hibari ghost.  Ah, one more thing before I sign out...”

The students leaned forward in their desks.

“If you don’t get a date for the dance, don’t get depressed and try to kill yourselves by throwing yourselves off the top of a school building.  It is how we ended up with a Hibari Ghost in the first place.  Go and see Teacher Lee first.  Maybe he’ll even offer to be your date.  That is all.  This is Coach Lee, signing off.”

Yong Hwa clapped his hands.  “All right, girls.  Finish your quiz for chapter seven before we have any more interruptions.”

The students settled down and went back to the papers in front of them.

“Thanks for letting us retake the quiz today, Teacher Jung,” said Komari.

“Yes.”  Erika glared at Shin Hye.  “We were too distracted yesterday.”

“No one asked you be distracted,” muttered Shin Hye.

“When will we get our prize?” asked Hibari.

“That’s a secret,” answered Teacher Jung.  “Only the ones with top marks will get to know.”

Night fell over Seoul once again.  The school of Saint Blossoms was bathed in darkness except for a few security lights that shone on the pathways and in the car park.  In her bed, Shin Hye drifted in between sleep and wakefulness.

It was strange.  She could hear Hibari’s steady breathing at the same time she dreamt about winning the quiz prize.  In her dream, all the other girls got chocolates under their pillows, but for her, Teacher Jung climbed into her bed and wrapped his arms around her.  She smiled.  She could almost see his fingers threaded through hers, almost feel his warmth enveloping her, his breath grazing her cheek.

“Mmm.”  She rolled over onto her back and stretched out her legs in pleasure.  Something touched her arm as she moved – probably the blanket.  She imagined that it was him touching her.

With a sigh, she opened her eyes and wondered if he would be out playing the piano during the night.  She really wanted to see him.  Her eyes were already playing tricks on her and making her think that he was sitting on the side of her bed.

She smiled at the mirage.  “Hello.”

“You’re awake?” he whispered.  She shivered.  His voice was warm and so realistic.

“No,” she replied with an indulgent smile.  “I’m dreaming.  You’re about to climb into my bed and hold me so close that I can feel your chest rising and falling against my back.  But the truth is that you wouldn’t do that...and I’m sure that I didn’t do so well on the quiz.”

There was a long pause before he spoke.  “Okay.  I’m going to pretend that I didn’t hear any of that.”

Shin Hye frowned.  No.  That wasn’t what Yong Hwa was supposed to say.

He cleared his throat.  “You are going to get out of bed and get dressed.  Hibari will fill you in on what to wear.”

He got up off the bed, a light flicked on in the room somewhere, and Shin Hye blinked.  Her eyes adjusted to the room and it helped her to realise two things.  First, that she was very much awake.

Second, Teacher Jung was really there, and he looked very very confused.

“Ai-shhhh!”  Shin Hye pulled her pillow over her face.  Why did she have to do crazy things around him that she wouldn’t do around anyone else?  Why?  Why?  Why?

“Why did you have to be the one to come and wake me up?” she asked through the pillow.

“Because you did well on the quiz,” replied her teacher.  “Sorry for interrupting your, ah, dream, but Seung Gi will have to wait until later to...”  He couldn’t even finish the sentence.

“Seung Gi?”  Shin Hye groaned and tried to suffocate herself with the pillow.  Of course he’d think that.  Teacher Jung wasn’t arrogant enough to think that she’d be dreaming about him.  Stupid attractive teacher!  The least he could have done was assume that she was thinking about him.

“Ya!  Shin Hye!”  He yanked the pillow off of her.  “Get up!  We’re leaving in ten minutes, and you have to look six years older by then if you want your prize.”

“Six years older?”  She let go of the pillow.  “Why?”

A door creaked.  Shin Hye and Yong Hwa looked over in the direction of the bathroom.  Steam escaped from the room in clouds, followed by a much more mature looking Hibari.  Gone was the bright coloured makeup in exchange for smoky eyes, a black French beret on top of her hair, and a sophisticated dress.

“Because Shin Hye,” she purred, batting her eyelashes.  “Teacher Jung is taking us to a Seoul nightclub to taste the forbidden pleasures of the night!”

Yong Hwa shook his head.  “Sorry to disappoint, but you’re going there to have disc jockey lessons with a friend of mine.”

Hibari’s face fell.

Shin Hye sat up in bed and gaped.  “Really?”  She looked him up and down, and noticed that her clip was in the pocket of a different black jacket.  The sight of it made her so happy that she had to pull the covers up to her nose to hide the inevitable smile.

He was about to leave the room when Hibari grabbed his sleeve.  “Teacher Jung.  When was the last time you had a haircut?  They won’t let you into a club looking like that.  Come here and I'll fix it.”

“Hmm,” he pretended to look thoughtful.  “I didn’t think about that.  I guess I don’t CARE!”

With a burst of energy that surprised both girls, he bolted for the door and slipped through it as fast as he could.  Hibari grabbed the handle just as he was trying to pull it shut.

“You can run, Teacher Jung!  But you can’t hide from me!” she threatened, pulling the door open with all her might.

Teacher Jung yanked it back his way.  “Watch me!”

Hibari dug her high heels into the ground.  “Your hair needs attention, Teacher Jung!  Admit it!”

“You’re not cutting it!  You’ll make me look like Seung Gi!”

“No I won’t!  I’ll make you look like Lee Min Ho!”

His eyes widened.  “Get away from me!”

“I’m cutting it, Teacher Jung.  But it will look bad if I have to cut it through the door.”

“Don’t come near me you little Amateurette.”

“I could cut it,” suggested Shin Hye.

The pair stopped struggling with the door long enough to look her way.

She lowered the covers to her lap.  “My brother has trusted me with his hair for years, so I’m okay at it.”

A few quiet seconds passed by before Yong Hwa let go of the door.  It fell back on its hinges and Hibari was thrown backwards into the doors of Shin Hye’s cupboard.

He stuck his hands into his pockets and looked around the room.  “Okay.  Where do I sit?”

Hibari stumbled to her feet and pulled her curly tresses out of her eyes.  “Brother?  Shin Hye, do you have a little brother as well as a sister?”

Shin Hye paled.  “I...ah...yes, as a matter of fact, I do.”

“He doesn’t by some small chance call you ‘Hyung’ instead of ‘Unni’, does he?” asked Hibari, looking hopeful.

Yong Hwa ran a hand around the back of his head and smiled.  He didn’t care about his hair much, but he had enjoyed having Shin Hye do it.  Her fingers had been warm and gentle as they had combed pieces of his hair straight and then trimmed the edges off.

There was no doubt that she had enjoyed doing it too.  He’d noticed that her cheeks had turned red when she’d leaned closer to cut his fringe out of his eyes.

However, the ten minutes were up before they knew it.  The students were dressed to look older than they were, and it was time to take them for DJ lessons.  He gestured for the girls to follow him across the darkened school grounds, and they followed him to the school parking lot where the bus was waiting with its lights on and the engine warming up.

The front passenger door hissed open.

“Teacher Jung.”  Jong Hyun climbed down from the driver’s seat to join him.  “You owe me big time for this.  Hi girls, climb aboard, we don’t have all night.  Ah!  Before you go to your seats, I need to give you your fake IDs.”

“Fake IDs!” squealed Komari in excitement.  “I’ve never had one before!”

“Well congratulations.”  Jong Hyun flipped through the cards and selected one for her.  “For a few hours, you get to be as old as me.”

“A few hours,” whined Erika.  “Can’t we keep them?”

“Tch.”  Jong Hyun exchanged an amused glance with Yong Hwa.  “Next they’ll be asking us if they can order alcoholic drinks tonight.”

The students groaned in disappointment.

Shin Hye took her ID and pocketed it without a second look.  “Coach Lee, can we, ah, make a quick stop to Seoul High on the way?”

Hibari pouted.

“Seung Gi Oppa is coming?” asked Erika.

Coach Lee shrugged.  “Sure.  Why not?  He’d better have his own ID though.  Yong, do you know if he has one?”

“I don’t know,” said Yong Hwa, feeling uneasy.  He didn’t like the idea of the two kids being together at a night club, especially when Shin Hye had just dreamed of Seung Gi climbing into her bed and doing things that made him want to punch something.  He said nothing because he thought the jealousy pangs in his chest were maybe clouding his judgement just a little bit.

Okay, a lot.

Thoughts of Shin Hye and Seung Gi continued to bug him until something nudged his arm.

“You okay, Yong?” asked Jong Hyun.  They were now the last ones left to climb on the bus.

“Fine.”  He rubbed his brow, and felt where Shin Hye had trimmed his fringe.  “I forgot to see you today about one of the students.  Shin Hye wants to transfer to your dorm.”

“I see...did she mention why?”

“Something about playing baseball nationally.  It’s not the real reason of course.”

“Of course.”  Jong Hyun looked thoughtful.  “By any chance, was she the one that cut your hair?”

“Yes.”

“Look.  I know I called dibs on her, but she’s better for you than all the medicine in the world.  Don’t let her leave.  Besides, I think after that hug it’s pretty obvious that she looks up to you a lot.  Why push her away?  It’s not like she has a crush on you or anything.”

“And if she does?”  Yong Hwa felt embarrassed saying it.

“Ah.”  Jong Hyun rocked back on his heels.  “Even if she does, it’s not a big deal.  You don’t need to hit her apples out of the window or send her to Jung Shin to fix it.  I’ve dealt with crushes before without doing anything special.  The girl’s feelings usually fade and die with a bit of time.  I just need to handle it right until then.”

“Ah...”  Yong Hwa felt sad.  “I see.  It’ll fade.  Why didn’t I think of that?”

Jong Hyun seemed to gather that there was something Yong Hwa wasn’t saying.  “We’ll talk more later, huh?  Come on.  You’ve got me to help you watch over the kids tonight.  So relax a bit.”

The pair climbed aboard.  Jong Hyun put the bus into gear and steered it out of the school grounds, while Yong Hwa sat back and frowned at the blackness outside of the window.  It was only a small distance to Seoul High, and they passed by the familiar doors to the school in less than five minutes.

Jong Hyun pulled up not far from the dorms, and the bus door hissed open to let Shin Hye out.  Hibari told Min Hyuk and anyone else who would listen how to get the smoky eye effect while they were waiting.

A few minutes later, he watched Shin Hye return alone.  She climbed halfway up the bus steps and gestured to him from under the rail.

“It’s Seung Gi,” she said in a low voice as he hopped off the bus.  “He won’t come down unless I sing his favourite song.”

Yong Hwa stared at her.  Was she seriously asking him for help with something like that?

“I’m sorry to drag you into this, but I don’t know his favourite song.  He wants me to guess until I get it right and that could take hours.  You know his favourite song, right?”

He glanced at the bus.  “Can I ask why you need to bring him along if he’s being such a pain in the ?”

Shin Hye bit her bottom lip.  “You know why.  It’s because I hugged you.”  Her eyes were beseeching not to torture her about it.

“Ah.”  He couldn’t help smiling a fraction.  She looked so embarrassed.  “I see.  You’re still being punished.”

She sighed.  “Yes.  That’s exactly it.”

Yong Hwa held out his hand for her phone.  “Hand it over.”

“Ah.”  Shin Hye pointed behind her.  “No.  He’s not on the phone.  He’s waiting at his window for me.”

“Huh?”

She pointed to the building.  “His bedroom is around the back.  He wants me to serenade him from outside.”

Because Shin Hye looked troubled, Yong Hwa decided that he had no patience for Seung Gi.  None.  The stupid kid was in her dreams and he didn’t even have the decency to come down when she asked.

He marched around the corner and down a hidden path until he saw an open window with a light on.  It was on the second floor, so he couldn’t climb up there and throttle him.  Too bad.

“Teacher Jung,” hissed Shin Hye.  “What are you doing?”

“Don’t worry.  I’m just going to bruise his pride a little.  Hey!  Seung Gi!  Shin Hye doesn’t know what your favourite song is, but I do!”

A head appeared at the window in a trice.  “Ssaem?”

“That’s right.  And would you know it?  I think I still have a video in my phone of you singing your favourite song.  Should I show it to Shin Hye?”

“Aaaaaaah, come on.  Why are you so annoyed?  I’m the one who should be angry.  You hugged my girl!  As I recall, Seongsaengnim, the last time I held her without her permission, I got my neck wrung for it in the cafeteria.”

Shin Hye’s eyes widened.  “Really?  Is that what happened?”

Yong Hwa grimaced up at Seung Gi.  “It didn’t teach you anything though, did it Punk?  Maybe this will.”  He clicked on an app, and flicked through the videos until he found the one he was looking for.  “Ah!  Here it is!  ‘Seung Gi sings Will You Marry Me to the dog’.”

“Aaaaish.”  Seung Gi leaned forward on the window sill.  “Shin Hye is there any chance that you could not watch that video?  You won’t be missing much.  I swear.”

Shin Hye leaned closer to Yong Hwa to watch the video.  “But I have to know what your favourite song is.”

Seung Gi threw his hands up in the air.  “Okay, fine!  I forgive you for hugging Teacher Jung.  Really!  Just don’t play that video.  I’m coming down now!”

Yong Hwa pressed play anyway.

Will you marry meee?

“Pfffffffft!”  Shin Hye bent over and burst out laughing.

In the video, a much younger but no less cute Seung Gi was holding a microphone and dancing in the living room of his apartment for a little dog with white curly fur.  The camera panned around the room to show Kang Ho Dong of CN Pink witnessing Seung Gi’s performance from the kitchen.

Will you live forever with meee?  I want to have children!  One that looks like you, and one that looks like meee!

“It’s so sad,” Ho Dong whispered to the lens.  “The kid wants to be an idol when he grows up, but he can’t sing for sh**.”