For the rest of the trip, Yong Hwa could hear Shin Hye’s laughter coming from the back of the bus.  Each time she laughed, the trigger was the same.

“What?” Seung Gi would ask.

“Nothing.” Shin Hye would reply, following it up with a round of giggles.

The pattern continued until Jong Hyun pulled the bus over and parked it a small distance from the club.  The students were so excited that he couldn’t open the door soon enough.  Yong Hwa went ahead and led them towards a building with a sign above it that read Silk.  It seemed that Silk was not strong enough to contain the loud music coming from inside.

For some of the students, it was the first time they’d seen the inside of a club.  Yong Hwa had to remind them not to look like stunned mullets so that the staff didn’t get suspicious.

“Whaaaa.”  Min Hyuk stared at the stage as well as the disc jockey at his station.  “The stage is bigger than the one at school!”

“Forget the stage...he’s cute,” said Juri, pointing to the disc jockey.  The guy had long hair that stopped at his cheeks.  The headphones looked like they were permanently glued to his head.

“Look!” Seung Gi brushed Shin Hye’s arm and pointed to some of the club’s patrons.  Some of the people dancing were very talented.

“Ooooooh!” marvelled Komari, looking at the sleek half-moon bar complete with handsome bartenders.  “Fancy.”

“It’s like being inside of a manga,” remarked Erika, staring around at the green and white laser light effects streaming through the air.

“All right, who wants to have their lesson now?” asked Yong Hwa.  Min Hyuk and Juri put up their hands straight away.

“Want to go dance first, Shin Hye?” asked Seung Gi.

“Mmm...”  Shin Hye looked unsure.

“Don’t worry.  Teacher Jung will come and get us when it’s your turn.  Won’t you, Seongsaengnim?”  Seung Gi held out his hand for Shin Hye to take.

Yong Hwa gave them a curt nod.  However, when Seung Gi led her off, he bared his teeth at the boy’s back.

One wrong move on Shin Hye and that kid was dead.

Yong Hwa led the first group of students over to the DJ and made introductions.  Min Hyuk went first, and she got a handle of the basics quickly.  The DJ’s brows went up when she got a simple crossfade almost right on the first try.  He even gave Min Hyuk a respectful nod when the lesson was over.

“Stick around,” said Yong Hwa when Min Hyuk climbed out of the booth.  “Think you’d like to try a breakdown?”

The student’s whole face lit up.  “Definitely.”  She moved to stand next to Yong Hwa so that Juri could have her lesson.  Together, the pair leaned back against the stage and took in Juri’s progress, as well as the dancers on the floor.

“There’s Unni!” Min Hyuk waved to her sister.  “She’s with Seung Gi again.  Haaaa, I don’t know if I like him or not.  Sometimes she smiles because of him, and sometimes she doesn’t.”

Yong Hwa watched Shin Hye and Seung Gi for a while.  The kid was behaving himself by keeping his hands away from her.  Shin Hye looked happy.  He wished it was him making her happy.

“Teacher Jung, can I ask you something?”

“Hmm?”

“If you liked someone...a lot, but you couldn’t confess to them because you’re not allowed to like them.  What do you do?”

“You bottle it up so that it eats your insides like a cancer, because you won’t let them suffer for your selfishness.” replied Yong Hwa.

“Huh?”

Teacher Jung coughed and gave himself a mental shake.  “Sorry.  Don’t take that as advice.  Look, if you’re not allowed to like someone, then it usually has something to do with morals.  It’s up to you whether you respect those morals or not.”

“I see.  So...how do you feel about one girl liking another girl, Teacher Jung?  They wouldn’t get expelled from Saint Blossoms, right?”

Wait what?

“Teacher Jung!”  Jong Hyun came up to him with Komari in tow.  His Nikes were glowing in the dark.  “I need your help.  I think Komari has been drinking.”

Komari’s eyes were glazed over when she looked up at Yong Hwa.  “No!  I only had a Long Island Iced Tea.  I didn’t drink.”

Yong Hwa sighed.  “I’ll take her.  Watch over the others?”

“Yosh!”

Yong Hwa turned Komari around.  “Come on kid.  Do you feel like you’re going to barf?”

“No.”  Her eyes turned to the dance floor.  “I want to dance.  Dance with me, Teacher Jung!”

“I don’t dance.”

“Oh...wow!  What’s wrong with Shin Hye?”

Yong Hwa swung around to look.  Shin Hye seemed fine.  She was even smiling at Seung Gi as the pair danced.

“Nothing’s wrong with her,” he assured, ignoring the jealousy pangs in his chest.

Komari tilted her head to one side.  “But she just looked at us like she was...”

Yong Hwa pushed Komari towards the door.  “You’re seeing the world through alcohol.  Don’t expect anything you find there to be true.”

Komari frowned as she was pushed outside into the cool air.  “But she has ‘Jealous Face’.  Wait....she has Jealous Face?  Teacher Jung, I think she has a crush on you.”

Yong Hwa pretended to shrug it off.  “Thanks for the insight.  Here, sit down on these steps.  How’s your head?”

“Fuzzy.  I don’t understand.  Why would she want to date Seung Gi Oppa if she has a crush on you?”

He hesitated.  “Because the difference between a crush and really liking someone is oceans apart.  Don’t confuse the two.”

“I seeeeee.  Sensei Jung is very wise.”

“Tch.  Stay here.  I’ll go get you some water.”

“Waaaait!” Komari grabbed at his feet.  “Teacher Jung, I think I like someone, but I don’t know if it is a crush or the real thing.  What is the difference?”

Yong Hwa looked down at the innocent face between his legs.  “When you know that the person isn’t perfect, but you can’t live without them.  It’s real.”

Komari looked sad.  “That sounds strange.  I thought you would say something else.”

He sighed impatiently.  “Fine.  It’s real if they give you heart-shaped cookies.  Now let me go!”

Komari seemed even less satisfied with this answer, but she set him free anyway.  Yong Hwa hurried back inside to the bar to buy her a bottle of water before she could change her mind.  Inside, he saw Hibari’s frozen face walking out of the girl’s bathroom and straight to the bar.

“You!” she shouted to the nearest assistant.  “Give me something so strong that I could set it on fire with a lit match.”

Yong Hwa moved over to stand beside her.  “Hibari, are you okay?”

“I will be once I’m unconscious.”  She glared at the bartender.  “Where’s my drink, underling?  Don’t think that pretty-boy face will do your job for you.”

“Hibari.”  Yong Hwa pushed her down onto one of the bar stools.  “Don’t make the barman cry.  Talk.  It’s easier.”

“Tch,” Hibari turned her sneer on him.  “Talk?  You destroyed your career and your life over some mysterious girl that you won’t talk about.  I bet she wasn’t even worth it.”

He grimaced.  “Say that again and I’m locking you in the bus for the rest of the night.  What happened, Hibari?”

Her defiance turned to uncertainty.  “H-how would you feel if you walked into the bathroom and saw two girls kissing?”

The barman chose that moment to return with Hibari’s drink.  Yong Hwa snatched it up and threw the burning liquid down his throat so he wouldn’t have to answer.

“I mean...”  Hibari’s mascara ran down her cheeks along with a fresh stream of tears.  “What am I supposed to do if I like that sort of thing?  Huh?  There’s a boy who likes me but he wears skirts.  Am I supposed to find that attractive?”

“Uhhhh.”

“No!  Of course I’m not.  That would be the same as you liking a student; WRONG-WRONG-WRONG!”

He flinched.  The trimmed hairs stood up on the back of his neck.  “Soooo, you like girls?”

“I don’t know.”

“So you like boys dressed as girls?”

“Yes!  No.  I don’t know.  Well...only one, and he acts more like a girl than a boy.”

He felt something tugging on his sleeve.  It was Komari.  “Teacher Jung, where did you go?  I haven’t finished asking you about the real thing.”

“Teacher Jung!” Min Hyuk tugged on his other sleeve.  “You still haven’t answered my question about whether those hypothetical students would get expelled.”

“All right!  That’s enough!”  Yong Hwa raised both his hands for silence.  “Since when did I become the love guru around here?  Huh?  Did I grow a third eye in the middle of my forehead or something when I wasn’t looking?”

The three students pouted.

He leaned one arm on the bar.  “Look, I have problems of my own that I can’t even figure out.  How do you expect me to solve yours?”

Komari gasped.  “Teachers have problems?”

“But you’re Jung Yong Hwa.  What problems could you have?” protested Min Hyuk.

“Fine.  Tell us what’s wrong, Teacher Jung.  We’ll help you fix yours so that you can then fix ours.  What is it?  You want us to send a hit-man after that girl who ruined your career?” demanded Hibari.

Yong Hwa leaned over and deliberately banged his head on the edge of the bench.

At that very moment, Kanna and Juri came running up from the dance floor and nudged their way into the group.  “Hibari!  Komari!  Guess what?  For the next hour, this place is holding a dance competition where the prize is sound equipment.  We were thinking that we could win the equipment for Hibari Dorm!”

Hibari’s face brightened.  “Yes!  Excellent idea, girls.  Someone find Erika!  The Hibari Four has to win this!”

“Over my dead body!” challenged Seung Gi.  He nudged his way into the group with his competition ticket already in his hand.  “I’m winning that equipment for me and my dorm, but I’m sure you girls will enjoy the superb rice-cooker they give to the second placers.”

Hibari gave him a nasty look.  “I hope you like the taste of Loser-Rice, Oppa, because no one beats me and my Hibari-“

“Four!” cheered the girls.  Pom poms appeared out of nowhere and then disappeared.

Hibari smiled.  “Our synchronised routines will leave your Michael Jackson impersonations in the dust, Oppa.”

“I do not impersonate Michael Jackson!” he spluttered.

Shin Hye appeared out of nowhere and plonked down on the barstool next to Yong Hwa.  Her face was red and sweaty from dancing.  She pushed her hair out of her eyes with one hand.  “Phew!  Where’s the barman?”

“Shin Hye!” shouted Hibari and Seung Gi simultaneously.

“Eh?”

“Support the Hibari Four so that we can win the dance competition,” invited Hibari.

“No!”  Seung Gi elbowed Hibari out of the way.  “She’s my girlfriend and she’s cheering me on.”

Shin Hye fanned herself with the coaster.  “I choose...to cheer you both on from this chair with a bottle of water in my hand.  Hwaiting!”

Hibari pouted.  Seung Gi frowned.  The two leaders glared at each other and then flounced off in opposite directions.  Yong Hwa watched the kids move off in amazement.  He had never seen Hibari and Seung Gi go at each other’s throats like that.

Min Hyuk got to her feet.  “I’m going to go and have another turn at DJ-ing before the competition begins.  Will you listen to me, Unnie?”

“Mm.”  Shin Hye nodded.  “You sounded very good before.”

Min Hyuk smiled.  “Thanks.”  She turned to Yong Hwa.  “You’ll listen to me too, right?”

Yong Hwa pointed to his bar stool.  “I’m glued to this spot.”

The younger girl beamed and hurried through the groups of friends and dancers to get to the DJ.  Yong Hwa watched Min Hyuk until a bottle of water appeared in his periphery.

“Thanks.”  He took the bottle of water from Shin Hye and unscrewed the cap.  “Your sister was made for percussion.”

Shin Hye swallowed a mouthful of water and smacked her lips.  “I sometimes wish I knew what I wanted as clearly as Min Hyuk does.”

Yong Hwa shrugged.  “You can be famous.  Isn’t that what most people want?”

She rocked back and forth on the bar stool and sighed.  “For Min Hyuk, being famous would suit her.  She’d get good clothes, money for games, professional teachers, lots of travel...”

“She’d get anti-fans, hate mail, stalkers, no privacy.  Oh yeah, it’s the life.”

“Tch.”  Shin Hye stared down at her lap.  “It’s better than a life of existing in an officetel at night and working in a box all day.”

He chuckled.  “How would you know anything about that?”

“Ah.”  She shifted uneasily.  “A friend told me what it was like.”

He shook his head at her.  “I think your friend is wrong.  There’s nothing wrong with living an ordinary life.  I think...that all you need is one thing to make you feel special.”

Shin Hye met his eyes.  “One thing.  You’re serious?”

“One thing.”

She searched his face.  “Can my one thing be a person?”

“A person?”

Her earrings sparkled as she leaned down and reached for something in her pocket.

He followed the movement.  “What’s that?”

Shin Hye removed a small object from her pocket and she lifted it up to her chest.  “I think it’s my one thing...person.”

“A person fits in your pocket?  Come on, I can’t see what it is if you hold it like that,” he said, stretching out his hand for the item.

“Just don’t get angry.  Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Don’t take it from me,” she warned, meeting his eyes.

He lifted one eyebrow at her.  She looked nervous as he reached out for her fist.  He used his other hand to unfurl her fingers so that he could see what it was.  He had to see what it was.

What he saw lifted him up to a new level of happiness and pain.

It was a lock of his hair.  She must have taken it while she’d cut it earlier.

“You’re my one thing.  You inspire me,” she said.  “You’ve been pulling yourself out of something bad, watching over your students, and I’ve watched you get better and better.  I want to follow your example.”

He felt a sudden burning need to tell her the truth.  That she was so strong and so bold that if it wasn’t for her appearance, he wouldn’t have believed she was the same unhappy girl from his past.  That she had saved him when he had intended to save her.  That he was the one following her.

“Thank you,” he heard himself say.

She let out a long breath.  “Thank you for not getting angry.”

He closed her fingers over her palm and took her hands in his.  She was something precious.  “It’s not anything more than a crush, right?”

Shin Hye’s lips parted.

“With me, I mean.”  He didn’t want to ask, but it was his responsibility as her teacher to know.  Wasn’t it?

Her lips moved, but in the end she closed them and turned her attention to the clip on his chest.  She had no answer for him.

Time ticked by.  Yong Hwa waited patiently, and then waited in disbelief.  Time continued to tick by.  Shin Hye brown eyes were fixed on the clip.  Each second she gave him made his head lift a little more.  His hands started to squeeze hers tighter.  He imagined her loving him.  The thought made him delerious.

“Teacher Jung?”

It was Jong Hyun.

Shin Hye pulled her hand away, taking the lock of hair with her.  Yong Hwa turned to face his colleague, wondering how much he had seen.

Jong Hyun looked dismayed, and disappointed.

Damn.

Yong Hwa felt bad for the jock.  He and Jong Hyun had just started to get along, and he had ruined it now by dragging the coach into something he wouldn’t understand.

Jong Hyun glanced back and forth between the two with burning eyes.  It was clear that he was deciding what to do next.

“Unnie!”  Min Hyuk rushed in to join Jong Hyun, Shin Hye and Yong Hwa.  The student failed to notice the tension in everyone’s faces.  “Quick!  Quick!  You have to run!”

Shin Hye glanced at Coach Lee before answering in a grim tone.  “What is it?”

“Unnie.  You have to go enter that contest now!  Get this!  The sound equipment prize includes disc jockey equipment!”

There was a long pause before Shin Hye replied.  “Ah.”

“Yes!  So you see, you have to go now!  Win, Unnie, Win!”

Shin Hye hesitated.

“Go on,” Yong Hwa urged.  “Coach Lee only wants to talk to me.”

She finally lifted her eyes to meet his.  Did that mean she had more than a crush on him?  She never answered.

Shin Hye lifted her chin and got off of the barstool.  Yong Hwa waited until she and Min Hyuk were out of earshot before turning back to Jong Hyun.

“You don’t have to say anything.  I will hand in my resignation tomorrow if you want.  I would never hurt her.”

Jong Hyun shook his head.  “You’ll have to explain yourself more than that.”

“There’s nothing to explain.  It just...escalated.  What you just saw was the worst of it.  I’ll go tomorrow.”

“But I don’t want you to go!”  The coach ran a hand through his hair.  “Aish.  This really pisses me off.  I thought I finally had someone to laugh at Jung Shin with me, and now you’ve put me in a place where I have to report you.  The school will lose a great music teacher and I’ll lose...  You are a selfish moron!”

“I’m sorry.”

The music got louder.  People cheered as Seung Gi got up onto the stage.  It seemed he was the crowd favourite.

Jong Hyun paced back and forth.  “You haven’t taken advantage of her, right?”

“No!  I never-”

“Okay.  Then maybe we can still fix this.  It will have to be extreme.  You have to throw her apple out of the window tomorrow or something.”

“I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t?  You have to.  Shin Hye deserves a speedy end to whatever this is, and I know your situation.  If you leave Saint Blossoms you’ll have nowhere to go.”

“I’ll be fine.”

The Coach looked sad.  “You won’t be fine, jackass.  You just got normal, remember?”

Yong Hwa looked at the stage again.  Shin Hye had climbed up to challenge Seung Gi.  The couple eyed each other off and then went to opposite sides of the stage.

Seung Gi looked amused, and Yong Hwa knew why.  In the past, she had never been able to dance well because she had a poor sense of timing.

Shin Hye lifted her chin bravely, and let her jacket drop to the floor.  Yong Hwa dropped his gaze when he saw that her back was bare.

“Wha-”  Jong Hyun gaped.  “You can’t even look at her dressed like that...this is bad, isn’t it?  This is really freaking bad.  How can you be attracted to a student?  She’s just a kid!  What the hell is wrong with you?”

Yong Hwa said nothing.  Shin Hye had started to dance.  It was different from the dancing he had seen her do earlier.  All of her moves were graceful and curved, making it seem like she flowed on the spot.  Where Seung Gi’s moves were sharp and short, hers continued onwards.  She was a natural.

Seung Gi stopped dancing to watch her.  The crowd cheered her on.

Suddenly, Yong Hwa felt sick.  Jong Hyun was still talking to him but he pushed past the poor guy and hurried to the door.  He couldn’t breathe.  He needed air.

He knew exactly what was wrong, but he refused to admit the truth of it to himself.  He wouldn’t even think it.  Nothing had changed.  She was still the same girl that he needed to protect, and now, even love.  She had gotten better and grown along the way.  That was all.  That was all!  Thinking anything else would destroy him.

“Stop thinking!” he said to himself.  “Stop thinking-stop thinking-stop thinking...”