Here's the song I was listening to while I wrote this chapter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BDPbVsxCvk&feature=related

Published on Apr 6, 2012 by leejung970

Yong Hwa hurried across the green to check on Jong Hyun.  The sports class watched him arrive on the scene with relief, all of them unaware that he was responsible for the deadly apple.

“Ai-sh!” complained Coach Lee Jong Hyun as his colleague checked his neck for injuries.  “What just happened?  Did something fall from the sky?”

Yong Hwa’s lips twitched as he checked the teacher’s head for bleeding.  “You got hit by a random flying apple, and it looks like you’ll live.”

“Ah.  I see.  It’s just one of those random flying apples that we hear about so much on the news,” came the annoyed reply.

“Shut up and sit up slowly, or the blood will rush down from your head and you’ll end up fainting in front of your students.”

Jong Hyun realised that he was still being observed by his hockey team.  They looked worried, so he flashed the girls a weak smile and raised himself up on his elbows.  After a while, he sat up straight with Yong Hwa’s help.

“Yosssh!  Don’t worry girls.  I’m fine.  Flying apples are nothing against my well-developed skull,” reassured Teacher Lee Jong Hyun.  “But was it really an apple?  There isn’t a tree anywhere close to where we’re standing.”

Teacher Jung kneeled down and picked up the shiny red fruit from where it had landed in the grass.  It was undamaged in spite of its rough trip across the school grounds.  He held it up to show his colleague, and then frowned at it, thinking of the fairytale that had a perfect apple in it.

“Snow White,” he murmured.  Something clicked into place, and he turned to stare back at the broken window of his classroom.  Sure enough, student Shin Hye was standing at the window, watching him with her unflinching brown eyes, looking like a pathetic wide-eyed fairytale character from a book.  He finally understood who Seung Gi had been talking about, and he cursed himself for being so dense.

They continued to watch each other until a current of wind blew across the oval.  It pushed his hair across his eyes, blocking her from his view, and he felt the muscles of his heart clenching.

It was more than coincidence that she had turned up in the small world that he had dug for himself.  She was too similar to that girl in looks and character...and they had both caught the eye of the egocentric brat, Seung Gi.  Yong Hwa wondered if Shin Hye and Seung Gi would follow the course of history and become friends.

He smiled sadly.  That had been a happy time.  Of course the two would become friends, maybe more.  There was no doubt in his mind that Shin Hye would become the second girl in Seung Gi’s life to call him up on his mistakes.  She was just like her.

As the images of the future and past faded into the present, Yong Hwa realised that the entire female hockey class was staring at him.

“Teacher Jung, are you...okay?” asked one of the older girls.

He covered his emotions with a frown.  “Of course not.  Teacher Lee was in danger and not one of you was quick enough to pull him out it.  How do you expect to win any tournaments this year if you’re not being aware of your surroundings and protecting your coach from getting holes in his head?”

Jong Hyun narrowed his eyes at the music professor and then at Shin Hye though the broken window.  “Teacher Jung, did you, by any chance, hit the apple out of your classroom window because it was a present from one of your new students?”

Some of the girls covered their mouths in order to smile.

Yong Hwa ran a hand through his hair.  Damn!  Clearly, it was not such a secret that he liked to blow school-girl crushes out of the music room window.

Still, there was no way he was going to admit to it.  Breaking windows with only students witnessing it was one thing.  Getting a teacher injured was quite another.

“Uh-no!  No!  Student Park Shin Hye was, uh, messing around.  That girl...she’s a little restless.”

Teacher Lee gave Yong Hwa a suspicious look.  “Really?  Then send her to me during morning break for punishment.”

“No you won’t,” corrected Yong Hwa, just as smoothly.  “I’ll sort out her punishment.  You worry about your new best friend, concussion.”

The sports teacher relaxed and leaned forward to whisper in Yong Hwa’s ear.  “This is just a warning from me to you.  I did hear some of the girls in my dorm talking about Shin Hye at breakfast.  Apparently, she chased one of Seoul High’s boys around with a baseball bat this morning.  So, it’s possible that she’s a troublemaker.”

Yong Hwa sighed.  “I think you’ll find it’s the other way around.”

Jong Hyun’s expression turned thoughtful.  “Say, when she’s expelled from Hibari, you can send her to my dorm.  It sounds like she would fit in well with us Jocks.  She’s got a restless spirit and she’s got a good arm that I can put to use on the field.”

Yong Hwa rolled his eyes and turned to go back to his class.  There was less than ten minutes left of the lesson and he was going to have to torture the kids in that time in order to keep up with the school’s packed curriculum.

“Don’t give her to Jung Shin!” shouted Jong Hyun.  “I call dibs on her, okay?”

As a result of the apple incident, Shin Hye was sent to Teacher Lee Jung Shin to receive what Teacher Jung had called ‘her punishment’.  It had been set for the hour during lunch time, and her empty stomach was already grumbling as she had knocked on Teacher Lee’s door.  She hoped that Min Hyuk would save her something so that she could snack on it during the next class.

The door swung wide open and Jung Shin gave Shin Hye a warm smile that set her at ease.  He seemed like a nice person, and it was possible that the punishment wouldn’t be so bad if it came from him.

“Omo!  Park Shin Hye!  Thank you for coming on time.  Please take a seat. I’ve been hearing interesting things about you, and you’ve only been at this school for one night.”

He swiped his long-smooth hair out of his face and gestured to a plastic seat located on the opposite side of the desk.  The room was undecorated, although there were a lot of colourful photos of drama performances pinned up on the notice board.  Shin Hye took the pro-offered chair and watched as Jung Shin wheeled an old television across the room so that it faced her.

He then chose to sit down right next to her, invading her personal space and making her lean away from him.

“Park Shin Hye.  It seems that you’ve taken an interest in our resident cuddly teddy bear.”

She opened to explain herself.

“Ah!  Let me finish.  There is nothing to be ashamed of in that.  It is perfectly normal for a girl of your age to develop those...strange and exciting feelings for a person.  Some people would call it healthy!  It means that you are growing into the beautiful pure white lotus flower that your parents wanted you to be!”’

Shin Hye found herself being hypnotised by his tiny-tiny pores.  They were smaller than hers.

He nodded.  “You look surprised.  I should probably tell you that as well as being the school’s head of drama, I am the school’s resident counsellor.  If you ever think that those exciting feelings are getting out of control, I want you to come and see me.  I will help you with them.”

She tried to process this as student would, but she was still being hypnotised by his perfect skin.

Jung Shin threaded his fingers through his sleek hair.  “You see, we want to keep your white lotus flower pure and white during your stay at Saint Blossoms, don’t we?  Not that I’m saying anything will happen between you and Teacher Jung, because it definitely-definitely won’t!”

Realising that she was expected to respond, Shin Hye broke out of the trance and nodded.

“Does that disappoint you?” he asked.

Was he asking a trick question?  “Ah, no.  Not really.”

“Because it would be okay if you were.  That would be healthy.  But what is not healthy is if it goes beyond, you know, the fantasy and wet-dream realm.  You see, if he actually comes anywhere near you then he has taken advantage of your innocence, and that is a serious breach of your trust, as well as the law that protects you.  He will lose his job and his reputation and I’ll probably force him to jump off a cliff because-“

“Okay!” Shin Hye finally understood what was going on and she didn’t want to hear any more.  “I understand, Teacher Lee, but you don’t have to worry.  I don’t have a crush on Teacher Jung.  Promise.”

Teacher Lee nodded.  “Good.  Now, let’s talk about those uncontrollable feelings.  I heard that you chased Lee Seung Gi from Seoul High around this morning.”

Shin Hye opened to complain about the ert.

“Ah!” He raised his hand to silence her.  “I’m not finished!  Shin Hye, chasing a boy is not a healthy way to express those uncontrollable feelings that you’re having.  If you chase him then it leads to wrestling and the next thing you know you’ve damaged your white lotus flower.  So, the one-hour video you are about to see will give you useful tips one how to express your feelings to someone you like.  Would you like paper and a pen to take notes?”

Shin Hye gulped.  “No thanks.”

“Okay.”  Jung Shin pressed play on the video and clapped his hands.  “Isn’t this exciting?  I haven’t had to share this video with anyone for a long time!  There’s a great recipe on this film for cookies.  Maybe you can bake some for Lee Seung Gi?  Or is there a girl you like?  They can’t be for Teacher Jung, of course.  We don’t want any more dents in Coach Lee’s head, do we?  By the way, when you get expelled from Hibari, come straight to my dorm.  All my girls are very open-minded about uality.”

Shin Hye wanted to whimper, but she sat quietly like a good student, and watched the entire video with Teacher Lee without complaint.

It was a punishing hour of cookie baking, kiss blowing, correct hand-holding and chocolate mould making.  By the end of it she was almost ready to give up on her brother’s whole crazy plan and run to the nearest convenience store to drown in cups of ramen.

To make a bad day worse, she found out during dinner that Teacher Jung had put her name down (without asking) for the first annual debate between the three dorms.  The topic was simple: Why was their dorm the best?  Boys from Seoul High would be attending and deciding on the winner.

Shin Hye groaned.  The Hibari girls around her were already openly laughing and fuming at the idea of her representing Hibari dorm.  Across the hall, Yong Hwa was looking very satisfied with his dinner.  Too satisfied.  He knew that he’d beaten her down.

She looked at Min Hyuk scoffing his dinner and felt sad.

Why did she always fail the ones she loved?