"Why didn't I say anything to her?! I just stood there like an idiot and let her walk right past me without a single word! Myung Soo you idiot!" he thought, pulling a ratty dark gray t-shirt over his head as he headed downstairs in search of something to take his mind off the stupid blunder he had made that morning. Everything had seemed so simple before he had actually tried to put anything into effect, but soon enough things had fallen apart. Now Yeong Hwa probably thought he was an idiot- or at least a bigger idiot than she had already thought- for having just stood their stupidly after asking to talk with her.

Exhaling slowly, Myung Soo threw a few punches in order to try and blow off some steam so that his head didn't explode. Coincidentally his father came around the corner at that moment and narrowly avoided being flattened by his own son. Stiffening up, Myung Soo dropped his hands to his sides and rattled off a quick apology before his dad got the chance to scold him for acting so recklessly.

"Our little baby is growing up and has some girl problems at the moment. Try and take it easy on him, okay?" his wife's voice came to the man's head as he opened his mouth to scold Myung Soo for acting up like that. Pressing his lips together and silencing any reprimanding words, he changed his mind and rested one hand on Myung Soo's head. Beneath his grip Myung Soo jumped slightly from surprise, but didn't move to get away as his father ruffled his hair. "It'll get better," he mumbled, not sure how to be the ideal supportive father his wife expected him to act like.

After a short but awkward thirty seconds the man passed Myung Soo and headed upstairs, scratching the back of his neck from embarrassment. Turning to watch his dad leave, Myung Soo didn't move until he could no longer see him. "Weird..." he whispered, shaking his head slightly while heading to the kitchen for a quick glass of water.

Once inside he flipped on the lights, brightening up the previously pitch black room. "Yeong Hwa... what am I supposed to do with you?" he though while walking across the kitchen floor in a weird hopping motion, trying to keep his bare feet from touching the cold kitchen floor for too long. "I can't just forget her, even if I want to. But on the other hand I can't just come out and tell her how I feel," as he thought, Myung Soo reached up and opened one of the cabinets, keeping his feet moving the entire time to keep them off the floor.

"There's got to be something I can do, though. I mean, she is a female. All females fall for me at some point, so I've just got to keep working at it," he reasoned, turning on the sink and holding his glass underneath the water. Sighing, he added on an afterthought: "That sounded arrogant. Ugh, no wonder she doesn't like me! I wouldn't even-" "Crap!" he exclaimed as the water flooded over the rim of his cup. After hurriedly turning off the sink Myung Soo grabbed the nearest towel and wiped the sides of the cup dry, as well as his hand.

Leaning over the sink, Myung Soo carefully lifted the cup to his lips and sipped at it until the level was a little more reasonable. After mopping up the remainder of the spill he carefully held the cup in one hand and used the free hand to turn off the lights as he passed on his way out of the kitchen. Still sipping carefully at the water in case he spilled it again, Myung Soo made his way down the hall and was about to head upstairs when he heard his mother's muffled squeals from inside the living room.

Raising one eyebrow he change course and went to the living room door. Holding his head near the door, Myung Soo carefully pushed it open and poked his head inside to see what had gotten her so excited. What he saw could be described in one word: embarrassing.

Eun Sun was sitting on the couch with her knees pulled up to her chest and a pillow covering her face so that just her eyes, which were wider than Myung Soo would have thought possible, could be seen over the top. Her eyes had been fixated on the television screen, which was broadcasting some drama or other- Myung Soo never bothered to keep track of them, since most were all just the same old cheesy romance- but when he entered the room she whipped around to press one finger to her lips as an order of silence. Nodding, Myung Soo quietly closed the door behind him and crossed over to the couch.

Leaning on the backrest he watched over Eun Sun's shoulder as two actors, who Myung Soo assumed were the leads, prepared to do situps. Rolling his eyes at the over-the-top dramatics, Myung Soo found himself more interested in his mother's reaction to the scene than the actual show itself. Sipping thoughtfully at his drink Myung Soo watched as Eun Sun smothered herself in the pillow, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she watched the leading man do what could barely be passed off as crunches.

"And I thought that it was just school girls who got worked up over this sort of thing," Myung Soo thought, turning his attention back to the screen as the music suddenly began playing. At least things were getting interesting now, with the man actually doing a full sit up. It wasn't until the camera switched angles that Myung Soo saw what had nearly caused his mother to have an emotional meltdown. Since the leading lady was holding the guy's legs, whenever he would come up their faces would be inches apart.

"What show is this?" he asked, finding himself to be more curious about the show than he normally would be.

"Secret Garden," Eun Sun responded swiftly, her tone an indicator that right now was not a good time to have a conversation.

Myung Soo chose to ignore this, though, and continued pestering her with questions: "So... girls like this sort of thing? Like, if a guy were to do this sort of thing in reality they wouldn't be annoyed by it?"

Silently Eun Sun held one finger up to indicate silence as the scene began coming to a close. Unhappy about being ignored his own mother, Myung Soo could only sip sullenly at his water as a commercial break came on. Reaching over to the remote, Eun Sun turned down the volume and then faced her son. "Girl's love this sort of thing. I imagine any female would be overjoyed if something like this could really happen to them, but part of the appeal of dramas is that this sort of thing isn't likely to happen," Eun Sun explained, shrugging her shoulders hopelessly.

"So... would a stubborn girl with violent tendencies like it? Or would the guy in question be the next murder victim on a police officer's desk?" Myung Soo continued asking, avoiding Eun Sun's eyes as she began to understand why Myung Soo was suddenly taking an interest in all of this.

Forcing her face to remain neutral, Eun Sun glanced over at the television screen to make sure Secret Garden hadn't come back on before answering Myung Soo's question. "The protagonist in this show is just like the girl you described, and she seemed to like it just fine. You'll never know until you try, though." Wiggling her eyebrows conspiratorially, Eun Sun touched one finger to her nose before turning the volume back up as Secret Garden returned.

"I'll pass that on to Sung Jong," Myung Soo mumbled, trying to shift the suspicion onto someone else. "There's a girl he likes, and I told him I would try and find some ways for him to get her. I'm not sure if this is what-" Myung Soo cut himself off as Eun Sun held up a finger for silence. Sighing, he finished off his water and quietly left the cup beside Eun Sun on the couch with the hopes that she would take it back to the kitchen for him.

When she didn't show any signs of having noticed this, Myung Soo quietly left the living room and headed upstairs to practice his sit-ups before heading to bed.

Biting down on her bottom lip, Yeong Hwa forced herself to remain calm as she turned to face Min Hee. Instantly the girl straightened up and dropped her hands to the side, standing like a soldier at attention. As she slowly counted to ten Yeong Hwa took in a deep breath while thinking of what to say. Slowly the words in her head turned from murderous disaster to something with a more amicable intent, and when she was sure they were the best she was getting she opened : "Please stop following me."

"You don't want me to-"

"No. Just... no," Yeong Hwa sighed, holding up her hand to silence Min Hee. Normally she didn't mind the girl's company- she made for good conversation and never thought twice about doing Yeong Hwa's every wish- but there some times when Yeong Hwa needed to be alone. One of them was when she had witnessed Myung Soo flirting with other girls. Again.

"Isn't your class on the other end of the school, anyway? What are you doing coming down here?" Yeong Hwa continued, trying to use reason to win over Min Hee so that she could finally have some privacy.

Turning to look the other way, Min Hee shrugged her shoulders. "I thought I could go to class with you," she explained, turning back to face Yeong Hwa with a cheerful, almost hopeful smile on her face. As she corrected herself, the smile quickly dropped: "Or... not. I'll just head to class now, okay?"

"That would be a good idea," Yeong Hwa agreed, turning her back on Min Hee and pushing open the door. Folding her arms over her chest, Min Hee slumped her shoulders and slowly walked away from the woman's bathroom, occasionally glancing over her shoulder in the hope that perhaps Yeong Hwa would change her mind about the matter. After twenty feet Min Hee decided that wouldn't be happening and continued on at a faster pace, not once looking back.

Five minutes later Yeong Hwa did come out of the bathroom, though not in order to chase down her personal sun flower and reconcile over having pushed her away. Rubbing her hands on the fabric of her skirt to dry them, Yeong Hwa headed in the opposite direction Min Hee had taken in order to arrive at the female locker room. Although she hated gym class it would be a good way for her to blow off some steam.

When she finally reached the locker room and went inside Yeong Hwa made a point of avoiding looking at the other girls who had already arrived and were in various stages of undressing. This was less because she wanted to seem like the ultimate bad- by ignoring everyone and more because she found dressing with everyone to be incredibly embarrassing. Especially if she made eye contact with any of them while they were standing there in their underwear.

"Besides, for all I know a rumor could start up that I'm lesbian and that's the last thing I need right now," she thought, finally reaching her locker and spinning the dial around in order to enter the password. Around her she could feel several pairs of eyes focusing on her, burning Yeong Hwa into a gooey puddle of embarrassment and cowardice. "Stupid L. Stupid, stupid, stupid- why did he have to throw me off so much?! Why can't I just be normal and ignore his idiotic flirting like I did before summer break?" she thought, totally unaware of her darkening expression.

Those around her could see it just fine, though, and were making a point of hurrying through the dressing process in order to get the hell out of there. Preferably before Yeong Hwa started smashing things, but if they could manage to do it before she started smashing them then it would still be alright.

Thus, by the time Yeong Hwa had gotten her things, closed the locker, gone to a secluded corner of the room, and quickly changed, everyone was gone. Confused as to why everyone was suddenly dressing at the speed of light, Yeong Hwa stuffed her hands into the pockets of her sweats and casually made her way through the door, down the hall, and into the gym.

"I feel so embarrassed having him in the same class as us! My thighs look so fat in these shorts!"

"You think that's bad? Look at this stomach!"

"Look on the bright side. At least we get to be close to him. Even the fattest of girls would kill to have this kind of an opportunity."

Rolling her eyes at how petty some people could be, Yeong Hwa traced the three voices to a trio of girls huddled together near the gym doors. Currently all of them had their eyes riveted to a single figure in the middle of the room who was stretching in preparation for the days exercises. As she watched the boy's display of flexibility, Yeong Hwa didn't take care to close the gym doors properly and thus ended up allowing them to slam shut.

Every pair of eyes in the room turned to look at her, though all but one turned away the instant they recognized who she was. Only one pair of eyes remained watching her, although Yeong Hwa was too busy sidling her way towards the bleachers to notice. Covering with the back of her hand in what she hoped to be a cool pose, Yeong Hwa tried to cover her blushing as she hurried to the bleachers. At least there, hidden beneath the protective plastic, she could pretend that nobody had noticed her "grand" entrance.

And, if she was lucky, get out of gym.

By the time she made it to the bleachers she could hear people beginning to whisper. Blushing even more, Yeong Hwa hoped it could be believed to be a flush of anger rather than embarrassment as she turned to give the crowd of students a reprimanding glare. Instead, she noticed that the guy who had been stretching earlier was jogging over to try and catch up to her.

She should have made a break for beneath the bleachers and hoped that she could avoid having to even look him directly in the eye. It would have been the smart thing to do, considering the circumstances.

"I never have been very smart," Yeong Hwa thought as Myung Soo rested his hands on his knees and panted slightly. Folding her arms awkwardly over her chest, which was about the most movement she could manage with her limbs as frozen up as they were, Yeong Hwa avoided looking him directly in the eye as he straightened up and smiled down at her. "Why? Why does he have to be so damn good looking?!" Yeong Hwa thought, mentally slapping herself for melting- even just a little- when faced with Myung Soo's charms.

"I see you're ready for winter," he commented, gesturing to her attire with one hand while using the other arm to lean against the bleachers. "Unlike these other fine ladies, who have come prepared with shorts and t-shirts," he added, raising his voice so that the 'fine ladies' could hear his compliments. Which they did, as was evident by the swooning and giggles that shortly thereafter commenced. Yeong Hwa, on the other hand, felt like gagging.

And it wasn't because she was jealous. "No chance in hell am I jealous of these clowns," Yeong Hwa thought, pursing her lips in a totally non-jealous way.

Catching this reaction from Yeong Hwa, Myung Soo quickly began upping his game. "I mean sweats? And a sweatshirt? Are you trying to kill yourself, or are you just too stubborn to ask the school for a loaner outfit?" that had not come out the way he had meant, and the second the words escaped his lips he knew that he was in trouble. Flinching away from Yeong Hwa he prepared for the worst of her fury, but was instead met by an icy cold wall of... nothing.

Cracking one eye open, Myung Soo took a peek to see what Yeong Hwa was doing. Unfortunately, Yeong Hwa wasn't there anymore. Snapping his eyes open Myung Soo whirled around to see where she had disappeared, catching sight of her storming off. It appeared her intentions had been to hide amongst a particularly large crowd of students but her plan had been foiled as every single one of them moved several feet away from her war path.

"Yeong Hwa!" Myung Soo called after her, but she completely ignored him. "You idiot! Why on Earth did I say that?!" Myung Soo hissed, turning towards the bleachers and contemplating how hard he would have to hit his head against them before death occurred. From on top of the bleachers a few of the more burly male students slid closer towards him.

"If you're worried about her causing any problems then we could keep an eye on you. I mean, if we get a few of us together we might be able to... I dunno. Stop her?" one of them offered, though it seemed even he was unconvinced of how well he could handle someone rumored to be able to face down a speeding semi. Smiling, Myung Soo politely turned down the offer and moved out towards the center of the gym as the teacher arrived with clipboard in hand.

"Today we will be starting with sit-ups. Grab a partner and get started. We switch when I blow the whistle," he commanded, barking short sentences as though the words would escape if he didn't quickly use them. Quickly everyone began splitting off in twos and making their way towards the mats that had been laid out parallel on the floor.

Within the first minute it seemed as though everyone had already paired up with each other. Glancing around at his options, Myung Soo assessed which of the two distinct groups he wanted to go with. First there was about half of the female population, probably the more bold ones who assumed that they should at least some sort of a chance with him, who were crowded together and were staring meaningfully his way. Myung Soo quickly looked away from them so as not to encourage their antics and focused his attention on the second group, consisting of one person. This group was the one that wanted to murder him in as slow and painful a way as possible, then reincarnate him and do it all over again.

Their name: Nae Yeong Hwa.

Glancing between the two, Myung Soo took only a moment to debate on who to choose before his feet began walking. Around them the room went dead silent as people took notice of his choice and started waiting for the fur to fly. Yeong Hwa, on the other hand, was about to get very vocal. Before she got the chance Myung Soo sprinted the last few feet and took her hand tightly in his, lacing his fingers together with his in order to prevent escape as he pulled her along behind him towards the mats.

At least one good thing could be said about his new partner: they had no problems finding a spot on the mat. The second people realized where he was going they began parting like the red sea, and what was normally a heated competition for a good spot turned into a simple matter of walking to where he wanted. Nobody was about to contend with Yeong Hwa, after all.

Of course there were other good parts of Yeong Hwa, which was the reason he liked her so much, but currently they were being hidden by the fiery demon that was fueling the flames of her anger.

"Sir, can I please switch partners? I really don't think that-"

"Miss Nae, is it?" the teacher interrupted, taking his attention away from the clipboard for a moment in order to regard Yeong Hwa. "I've heard about you. Quite the problem student, apparently. I don't intend to give you free reign of my gym, though, so stop griping and do what you're told!" he snapped, pointing one finger at her in what could be taken as a threat before going back to his clipboard.

Every heart in the room stopped, but nobody was more shocked than Yeong Hwa. Her jaw hit the floor as she stared bug-eyed at the teacher, who was ignoring the scene he had created and going on as though nothing had happened. "Did he just talk to me like that?! What... who does this guy think he is?!" Yeong Hwa thought, feeling her inner 'problem student' getting ready to show this man just who he was talking to. "He's talking to a student who promised her aunt not to cause trouble. Rather than being angry, we should be more impressed with the balls this guy has got!" her second inner self reminded Yeong Hwa, a hint of admiration in her voice.

Swallowing hard, Yeong Hwa bobbed a quick bow to the teacher. "Sorry. I'll work harder in the future," she apologized, accompanied by a loud exhalation of breath from every student in the room. "Doesn't mean I won't kill you, though, so don't get your hopes up pretty boy," Yeong Hwa quietly threatened, glaring daggers at Myung Soo as she moved to sit down on the mat.

"I'll take that as a compliment, princess," he responded, quickly blocking Yeong Hwa's path and taking her spot on the mat. Expelling a short breath of annoyed hair, Yeong Hwa placed her hands on her hips and glared down at Myung Soo. "What?" he asked innocently, laying down on the mat and waiting patiently for her to hold his legs.

Biting back her words Yeong Hwa knelt in front of Myung Soo and tightly wrapped her arms around his legs, taking special care to try and squeeze the life out of them. Wincing at how strong a grip she had, Myung Soo forced himself not to complain and continued on with the sit ups by knitting his fingers together behind his head.

"Now how did that go?" he thought, beginning to do crunches as he tried to think of the exact script of Secret Garden. He hadn't been paying too close attention to the scene, though, since this sort of thing wasn't really expected to happen in reality. Honestly, Myung Soo never thought he would get the chance to try this with Yeong Hwa. He just wished the atmosphere was a little lighter. "Not that I have any room to complain, seeing as it was my big mouth that set her off. Seriously, what was I thinking?" he continued, carefully watching Yeong Hwa's expression and willing her to say something.

Fighting back her irritation with Myung Soo, Yeong Hwa tried to keep her mind on other things as she watched the increasingly pitiful idiot do what could barely be considered a crunch. A quick glance down the line at the other students showed that even the female students were attempting to do full sit ups... except for the ones who were busy chatting, or the ones who had taken notice of Myung Soo and were mimicking him in an attempt to look cute.

"Why couldn't I have been born a man?" Yeong Hwa thought, embarrassed to be of the same gender as these brainless girls. "Then again, that would mean I'd have to marry one of them... at least there are some decent guys around- but not the idiot!" Yeong Hwa thought, having to quickly remind herself about where she stood in regards to Myung Soo as her eyes began to wander towards him. He was still doing the crunches.

"Can't you do just one proper sit up? You're a man, aren't you?!" Yeong Hwa complained, swatting Myung Soo on the leg as a sort of punishment for his unmanliness.

"You wouldn't like it if I did it properly," Myung Soo retorted, stubbornly continuing his crunches. Rolling her eyes, Yeong Hwa was tempted to just leave the gym right then and there. "... I could try, though. Just don't say I didn't warn you," he continued, a mischievous smirk on his face as he lay down on the mat. Yeong Hwa missed this, though, because her eyes were fixed longingly on the gym doors as she debated on whether she could outrun the teacher or not.

Annoyed with her inattention, Myung Soo took the initiative and pulled himself up in a full sit up. "Better?" he asked, blowing a puff of air in Yeong Hwa's ear. Startled, she turned and brought her face directly in front of his. As he went back down to the mat Myung Soo could see a small blush appearing on Yeong Hwa's cheeks, giving him the courage to continue doing this and not think of the consequences that may come from provoking someone with such violent tendencies.

Bringing himself up once more, Myung Soo remained silent and allowed the atmosphere to take over. Yeong Hwa, on the other hand, was remaining quiet in everything but her mind. "Since when did this become a recreation of Secret Garden?! Myung Soo you idiot! I'm not like the other girls! I'm not delusional! I can't simply fantasize about being with you and be satisfied!" wetting her lips nervously, Yeong Hwa could feel her heart beating firmly against her chest as Myung Soo wrapped his arms around his legs to keep himself sitting up right.

"Since when did you become so pretty, Yeong Hwa?" he asked, raising one eyebrow provocatively and smiling softly at her. For a moment, Yeong Hwa could almost make herself believe that he really did find her to be pretty, even if her clothes made her look dumpy. For a moment it was as though he really did like her... as though he loved her.

"You're pretty good at knowing when people are lying, aren't you? Too bad, it would have been nice to be able to trick you just once."

Yeong Hwa's heart froze as she remember what Myung Soo had told her after the first time he tried this sort of thing with her. "Is that what this is? Is this just another one of his childish games?" lowering her gaze, Yeong Hwa fought back the urge to cry as her brain told her yes but her heart tried to persist along the path that ended in Myung Soo actually having feelings for her. The good thing about Yeong Hwa was that her brain was stronger than her heart, though. At least... she thought it was a good thing.

"You're a bastard," she thought, the words unable to manifest themselves in as she covered Myung Soo's mouth with her hand and stifled the next sentence that was trying to come out. As she pushed him down onto the mat Yeong Hwa simultaneously stood up. Those who were nearby took notice of this and began whispering to their buddies about the drama, but everyone was quickly silenced by one stern glare from Yeong Hwa as she left the gym at double time.

"Hey, you! Where do you think you're going?!" the teacher demanded, but instead of glaring after Yeong Hwa he turned his attention to Myung Soo with a "what the hell did you do" kind of look. Avoiding any sort of answer, Myung Soo slowly lowered himself down onto the mat and listened as Yeong Hwa responded with a curt "Out!" to the teacher's question.

Rolling his eyes, the teacher could do nothing more than pop his whistle into his mouth and give it a short, shrill blast of air. A dull commotion of voices and shifting bodies came up from the students as they switched positions, creating a shifting mass of bodies that was interrupted only once where Myung Soo was lying dismally with his arms over his eyes. "I'm a gym teacher, not a psychologist. If the kid has something wrong he can sort it out on his own," the man decided, choosing to ignore Myung Soo and walk on rather than get involved in the day-to-day drama of high school life.

"Myung Soo! Come here for a minute," the teacher demanded in his usual barking tone, all the while questioning just why he was getting involved in a love spat between two students. "I'm going to regret this," he thought, sighing as he gestured for the pretty boy to come and join him on the bleachers. After glancing around to check and make sure no other Myung Soo's had suddenly teleported into the room, as students always do when called by a teacher, Myung Soo jogged over to take a seat beside his teacher. "You won't be here that long," the man informed him, barring Myung Soo from sitting with one beefy arm.

Nodding, Myung Soo rested his arms at his side and stood in a surprisingly casual manner as he waited for instructions. It wasn't every day you met a student who could be so calm while being addressed by a teacher. He had to admit that he was, at least a little, impressed.

"I don't want any more drama between you and that hot head, alright? The last thing my career needs is for a student to end up in the hospital after that demoness breaks every bone in his body," he ordered, pointing between Myung Soo and an invisible Yeong Hwa. Frowning, Myung Soo felt the need to stand up for Yeong Hwa before even this guy got the wrong idea about her.

"She's not normally like that," he insisted firmly. "She just... has a hard time acting normally around people. Yeong Hwa has dealt with a lot of things and she's just not good at handling too much at once. I guess she's having an off day... or something," Myung Soo's voice faltered slightly as the gym teacher began eyeing him suspiciously.

"You seem to know a lot about her," the man commented causally, resting his clipboard on the bleacher beside him. When Myung Soo opened his mouth to defend himself, the man held up a hand to silence him. "I don't want to hear your excuses. Just don't cause any more trouble, alright?"

Myung Soo mumbled a half-hearted "yes sir" before bobbing a quick bow and hurrying towards the boys locker room doors. "And kid!" the teacher called after him as a last minute thought hit him. Slowing down, but not turning or stopping, Myung Soo listened carefully to what his teacher had to say. "You might want to try something besides 'your clothes are ugly and stupid' next time you try flirting with a girl!" Embarrassed that somebody had seen through his attempts, and hoping that nobody else had figured it out, Myung Soo sprinted the last few feet and disappeared in the locker room.

Shaking his head, the gym teacher lay back on the bleachers and pulled his baseball cap down over his eyes so that he could take a short nap.

"Good luck, man," one of the male students told Myung Soo, patting him on the shoulder as he passed. Confused, Myung Soo turned to ask the guy what he was talking about. Without a word, the student pointed through the door window and into the gym, where Yeong Hwa could be seen sulking beneath the bleachers. "She seems more depressed than mad now, but with that girl you never know when she'll try murdering you. I suggest sleeping with your doors locked tonight," the boy's tone was only half-joking as he waved goodbye to Myung Soo and disappeared into the surge of students heading for their next class.

Sighing, Myung Soo turned back to the vending machines and allowed his finger to hover over the quantity one button. Then he pushed the number two and waited patiently for two bottles of water to come falling down. "Oh darn. Looks like I accidentally got an extra," he mumbled, crouching down and negotiating the bottles out of the machine's pick-up area.

Pushing open the doors to the gym, Myung Soo steeled himself for Yeong Hwa's fiery retribution as he crossed the short empty space between door and bleacher. "Hey," he greeted quietly, catching Yeong Hwa's attention as he ducked underneath the bleachers and began carefully negotiating his way through the maze of metal bars that separated the two of them. Looking up from the screen of her iPod, which was displaying the title of whatever song it was she was listening to, Yeong Hwa narrowed her eyes at Myung Soo.

"Pleasure to see you- OW!" What started as a mutter turned into an exclamation of pain as he unwittingly banged his head on a low hanging support bar. Flinching away from the source of pain, Myung Soo crouched down on the ground and stared intently upwards to try and find what had hit him so that he could avoid it the second time. It was too dark to see much of anything, though, and the odd lighting from Yeong Hwa's iPod screen cast deep shadows that hid the mysterious attacker.

Rolling her eyes, Yeong Hwa stood up and reached over to Myung Soo. "Come on, then," she grumbled, gesturing for him to take her hand. Surprised that she would be willing to do something like this, Myung Soo carefully allowed her to take his hand guide him through the remaining space that separated them. This time there were no accidents and he was able to safely sit beside her beneath the bleachers.

"Never took you for the Yiruma type. Water?" he commented, holding out one of the bottles towards Yeong Hwa. When she hesitated to accept, he nudged it a little closer and added: "I accidentally bought two. Don't think I'm doing this just to be nice." Which, of course, he was. Yeong Hwa wouldn't accept charity, though, and he would be an idiot to try and make things otherwise.

Frowning in acknowledgement to this, Yeong Hwa accepted the water bottle and cracked the lid open. "It's actually a cover by Tim Hwang. He took the original piece and added lyrics to it," she corrected before occupying with gulping down water from the bottle. Smiling at how cute she was, although he wasn't sure why he found her to be cute at this moment, Myung Soo cracked open the lid to his bottle and also took a swallow of water.

"Mind if I listen?" he asked, reaching over and gently removing one of the ear buds from Yeong Hwa's ear. She opened to protest, but by the time the first sound came out he had already put the ear bud into his own ear and hit the play button on the song. Not seeing the point in arguing with him right now, Yeong Hwa slouched against the wall and tried to ignore Myung Soo by just listening to the music.

"There's a road inside your heart made just for you
Don't be scared, take your first step and then take two
Pain will come but I believe you can endure
Further down that road, just trust a little more"

"Holding you, holding you, it's in you river flows in you. Slow it down, slow it down, that river flows inside me too," quietly, Yeong Hwa began singing along with the lyrics. Glancing over at her, Myung Soo watched as Yeong Hwa gently swayed in time with the beat. Smiling, he joined her in singing the final lines of the chorus: "Holding you, holding you, it's in you river flows in you. Waiting now, waiting now, just be strong, you will make it through." As the last chords of the song faded away Yeong Hwa hit the pause button, stopping the song before it got the chance to loop and replay.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, occupying their time by either drinking water or fiddling with the bottle. Finally, in an attempt to break the ice that was freezing over the both of them, Yeong Hwa turned to Myung Soo and opened . Expectantly, he looked over at her and waited patiently. "Why are you failing at this so badly? I mean, how hard can it be to make things go back to the way they were?" Yeong Hwa demanded.

"Because I don't want them to go back the way they were before. Every time I think of giving up on you and moving on I remember just what that would mean and feel so love sick that I could die. We're beyond the point of no return, Yeong Hwa, and it's time we face up to this and deal with the consequences," he wished he could say. Frowning thoughtfully Myung Soo tried not to show his frustration on his face and slowly took a large mouthful of water.

"... I guess I'm just bad at acting," he decided, shrugging his shoulders and forcing a laugh.

Expecting a bigger and more meaningful answer, Yeong Hwa could only roll her eyes as she tried to think of how to respond. "No kidding," seemed to suffice. "Let's try and work a little harder, though. Okay?" she told him, nudging him in the ribs with her elbow. Grunting, Myung Soo managed a quick agreement before putting a bit more distance between himself and Yeong Hwa.

"Oh, and before I forget..." she added, reaching over to her school bag and pulling it over closer to her. Interested in what she wanted to show him, Myung Soo leaned over to try and get a better look as Yeong Hwa rummaged around inside the bag. After a moment her hands wrapped tightly around two small, red bags, which she proudly presented to Myung Soo. "Can you give these to the twins?" She requested sweetly, holding the two bags out to him.

"Sure..." he agreed quietly, accepting both bags and resting them in his lap. It seemed Yeong Hwa had wrapped the presents herself, as was evident by the fact they were close to falling apart from having been tied up poorly. Still, she had obviously tried her best, so he wasn't about to mention anything about the condition her gifts were in. Yoogeun and Seo Hyeon wouldn't care, anyway. They'd just be happy to have a present from Yeong Hwa.

After snapping her bag shut once again, Yeong Hwa tried to think of a good way to end the conversation. Her mind went blank, though, and Myung Soo was too engrossed in examining her handiwork to notice the sudden awkward pause. "That's right, Myung Soo. Be jealous of my awesomeness," she thought smugly, and childishly, as she carefully stood and barely avoided banging her head on one of the metal support beams. "I'll be going, then. Classes will be starting soon and I shouldn't be any later than I absolutely have to," she announced, clapping her hands together and then instantly regretting the corny move.

"Since when did you become the good student type?" Myung Soo asked, looking up at her in surprise.

"My aunt has certain... views on how a student should act. Apparently even the rebels have to act at least a little within the rules," Yeong Hwa complained, sighing heavily as she remembered yesterday's breakfast talk with the woman. "So... yeah. Bye," she finished awkwardly, allowing herself to give Myung Soo a small wave goodbye before turning sharply on her heels and beginning to make her way out of the bleachers and to the gym doors.

"Hey, Yeong Hwa," Myung Soo called out after she had managed to navigate her way out from under the bleachers. Stopping, she turned slightly to see what he wanted from her. "This place... if you ever need someone to talk to or I dunno, a punching bag maybe, then you can come here and I'll... be there," he finished lamely, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

Swallowing hard, Yeong Hwa could feel her heart flutter a little at the idea of having her hero come back to her but she didn't let the feeling of joy reach her face. Instead, she allowed an amused smirk to appear on her face as she nodded slowly. "Like a secret garden, right?" she teased, showing Myung Soo that she knew exactly what he had been imitating earlier.

"Y-yeah," he stammered, flushing red at the realization that Yeong Hwa had seen right through him earlier in class.

Smiling, Yeong Hwa turned to leave, but not before saying one last thing: "I'd like that... Myung Soo. I'd like that a lot."

Watching her leave, Myung Soo couldn't help but feel a small flame of hope spark inside of him as their relationship grew a silver lining. And, as he carefully tucked the twins' presents into his pockets, a twinge of jealousy also appeared as he thought how they were receiving presents from Yeong Hwa and he wasn't. "Such is the curse of being the older brother," he thought aloud, standing up and carefully assessing the path in front of him for any obstacles.

When he found the clearest path, he headed out. Hopefully, though, he would be back to meet Yeong Hwa again some time soon.

Author's Note: Ohmyfreakinggoshhaveyouguysseensecretgardenbefore?! Such a good drama! I've only seen three episodes and I'm already addicted to it! Hence why I absolutely had to do a chapter le Secret Garden style! Who knew sit-ups could be so romantic!!! *fangirling*

And on a more serious note, do you guys have any suggestions for things I can write about to happen next? This was my last pre-planned chapter, and I'm kind of out of ideas right now XD I'm sure I'll think of something soon, but the next update might be slower than usual.