Yong Hwa opened the door of the ice cream shop and let Shin Hye in. They went to a table for two by the counter, and Shin Hye told him to wait. As he sat down, he recognized nine girls looking at him with their lovestruck look.

"Awww... Yong-oppa is a hottie!" one said.

"He is mine!" the one holding a sweet potato said.

"No, he is mine!" another said in perfect English.

Yong Hwa shot a glare at them, but instead of being scared, the nine generic girls all smiled at him. He rolled his eyeballs and looked at the other set of nine girls bickering among themselves.

"Oh no, I won't," a lady with fierce eyes said.

"Eun Jung-eonni, why not go out with Taecyeon-oppa? Huh?"

"For your information, Hyomin, I am not interested in Taecyeon-oppa!" the fierce-eyed girl, Eun Jung, replied.

"Well, well, well," a girl who seem to be a bit -eyed said. "I can set you up on a date."

"JIYEON-AH!!!!!" Eun Jung screamed.

Yong Hwa sighed. He was a bit bored at ladies talking about guys and about girly stuff. Could somebody come his way and talk to him about politics and world change and global warming? Or even evolution of the dinosaur?

"Yong Hwa, here's our yogurt," Shin Hye said happily.

She sat across him, and she did not notice the nine pair of jealous eyes looking at them. Those eyes belonged to the first group of nine girls, not to the second group of nine girls who were quarreling about some Taecyeon. She got her spoon, scooped some, and fed herself. Yong Hwa looked at her with interest.

"Ssaem, you are all tough girl inside the class, but you are a er for yogurts," Yong Hwa told her.

"Yogurt is healthy, and I love it," Shin Hye explained. "You like it too, don't you?"

"Animnida," he replied. "I only begin to like yogurt after eating from your cup..."

Then, he looked away with a naughty look in his eyes. She fumed because she could not forget that he kissed her suddenly.

"Neo," she pointed her spoon at her. "Don't think of your teacher like that."

And she began to go into a litany of all student excuses which she hated, and she told him what she expects from each of her students.

"Are you planning on talking to each one of us?" Yong Hwa asked.

"If it can be helped, then, yes," Shin Hye said.

She went into teacher mode and began telling him of how she used to be a very obedient student and granddaughter to her harabeoji, and the nine stalker girls gaped. The other group of nine girls stopped quarreling and turned to Shin Hye. The teacher talked about her accomplishments as a student, both in academics and extracurricular. After her lecture, she held up a triumphant look on her face, and turned back at Yong Hwa.

He still had that poker face which was signature of him, but the eighteen girls at the background suddenly became nauseated. But Shin Hye did not notice because she had her gaze fixed on Yong Hwa.

"Well?" Shin Hye asked.

"Well, what?" Yong Hwa asked. "Are you telling me that we all need to be like you? Do all your achievements?"

Shin Hye shook her head.

"You have not gotten my message," she said. "It means that you need to strive hard for your dream, you have to work for it. In this Korean society, much is expected from students, especially high school students, because one day, you will all take place of the elite."

She was taken aback by her words because she was one of them...much to her dismay. It was not her choice that she would be part of the gang. It was because of Harabeoji.

"The F4 style?" Shin Hye went on. "Those four are rich, yes, but it was not because it was their own money. It was their parents' money."

She scooped some yogurt and fed some to herself, when blueberry bits fell upon her uniform. Yong Hwa's instincts acted, and he grabbed some paper napkin to wipe the fruit bits off the lapel of her uniform. Shin Hye looked at her student in admiration, very touched that though he was a bad boy, he had a kind heart.

She felt being drawn to this mysterious guy.

"I think Ssaem is the kind of woman I'd like to talk with," Yong Hwa said while busy wiping her lapel.

Shin Hye looked at him in confusion before he finally crumpled the napkin. Then, he looked back at her.

"Are you really nerdy?" he asked. "You are very broad-minded."

"You...you can say that I am," Shin Hye said with a laugh.

"I am sure you do not talk too much about fashion," Yong Hwa said.

"Of course, I know about fashion!" was her defensive remark. "I am just...not fashionable... Hehe."

Yong Hwa leaned forward, much to the dismay of the sweet potato girl at the back.

"I have to admit that I found you very arrogant when you shared your experiences as a student," he said.

"Ya! Who's arrogant?" Shin Hye shot back. "I was just telling you my experiences!"

"Ara. But you know, you speak sense, and you can engage yourself in a lot of topics," he said.

Then, he leaned back in a laid back manner and raised his voice a bit so that the stalker girls could hear.

"Unlike the other girls who only talk about guys and fashion," Yong Hwa continued.

The nine girls cried, while the other nine continued quarreling among themselves. Shin Hye lit up a smile.

"Oh, but boys and fashion are all that girls talk about, geuchyo?" she said. Then, toying with her ponytail with her finger, "But if you think of me that way, I'd take that as a compliment."

The girls cried all the more because Shin Hye seemed to be flirting with her student.

"Ya, can you be more discreet?" Yong Hwa asked her in a whisper.

Shin Hye noticed the quarreling girls and the crying girls. She broke into a sour smile and apologized to Yong Hwa.

"Let's go," she said. "I already paid for my treat."

"But the ice cream..." Yong Hwa protested.

"You can eat it as we walk to the bus stop," she insisted.

However, before going out, she bought another cup of yogurt for herself, the third for that day.

****

Shin Hye said that she will accompany him to the bus stop so that she can see him go.

"Would you want to go to our house?" Yong Hwa invited her.

"Mianhande, I need to get home and prepare supper," she said apologetically.

"Then, will you allow me to walk you home?" he asked sincerely.

Shin Hye froze. It was all right if it was Soo Hyun who walked her home because he and she were together in the gang, but Yong Hwa was an outsider. If he knew the secret of the gang, he might get killed. And she did not want that. But the look on his eyes made her want to. She just needed to be careful.

"Arasseo," she said.

So, they took the road home.

"Ssaem-i myeot-salimnikka (How old are you, Ssaem)?" he asked. "If you have four years of experience in teaching, then I am 19, you must be 27, I suppose."

Shin Hye laughed.

"Am I that old???" she asked before laughing again.

"Is Ssaem not 27 yet?" he asked in confusion.

"I was accelerated when I was in grade school, so I was two years younger than my classmates, and I finished college early."

"So that makes you 25?" he asked, and she nodded.

He thought that their six-year gap was not that bad, if it were his standards. Even Jong Hyun would still go for that kind of relationship. After all, his last girlfriend before Victoria was eight years his senior.

"Ah, you should have gotten married already," he said.

"Marriage?" she cringed. "Why is everybody wanting me to marry?"

He stopped.

"Waeyo?"

"Harabeoji wanted me to marry the grandsons of his friends," she shared. "But I am not interested in marriage. I want to make lots of money."

"So, Ssaem can still be selfish at times," he said.

"Geurae! I am not an Ethics teacher after all," she said.

Then, the two of them saw some guys bullying a nerdy student.

"Give us your money, Piggy," the tall thin guy told the poor student.

"But I have no more money left," the student said.

"It is because you bought a lot of food!" another said.

Shin Hye had Yong hold her cup of yogurt while he was holding the cup of ice cream on the other hand.

"How may I help you?" Shin Hye asked as she got near them.

"NUGUYA!" the tall guy asked.

"Is that how you are taught at home?" she asked calmly. "Have you ever heard of jondaemal?"

"Jondaemal?" another asked. "Is that something to eat?"

So he and his buddies laughed. Shin Hye went near them, and scolded them.

"Students like you are reasons why students like this boy are afraid to go to school!"

"So?"

And they laughed again.

"And students like you literally increases the jail population," she said.

"Mwo?" the tall guy asked.

He tried to box her, but she dodged and grabbed his ear, the way Eomma would pull your ears when you are naughty.

"Apa!!!!!" the student said.

The other students tried to defend their friend and boxed her, but Shin Hye hit another student at the gut. The other, she stopped his fist with her bare hand. The three of them find her to be very strong that they ran, including the one was about to faint. The fat student thanked her and went away. When she got back to Yong Hwa, he looked astonished.

"D...daebak!" he gaped.

Shin Hye smiled at him as she grabbed her yogurt back.

"You want some?" she asked playfully.

He was still confused and at a daze. Her strength was not only in the classroom. She was a born fighter.

"You want?" she asked again.

He offered his ice cream.

"Let's share?" he asked.

Shin Hye smiled as she scooped some ice cream and fed herself.

"I think I can grant your request," she said.

"Huh?" he asked.

"You said you want to be on a date with me," she .

"You wanna?" he back.

"I will grant it this one time," she said. "But do not brag to your cousins that you are on an ice cream-and-yogurt date with your teacher."

"Algesseumnida," he said.

Both of them shared ice cream and yogurt, and he looked at the cute smile on her face. That was just it. Some girls may act tough and are tough, but there are things that will melt their heart.

Tough Shana melts at the sight of melon bread.

Tough Shin Hye melts at the sight of yogurt.

He felt his heart melting with warmth as he learned many more personal things about her. She really wasn't this usual girl.

~~~~