Yong Hwa ran all around in search of their teacher, and he finally found her near the pharmacy.

"Ssaem!" he called out.

Shin Hye, who stopped to catch her breath, turned to him.

"Yong Hwa?"

"Ssaem, why did you run away?"

"Because I have to find your classmates," she said.

Then, she started running again, and he had to follow her. He ran after her until they reached the lake where Min Hyuk and the guys had gathered earlier. Yong Hwa found out that his cousins were nowhere to be found. He got near her and found her shaking and sniffling.

"Ssaem?"

He walked in front of her and saw her crying.

"I have never cried in front of my students,"  she shared. "But I seldom cried for them. This is the worst."

She looked at him with angry eyes.

"I had wanted so badly to get closer to my students, but you all are not letting me," she said. "I never had this feeling with my other students no matter how hard-headed they were. I tried to understand you all, but  you never let me... I tried to bring my heart to you, but you never let me..."

"Ssaem..."

"Why am I even crying? I had never been told that I am not a serious teacher..." she sobbed. "I...I thought that Nana thought of me highly because she learned from me so much, but she believed in me half-heartedly... neomu apa... (I am so hurt)..."

He tried to hug her, but she ran away again. She ran so fast that he was not able to catch up with her. Instead, he went around to look for his classmatess and coax them to get back to the classroom.

****

Jong Hyun and the guys went back to the classroom after realizing that Yong Hwa was serious on helping Shin Hye. They saw Nana crouched at the corner of the room, crying to herself. Jung Shin, who had forgotten that he had asked her for space, ran to her and knelt in front of her.

"Gwaenchanha?" he asked in concern.

Nana looked at him, and feeling grateful that he came back to her, leaned forward and hugged him tight.

"Oppa... Nan geureohke nappeun haksaengiya (I am such a bad student)," she sobbed. "I agreed with our classmates that Ssaem is not serious. She must have been so hurt because she had always applauded me for being diligent... while she believes in me, I believed in her half-heartedly..."

Jung Shin wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and buried his face onto her hair.

"I am sorry for not understanding you, Oppa..." she whispered.

"Gwaenchanha..." he replied.

"If... if Ssaem is not serious with us, she would have not gone to our house to tutor us," Min Hyuk said.

"Maja... and if she is not serious, she would not have us write each other's notes so we can understand the lesson," Jung Shin realized.

"Notes?" Nana asked.

"Jung Shin-ah, me and Min Hyuk will look for our classmates," Jong Hyun said.

He and Min Hyuk left to give time to the lovers.

****

Yong Hwa entered the nail art salon and saw Jia, Fei, Suzy, Min, Minzy, CL, and Jo Kwon having their nails done. Yong Hwa knew that Jo Kwon tended to act and dance so gay, but he had no idea that the other guy would take it to the extreme. Jo Kwon was already finished with the nail art that had lots and lots of faux diamonds on his perfectly manicured nails.

"Yeogiseo wae (Why are you here)?" Yong Hwa asked his classmates.

"You see that Ssaem is being overreactive," CL said for the group.

"Ssaem is looking for us all," Yong explained.

But Jia only scoffed. Just then, all of their cellphones sounded like they got some message. But they got the message together.

"Who is giving an update?" CL asked without looking at her phone, for her nails were being done at the moment.

Minzy, whose right had was not busy, opened the message. The whole class had a secret group page in Facebook where all of them can get updates from each other.

"Seo...seo..seonsaengnim?????" Minzy reacted as she stood up.

"Mwo????" the others who had their hands free grabbed their phones. 

Jo Kwon almost lost some faux diamonds on his nails because he got shocked as he grabbed his phone. Yong Hwa grabbed his phone, and indeed, he saw Shin Hye's profile on their secret page.

"How.... but that group is a secret!" Min asked in confusion.

They opened the video and listened what Shin Hye had to say. Yong was confused because she was smiling when she was crying in front of him an hour ago.

"Yeoreobun, you might be surprised why I get to infiltrate your secret group. That is a technique that only I know, being good at tracking wayward students," she said.

She told them many things about wanting to get close to them and to see them progress not just as students, but as citizens who will, later on, contribute much to the welfare of society.

"I know you are tired of your teachers yelling at you, which is why your other teachers gave up on you. I know you are tired of your teachers telling your parents that you are not doing well. Listen. I will never give up on you. I will never give up until you open up your heart to me. I am opening up my heart to all of you... This is not for show, but I want you to do well. Even if you are not academically good, I want you to do well still. I want you to behave so that when I will meet your parents, I want to tell them how much I am proud to have students like you. I want to tell them that even if other teachers doubt them, I still believe in you. I want to tell your parents that you have been so good in school. I do not want to lie to them, but I do not want to tell them bad news either. I want to to know all of your weaknesses so we can work it out. I want to know each of your good sides so that I can compliment you in front of your parents and my other co-teachers. I want to brag about you to my other students who have been in the same situation as you are right now. I am your Science teacher, but I am also your Homeroom adviser... and that is what a Homeroom adviser is for."

The students were speechless, but woke up from reality when one of the nail art staff began to sob.

"She is a Gokusen fan," the staff said.

"I wish my Homeroom adviser in high school was like that too," another said to them. "You are lucky kids."

The girls looked at their nails and realized that some of the art were not yet done, but they were so guilty that they decided to go back to the classroom.

"We will have time this afternoon," Jo Kwon said.

"You are done with yours," Fei said.

They paid their dues and left the salon with Yong Hwa.

****

Soo Hyun also received the group notification and saw the video, but he was too proud to get back to the classroom.

****

Yong Hwa called Shin Hye and told her to get back because he had gathered some of his classmates. He received messages from Min Hyuk and Jong Hyun, stating that the others were also moved by the video.

Shin Hye got back to the classroom and saw all of them sitting properly on their seats. She lit up smiles at them, and the students stood up and bowed.

"Joesonghamnida..." they told her.

Shin Hye shed some good tears and smiled back at her students.

****

During lunch time, Shin Hye was too tired to eat that she got to the stairs where she and Yong shared some yogurt. He found her sitting by the stairs and went to her.

"Gomapda," she told him.

"You are the first teacher who is dedicated to her students," he told her.

She smiled and nodded. Afterwards, he placed his thumb on her cheek and caressed her face.

"I will believe in you, Ssaem," he whispered.

He leaned forward and gave her a gentle kiss, and she reciprocated the act by tugging at his lower lip.

~~~~