Another male student in class got into trouble.

He was drinking some shake in a convenience store when some rowdy guys bumped into him. The student was a bit hot-tempered, so he got into a fight. But that was not only it. The other guys were sons of a gang, which was Harabeoji's rival. The gang members kidnapped the guy, but Jung Shin saw it. He rushed after the guys and fought with them single-handedly, and even if it was not new moon, he bit a number of them. The guy classmate looked at his classmate devouring blood after blood, but Jung Shin told him not to worry.

"Look out!" the guy classmate said just before Jung Shin fell to the floor.

A man with a heavy wood on his hands pounded the vampire by the nape.

"You think your classmate can take us down like that?" the pirate-looking man sneered at the student. "Or, did you forget that you have wronged one of my sons?"

The guy retorted in anger that it was not his fault. But then, as the older man had to pound him, someone kicked the life out of him. It was Soo Hyun.

"Help is on its way," Soo Hyun told his classmate.

The guy, in fright and confusion, looked at Soo Hyun, then the unconscious Jung Shin.

"How come...?"

"Don't ask," Soo Hyun told him as he untied his classmate's hand.

Unfortunately, there were more of the guys, and the man who was kicked by Soo Hyun held a gun.

"Nobody moves!" he screamed...

...And Shin Hye had to intervene. Thanks to Jom Bi's reliable network and to Soo Hyun's SOS, Shin Hye got to get to the warehouse where her student was held hostage.

Shin Hye went with Shi Hoo and Jom Bi, and they fought the gang members. It was Shin Hye who fought the most to save her students, and she earned injuries as well. Nevertheless, her students were saved.

Soo Hyun, at first, hesitated to help Jung Shin, but he helped nonetheless. The vampire woke up groggy to see his classmate beside him.

"Gomawo," Jung Shin said with a smile.

"Ani," Soo Hyun said as he patted the other with his other hand.

"Ssaem..." the student said to Shin Hye, who assisted him in getting up.

"Jigeum gwaenchanha," she told him.

She helped him stand and walk, but the student was curious as to why his teacher was a fighter at night. He also wondered why Soo Hyun was there, and he wondered why Jung Shin drank blood.

"Eh? Ah, it is my duty to fight for my students, and of course, the mastermind gave us some warning," she lied.

"Mastermind?" the student asked. "But the leader did not call anyone, not even my parents."

"My cousin has a lot of connections," she lied about her cousin lawyer.

Uhm, it was a half-lie. It's true that lawyers have a lot of connections.

"How come you are here?" the student asked rudely.

Shin Hye smiled smugly. "Let's just say you have a lot of questions, eh?"

"How come Soo Hyun-ah is here too?" the student asked. "And why does Jung Shin-ah....drink blood?"

Shin Hye shot a glare at her student, forcing him to give up.

"Mianhamnida," the student said.

And they rushed the students out of the warehouse.

****

Jung Shin and Soo Hyun became friends that night, and the goddess vampire had to tell his cousins about it. Yong Hwa was worried for the wounds that his girlfriend sustained, and he watched Hitomi tending to the teacher.

"Ssaem will continue saving her students like that...till the end," Jung Shin told them.

"Will she still fight for us even if we will be in college?" Min Hyuk wondered.

"I believe she will," Yong Hwa assured them. "Besides, we are her students, and a teacher never forgets."

Jong Hyun noticed the sad remark made by his cousin.

"Don't be sad, huh?" Jong Hyun assured his cousin.

But Yong Hwa knew better than his cousins. After all, he knew that Shin Hye was torn being a teacher and being his girlfriend.

****

The next day, the principal heard some news that the student whom Shin Hye saved got into trouble, as well as Jung Shin and Soo Hyun. He was extremely angry because the students tainted the school's reputation, and for that, the three will be expelled--before graduation!

Inside the classroom, the students were beginning to reunite. They did not want the three to be expelled, but they hoped Shin Hye will do something about it. But as Shin Hye did not come, Yong Hwa was about to barge when Nana told him to calm down.

"Oppa, if you will barge to the principal's office, you might be expelled too," Nana said.

"If this is for my cousin," Yong Hwa said.

"Hajima," Jung Shin told his cousin.

"Maldo andwae," Yong Hwa told his cousin to the brink of tears. "I will go down with you."

"We are cousins, but don't forsake your future for me," Jung Shin said.

"I will not let anyone forsake their future for me as well," Soo Hyun piped up. "We had done nothing wrong, and we are only saving our classmate here."

The other student stood up and thanked his classmates for the support, but he was not willing to let them share the blame.

"Why are you so heroic?" Jo Kwon finally piped up. "We had been classmates for long, and we will be in this together."

"Don't waste your future on me, that's what I am trying to say," the student said.

"I'd say the same thing if I were in his place," Soo Hyun said to everybody.

"I love you guys, and I thank you for thinking of us," Jung Shin said. "But think of yourselves too. We are captains of our own ships, and we sail the same seas. Though the seas may be rough, I am not asking you to give up a piece of your wood just to make mine complete. Should anything happen to you along the journey, the blame will be on me."

The students became divided. Some who were in for the brotherhood wanted to support them and get expelled as well, while some were not willing to risk it. But one sensible insight came from Minzy, who rarely talked.

"I don't know if you have watched the Gokusen series, but this, I guess, is true," she said. "We may be classmates, comrades, and we will be in this together. But think of our parents who sent us to school, who worked for us so they can provide for us. Did they send us here so that we can support our classmates and get expelled?"

The students got silent.

"Come to think of it, we may be comrades now, but we may be strangers later. Should anything happen in the future, it will all go back to the past. If our lives will not be good in the future because we got expelled, our parents will be in pain, and we might even hate each other for the wrong cause that we believe in. Arasseo?"

Soo Hyun clapped and commended Minzy for the speech.

"Do you get what we are saying?" he asked the others, who nodded.

Jung Shin told his cousins not to worry, as he was confident he, Soo Hyun, and the other guy will not be expelled.

****

Shin Hye was down on her knees, in front of the principal who was busy checking the students' records.

"If there is someone who will be blamed, it will be me," she said. "I am there adviser, and I did not do my work well."

"You should have known better, Park-seonsaengnim," the principal said.

Just then, some police officers came to give some report. It turned out that the students were not to blame, and that they had arrested the gang members. With this information, Shin Hye dropped to the floor, begging for her students not to be expelled. The police looked at each other, and the principal, in shame, had to order to drop the expulsion. Shin Hye smiled with tears in her eyes as she thanked the police and the principal.

****

CL told her classmates to sit down, as Shin Hye was approaching. They got into their best behavior as the teacher came in. The teacher went to her table, looked at her students, and announced that the expulsion had been dropped. All her students stood up and jumped for joy, giving hugs and cheers for their comrades. Shin Hye shed her tears to see them united as a class. Yong Hwa, meanwhile, looked at his girlfriend with a smile on her face despite the tears. He knew how happy she was, but it pained him, knowing that at this point, she must have been acting again as a teacher.

"Yeoreobun, anjayo (Sit down)," she said while wiping her tears. "I have something to give each one of you."

The students sat in anticipation, and watched as the teacher opened the tall cabinet beside the blackboard. Shin Hye opened the covers to reveal different accessories that she will be handing down to her students.

"Each year, I gave parting gifts to my students," she said. "I may be following Yankumi, but I will have to say this that I will always be your homeroom teacher forever. You can come to me when you have problems. You know where to find me."

She had each student file, and gave out her gift to them with their name on each. As Yong Hwa reached the front, his girlfriend handed him a necklace with a locket the shape of a shield. He looked at her curiously, but she only nodded at him. As he got back to his seat, he looked at his girlfriend, wondering what a shield was for. He looked around to see his classmates marveling at their gifts. Suzy, his first love, was marveling at the silver comb. Min was in awe to find a Louis Vuitton purse. Jong Hyun was thrilled with a wristwatch which he had been eyeing all along.

"My girlfriend does not look like it," Yong Hwa mused. "Must be funds from the gang, huh?"

He opened the plastic casing to get the silver necklace, and when he opened the pendant, he saw their picture together. She had been saving it all along so that he can have a memory of them.

"Shin Hye...." he thought as he looked at her.

"Yeoreobun, I want each one of you to graduate from this school, and be proud of your accomplishment. I want to see the happy faces of your parents. And I want you all to celebrate that day together with your family," she said.

Only one found the sadness on her tone, and he knew that again, Shin Hye was acting as the teacher that she ought to be. It never occured to her that one day, she'll fall in love and get hurt at the end of the school year because her lover is her student.

****

After the graduation ceremony, the students frolicked happily and tore their uniforms. The hoobaes all cheered for their seonbaes, and the graduates went with their parents.

From the door of the auditorium, Shin Hye looked at her four boys happily. Min Hyuk and Jung Shin, who all came from one place in Korea, were happy hugging their parents and relatives. Jong Hyun and Yong Hwa, Busan boys, also reunited with their parents and got congratulatory hugs from their cousins' parents. She even saw Nana bowing politely to Jung Shin's parents.

Her heart was torn again. For this day, she told them to celebrate the day with their parents. She could not choose both. She had to be a teacher for Yong Hwa...just for today.

As the rest of the students were being monkeys, Yong Hwa looked back at her, and he gave her a smile. Shin Hye nodded as she wiped tears from her eyes.

"Eomma, Appa, let's meet my teacher," Yong Hwa said to his parents.

The family went to the teacher, who was surprised at this event.

"Seonsaengnim, we never thought our son would be this behaved by the end of the school year," Yong Hwa's eomeonim told her with a smile.

"Ne, he had been studying well," Shin Hye said. "He had been very diligent, and he deserves it."

"I have heard that he had a crush on one of his teachers, which is why he was inspired, ahahaa," Appa said.

"N...ne?" Shin Hye asked, flustered.

Did Yong Hwa try to blow up her cover?

"He may be young to fall in love," Shin Hye told them, then regretted to saying it.

"I will not mind whom he falls in love with, even if it will be his teacher," Eomma said. "Just as long as the girl is also from a good family."

"She comes from a good family," Yong Hwa said. "I can introduce her to you if you allow me."

"Eh????" Eomma foolishly and excitedly asked. "Geurae? Geurae?"

"You see, I fell in love with my teacher too, and she is older than me by six years," Appa confessed to Shin Hye.

"Age does not matter, does it, Seonsaengnim? Ahahahaha," Eomma told her.

"Ah.... ye...." Shin Hye said.

Yong Hwa looked at his cousins with smirks on their faces, so he held Shin Hye's hand within the sight of his parents and away from the sight of his classmates.

"Seonsaengnimi nae yeojachinguyeyo (Ssaem is my girlfriend)," Yong Hwa revealed.

Eomma and Appa were in awe, and they asked how old Shin Hye is.

Jeon 25imnida," she said to the parents, who gaped.

"Omomomo, uri Yong Hwa is a noona killer!" Appa teased his son, who scratched his head.

"We do not mind such s, Ssaem," Eomma said. "Just tell us if our son is battering you inside marriage, ahahahha..."

"M...marriage?" Shin Hye asked, cringing.

"Ohohoho, it is still far off," Appa said.

And before the family left, Yong Hwa and Shin Hye nodded to each other. He knew that their relationship was still clandestine, so they did not flaunt it.

As for Shin Hye, she waved them goodbye. It was always the fate of the teacher to be left by her students, but she knew it was for the best.

~~~~