Ha yeon’s POV

 

“Oh Nicole-noona,” I greeted her, finally managing to find her.

 

“Noona? That’s new,” she chuckled.

 

“Don’t like it?” I pouted. I was trying to get her attention as much as possible.

 

“No no, it’s alright. What’s up?” Nicole smiled.

 

“Are you busy?” I asked, crossing my fingers behind my back.

 

“I don’t think so, why?”

 

“Wanna hang out with me and Kevin today?” I grinned.

 

She put her hands on her hips and smirked, “What is this about?”

 

“W-what?” I stammered.

 

“Are we going to talk about Onew and Jonghyun again?”

 

I laughed out loud. Oh good, she just thought it was about that. “No…uhh…we don’t have to…”

 

“I was just kidding. It doesn’t matter, let’s go,” Nicole patted me on the back.

 

I nodded and said, “We’re gonna meet up at the cafeteria again, if you don’t mind.”

 

Nicole shook her head and we started walking. I texted to Kevin and Minho, “Okay, we’re coming.”

 

“Okay, I’ll go hide then,” Minho texted back.

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While walking there, I was stopped by a middle-aged, although quite youthful-looking, woman. She looked at me and asked if I was Ha yeon. I nodded and she asked me to follow her. I panicked, half wondering why she wanted me and half not knowing what was going to happen to the plan. I quickly told Nicole to just go on without me, thinking to text Kevin to keep her busy for a while. This woman…she was the principal right?

 

I entered her office, which was quite lush and wide. I thought that nothing could out-impress me than the dorms…but of course, she was the principal after all.

 

“Ha yeon-ah,” she started, sitting down at her desk.

 

“Ne!” I bowed.

 

“Please, sit.”

 

I sat on one of the couches in the room, facing her.

 

“Don’t be afraid or anything, but may I ask where you were this morning?” she asked.

 

This morning? I was…hiding in bushes…how am I supposed to tell her that?! I bit my lip and said, “I was outside the school, ma’am.”

 

“You were wearing that this morning as well, am I correct?” she pointed at my hoodie.

 

“Yes, I did,” I said.

 

“Hmm…” she mumbled, and crossed her fingers together, seemingly in deep thought.

 

I didn’t know what was wrong—or if anything was wrong. I didn’t know what this was headed for, so I tightly held my hands as I could feel them getting sweaty. This was taking longer than I was expecting and I was worried about the plan being foiled.

 

“Uh..is there something wrong?” I asked to get the conversation going.

 

“Well…this is troubling…” she said, avoiding my eyes.

 

“What is?” I asked.

 

“Alright…let me say this first,” she said. The room was getting hotter, as I felt it, yet I could feel a cold sweat developing on my skin. “I have three daughters: they’re all pretty far apart in age. One is already married, one is about the same age as you and the youngest one is just beginning school.”

 

“Ah…neh…” I said. Where was this even heading?

 

“And as a girl myself, I think I would be quite an expert at “female” things…having raised three girls in my lifetime…”

 

I nervously laughed, since it felt it was right.

 

“So may I ask what a girl like you is doing pretending to be a boy?”

 

.

.

.

My smile immediately dropped.

 

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Kevin’s POV

 

Why is she taking so long? I thought. Nicole was already here, and I’ve run out of things to talk about. I guess we could start the plan by now…but without Ha yeon, it’s a bit difficult to find Jong hyun.

 

“Is Ha yeon going to come?” I murmured, although a bit loud.

 

“The principal wanted to talk to him,” Nicole explained.

 

“Ohh, okay,” I smiled. I wonder what the principal wanted…

 

I brought out my phone and texted to Minho, “Yah, you okay hiding?”

 

Minho sent a text back, “no im not okay! Why are you guys taking so long?!”

 

“ha yeon isn’t even here…the principal wanted to talk to her…” I texted back.

 

“what ?! why?”

 

“how should I kno?”

 

“im tired and its dark in this room…”

 

“okay hold on. If she doesn’t come, maybe we can just keep going…”

 

“how are you gonna find Jonghyun?”

 

“Idk…”

 

“…youre an idiot kevin.”

 

I shouted, “Yah!” I looked up to see Nicole staring at me.

 

“Is there something wrong?” she laughed.

 

“Ah—no…” I looked away, embarrassed. “Why don’t we take a breath of fresh air for now?”

 

“Sure.”

 

We stepped outside and let the cool wind breeze through. I checked often to see if Ha yeon came in or not. Since it was autumn, it got dark really fast. The sun was almost out of sight.

 

“no luck?” Minho sent another text.

 

“no…I’m getting kinda worried.” I responded.
“I don’t see you in the cafeteria.” Minho texted.

 

“I stepped outside for a while. It was getting warm inside.”

 

“don’t do that!”

 

“I’m checking for ha yeon, don’t worry, jeez,” I smirked.

 

As I was texting Minho back and forth, Ha yeon came running into the cafeteria.

 

She was panting and tired, and she had a look of panic on her face. She was looking around…I’m guessing for us.

 

I quickly opened the door and I said, “Ha yeon! Where were y—”

 

“Kevin!” she gasped. “Can you come with me somewhere?”

 

I stood there, half worried, half confused. Was this part of the plan…or was it something else? I looked at Nicole and I smiled, “Can you wait here for a bit?”

 

“Sure,” she said, and she decided to walk back outside.

 

I walked to Ha yeon and asked, “What? What happened?”

 

“Where’s Minho? Is he still hiding?” she asked.

 

“Yeah…but why?” I asked, really worried by now.

 

“You two will see…” she looked at me with a scared expression.

 

We rushed over to where Minho was hiding: in a janitor’s room that had a window to see through to the cafeteria. I slammed the door open as Minho flinched.

 

“Don’t kill me please,” he joked.

 

“Yah, we can’t joke around right now,” Ha yeon grabbed onto Minho’s hand and pulled him up.

 

“What’s happening?” he asked me.

 

“I wish I knew…”