Hakyeon sighed as he patted a sobbing Jin Ae's back, trying to comfort her but at the same time keep his distance. He wasn't sure exactly how to act in this situation; Jin Ae hated being seen as weak and swore that if he ever pitied her she would punch him in the arm, but wasn't this case an exception?

"Just go, Hakyeon-ah. I don't want you to see me like this." The fifteen-year-old sniffled, hiding behind her shoulder length hair.

The teen shook his head. "I can't just--"

"Please."

He let out another sigh, dropping his head before slowly standing up, though he made no move for the bathroom's door that would lead him back into the school's hallway. Hakyeon remained by Jin Ae's side, and this only caused her temper to flare up. Couldn't he understand she didn't like him worrying about her? He didn't need to cause himself trouble when it was her own fault. She shouldn't have been stupid enough to go out with the school's notorious player, no matter how much he seemed to have "changed" for her.

"Hakyeon, just--"

"He didn't deserve you, you know."

Jin Ae's looked up at her friend with wide eyes, surprised by his words. Hakyeon just smiled back.

"He's stupid for breaking up with you in the first place, but that fact just turns him into a complete idiot. So..." Hakyeon bent down beside her once again and slowly lifted his hand up to the girl's cheek, wiping away the fresh tears. "So don't cry over him anymore, please. He isn't worth these tears."

The teenager received the biggest shock of his life when Jin Ae launched herself at him, embracing him tightly and burying her face in the side of his neck, her damp eyelashes tickling at his skin. He panicked for a second, not knowing how to act, before carefully wrapping his arms around her. Rubbing soothing circles on her back, Hakyeon rocked the two of them back and forth. At the feeling of something wet plopping onto his skin and sliding down, the boy hugged Jin Ae just a little more tightly than before.

"Dummy. I said he isn't worth those tears."

Jin Ae mumbled something in reply, but Hakyeon couldn't make it out.

"What was that?"

"You're too nice to me," her words were soft, and Hakyeon's heart nearly broke in two at how vulnerable she sounded. "You even warned me not to give him a chance, yet here you are saying all these nice things to me and trying to make me feel better..." Jin Ae's grip tightened on him. "Thank you, Hakyeon-ah."

His heart seemed to be beating like crazy now, and he wasn't quite sure why. All Hakyeon did know was that if it was Jin Ae, he didn't mind being "too nice."

"You're welcome, Jin Ae-ah."

Silence settled between them, being broken every now and then by Jin Ae's sniffles. Hakyeon finally pulled away from the hug, wiping at his best friend's cheeks and dabbing at her eyes with the sleeve of his uniform before giving her a reassuring smile that slowly turned into a devious one.

"That jerk is going to regret making you cry for sure."

Jin Ae blinked in surprise at him before smacking his arm. "Yah, don't you dare go and start a fight with him, Cha Hakyeon! If he isn't worth my tears, then he certainly isn't worth your pain."

"Who said I was going to fight him?" Hakyeon snickered. "We're lab partners and that bad guy always just copies the lab report from me. I'm going to give him all the wrong answers from now on and see how he liks that."

The girl opposite him broke out into laughter, weakly pushing him but causing the boy to fall onto his side comically nonetheless.

"Typical Hakyeon," Jin Ae smiled, still chuckling. "You dork."

Hakyeon raised an eyebrow from where he lay on the ground. "Would you really want me any other way?"

"Nope."

~PresentDay~

"Hannah! Wake up, dear!"

A muffled groan came from the mess of blankets resting on the living room floor, causing Elizabeth Redford to shake her head with an amused smile. She bent down and gently shook the bundle.

"Hannah, you do remember that we have our flight tomorrow? Weren't you going to spend the day with Taekwoon?"

The woman's daughter responded, but her words were obstructed by the blankets wrapped around her body. Elizabeth gave up on trying to figure out what her daughter said, and instead asked another question.

"What are you doing on the living room floor anyway?"

The bundle of blankets finally sat up and was pushed away and around the waist of Hannah Redford, revealing her messy, black locks and her groggy eyes. The young woman wiped at her eyes and stretched before focusing her attention on her mother and giving the older woman a sheepish smile.

"I got home late from hanging out with the girls, and I guess I was too tired to make it to my room."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "How did you get on the floor, though?" She shook her head, her naturally loose curls bouncing as she did so. "Nevermind that. It's about nine in the morning. I would have let you sleep in longer, but I wasn't sure when you planned to see Taekwoon."

"Thanks, mom," Hannah stretched once more, letting out a content sigh at the pleasurable 'pop' that followed. "I was planning to meet up with him at eleven, so I'll probably leave around a quarter till."

The mother nodded. "Alright. Go ahead and go get ready while I make some breakfast."

Hannah sighed as she brushed her waist-length tresses, gazing at her reflection. A pretty Asian woman (who she and her parents assumed to be Korean) stared back at her, eyes fully awake by now, but still seeming tired. She was a smaller woman, probably standing at about 165 cm or so, yet her face was mature enough to show that she was indeed an adult. Hannah knew her reflection well, but even now she had a hard time looking at it. Who else knew her face as well as she did? Of course her family and friends did, but was there anyone else? Someone she couldn't remember? There had to be, right?

Shaking her head to rid her of her thoughts, Hannah left the bathroom to go to the kitchen where her mother had just finished frying eggs and was getting ready to fry one more. The young woman smiled at this and gently nudged her mother away from the stove, taking the spatula in her own hand.

"Don't worry about this one; I'll take care of it."

The red-headed woman opened in protest only to have her daughter cut her off.

"You've had trouble sleeping, right? It's best if you make me do all the work then," Hannah flexed her arm, grinning goofily. "I can handle all the labor with my young strength!"

"Young? Yes. Strength? I don't think so." Her mother laughed in reply, taking a seat at the island in the middle of the kitchen nonetheless.

This was a normal morning for the two women. Elizabeth would wake Hannah up, attempt to cook breakfast only for her daughter to take over with some excuse as to why, and then they would joke or talk about their plans for the day as they enjoyed the food. Elizabeth's husband would join them occasionally, but most mornings he was gone by the time they both were awake, having to be at his job early in the morning. He would have been there that morning, but he wanted to make sure everything went smoothly for his last building before he departed for his next project. Could you blame the man, though? He didn't take the job of designing structures in which people lived and worked lightly.

"So what are you and Taekwoon going to be doing today?" The older woman of the two queried, smiling almost slyly at Hannah as she sipped at the cup of coffee resting in her hands.

Hannah shrugged. "I don't know. I kept asking, but he wouldn't tell me what he had planned. I guess he wants it to be a surprise."

"He's so romantic, just like your father when we were dating," Elizabeth sighed happily before glancing up at Hannah and laughing at the look on her daughter's face. "What?"

"Please don't start in on one of those cheesy tales about the things Dad has done... I can't stand the sugary sweetness of it all." The woman shivered and stuffed another bit of egg into .

"Come on! Don't you think it's sweet and romantic?"

"Perhaps, but it's also really cheesy!"

"Oh, hush. Wh