It was class time and Luhan couldn’t focus at all. Oh, who was he lying to? Every day was always a day he couldn’t focus in class. But, today…today was just different. He felt very impatient and a feeling deep inside of him throbbed out loud on his chest, wanting to get something off. He found himself turning his head to glance over at Hana from time to time, hoping she would somehow just whisper something that magically summarized what her talk with Jongsuk was about. At the same time, he would stop himself, telling himself that he had no business in hers. It would go around and around in circles, giving him a migraine.

“Luhan?” The teacher called on him.

Luhan wasn’t paying attention, so he didn’t answer.

Everyone looked.

“Luhan?”

Again, no response.

They saw Luhan’s feet tapping vigorously on the ground, hands supporting his cheeks, mouth pouting, and eyes drifting off into space.

“Luhan!”

That shout made Luhan flinched.

“I see that you’re in your own little world. I know you’re worried about your baseball game, but please focus here, too.”

Luhan stood up and bowed, “Actually, may I go to the infirmary?”

This question shocked the teacher.

“I don’t think I feel well today.”

The teacher put a hand on , “Oh, I’m sorry.” She nodded, “Yes, yes, please. If you don’t get better by the time class ends, do go home.” She gave him a supportive smile.

Hana was confused. He was sick? Why didn’t he tell me? He looked fine today, though. Without further ado, she shot up a hand, “Teacher, I’ll make sure Luhan get to the infirmary safely.”

The teacher smiled coyly, “Ah, yes, I forgot. The denial couple.”

Everyone in the class woo’ed except for the couple’s friends who knew that their friends would never end up as a couple. Like Hana and Luhan, they, too, were tired of constantly trying to clear up the relationship between the couple.

“Yes, I’d like it if you can make sure your boyfriend gets to the office safely.”

“Thank you.” Hana said. Walking over, she helped Luhan put his stuff away and carried his bag for him.

Everyone watched silently, hoping something romantic would happen or something. Unfortunately, they just left like any other normal people – out the door.

*

“You okay?” Hana asked. She tilted her head forward and tried to steal a glimpse at his facial expression as she and Luhan were taking their time walking to the infirmary. “Why didn’t you tell me that you weren’t feeling well?”

“It’s nothing big.” Luhan said. “I’m actually okay.”

“You are not okay. Throughout the entire time, you were shaking your leg, repeatedly cupping your face, and silently groaning as you looked up on the ceiling.”

Luhan perked up and looked at her, intrigued, “You...were watching me?”

She smirked, “Anybody would if they saw someone acting like you did.”

He shoulder bumped her, “Admit it, you like me.”

She playfully rolled her eyes, “Pabo, as if.”

Luhan bumped into her shoulders again, “Come on, I know it.”

“Know what?” Hana purposely asked. She tried to hold back her shy smile.

Luhan widened his eyes and pointed to himself, “Me, of course. Who else?”

As if that question signified a taboo subject, the two friends’ smiles disappeared and they looked away as they became silent on the entire walk. Entering the infirmary, they were in for a surprise. Inside was Jongsuk who had finished getting bandaged by Nurse Eunsook. It seemed that he was injured during his physical education class.

The school nurse came over with a clipboard in her hand, “What’s wrong? Aren’t you two supposed to be in class?”

Hana pointed to Luhan, “He isn’t feeling well today, so I’m here to make sure he wouldn’t faint or die while walking here.”

Luhan scoffed, “I’m not that weak.”

“That’s what you think.” Hana retorted. She smiled and pretentiously wondered, “Who was the one who couldn’t piggyback me to the entrance this morning?”

Luhan smirked, “That’s cause you are too heavy. Miss Piggy!” He did pig noises, which aggravated her and he knew it.

As the normal response, Hana sought revenge by trying to climb onto his back, wanting to prove him wrong. Luhan kept backing away, making sure she wasn’t successful.

Nurse Eunsook stopped their little fight with a cough, “Are you two coming here for a place to have fun or to get your brains fixed?”

“Her/His brain!” Hana and Luhan pointed to each other as they answered at the same time. They laughed to each other when they saw how quick they responded.

Nurse Eunsook grinned, giving up. “Luhan, you can go ahead and lie down.” She walked over to her desk, “Hana, I’ll give you a pass back when I come back from making copies, so can you stay here and make sure Luhan doesn’t pass out, too? I’m afraid he might be too weak.”

“Will do!” Hana and Nurse Eunsook laughed as they both ganged up on teasing Luhan.

Luhan pouted away as he fixed the bed and tried to fall asleep.

Hana came over to Luhan’s bedside and said, “Told you you’re weak.”

“Pabo.” Luhan said, not wanting to speak anymore. Just knowing that Jongsuk was still there and hadn’t left gave him an ill feeling deep inside his stomach along with guilt of feeling this way towards his senpai who had done nothing wrong to him.

“Okay, let me just get the papers and I’ll leave in a moment,” said Nurse Eunsook as she sat down on her chair and started stacking a few worksheets in her hands.

“Hana?” Jongsuk said.

Luhan recoiled. This was the first time he had heard Jongsuk called Hana by her first name, something that meant that they were now on close terms. He peeked up and saw Hana looking at Jongsuk.

Jongsuk continued, “Have you told Luhan about it?”

Curious, Luhan gently sat up and looked back and forth between the two teenagers in the room who stood opposite one another.

Hana bit her lower lip and touched the side of her jaw.

Watching this, Luhan knew she was feeling uncomfortable in whatever she was going to confess.

“Sunbaenim…and I…are having a dating trial.”

*

“Why are you so down?” Nurse Eunsook asked.

It had been just her and Luhan for a while now, probably about two hours after Hana and Jongsuk had left with their confession. It was such a shocker to Luhan that he was only able to whisper out the word, “Oh.” Thankfully, at the time of the confession, Nurse Eunsook helped him and politely sent Hana and Jongsuk to their classes, telling Hana she wasn’t needed to help babysit Luhan because he was tired and would probably fall asleep instead.

Hearing what the nurse just said, Luhan spoke through the blanket, “I’m not. I’m in pain, remember?” He touched his forehead. Maybe he was sick, maybe he was not. Now, he couldn’t even tell at all.

“Your forehead?” She continued with a slight scoff. She turned from her chair to face Luhan.

“No.” Luhan responded blankly.

“Your cheeks?”

“No.”

Nurse Eunsook put a pin under her chin, “Your legs?”

“No,” Luhan said, shaking his head.

“Then…your heart?” Nurse Eunsook glanced at him and pulled the pen away from her chin. There was a long silence, which she took that as a ‘yes’ response. She sighed and walked over to him, sitting on the opposite bed.

Knowing this, Luhan removed the blanket over his head and looked at her.

“This kind of pain…it won’t go away easily. And, most of the time, there’s always only one answer.”

Luhan understood what she said and implied. He sat up, looking down, “I will never like Hana that way.”

Nurse Eunsook smiled, “Honestly, when I turned around to see if Hana was lying to you about having a dating trial with Sunbaenim, I happened to saw your expression and it showed it all to me.” She raised her brows at him, “And you're still going to deny it?"

Luhan thought for a while, “It's not denial. It's the truth."

“That's why you two are known as the denial couple. You guys keep denying.” Nurse Eunsook said. “Friends between girls and boys don’t joke as well as you two.”

“Maybe it’s because we’re close with one another.” Luhan honestly defended. “It’s true, though. I’ve never once thought of even liking her.” He brushed a hand through his hair.

A smile curled at the side of her lips, “So, what are you planning to do?”

Luhan looked up at her, “I can’t do anything can I?”

Nurse Eunsook hopped off of the bed and slowly walked away, “Well, I’m not giving you any idea or advice, but I can clarify something.” Sitting back on her chair, she avoided his eyes to hint that she was really giving him an idea, “They aren’t dating. They’re only trying to see if they’re a good fit.” She coughed and grabbed a paper to pretentiously go over it while spying a look at Luhan’s idea-popping expression. “If I were you, this whole dating-trial means that I still have a chance to make her look my way.” She put the paper down, "So, don't look so down."

Luhan let out a laugh, “Noona you know someone who had this happened to him before, don’t you?”

Nurse Eunsook continued smiling and shrugged, “I don’t know.”

Luhan exhaustingly lay back onto the bed, "Well, we'll never be anything more than friends." He looked up at the ceiling, "She's never seen me as anything more than Luhan."

"And, what about you?" Nurse Eunsook asked, "What do you see her as?"

Luhan gave a long thought about it, "A friend." Although he had said the word with much confidence and normality, he repeated the statement inside his mind, but with a more honest tone of doubt, confusion, and...hesitation.

Just a friend.

*

"How long have you known Hana?" Nurse Eunsook asked, turning around in her chair to face a laying down Luhan on the infirmary bed. It had been a good long silence in the room and when she had forgotten that Luhan was still in the infirmary with her, so she decided to start a conversation with him.

“I’ve known Hana ever since sixth grade, but we’ve never really talked until we were in our first year of middle school. We didn't quite get along at first. She was always very irritated around me." His eyes were stuck to the ceiling and he spoke monotonously.

She waited.

“That's why I said she will never see me more than just Luhan.” He closed his eyes. He thought back to the reason why Hana wanted to keep Taeyang, and it was because she wanted to confirm her love for kids so she could be prepared to be married in the future. Remembering the reason, he added the comparison between him and her, “Hana has always wanted a family of her own, but meeting her when I was still someone who just messed around, she can't possibly think of having a relationship with me. I just know it.”

She pursed her lips and turned back to her desk, “You used to mess around?” She wanted to make a point about him using past tense and why it was not in the present tense.

There was no response.

She silently sighed to herself. “Luhan,” she began in a soft and quiet tone.

Luhan sat up straight, confused at the different tone of voice from the nurse.

“You asked if I knew someone who had this happened before, right?”

He nodded confusingly, “Yeah.”

She smudged her lips down for preparation, “That person is me.” She spun back again to face Luhan and gave him a weak embarrassed smile.

His eyes widen, quite surprised.

She was beautiful for a mid-forty year old woman, and he and Hana had secretly believed that when she was young, she definitely was able to get any guy she wanted, so to hear that she had had a similar experience like this, it was just unbelievable.

“I think it’s been…seventeen or eighteen years now.”

“What- what happened?” Heasked, curious.

“I didn’t fight for him, so I lost him.” She answered. “But, that’s not the worst part.” She stood up, headed to her purse, took out her wallet, and stared at a picture, “He and I were best of friends, too. But, he fell for my younger sister who had quite the same tastes as he.” She let out a small but painful laugh while Luhan stayed silent.

He felt even guiltier now that he had made her thought of something aching to remember.

“I thought that I shouldn’t fight for him not because of my sister, but because I believed that no matter what I would do, he would never look my way. So, I watched them get married and start a life.” She came over to him and showed him the picture of her and him in their high school uniform. “About a year later, being the close friends we still are even after their marriage-”

“-Wait, you never confessed to him?” Luhan interrupted.

A slight smiled performed at the side of her face, “I just couldn’t. I was always in denial, thinking we're just not meant to be and that being friends was the best for us.”

“Oh.” Luhan looked down. Now, it was starting to sound like his situation and he began to feel uncomfortable.

She heaved a depressing sigh, “Their life started to fall apart, piece by piece. He started to avoid her, coming over more to my place and whatnot. I had believed that maybe he thought it was okay to come over to my place because we are friends, but soon, as the days passed by, the family found out that he had always been in love with someone else. I was asked to ‘interrogate’ him since I was his friend to begin with, and during our private dinner, that was where he confessed.”

Luhan looked at her, “He has always liked you?!” Mouth still opened, he shrieked, “Then, why did he married your sister?!”

She laughed, feeling thankful that Luhan was emotionally touched for her. “My point is…don’t let Hana realize her feelings for you when it’s too late. Even if they’re going to date in the future, it’s not marriage yet. But, there’s just one thing you’ve got to stick to.” She gave him a serious look, “Play fair.”

Luhan slumped into his seat again, “Noona, we're not like that. Really.” Why do people keep assuming that?!

Nurse Eunsook gave him a ‘are you kidding me’ look. “Luhan. Even best of friends don’t act like you two at all. Look at Luna and Lay. They’re dating, but they’re nowhere near how you guys act.”

“How-how do we act?” Luhan stuttered.

“Like you two are in your own little world,” She smiled and added, “Like a married couple.”

*

“Eonni?” Hana slide the door opened and entered the infirmary, “Is Luhan still here?”

“She’s out.” It was Luhan who sat up from his bed. He looked over at her, somewhat pouting and trying to keep a happy face. “What do you need?” He saw in her hands were two lunch boxes and knew that it was lunch time. One was probably for Jongsuk, he assumed.

Hana pointed to the lunch box in her hands, “I was going to ask if she would let us eat in here.”

Luhan perked up, smiling. “Us? Us as in, you and me?”

Raising a brow, she said, “Of course it’s us. Why, you think you’re going to eat it all by yourself?”

He smirked, “No, I thought you, Miss Piggy, was going to eat all by yourself.”

Hana stopped in front of him and clutched tightly onto the lunch, “Fine, none for you.” She immediately sat down on the other bed and opened the lunch box to let out the fresh air of her cooked food. She purposely fanned the opened lunch box with the lid so that the scent would reach Luhan. “More for me then.”

Luhan immediately placed his hands together and apologized, “Sorry, sorry! I was lying.”

She glared back, “Lying about what?”

“That you were Miss Piggy.” Luhan cutely answered. When he saw Hana smiled, he added, “Because you’re Miss Cow!”

Hana frowned in response and started playfully hitting him. “Hey, you’re really not going to get any!”

“Sorry, sorry!” Luhan quickly shouted. He held onto her wrists and stopped her from continuing, “You’re as big as a bunny. Happy?”

The two laughed at his idiotic comparison. As he held onto her wrists, he slowly slid his fingers down to interlace his with hers. He brought up their hands up to his chest and placed it there. He just felt like doing so.

Hana didn’t bother to remove her hands from his. “Are you okay?” As a sudden reflex, she bended down and carefully bumped her head with his, wanting to compare their temperature, not knowing that this would cause Luhan’s body heat to rise, not because he was sick, but because he was shy.

“You’re hot!” She moved away, hands still clasped with his, “Your face is red, too!” She removed her hands from his and immediately took control of what was going to happen next. “Hey, go to sleep right now! Lie down- hurry!” She pressed him down, put the covers past his shoulders, and tucked him in. “You’re already a big kid and you can’t take care of yourself?!” She looked at him, grimacing, “You’re like another baby. Taeyang Junior.” She laughed, “You’re just not as cute as him.”

“So, you don’t like me?” Luhan asked, playing around. He didn't get to mess with her much this morning, so he decided to do it now.

Hana bended down and rested her chin on the bedside, “Pabo, of course I do.”

“How much?”

“A lot.” Hana answered, not hesitating. “I like you a lot.”

“More than sunbae?” He finally bombed her with the question, hoping she’d answered without hesitation. He waited for a teasing remark from her.

Regrettably, Hana froze in response. She gazed away, avoiding his eyes. More than sunbae?

Luhan tapped her, “Ne, can you sing me a lullaby to sleep like how you do it to Taeyang?” He decided to change the subject, not wanting to hear her answer. He figured the answer would be Jongsuk's name now since Hana and him were 'trial dating' and realized he couldn't mess with her as much as how he used to now that she was dating someone.

Hana stood up straight and Luhan scoot over and she sat on the space he made for her. “But, I don't have a nice voice.”

“I know you don't.” Luhan incited. She playfully socked him in the stomach and he continued to lie, “I’m hurt already.”

Hana massaged the place where she had hit him, “Fine, fine.” She started patting his side and humming the tune she always did to Taeyang at night. She began to wonder how he could have heard her when she tried to keep it low every night. She didn’t think Luhan would be able to hear her since his room was an angle away. She smiled when she saw Luhan’s eyes starting to close, falling asleep to her tune.

*

Minutes later, after a long silence, Luhan subtly opened his eyes to check up on Hana. She had fallen asleep to her own humming and her head was bogging up and down a