The alarm on Hana's cell phone went off and the girl grunted as she switched it off. With a lazy sigh, she got up and forced herself to the bathroom to take a shower and freshen herself up.

Hana quickly dressed and grabbed her backpack before going to the kitchen to grab something to bite.

"H-hana?"

The girl turn to the direction of the voice and immediately gave the person a glare.

"I just came back from work, Hana. Are you going to school? B-but it's still early isn't it?" The man said as his body swayed left and right trying to balance himself.

"You reek of alcohol. Don't be concerned about me and just worry about yourself."

Not even bothering to help the man out, the girl bolted out of the house and headed down the pavement leading to her school.

The thing about Hana is, if she wants to be early, she can be really early and if she wants to be late, she can be really late at to the point where she has to sneak into the school to avoid the discipline mistress. Depends on her mood actually.

Hana decided to drop by a 24-hour cafe to get some morning latte since she always felt tired in the morning so a little caffeine would give her a little energy to stay awake. The sun was slowly rising by the time Hana reached school and she still had more than half an hour before the first lesson starts. She entered her homeroom and wasn't surprised to see some of her classmates were already there, most of them studying and a couple of them were sleeping. She left her backpack on her seat and left the classroom.

She was about to go up the stairs when a petite girl pulled her by the wrist.

"Unnie, I'm sorry. I really am unnie, please forgive me."

Hana blankly glanced at the girl and shrugged. "Whatever."

The younger girl's eyes lit with determination. "Unnie, I promise I will take care of myself. Nothing will happen to me. Trust me, unnie! I'm a big girl now, aren't I?"

"Like I said before, you're landing yourself in deep . Do whatever you want." Hana spat as she turned her back to the girl and walked away.

Hana went to the rooftop garden and sat her usual bench. She was fiddling with her phone when she smelt something odd. Something that never seemed foreign to her.

Someone's smoking?

Hana cocked her head as she looked around, trying to find the source of the smell. She finally saw someone leaning against the railing and mentally rolled her eyes.

Who could be so stupid to smoke in school? Even I don't do that.

Hana stood up and walked up to the person. She took the cigarette and put it in her own mouth instead. She took a puff and another and another as the person stared at her, astounded.

"Hana, what the hell are you doing?"

His cold tone somehow made Hana feel mocked since it was her first time hearing someone's voice sound colder than hers.

"Casually smoking in school. What about you?"

The boy opened his mouth and was about to talk when Hana took the last puff before flicking it out to the ground. She fixed her blazer slightly before turning around to exit the rooftop.

Sehun was taken aback by the girl's daring action but he would never admit it to the girl. No one had ever caught him smoking before. Heck, even his friends doesn't know that he smoked. He quickly shoved the lighter that was on his hand into his pocket and headed for his classroom.

Sehun was greeted by Jongin as he approached his seat next to the window. Jongin just arrived to class and he seemed particularly excited that morning.

"Guess what I'm gonna do today?" Jongin asked Sehun with a devious grin on his face.

"Don't know, don't want to know." Sehun rolled his eyes as he rested his chin on him arms.

Jongin sat on his table next to Sehun and stared at him.

"Oh Sehun, you smell weird."

Panic began to show in Sehun's eyes as he struggled to keep his calm. "What nonsense are you talking about, Jongin? Anyway, what are you going to do today?"

Jongin broke into a smirk as he told Sehun his plans for the day. He was planning to go over to Jimin's house to supposedly hangout and tutor her but he being him, of course had an ulterior motive to that. Sehun didn't know what to say to that, as always - he rarely voices out what he thinks and just go with what's going to happen. He simply nodded to Jongin's statement before turning his attention back to sleeping. Jongin, on the other hand, was determined that he could easily get Jimin head over heels for him in just an instant. He convinced her the previous night through a text that he wanted to hang out with her and the naive girl simply agreed.

The bell soon rang and students were rushing madly to their first lesson. As usual, school was a drag with boring lessons but nonetheless the students are working hard enough for their approaching year-end exams. Surprisingly, Hana who detested maths so much even tried her best to stay awake and actually got some things into her head. However, the teacher was pretty much a douche bag since he likes to pick on Hana to answer questions that he very well knows himself that Hana could never answer. It came to a point where he even made her utterly pissed.

"Hana, are you that dumb to not be able to answer such a simple question?"

The whole class froze as they turned their heads to stare at a dangerously quiet Hana.

Enough is enough.

Hana unknowingly snapped the pencil that was in her palm into half as she shot the man a hard look.

"If you're so damn smart then you wouldn't be teaching in a high school."

She got up from her seat and immediately went out of the classroom. She slammed the door shut, making sure that it was hard enough for some screws to be loose.

-

Sehun was immediately awakened when he heard the loud slam and looked around to see what had happened. His classmates too were confused as they were also looking around to find the source of the loud sound. A few seconds, later a girl walked pass with a pissed look her face and his classmates began to whisper to each other.

"Looks like someone has anger management issues." Jongin mocked.

"That's very mean, Jongin." Sehun blurted and Jongin couldn't help but to snap his head towards Sehun. He was surprised that Sehun replied to something that he would never bother to reply to.

"Sehun, you're so weird, today. Are you sick?"

Jongin pried his palm onto Sehun's head to so-called feel the temperature of Sehun's forehead but the latter slapped his arm in an instant.  Sehun gulped nervously and he shrugged his shoulders totally ignoring Jongin as pouted at Sehun's action.

"Wake me up when school ends, Sehun." Jongin yawned as he placed his head on his arms.

Sehun shook his head as he continued to fix his gaze out the window.

-

Hana however, decided to ditch the last period and snuck out of school. She wasn't working that day so she decided to spend some time at home probably surfing the net or watch some tv. It was around four in the evening when the main door of her apartment opened. Her sister stepped in and she was followed by a boy with a dark hair that was all too familiar to her.

"Unnie, I'm home!"

Hana stiffened as soon as she caught a glimpse of the boy that was behind her sister.

It was Jongin.

Hana immediately shot up from the sofa and dragged her sister to her room. Jongin stood rooted to the ground as he crossed his arms with a smirk.

This ought to be interesting.

Hana shut the door behind her and glared at the younger girl.

"Are you out of your mind?" Hana tried to keep her voice really calm though the anger in her was vigorously increasing.

"Unnie! Jongin oppa just wanted to hang out with me. Besides, oppa would never do such a thing. You're just over-reacting."

Hana stared at the girl in disbelief. How can the younger girl be so naive, she thought. She cooled herself down before convincing herself that her sister can take care of herself and that she shouldn't be bothered by it at all. Hana grabbed her cell phone and purse before she went out of her room.

Her sister was surprised by her sudden actions but she could only stand and look.

Hana was about to leave the house when Jongin stepped next to her whispering loud enough for the two of them to hear.

"Look forward to what I'm going to do to her, Hana." Jongin chuckled as he continued his way into the living room, lounging at the couch as if he's so used to the place already.

Hana gritted her teeth as she went out of the house, slamming the door shut.

Bastard.

Hana's mind was so preoccupied that she had been walking aimlessly around downtown for quite some time that she herself have no idea what time it was. The sky slowly darkened as the sun was slowly setting down the clear sky. Hana wasn't surprised that her feet brought her to her usual place. Her sanctuary - the old rundowned building. She decided that this time, she wanted to explore the building more so she looked and entered every room, carefully trying not to break anything. She was at the second floor when a particular room made her stay a little longer than when she was at another room. The room had a big mirror on the wall and a piano at the left corner of the room. Hana inched closer as she cautiously sat on the piano seat. She began to press a finger on one of the bars and was pleased when she heard a pleasant sound breaking the silence. The piano was working perfectly fine.

A little while wouldn't hurt much, would it?

Hana began to press a key then another and after a while she was already playing a tune with the wondrous instrument before her. She somehow felt really light and satisfying - a feeling long lost within her. The melody her ears as she began to sing a few lines to the song she was playing.

This moment feels like I was born as a child who knew nothing
I closed my eyes again in case it would be a dream
You were standing in front of my desperate self and praying
Just once, I want to walk side by side with you

 

Taken by the soft wind to your world
You asked me brightly where I came from to your side
And I told you that It was a secret
Wherever we walk together
Will be paradise

 

You are an eye-blinding entity compared to Michael
Who would remember you, I will not forgive it
Like the beginning when stepping into Eden
Believing you every day from the bottom of my heart

 

I always want to protect you
So that even the small things won’t tire you out, I’m eternally in love...

 

Eternally in love, how cliché, the girl thought. She never believed that true love ever existed. Sometimes she wouldn't even believe that there's such thing called love. Hana stood up from the seat and made her way out of the room. It wasn't time to be all sappy because of a mere love song. Hana went to find the stool that she hid the previous time she came but she couldn't find it. She searched high and low for it but still, she couldn't find it. That was until she found it hidden under an old cloak.

 

That's strange, I swear I didn't hide this stool under a cloak.

 

Hana decided to shrug it off and dragged the stool below the entrance to the roof. She pushed the door upwards and tugged onto the rope firmly. She pulled herself up easily and remembered to the close  the door. She shifted to her left as she tried to make herself comfortable. Hana admired the scene before her and somehow, the crease on her eyebrows that had been a permanent trait of Hana was now relaxed. She no longer have any angered or stressed expression as she really relaxed at the moment. Making a mental note to herself to not fall asleep on the rooftop again, Hana immediately went down from the rooftop right after sunset as she walked her way back heading downtown as that will eventually lead to her apartment. Hana dropped by the cafe that she worked at for a while to kill some time before she heads home and also to grab some coffee.

 

The sound of bells jiggling could be heard indicating that a customer has just entered.

 

"Welcome to The Grind! How may I- Hana?"

 

Hana looked up at the person who was behind the cashier and the side of her lips slightly tugged upwards. "Luhan."

 

The boy beamed brightly as he greeted the girl with such enthusiasm. Hana ordered a takeout but he insisted for her to stay and the girl though unwillingly agreed. He quickly made her order before delivering them to her. Since there weren't many customers and there were a lot of manpower that night, Luhan didn't have much work to do therefore he plopped to the seat in front of Hana, who seemed to be in a very deep thought.

 

"Hana? You alright?"

 

She immediately looked up and stiffly nodded. Although the boy didn't seem convinced he decided not to press any further and tried to engage a conversation with her.

 

"So you're only working on the weekends now? Because I don't see you on weekdays anymore."

 

Hana nodded. "Yeah, since exams are coming. But I'll resume my normal schedule once it's over."

 

Luhan nodded with a small smile. It seemed as if the girl's mind was somewhere else and it's just her physical state is present. Because the look in her eyes somewhat felt really empty and her pale complexion makes her face appear ghostlier. Luhan of course never failed to notice that about her. It had been a while he noticed her changing - to the worse that is. Seeing her change and being totally useless in restoring life back to the girl he care so much.

 

"Hana, I'll send you home, alright? My shift is ending soon." Luhan broke Hana's deep thoughts as he placed the girl's shoulder.

 

"No, Luhan it's okay, you don't have to." Hana replied flatly a she took the last sip from the drink.

 

"I insist, Hana. Besides, it's been a while since I last saw you." Luhan slightly patted the girl's shoulder with an assuring smile.

 

Hana sighed as she nodded. Luhan grinned and rushed to the staff room to grab his bag before dragging Hana out of the cafe. Luhan kept talking to lighten up the mood and occasionally ask questions which the girl would only nod to and sometimes reply but usually short replies. Seeing her willingly replying to him was satisfying enough to Luhan though it might mean nothing to Hana. Once they reached Hana's apartment, the two stopped walking and faced each other.

 

Hana had her hands in her pockets casually as she glanced at Luhan. The older boy smiled at her as he moved closer to her. He ruffled her hair and peered into her eyes.

 

"You sure you're alright, Hana? You know you can tell me anything, right?"

 

Hana nodded. "I'm fine. I know, Lu, I know."

 

Luhan was slightly surprised for the last time the girl called him by his nickname was months ago. He plastered a smile on his face and nodded.

 

He pulled the girl into his arms gently and her tensed back. Hana was taken aback by his sudden action but made no attempt to struggle. She relaxed her rigid body and slowly wrapped her arms around Luhan's waist.

 

"It's okay, dongsaeng, I'm always here.."

 

After a while, the two pulled off from each other and Luhan gestured for Hana enter the building. He waved at her as she nodded at him before disappearing into the lobby. Luhan sighed in relief as he watched her retreating back and turned to the opposite way to return to his house.

 

I just hope she's coping well even when I'm not around.