Hana storms up the stairs to her apartment. Behind its door, she can hear muffled shouting and yelling.

Hana stiffens. What havoc is Kai wreaking?

She scrambles to retrieve her key from her pocket, jams it in the lock, and pushes open the door.

Sehun and Kai are lounging on the sofa, watching the television screen avidly. Empty bags of Lays potato chips are strewn all over the ground, along with discarded candy wrappers, a takeout box from McDonald’s, and various other pieces of trash.

    “What took you so long?” Kai asks Hana, his eyes glued to the TV. “You have to do something really urgent. Go to the store and buy us ice cream.”

    “Julia Lipnitskaia is a goddess!” Sehun exclaims, shoveling a Twix bar in his mouth. “Look at her spins.”

    Hana crosses her arms angrily. “You made me rush home just to buy you guys ice cream?”

    “Hana, why can’t you skate like Julia Lipnitskaia? She’s only 15 but she’s so great! Step up your game.” Sehun tells his sister, who proceeds to walk over to him and smack him upside the head with an empty fries container.

    “Hana, get the ice cream, or else you’ll be sorry.” Kai whines, causing Hana to grimace.

    “No, Kai, I am not getting you ice cream. You know what? I’ve had enough of this.” Hana marches in front of Sehun and Kai and blocks their view of the screen. The boys hiss in indignation. “I’m not moving away from the TV until you two clean up this mess. What is this, a pigsty? God!”

    Grumbling, Sehun and Kai reluctantly comply with Hana’s orders. “Is she this bossy at school?” Sehun asks his best friend as he picks up crumbs off the floor.

    “You have no idea,” Kai responds, shaking his head. Hana throws him a vile look.

    “So how was your day today?” Sehun questions Hana. “Did you kill anyone?”

    “Shut up, Sedumb,” Hana scoffs. “I did not. All I did today was find out about some teacher-student tennis tournament.”

    Kai lets out a loud, long cackle. Hana and Sehun turn to him in appallment.

“Ooh, the teacher-student tournament, huh? You know I’ll be participating in that too, right?” Kai smirks.      

Hana rolls her eyes. “Uh, yeah. You’re Professor Kim’s partner.”

“That’s right.” Kai rubs his hands in excitement. “You heard about the teacher-student tournament, right? How teachers get viciously mauled every year?”

Sehun shoots up. “What?! Hana, I forbid you to participate!”

“Calm down, you idiot.” Kai tells his best friend. “It’s a tradition.”

“Tradition or no tradition, I don’t want to pay for Hana’s hospital bills! Plus, if she breaks a limb, I’ll have to cook for her and stuff...,” Sehun shudders.

Hana laughs. “I’ll be fine,” she assures her big brother. “Besides, I’m pretty good at tennis. I can kick serious .”

“Au contraire, mon frere,” Kai clucks, wagging his finger. “I’ve won every tennis tournament I’ve participated in. Plus, this is a great chance for me to earn extra money.”

Hana’s heart sinks. Of course. Numerous students will wish to pay Kai to peg her with tennis balls. Even if Hana someone prevents Kai from doing so, the other kids won’t hesitate to wreck her.

“At least I have a good partner. I heard he’s a real gentleman. He’ll protect me,” Hana informs Kai, crossing her arms.

He snickers. “Oh, really? Who is it?”

Hana rubs her chin. “Er... his name was... Kim something. Oh! It was Kim Suho.”

All of a sudden, the entire atmosphere of the room seems to plummet 20 degrees. The teasing, humorous expression playing on Kai’s features disappears, replaced by a chilling stare.

“No,” he whispers in an eerily hushed tone. “No. You’re lying. It can’t be Kim Suho.”

“I’m pretty sure it was Kim Suho...,” Hana says slowly, looking at Kai cautiously. She is bewildered by his abrupt change in tone.

Sehun straightens up. “What’s wrong with this Kim Suho guy?”

Kai ignores him and strides towards Hana in swift, forceful steps. “You cannot play in the teacher-student tournament, do you hear me?” Kai snarls, his voice rising rapidly. He clamps his hands down on her shoulders. “You can’t play with Kim Suho! Quit the tournament!” '

“Jongin, let go!” Hana struggles to detach herself from Kai's iron grip, but to no avail. “What is wrong with you?”

“Kai, what are you doing?” Sehun places his hand’s on Kai’s arms in an attempt to push him away.

“If you don’t quit... I’ll do it. I’ll really do it.” Kai tells Hana, his voice shaking. Hana immediately knows what Kai is referring to. Sehun, however, is completely lost.

“Do what?” he asks confusedly.

Kai and Hana freeze.

You could tell Sehun right now, a voice in Hana’s head urges. Everything will be over. You won’t have to succumb to Kai’s whims and demands anymore.

Then a louder voice reminds her, But he’ll expose you.

Hana’s eyes dart to Sehun. “Kai’s just afraid that I’m going to beat him,” she coughs, not meeting his inquiring gaze. “I thought you wanted me to get hurt in the tournament, Kai.”

“You know what, Hana? Fine. Play in the tournament with Kim Suho.” Kai spits out the man’s name like it is soured milk. The next moment he has shrugged Sehun off of him and stormed to the door.

“We’re still dancing in next week’s contest,” Kai calls to Sehun before he slams the door closed with a bang!

There is absolute silence in the Oh’s apartment. Only the sound of the Olympic judges on television cuts through the air.

“Amazing passion behind her skating... but her technique is rather ineffective,” a smooth-toned commentator remarks.

“Sehun, why are you friends with him? He’s so bipolar and crazy!” Hana finally demands. Her voice is unnaturally high-pitched.

Hana’s brother sinks down to the couch.

“Something’s not right here,” Sehun says slowly. “Kai was fine a few moments ago. But why did he suddenly turn all angry? He doesn’t get that way unless someone’s talking about- no, that can’t be it...,”

“He’s a psycho,” Hana fumes. “A completely crazy psycho!” And she turns on her heel and stalks away to her bedroom.

Kai and Hana have been completely ignoring each other for the past few weeks. To Hana’s relief, Kai has not acted on his threat to reveal her age to the school. As the date of the teacher-student tournament, more and more teachers are mysteriously disappearing from school, claiming they have “family emergencies” or “special teaching seminars”. Hana does not join them (although she is a little nervous about getting her limbs violently dismembered by a tennis ball).

There is something about the dramatic way Kai reacted to her tennis partner that compels her to remain in the tournament.

    So when the day of the tennis tournament rolls around a few weeks later, Hana is eager to meet Kim Suho.

    The enormous tennis center is bustling with action by 8 AM the next Saturday. Tennis players are seated in shady corners as regular students approach them, covertly slipping them pieces of paper. There is no question as to what that is about. Ball boys arrange cans of unopened tennis balls on the podium while water boys fill large, 15-gallon top coolers with icy water. A cool breeze blows through the air. Although it is late November, the weather is uncharacteristically nice. The high temperature for today is predicted to be around 18 degrees Celsius, with clear skies and sunny weather.

    Hana sits on the corner of the metal bleachers, dangling her legs over the side. She is dressed in a sleeveless dry-fit tennis top and matching tennis skirt. It’s been years since Hana wore this uniform; she had to dig them out of her wardrobe. Maybe she didn’t put them on correctly or something... that might explain why everyone is looking at her.

    “Hana! Is that you?” Professor Dae walks over to her, waving. “Aww, you look like a little tennis doll!”

    “Wait, do I look too much like a student?” Hana asks nervously, shooting up. “I didn’t make an effort to put on makeup or anything today, but is my age too obvious-,"

    “Oh, don’t worry. Just let loose for a day.” Professor Dae is about to say something else, but she is cut off by a band of rowdy boys advancing towards them. A familiar face stands at the head of the pack.

    “Hey, babe. I've never seen you around.” Kris swaggers towards Hana. “The name’s Kris. I’m on the varsity tennis team. But tennis balls aren’t the only thing I can slap.” He gives her a flirtatious wink that nearly makes Hana puke.

    “Well, well, Mr. Wu. I didn’t know your inappropriate behavior reached out of the classroom as well,” she tells him in a curt tone. Kris’s face blanches.

    “You- wha- Professor Oh?” he splutters, lurching backwards. His friends’ jaws drop. “I am so, so sorry. I- I didn’t recognize you-,” Kris abruptly clamps his mouth shut after Hana throws him an evil glare.

    “I’ll see you on the courts, Kris,” she says in a low voice. “You’d better be prepared.”

    And after bidding goodbye to Professor Dae, Hana pushes past Kris.

She should probably go find her tennis partner right now.

A/N: Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been really stressed with school... I'm trying to maintain all 97+ in my classes but so freaking harddd. Argh I just really need a break from school...