Concentrating on chopping some onions, Hana didn’t even notice that someone entered the room. She was alone at the home economics room-where every student learns how to cook and bake-trying to make a new recipe for their subject. “What are you doing here all by yourself?”

She turned around quickly upon hearing that familiar voice. Jaehyun was staring at her with a smile on his face. “Ah, me? I’m just trying to make a new recipe for our class” she replied. “Mmmm” he nodded then walked towards her. Kai’s words came to her in an instant and she took a step back. Kai warned her about talking or being with Jaehyun.

Jaehyun noticed Hana’s actions and he stopped. “Is there a problem?” he asked with a quizzical expression. Is she suspecting me? His brows furrowed when she did not give an answer. He slightly chuckled as he pocketed his hands. “Am I making you uncomfortable right now? If that’s the case, I should go now then”

Hana shook her head. “No. You’re not making me uncomfortable”

He smiled brightly. “Then, is there something that I could do to help you?”

She was thinking deeply. Jaehyun doesn’t look like a bad guy…but…she knows that not all bad guys look like one. Some may look like innocent people but not inside. She wanted to verify if Jaehyun’s a person to be afraid of. “Do you know how to chop carrots?” she asked, pointing at the carrot.

After some minutes of awkward silence, Hana thought that it would be better if she would come up with something to talk about. She cleared then reached for another onion to chop. The first thing that came to her mind was to ask him about his family-what kind of people does he have. “Do you have siblings? I bet they look like you” she started off with a chuckle, trying to make the atmosphere better.

Jaehyun suddenly paused for a second when he heard that. Hana noticed it. He resumed then slightly shook his head. “I don’t have siblings”

“Ah, I see”

“I don’t have any memory about my family either…I don’t even know if I have a family to start with” he continued with a dry chuckle. Hana noticed how his facial expression changed. She thought that they have the same situation. She, too, doesn’t have any idea about her parents. Jaehyun looked at her then forced a smile. “Sorry for telling you such sad thing”

She shook her head immediately. “It’s okay. I know how that feels anyway. I, too, don’t have any idea about who my parents are. I just never knew them”

“It’s nice to know that someone understands me. It’s the first time” he stated, continuing what he was doing.

“But…did you live alone before coming here, in this school?” she asked curiously. He transferred the chop carrots on a bowl then took another one and started chopping. “Someone took me in. He found me on the streets when I was in the verge of dying. Let’s see…I think I was 13 then? He gave me the things that I needed to survive” he replied, not taking his gaze on what he was chopping.

She felt a sudden tug inside her. She thought that Jaehyun’s situation was far off worse than hers. At least she did not experience what he went through. A sudden feeling of pity came to her. “How did you survive being alone before he took you in?”

Her curiosity was pushing her to ask such questions. “I stole things from anywhere just to live. I tried to work just to earn some penny to buy something to eat”

She regretted asking that to him. He went through such hardships and she thought that it must’ve been hard reminiscing about it. “Why, did I just move you with my sad story?” Jaehyun jokingly asked when he noticed that Hana was very quiet. His bright smile returned as he put down the knife on the chopping board. He wiped his hands then pushed her forehead with his index finger. “Don’t frown. You’ll look ugly. It’s all in the past so it’s okay. What matters is now and the future” he commented before continuing with his chopping.

She thought that he would feel bad if she will feel sorry for him. She nodded then smiled. “You’re right. You must be thankful to have met such a nice man to take you in”

Upon hearing that, Jaehyun felt something very weird. “Ah!” he exclaimed, automatically dropping the knife and his thumb which was bleeding. “Are you alright?” she asked, looking at Jaehyun with a surprised expression. He nodded then put his hand under the tap, letting the blood be washed off by the flowing water. “I’m okay. It’s just a small cut” he replied, wiping the water off with his apron.

“Let me see” she said before grabbing his hand. “Be thankful that it’s not that deep” she continued as she pulled a band aid from her pocket. Jaehyun was staring down at her as she carefully put the band aid on his thumb. Nice man? Will you still describe him as a nice man if you found out his plans? How can you be so clueless and be nice to me when Kai already warned you? Why?

“There” she chirped as she finished putting the band aid. He looked away immediately when their eyes met each other. “Thanks” he said, holding his hand awkwardly.

Hana continued cooking while Jaehyun was watching her. You’ve failed on eliminating her on those two situations so go to that school and get her to your side. Gain her trust. Befriend her and then bring her to me. She will be our ultimate weapon if you succeed. The voice of the old man echoed in Jaehyun’s mind as he was staring at Hana who was concentrating on cooking.

“Finished~” she chirped as she tasted the food that she cooked. Jaehyun approved of her cooking and that made her even happier. She put the food on two lunch boxes in a hurry after she saw the time on the clock which was hanging on the wall.

“Here” she said, handing Jaehyun one of the lunch boxes. “Huh?” he absentmindedly asked. “This is yours. You helped me so this is yours” she explained. He reached for the lunch box then looked at Hana who was busily cleaning the counter. As she finished cleaning, she got the other lunch box then told him that she needs to go.

Jaehyun just nodded then looked at her as she rushed out of the room. He looked at the lunch box that he was holding. It was the first time that someone gave him such thing. It felt weird.

What is wrong with me? Snap out of it, Jaehyun. Don’t get swayed…or you’ll die.

Taeyeon entered the classroom and there was an instant silence. She looked around then cleared . “Teacher TOP is not present today because of some personal reasons so someone will be in-charge of your Alice Training for two days. Have a nice day~” she announced before leaving the room, bowing at the man who was standing outside the room.

Kai grunted when he heard. He hated the idea of having someone taking over. The last time that GD came as a substitute teacher gave him a severe headache. He wanted to just live peacefully. He was about to sleep when he saw their supposed to be substitute teacher.

He felt his heart pounding very fast. The students started to murmur things to each other. Kyungsoo looked at Kai who was totally taken by surprise. A good looking middle-aged man stood before the class with a slight smile which really made him more handsome. “I’ll be your Alice Training teacher for two days. My name is Kim Jonghoon” he introduced himself while looking at the students. As he met eyes with Kai, Kai looked away immediately.

Hana looked at Kai who was behaving oddly.

“Okay” she heard their teacher exclaimed as he clapped his hands. “Should we go to the Training Hall?”

“Yes!” the students replied in unison.

Walking to the Training Hall with Kai was very awkward because of his odd behaviour. Kyungsoo, understanding the situation, dragged Sehun, L and Woohyun along with him. Sehun already sensed that something’s wrong so he helped Kyungsoo on dragging the noisy Woohyun.

Kai stopped walking, making Hana turn to him. “Sorry, I’m not feeling well. I’m not going to join you. Is it okay with you?” Kai asked. Puzzled, Hana just nodded. “I will be okay. If you’re not feeling well, go on and take a rest”

He nodded then turned his back on her, walking away. She knew something’s going on.

At the Training Hall, Hana just sat on the bench-watching everyone training. Jonghoon walked towards her then sat beside her. “I see your partner’s not here. How could he just leave you alone?” he sighed. “He’s not feeling well so he’s taking a rest” Hana replied.

“I see. I wonder if I did the wrong decision of coming here. I wonder if he’s not feeling well because of me” he mumbled, looking at his clasped hands. Hana looked at him, brows furrowed. “Pardon?”

Jonghoon shook his head then smiled. “Nothing. I’ll ask someone to train with you for the mean time” he replied then stood. He asked Kyungsoo to be her temporary partner. Training with Kyungsoo was comfortable.

During their short break, Kyungsoo and Hana sat on the bench. Hana couldn’t take her eyes off of their teacher, intrigued by what he just muttered a while back. “He’s Kai’s father” Kyungsoo told her. She immediately turned to Kyungsoo. “What? Kai’s father?”

He nodded before drinking water from his bottle. Now, she understands why Kai’s behaving oddly. She remembered one of Kai’s stories of him not having a good relationship with his father because of what happened to his mother. Kai have been blaming himself for what happened years ago. The guilt that he had been planting inside his heart pushed him to push his own father and sister away, hoping that he would not hurt them.

The way that Jonghoon’s expression changed a while back came to her mind. He looked sad and hurt that his own son was pushing him away.

“I see…” she sighed.

The cold night breeze made Kai shiver. He sighed as he leaned on his back. The sad expression on his father’s face when he turned to him after reporting to the police came to his mind. His father told him that it was not his fault but the fear of hurting anyone with his Alice forced him to push others away. He was afraid by the mere thought of hurting his father or his sister. His father’s sudden appearance just took him by surprise.

“I see you’re not feeling well because your father, out of nowhere, appeared in front of