1. Morning Whispers and Puppy Eyes
The day started like a soft song.
Ha-joon walked into class with a sleepy grin, his bag slung over one shoulder, earbuds in, music playing something sad just because it matched his mood. But that mood? It shattered the second he saw her.
Hana was outside in the school yard, crouched low, giggling as she petted a tiny stray puppy that had somehow wandered onto campus. A group of first-year kids surrounded her like petals around a sunflower, laughing as she made little voices for the puppy, pretending it was a secret agent on a mission to steal lunchboxes.
Ha-joon leaned against the window, eyes soft.
> "She doesn't know it," he thought, "but she's like the morning light people forget to appreciate."
In class, she walked in still chuckling from her puppy encounter. Ha-joon tried to act normal, scribbling something random on his notebook. But Minho caught him staring again.
"Dude. Either confess or stop looking at her like you're filming a perfume ad."
Ha-joon: "Shut up, I'm busy being poetic."
Minho: "You're busy being pathetic."
The whole class burst out laughing.
---
2. Paper Planes and Hidden Hearts
Later that day, during a boring literature class, Hana passed Ha-joon a paper plane.
He caught it mid-flight and opened it, smiling at the messy doodle of a cat eating ramen, with a note: "Me rn. Dying of hunger. Save me with snacks, soldier."
He wrote back: "Roger that. Commander Ha-joon on a snack-saving mission."
After class, he brought her a warm sweet bun from the cafeteria and slipped it into her hand sneakily.
She grinned. "You're spoiling me."
Ha-joon leaned in, whispering near her ear. "You deserve better than this school's bread, but it's all I've got."
Her cheeks pinked. And just like that, the air felt warmer.
---
3. Storm at Night
That evening, Hana returned to something terrifying.
Shouts. Crashing plates. Tears.
Her aunt and uncle were at it again. But tonight, it was different. Angrier. Louder. Cruel.
"You should've never taken her in!"
"You agreed too! She was your sister's child!"
Then: silence.
When Hana ran into the house after hearing the noise, the place was empty. Doors open. Lights flickering. Like a storm had passed.
She stood frozen.
> "Gone... they really left..."
---
4. A Midnight Encounter
Panicked and confused, Hana ran out into the dim streets, barefoot and wild-eyed.
And that's when she saw him.
Ha-joon.
He was just coming back from the convenience store, bag of snacks in hand, earbuds in. But the moment he saw her, his expression shifted.
"Hana?! What happened?"
She walked to him slowly, shaking.
"They left. After fighting. Just... left."
He set his bag down. "Wait, what?"
She looked up, eyes not crying yet. Just heavy.
"They're not really my parents. I've known for years. But they think I don't. I pretend... because I thought maybe they'd stay if I just acted like their daughter. But tonight... they were fighting about me. Like I was a burden."
And then the tears came.
Ha-joon didn't hesitate. He wrapped his arms around her gently, like hugging sunlight. She shook against him, a storm trapped in silence.
> "If she is a galaxy of grief, then let me be her quiet moon," he thought.
"You're not a burden. Not to me. Never to me."
She chuckled through tears. "That was so cheesy."
"Yeah, well, I'm your cheese now."
She giggled again. That was all he needed.
They sat by the sidewalk, under a flickering lamppost. Ha-joon shared his snacks with her, and they talked about the stars and dumb teachers and whether clouds ever got jealous of birds.
Then she rested her head on his shoulder.
"I feel safe here," she whispered.
And he wanted to freeze that moment forever.
---
5. Brothers in (Almost) Arms
He dropped her back home, tucked her in with a soft, "I'll find them. Trust me."
On the way down the alley, fate threw in a plot twist: Si-hun.
"Looking for more pity points, lover boy?"
Ha-joon sighed. "Not now, Si-hun."
"No, now. Always now. What are you, her savior? You don't even know what she needs."
Ha-joon got up in his face. "And you do? You think watching her from a distance makes you the hero? Get real."
Si-hun shoved him. Ha-joon shoved back.
Then:
Sirens.
Police lights painted the street red and blue. Both boys froze mid-grapple.
"What do we have here?"
Instant switch up.
Si-hun: "Oh no, officer, we're just... play fighting. Besties, you know? Bros being bros."
Ha-joon: "Yeah! We were just practicing a scene. For theater club!"
Police: "Why does it look like he was about to punch you?"
Si-hun: "That's just how we show affection. It's very Gen Z. Very emotional."
The officer sighed. "You're both coming with us."
In the backseat of the police car:
Si-hun: "You owe me an ice cream after this."
Ha-joon: "Only if it's poison flavored."
---
6. Full Circle at the Station
Inside the police station, the last thing Ha-joon expected to see were them.
Hana's aunt and uncle, sitting across the room, looking like wrecked ships.
He walked up slowly.
"She's home. Crying. She thought you'd never come back."
They looked at him.
He softened. "You messed up. But it's not too late to try again. Not for her."
---
7. The Girl Who Pretended Not to Know
They returned home hours later.
Lights were off. Everything was still.
Then they saw her. Curled up on the couch. TV still playing. A cartoon rerun. She had cried herself to sleep.
Her aunt walked closer. Hana mumbled in her sleep.
"Please... don't leave... I was gonna be good tomorrow..."
Her uncle knelt down.
> "We thought she didn't know. But she knew... all along."
---
8. The Next Morning: Smiles in the Sunlight
Morning light painted the school in gold.
Ha-joon walked into class with messy hair and a hoodie that screamed "I didn't sleep."
Hana was back too.
And when she smiled at him, even for a second, all the worry melted.
She high-fived a little kid who passed by. Played paper-scissors-rock with a junior. Giggled like nothing ever hurt her.
> "She isn't made of glass. She's made of flowers that grow in ruins," Ha-joon thought.
At school, Ha-joon saw her again.
She was playing hopscotch with a kid, hair dancing in the breeze.
He leaned against the wall, smiling like an idiot.
> "She's made of morning. A kind of light people think they can live without until they lose it."
In class, they ended up as lab partners.
Biology was chaotic.
Hana: "If this frog jumps, I swear I'm haunting you."
Ha-joon: "I'll haunt you first."
She elbowed him, and he flinched dramatically. "Abuse!"
"Flirt!"
Teacher: "Both of you, out."
Together, laughing, they stepped into the hallway like rebels.
END OF EPISODE TEN