Ruka remembered how flustered and jumpy she had been when they first met. To think, she had gone from that to missing him even though they had only been apart for less than a day. Now, the idea of being together with him did not seem half as scary as not having him in her life at all.
She wanted to text him, but she didn’t want to bother him at this hour, knowing that he was probably working. At that moment, she pulled up their photos, taken while they were strolling around while window shopping.
She zoomed in on the photos and memorized his features through her screen. Gradually, a blush crept up her cheeks, and a strange heat coursed through her as her heartbeat quickened. Unbidden, the memory of his lips on hers, fiery and demanding, flooded her mind.
She burrowed into the covers, blushing madly, and decided that it was dangerous to dwell on the thought for too long.
The next morning, she went to work carlier than usual. She was reinvigorated after a weekend’s worth of rest, but lightning struck when she walked into the office and realized that the results of their last assessment were released.
She hurriedly searched for her name on the list, and her heart plunged to her stomach when she saw that she had failed. She wasn’t sure if Victoria’s outward dislike toward her was the sole cause of this, or if the results were based on actual discrepancies in the materials she submitted.
“Ah! I passed!” Michelle exclaimed happily, clapping her hands over her mouth in disbelief.
“Me, too! Did anyone fail to make it?” Inara looked up and swept her gaze smugly over the others in the department. She grew suspicious when she caught the uneasy look on Ruka’s face, and she called out bluntly, “Hey, Ruka. Please tell me you’ve passed! This is just the first assessment, for goodness’ sake.”
At once, everyone turned to look at her. Caspian was the only one who showed her any sympathy while the rest eyed her condescendingly.
They were all thinking that this was what she deserved for pulling strings to get into the department. In any case, the assessment only proved that she had no right to be here save for her connections, otherwise she would not have failed.
Ruka took the onslaught of judgment in stride and nodded. ‘Yeah, I guess I just need to work harder.”
“And if you fail that one, you might as well forget about the rest of the assessment,” Inara pointed out sardonically. She was never one to hold back on her candor, though it would help if she didn’t have such a sharp tongue. “If I were you, I’d pack up and go home right now before I embarrass myself any further.”
“Can’t you just shut up for two seconds, Inara?” Caspian snapped, frowning.
“Why?! Are we all treading on eggshells around Ruka now? You know I’m right,” Inara argued, then scoffed as she dragged Michelle out the door with her.
Caspian heaved a long sigh after those girls left, and he addressed Ruka curiously, “I don’t know why you failed when you worked twice as hard as everyone else. Could something have gone wrong along the way?”
Ruka pursed her lips and forced out a smile as she said, “Just bad luck, I guess.”
In truth, she was a little bitter over this. She had done all her research and submitted all relevant materials for the assessment, confident that she would pass.
It was lunchtime at the cafeteria when Ruka turned into the hallway, only to accidentally bump into someone. She looked up to see that it was none other than Victoria, who shot her a cold glare before brushing past her.
