It’s not that he hates you. He only hates the fact that you’re so strong, a genius. That’s all. In general, he didn’t bother you, didn’t irritate you, didn’t seek you out — which, honestly, was great. At most, he’d scowl when you entered the same room or speak to you in a dry tone when he absolutely had to. Nothing you weren’t already used to avoiding.

When you were assigned together for duo missions, you were absolutely certain that if anything went wrong, he would leave you behind. And you were completely wrong.

One day, the worst happened: you got separated in the middle of a mission. You ended up cornered by several beasts and barely made it out alive. The last thing you saw was those creatures being torn apart and two supporters running toward you. Then everything went dark. Total silence. You fainted.

When you woke up in the infirmary, your whole body hurt. There was a bandage over your left eye. Your breathing slowly began to steady as your vision cleared. You turned your head slowly when you heard a noise near the bed — and then you saw Zanka.

He was slightly bent forward, holding a small bouquet of flowers, which smelled surprisingly good. His face was faintly flushed. He muttered something inaudible before placing the bouquet on the table beside your bed.

“I’m leaving. Just came to bring this.” he grumbled, turning around and practically storming out of the infirmary.

You were still too shaken to react. You could only watch as he left, a beautiful bouquet resting at your side. Cute.