Days passed, but nothing at Hell University ever truly settled. Instead, everything shifted—subtly, dangerously, like a game constantly changing its rules without warning.
And in the middle of it all, Zein's presence beside Ace did not go unnoticed. Wherever they went, whispers followed.
Conversations paused. Eyes lingered longer than they should have.
"She's always with him now."
"Why her?"
"She doesn't even look scared…"
Zein ignored it all.
Or at least—
She appeared to.
But she noticed the stares.
The judgment.
The quiet resentment building in the air like a storm waiting to break.
Still, she didn't step away from her position.
She didn't ask Ace for help.
She didn't show discomfort.
Because weakness was not something she allowed herself.
One evening, as she organized files in his office, she spoke without looking at him.
"You enjoy this, don't you?"
Ace didn't look up. "Enjoy what?"
"The attention," she said calmly. "The control."
A pause.
Then—
"I don't enjoy it," he replied.
"I maintain it."
Zein glanced at him briefly, her expression unreadable.
"That sounds the same."
"It's not," he said quietly.
Another silence followed, but it felt different this time—less like tension, more like understanding
slowly forming between two people who refused to admit it.