As his boss requested earlier, Harris brought several documents of nutritionist job applicants to Vijendra. The man was now busy reviewing a few of the nutritionist candidates’ files for placement in one of the company’s branches. He really needed the role of a nutritionist to support the food production development in the company. It was not just about producing food. OkNak was a company that manufactured canned foods, ready-to-eat meals, snacks, and carbonated milk beverages to be exported abroad. There were already three countries that had partnerships with OkNak.

“Why are you looking for a nutritionist, Vijendra?”

While Vijendra was busy reviewing the applicants’ files and proposals from the marketing team, Adam’s voice echoed through the silence of the office. Vijendra didn’t respond much; he was too focused on flipping through the papers, then turned his eyes to his laptop to verify the actual data submitted by the marketing team.

“Are you looking for a nutritionist candidate just to find that girl?”

Instantly, Vijendra’s hand stopped moving. His cold stare was directed at Adam—who sat so casually in front of him, eating ice cream—Vijendra exhaled slowly. If Adam hadn’t been his father’s blood relative, he would’ve fired him right there.

“Can you stop talking about Kanaya all the time? She and I were just a story from high school.”

“Yeah, right. A high school story titled The Wild Girl and the Stone Prince. The wild girl who kept chasing after her cold prince,” Adam mocked.

“Bro, have you ever been hit with a pot full of hot water before?!” Vijendra’s eyes narrowed, anger filling his thoughts. Adam really knew how to test his patience and emotions.

“If hot water hit my face, I wouldn’t be handsome anymore. You’d better throw money at me instead—that’d be nicer.”

“Shut up!” Vijendra snapped, his patience completely gone.

“Whoa, chill, bro!” Adam flinched slightly at the outburst, but didn’t care much. He simply adjusted his sitting position and continued enjoying spoonful after spoonful of his ice cream.

Vijendra let out a heavy sigh. Sharing an office with Adam always made his blood pressure rise. He had thought that after suffering through years of school with him, he would never see Adam again. But fate decided otherwise—they ended up working in the same company.

“Come to think of it, I really admire that wild girl’s persistence. Can’t believe she kept chasing an ugly guy like you,” Adam teased, successfully making Vijendra throw a pen at him.

Luckily, Adam quickly dodged to the left, avoiding the flying pen. Instead of apologizing, he grinned at Vijendra, who could only mutter prayers under his breath at his cousin’s behavior.

“You’ve been grumpy all the time lately. You’ll get old faster, you know!”

Vijendra couldn’t take it anymore. He got up from his chair and stormed out of his private office to get away from Adam. After this, he planned to report Adam’s performance to his father—or better yet, request for Adam to be transferred to another branch.

“Damn it! Adam really gets on my nerves. Instead of working, he just sits around doing nothing,” Vijendra grumbled as he walked through the office corridor.

His irritation still lingered in his mind. He didn’t even realize that his steps had led him toward the interview hall for the nutritionist candidates. For some reason, he remembered the silhouette of someone he saw earlier that morning—someone who looked exactly like Kanaya. Once again, Vijendra’s mind brought back the image of that girl.

Vijendra quickly snapped out of it and turned around, ready to leave. However, when he spun his body, he accidentally bumped into someone, causing the person to fall to the floor.

“I’m sorry, please forgive me, Miss,” Vijendra said as he reached out to help the girl up.

The girl accepted his help. Her head remained bowed, her long hair covering her face as her hand gently patted her skirt, brushing off any dust that might have stuck from the fall.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you earlier,” Vijendra said again.

The girl lifted her head and tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. Vijendra frowned, waiting to see who he had accidentally bumped into and curious about her face. His eyes widened in shock as he recognized the girl. Both of them stared at each other, equally surprised.

No words came out of their mouths when they realized they knew each other. They just stood still, staring silently while old memories rushed back. Their eyes reflected sadness—one holding onto an unfulfilled hope, the other weighed down by an unspoken regret.

They kept gazing at each other until time itself seemed to stop. Then, the girl broke the eye contact. She bowed politely to Vijendra, assuming he held a high position in the company—judging from his formal suit and the expensive watch on his wrist.

“It’s been a while, Kanaya. How have you been?” Vijendra realized he had been staring too long at the girl who used to be the loud troublemaker at school, quietly admiring her presence.

The prayer he had whispered for years—to meet her again—had finally been answered. A quiet happiness slipped into his heart as he saw Kanaya’s face once more, the girl who had once existed and lingered in his high school story.

The corners of her lips curved upward, forming a small smile. That made Vijendra blink twice. Her smile was still the same—still addictive to look at.

“Sorry, who are you?” Her eyes seemed to search and think, trying to remember something, until... “Ah, Vijendra, right? Hi, I’m good.”

The happiness inside Vijendra slowly faded. The smile that had appeared earlier turned bitter. There was something different about her—her tone of voice sounded unfamiliar.

“Let’s talk later, okay? I’m already late, sorry. See you!”

Kanaya quickly left, while Vijendra remained frozen in place. His head turned, following the direction she walked—toward the interview hall for the nutritionist candidates. Countless questions began to spin in his mind. Fragments of their past flashed briefly before him.

“She’s back. We met again after being apart for so long, yet... I feel like we’ve become strangers,” Vijendra whispered softly, his lips curling into a faint smile.