Chapter 26

“I’m about to take the grad school entrance exam. Help me organize the prep materials—I’ll need them in about three weeks!”

Where did Russell even get the audacity to ask her for help, when he was the first one who had urged her to apologize to Mia?

Luna lifted her gaze slightly. “I don’t have time,”

Russell, visibly irritated at being rejected, raised his voice and said, “How could you not have time? You’re no longer working with Professor Hanley, you don’t have heavy coursework, and you’re not taking part in any school competitions. It won’t even take that much effort to organize the materials!”

Luna chuckled at how entitled he sounded. “If it really doesn’t take much time, get someone else to do it. I simply don’t want to help.”

She’d already been kind enough not to turn him down right away. But if Russell insisted on humiliating himself, then she didn’t mind helping him along.

Luna figured she was still too soft-hearted. That needed to change when dealing with people like Russell.

“You were willing to help Kevin, but not me?” Russell suddenly shouted. “We’re both your seniors. Why are you playing favorites?”

Luna was tempted to ask him if he truly didn’t know why she was unwilling. But when she saw the twisted, indignant look on Russell’s face, she suddenly lost her interest in arguing.

Still, since he’d mentioned Kevin…

A faint smile appeared on Luna’s face. “If I remember correctly, you and Kevin study the same major, right? I prepared a set of materials for him back then. Why don’t you ask him for it?”

Then, she let go of the snacks she was holding. “I deserve no reward because I didn’t help. You can take this back.”

This time, Luna didn’t give Russell a chance to respond. She simply turned and disappeared into the crowd.

She could bet anything that Kevin would never share the materials. Though the five of them seemed like a team, they were constantly competing behind the scenes. In truth, everyone just wanted to win Professor Hanley’s favor. After all, they were still in school. No one could say for sure what kind of job they’d land after graduation. So, the more impressive they looked now, the more resources they could receive, and the higher they would climb in the future.

Kevin might seem aloof and carefree, but when it came to his future, he was more calculating than anyone. He was terrified of being overshadowed. Back then, Luna had been so naive. She’d never even considered the practicality and had simply poured her heart into helping every single one of them.

At that moment, more and more people were passing by back and forth at the dorm entrance. After being rejected, Russell felt thoroughly humiliated and had no desire to chase after Luna again.

He couldn’t figure out the reason Luna rejected him. After all, he had already humbled himself and tried to coax her! Even if they hadn’t helped her recently, she shouldn’t still be mad after all this time!

This was not the first time, was it? Every time, Luna was the one who had apologized first and tried to make amends. So, why had things changed? Was she jealous of Mia? Was that the reason she was still angry at all of them? If so, Russell fumed in frustration. If Luna really refused to prepare the materials for him, he might really have to ask Kevin for help. That was just petty, especially since she was clearly the one in the wrong.

Even if he got over the embarrassment of asking, the material was from a year ago, and would Kevin even be willing to share? The exam question bank would’ve probably been updated by now. Surely…

Russell headed back, his face dark with frustration. Despite the rejection, deep down, he still wanted to get Luna to do it for him. In the worst case, he’d just try coaxing her a few more times. After all, she was soft-hearted and valued relationships. She’d never want to stay on bad terms with them for long.

While Russell was still strategizing how to win Luna over, Ethan had already returned to the lab.

As soon as he stepped in, Mia came over and asked, “Did Luna accept the snacks?”

“Relax. Wyatt bought them. She’d never dare refuse.” Ethan’s tone was full of scorn.

A flicker of malice flashed across Mia’s eyes. “So did she agree to help Russell prepare the materials too?”