Again?

17

Dear Examinees,

We regret to inform you that we have discovered an error in the grading system of the recent nursing license exam. Due to this error, many of the results issued were incorrect.

We deeply apologize for any distress or inconvenience this may have caused. To ensure the accuracy of your results, we kindly ask you to recheck your exam score by clicking on the link below.

Thank you for your understanding and patience as we work to resolve this issue. Please do not hesitate to contact our support team if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Tokyo Nursing License Center

I just legit stared at my phone for a good 10 minutes, re-reading every single word in there. 

WHAT THE HELL

"Oh my goodness," I exhaled, literally on the verge of tears.

Yeah, very good. You should definitely give this notice literally a couple of days before the reexamination.

This can't be happening, I thought. My hands shook as I clicked the link provided. Carefully, I typed in all my registration and symbol numbers and then waited for the new results to load.

OFFICIAL RESULT

PASS

I stood up abruptly, my phone slipping from my grasp and landing on the floor. "No," I whispered, my voice rising into a scream. "NO!"

I covered my mouth, trying to contain all the happiness I had inside me. "Noway, noway, noway, NOWAY."

"(Y/N)? What's with the loud noise? What happened?" I heard my mother shouting from downstairs.

"MOM!" I yelled back, unable to keep the excitement out of my voice. "Come upstairs! Quickly!"

I heard her footsteps rushing up the stairs. She burst into my room, eyes wide. She looked confused and concerned. 

Oh boy, your daughter has some news to share.

"What is it? What's going on?"

I pointed to the phone on the floor, tears streaming down my face. "I passed, Mom. . ."

She picked up the phone, and read the result. "We are sorry for causing misinformation about the results." she read some lengthy line of the apology. 

Then she looked at me, her eyes softening.

"They done almost ruined almost everyone's career there," she said quietly, before breaking into a smile. "You did it." she hugged me tightly, and I hugged her back, feeling the weight of all the stress and uncertainty lift off my shoulders.

Wow. Luck is really with me because I honestly wrote garbage on that exam.

This was the happiest I had felt in a long time, especially after that incident a couple of weeks ago that had made me question everything. All the incidents. 

 Now, I can really start over. 

***

The entire day passed and I was sitting on my chair, like most of the time. I was writing all the things I was going to do.

Before the License Center decided to surprise all of us, I had a few plans for myself. That was to give the reexamination, but fortunately for me, I didn't have to do that. And other goals of mine are to...

a) Leave this country.

b) Continue my master's at one of the universities in Canada.

c) And forget the existence of the jujutsu world along with him.

I took a deep breath.

Well, the last one's kinda hard. . . . but I did survive all these days.

I looked out the window, my gaze drifting to the balcony. It had become my refuge, a place where I often found myself waiting, hoping for a certain someone to show up.

I took a deep breath and stepped outside. The cool evening breeze brushed against my skin, and I closed my eyes, letting the coolness of the moment wash over me.

 I leaned on the railing.

"Maybe one day," I whispered to myself. "Maybe one day, I'll finally be able to let go."

Because if I leave this country then maybe I can finally move on and not let him find me like he said.  

No matter what, to overcome that, I have to work out all my plans. It might take some time but I am ready to do it with no regret of course.

So, here I am doing everything. Not going outside so that I won't bump into him or any other person, focusing on myself and my studies, making sure all my paperwork is also done and just being careful enough.

I still hope—just hope that he comes here to see how I'm doing. Is that too much to ask?

I sighed. "Seems like it is," I told myself. 

My phone rang just when I went back in. I frown at the unknown number.

"Hello?" 

"Yeah (L/N)? What's up, woman?"

I rolled my eyes at the sound of one of my classmates. "My blood pressure, what about you though?"

She laughed, and a smile tugged at my lips. "Mine was too until I saw my new results."

"You had failed too?"

"Yeah, I was shocked, ya know. I am the top student."

I rolled my eyes at her statement. Way to rub it on my face. 

"Anyway," she continued, "a bunch of us are planning a small party since we all passed. It's kind of like a farewell and good luck for the future. You in?"

"I don't think so," I replied.

"Come on, we're not going to see each other much after this," she begged.

I don't wanna go, is what I have been saying. No going out. That was the rule. But. . .

"The host will pay for the shit, hehe."

"Oh, you say free foods?" I scratched my head as I thought for a while. "Okay, fine. It might not be that bad."

I mean, it's free food. 

"Great!" she exclaimed. "I'll send you the address. The party's tomorrow evening at the Riverside Club."

"Alright." I hung up. Even though I agreed.

Something feels off.