Weeks later...

The bell rang, and everyone immediately stood up from their seats after completing the test. Jin Hua had just finished hers, so she exited with the rest of the rookie cadets, only for a couple of bullies to pull her away to a dark corner where the CCTV cameras couldn't see them hurting her. 

With one punch after another, each rib in her body began to crack bit by bit, until they heard Warp's voice offering to pay for everyone's lunches at Cosmos diner; Which got their attention to leave her off the hook.

Jin Hua watches them leave before she slowly stands up to walk out of the dark corner when a rib, unexpectedly, pokes her lungs; Causing her to collapse onto the floor in pain: '妈的，这次他们可把我害惨了.' 

٭𝙳𝚊𝚖𝚗, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚊 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚎.٭ translated in English by DeepTranslate.

She grunted but managed to stand and lean against the wall, watching everyone board the bus. As Jin Hua observed the preparations, a familiar guy rushed over, shouting, "WAIT! We're missing one more cadet!"

The bus driver halted, raising an eyebrow in confusion, but her question was answered when he caught Jin Hua's eye through the Academy window. She offered a gentle wave and mouthed 'hello.' He smiled and waved back, then pointed at the bus, silently asking if she was coming.

Surprised that someone was inviting her to come, Jin Hua felt her heart flutter but hesitated to respond. Just then, a sharp pain in her rib caused her to hiss under her breath. She froze, turning away to hide her discomfort. 

Despite wanting to join the guy she had met weeks ago on the bus, Jin Hua had no choice but to decline the opportunity.

Her reasons?

Because she didn't want anyone to get involved with her problems. 

So in turn, Jin Hua moved away from the wall and turned to face the window where the guy was downstairs near the bus stop, and with a heavy heart and guilt, she shook her head and used her hand to tell him that he could go by himself.

The guy's smile falters but he sadly nods and waves goodbye before entering the bus.

Once the bus was gone, Jin Hua collapsed.

Time skip~ Doctor's Office.

"What about my ribs? Will it be ok to do the interview test?" She asked but hissed when the doctor was checking on her ribs with a scanner to X-ray them and this was not the first time it happened; More like the sixth time of Jin Hua.

The doctor sighed as he removed his stethoscope. "Jinny, I believe in your stability in overcoming challenges and your commitment to your training, but please focus on your health, or I'll have to consider postponing the interview test."

Jin Hua gasps in disbelief at the news.

"You can't do that," She continues, "Doctor, I need to go to this interview test, it's very important today and I can't allow you to stop me." 

"Then will you listen to my suggestion to discuss these bullying incidents with the principal?"

Jin Hua's eyes widened with frustration and desperation. "Talk to the principal?" she scoffs with her arms crossed. "Do you really think that will help? The school system always brushes it off!" 

She shifted uncomfortably on the examination table, pain flaring in her ribs as the doctor leaned in his chair with his expression softening at the rookie cadet's words.

"I understand your frustration, Jinny." He explains, "But ignoring the issue won't make it disappear. So I urge you again to take care of yourself properly."

Jin Hua remained silent, letting out a sigh of relief as the doctor turned to his desk to write. Staring down at her lap, she noticed the time on her wristwatch.

She was going to be late for her interview with Commander Nebula, so she fidgeted with her Space Ranger uniform as she patiently waited for the doctor to give her medicine receipt to null the pain in her ribs. 

Worriedly, she tells him, "Look, thanks, but I'm going to be late for the interview test, so 再见. And thanks for the medicine!" 

٭𝙱𝚢𝚎.* Translated by DeepTranslate 2.

She rushes out of the office, leaving the doctor to sigh in defeat.

At Star Command Headquarters...

Commander Nebula impatiently awaited the introduction of the top rookie from Space Ranger Academy, a woman. While in his office handling an overwhelming amount of contract paperwork, Jin Hua came in just in time before he could say, "You're late, cadet!"

"Sorry sir, traffic kept me." She apologizes before saluting him.

He made a 'hrmph' sound before he began interviewing her.

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Commander Nebula dismissed her from his office, assuring her she'd receive his response by next month. She thanked him and left Star Command, greeted by the setting sun.

Jin Hua felt everything was going just right when she got a text from her oldest brother, saying:

Superior Ten Rings: 

-祝你好运，希望你今晚有空视频聊天，我们都很想你！🫠🙃-

* 𝙶𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚕𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞!٭

This made her giggle before texting back in the "*ASIAN SIBLINGS ASSEMBLE*" group chat, saying: 

 Can we speak English here for a while? 

:(Jin Hua) Lady of the House

Superior Ten Rings 👨🏻‍💼(Jin Fugui): 

No, we should all speak Mandarin-

Luigi 👨🏻‍⚕️(Jin Shi): 

Oh c'mon, Fugui! *eye roll* You just responded in English. So, respect our sister's wishes, and besides, she's in space for crying out loud! Let her be.

Middle child (Jin Gang): 

PLUS she's living there because of 'you-know-what'. But maybe if we were there, we can help out and bring our wives to be away from our parents too!

Brooklyn Ninety-Nine👮🏻‍♂️(Michael Jin): 

I'm concerned that I'll have to arrest you all if you guys think of going to space illegally.

Iron Man👨🏻‍💻(Jin Haibo):

So scared! *fake scared emoji*

Falcon🧑🏻‍✈️ (Jin Cai):

So scared!

Horsey Champion🏇🏻 (Jin Dai):

So scared!

LOL *sends a GIF of laughing*

:(Jin Hua) Lady of the House

While texting them back, Jin Hua hears the bus arriving as she heads to the stop for her mechanic shop. During the ride, she texts her brothers about her day. They support her until she mentions a guy who waited for her earlier, sparking a flurry of questions in the chat.

**EVERYONE TYPING....**

Superior Ten Rings 👨🏻‍💼(Jin Fugui):

Oh? A "guy"? Details, sis! We need names, and maybe his credentials to know if he is smart.

Luigi 👨🏻‍⚕️(Jin Shi):

Right?! Is he cute? What does he do? Is he alien or human?

Human. Which rare to meet here, mostly everyone are aliens with human behavior.

:(Jin Hua) Lady of the House

Middle child (Jin Gang):

I swear, if he's some loser who works as a cop and comes back to play video games all night, I'm taking a space flight just to kick his butt!

Brooklyn Ninety-Nine 👮🏻‍♂️(Michael Jin):

Dude, all police officers are not losers, you know! I mean, we've got me over here.

Iron Man 👨🏻‍💻(Jin Haibo):

Yeah, Michael. Just because you were disowned, doesn't mean you should cast shade on the rest.

Falcon 🧑🏻‍✈️(Jin Cai):

Takes one to know one, but what happened with this guy, huh? Did he give you his number?

Not yet! He just sorta... stood there outside of the Space Ranger Academy, waiting for me to come join him to eat at a diner with the other rookie cadets. I had no choice but to decline him.

:(Jin Hua) Lady of the House

Horsey Champion 🏇🏻 (Jin Dai):

Decline?? Aiya, Jin Hua! You're better than that! You should've gone full boss mode on him—make him wish he had walked over to ask for your number first!

Haha! Easy for you to say; that you're not the one stuck with other people who hate you. Besides, what if he was just being polite?

:(Jin Hua) Lady of the House

Superior Ten Rings 👨🏻‍💼(Jin Fugui):

Polite? Or totally into you?! There's a difference. Come on, you gotta read the room!

Luigi 👨🏻‍⚕️(Jin Shi):

I mean, living in space or getting asked out by a guy? Which is it?

Middle child (Jin Gang):

Yeah, let's be real. Guys usually don't get nervous around a girl, they flirt at you, and BOOM! They take you out on a date.

Yeah... anyway, I gtg and head to work. Love you all,

:(Jin Hua) Lady of the House

She ended the chat upon arriving at her mechanic shop, where she noticed someone waiting through the window and exited the bus to watch it leave. With a heavy sigh, Jin Hua approached a human male in a space ranger uniform and tapped his shoulder, immediately recognizing him.

He turns around to reveal his description, and he widens his eyes as he is about to say something, but before he can, in an instant, Jin Hua decides to pretend she doesn't know him.

"Excuse me, sir, but do you mind moving out of the way? I'll need to open the shop." Jin Hua tells him, causing him to widen his eyes in shock and quickly move aside, only to be taken aback when she approaches him from behind.

Once she opened the door, the guy was astonished by the impeccable and stunning interior of the place. 

He nearly lost himself in her features just like weeks ago, but then Jin Hua's voice brought him back to reality: "Anything you need in the shop?" 

"W-Well, I wanted to know if you had any rocket ship parts or knew me, I MEAN!"  He coughed nervously, "Anything about adding parts to a science project, yeah hehe..." 

The space ranger watched as she opened her workshop, mentally slapping himself in the forehead while cursing at how dumb he sounded: 'Blasted, I just made a fool out of myself.' His thoughts were interrupted by a slight chuckle from the Chinese American woman in front of him.

"Of course, sir," Jin Hua replied. "You've come to the right place! You'll need some of my original parts. I made these bad boys myself!" 

The guy awed at them and smiled, "You made these? You look pretty amazing---I uh, mean the parts! The parts for the science project!" 

"T-Thank you, um... let me get them for you." Blushing awkwardly, she opens the door to reveal 300 handmade parts, and the Space Ranger nervously smiles as he watches her work. "Here you go!"

"T-Thank you." 

He expresses his gratitude by collecting the parts, paying, and starting to leave when he pauses to hear her say, "Sorry..." 

Turning back in confusion, he questions, "What for?"

"I'm sorry for not accepting your invitation to join you on the bus earlier," Jin Hua says, her cheeks flushing. "I was busy with my interview." 

He is taken aback by her apology for something so trivial, which makes him feel guilty. "H-Hey, no need to apologize," he reassures her. "You were busy, and that's perfectly fine; it happens to me often."

"Really?" she asked, her curiosity piqued as she realized that her excitement got exposed and controlled herself by fiddling with a wrench in her hands to calm her nerves, "I mean, don't you ever feel like you miss out on things? Opportunities to connect with others?"

He scratched the back of his head, contemplating her words. "I m-mean, sure. L-Like, every day is filled with choices, right? But sometimes I get so caught up in my studies that... w-well, I forget to stop and, you know, I never lived a little."

Jin Hua studied him intently, her expression softening. 

"Training to be a Space Ranger can be overwhelming; I've had tests that consumed my life too. But," she paused, a thoughtful smile emerging, "it's important to embrace life now and then. And to be frank, I didn't want to seem too eager to come because I thought I made a bad impression on you."

The Space Ranger raised an eyebrow, surprised by her answer, "S-Seriously?"

She nods bashfully.

"Well!" He clears his throat, nervously scratching the back of his neck before he continues, "I-I guess that makes both of us, hehehe..." 

Jin Hua seemed confused by this, and tilted her head, "Huh? What do you mean?" 

"Uh, I guess you wouldn't believe it if I said this but... i-it w-was a-actually my first time in asking someone out. S-So don't feel guilty about not accepting it."

They both stared in shock before suddenly bursting into laughter. "Wait, let me get this straight," Jin Hua wheezed, "You've never asked anyone out before? I get that you study a lot, but you're friends with Warp—surely you had time to date!"

He sweatdrops and nervously smiles.

"Uh well, you see...I wasn't fully interested in that...t-that is until I met you."

Once he said those words, Jin Hua stopped laughing, she couldn't help but stare at him in shock, her heart began fluttering, and felt her face turning red again, as well as her cheeks heating up like a freshly soldered circuit. 

"Y-You mean that?" she stammered, her voice barely above a whisper, the wrench slipping from her fingers and clattering to the floor.

The Space Ranger's eyes widened, realizing what he had just said. "I-I mean, uh, I just—" he fumbled, his heart racing as he tried to backtrack. "I-I didn't mean to put you on the spot or anything! I just thought you were, um, really cool and, uh, well, I—"

Jin Hua took a step closer, going from surprise to a shy smile. "No, no, it's okay! I just... I didn't expect you to say that." She looked down for a second, her hair falling over her face, and then they both went quiet.

This time, when their eyes met, it wasn't awkward. It felt like there was a connection like they were connected by some delicate thread. Jin Hua's heart was beating faster as she took another step closer, feeling the warmth radiating from him.

"Y-You really think I'm cool?" she asked, her voice a mixture of disbelief and delight.

The Space Ranger nodded fervently, his cheeks flushing a deep shade of crimson. "Absolutely! I mean, look at what you do! You create amazing parts for rockets and stuff! That's incredible!"

Jin Hua chuckled softly, her confidence flickering back to life. "Well, it's just what I love. I never thought it would impress anyone."

"Impress? You've blown my mind!" he exclaimed, his enthusiasm bubbling over. "I can barely fix my own hoverboard, and here you are, crafting rocket parts like it's nothing!"

She smiled shyly, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Thanks. It's just... I guess I've spent so much time focused on my work that I didn't realize how much I wanted to connect with someone. It's refreshing."

The Space Ranger's heart swelled at her words. "Yeah, I get that. I've been so caught up in my training that I forgot how nice it is to just talk to someone."

They shared a moment of silence, both lost in their thoughts until Jin Hua broke it with a playful grin. "So, what's your name, rookie Space Ranger?"

"Oh, yeah! I'm Buzz Lightyear," he said, smiling a bit sheepishly as he shook her hand. "Jin Hua," she replied, shaking his hand firmly, a spark of electricity passing between them. "Nice to officially meet you, Buzz."

"Likewise," he replied. He paused, then added, "So, um, do you think maybe we could... hang out sometime? Like, outside of the shop and class?"

Her heart soared at the suggestion: "I'd like that! We could grab something to snack on."

"Sounds great!" Buzz's face lit up, and his nervousness melted away as they kept chatting. They started to feel more comfortable with each other, and Jin Hua found herself laughing more easily. 

Buzz also seemed less nervous, and he got more excited as they talked. They realized it was easy to connect because they had the same interests. 

The mechanic shop, which had just been a workplace for Jin Hua, turned into a lively space filled with laughter and new friendships—or maybe something more.

"Hey, if we're doing this 'hangout' thing, how about we set a date?" Buzz asked.

"Absolutely! How about tomorrow after I close up?" she suggested, her heart racing at the thought of spending more time with him.

"Perfect! I'll bring some Star Command books to study!" he said, grinning widely.

"Deal!" she replied, unable to hide her excitement.

As they exchanged numbers, a sense of expectation hung in the air, both of them eager to explore this newfound connection. With a final smile and a wave, Buzz stepped out of the shop, leaving Jin Hua with a fluttering heart and a hopeful mind.

"Tomorrow," she whispered to herself, her cheeks still warm from their conversation. "I can't wait."

And as Buzz left, the door of the Mechanic shop closed up.

Little did they know that they would see each other again in the future...