CHAPTER 14- Why?
702 Words
The next few days became strangely irritating.
Not because Danish argued with her more.
Actually—
he argued less.
Which somehow felt worse.
During lectures, he focused on notes.
During lab sessions, he only discussed assignments.
Even their usual pointless arguments became shorter.
“You’re quiet today.”
Hana looked up from her laptop during discussion session.
Danish continued typing calmly.
“I’m working.”
“You always work.”
No response.
Hana narrowed her eyes slightly.
Okay.
Definitely weird.
Across the room, Mira slowly looked between both of them like someone watching live drama.
Then suddenly—
“Hana!”
Another voice interrupted.
Faiz walked toward their table carrying several printed papers.
“I found last semester’s report. You wanted it, right?”
“Oh ya, thank you.”
Hana smiled gratefully while taking the papers from him.
Beside her — silence.
Again.
Faiz pulled another chair casually.
“You joining us for dinner later?”
“Maybe. Depends on assignment.”
“You always say maybe.”
“Because engineering controls my life now.”
“That’s true.”
Faiz laughed before continuing to chat casually with her.
Mostly complaining about lecturers.
Campus food.
Submission week.
Normal university suffering.
But halfway through the conversation—
“Hana.”
She looked toward Danish immediately.
“What?”
“You calculated this part wrongly.”
She frowned.
“No I didn’t.”
“You did.”
“I checked already.”
Danish turned the paper toward her before pointing at one section.
“You forgot negative sign.”
Silence.
Hana stared at the equation.
“…Astaghfirullah.”
Wrong indeed.
Faiz laughed immediately.
“Engineering really bullying you huh?”
“She’s careless,” Danish replied flatly.
Excuse me?
Hana immediately glared at him.
“You didn’t have to expose me publicly.”
“You exposed yourself academically.”
“That sentence itself is violence.”
For the first time that day—
Danish almost smiled again.
Almost.
Then suddenly his phone vibrated on the table.
A message preview appeared briefly across the screen.
Sara:
Don’t forget dinner tonight :)
Hana accidentally saw it.
And strangely—
something inside her chest felt uncomfortable for one second.
Small.
Very small.
Then immediately disappeared.
Normal.
Completely normal.
Because obviously Sara and Danish talked often.
They were friends.
Mature adults.
Civilized human beings.
Unlike engineering students.
Unfortunately—
before Hana could continue her internal peace process, Mira suddenly entered the discussion room dramatically.
“Hana! Alya said cafeteria got free ice cream today.”
“Free?”
“Yes.”
“Why are we still here then?”
Hana immediately started packing her things.
Priorities.
Meanwhile Danish finally looked up from his laptop.
“You’re leaving?”
“There’s free food.”
“That’s your reason?”
“That’s the best reason.”
Faiz laughed again before standing up too.
“Come, let’s go before everything finishes.”
“YES.”
But just as Hana started walking away—
she suddenly noticed Danish becoming quiet again.
Not angry.
Not cold.
Just …
withdrawn.
Like earlier during futsal night.
And suddenly—
something clicked.
Oh.
OH.
Hana slowly turned back toward him suspiciously.
“Wait.”
Danish looked up calmly.
“What?”
“You were irritated because of Faiz.”
Silence.
Complete silence.
Across the room, Mira froze dramatically.
Faiz blinked.
Danish stared at Hana like she had just spoken another language.
Then finally—
“That’s ridiculous.”
Hana narrowed her eyes proudly.
“Aha.”
“There is no aha.”
“There’s definitely aha.”
“You’re overthinking.”
“You became emotionally hostile the moment he sat here.”
“I did not.”
“You literally attacked my calculations.”
“Because they were wrong.”
“That’s not the point.”
For one dangerous second—
their eyes locked properly.
Then suddenly—
Faiz burst into laughter first.
“Bro.”
Danish looked deeply tired now.
Meanwhile Mira covered her face dramatically.
“Oh my. This engineering faculty is becoming a drama series.”
But Hana continued staring suspiciously at Danish.
Because for the very first time—
she suddenly wondered something dangerous.
What if Mira was right after all?
- Writer
