CHAPTER 3 - Engineering Faculty’s Golden Boy
523 Words
“Don’t touch the resistor yet.”
That was the first thing Danish said the next morning.
Not good morning.
Not assalamualaikum.
Straight instructions.
Hana stared at him with immediate judgement.
“You know basic manners exist, right?”
Danish adjusted the circuit board calmly.
“You were about to connect it wrongly.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You were.”
“…Okay maybe slightly.”
The engineering lab buzzed loudly around them with students moving between workstations and equipment.
Most of the girls from other departments looked visibly uncomfortable inside the overwhelmingly male environment.
Meanwhile Hana stood there half-awake after surviving on vending machine coffee and crackers.
Danish looked painfully prepared beside her.
Neatly arranged files.
Perfect notes.
Proper stationery.
Even his calculator looked expensive.
Suspicious behavior.
“You judge people a lot in your head, don’t you?” Danish suddenly asked.
Hana blinked.
“…Maybe.”
“I can tell.”
“How?”
“You keep staring at me like I personally ruined your life.”
“That depends. Did you?”
For the first time—
he laughed softly.
A real laugh.
Hana froze for half a second.
Oh.
So he actually knew how to smile.
Dangerous information.
Their lecturer suddenly approached their table.
“You two will handle voltage testing.”
Danish nodded calmly.
Hana silently prepared for death.
For the next hour, Danish explained circuits with frustrating patience while Hana tried understanding without embarrassing herself.
“Why do engineering symbols look emotionally stressful?” she muttered.
“They’re just symbols.”
“They look aggressive.”
Danish stared at her for a moment.
“You say strange things.”
“You look like someone who enjoys Excel sheets.”
“That’s offensive.”
Hana grinned proudly.
Several nearby students kept glancing toward them repeatedly.
More specifically—
toward Hana.
Engineering faculty did not have many girls.
Especially girls confident enough to argue with Danish without fear.
Whispers spread quietly around the lab.
“That’s the transfer student?”
“She’s pretty.”
“Danish actually talks to her?”
Danish’s expression changed slightly.
Not angry.
Just colder somehow.
Interesting.
After lab session ended, Hana carried several heavy reference books while walking back toward the hostel alone.
The evening breeze moved softly through campus pathways while students gathered near the cafeteria after Asar prayer.
For the first time since entering university, Hana felt something unfamiliar.
Maybe…
she could survive here after all.
Her phone suddenly rang.
Mak.
Hana smiled immediately before answering.
“Assalamualaikum.”
“Waalaikumsalam. Have you eaten?”
“Not yet.”
“Don’t keep eating instant noodles every night.”
Hana laughed softly.
Then while adjusting the heavy books in her arms—
someone suddenly took them from her.
She turned quickly.
Danish.
Again.
“What are you doing?”
“You walk too slowly carrying all this.”
“I can carry them myself.”
“You almost dropped one earlier.”
Hana opened her mouth to argue.
But before she could—
her mother’s voice suddenly spoke loudly through the phone speaker.
“Who’s that boy?”
Hana nearly stopped breathing.
- Writer
