In the same way, Akash and Dhruv solve all the questions together.
As soon as the exam ends, Dhruv stretches his body, lowers his face, and says,
"Finally, it's over."
Akash replies,
"Yes, it's over and look, the time is almost up too."
Dhruv says to Akash,
"The questions were really terrifying. I don't know how you managed to solve them."
Akash smiles and says,
"They weren't that difficult. You just had to use a little intelligence."
Dhruv holds his head and says,
"Yeah, yeah, they were easy only for you. For me, they were like mountains standing in the middle of my path. You're a strange person, honestly. You don't score well in school subjects, yet you're so intelligent in everything else."
Akash then says,
"I'm not interested in school subjects, so marks don't matter to me, and that's why I don't get them. But what about you? What's your reason?"
Dhruv stammers and says,
"I… I'm not interested either."
Akash responds,
"Yeah, yeah, same thing."
Then Dhruv asks,
"Are you teasing me?"
Akash says,
"No, no, my friend."
Just then, the time ends and the bell rings.
Aditya says,
"Alright, alright, time is over now. Please submit your answer sheets."
Hearing this, the students in the class start laughing, talking, and submitting their answer sheets.
"Man, it was so easy."
"Yeah, I thought it would be really tough. It was like a children's game."
"Hey, you should thank me. I told you, you'd just need to memorize things and it would be easy."
"Yeah, you were right."
"I thought it would be as difficult as a surgical operation exam, but it was like a test for little kids."
"Yes, you're right. I was scared for nothing."
Hearing all this, those four start laughing among themselves.
Then Ayush speaks,
"This happiness will disappear the same way a shadow vanishes in darkness."
Hearing that, they start laughing.
Mehak says,
"Wow, what a line. You don't usually say things like that."
Ayush replies,
"It just came out this once."
Both of them smile.
Dhruv says to Akash,
"I'm thinking about how difficult the next stage will be."
Hearing this, Akash says,
"Don't worry, brother. We'll cross that too, together."
Akash is still speaking when his eyes once again fall on that girl. She looks at Akash, and the moment she realizes he's looking, she turns away. Then Akash says to Dhruv,
"Listen, will you do something?"
Dhruv asks,
"What do you want me to do?"
"Can you see that girl in front?" Akash asks.
"There are a lot of girls in front… wait, but why are you asking? Don't tell me you've fallen in love?" Dhruv says with a smile.
Akash replies with a neutral face,
"No, it's not that."
Dhruv laughs and says,
"You give us so much wisdom about how love brings weakness, and here you are doing things quietly."
Akash smiles and says,
"Nothing like that. Stop talking nonsense and look at that girl—the one with fair skin, deep black hair, sitting on the first bench of the second row."
Dhruv says,
"Yes, I see her. Man, she's really beautiful. Her name is Aaradhya. You know, a lot of boys have tried to confess to her over the past few years, but she hasn't said yes to anyone. Handsome boys, rich boys, all kinds of boys. She'd be perfect for you. She's excellent in studies, sports, and other things too. She could become my sister-in-law. But honestly, you're a strange guy. You focus on weird, deep, big ideas, and I've heard girls don't really like guys like that. Anyway, it's your choice. Do whatever you want."
After this, Akash looks at Dhruv and says,
"Tell me one thing."
Dhruv asks,
"What?"
Akash asks calmly,
"Did I ask you all that?"
Dhruv replies,
"No."
Akash says,
"Then why did you tell me all of that who she is, what she's like, how many people proposed to her, how she is in studies and sports? When did I ask you? And what kind of logic is this that I'm a bit different and girls don't like that?"
Dhruv places his hand on his head and laughs,
"I was just saying it casually."
Then Akash says,
"I'm going to get up and walk out of the classroom. You watch how long she keeps looking at me. Then I'll come back in, and you tell me."
Dhruv says,
"Alright, go ahead."
After that, Akash gets up and starts walking outside, thinking, Let's see what she does. After some time, he comes back inside, thinking, Now we'll know.
A little later, Akash says to Dhruv,
"Dhruv! Dhruv! Dhruv!"
Dhruv suddenly responds,
"Yes, yes!"
Akash asks,
"Where were you lost? Anyway, forget that. Tell me how long did she look?"
Dhruv, extremely shocked, widens his eyes and says quietly to Akash,
"I was watching. You know, when you got up and walked out, she kept looking at you for a while. Then suddenly she turned toward me, smiled, and gestured with her hand as if saying, 'Now you'll come inside, and I'll watch her watching you.' How did she know? We were talking so quietly."
Akash suddenly says,
"What?! What are you saying? Don't joke with me."
Saying this, he turns toward the girl and sees her resting her face on one hand, smiling, and looking straight at Akash.