Emerald walked in, the room's discipline immediately reasserting itself as the strict Sir Hashim continued his three-hour marathon lecture on Design of Machine Elements—a brutal session involving complex engineering drawing and cursed mathematical equations.
Emerald slid into his seat beside Ananthu and Adhil. Though the lecture continued, his friends' eyes kept drifting back to him. Luke, from the back bench, finally whispered, "What's with the color? It looks awful, you know."
"Yahh. I think it do..." Emerald replied flatly.
The tension held as Sir Hashim finally finished his brain-melting lecture and departed. Everyone felt intellectually drained. Emerald stood up to leave for lunch.
"Out?" Ananthu asked. Emerald nodded and gestured for his friend to wait. Ananthu gathered their entire circle: Shanie, Albi, Goutham, and Nihal. Together with Emerald, they headed out of the campus gate.
As they walked, the buddies immediately began their assault on Emerald's new look.
"What's up with the hair color, bro?" Goutham asked, barely hiding his laughter.
"You look like shit, you know," Albi chimed in with friendly cruelty.
"I think he went to a crow meeting on the Christmas leave," Shanie joked.
Emerald rubbed the back of his neck, forcing a sigh. "Stop it, please. It's nothing like that. Hmmm, you wouldn't believe me even if I said what the real reason is."
"Real reason? Let's hear it then! And of course, we wanna know what did you eat to get jacked up like that! Last time you were as fit as me, now you're a f*cking main character in some fictional shit!" Ananthu pressed, gesturing wildly at Emerald's physique.
Emerald delivered Zinan's approved cover story with practiced detachment. "Well, it's trauma, you know, some mental shock. I just got hit with something pretty hard and it just turned white overnight. The body, too. It took time, though, but it was pretty unpleasant for me."
Predictably, the friends burst into roaring laughter. Emerald, accepting the fact that he was in a reality they could never touch, forced himself to join in, the sound feeling utterly foreign.
"I usually heard about it, but it's pretty weird," Goutham said, wiping a tear.
"Yeah, that's right! I've seen it in so many manga and movies. Thought it was fictional only. Guess it's the real thing," Albi marveled.
"No matter what, it's still crow sh*t for us," Nihal concluded, and they dissolved into fresh laughter. As they exited the campus, Emerald framed up a more digestible tale: he'd spent the holidays at a distant relative's place, got into a minor accident, and that explained the whole transformation.
"Where should we go?" Albi asked the others.
"Canteen or what?" Ananthu suggested.
"I prefer something light," Goutham said.
"Something heavy! After all, we got a production lab for the afternoon," Shanie replied. Nihal and Emerald gave the 'anything is good' sign.
"Chick Mick, I think it's a change," a young woman with blonde hair suddenly interjected, having clearly eavesdropped.
At the foreign sound, the entire group spun around. The moment Emerald saw her, a genuine shiver went down his spine. It was Eva Brown.
"Who are you?" Albi asked, startled.
"Me? Oh, that's right, you don't know me. Sorry for crashing your conversation. I'm Eva Brown, Emerald's fiancé."
"What the f*ck is that?" Goutham blurted out.
Emerald's composure instantly fractured, his composure fighting the urge to scream. "It's nothing! She is my cousin, a distant one at it, you know what I mean! I spent my vacation at her place, I just told you guys! Her mother is German, that's why she got the blonde hair!" He had spewed far too much contradictory nonsense in one introduction.
"But fiancé is something else, I think. I can't remember it, but I'm pretty sure I know the word," Albi insisted, his engineering mind trying to define the new variable.
"What's she doing here anyway?" Shanie asked Emerald, suspicious.
"Well, I just wanted to see Emerald's college since I was here by the way. After all, I'm free with so much time," Eva replied with an easy smile.
"We were going to head for some lunch. Would you like to join us?" Ananthu tried his luck, using his most elegant tone. Eva was foreign, a "green flag," and being Emerald's "cousin" meant he had an in.
"Yeah, I'd love to! I saw a restaurant at the city. Why don't we go there? I will treat, so don't worry," Eva instantly won them over with the promise of a free, fancy meal.
"How are we supposed to get there?" Nihal asked practically.
"I got a car," Eva replied simply.
"Well, it looks like I have something to discuss with her in private. Would you guys get the car? We will meet at the front gate," Emerald interjected, pushing his friends toward the gate. They just nodded dumbly, accepting the car key Eva handed them.
As they watched their friends leave, Eva turned to him with a smirk. "What is it, big boy?"
"Why the f*ck are you here, Eva?"
"Did you forget?"
"Nah, I didn't. But isn't that supposed to be watching over, not walking over?"
"How do I know where you are by just watching over you? And people take me for some stalker if I do that. I thought this is better."
"It's no use to debate with you."
"Smart boy."
"What's with the fiancé thing?"
"It's good to add some spice to that appearance of yours."
"I'm down in the dumps with this hair, now your fiancé sh*t! You think it's a joke to taunt me like some stray dog?"
"Just forget it." Emerald, defeated, walked toward the front gate with Eva. Students who saw them were stunned: a foreign blonde, and the new guy in the uniform with the white hair. Emerald stood at the gate, already feeling the collective gaze of the campus trying to devour him.
"Can I ask you something?" Emerald asked Eva quietly.
"What is it?"
"What car did you bring?"
"One from Genna's estate."
"What the f*ck! Don't tell me it's something flashy."
"I don't think it's a flashy one."
"Which car is it?"
"Wait and see."
Meanwhile, in the parking lot:
"Hey Goutham, try the key," Albi instructed.
"But how do we know which car it is?" Goutham asked, holding the key.
"What are you smoking? Check the logo on the key," Nihal scoffed. Goutham pulled the key out of his pocket and checked the emblem.
"It's a Volvo," Ananthu confirmed.
They walked around and quickly spotted the car—already surrounded by a cluster of car enthusiasts. A guy from the group noticed Goutham and called him over.
"Whose car do you think it is?" the guy asked.
"It's Emerald's," Goutham replied proudly.
"Huh? You mean, the silent guy from your batch?"
"Yeah, to be clear, it's his cousin's. She came over here to see his college."
"She's a foreigner!" Ananthu added.
To show off, Goutham pressed the unlock button. The crowd stepped back as the lights flashed on the sleek vehicle. After staring at the car for a moment, Ananthu gasped, "It's a f*cking XC90!"
Albi, his brain still whirring from the earlier encounter, suddenly shouted the meaning of the confusing word. "I just got over that fiancé!"
"Ain't that meant distant cousin?" Nihal asked.
"No, man, where did you even learn English? Fiancé stands for the woman or man you're getting married to!"
"He is getting married to such a beauty!" Shanie exclaimed.
"At this age!" Nihal added in disbelief.
"No wonder bro went sh*t-headed!" Ananthu finished, finally making sense of the chaos.
"Aside that, does anyone in here ever drove an XC90?" Goutham asked, looking at the high-end SUV. They all gave him a blank look.
Ananthu, gathering some bravado, slammed the car door shut. "Whatever happens, happens."
(To be continued)