"For Sirin, what he ordered, and for the two of us, cold coffee and red sauce pasta, which has been your favorite from the beginning," Mrigank said as he sat down on the bench.

"You like it more than I do, so don’t add it under my name," Anmay said with a laugh.

Mrigank: "Forget all that, and tell me, how did you spend your days in Dehradun?"

"Nothing special, a little bit of studying and a lot of wandering around. In Dehradun, time just flies. I didn’t even realize when my solitude came to an end," Anmay said, putting a little extra emphasis on the word ‘solitude’ as he glanced towards Sirin to catch his reaction, only to find Sirin busy on his phone.

"Yeah, that’s true. Here, life just follows a set routine," Mrigank sighed, pretending to be sad.

"And since when did you become so time-bound?" Sirin said, still glued to his phone.

"That’s exactly what I was thinking," Anmay nodded in agreement.

"Both of you have teamed up again," Mrigank said with mock anger.

"I’m heading to the library now. You two carry on," Sirin said, putting his bag on his shoulder.

"Best of luck. I pray to God that you break your world record soon," Mrigank said, giving a thumbs-up.

"World record? What world record?" Sirin asked in confusion.

"For reading all the books in the world in three years," Mrigank said, laughing, and Anmay joined in with a nod of agreement.

"Then you could also break a record—for never setting foot in the college library even after enrolling," Sirin responded in the same playful tone.

"I’ll come with you. This way, I’ll at least find out where the library is," Anmay said, standing up instantly.

"Oh no, I’ll show you later. Right now, let’s have one more ice cream," Mrigank grabbed Anmay's hand and made him sit back down on the bench. "You go ahead, or you’ll be late for setting your record," Mrigank waved at Sirin, who started walking toward the library.

"I’ll take coconut-flavored ice cream. What about you?" Mrigank asked.

"Anything is fine," Anmay sighed deeply.

Anmay watched Mrigank walk away, then turned his gaze towards the direction Sirin had gone.

“What kind of guy is he, always lost in his own world? He never shows any interest in anything, and barely speaks, giving measured responses to every question." The soft sunlight touched Anmay’s face as he pondered. Sirin’s calm and quiet demeanor puzzled him. "Maybe he seems like that because he’s so different from Mrigank and me," Anmay thought, answering his own question.

"Here’s your ice cream," Mrigank returned, snapping Anmay out of his thoughts.

"Come on, let’s head to the library now. We’ll apply for your library card as well," Mrigank said, and Anmay stood up, ready to follow.