It takes a while to fit something new into a routine. There is that whole cognitive process of forcing yourself to do it every time, and then gradually, you subconsciously do it on your own. 

Ishaan however, did not struggle with this at all. It was easy for him to remember to visit Yu-jun's class, and the two of them would do their best to sneak out at lunch and avoid the crowds. With the help of Ishaan, someone who was essentially skilled at avoiding that sort of thing, Yu-jun found more moments of peace and quiet, and more time to work on his own projects.

"Wanna go check out a cat cafe?" It was a sunny afternoon, and the two of them were walking down the street after a tough study session. Clouds striated the sky above them, and the sun peeked through the stratus clouds in a warm gradient. The wind was slowly becoming the chilly breeze of autumn, and the ground was littered with dead, crunchy leaves. The buildings were a bit vintage, old, but well-maintained. The paw-shaped sign had caught Ishaan's eye, and he turned to Yu-jun to see if he was also interested.

"Well," Yu-jun sighed, his breath condensating, "I think I've got time. Why not?" His cashmere scarf blew in the wind alongside his hair. Parts of the sunset reflected onto his eye, and he checked his watch. "Yeah, I'll do it."

They stepped into the tall, brick-walled building. A fuzzy cat tree tower stood in another room further back, and a registration desk in the front greeted them. A mice plush, potentially the work of a cat, sat in the corner of the room. The place was pretty much spick and span, besides that one mouse toy. That thought was rather amusing to Yu-jun. 

The employee popped up from behind the desk. "Oh sorry, we were just starting to close up," he sighed. "I'm really, really sorry. We'll be open tomorrow at around 8 AM, if that's okay." 

Ishaan wouldn't have felt as embarrassed as he did if Yu-jun hadn't been with him, and if he hadn't purposely suggested to go in. Despite this, he felt that he ought to apologize for it. "Sorry, sir, I should have read the sign. I'll, uh, see if I can come back tomorrow!"

The two left glumly, but not before catching a glimpse of a tuxedo cat, who had made its entrance, and was most likely the culprit behind the misplaced mouse toy. With that, the bell jingled on their way out after a few "aww"s. 

"I'm really sorry, I should've checked," Ishaan rambled. "I just, well-"

"It's okay." Yu-jun was already quite satisfied with the quick glimpse of the tuxedo cat, and he smiled under his scarf. "We can visit something else instead." With that, they headed back to the direction they had come from.

Things had changed between the two of them. The awkward exchange they had shared that day had strengthened their bond. Both were rather pleased that neither had hated each other, and now, they were spending time together. However, there was still distance and boundaries they had both set;  thus, they were close, but of course not that close. 

Their footsteps made crunching noises in the leaves. The wind continued to blow softly, and the two enjoyed the silence, both of them having moments of reflection. 

Yu-jun spoke up all of a sudden. "What if we went to an arcade?"

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Flashing, neon lights floated everywhere. Loud music was blasting, with an occasional deep voice saying "You win!" or "Try again!" The place was filled with kids running around, some middle-aged people, and the employees who were starting to lose their hearing. Ishaan knew this because it took him a couple of tries to get them to sell him a card.

Ishaan had never been to an arcade. The knowledge of a place like this was always redundant, and he never really knew what an arcade was until he went into well, an arcade. It was nothing like he had expected, and he certainly hadn't expected Yu-jun to even know about a place like this. He looked over at him, Yu-jun, who was now shooting hoops in the arcade, one after another, as tickets flowed out. 

"It's the only game I'm good at," he said proudly. Ishaan soon realized that was a complete lie as they began exploring the arcade some more. At around 20 minutes since they had entered, Ishaan looked over at Yu-jun, who had a handful of stacks of tickets, neatly folded. 

"What do you even do with those," he questioned. He supposed that keeping a stack of those at home would be the equivalent of having a trophy for arcade games. 

Yu-jun pointed over at a desk with various trinkets, from very small glow-in-the-dark bracelets to giant plushies half as big as Ishaan himself. Oh my goodness, Ishaan thought. Woah.

"You should give it a shot," Yu-jun teased. "It'll be fun." The guy was trying his best to maintain a stoic face, but his lip twitched into a smirk every so often. 

"Sure," he sighed. "Let's uh, try the basketball hoops."

Ishaan left the arcade with a glowing hoop around his wrist, the merit of his performance. Yu-jun himself had a matching one, alongside new headphones he had successfully exchanged his tickets for. At this sight, Ishaan pouted a bit, but he had definitely lost fair and square. Arcade basketball was just not the same as normal, old basketball. For one, the hoop does not move. 

They headed back home, Yu-jun trying not to bring up Ishaan's defeat, as the night began settling in. 

"I heard Jeremy's been absent from your class for 2 days," he said.

"Yeah," Ishaan sighed. "I mean, we'll probably have to present it without him, and no one really knows his part that well. We're a little screwed."

"I see, well, let me know if you need help."

"I'll ask for your help the next time I play basketball," Ishaan joked.

At last, they reached the bus stop, where they were to part ways. Ishaan waved at Yu-jun, and he waved back, slowly walking backwards from him, mouthing something that Ishaan could not make out. Eventually, he turned around and headed his own way. Tomorrow, they'd see each other again, and although Yu-jun was busy after school, they would be able to eat lunch together. Suddenly, Ishaan had a bit more skip to his step at this thought.

"That's kind of adorable," Ishaan muttered as he thought about the day's events, listening to the hum of the bus running.