"This is boring." Mateen groaned, while stretching his arms across his desk besides Ammar; who was secretly doing last minute cramming through his slides on phone. He looked up to give Mateen an irritated sideways glance, before returning to his prior activity.

"If you're so bored then give presentation in my stead—" He returned in a hushed tone, to not catch the Professors eye.

"What's there to study for a presentation? You've prepared it yourself, so just read it on spot and explain—" Mateen returned in a detached tone and offered a simple solution, without looking away from the object of his attention.

"—Excuse us! But not everyone is a smartass like you, who aces his exams by studying at the last minute!" Ammar scoffed in response, but Mateen kept his gaze fixated ahead to Hajra; who was attentively noting down her lecture.

It'd been a few months since that last incident and things had turned pretty conventional. Mateen didn't go near her again, but she was never far from his thoughts. The more he tried to solve this mystery, Hajra; the more he found himself loathing her. The feeling of wanting to crush her would grow intense with every passing day and in his head, he would crush her like a bug under his feet and become satisfied. That was all. She was nothing but an annoying Bug to him and he wouldn't be able to rest peacefully until he was able to crush her.

"—Just wait, until I stomp on you and shatter your arrogance into tiny little pieces." Mateen spoke out loud without caring much of it and turned to rest his chin on his folded arms, while boring holes into the back of her head.

"Mateen—My brother, my dear friend—If you seem to have forgotten, then I would gladly remind you, that I couldn't sit my ass down for a whole week. All because my old man had put his surgical hands to great use and artfully altered the anatomy of my gluteus maximus—So, please! Here I am holding my hands in front of you—! Have some mercy on my poor buttocks and stop obsessing over that woman!" Mateen paid him no heed; yet, Ammar kept going on in a hushed whisper.

"You always said girls are stupid and you would rather jump into a pigsty than get involved with one—So, what the hell is so special about this Hajra?! That you can't get over her—" Ammar's cries were falling on deaf ears. Suppressing a yawn, Mateen sat up straight and began going through Hajra's topic of presentation.

"Because she is a bug and the only way I can get her out of my system is by exterminating her—" He retorted calmly and began noting down complicated questions to ask her. Ammar could only watch his stubborn and unyielding friend flabbergasted. He'd hardly ever seen Mateen fixated on something for this long. Otherwise, ever since Ammar knew him, he always had a passive and dispassionate attitude towards life; even more so after the incident 5 years ago. Ammar and Isra had come to know about his complicated life at home through here and there and no matter how much either of them tried getting close to him, Mateen would always have an invisible wall up around himself and would never let anyone in. No one, except Mashal. But she wasn't here anymore.

That's why, when Mateen first showed interest in Hajra, Ammar felt that it might finally allow Mateen to get his feelings sorted out—But maybe there was a lot more to Mateen, than anyone could ever get close enough to find out.

——————————

"I have a question—" Mateen raised his hand for the 6th time since the end of Hajra's presentation. He was only able to get through 4 times because other people's questions needed to be addressed too, but his every question would lead him to asking Hajra few more.

Trying to mask her inner feelings of hatred, she pursed her lips and nodded at him. Even though all she wanted was to punch away that satisfied smirk off of his face. However, without giving into her urges; she successfully managed to end her presentation with a huge round of applause and cheers from rest of the class; alongside the Professor's sigh of relief.

When Mateen's turn came, he kept waiting for Hajra to ruin his presentation just the way he did with hers. But no question came from her side and he successfully ended his presentation with a good job from Professor Neelum.

"You can take home award for the longest presentation, Bug—" He remarked with a cheeky grin, while coming up to her desk, who only looked up to give him an irritated glare.

"I won't forget to thank you specifically in my appreciation speech." She retorted annoyed, through a scowl and earned a hearty chuckle from Mateen.

"—Too bad, though. If only you'd spared half as much time on your own presentation rather than preparing questions for mine; maybe you could've taken home the goody bag—" Hajra taunted, ending with a fake smile which caused Mateen to beam from ear to ear.

"Careful, Bug—Your real thoughts are showing through—" He added with a wide smile and Hajra watched him through gritted teeth for a moment before turning away with a scoff.

"So? Did you expect me to hide them from you?"

"Wow. You're pretty fearless, huh? You're taking me lightly, Bug? Today was only starters. I am still in game—" Mateen was finding himself enjoying, getting a rise out of her.

"So I keep hearing—but I can already see, it's going to be a complete waste of my time and energy—" She wanted to stop. She really didn't want to give this vile person the satisfaction of getting any reaction from her. But maybe it was the effect of earlier frustration from the presentation, that she just couldn't hold it in.

"Touché. But you see, I am nice enough to give you a headsup. So maybe, you should save that thanks, Bug—" He added sympathetically, but Hajra had already turned to her books and Mateen had a sudden thought, that he would rather have her glare at him, than those books.

"You're delusional, Mr. Mateen Abbasi, if you think there's ever gonna be a day when I thank you—" She was trying very hard to keep the anger from her voice, but was clearly failing at it. Horribly. At her words, he softly chuckled and unintentionally Hajra looked up to find him looking down at her without the usual look of coldness in his eyes. In its stead, was an unreadable emotion, which only willed her to keep up her guard even further.

"—if you feel so sure. But you never know—Life is full of possibilities, Bug." He added with an unfeeling smile and Hajra looked away through clenched teeth.

"—Impressive presentation, though." Hajra heard him end softly with something she didn't dare compare with admiration in his voice. Yet, despite herself, she'd felt a feeling of surprise. When she looked up, he had already turned away but almost as if on cue, he'd turned his head and they made an unexpected eye contact. Startled by his action, Hajra averted her gaze quickly and didn't look up until she was sure he wasn't going to be there if she looked up.

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"So, Mateen here has finally lost his mind—" Ammar spoke, after gulping down the bite of his burger and watched for Isra's reaction which came in a blank stare. Mateen on the other hand sufficed to continue stuffing himself, without making any comment to it. Like usual, they were out dining at their favourite go to restaurant.

"Is it that charity girl again? Gosh! I am sick and tired of hearing about her!" Isra exhaled a cry of exhaustion before squatting away Mateen's hand going for her fries. Without paying her any mind, he went for Ammar's, but was met with disappointment to find them long disappeared into his tummy.

"He even complimented her today! But in all honestly, dude—The charity case and status issues aside, if you're really interested in her then—" Ammar couldn't finish, because Mateen had cut him off with a soft laugh.

"What? Interested? The maximum emotion that pest can bring out in me is of frustration or intense loath. That's all. But I haven't forgotten the humiliation from that day. I'll stop when I've shattered her spirit—" Mateen ended without the slightest hint of emotion; when suddenly, out of nowhere, an image of that sulky look on her face from today flashed across the screens of his mind. Without realising it, the corner of his mouth had lifted in a grin, which he had wiped off as quickly .

Isra looked deadpan at Mateen before turning to give a death glare to Ammar who avoided her piercing gaze by pretending to choke on his food.

"Mateen Abbasi, I have had enough of your nonsense! Didn't you see how messy things turned last time?" Isra remarked angrily and Mateen rolled his eyes at her.

"Relax. You guys don't have to sound so pessimistic. A little harmless lesson—Swear." He raised his hand in pledge, at which Isra and Ammar looked at him before exchanging a deadpan look with each other.

"100 pounds, he is going to mess up again—Badly." Ammar concluded and Isra exhaled a scoff.

"100? That's it, you cheap steak?! I can bet a million he would definitely mess up!" Isra remarked confidently and crossed her arms over her chest. Mateen watched this exchange blankly for a moment. Following a short pause, he opened his mouth to bet himself, but Ammar had cut him off.

"Don't bother, Man. There's definitely zero chance of you winning this one." Ammar ended miserably with a shake of head, while calling for their bill.

"I can even see the horrifying sight unfolding before my eyes—" Isra shivered from the thought and Mateen could only watch the two with a growing smirk.

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"—His popularity might've gotten a little hit by that incident; yet, in a survey it's been found that almost every girl in this college would happily agree to marrying him. Yes, even seniors—" Aymen continued besides her, when Hajra almost threw up her lunch.

"First of all, who does these stupid surveys? Don't people here ever worry about studying? Secondly, is their moral compass broken?" Hajra couldn't comprehend the rich people's mentality even after almost a year in this place. If it wasn't the best Medical University in Country, she wouldn't ever have cared to step one foot inside.

Aymen only shrugged in response before gulping down her bite.

"He is rich, handsome, intelligent—with a fortune of Hospitals to his name. Any girl who marries him will have her future and medical career secure. There would never be any need to worry—Plus, I've heard he's single; unlike Ammar. So, every girl in our class has been setting her cap on him. Surprisingly enough, the only girl he'd shown attention albeit negative, is you—" Hajra could only huff in response for a moment.

"If only money could buy you good character. I thought, people came here to become doctors or healers—but turns out I was mistaken. This place is mainly a matchmaking centre—" She couldn't help but shake her head in dismay; completely ignoring Aymen's last sentence.

"That's true. It's a sad reality, but in our Country, most girls are forced to choose this profession just so they could've a better chance at prospects. Their market value is boosted if they've a Doctor attached to their name. Even though, after marriage all they are made to do is run the kitchen or become baby making machine—" Aymen added tragically and Hajra was stunned speechless. It was then she'd realised, in how many different ways did her mother keep her away from society's presumptions. The sole reason she'd chosen to become a Doctor was because she had met a great one in her childhood and had immediately decided to become one like her when she grew up. But alas, not everyone was as fortunate as her. Not every girl had the liberty to decide their future for themselves and unfortunately how many dreams might've had shattered just because society didn't allow them to choose their own way to living, their own lives. It really was tragic.

She thought with a sigh, while returning to their class.

Thankyou for reading! Hopefully you like it. Don't forget to vote and comment❤️