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Chapter 4

"Oh come on man! Hurry up!"

"Why don't you do it then!" said Darshan and with a twist of his hand unlocked the lock.

"Yes! It's done!" his eyes widened.

"Awesome, let's get this done!". They paced inside the room hurriedly.

Inside the room, they quickly started looking for what they had come for.
Darshan kept the bag near the door and went inside and checked the cupboards.

"check the table drawers" he instructed his partner.

After looking through all the possible places, they finally saw it. Right there on the table under a file.

Darshan took it in his hands, a paper bag with 'confidential' engraved on it.
It was a sealed bag and the only way to open it was tearing through its head.

Darshan tore the top and took out the papers inside and he felt a mix of feelings as he saw the question papers.

His friend quickly took pictures of the papers and Darshan took out a paper bag from his backpack which was exactly like the one he had torn.

He quickly put the papers in and sealed it with glue. To dry out the glue he started blowing air on it from his mouth. His friend noticed the time on his watch.

"Hurry up! " he whispered but tried to sound serious "we only have 11 minutes left for the guard to come back"

Just then they heard the sound of footsteps approaching the room. They looked at each other dumbstruck.
Darshan put a finger to his lips and gestured his partner to make no sound.

He kept the paper bag back where he found it. And they went near the window to take a look outside.

As he slid the curtain a little he saw the silhouette of the guard standing just outside the door but looking in the opposite direction.

They stayed put right there for the next 5 minutes during which the guard mixed a drink for himself in his flask.

Soon he walked away. And Darshan took a breath of relief. His partner smiled at him and he returned it the same. They felt rebellious.

They opened the door as quietly as possible after checked the room for any evidence and ran back to their hostel like a ninja.

"That was dangerous!" Darshan's partner in crime, Ajay laughed.

Darshan checked the pictures they took of the paper and they were clear enough for them to know the question.

"Mission accomplished " Darshan winked, "I need some sleep now," he said as he yawned and fell back with his head on the pillow.

"Okay see you tomorrow " Ajay left for his room right next to Darshan.

(Next morning)

Beep beep beep beep...

The alarm rang which felt like anarchy.
Darshans hand went to the clock on the table but his eyes still closed.

"Ugh..." He groaned.

"Darshan! Get up !" Ajay came into his room.

"It just 9 am...I want to sleep!" He covered his face with the sheet.

"Dude we need to go through the paper. The exam is tomorrow! For the sake of god just get the fuck out of the bed!" He pulled the sheets.

"Fine" he got up.

He ran his finger through his hair to straighten them out.

"Let me freshen up then," he said and took the brush from the box hanging on the wall in front of him.

"Meet me at kaake ka dhaba," Ajay said as he walked back.

"Hmm," Darshan said with the brush in his mouth.

The dhaba was where all the hostelers went for food as its universally known, that the hostel mess serves food which is light years away from being considered as eatable. 'Tasty' is rather a far cry.

After getting ready he went out. The dhaba was just in front of the campus gate.

Darshan was rather a stud. With his black slim fit shirt and folded sleeves exposing his forearms over his ripped jeans did nothing but intensify his already toned body. He kept a quiff and clean shaved which complimented his light brown eyes.

He wasn't just handsome, he defined the word.

As he walked out of the campus gate, he saw Ajay sitting at their usual table, stuffing his face with paratha and the compulsory butter. The only reason for his chubbiness.

"You should really control your calories man," Darshan said as he sat on the opposite end of the table in front of him.

"Mmm! Don't you dare talk about my food." He gulped down a chunk.

"My food is my food none of your food" he tore through the paratha and stuffed himself again.

Darshan gave his a disgusted look but Ajay was too busy to even notice. After all, butter is life!

Darshan leaned back and turned his head to the side.

'Indian Institute of Technology', he saw the big bold letters on the entrance.
Somehow he felt like a black sheep.
He was once one of the brightest students with a 9.7 CGPA and got the 5th position in the entrance exam all over India.
And now he stole the papers for an exam due tomorrow. He felt disgusted with himself, humiliated.

He looked down and tried to not think about it.

"Bhaiya chai ( tea ) " a boy kept a glass of tea on the table.

"Thanks, Chintu"

He took the glass in his hand and sipped a little. The tea was steaming hot and it stung his upper lip. It brought back memories. The nostalgia of his first day on campus...the most sought-after engineering institute of India.
His dream had now come true after all those years of missed birthday parties of his friends, piles of books on his table and all those sleepless nights with coffee whole his head were buried in the books, finally, he was here at IIT...

***
What's next?
--friends friends and friends... the irony the it ends with 'ends'--