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“As much as I love you, you can’t continue pushing yourself like this. Academia is brutal and oppressive. I think it’s for the best for you to end this project.”
Standing at the front entrance of their shared home, the two men glare at one another in a downpour. Neither one of them steps foot inside the house, but the overhead of the porch protects them both from getting drenched.
“Academics are not some charity work. You’re setting yourself up for failure if you continue down this path,” says Alhaitham.
Whether he would believe it or not, Alhaitham did not budge on his judgements.
“I do not do this for some ‘charity work’!” Kaveh shouts back, widening his arms in front of his roommate. “I just have different values compared to you.”
“And those values are too idealistic to even become a reality,” he argues, crossing his arms casually. “Academia has their upper limit determined by talent, and their lower bound by hard work. Whether or not you truly believe this fact is up to you.”
Kaveh bites his tongue – he can’t continue arguing like this. “How can I get people to stop leaving the project? I’ve been helping everyone try to succeed!”
“There’s no need to do that. Like I said: Academia is brutal and it is both mentally and physically draining.”
Kaveh lines his lips, running a hand through his blonde hair. “But we’ve worked so hard – what’s the point in giving up?”
“How many times do I need to reiterate this to you?”
“But… You won’t leave the project, right, Alhaitham?” Kaveh asks desperately. “Surely you want to stick to the project till the end, right?”
Alhaitham is silent. It’s deafening. He doesn’t answer him. At this point, the answer is right in front of him. Now it’s his choice on what steps to take from here.
“Kaveh, you see through rose-tinted glasses,” the scholar answers finally. “Is it a particularly good thing? Not necessarily. I just want you to watch yourself in this dog-eat-dog world. You deserve more than this.”
He shakes his head. “I refuse to double down on my beliefs. Alhaitham, you of all people should see where I’m coming from.”
Alhaitham shuts his eyes then stares at his feet. “Yes. However, you’re failing to consider the results of pushing through in your calculations. Logically speaking, if you were to push through, the project will fail regardless of your effort.”
The blonde blinks at the scholar before him, staring at his attire to avoid his eyes. Those lime-green eyes draw him in so easily as if it were hypnosis, yet the same color remains deadly and authoritative. Kaveh can never win an argument against them.
With a sigh, he gestures towards the house. “Can we just go inside? I refuse to continue having this discussion with you,”
No smile creeps across Alhaitham's face, but he lowers his arms. “Yes. It would be nice to not catch a cold.”
Kaveh nods, shifting his eyes towards the front door. “Let’s just forget this conversation for now. I’ll see you in the morning.” He pushes past Alhaitham to unlock the door, fumbling with his keys, then proceeding to step inside the warmth of the house.
Alhaitham continues standing outside, unmoving, as he exhales slowly as he watches his breath in the chilly air.