Chapter Text
Morning sunlight poured across the university campus, bathing centuries-old brick buildings in warm gold.
Students hurried along winding paths with coffees in hand, backpacks slung over one shoulder, conversations blending into a comfortable hum that seemed to belong only to the first week of a new semester.
Some walked confidently.
Others checked their schedules every ten steps.
A few looked hopelessly lost.
It was, in every sense of the word...
The beginning.
Mob adjusted the strap of the camera hanging from his shoulder.
His black hair was tied neatly into a low ponytail, a few loose strands escaping around his face whenever the breeze decided to interfere.
The emerald of his eyes drifted from one scene to another.
A squirrel balancing along a fence.
Morning light filtering through cherry blossom branches.
A professor laughing with two students outside the science building.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Three photographs.
Three ordinary moments.
Three memories preserved forever.
"..."
"...Nice."
He murmured quietly to himself.
His phone buzzed.
The screen read:
Photography 101
Lecture Hall B
8:30 AM
Mob looked up.
Then around.
Then back at his phone.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...Where is Lecture Hall B?"
Five minutes later...
He had somehow walked in a complete circle.
"..."
"...I have made a mistake."
A passing student overheard him and pointed toward a large ivy-covered building.
"..."
"...You're looking for the Arts Block."
Mob blinked.
"..."
"...Thank you."
"..."
"...First year?"
"..."
"...Is it obvious?"
"..."
"...You just apologized to a campus map."
Mob slowly looked behind him.
The large information board.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...That explains a lot."
The student laughed before continuing on.
Inside the lecture hall...
The room buzzed with conversation.
Rows of seats stretched upward.
Students chatted excitedly before class began.
Some had already claimed seats near friends.
Others sat alone.
Mob quietly stepped inside.
His eyes scanned the room.
Looking for...
Honestly, he wasn't sure.
Somewhere comfortable.
Somewhere with good light.
Somewhere he could see the lecturer clearly.
Then...
Near one of the tall windows...
He noticed someone.
Blond hair tied carefully into a neat bun.
Blue eyes lowered toward a notebook.
Already writing before class had even begun.
Three textbooks.
Perfectly aligned.
A mechanical pencil.
A ruler.
Colour-coded sticky notes.
Everything arranged with impossible precision.
Mob stopped walking.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...The lighting."
He whispered.
Entirely to himself.
The seat beside the blond student happened to be empty.
Mob walked over.
Set his camera bag down.
And sat.
The blond student glanced up.
Just for a second.
"..."
"...Morning."
"..."
"...Good morning."
Mob replied politely.
Then...
Silence.
The lecturer hadn't arrived yet.
Most students were still chatting.
Mob quietly removed his camera from his bag.
Not to take photographs.
Just to check the settings.
The blond student watched him from the corner of his eye.
"..."
"...Photography major?"
Mob nodded.
"..."
"...Architecture?"
The blond student looked mildly surprised.
"..."
"...How did you know?"
Mob gestured toward the ruler.
The drafting pencils.
The stack of architecture textbooks.
"..."
"...Reasonable deduction."
The blond student smiled.
A small one.
But genuine.
"..."
"...Verity."
He introduced himself, offering a hand.
Mob looked at it for exactly one second before shaking it.
"..."
"...Mob."
"..."
"...Nice to meet you."
"..."
"...Likewise."
The lecturer entered.
The room quieted immediately.
"..."
"...Welcome to your first semester."
As the lecture began...
Neither Mob nor Verity realized...
That this random decision...
This one empty seat by a sunny window...
Would quietly change both of their lives.
An hour later...
The lecture ended.
Students began packing up.
Verity stacked his books into an impossibly neat pile.
Mob carefully returned his camera to its case.
Verity stood.
"..."
"...Have a good day, Mob."
"..."
"...You as well."
Verity walked toward the door.
Mob watched him disappear into the hallway.
Then...
Without really thinking...
He glanced back toward the now-empty seat beside his own.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...The lighting really was nice."
From three rows behind him...
A student who had watched the entire interaction slowly looked at his friend.
"..."
"...You saw that, right?"
"..."
"...Saw what?"
"..."
"...That guy picked one seat in a lecture hall with two hundred empty chairs..."
"..."
"...And somehow looked like he'd planned it."
"..."
"...Maybe he just likes the window."
The first student looked toward the seat.
Then toward the hallway Verity had disappeared into.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...Sure."
The campus café was unusually lively.
Students filled nearly every table, balancing laptops beside half-finished coffees while conversations bounced warmly around the room.
Near the counter...
A little girl sat swinging her legs beneath a chair much too tall for her.
Pencil in hand.
Tongue poking out in concentration.
She frowned dramatically at a page of multiplication homework.
"..."
"...Eight times seven..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...Illegal."
The café owner laughed from behind the counter.
"..."
"...It's fifty-six."
"..."
"...I knew that."
"..."
"...You wrote sixty-three."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...That was a test."
Across the café...
Mob quietly ordered.
"..."
"...One hot chocolate, please."
The cashier smiled.
"..."
"...No coffee?"
"..."
"...I don't like coffee."
"..."
"...University student who doesn't drink coffee?"
Mob nodded.
Entirely serious.
"..."
"...I appear to be defective."
The cashier burst into laughter.
A few minutes later...
Mob carried his mug toward a quiet corner.
Camera beside him.
Notebook open.
The café's soft afternoon light spilled across the table.
Perfect.
Click.
He photographed the steam rising from his mug.
Click.
The flower vase by the window.
Click.
A sparrow landing outside.
"..."
"...Nice."
The café door chimed.
Mob glanced up.
"..."
"..."
Verity.
Still carrying three books.
Still somehow perfectly organized.
Still looking like he'd spent the last three hours reading instead of existing.
Without thinking...
Mob's eyes followed him.
Verity looked around the café.
Most seats were occupied.
One table remained empty.
The one directly across from Mob.
Verity smiled politely.
"..."
"...May I?"
Mob looked at the empty chair.
Then at Verity.
Then back at the chair.
"..."
"...Yes."
"..."
"...Thank you."
Verity placed his books down with remarkable precision.
Each one perfectly aligned.
Mob watched.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...Your books are very straight."
Verity blinked.
Then looked down.
"..."
"...I..."
He smiled sheepishly.
"..."
"...It's a habit."
"..."
"...I noticed."
Silence settled comfortably between them.
Not awkward.
Just...
Quiet.
Verity opened one of his textbooks.
Mob opened his camera gallery.
Every few minutes...
They'd glance up.
Notice the other was still there.
Then quietly continue what they were doing.
Neither realized...
How peaceful that felt.
Twenty minutes later...
"..."
"...Excuse me."
Both looked up.
The little girl stood beside their table.
Homework notebook tucked beneath one arm.
"..."
"...Can one of you help me?"
Mob and Verity looked at each other.
Then both answered simultaneously.
"..."
"...Of course."
They blinked.
The little girl giggled.
"..."
"...You're funny."
She slid her maths worksheet onto the table.
"..."
"...Eight times seven."
Mob stared.
"..."
"..."
He slowly turned toward Verity.
"..."
"...Architecture."
Verity looked back.
"..."
"...Photography."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...Neither of us studies mathematics."
The little girl sighed dramatically.
"..."
"...Adults are useless."
Mob nodded thoughtfully.
"..."
"...That appears accurate."
Verity covered his mouth, trying not to laugh.
Together...
The three of them eventually solved every question.
Well...
Mostly Verity solved them.
Mob contributed moral support.
"..."
"...I believed in question four."
"..."
"...Question four was wrong."
"..."
"...It still deserved encouragement."
The little girl laughed so hard she nearly dropped her pencil.
When she finally packed her bag...
She smiled brightly at both of them.
"..."
"...Thank you!"
She skipped back toward the counter.
Halfway there...
She suddenly turned around.
"..."
"...Bye, Camera Guy!"
She pointed at Verity.
"..."
"...Bye, Book Guy!"
Then disappeared into the kitchen.
Silence.
"..."
"..."
Mob quietly sipped his hot chocolate.
"..."
"...I have a name."
Verity smiled into his coffee.
"..."
"...Apparently not anymore."
Both of them laughed.
The first genuine laugh they'd shared.
Small.
Easy.
Natural.
Outside the café...
Three students walked past the window.
One glanced inside.
Then stopped walking.
"..."
"...Wait."
"..."
"...Isn't that the photography guy from this morning?"
"..."
"...Yeah."
"..."
"...And isn't that the architecture guy?"
"..."
"...Yeah."
A pause.
"..."
"...Didn't they just meet today?"
Another pause.
"..."
"...Why are they already studying together?"
The third student shrugged.
"..."
"...Maybe they're friends."
The first student looked through the window again.
Watched Mob quietly slide the sugar jar closer because Verity had been reaching for it without noticing.
Watched Verity absentmindedly straighten Mob's slightly crooked notebook.
Neither acknowledged doing it.
Neither even seemed aware.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...Yeah..."
"..."
"...Friends."
From inside the café...
Mob looked toward the window.
The sunlight reflected warmly across the glass.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...The lighting is nice here too."
Verity didn't even look up from his book.
"..."
"...Mm."
"..."
"...Is that why you sat here?"
Mob answered without hesitation.
"..."
"...Yes."
A tiny smile appeared on Verity's face.
"..."
"...Sure."