Part-188

  James and Mili sat in the bustling campus café, surrounded by opebooks and notebooks. They had been diligently preparing for their uping midterm exams, w through plex problems and paring notes. Despite the inteudy sessions, their friendship had only grown strohe rumors about them dating had bee a topic of quiet amusemeweehose who khem well, including their close circle of friends, uood that their bond urely ptonic.

  "Okay, so if we focus on this se, we should be good for tomorrow’s test," Mili said, her firailing down the page of a textbook.

  James nodded in agreement, flipping through his notes. "Yeah, it covers the main points. We just o brush up on the applicatioions."

  As they tinued discussing the material, a light tap on James’s shoulder interrupted their flow. He turned around, expeg to see one of their friends or maybe a cssmate, but instead, there was a tall, well-built teeanding there. James’s eyes flicked up and down, trying to pce the strahere was something oddly familiar about the guy’s face, yet James couldn’t quite pin it down.

  "Who are you?" James asked, fused.

  Mili, gng at the stranger, shook her head slightly. She didn’t reize him either.

  The boy grinned, a hint of mischief in his eyes. "It's me, Emdad."

  James’s jaw dropped, his mind struggling to ect the dots. Emdad? His best friend? The same Emdad who had always been a little self-scious about his weight and who had been a rger, stockier presence just a few months ago?

  "Emdad? No way!" James excimed, standing up to get a better look. The teenager in front of him had broad shoulders, defined muscles, and a lean, athletic build that made him look nothing like the friend he remembered. "What happeo you? How did you…?"

  Emdad chuckled, clearly enjoying the rea. "Thaind happened, bro."

  James blinked. He remembered Emdad mentioning a trip to Thaind, but he had no idea it would result in such a dramatic transformation. "You went to Thaind and came back like this?"

  "Yep," Emdad replied, flexing his arm jokingly. "It wasn’t just a vacation. I joined a fitness camp there, did some Muay Thai training, and learned a lot about nutrition and exercise. It’s been intense, but look at me now!"

  James shook his head in disbelief, still trying to process the ge. Mili, now intrigued, looked up from her textbook. "Wow, Emdad. That’s incredible," she said, a smile. "You’re like a pletely different person."

  "Thanks," Emdad said, sitting dowo them. "I figured I’d surprise you guys when I got back. It’s been a crazy few months."

  James, still a bit in shock, couldn’t help but smile. "You sure know how to make arance. I barely reized you."

  They spent the few minutes catg up, with Emdad reting stories of his time in Thaind—early m runs, grueling workouts, and sparring sessions in the blisteri. It was clear that Emdad had undergo only a physical transformation but a mental one as well. His fidence had grown, and he carried himself with a newfound sense of purpose.