The fish did not look so good.

"I ought to report this to Mrs Jogh," Ballqis mumbled to herself.

Alone in the lab, she was quite elated to find the lab empty. However as she went through the tanks on by one, the loner in Tank 7 looks slow. Its movement showed no interest in food, eventhough she could see some pellets had been dispensed by the machine. The pellets were swimming on the surface, while Tilapia 7 kept vigil at the bottom of the tank. She was about to call Mrs Jogh when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

"Ten pellets dispensed, ten still left uneaten when I left the tank," Iqball's voice could be heard from where she was standing.

"Ah, Ballqis, you're here to take over Aga's duty today, right? How many pellets are there in Tank 7?" Mrs Jogh quickly asked.

"Only nine, but I did not see Tilapia 7 eat. I was checking the base of the tank to see if the pellet had submerged due to length of time in water," she noted quickly.

"And there it is. Mrs Jogh, this fish is not eating," Iqball quickly confirmed after Tilapia 7 moved a little to reveal a lone pellet lying on the tank floor.

It was obvious that Iqball had been to Tank 7 and saw the troubled tilapia.

"Alright, note down this behaviour and watch the fish for the next hour. If it still won't eat, switch its food to corn-based pellets. If it still won't eat, let me know. I'll come as soon as my session with the dean ends to check if the fish is sick. Ballqis, check the water temperature manually please," Mrs Jogh requested.

She then left Ballqis and Iqball standing in front of Tank 7 to record the readings.

Tilapia 7 was watching them with lifeless eyes.

"Do you think it is sick?" Ballqis suddenly asked.

Iqball was taken aback at first. He did not expect her to address him.

"I don't think so," he said at last.

"If you have work to do, I'll observe him for the first 30 minutes," Ballqis said as she launch the timer on her watch.

Iqball shook his head.

"I usually finish all my assignments as soon as possible. I hate bringing back homework. My dorm is too noisy to work in," he told her.

"Same here. That's why I use my time here to complete my assignments while I keep tabs on the fish," she admitted.

"Don't you play with the fish?" he asked.

"Is that part of the experiment?"

He laughed as if they had been friends for years.

"Not really, but it is fun. Did you know that if you put those red hoops they're bound to swim into them?"

He picked a red hoop and dipped it into Tank 6. Tilapia 6 raced across its tank and went through the hoop just as he had predicted. The fish double-backed and went through the hoop again.

Ballqis laughed.

Iqball had to turn to look. He had never heard her laugh before. It sounded like love song. Mesmerised, he did not realise the red hoop he was holding had fallen into the depths of Tank 6.

"Iqball! The hoop!" Ballqis' voice startled him.

He quickly grabbed a net and fished the hoop out. Embarassed, he placed both items back on the lab sink. As he cleaned the items, he could feel heat surging through his neck.

"That was cool, actually. I didn't know tilapias are playful creatures."

The sound of her voice soothed him.

"A senior showed Aga and I how to play with them during our first week at the lab," he told her as he put away the net and the hoop.

He turned to find Ballqis already back in front of Tank 7, watching the moody fish closely.

"I ... I didn't know you signed up for this university until I saw you at Mrs Jogh's last month," he noted.

Ballqis stiffened. She knew he had recognised her when they had bumped in front of their advisor's office. He must have heard the rumours at school. That's why he did not bother acknowledging her. She sighed.

"Me too. I thought you would have chosen a university in the UK or US instead of here down under," she said.

"This university's Biotech department is one of the best in the world. And it is closer to home," he argued.

"Yeah, that's true. The cost of living is cheaper too," she commented, and this surprised him.

A senior once told him that Ballqis' mother was a famous doctor. Why would she have to worry about money?

He was about to ask her more questions but she fiddled with Tank 8 and 9 before disappearing behind Tank 10, 11 and 12.

He tried approaching her but Ballqis had started writing the report on each tank's observation card. She had her back to him, as if saying, I'm done talking.

Ballqis' watch beeped.

"Another 30 minutes before we can feed him corn pellets," she announced.

Ah, so now we're back talking, Iqball said to himself.

"Hey Ballqis, could you ... help me with some Calculus problems? CTC is just around the corner," he asked shyly.

She could not understand why he would need her help.

"Iqball, your standing grade is A. Do you really need help with Calculus?" she asked.

"I don't want to drag you down. I know you'd like to maintain your A+," he answered.

That afternoon, he shared some past CTC questions with her and they managed to maintain a steady score of 10/10 for each set.

"We should ... do this more often," he said.

Her watch beeped again.

"Tilapia 7 needs the corn pellets, let's feed the guy," she said, not wanting to commit.

Being near Iqball was tough. Her hands felt clammy as she held her pencil. Her heart could not maintain a steady pace. It was not comfortable to study with him at all!

The same could be said if anyone were to ask Iqball. He could smell her faint perfume as they hunched over the numbers. It made him want to rub his nose often, just to ward away the smell of lilies. It was hard to concentrate when his nose kept telling him how close they were sitting.

Tilapia 7 ate the corn pellets with vigour.

Ballqis made a note on the Observation Log attached to the tank while Iqball messaged Mrs Jogh. By the time their advisor came back, she was relieved as the fish did not show any sign of sickness.

As they finish off the last checkup round, the three of them spoke deeper about the study. Mrs Jogh could not help but marvel at the couple's genuine interest.

"I have a presentation coming up during the short semester break to talk about the progress of this study. If you two would like to increase your stipend, do consider coming with me as my assistants. Iqball, I can even let you demonstrate play time with the fishes," Mrs Jogh offered.

He quickly agreed.

"What about you, Ballqis? You think you can help me transport a few of this special specimen and keep them healthy and alive during a five-day trip?" she asked.

"I'd be happy to try. As long as you're there to guide, I'm sure I can do it," she said confidently.

"Then we're all set," Mrs Jogh agreed.

"Where would we be heading, Mrs Jogh?" asked Iqball, secretly happy that Ballqis had agreed.

"Sydney."

Ballqis immediately regretted the decision she had made in haste.