The Saturday cookout interesting. Armed with baked macaroni she bought from her faculty's cafe, Mirna showed up upon Ballqis and Molly's invitation. Two more came with her, to Molly's delight.

They were Mirna's Project Management classmates, Andrei and Lev. Molly could not be bothered to distribute the sandwiches she made after their  arrival. She even made a silent pack with Mirna to only bother Andrei, leaving Lev all to the senior.

Aga and Nastia immediately got busy boiling ukha while Ballqis and Iqball grilled the salmon  they bought at the farmer's market that morning. They had made the journey together with Aga and Nastia but ended up leaving for the beach without them as the duo took too long with fish hunting.

"I only took three subjects this semester, because I wanted to spend more time experiencing social culture," Nastia said when Molly asked if she was having any trouble completing assignments.

"I took Project Management, Fundamental Biotech and Marine Ecosystems. Nothing too taxing," she added.

Lev leaned into Mirna and said, "The lecturer really liked her Marine Ecosystems paper on estuary fish species, maybe she got a lot of tips from the lab she frequents."

Molly and Andrei got busy with a pack of eggplants, tomatoes and bell peppers that Aga had asked them to peel, cut and skewer. They had fun grilling the vegetables opposite Ballqis and Iqball.

The party had booked the beach side BBQ spot from the Student Union office a few days ago. Most of the students weren't interested to hold a BBQ around this time of the month as the weather forecast indicated strong wind. However there was only a pleasant breeze accompanying their brunch that day.

Ballqis caught Aga watching Molly laughing at Andrei's awkward potato skewering. Her long silky hair was flying with the wind and Andrei was openly admiring the dark beauty.

Iqball caught Ballqis watching Aga and went to her side as he placed all the cooked salmon on a paper plate.

"Are you worried about Aga and Molly?" he whispered, hoping the couple cooking next to them would not hear any of it.

Ballqis laughed. She felt like a peeping tom caught in the act.

"It's just that Aga is still eyeing Molly, which I find quite funny. Each time she laugh he'd steal a look. And Nastia didn't seem to mind, which I feel is also odd, considering she goes all out to appear interested in him," Ballqis slowly said to the tall guy next to her.

Aga and Nastia finally joined their lounging friends 20 minutes after the rest of the food had gone cold.

"I present to you, the best fish dish ever!" Nastia said.

"We could not find tilapias despite having gone through every fish stall at the market. So this is cod soup," Aga admitted.

They were each passed a bowl of the dish. The smell was delicious, and it tasted really good.

"This dish is awesome, Nastia," Ballqis compimented.

"I'm glad you like it. It's missing some ingredients but I think Aga and I did alright by my grandfather's standards," Nastia replied.

"I thought the recipe would have strange ingredients in it but they are all stuff I'm used to. The taste is so different from anything I've ever eaten though," Aga commented.

"If you want strange, let me tell you about this one time my grandfather cooked ukha and a bear came by his home. My grandfather was cooking outside as usual, so when the bear showed up he immediately ran into the house. He was stuck indoors with bread and cheese for two days because the bear came with a cub and a bigger bear on tow. They ate his half boiled ukha you know. My grandfather had put in about half a dozen of fish into the pot!" Nastia said.

"The bears must have had some before, liked it so much they followed the scent for more," Lev said and added that he once went camping deep in the woods with his cousins and a small bear had showed up nearby too.

"Animals these days had to follow our beat, poor things," Molly sighed.

"Yes, we took so much of theirs," Andrei agreed as he put down his empty bowl.

"Well I believe some animals can do it better than others," Iqball said, trying to direct the conversation to a different paths.

Ballqis caught on.

"The fish in the lab are pretty cool. We like doing the hoops with them."

"I wonder if they can do any other tricks besides creeping up behind my back for videocalls," Aga joked.

"I would love to test that theory," Nastia said.

Mirna looked uneasy. She eyed Ballqis and Iqball for some comfort.

"Given the chance what would you do?" Molly probed.

Nastia pretended to think about it for a while.

"I'm not sure... Radiowave exposure, electric jolts, media learning, toxic water..." she mused.

"Crazy mad scientist mode huh," Mirna jested but her tone has a tinge of cynicism.

Nastia roared.

"Why not. They are just fish. If they get burned then we can have grilled white meat," she chuckled as she spoke.

"You're one of a kind, Nastia," Aga said fondly.

And for the first time that late morning, Molly looked unhappy.

They cleaned up the spot together after a good dose of food and laughs. The Russian students even showed them a little game they used to play when they were little, so Iqball and Ballqis exchanged the game with a version of tom-tom-bak, a clapping game played by kids in Perlis and Perak where they grew up in.

They all took photos at the beach and sang a Kylie Minogue song while they recorded a video, which Molly uploaded unto her social media account with everyone tagged in.

"That was fun," Ballqis said as they walk home together.

"Yeah, I didn't expect everyone to get along so famously," Iqball admitted.

"I got what I came for," Molly breathed as she once again wormed her way between the Balls.