“Ah, morning has come again,” Ken muttered.

  He had slept poorly, as he thought about his powers.

  “Should I go to college today?” He felt sleepy as he got out of bed. “I have no other choice,” he added.

  The weather looked nice, Ken boarded the bus which is pretty unusual.

  “Will someone think of me for five minutes again?” he wondered. When the bus reached college, he walked in, noticing that no one seemed to think about him.

  His morning passed quickly as his thoughts wandered to Lucera and his powers.

  Ken usually would eat lunch alone on the grass. That day, he spotted someone else eating alone, but this person was unique.

  He was tall, quiet, and seemed happy as he enjoyed his lunch while listening to music.

  “I have seen him somewhere, but where?” Ken tried remembering but he can’t recall the exact moment.

  Ken considered joining him but realized he often struggled with conversations.

  As lunch ended, the next activity was the physical education test, where students had to run 10 laps around the college area, approximately 5 km.

  Ken had a unique trait that no one knew about except him. He would run every time he felt bad or faced a tough day.

  He never worried about the weather while running as it was the one thing that made him happy and helped him regain his sense of normality.

  He started running in high school but has no aim to be a pro as he just wants to enjoy it. No one knew about this habit of him since the tests changed weekly.

  This was the first time he is going to run in college.

  While most students looked dizzy or did their warm-up, one person stood out. He is the same guy that Ken had seen at lunch.

  He looked relaxed, as if he were about to take a peaceful walk and seemed ready to run freely.

  “That guy,” Ken muttered as the test was about to begin.

  Everyone started running, and Ken found himself maintaining a steady pace.

  Some students lagged behind, while others passed him. He felt no pressure; he was okay with it.

  As he watched the lunch guy take off at a high tempo, Ken thought, “What is he doing? He’s going to wear himself out. Doesn’t he know the basics?”

  Ken found his rhythm and began to pass nearly everyone, finishing the race.

  Everyone was shocked when Ken took second place. But he was shocked by Andrew, who finished first while maintaining that high speed.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  “How did he do that? Am I the idiot?” Ken’s mind questioned.

  “Wait, he is that guy who comes to college by running,” Ken finally remembered.

  “You did well, you’re a pro, right?” Andrew asked Ken.

  Ken couldn’t believe Andrew was talking to him.

  “No, I just enjoy running,” he replied and asked him, “How did you manage to keep that high pace?”

  “Well, I always run like that. You could say that’s my style,” he answered.

  As they spoke, the other students looked astonished as both had finished in the top two, and now they were chatting casually as if they had known each other for a long time.

  “What’s your dream?” Ken asked.

  “To complete a full marathon at a pace of 1 km every 2.5 minutes,” Andrew said.

  “That’s incredible! That means you’d have to finish in about 2 hours… no, 1,” Ken calculated, as math was his only weakness in studies.

  “It’s around 1 hour and 45 minutes,” Andrew corrected.

  “That would be amazing,” Ken said, impressed by how Andrew set his goals.

  “What’s your dream?” Andrew asked. “Nothing yet,” Ken said with a half-laugh.

  “That’s amazing, right?” Andrew replied.

  “What’s amazing about not having a dream?” Ken asked.

  “Not having a dream means you’re free to choose any way, right?” Andrew replied.

  Ken hadn’t expected that answer and was taken aback by Andrew's perspective.

  Their conversation continued, and they soon became friends.

  When the day ended, Ken went home exhausted but he felt happy as he got a friend for a first time ever.

  He also thought about Andrew’s perspective about dreams.

  “Maybe not having a dream is not a curse but a blessing”, he muttered with a laugh.

  The next day arrived as ken was feeling tired so he flips the coin to decide whether to stay at home or go to college. Tails.

  “I have to go I guess”, he said.

  That day, Ken began helping Andrew with his studies since he wasn't very good at them.

  Then, they either walk every day or ran daily.

  It was Wednesday evening, around 5:55 PM. Both Ken and Andrew went for a walk.

  “It is a pretty good evening, right,” Ken asked Andrew.

  Then he saw Lucera walking on the other side of the road.

  “Thank god, I thought I would never see her again”, he muttered.

  After a slight thought he realized, “Wait if I talk with her, Andrew would notice it and would become angry at me as I didn’t tell him about her”.

  Ken plans to ignore her, but his plan fell apart when Lucera crossed the road after spotting him.

  He froze, anxious about what would happen. Andrew was surprised too as he didn’t expect Ken to have a friend.

  Lucera introduced herself to Andrew, and Andrew did the same to Lucera.

  “I’m Ken’s friend,” she told Andrew as he gave a playful smile at Ken.

  After chatting for about five minutes, the atmosphere shifted around Ken. This time, he was prepared.

  He realized both of them were thinking about him for five minutes.

  When Ken was about to sleep that Sunday—the day he met Lucera—he felt guilty for making her cry earlier when his powers had caused her distress.

  Since that day, he had been using his powers on his family whenever they thought about him, trying to get used to that environment and his abilities.

  Now, Ken had to make a choice on whether to read Lucera’s mind or Andrew’s.

  He wanted to read Lucera’s thoughts but decided it was more important to know how Andrew felt now that he knew her.

  He chose to read Andrew’s mind.

  For the first time, he decided to focus on Andrew’s thoughts from 6:10 to 6:15 PM, meaning he was already five minutes into the future.

  Ken could read any five minutes of a person's day, it can be morning, afternoon, or evening.

  Ken soon realized that Andrew was not angry but instead happy about him having a new friend.

  “I should leave. I’m disturbing them,” was Andrew’s last thought that Ken picked up.

  Everything returned to normal as five minutes passed.

  “Don’t leave!” Ken shouted out without thinking.

  “How did you know I wanted to leave?” Andrew questioned. Lucera remained quiet, curious about Ken’s response.

  “No, it was just a hunch,” Ken said. “I saw your face and thought that,” he added.

  “Oh,” Andrew replied, still not completely convinced.

  “Ken, are you free this weekend?” Lucera asked.

  Andrew stifled a laugh but managed a smile.

  “Yes, I’m free,” Ken answered without thinking.

  “I have something important to tell you,” Lucera said.

  “Let’s meet at the park where we met on Sunday,” she added, then waved goodbye to both as she left.

  “Do you like her?” Andrew asked Ken after she left.

  “I don’t know, but I like her smile,” Ken replied.

  “You like her, huh?” Andrew questioned.

  “Not really” Ken said with a bit of smile.

  They parted ways and headed home after a small conversation.

  Once Ken got home, he couldn't contain his excitement.

  “I’m going to meet her again! I can't believe this!” he muttered.

  “The past two weeks have been crazy,” he added, reflecting on an eventful day as it came to an end.