Six Months Later –
Time flew by, and six months had passed in the blink of an eye. The campus that once brimmed with excitement now seemed subdued as the first semester exams loomed. The library was packed, coffee cups stacked on tables, and students buried in their books. Among them sat Kush and Milli, each lost in their own struggles, their expressions mirroring the weight of their choices—or rather, the choices made for them.

Kush tapped his pen against the table, staring blankly at a textbook on business administration. Numbers, graphs, and marketing terms blurred before his eyes, none of it making sense. With a sigh, he leaned back in his chair and muttered to himself, “Why am I even doing this? This isn’t me.”

Across the table, Milli looked up from her notes. She noticed the frustration on his face and asked softly, “Are you okay, Kush?”

He gave her a tired smile. “Not really. I’m trying to make sense of this, but honestly… I couldn’t care less about balance sheets or consumer behavior.” He closed the book with a thud. “It’s my mom’s dream, not mine.”

Milli nodded in understanding. “I get it. I’m in the same boat.” She gestured to her biology notes. “Science isn’t my passion. Dance is. But my dad… he wants me to follow a stable career, something he thinks is practical.”

Kush looked at her, his voice laced with curiosity. “Then why do you do it, Milli? Why not fight for what you love?”

She sighed, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of her notebook. “Because I love my parents, Kush. And I want to make them proud. Even if it means sacrificing my own dreams.”

Kush nodded slowly, his frustration softening into understanding. “Yeah… same here. My mom has been through so much. If this is what she wants, I’ll do it. But some days…” He paused, his voice trailing off as he looked out the window.

Milli followed his gaze, and a melancholic silence fell between them. The lyrics of a distant memory seemed to echo in their hearts:
“Dil dhoondta hai phir wahi fursat ke raat din… Baithen rahe tasavvur-e-jaana kiye hue…”

After a moment, Milli spoke again, her voice filled with determination. “We’ll get through this, Kush. It may not be what we love, but we’re strong enough to handle it. And who knows? Maybe someday, we’ll get the chance to follow our dreams.”

Kush smiled at her optimism, though the doubt in his eyes remained. “I hope so. But for now, I guess we just have to survive these exams.”

They shared a small laugh, and for the first time that evening, the tension eased. As the hours passed, they helped each other study, trading tips and encouragement.

At one point, Kush flipped through his textbook and said with a smirk, “If I pass this exam, I’m treating you to a big celebration. You better be ready.”

Milli laughed. “Deal. But only if I pass mine too.”

By the time they packed up their books and left the library, the night had grown darker, but their spirits were lighter. As they walked side by side under the dim glow of streetlights, a quiet resolve formed in their hearts. They might not be living their dreams yet, but they had each other to lean on, and that made the burden a little easier to bear.

Somewhere in the distance, a song played softly on a campus speaker:
“Yeh jeevan hai… is jeevan ka, yahi hai… yahi hai rang roop…Thode Gham hai Thodi Khushiyan.”

And in that moment, amidst the chaos of exams and expectations, a glimmer of hope shone through.