The same Holi evening.

"Mhmm Yuku aur Manvi ka blush toh dekho! Lagg raha hai jaise pehli baar mil rahe hain." I teased the duo who were sitting 3ft apart on Manav's bed. "Hein, kya chal raha hai? Mujhe v batao." Ayushi said entering the room with a tray full of snacks along with Manav's mother who came with a tray full of juice.

[Mrs. Supriya Gupta, a pretty lady and a great chef. She is in her mid 40s. She has been great in her studies during her time. But left all to lead on her life as a wife and a mother.]

(Mhmm look at their blush! Seems as if they are meeting for the first time.

Huh, what's going on? Tell me too.)

"Aree aunty, aap hume bula deti." Yukti stood while taking the tray from aunty's hand. "It's totally fine aur waise bhi yeh choti si helper toh thi he mere pass." She said patting Ayushi's back lightly while she giggled. "Thank you Ayushi." Manav said and Ayushi replied with a small 'mention not'.

(Aunty you could've called us.

....anyways I had this lil helper with me.)

"Ok then enjoy among yourselves, if you'll need anything else just call me." Aunty said heading out of the room. "Thank you aunty." We all cheered.

"Manav bhaiya aapki mummy kitni mast hain." Ayushi complimented while eating fries from a plate. "I know I know, mujh par gayi hain na." Manav said with a proud look.

"Han han bilkul but let me remind you aunty was a scholar in her time and aap beta ji?" Yukti interrupted Manav's moment. "Waise toh hum jawab de dete par yeh kambbakht ishq khamosh rehne par majhboor kar deta hai." Manav said with all the confidence he had because after this he blushed while hiding his face with a pillow.

"Do you guys remember that I'm also here? Please have some shame infront of a small, pretty little, innocent kid at least." Ayushi said sipping on her orange juice. "It's okay re, and it's not like you are not known with all these relationship wala stuff." Yukti replied shrugging.

"Anyways, I know it's out of topic but Akshit bhaiya you really looks like someone...from Seventeen."

Silence...

Yup, none of us had any idea about what my sister just said. "Aree Seventeen is a kpop group. Didi I've told you once remember!?" "Ohh right right! The group who's songs you have been singing all day recently." She replied with nod. Then she showed everyone a picture of Mingyu, the member she compared Akshit with.

[Su : yes guys my love for SVT and Mingyu is eternal 😔🤞🏻
*DK and Woozi coughing in the back*
Su : Uhmm.. Anyways so-]

"Guys I'm getting bored, let's do something." "Like?" "Like, like a quiz!?"Akshit suggested. "Nerd." Manav commented. "That was rude." Akshit said while huffing.

'Aww, someone stop the time so I can just squeeze his cheeks. Cutie.' I cried internally.

"Let's play truth or dare." We agreed to Yukti's advice and settle on the floor with an empty water bottle placed at the center. I spun the bottle and it landed on Yukti.

"So Yukti, truth or dare?" "Truth!" She replied. "Tell us when did you realised your feelings for Manav?" I asked. "Ahem ahem" Manav shuffled closer to Yukti.

"Honestly speaking, I didn't really know how this happened. But everytime I troubled him all he replied with was 'Han karle pareshan, haqq hai tujhe.' ...The way we fought, the way we grew, the way we understood each other so well is what made this bond more stronger and here we are." Yukti said hiding her tears, Manav too holding back his emotions.

"Ok ok, moving on." Yukti spun the bottle. "Ayushi! Chal bata truth or dare?" "I choose dare." "Ok, go and ask mumma to teach you how to make 'Pani k pakode'." Manav dared Ayushi. "Bezzati karwake he manoge matlab hai na?" Choti went near aunty and we could hear their conversation as the kitchen was near Manav's room.

(You just want to make fun of me, right?)

"Aunty, woh na mujhe jaanna tha ki 'Pani k pakode' kaise banate hain?" And I kid you not, we could hear Supriya aunty laugh out loud. "Who told you that you can make pakode out of water?" she laughed between each phrase. "Oh we can't? Silly me, haha." Ayushi came running to the room all embarrassed. Without a word she spun the bottle.

"I choose truth." Akshit said. "Hmm I know mostly everything about him, you guys ask something." Manav suggested. I couldn't think of any question so I passed it to Yukti "Ok then, share any one of your favorite memory from your childhood or something like that."

There was a subtle shift in his mood. It was a minor change but profound enough for me to catch it.

"Actually, my childhood was as boring as it can be. Since childhood, I didn't had many friends being an introvert. Few of my cousins would visit me but I was more into the intellectual things so they generally used to segregate me from playing together. The only memory I treasure is my time with my grandparents but I hope to make some new ones with you guys by my side." He cheered us as we looked at him sympathetically.

We then played some more rounds where everyone was bound to take dares. We witnessed Manav's dance on 'Sheila ki jawani', we saw Akshit acting as Mehta sir (their chemistry teacher), we heard Ayushi's besura performance on 'Baby by Justin Bieber' and much more.

"Manav, Nakul video call par hai, baat karle." Aunty called Manav. "Nakul bhai??" He ran out of the room and came back with the phone in a matter of a few seconds.

On video call

"Hi bhai, Happy Holi. Kaise ho aap?" Manav asked excitedly. "Happy Holi bachhe, main badhiya hun. Tu bata?" Nakul bhaiya replied.

[Nakul bhaiya or Nakul Gupta, he is elder brother of Manav. He is 22 years old and currently pursuing MBA at University of California, USA. He is a caring brother and a responsible son. Nakul helped Manav throughout his school year. Also trained and encouraged him to play cricket as a passion rather than pass time. In all he was the perfect example of 'Ideal first child'.]

"My friends are also here, see." He flipped with camera and we wished bhaiya Happy Holi. "Aree Yukti, kaisi hai? Yeh badmash zyada pareshan toh nahi kar raha tujhe?" Bhaiya asked while Yukti and Manav replied sitting beside each other. "No bhai, now he will only take care of me rather than troubling me." "Samjha bade?"

(Hey Yukti, how are you? I hope this crook isn't troubling you too much.)

"You guys finally confessed!? Thank you Ganpati bappa, mujhe toh laga tha mein yeh din kabhi dekh he nahi paunga." "Humari krupa drishti ka asar hai bhaiya." I replied and Manav flipped the phone so that I could see bhaiya's face now. "Thank you yarr Aarohi."

(You guys finally confessed!? Thank you lord Ganesha, I had thought that I would never get to witness this day.

It's all because of our hardwork bro.)

"Didi main aati hu zara." Choti went out as she received a call from her classmate and we continued our conversation with Nakul bhaiya. Akshit still sat silently, uttering a word or two in between.

(Sis I'll come back in a while.)

Later that night.

I was scrolling through my feeds searching for some good books to read (suggest me some guys) when my thoughts wandered to Akshit. I quickly opened his chat and sent a text.

Choudhary ji
+91 xxxxxxxxxx

Me
Hi :)

10:36 pm

Choudhary ji
Hello
11:11 pm

Me
Are you free right now?

Choudhary ji
Yes, why?

Me
...|

'How shall I ask now? Isn't it like interfering his personal life? Kya karu, kya karu' I heard a 'ting' indicating a new notification.

Choudhary ji
+91 xxxxxxxxxx

Choudhary ji
Anything serious?

Me
No no
I actually want to ask that..

Choudhary ji
That?

Me
Do you have the pictures that we clicked today?

Choudhary ji
Oh picture, yeah I have a few.
You sure, it's just about the picture?

Me
Yes I mean no, it's just about the picture.

Choudhary ji
Ok then, good night
Ms. Govind :)

Me
Yeah, good night :)
11:23 pm

'I could've just asked him. Missed the chance dumbo.' another ping.

Choudhary ji
+91 xxxxxxxxxx

Choudhary ji
I'm totally fine, it's just talking about my childhood makes me feel sad as it was all blue. I craved that love from my family members and friends but was always devoid of it for God knows what reason.
Also at a young age I had lost my grandparents who used to treat me way better than my family and friends altogether.
Except for my mother, she has always tried to motivate me and taught me to be stronger.
At the moment, I just want to repay at least 1/10th part of what all she did for me.
You must be thinking what am I even saying but I don't know why I felt the need to tell you this.
11: 29 pm

Me
Thank you for including and sharing about your past with me.
I can just only imagine how difficult
it must be for you.

Choudhary ji
Honestly speaking, it was not.
Sharing with you at least.
Now now, good night fr Ms Govind :)
And take care of yourself too.

Me
You too sir, take care and good night :)
11:36pm

'Heyy Radha Rani please Akshit ki life mein sab achha ho aur usse kabhi bhi dukh na dekhna pade, please.'

♡

Sushi's note: Hey readers, hope you liked and enjoyed this chapter!

It was more of a filler chapter but the drama is going to start soon so stay tuned!

Keep on voting and commenting. And don't forget to take care of yourself and drink loads of water. Stay protected from this hot hot garmi.

With love
《Radhe Radhe》