Did You Know Me? (Shubman Gill x Ishan Kishan)

To speak without thinking

Present

"Hi!" shouted Shubman to his phone. "Missed me?"

"Hello, VIP," said Ishan's sleepy+sarcastic voice. "A whole night away from you, of course I missed you."

"Same, baby, same."

Both of them laughed. Then Shubman remembered the conversation he had been having before he made the call.

"Oh, you will not believe what Nisha was saying earlier-" Shubman choked back another laugh.

"Your room's safe enough for people to go in now?" Ishan demanded.

"Yes, Nisha's just attending a meeting," said Shubman. "If you are dying to meet the VIP, come over."

"Yeah, right."

Despite the heightened sarcasm, Shubman knew Ishan would be on the way, down the lift. Since the pair of them had "accidentally" set Surya bhai's hair on fire on the first day at the World Cup hotel, their coach Rahul bhai had changed room arrangements.

Shubman on the bottom most floor, Ishan on the top most. Virat bhai and Rohit bhai respectively were right next to each of them. "Keep them in check," Rahul bhai had said.

Shubman and Ishan had taken that as a great compliment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as Ishan came in, Shubman jumped exaggeratedly at him to give him a huge hug and a series of kisses on his cheek.

"Get off," protested Ishan.

"Why? Why? Are you ditching me?"

"Of course not, darling," said Ishan in a too sweet voice.

Shubman saw Nisha, as headphoned and official as a corporate data scientist in a meeting, waving at Ishan and started laughing again. "She was, she was saying...."

But he couldn't speak since he was laughing so hard. Ishan sighed and waited.

"She was saying people who act like couples end up actually being couples." Shubman's chest hurt, so he had to try to stop laughing. "But I wouldn't mind actually being with you either, Ishan!" he called dramatically, reaching out his arms.

"Same, bro." Ishan pulled him to his feet.

"They call guys insensitive. But now I've started to think that's just because guys don't overthink like girls do!" Shubman said, loud enough to reach Nisha through her headphones.

"You ought to give us a lesson or two on overthinking, Shubman Gill," Nisha called.

"Yes, Miss Nisha Sharma?" a voice said from her laptop. "Would you like to share your views with the rest of the team?"

Nisha covered her mouth in horror and dived to mute herself on the laptop.

"You two, get out!" she ordered. "Get out right now. Also if he calls me an overthinker, remind him of Shubman's Top 10 fiascos from overthinking, all right, Ishan?"

Ishan saluted and they slid down the sofa towards the door.

"That reminds me, Sara called yesterday!" said Shubman. "She'd be coming for a few World Cup matches, was asking to meet-"

At Nisha's "OUT!" the two of them nearly tripped to leave the room. Ishan closed the door softly.

"That was a really jerk thing to say, Shub," said Ishan.

"What was?" asked Shubman, astonished.

Ishan had no words for his friend sometimes.

"Talking about meeting Sara in front of Nisha," he said slowly like to a newborn baby. "After you have-done whatever you did at night."

"Oh!" Shubman's face fell with realization. "Oh, god."

Ishan rolled his eyes.

"Why don't I think before speaking?" Shubman groaned, banging his head. 

"Been wondering that only about five years," said Ishan.

"But." Shubman straightened up again. "Sara is my friend. I am allowed to meet my friend, right?"

"It would be fine if you thought her a friend. Do you?"

Silence.

"Honestly, Shub," said Ishan huffily. "You should get involved with someone only if you're sure you wouldn't ditch them the moment if Sara ever, hypothetically, came and told you she likes you."

Shubman wished Nisha and Ishan wouldn't speak so complicated early in the morning.

"What?" he yawned. "You're right, I can't ever say no to Sara, that's why I don't actually get involved with anyone...."

"So you're just sleeping around with your childhood friend even if you have no intention for a relationship?"

Shubman banged his head again. "Why can I never think before speaking, why can I never-"

"What's up, Shubi?" Virat bhai's voice came. "What are you hitting yourself up for, now?"

"Spoke without thinking," Ishan supplied. "Acted like a jerk to the girl currently in his room."

"It's alright, Shubi," said Virat, trying to comfort him. "I used to speak without thinking and people used to call me a jerk too."

"You're not a jerk," said Shubman at once.

"Let us hope someday everyone will say that about you, too," said Virat with a smile, putting an arm around Shubman. "Come, let's go for breakfast."

Ishan followed them into the dining room.

People like Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill were probably born to show the world that all who acted like insensitive jerks due to lack of thinking were possibly the best people in the world.

Ishan certainly did think so.