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

'Guest'

"Yes," admitted Shubman. "I was just waiting for you to give the go ahead."

"You have mine," assured Nisha.

"Okay. See you in a few days then."

"Assuming he lets you stay that long."

"Stop. Joking!" Shubman stopped at the door and turned back. "Say, Nisha, what will I do if he never forgives me? Like, ever?"

"He will, Shub," said Nisha softly. "You'll find a way. You both will."

We have to, Shubman thought. We have to. Because if we don't, I'd be losing the person I love most in the world.

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

Ishan's parents and brothers gave him a very warm welcome, maybe because they knew Ishan would refuse to even open his door.

He kept that up for a whole of five hours, no matter how much his father and brother scolded and Shubman pleaded.

In the meantime, his mother cooked and fed Shubman all his favourite Bihari dishes. Shubman didn't have much of an appetite, but the food somehow made him feel like he was home.

Finally, when they were into the sixth hour, Ishan's mother stormed up the stairs.

"That's enough, Ishan," she shouted. "Someone flies..."

"Fifteen hundred kilometres," Shubman whispered.

"... fifteen hundred kilometres to see you and you're acting like a child. That's not how you treat a guest."

Guest? Shubman thought.

But Mrs. Kishan's yell had worked. Ishan banged open the door.

"What does the guest want?" he snarled.

Shubman decided to start with, "Ten minutes of your time?"

"Fine."

Shubman was surprised.

"Oh, in that case-in that case, twenty minutes of your time? Half an hour of your time?"

Ishan gave him a look that made him look remarkably like a fierce hyena. Shubman was about to repeat that thought, but stopped himself just in time.

No joking, he told himself. No joking.

"All right," Shubman said under his breath, looking around in his head for the most sensible thing to say. "Look, Ishan, I can't stand not talking to you day after day. And...and I'm sure you can't either!" It was a gamble, but Shubman took it.

Ishan chose the route of silence.

"So you realize that this-this arrangement is not going to work, right?" demanded Shubman. "You can't keep ignoring my calls, you can't-"

Ishan's family had gone down the stairs again. But Ishan stood at the door, like daring Shubman to step any further.

Shubman, who hated backing off from dares, skirted around him into the familiar room. He stepped on something that crunched.

It was a wad of paper. He bent to pick them up and was about to place them on the table when he caught a glimpse of a photo on one of them.

He uncrumpled them.

"They're the pictures from that album of yours," said Shubman.

"Yeah, I was going to cut them up before my brother interfered," said Ishan defiantly.

Shubman got an urge to say that that was how fourteen year olds in shows like Princess Diaries behaved. Again, thankfully, he stopped himself in time.

"Not fair," said Shubman instead. "I won't let you cut us up. I'm keeping them."

"Fine," said Ishan. "Just get them out of my house."

This time, the tone cut through Shubman.

"What's wrong with you?" he said. "We never speak to each other like this. Not...not even...as a joke."

Ishan gave him the ever-winning silence again.

"I said I'm sorry, Ishu," said Shubman. "I've said it a million times. You have to consider it, you have to, otherwise..."

"Otherwise, what?"

"You tell me!" said Shubman. "You know you can't ignore me forever, and for that, you have to-"

"I don't have to do anything," said Ishan. "And I really wish you would go."

"I won't go!"

Ishan resorted to the cheap trick of, "Your ten minutes is up."

"God, I can't believe you're serious," said Shubman.

"You can never believe people might be serious, Shubman. Why should they not be fooling around all the time, isn't it?"

Ishan stood up, led Shubman out of his room firmly and shut the door. The bolt clicked.

Shubman found himself staring at wood.

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

After that, not even his mother's yells would make Ishan open his door.

"Tell the guest not to overstay his welcome, mum!" he shouted back.

Some of Shubman's thoughts must have shown on his face. Raj patted his shoulder and said, "I've never seen him act like this."

"Yeah, me neither," said Shubman. "I'd better be going then, thank you for all the food, aunty...."

"I won't make any of them for that stupid child till he starts acting decent again," Mrs. Kishan told the door loudly.

Shubman laughed softly, but his eyes stung.

His feet dragged all the way to the cab.

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