Karan Johar arrived that evening with a cameraman and a truck full of set pieces.
"To create a proper 'Koffee with Karan' atmosphere, you know," he told Rohit and Jinks, who had come outside to show him in.
"Of course, of course," said Rohit with such a huge smile that Jinks nudged him.
Karan entered the bungalow and found everyone gathered in the living room to welcome him. Predictably, he noticed Rahul and Hardik first of all.
"Hey, man, Hardik, KL--great to see you again," he said effusively, as if he hadn't nearly ruined their lives the last time they met. However, Hardik and Rahul thankfully had the sense to respond enthusiastically.
There was a lot of 'hey's and 'bro's and 'long time, no see, man's which never happened when the ICT met after a long time [there was only a lot of crazy laughter and hugs when they did.]
Phenol had been told firmly by Jaddu to remain in the kitchen, and when Bhuvi and Jassi went to cook (it was their turn that night), they saw Phenol perched on the slab, munching whole bars of chocolate at an alarming pace. On seeing them, he offered a bit of chocolate to Jassi, who accepted it with a warm smile.
"Move, Phenol," Bhuvi told him, and he obediently alighted from the slab and settled down on the floor with his chocolates.
"What're we going to make, Bhuvi bhaiya?"
"I dunno. Something simple," said Bhuvi.
They made something with brinjals because there seemed to be an abundance of them in their store.
After they finished cooking, Bhuvi and Jassi went to peep into the living room and saw Karan Johar in a chummy pleasant conversation with their team as if he had always been a part of them.
Jassi noticed Hardik sitting in a corner beside Rohit, looking extremely subdued. Rahul was nowhere to be seen.
"Hardik looks upset, Bhuvi bhaiya," said Jassi unhappily. Then he saw that Bhuvi was staring at Hardik, too. His expression was unreadable.
"I know, Jass."
_____________
When they sat down to dinner that night, Karan said pleasantly, "This looks wonderful! Kudos to Bhuvneshwar and Jasprit!"
Bhuvi cracked a huge grin. Jassi, seeing him, hastily followed suit.
"Bhuvi is relatively the best cook among us, hehehe," said Virat with such fake un-Virat-like politeness that his friends had to hide their grins.
"I hope there aren't peanuts in these, though? I'm allergic to them," said Karan.
"No, there aren't," said Jassi, who was still grinning so widely that his cheek muscles had begun aching.
You can stop now, indicated Ash, and Jassi thankfully stopped smiling.
"Thanks for informing us, too," said Shikhar with a huge grin as well.
Bhuvi and Jaddu exchanged a glance.
____________
Hardik went straight to his room after dinner, and after a while his door banged open.
"Hardik, I'm bored! Let's go for a walk!" said Bhuvi.
"Tomorrow?" said Hardik.
"Please, Hardik?" whined Bhuvi in a very realistic imitation of Hardik's typical whine of 'Please, Bhuvi?' or 'Please, Mahi bhai?'
Hardik grinned ungrudgingly in spite of his plummeting mood, and he sat up.
"All right," he tried to say in Bhuvi's typical exasperated tone, but failed.
They walked out and Bhuvi called behind them, "Hardik and I are going for a walk!"
"Ok," yelled back Virat.
Hardik looked back at his friends once.
"Why are you sad, Harry?" asked Bhuvi. "That incident is past now."
"If they hadn't forgiven me, I wouldn't be on this trip today," said Hardik.
"Hardik? How could they not have forgiven you? They all love you, you know," said Bhuvi.
Hardik's expression was so desolate that Bhuvi's heart sank. Hardik had clearly still not got over his team ignoring him after that incident.
Bhuvi knew Virat shouldn't have done that. But that was how Virat was. Tactless.
But it wasn't Virat's fault, was it? It was Karan Johar's fault. Bhuvi vowed he would make that creature regret hurting Hardik so much that he would wish he had never been born.
Silence did not suit Hardik. It never could. An annoying, mad, immature Hardik was so much better than this sad one.
Bhuvi put his arm around his best friend. "It's ok, Hardik. We'll show him what happens when they mess with us."
"What if he does something to Kuliya and Yuzi?" Hardik looked at Bhuvi, and Bhuvi realized that this was one of the main things bothering him.
"We'll not let him," said Bhuvi determinedly. "We'll protect our KulCha. Like we should have protected you and Rahul, Hardik."
"You couldn't have done that."
"We could have, if we had been there. That's why Virat called him here, you know? So that he deals with all of us, not just Kuliya and Yuzi."
"We'll show him, Bhuvi," said Hardik.
Bhuvi felt a sudden surge of affection for his childish friend, and he hugged him and ruffled his hair. "We will, Harry."