Nikhil, for the life of him, couldn't sleep after the revelation.
This struck him as odd.
He'd had attractions before. Crushes too, technically. People he found hot. Pretty smiles. Nice eyes. Interesting personalities. The usual.
None of them had ever made him stare at the ceiling at 1:17 a.m. like he was undergoing a spiritual awakening.
This was… intriguing.
He rolled onto his back again with a groan, throwing an arm over his eyes dramatically.
Because what the hell was this?
His brain felt like someone had replaced all functioning thoughts with a looping compilation of Aarav glaring at him.
Aarav saying his own name.
Aarav looking personally victimized by existence.
Aarav's ears turning pink.
Aarav's stupidly pretty face.
God.
He sat upright abruptly.
Nope. Sleeping was clearly not happening tonight.
He swung his legs off the bed and glanced toward the other side of the room.
Anuj was still awake.
Of course he was.
The warm yellow glow of the study lamp illuminated his half of the room, making the cramped hostel space feel oddly quiet despite the distant sounds outside. Crickets. Some idiot laughing in the corridor. Someone dropping a steel bottle somewhere far away with the dramatic force of a gunshot.
Meanwhile, Anuj sat hunched over his desk, meticulously color-coding physiology notes like a man trying to regain control over his collapsing life through stationery.
The topic heading read: Megaloblastic Anemia.
His face carried that same expression he always seemed to have lately—a sort of permanent mild panic. Like he had just remembered three assignments, four viva topics, and Nikhil's existence simultaneously.
Nikhil almost felt bad for disturbing him.
Almost.
But unfortunately, he was currently experiencing emotions, and that meant he needed to inflict them onto someone else immediately.
"Megoblastic anemia, huh?" Nikhil spoke casually.
Anuj nearly ascended.
The poor guy visibly startled, shoulders jerking as he looked up in alarm. Clearly, he had assumed Nikhil was asleep.
Nikhil ignored this entirely.
"So, Anuj," he began, strolling over before plopping down opposite him on the edge of the bed.
Anuj looked at him warily.
Not regular wary either.
It was the expression of a man watching someone casually approach while holding a lit match near an oil spill.
Like he expected Nikhil to suddenly explode.
Which, metaphorically speaking, honestly wasn't inaccurate.
Nikhil gave him a cheerful smile.
"Don't look so worried. It's a good thing this time."
This immediately informed Anuj it was absolutely not a good thing.
Nikhil using that tone was probably what dinosaurs heard moments before the meteor hit.
"Guys relax," the meteor probably said. "This is actually great news."
"…What is it?" Anuj asked cautiously, inhaling like he was preparing for impact.
"You have the other senior's number, right?" Nikhil asked smoothly, eyes fixed on him. "The tall one. Our other room senior except Aarav. What's his name again…"
"…Karan," Anuj replied automatically.
Unlike Nikhil, Anuj had not launched a weeks-long psychological warfare campaign to obtain names. He had simply realized one day that Truecaller existed.
A revolutionary discovery, truly.
"Yes, Karan," Nikhil repeated thoughtfully. "Nice. We now know both of their names. Character development."
Anuj did not look moved by this milestone.
"So you have his number?"
Anuj narrowed his eyes immediately.
Slowly.
Suspiciously.
Like a detective in a crime documentary seconds before realizing the suspect had bodies buried somewhere.
"…I do," he admitted reluctantly. "He gave it in case we needed help or had urgent questions."
Then, more cautiously—
"Why?"
A pause.
Then, with increasing concern—
"Please don't tell me you're going to prank call or terrorize him too. You've already picked fights with Aarav boss—"
Nikhil waved a dismissive hand.
"Please. I didn't pick fights. That's just mine and Aarav's dynamic. We're almost friends, really."
Anuj stared at him in complete disbelief.
There was not a single universe in existence where Aarav considered Nikhil a friend.
If anything, Aarav probably considered him one of the plagues sent to test humanity.
"And about the number," Nikhil continued casually, "it's not like that at all. Why would you think I'd prank call Karan at midnight? What do you think I am? A child?"
The sheer audacity of saying this after everything he had done nearly made Anuj black out.
"I need his help to get Aarav's number."
Silence.
Pure silence.
Anuj just stared.
Of course.
Of course.
For one beautiful, shining second, he had almost felt relief when Nikhil denied the prank call thing.
But no.
This was worse.
So much worse.
The request was so brazen that Anuj genuinely struggled to process it.
"W-why?" he demanded weakly. "Why on earth would you need his number? Is this another one of your antics again?"
Nikhil leaned forward slightly.
And somehow, that made it scarier.
Because his expression lost the usual shit-eating grin. Instead, he looked unsettlingly earnest.
"My antics?" he repeated, sounding almost offended. "I'll have you know the purpose of me seeking him out is actually very sincere and important."
That sentence filled Anuj with a level of dread previously only seen in final destination movies.
"Why?" he pressed desperately.
This was his last stand. His final attempt to prevent whatever catastrophic nonsense was about to unfold.
Unfortunately, trying to stop Nikhil once he had decided on something was like trying to stop a tsunami using cardboard.
Nikhil looked him dead in the eye.
His voice was calm. Matter-of-fact. Completely sincere.
"Because I have a crush on him and need to tell him."
The silence that followed felt prehistoric.
Like the atmosphere seconds before the dinosaur meteor.
Outside, cicadas buzzed faintly from the lawn beyond the hostel window.
Inside, Anuj's soul quietly left his body.
His face went through several stages of grief in real time.
First came confusion. Genuine, blank confusion. Like his brain simply refused to assign meaning to the words it had heard.
Then disbelief.
Then horror.
Pure horror.
Nikhil had never seen such concentrated dread in a human being before. It was honestly fascinating.
And finally—
Acceptance.
A serene, deeply checked-out expression settled onto Anuj's face. The look of a man who had realized fate hated him personally.
Slowly, he lowered his highlighter onto the desk.
Closed his notes.
Picked up his phone.
Pulled up Karan's contact.
And without a single word, slid the phone toward Nikhil.
All while staring blankly at the wall ahead like he was contemplating every wrong life decision that had led him here.
Nikhil, meanwhile, saw absolutely no issue with any of this.
He grabbed the phone immediately, copying the number into his own with alarming efficiency.
Anuj remained motionless.
Somewhere in the distance, a dog barked.
Probably in warning.
"Thanks," Nikhil murmured easily.
He saved the contact, a small smile curling onto his lips as he stared at the screen.
Karan's number.
Which meant he was now one step closer to Aarav's number.
A ridiculous amount of satisfaction bloomed in his chest over something so stupidly simple.
God.
He really did have it bad.