The afternoon sun stretched lazily over the city streets, golden and warm, but Kohinur felt anything but calm. She sat stiffly on the small couch, hands folded neatly in her lap, staring at Rahan who, impossibly, seemed both composed and menacing in equal measure.
"You know," she began, voice tight with controlled irritation, "I'm starting to suspect that you don't do normal. At all."
Rahan tilted his head, green eyes glinting dangerously under the sunlight. "Normal?" he echoed, as if tasting the word for the first time. "Ah… no, dear Kohinur. I do not deal in normal. It is far too bland. And you… are far too interesting for blandness."
Kohinur groaned, burying her face in her hands. "Interesting? You're talking about someone who—let me remind you—forced me into marriage."
Rahan leaned forward, elbows on his knees, chin resting in his hands like a mischievous fox. "Forced… hmm. Let's say it was… highly persuasive. Persuasion at the grandest level. A symphony of subtle coercion and… personal theatrics."
Her eyes snapped open. "Personal theatrics?! You mean you literally wrote my name thousands of times and—"
"Yes!" he interrupted, eyes sparkling like a child in a candy shop. "Exactly! Isn't that dedication charming?"
Kohinur groaned again, this time loud enough that the nearby cat leaped from the windowsill. "Charming? You almost killed yourself if I didn't marry you. Do you even realize how terrifying that was?!"
Rahan leaned back dramatically, hands spread wide. "Terrifying? Perhaps. Effective? Absolutely. My methods may be extreme, but the results… spectacular. And here we are."
Here she was indeed, sitting across from the man who had stalked, obsessed, and orchestrated her life with alarming precision. The absurdity made her chest tighten, and yet, she couldn't help but notice how… calm he seemed. Too calm. Too charming. Too… impossible to resist in his weird, chaotic way.
A faint memory flickered—Kohinur as a small girl, being lifted by a slightly older boy, her cousin, who now loomed over her in memory as a shadowy figure of obsession and twisted affection. Back then, it had seemed harmless—a kind, teasing smile, a protective hand—but as she grew older, the lines had blurred.
Rahan had watched her, studied her, allowed an obsession to grow like a wildfire. And when the moment became unbearable… he had almost ended himself rather than let her slip away. The thought made Kohinur shiver, both horrified and… strangely understanding.
"Do you ever… think about how insane this all is?" she whispered, voice barely audible.
"Insane?" Rahan asked, a slow smile spreading. "Ah, yes. Perhaps. But brilliance and madness are often inseparable, Kohinur. And, let's be honest—you agreed to sit here with me, did you not?"
Kohinur glared, but the edges of her lips betrayed a smirk. He was infuriatingly right. She was here, in his space, in his chaotic orbit, and part of her—much to her dismay—was not entirely resistant.
Her mind wandered back to that night of forced marriage, the one no one liked to talk about. The house had been tense, the air thick with fear and uncertainty. Rahan's best friend had stood like a grim sentinel, warning her that if Rahan went through with his plan to end himself, she could be harmed. The helplessness of it had clung to her, heavy and suffocating, and yet, here they were.
"Do you… remember the night?" she asked, quiet now. "The night everything… changed?"
Rahan's expression softened, but the edge never left his eyes. "How could I forget?" he murmured. "Every heartbeat, every hesitation, every terrified glance of yours… etched into me."
Kohinur shivered, pulling her knees closer. "I—look, I don't hate you… I don't even know how I feel most of the time. You terrify me. And yet… you're impossible to ignore."
He leaned closer, just slightly, voice low, almost teasing. "That's because you cannot ignore truth, Kohinur. And the truth is… I am relentless. You cannot escape me. Not yet, not ever."
Her cheeks flushed at the intensity, and she looked away, focusing on the floor as if it might answer her questions. "Relentless… yes, you're… extremely relentless. And… extremely confusing."
Rahan chuckled softly, a sound that twisted somewhere between charm and menace. "Good. Confusion is the perfect seasoning for affection. Spices up the soul. Makes one think, ponder… react. And reaction, dear Kohinur, is exactly what I crave."
The room fell quiet, except for the ticking of the clock. Kohinur's mind raced—part irritation, part awe, part disbelief. How had she ended up here, in this impossible marriage with a man who was, in equal measure, terrifying and magnetic?
Rahan's eyes caught hers again, steady, unwavering. "Do you know the best part of all this?" he asked, voice soft but sharp. "You have no idea what's coming. Every day… every moment… I will surprise you, challenge you, and… yes… charm you. Whether you like it or not."
Kohinur swallowed, realizing the storm of emotions swirling around her: fear, exasperation, a strange thrill. She was trapped, yes—but in the strangest, most exhilarating way.
And as the afternoon shadows stretched longer, she realized that life with Rahan would be anything but ordinary. Chaotic, unpredictable, funny, sometimes dark… yet impossible to ignore.
She groaned, flopping back on the couch. "I hate you."
Rahan's grin widened, impossibly smug. "You love me," he said simply.
Kohinur's eyes snapped open. "I—"
She didn't finish. She couldn't.
Because deep down, whether she wanted to admit it or not, the chaos, the awkwardness, the relentless obsession—it was growing on her. And she knew… she wasn't prepared for the storm that had only just begun.