Nikhil paused for a moment.
Which, honestly, surprised even him. Since when did he pause and think things through? Usually his life philosophy was closer to 'cause the problem first, experience consequences later.' Preferably never.
His thumb hovered over the keyboard slowly, mapping out the five words. So simple. So straightforward.
'I have a crush on you.'
That was all he had to write.
But right now…they felt strangely weighted.
Maybe it was the late hour. Maybe it was the sleeplessness making him more honest with himself than usual. Maybe it was because beneath the superficially charming, unserious flirt exterior, this actually mattered to him more than he expected.
Typing it out suddenly felt insulting.
It felt flat.
Too casual.
Like he was discussing gossip instead of confessing something that had apparently hijacked his entire nervous system overnight. This wasn't just a confession. It was a provocation, a peace treaty, and a gift all wrapped neatly together with a little bow on top.
It deserved to be delivered properly, in person.
Nikhil needed to see it.
He needed to witness the exact shade of red Aarav's face would turn. He needed to hear every half-formed word stumble out of those pretty, annoyed lips in real time. He wanted to watch the storm behind Aarav's eyes happen live and uncensored.
A text felt cowardly.
And Nikhil Goyal was many things. Deeply annoying. Morally concerning. A menace to society. But a coward? Never.
He deleted the draft.
Started over.
Nikhil: 'Come to the lobby in your building. I'm coming there. I need to tell you something.'
The message wasn't seen instantly, which figured. Maybe Aarav was asleep. Maybe he was studying. Maybe he had finally snapped mentally and was currently roaming the corridors like a Victorian ghost muttering about bodybags.
Nikhil exhaled softly.
He tossed the phone beside him and leaned back against the wall, staring at the dim ceiling above.
He should sleep.
He knew that.
A normal person would sleep.
Unfortunately, he was not a normal person.
The restlessness crawling under his skin refused to let him relax. He felt weirdly awake, weirdly alive. Like his veins had been replaced with caffeine and bad decisions.
Then suddenly-
The screen lit up.
Nikhil practically lunged for the phone with alarming speed.
And there it was.
A reply.
'No.'
Nikhil stared at the screen for exactly one second before grinning.
Still a reply.
That was the important part.
As long as Aarav was replying, Nikhil had absolutely no doubt he could get him downstairs somehow. One way or another.
'It's important,' he typed back at record speed.
The reply came instantly.
'No it's not.'
Well. That was blunt.
Too bad Nikhil was more shameless than Aarav was blunt.
Nikhil: 'And why not?'
Meanwhile, in another hostel floor, Aarav physically rubbed a hand down his face in exhausted disbelief.
When he had received a message from an unknown number this late at night, he hadn't even needed to guess who it was. The profile picture had confirmed it immediately anyway.
And now this psychopath expected him to go downstairs at midnight for whatever new antic he had cooked up?
Absolutely not.
Aarav typed his reply with the energy of a deeply overworked customer service employee one inconvenience away from resigning publicly.
Aarav: 'It's late.'
'I'm in the middle of studying.'
'And I'd rather stick my head in a bucket of formalin than voluntarily have a conversation with you.'
Nikhil actually laughed out loud at that.
God. He liked him so much it was embarrassing.
Even his insults had personality.
A pang of disappointment still hit him though. Tiny, but there. He hadn't really expected Aarav to agree easily in the first place, but still.
Seems like it was time to pull out the nuclear weapon in his arsenal.
An evil grin spread slowly across his face.
If Aarav wanted to play hardball, then fine. Two could play this game.
His thumbs flew across the keyboard.
Nikhil: 'Ok.'
'I'll just have that conversation with you tomorrow morning then.'
'In the common area.'
'When everyone's around.'
'And here I was trying to be considerate and think you'd want this confidential.'
'But if you don't mind an audience, a public setting works for me too.'
He even attached a shrugging GIF for extra emotional damage.
Then he calmly placed the phone face-down beside him.
He didn't even need to look to know panic was currently gripping Aarav by the throat.
And he was absolutely right.
Because in his room, Aarav's phone had practically slipped out of his hands.
He stared at the messages in dawning horror, blood running cold.
This was blackmail.
Actual blackmail.
And worse - effective blackmail.
With Nikhil, this was the greatest threat imaginable. The guy had no self-preservation instincts whatsoever. If he decided to publicly say something horrifying in front of everyone, nothing in heaven or earth could stop him.
Multiple dreadful possibilities flashed through Aarav's mind in rapid succession.
What if he said daddy again?
Worse - what if he said something new?
What if this lunatic confessed something insane in front of the entire hostel?
What if Karan heard?
Or worse? What if people heard?
No. Actually scratch that. Karan hearing would be worse because he would never shut up about it for the next fifty years.
Speak of the devil.
Karan, who had noticed the increasingly haunted expression on his friend's face, leaned over curiously. One glance at Nikhil's contact was enough for understanding to dawn.
"Oh no," he breathed immediately.
Aarav looked genuinely miserable.
Karan knew he probably shouldn't interfere.
But unfortunately, he was also deeply nosy.
So naturally, he snatched the phone from Aarav's hand before the shorter boy could stop him and scrolled through the messages. Aarav didn't even protest. He looked too spiritually exhausted to fight for custody anymore.
Karan read the conversation.
Then blinked.
Then barked out a laugh he immediately tried to suppress.
"Wow," he wheezed. "That's…that's actually genius."
Aarav looked at him with betrayal in his eyes.
"He's literally blackmailing you with public humiliation to force you into a private meeting," Karan continued, sounding disturbingly impressed. "You have to respect the strategy a little."
A pause.
Then suddenly, Karan's eyes widened with realisation.
"Wait," he said slowly. "This almost sounds like he's ragging you now."
Aarav held up a trembling finger immediately.
"Don't," he said weakly. His voice was half groan, half plea for divine mercy. "Please don't."
Honestly, death was beginning to sound peaceful at this point.
With the sigh of a man signing his own execution papers, Aarav took the phone back.
Aarav: 'Fine.'
'10 minutes. I'm coming down, and you better be there.'
'If you're not there, I leave immediately.'
'Make it short.'
'And this better be important.'
Nikhil read the message.
A triumphant, gleeful sound escaped him immediately.
Hook.
Line.
Sinker.
He practically jumped off the bed.
Because the funniest part was - he had already gotten ready beforehand. He'd changed clothes while waiting for the replies because he'd had full confidence his bait would work eventually.
He checked himself quickly in the mirror. Ran a hand through his curls. Adjusted his shirt collar. Added a little more cologne because apparently he was now the type of person who cared about smelling nice before seeing his crush.
Disgusting.
He fixed his hair anyway.
Anuj, who had been silently witnessing all of this with increasing horror from his bed, finally blinked slowly.
"...Where are you going?" he asked cautiously.
Nikhil grabbed his phone with a grin.
"Got a date," he said casually, winking.
And with that, he slipped out the door.
The scream that echoed through the room a few seconds later was probably Anuj screaming into his pillow.
To Nikhil, it almost sounded like dramatic background music.
AN: got finals tommorow I'm procrastinating so fcking hard rn