Entangled : A Love -Story Beyond Time

Nitya somehow managed to get her breath back after Aman was done dragging her to the point where she would be out of reach for even the shadow of Siddhant or anyone else related to him. 

She finally managed to ask him, "Why did you behave in that way earlier? He is your classmate after all!"

"Stop right there! Nitya, I do care for the people around me, but when I say I care for people- only humans are included in that, not each and every non-specific creature!"

"What do you mean by 'non-specific creature': he is one of our classmates! A human being!"

"No, he is not! And you can't convince me otherwise- I will simply refuse to include somebody in the category of humans, if they don't even fulfill the basic goal of humanity. That is, being considerate to every creature on the planet!"

"Okay okay, I got that; but have you considered that you were doing the same thing by hurting him?"

"No my dear, I was not! You see, that person doesn't have a heart in the first place, that would feel those emotions of hurt.

And the second thing is, he doesn't even have a brain to arrive at the realisation that I was roasting him!

At the moment, he must be rather busy thinking about how somebody else was holding his friend in a hug, so don't you even get me started about it!"

"Fine, fine- just relax! Leave this, and tell me when and why did you return so abruptly? And most importantly, how did you know that I am here?"

"Okay, let me answer your questions one-by-one. So for the answer to the first question, which version do you want to hear- the lie or the truth?" Aman said with a teasing smile, making a thoughtful face.

Nitya jumped at the bait.

"Of course the truth, now spill it!"

He chuckled at her eagerness "Alright then! So I returned because of you, or probably the reason is that I got admission here! Now you have to find out which one is the truth!"

"Oh, I know what the truth is! You returned because you got admission here!"

Aman smiled looking at her, she was really too innocent for this world.

He shook his head and then spoke again, "Perhaps! And about your second question- the answer is our very own Mehul Sir! He gave me the information regarding your whereabouts."

He turned towards both the kids, and then called out to them while opening the trunk of his car. "Come here, and look what Bhaiya has brought for the both of you!"

Meisha and Veer eyed the box of chocolates with huge grins on their faces as Aman handed the boxes over to them.

He then guided Nitya towards the passenger seat, saying "Let's go now, it's getting late and I have promised Mehul sir that I would get you home safely."

 ****************

"Is she still alive?" Surbhi asked Ho-jin from the other side of the phone.

"I guess so!" The reply was short, but had answered the most urgent one of all the queries in Surbhi's mind.

"Have you talked to her yet? Because let me tell you, she doesn't remember anything she does after getting drunk! So did she remember her proposal to Ji-hun?"

"This I don't know Noona, but Ji-hun hyung sure does remember everything because when I bumped into him in the hallway outside her room, he had been leaving the room happily, walking in a daze with a smile on his face.

He also instructed me to order something good for Noona, so that she won't have to starve till his special dishes for her get prepared!

And then he just left, saying that there were so many preparations that he still needed to do for her!" Ho-jin explained the scenario in the best way possible.

"Awww, that's so sweet of him! And what did you order for her, then?" Surbhi asked, excitedly.

"Um- Noona, don't you think we are going off-topic? How do we find out if she remembers this or not?"

"Just ask her directly, and if you have any sort of evidence, show her everything because she is gonna bluntly deny it from the very beginning. I know her very well!"

"What do you mean by evidence?"

"Arrey Buddhu! I mean, Pabo! ('Buddhu/ Pabo': stupid) Don't you have any pictures or videos recorded from last night?" Surbhi asked, panicking slightly. 

"Oh yes, I do." 

"Then just show her everything outright."

Nitya came out of the shower, wrapping her freshly washed hair up in a towel.

She had chosen to wear the white t-shirt she had borrowed from Ho-jin, even though she had her entire luggage by her side now.

The denim shorts she had picked out of Ji-hun's wardrobe reached till her knees, giving her the look of a high-school girl.

Ho-jin looked at the familiar figure with affection as if he had known her from eternity.

She felt like his safe space and he knew he could run to her whenever times got tough, just like he could go to his own mother.

Nitya noticed that he was engrossed in his thoughts and initiated the conversation.

"What happened Ho-jin, what are you thinking about?"

"Noona, do you remember what happened last night?"

"Yes, I do! Yesterday was Chang Min hyung's birthday! And we were celebrating-"

Ho-jin cut her off, afraid that he would lose his courage if she took too long get to the point. "I meant, do you remember what happened after that?"

"What happened after that? I don't know, did somebody get hurt?" She asked, concerned after being made aware of the possibilities.

"No! You proposed to Ji-hun hyung." 

Nitya looked at Ho-jin with shock; meanwhile Surbhi, on the other side of the phone, was assuming that the response of her best friend would certainly be to deny her feelings as well as to confidently reject the facts being presented to her.

Ho-jin was looking on curiously, eager to know her reaction; he was also somewhat scared after Surbhi's prediction.

But defying all expectations and shocking both of them, she panicked and sat on the bed with a thump.

Holding her head with her left hand, she finally found her voice after a few minutes. "Oh no! I really messed up this time.

Why can't I keep my feelings to myself! He was not supposed to know that; now how am I going to explain this? I know- I just figured out the best way out of this!

I will tell him that I was drunk, and subsequently confused him with someone else. No no, but if he asks whom I replaced him with, then?

Oh yeah, the best option will be to say that I don't remember anything. And that's the truth as well, I really don't remember anything- yes this is the right thing to do!"

Deciding everything in a one-sided election, she got up with a task set for herself.

"NO!!" Two voices echoed at the same time, loud like thunder and causing her to stop mid-step.

 ****************

Nitya woke up, drenched in a puddle of sweat, only to find out that she was still in her bed and it was yet another one of her weird dreams.

Her throat felt parched, so she walked out of her room to fetch herself a glass of water from the kitchen.

When she reached the living room, she found that Meisha was still up and watching something on her phone, laughing.

Meisha also turned towards her and spoke excitedly "Di, look! This is a boy band from Korea, they are so funny! And here, have a look- he is Ho-jin and he is my favourite-"

Nitya looked at the super excited Meisha endearingly and took the phone from her hands, but out of nowhere, reality hit her like a truck!

The six boys she was brought face-to-face through the screen were the same people she had been seeing in her dreams!

'Are they actually real?'

 ****************