பொறுக்கி / Gangster [Under Editing]

//3 [EDITED]

Chemistry Lab Session:

All the boys and girls stood on opposite sides of the room. Ajay couldn't take his eyes off Lakshmi, while her friends were whispering and gossiping.

"Hey, look at Ajay! His eyes are stuck on her. Do you really think Lakshmi would love someone like him? No way... Ajay's a drunkard, and he smokes. Who knows what other bad habits he has?"

Lakshmi couldn't stand hearing these talks anymore. She sighed, rolled her eyes, and threw a dead glance at Ajay. Noticing this, he quickly buttoned his shirt and smiled like a well-behaved boy, his hair flying in the air.

Lakshmi sighed again and moved closer to grab the methyl orange drops for the experiment.

"See, don't look at me like that. Just focus on the experiment."

Ajay couldn't help himself. "No, Lakshmi..."

She interrupted him. "Don't talk directly. Everyone's watching."

"Lakshmi, you look pretty in this dress. I can't take my eyes off you, di!"

"Even I can't take my eyes off you—because I'm irritated. The girls are talking nonsense about you. It's better if you don't look at me."

Lakshmi went back to titrating the solution while Ajay's friend overheard everything."Dei, she doesn't like you. That's why she's telling you not to look at her."

Ajay shook his head. "No, it's not like that. She doesn't like those girls talking rubbish about me. She loves me, da... she's just hiding it. Why else would she care?"

His friend smirked and approached Lakshmi under the pretext of adding an indicator to the solution.

"Hey, why do you care? You heard them, right? He's not a good guy. So why—"

"Are you a good one?"

His friend stopped, speechless. Lakshmi just walked away while everyone stared at her with awkward smiles.

---

In her bedroom, looking at the moon...

Lakshmi thought to herself. *Are you doing the right thing? If you don't like him, why do you care? Lakshmi, does this mean you like him? Why? You're a psychology student, don't get confused. Think—life or love?*

Meanwhile, Ajay was smoking with his friends, but suddenly, thoughts of Lakshmi filled his mind. He dropped the cigarette and crushed it under his foot.

"Yo, chum, what's up?"

Ajay stepped back. "Mom called me. Sorry, I gotta go."

He lied and ran away, recalling what the girls had said about him in the lab. Slowly, he sat beside his dad.

"What's this, a miracle? You came home early."

"Dad, why did you stop smoking?"

His dad hummed in thought. "For your mom and for you. Your mom didn't make rules for me. She even said if I want to smoke or drink, I can go ahead."

"Then why did you stop?"

"I thought about it. Your mom loves me that much, so why can't I give up these things for her? She trusted me. When you have someone who loves you, you can leave anything for them."

Ajay looked confused. "Dad, didn't mom scold you, even once?"

"Ajay, a girl will be born for you, you'll understand then. And your mom is a psychologist, so think about it."

Ajay smiled, nodded, and fell onto his bed in confusion.

*For Lakshmi, can't I leave this cigarette? Why did I start smoking and drinking in the first place? If she comes to me, will I care for her as much as she wants?*

He called his friend and shared his thoughts.

"Yeah, right! You should forget Lakshmi. If you want her to be happy, just forget her. It's better this way, da. I'm telling you as a friend. It's the right decision, don't change it."

---And so, both Ajay and Lakshmi, confused and lost, looked at the moon, their hearts murmuring the same question: *Will she love him, or will he leave her?*