Even If The World Was Ending

4. It just don't feel right

Ishan got startled by Siraj's voice. He turned towards him and asked "Kya exchange Mia? aur aise darata kon hai." He voiced his astonishm.

Shubman also looked confusedly at the elder lad about his statement.

"Arey sorry sorry. But I was just saying ki aap dono ne jersey no. exchange kaise Kiya? T-shirt tak to samajh aata tha" Siraj replied to Ishan's question.

Both the youngsters looked at eachother confusedly. Siraj facepalmed looking at them. He then turned Ishan's back towards Shubman. Shubman realised then what had happened and laughed at another coincidence.

Ishan turned back again to look at his bestie who was chuckling lightly. "Kya hua?" he asked.

"Arey tune mere jersey no. ka hoodie pehna hai aur maine tera." Shubman replied.

Ishan realised what had happened now and grinned widely.

Soon all three left for dinner. Shubman placing his hand over Ishan's shoulder and Ishan placing his fingers over Shubman's waist.

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"Arey kyu pareshan kar rahe ho usse. Biwi keliye pagal hona kuch galat baat thodi hai. Chiku Ko hi dekhlo." Rohit replied as everyone were teasing Surya who was continuously chatting with his wife.

Virat blushed slightly and then said "I have no fear while admitting that I'm joru ka gulam Ro. Atleast tere jaise chup chup ke toh baat nahi karta apne 8saal ke biwi ke saath." Everyone laughed as it was now Rohit's chance to get embarrassed.

"Isliye mujhe biwi chahiye hi nahi. Main apna favourite ho." Ishan replied as he put handful of fries in his mouth.

"Toh pati Bana le... Waise bhi hum bahut open minded ha" Surya said making everyone laugh.

Ishan smirked at their comment and turned towards Surya. He said "Par acche pati ke stocks bhi khatam ho chuke hai.. aap aur shardul ki shaadi jo hu chuki hai" Everyone laughed at his comment.

The only one who was troubled was Shubman.. the silent spectator. The thought of Ishan being with someone let alone a man made Shubman uneasy.

As the food and jokes were passed around the table, Bumrah noticed the silent Shubman.

"Arey Shubi.. kya hua? Aise muh pe taala laga ke baitha kyu hai" Bumrah asked Shubman softly.

Ishan turned to the latter in question and looked at him worriedly. Shubman avoiding Ishan's glances replied "Nahi Bhaiya.. woh bas tired huan travelling se" he replied tiredly.

Ishan did not understand why Shubman was tired since he was just fine in the room but let him be.

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"Abey Jaddu saale thik se Khel! Hum kya baccho se harenge, vo bhi football"
Virat taunted Jaddu as the whole team was playing football.

The youngsters were in one team and rest in other. After lunch the plan was made instantly that they all will play football at the beach. The sun was almost about the set. The beautiful orange hue sky of Benaulim witnessed the amazing bond between the ICT members.

"Arey Jaddu bhaiya aap all rounder bas cricket mein Rahu idher ek Bihari sab pe Bhari hai" Surya replied and his reply was proved soon as Ishan scored a goal.

Everyone cheered and the latter team enjoyed their win against the older team.

"Shubman samjha tere iss Kishan ko ki jyada udda na, nahi toh main tu talwar uthani hai" Jadeja replied but with a hint of amusement.

Shubman just lightly laughed it off and had turned to Ishan when he saw Axar lifting and hugging the life out of Ishan.

Shubman agitated by the scene just walked towards them and poked Axar's waist. Due to the slight pain Axar dropped Ishan on the sand, and he groaned at the impact.

"Axar, you asshole! What is this?!" Ishan yelled at him as rubbed his ass to relieve the pain.

"Abey yaar.. ye Shubman saale ne mara. Sorry yaar" Axar gave apologetic look to Ishan and then glared at Shubman.

Ishan looked at Shubman whose eyes were void of any emotion. Just as he was about to ask him what happened,. Shubman hurriedly left for the room.

Everyone stunned by the latter's behaviour, just looked at Shubman's retreating figure.

"Isse kya hua?" Hardik asked, but no one particularly. Ishan replied "Nahi pata bhaiya.. dekh ke aata hu" and hurried behind Shubman.

Rahul and Bumrah were the only ones who were least bothered by this since they knew that Shubman will soon melt at Ishan's convincing eyes and talks and everything will be normal.

*************************************
Just as he closed the door, Shubman pulled his hair and let out a loud scream of frustration.

'Why am I acting like this. What is happening to me.' Shubman's thoughts breaking his head.

Soon there was a knock on the door. Thinking it was just room service who wanted to clean the room Shubman opened the door just to shout at them for the untimely appearance

Just as he opened the door he saw that the person who was standing was none other than his best friend, the reason for his frustration, the reason for his confusion. Unfortunately this reason was just looking dumbfoundedly at the taller lad.

"Kya hua Shubu.. Lunch ke time se dekh Raha hu... You're acting weird. Are you ok? Do you want to talk" Ishan asked and lightly touched Shubman's cheek.

Ishan soon saw Shubman blinking his eyes rapidly and saw them getting wet.
Without hesitation, Ishan entered the room, shut the door with his one leg and hugged Shubman.

Shubman sobbed slowly with his body shaking as he hugged Ishan. Ishan started to draw slow circles on his back as he comforted his bestfriend. Seeing him in this state, broke Ishan's heart.

"What happened baccha.. is everything alright? Mujhe nahi batayega Shubi.. kya hua? Pls.. whatever it is I won't ever judged you. I'll support you no matter what.. even if you have murdered someone and you have to hide their body" Ishan said. Shubman slightly laughed at the last comment, thankful for the humour.

"Ishan.. I'm scared. I don't think I'm normal.. I feel ashamed of myself to have such feelings. I buried them for a long time Ishu. But everyday is a struggle. 'I can't anything affect our friendship Ishan' " Shubman spoke but keeping the last sentence just to himself.

Ishan's heart was beating rapidly at the site of his disheveled best friend. Eyes bloodshot and teary, skin slightly tanned due to the blazing sun.. but he could feel all the emotions through his eyes. Hundreds of unspoken words expressed through Shubman's eyes made Ishan's mind wander around for a lot of unwanted thoughts.

"Shubi.. have you started to like someone... someone more than friends?" Ishan asked, with his heart beating loudly yet bravely, ready to face whatever the answer is.

"Ya.. but I don't wanna disclose the name." Shubman replied avoiding Ishan's eyes now.

Ishan though disappointed, gave an understanding smile to Shubman and hugged the disturbed lad.

"I'm there with you..no matter what. Even if the world is against you, I'll always believe you Shubi. Always."

And they both fell into comfortable silence as they embraced each other.

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Hello peeps!

Ok so writing this was actually so tiring since I wrote it yesterday itself but in my sleep (if it's making sense😅)

Now finally made corrections and all (bahut te yaar.. Abhi bahut nhind aa rahi hai mujhe) but there might be too many grammatical errors. So ignore and enjoy it 😀👍

Pls vote and comment❤️