Kraant

Chapter 9

After a very long time, Shubman had felt his life was heading towards the right direction. Four years of continuous denial and one night of epiphany later, he had finally acknowledged his feelings for Ishan which had been anything but platonic.

In the meantime, Abhishek had somehow managed to convince Mayank that his feelings for him were anything but something that came out of pity which was an amazing development to Mayank's recovery.

He had come out to his friends about him being bisexual. And looking back at Abhishek's knowing smirk, Mayank's tiny but supportive smile, and Ishan's shocked face, he felt that something would change.

The short doe-eyed boy who's eyes had lit up with surprise and maybe pleasure after the confession, the boy after whom he was unknowingly pining for years, he desperately wanted something to change.

That was the only bit he wanted to change. Because maybe, just ‘God please bless me’ maybe, Ishan liked him back too. He had never confirmed he exclusively liked girls or boys whatsoever, so maybe his pathetic pining self had a chance with Ishan.

But half an year passed with no sign of Ishan linking their hands together and Abhishek, that guy whom he had given tips on how to woo Mayank was already in a relationship with him and here, he was still hinting Ishan.

And Ishan seemed to like all those gestures. This past week when he gently wiped away the icecream from the corner of his mouth, he had blushed oh so beautifully. He felt his stomach flutter, and no, it had nothing to do with the three icecreams he ate.

Then this week happened.

It began with a test from Gambhir Sir and spiraled into a series of murders, with his best friend now a suspect. And to top it off, the last day of this exasperating week had yet to arrive. Just perfect!

And daily update: Ishan was somewhat mad with him. The reason still unbeknownst to him.

As if the day could get any worse, he had Abhishek beside him lying on his bed while he was trying to get some work done, incessantly complaining about something. It wasn't like he was actually listening to him, he had completely drowned out his voice, and was only humming his agreement whenever a pause stretched too long  when the brat needed confirmation about his ongoing tirade.

"Can you believe Ishan did that. How could he-"

"Ishan did what?" Shubman shut off his laptop to concentrate on Abhishek's words.

Abhishek glared back at him. "I have been talking about my problems for one hour. But what finally gathered your attention was one mention of Ishan and suddenly you are back in the conversation. Fuck you, Shubman!"

"Look here, you ungrateful brat." Shubman forcefully shoved Abhishek's face towards the laptop screen. "I have been digging into Rohan's death and you won't believe what I discovered. Rohan's parents, Tanish and Nibedita Bhattacharya had been killed in a freak car accident where their vehicle crashed into a tree last year. Despite the high profile nature of the case, it was dismissed as a routine accident. But there's more..."

Shubman zoomed in on a particular sticker attached to the windshield of the car, as captured in a photograph of the accident scene.

"See, this sticker is only given to cars when they undergo their annual car servicing. If there were any brake issues they would have repaired it. Plus, there is no scratch or tear on the sticker indicating it was recently placed there. So, something doesn't add up" Shubman concluded.

"How are you getting all this information on the internet?" Abhishek's eyes widened in disbelief.

"They are the Chairpersons of one of India's most influential tech companies. Of course, this information would have been made public to the world." Shubman said while running his hand through his hair, overwhelmed by this shocking information he uncovered.