Ishman Drabbles

Just The Way You Are- Part 3

Shubman Gill was 16 years old when he had his first kiss.

He had realised that he liked girls a lot earlier, but that was when he knew what he really liked about them. He liked the sound of their breathy moans, the slant of their delicate neck. He liked their soft features and smooth skin. He liked the sound of their husky voices, especially when they broke off into giggles. And of course, he liked their supple curves.

So when Shubman (regularly) jerked off to the thought of a certain pair of doe eyes, complimented by a cute button nose, luscious heart-shaped lips and a bubble butt that could legitimately stop traffic, he didn't think much of it.

After all, it wasn't his fault God had decided to adorn his best friend with all the crowning jewels of beauty.

Shubman had always found Ishan pretty, even during their Under-19 days. There was just something about that glint in his twinkling eyes and that mischievous smile that intrigued him and pulled him in. But he knew he wasn't special when he realised every other boy was dying to be close to Ishan and befriend him.

Known for being very possessive of  belongings and people he deemed 'his' even in his childhood, Shubman was not one to back down. Like a dog marking its territory, he simply moved his belongings to Ishan's room and started sleeping with him. He was grateful that Ishan didn't say anything and just took it in stride like the good sport he was. The taller man was pleased that he had staked his claim, sending out a message to the others to "Back off, this one's taken by me!".

He did that when it was time for them to find friends, but why did he want to do it again, when it was time for them to find love?

Contrary to popular belief, Shubman was not an idiot. He did realise that he felt something beyond the strictly platonic for his best friend, but would that be enough for Ishan? He would've jumped at the chance to pursue a physical relationship with his best friend the moment he confessed, but Ishan deserved someone who loved him wholeheartedly, who could respect and care for him and treat him like the precious thing he was, instead of merely lusting after him.

But when he saw others looking at Ishan in that way, the only thing Shubman could feel was jealousy and possessiveness. If he merely lusted after Ishan, he ought to have found the idea of him being coveted by other people hot. But the only hot thing Shubman felt was the burning desire to beat up every fucker who dared to look at Ishan that way.

Shubman's emotions were a farrago, and he went so deep into denial for a moment there that he tried to label his jealousy as something else. He excused himself in the middle of their outing and called Virat bhaiya, and didn't even let him say hello before he screamed, "Bhaiya, I think I might be homophobic!"

There was a moment of silence on the other end before Virat deadpanned, "Kaake vo homosexual hota hai."
("Child, it's called homosexual"), and promptly hung up the phone, but not before muttering, "I'm too old for this shit" under his breath.

Though their conversation had lasted less than thirty seconds, Shubman still got two important takeaways from it:
1) Shubman being gay is more likely than him being homophobic.
2) Virat bhaiya is NOT the person to call when you are having a gay crisis.

He appreciated Hardik bhaiya for spelling it out for him because he needed that bluntness to make sense of his own feelings. Massaging his temples, he decided to scroll through his Instagram mindlessly to get some respite. Unfortunately for him at that moment, his For You page was full of fan made edits of Ishan, the algorithm knowing what he watched the most in spite of him being careful to not like anything.

One reel in particular caught his eye, though. It was captioned, 'What if Ishan Kishan was a beautiful girl?'. He chuckled in amusement and clicked on it. He watched as the person digitally edited Ishan's picture to create a stunning female version of him, laughing when the creator urged his audience to tag Shubman Gill in the comments at the end. Ishan's teammate Nehal had jokingly tagged his best friend on it, and Ishan had responded by christening her 'Ishani'.
'Ishani' was certainly beautiful, but that was to be expected given her original version.