5:20 PM - Tiny Café Near Hauz Khas

The café looked aesthetic enough to charge ₹300 for air.

Fairy lights.

Fake plants.

Indie music playing softly in the background like everyone inside had unresolved trauma.

Siya sat wrapped in embarrassment and a blanket the waiter insisted she needed after fainting.

Across from her-

The stranger sat calmly scrolling through his phone like he didn't casually catch unconscious girls in markets.

Aaru leaned toward Siya and whispered loudly,

"He's rich rich."

"I can hear you," the stranger said without looking up.

"That's unfortunate."

Meanwhile-

Kabir stood near the counter waiting for their order with the exhausted posture of a man who'd survived several wars emotionally.

Aaru suddenly walked up beside him and squinted.

"...you look like you drink black coffee and threaten people professionally."

Kabir glanced sideways. "And you look like low attendance percentages."

Aaru gasped dramatically. "Personal attack."

"You started it."

"You have serial killer sunglasses."

"It's evening."

"Exactly."

Kabir sighed deeply. "You're very loud."

"And you look divorced."

That made the waiter choke behind the counter.

Kabir slowly removed his sunglasses.

"...I'm twenty-seven."

Aaru blinked.

Then immediately burst out laughing.

"NO WAY. I thought you were someone's traumatized uncle."

Kabir looked genuinely offended now. "You fainted girl's friend, I am begging you to develop fear."

"No ❤️"

Back at the table, Siya watched them with horror.

"Why are they fighting like an old married couple already?"

The stranger took a sip of water calmly. "Kabir argues with everyone."

"He looks like he pays taxes angrily."

For the first time-

The stranger laughed softly under his breath.

Siya stared.

Because wow.

That voice should genuinely be illegal.

Across the café-

Kabir returned carrying drinks while Aaru followed him still roasting his existence.

"You definitely say things like 'this city changes people' while staring out car windows."

Kabir placed the tray down. "And you definitely failed mathematics at least once."

Aaru pointed accusingly. "How DARE you."

"She didn't fail," Siya muttered weakly.

Kabir raised an eyebrow.

"...supplementary?"

Aaru looked away immediately.

The stranger actually smiled this time.

Fully.

Kabir saw it and nearly dropped a cup.

Oh.

Oh this was historic.

This man usually looked like he wanted to fistfight the concept of happiness.

And now he was smiling because some chaotic college girl insulted his employee.

The world was ending.

Aaru noticed too.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at the stranger.

"Wait."

Silence.

The stranger looked up calmly.

"You know what's weird?"

Kabir muttered, "Everything about today."

"You," Aaru continued dramatically pointing at the stranger, "look exactly like Siya's fictional male lead."

Siya nearly inhaled water into her lungs.

"OH MY GOD."

The stranger leaned back slightly. "Is that good or bad?"

"That depends," Aaru said thoughtfully. "Do you commit crimes emotionally or physically?"

Kabir coughed violently into his coffee.

Siya wanted to evaporate.

The stranger's eyes shifted toward her slowly.

"Your friend thinks I'm dangerous."

"She thinks EVERYONE is dangerous."

"Correct," Aaru nodded proudly. "Survival instinct."

The waiter arrived with food.

The second the garlic bread hit the table-

Siya reached for it.

So did the stranger.

Their hands collided.

Both froze.

Kabir immediately looked away because the tension became physically embarrassing.

Aaru watched them like discovering free Netflix premium.

Neither moved for two whole seconds.

Then Siya snatched her hand back instantly.

"You take it."

"You saw it first."

"You were reaching for it."

"So were you."

Aaru whispered to Kabir, "They're flirting through carbohydrates."

Kabir looked exhausted. "Please don't say sentences like that."

"You hate joy."

"I value silence."

"You work for Batman."

Kabir stared at her blankly. "You're never letting that go, are you?"

"Absolutely not."

Meanwhile Siya finally took a bite of garlic bread and immediately sighed in happiness.

The stranger noticed.

A tiny detail.

But his expression softened unexpectedly.

Like seeing her relaxed mattered more than the conversation around him.

And Siya-

Still unaware of everything.

Still thinking he was just an oddly intense stranger.

Looked up mid-bite and frowned slightly.

"...why do I feel like I've seen you before?"

Kabir

stopped moving.

Aaru stopped chewing.

The stranger held her gaze steadily.

Then calmly replied-

"Maybe you write people like me too often."

And somehow...

That answer felt far more dangerous than the truth.