“What about enrolling in a cooking class?” Abhishek suggested as he grabbed his hot chocolate, taking a sip and then holding the cup close for the extra warmth. 

“No, we can do that anytime of the year.” Ishan shook his head, deep in thoughts. “For the new year, we should do something special, something different.” 

“Let's go camping for some time.” Shubman put out his suggestion. 

“No, we went on one with the college already this year.” Mayank muttered, rubbing his hands together to keep them warm. 

The cafe was filled with people, warm sounds of chatting and the delicious smell of different beverages and sweet treats flowing around the space, warming the hearts and watering the mouth. The four of them were sitting on the table beside the window. From the window, they could see people outside walking back home from work, some walking their dogs, some, especially students, coming in and walking out of the cafe. It was like a normal December evening, with cold breeze and dark clouds to make the environment even more chilly. 

“So, what are we doing, then?” Abhishek asked, racking his brain for more ideas.

“Let's go to a haunted house.” Mayank suggested excitedly, feeling proud of his idea. 

“Where?” Ishan chuckled. “Your house?” 

Mayank shot him a blank look.

“What? Dude, your apartment is no less than a haunted house.” Ishan shrugged, now trying to control his laugh. 

“Honestly, I would have to agree.” Abhishek chuckled. 

“Me too.” Shubman chimed in. 

“Shut up, all of you.” Mayank rolled his eyes. “Abhi and I had seen an abandoned, haunted type of castle when we went on that camping trip.” 

“Oh, yeah, I remember.” Abhishek mumbled. They had come across that castle when they sneaked away from the other students. It was huge and more than scary, it looked enchanting. 

“Let's go there.” Mayank said. 

“So, we're planning to die at the start of the year, huh." Abhishek snickered, shaking his head. 

“Seems like it.” Ishan chuckled. 

“I think it'll be fun.” Shubman smiled. “Let's just go.” 

“See, that's what I'm saying." Mayank grinned. "That's like my boy.” He beamed, clapping Shubman on the back. 

Ishan rolled his eyes, pulling Shubman a bit closer to himself."My boy, not yours.” 

“Shut up, you jealous bitch.” Mayank huffed, wrapping an arm around Abhishek. “I have my Abhi, I don't need him anyway.” 

Abhishek heaved a deep sigh, making a face at them, while Shubman just chuckled. 

Before they could continue their bickering, Abhishek cut them off. “Okay, both of you, stop being ridiculous. It's final, we're going to that haunted castle or whatever.”

“And just for the record, if I come across a ghost, I'll leave you all and run for my life.” Ishan added with a chuckle and all of them again got engaged in their bickering and banter. 

-

Shubman and Ishan walked hand in hand at the side walk, shivering a bit because of the cold weather but enjoying it nonetheless. 

“Ish, when we go back to that camping place, we should also visit that lake.” Shubman said as they walked towards his apartment. 

“Yeah, we should.” Ishan smiled softly. They had felt a strange connection to that place, like it was something really important and leaving that had somehow felt extremely saddening. The feeling of coming across that beautiful lake was comforting, liberating, something that made them feel more alive than ever. And what was more strange is that both of them felt those same emotions about that place. 

“What do you think about this haunted house plan?” Shubman asked after they had reached home. “Do you think we can encounter some ghost or something there?” 

Ishan chuckled, collapsing on the bed. “Do you want to encounter a ghost, sweetheart?” 

“No, not really.” Shubman smiled, sitting beside him. His smile widened even more as Ishan pulled him down on the bed, wrapping his arms around him. 

“I think it'll be fun though.” Shubman mumbled, running his fingers through Ishan's hair who relaxed even more, almost dozing off by the soothing movements. 

“I hope.” Ishan mumbled, closing his eyes, burying his face in Shubman's neck and placing a soft kiss on his skin.

And that's how they found themselves in front of a huge, old castle in a forest on the 31st of December. It was surrounded by tall trees, along with huge bushes of flowers growing on the ground in what was probably supposed to be a garden once, vines crawling around on every wall, almost covering the whole castle. It was eerie calm around them, the only sounds being the rattling of the tree leaves by the harsh wind and different kinds of insects singing in their own language.

The castle radiated a weird kind of magnetic energy, Ishan felt like he was being pulled towards the place. He felt soothed and anxious at the same time as he took a step forward.

Shubman lightly brushed his fingers across the wall, a strange sensation pooling in the pit of his stomach at the touch. The place was definitely haunting but beautiful at the same time, hauntingly beautiful.

“I hope we don't run into a skeleton or something as soon as we open the door.” Abhishek mumbled quietly as they walked closer to the gate. 

“It's not some movie, baby.” Mayank rolled his eyes playfully. 

“Shut up.” Abhishek mumbled, pushing open the door, it opened up immediately with a loud squeaky sound. 

Abhishek scrunched up his face in disgust at the amount of dust on his hand before wiping it on Mayank's shirt who rolled his eyes at him, making a face.

“Careful.” Ishan said as all of them turned on their torches, stepping inside. The place was filled with furniture, paintings and decorations and many more things that looked pretty expensive but were just collecting dust now.

“Let's go in different directions.” Mayank suggested. 

“Are you crazy?” Abhishek exclaimed. “I'm already scared, and you wanna go in different directions.” 

“Fine, you come with me.” Mayank said, grabbing Abhishek's hand. “Be careful, guys.” He said as he dragged Abhishek into a narrow hallway towards the left. 

“Do you wanna go in a different direction as well?” Ishan asked as he looked around the place, mesmerized by the beautiful paintings on the wall. They were covered in dust but still looked beautiful. 

“No, I'd rather be with you.” Shubman mumbled as they walked further. 

Ishan stopped in his tracks, his mind lighting up with a mischievous idea. He waited for a few seconds before creeping behind Shubman and shouting in his ear.

“Ah!” Shubman yelped, literally falling down, his expression horrified. “What the fuck, Ish?!” He breathed, hand on his heart, trying to calm it down. 

“Sorry, sorry.” Ishan laughed, extending a hand to him. “Come on, get up.” 

Shubman rolled his eyes, shooting him a glare, but took his hand nonetheless. 

Ishan smiled, pulling him up to his feet. “Sorry, Meri Jaan.” He said softly, dusting Shubman's clothes for him.

“Wait, what's that?” Ishan mumbled, pulling out the shiny object stuck at Shubman's shirt. 

“Oh, it's cute.” Shubman awed. It was a red heart shaped pendant, hanging from a silver chain that has almost turned black now.

Ishan ran his index finger on it, turning it around to take a good look. “Oh, it opens.” He said, opening up the pendant, his heart almost stopping as soon as he did so.

“Hey, Ish, what happened?” Shubman asked, concerned as he noticed all the colour from Ishan's face had completely drained. 

Ishan blinked, looking up at him. He handed the pendant to Shubman to take a look, his hand trembling. 

Shubman looked inside the pendant, confused before his eyes widened a bit. There was a picture inside the pendant, two men looking at each other, smiling softly. That shouldn't be shocking but what was shocking was that they were the two men.

"How is this-...." Shubman's voice trailed off as he looked back at Ishan.

"I- I don't know." Ishan whispered quietly, looking around the place again. It felt different now, even more familiar than before.

He glanced at the pendant once more before looking up at Shubman, their eyes locking together again.

It felt as if they could hear people talking around them now, voices ringing in their ears that felt oddly like their own. It felt scary but weirdly comforting as well.

"Bahut mohabbat karte hai hum aapse."

"Hum bhi. Bata bhi nahi sakte kitni."

Ishan could feel his breathing getting heavy, mind spinning uncontrollably. Oh, my God!!! Oh, my God!!

"Aapse milna hamari zindagi ka sabse haseen Ittefaq tha."

"Uh-huh. Baate banana to koi aapse seekhe."

"Baate nahi bana rahe hai, Jaan, sirf sach keh rahe hai."

Shubman heaved a shaky breath, the knot in his throat hindering him from speaking a single word but his eyes never left Ishan's, both of them rooted to the ground.

"Hamne hamesha sirf  aapse pyaar kiya hai, aur hamesha sirf aapse hi karenge, bhale hi hum aapke sath na ho. Aur vaise bhi aapke dil to mein to hum hamesha hi rahenge."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry." Ishan whispered, a tear sliding down his cheek.

-

Well, although all of you already guessed but it's out in the open now. They are connected from their past life. Next chapter will be about the said past life, so a bit different, perhaps. I'm excited!! I hope you all are too :)

Should I just leave you all on a cliffhanger for a few days?

Lol, kidding. I'll update as soon as I'm done writing. Bye for now.