•SHUBMAN GILL•

After breakfast, everyone is chilling in the living room, some talking about Ishan and me, and some discussing the upcoming series against Sri Lanka.

Ishan is with Yuzi Bhai, and I am sitting a little away from them, but I can still hear them clearly.

"How I wish you both were dating for real," says Yuzi Bhai almost dreamily.

"Why so?" asks Ishan, with confusion.

"Because then we would be discussing how you are going to propose to Shubman, with the beach as a backdrop, and I'll be holding a poster which will say: 'Will you marry me, My Shubi?'"

Ishan practically cringes at it. I know Yuzi Bhai is just teasing him, but what if Ishan were my real boyfriend? What would it be like?

But that's not possible; he is straight, and it's not that I want to be in a relationship with him. I am happy being single and not ready to mingle. Thank you very much.

---

The week passes in a blur, and now we are in Dharamshala for our first ODI against Sri Lanka. Did I mention that it's my ODI debut as well?

I received my debut cap from none other than Rohit bhaiya, in the presence of Mom, Dad, and Sheen, for which I am grateful. I knew I was in the squad, but I didn't know I'd receive my ODI debut cap in the first match itself. Everyone congratulates me, and I feel grateful to be a part of this team, but I also feel nervous.

To my surprise, Darshan is here as well with Nia. They both congratulate me. "I want at least fifty today," it's her way of wishing me luck. "Why not a hundred?" asks Darshan, furrowing an eyebrow towards her.

"Because I don't want to put pressure on him, you know, the pressure of expectations," she says dramatically. Honestly, I have a better bond with Nia than with Darshan. She is a fun girl to have around.

"And how's your dating life going, Mr. Gill?" she asks with a mischievous smile. Ah, I can't blame her for being this frank with me; I mean, I am the one who has given her this freedom. And also, we have one thing in common: the fear of Darshan, but she handles him way better. Not gonna lie.

Everyone is in the dressing room, getting ready as the match is about to start, when Ishan comes to me and says, "Congratulations, Shubman," with a polite smile. "Thank you," I reply.

"So, feeling excited to play your first international ODI?"

"Yeah, but nervous as well."

"It's very natural to feel that way. I was literally vomiting an hour before my debut. You are doing so much better," I know he is trying to ease me.

"I didn't sleep last night because of the excitement," I tell him.

"It's okay, just believe in yourself. You'll do great today," he says, patting my shoulder before going away to get ready.

After that night, he is being easy with me and not ignoring me, which is good, but we still cannot call each other friends - more or less, we are still each other's teammates. He has a way better bond with other members, not that I am jealous of it.

As Ishan and I step on the ground to open for Team India, the whole crowd starts cheering in our support, raising the Indian flag and waving their posters.

I see some posters congratulating me for my debut, and then I see some others with my and Ishan's picture pasted on them, with something written on it. I couldn't read it because of the distance, but whatever it is, it's positive.

There are chants of "Ishan, Ishan."

There are chants of "Shubman, Shubman."

And then there are other chants which go like this: "Ishman, Ishman."

It takes me a minute to realize that they have merged our names to make "Ishman" with it. "ISH" from Ishan's name and "MAN" from my name.

I knew that our dating news is getting a lot of traction online, but what I am seeing here is quite unbelievable.

Standing here and witnessing this makes me realize that whatever we have done really has a huge impact on the public.

I look towards Ishan. His expressions are showcasing that he is also realizing what I just realized.

The game started, and I am on 36 runs when I try hitting a six. But two fielders are there to take the catch. I thought that's it, only 36 runs in the debut match, but fortunately, both weren't able to take the catch. It was a funny scene to watch because the catch was quite easy, but somehow both the fielders messed it up.

I look towards Ishan, and we both start laughing. The crowd is also not able to contain their laughs. The mis-fielding was actually hilarious; it's like they are giving competition to the Pakistanis in mis-fielding.

I complete my maiden ODI 50, and the feeling is surreal. I raise my bat towards my parents only to realize that Nia is gesturing something to me.

She is asking me to hug Ishan. Why? Because we are boyfriends in public, and they do hug at an achievement.

Obeying Nia, I go towards Ishan and hug him. Not the teammate wala hug, but more like - *OMG, I am so happy I just made my maiden 50, let me just hug my boyfriend* wala hug.

As I hug Ishan, he stiffens but quickly realizes that it's just for the show and hugs me back. I look towards Nia; she is literally cheering.

---

Our next match is in Ahmedabad. When we enter the hotel, Rohit bhaiya has news to share. "From now on, two players will be sharing the same room." This news kind of comes as a surprise to everyone.

There are murmurs between the players. "And the pairings are," Virat bhaiya starts naming the pairs, "Surya and Shreyas, Rohit and Hardik (🗿), Bhuvi and Jaddu, Rahuliya and miyaan, me and Yuzi, jassi and shardul, jaddu and kuliya......." He continues, ".......Gill and Ishan."

"What?" questions Ishan.

"What? What? You two are pretending to be boyfriends, so it's only reasonable to give you two the same room," says Virat bhaiya sternly.

"And also, what if we pair you two with someone else, and someone from the staff breaks this to the media?" reasons Rohit bhaiya.

"Right, we can't afford more rumors about the ICT; we already have enough on our plate," Jaddu Bhai chimes in.

"Do you have any problem with the room arrangements?" asks Surya Bhai to Ishan.

Ishan just makes an uninterested face. Surya Bhai then looks at me for an answer "No, I don't have any problem." Where is my self-respect when I need some?

But why is Ishan being a bitch about sharing the room with me? Huh? We were good today, didn't we?

Everyone goes to their assigned rooms. As I enter mine, Ishan is already there, searching for something in his suitcase. He looks at me for a second and then continues his search.

After a whole ten minutes of nerve-wracking silence, I speak. "See, I am sorry about this whole thing. I didn't know that a little lie would blow out on our faces like this."

"I am not mad at you, Shubman. I thought about it and realized that it wasn't your mistake and whatever we are doing is the only option that we have."

"But you were ignoring me earlier, weren't you?"

"But I didn't ignore you today, did I?"

"Then what's the problem now? Why are you being awkward here? You don't want to share the room with me?"

"It's not like that."

"Then what is it?"

What he replies makes me giggle.

"Ummm, actually..." He hesitates a little. "I thought sharing a room with you wouldn't be a good idea because I have already embarrassed myself in my sleep previously," he said, referring to the night when he was drunk.

"So you don't want to embarrass yourself more in front of me?" I ask, giggling.

He just looks down, embarrassed. Okay, he is really cute.

"You don't have to be, Ishan. You were drunk; it's okay," I say genuinely. "And look, we have a couch here, and I can sleep on it."

"No, I'll sleep on the couch. You can take the bed," he protests.

Before I could say anything, Surya Bhai enters the room. "Oho, look at you two taking care of each other, huh? And why does anyone need to sleep on the couch when you have a huge bed right there?"

~~~

While writing this, I literally forgot why Ishan wasn't willing to share the room with Shubman.😭

Also some drama is going to unfold in the upcoming chapters, which will kind of bring them closer emotionally. I'm excited to write that, and hopefully, it will turn out the way I want it to.

One more thing, I created Darshan's character just to annoy Shubman 🗿💅

How are you liking the story so far?
(Koi bezzati nahi karega)