•SHUBMAN GILL•

"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 can 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?"

Ishan tries to say something but Surya Bhai cuts him off. "And what were you two talking about, the embarrassment?"

"So you were eavesdropping on us?" I raise my eyebrows.

"Naah, I just happened to overhear that. Don't divert the topic, tell me about the 'embarrassment,' who embarrassed whom?" He asks curiously.

I start with "Actually Ishan....." in a teasing tone. The moment I say this, Ishan's eyes go a little wide, and he looks toward me with pleading eyes, as if asking me not to tell anything to Surya Bhai.

".......nothing mentionable," I say, dismissing the topic, and can sense Surya Bhai's disappointment. Sadly, now he has one less topic to tease about.

"So, one of you is going to sleep on the couch?" He looks alternately between me and Ishan. And we both don't say anything.

So Surya Bhai continues, "I mean, you two are adults and can sleep on one bed without any action involved, you know!" He completes with a playful wink.

Ishan plops down beside him and in a whining manner says, "Tell me that one day this teasing thing is going to end."

"NEVER," says Surya Bhai while throwing a cushion on Ishan's face. And just like that, they are having a cushion fight, and I am being ignored completely.

After a while, when Surya Bhai leaves, leaving us alone in the privacy of our room, we both get ready as we have an evening practice session today.

We return back to our rooms. I am slouching on the couch, scrolling mindlessly through the phone when I notice Ishan come and stand in front of me.

I look at him, and he stretches his hand for a handshake. I raise one eyebrow, not knowing what he is doing.

"Ah, we are roommates now, and also fake boyfriends, and I don't know what we have to share in the near future, so it's only good that we stop being awkward around each other and be friends?"

I smile at him.

"So, friends?" he asks.

"Friends!" I reply, taking his stretched hand and shaking gently, feeling his soft, warm hands.

"Lets sleep on the bed only, Surya Bhai was right, it's big enough for both of us," he says, pointing toward the bed.

"Of course, we are both adults and can sleep together without any action involved," I say, mimicking Surya Bhai, and he chuckles.

"And of course, we have slept together before as well."

'Or, more accurately, you forced me to in your drunken state' I thought but refrain from saying aloud.

In the night when everyone was going to bed, we heard some commotion outside. It turns out there is some kind of argument going on in Rohit bhaiya's room, and other team members are also there.

"Haan tu Abcd se hi baat krle, meri neend gyi tel lene," Rohit bhaiya says with a 'I am very done with you cheeku' face.

["Yeah, you just talk to Abcd, what about my sleep?"]

"Pehli baat toh yeh that it's ABD and not ABCD," Virat bhaiya corrects him.

["First of all its ABD and not ABCD"]

"Haan wohi," as if he cares whether it's ABD or ABCD.

["Yeah same"]

"Kya ho gya Rohit bhai?" asks a confused Shreyas, not knowing what's actually going on.

["What happened Rohit bro?"]

"Arrey dekh na ye apni dusri biwi se kabse baat kiye Jaa rha aur mujhe sone nhi de rha," by 'Dusri biwi,' (second wife) Rohit bhaiya meant AB de Villiers.

["Look, he's been talking to his second wife for so long and not letting me sleep."]

"Haan toh, we are talking after so long," Virat bhaiya defends himself.

["So what? We are talking after so long."]

Jaddu bhaiya, being the sensible one, asks a valid question: "Pr Rohit ki room pairing to Hardik ke saath thi na?"

[But Rohit's room pairing was with Hardik no?"]

"Na baba na, Isko Virat hi jhel skta hain, so I changed it with Virat and also his snoring is insufferable," Hardik bhaiya voices his concern, who I didn't even know was here because he was standing at the door.

["Nah man, Only Virat can handle him, so I changed it with virat and also his snoring is insufferable"]

Rohit bhaiya glares at Hardik Bhai, with a look that says: 'Tujhe toh beta Mai batata hoon.'

"Pr mai ye Virat ko nhi jhel skta, pata nhi kitni baat karni hoti hain isko ABCD se."

["But I can't tolerate Virat. I don't know how much he has to talk to ABCD."]

"Kya mtlb Rohit bhaiya aap jealous ho rhe ho AB bhai se?" It's Yuzi bhaiya who teases him.
["What do you mean, Rohit bhaiya, are you getting jealous of AB bro?"]

"Aye Yuzi tu jyada woh Mat ban," now Rohit bhai's glare shifts to Yuzi Bhai.

[ Don't act like that yuzi"]

"Shana," Virat bhaiya tells us what Rohit bhaiya's 'woh' ('that') means.
["smart"]

"Ishu tu mere saath so ja," he looks towards Ishan with hope.
["Ishu, come sleep with me,"]

Ishan, while taking a step back, says "umm bhaiya I am good aur vaise bhi, mai toh pure bed pr ghumta hoon sote huye so-...."

["Umm, bro, I'm good. Besides, I usually roll around the entire bed while sleeping, so..."]

"Abbey saale Tera boyfriend kya bana apne bhaiya ko bhul gya," Rohit bhaiya says, faking his anger.

["Hey, you jerk, now that you've a boyfriend, you've forgotten about your bro."]

After another 20 minutes of argument, it's settled that Virat bhaiya will share the room with Rohit bhaiya and Virat bhaiya will talk less with ABD, and now everyone is dismissed.

While returning to our room, I ask him, "Is it true what you were saying about your sleeping habit?"

"No, not really," he says nonchalantly.

In the room, we both settle on the bed, me on the right and him on the left, or let's say on the 'far-left' because it seems like he is one push away from falling onto the floor.

Tonight, I realize that whatever Ishan was saying about his sleeping habit is actually true because, after dozing off, from the far left side, he is now lying just beside me.

And in the morning, I realize one more thing: a sober Ishan is much more clingy than a drunken one as he is currently snuggling up to me, but for some reason, it doesn't feel weird.

---

In the second ODI, India won, thanks to Mii's (Miyan) bowling attack. It's an easy win, and the highlight was Virat bhaiya's catch, which seemed impossible, but it's Virat bhaiya, and he made it possible. We couldn't stop talking about it on our way back to the hotel.

As we both make our way to the room, Nia and Darshan are standing there, waiting for us.

"You two here?" I ask.

"We want to talk about something," replies Nia.

"Oh, what happened?"

All four of us settle ourselves in the room.

"There is negative PR going around you, Shubman," Darshan speaks with seriousness. Well, he is always serious, so nothing new.

"And not just about you but about your relationship with Ishan too," Nia adds.

"What kind of negative PR?"

"That you and Ishan broke up and also that you don't have a friendly relationship with the team and stuff like that," Nia tells me.

"Oh, but why are there rumors like that? I mean, there is nothing that triggered those rumors," I ask, a valid question.

To which Darshan explains, "It's their job to generate headlines that attract an audience. Also, big names whose sons didn't able to make their place in ICT also tend to do negative PR against BCCI or players."

"Yeah, and we already had enough of those, but your dating thing kind of outpowered those rumors," Nia says.

"If it's also getting  negative publicity, then shouldn't we just stop this dating thing?" I say, trying to be logical.

"NOOOOO, ARE YOU MAD?" says an offended Nia as if I have said something illegal.

"And why so?"

"Do you seriously think that doing this will make these negative PR things stop? In fact, there will be more. People will think that ICT is homophobic, that's why you two have to break up, and also, it will affect your and Ishan's individual image as well."

During this whole conversation, Ishan didn't speak at all. He is just sitting here, keenly listening to us.

"So what's next? What's the plan? Do we have to get married or something?" One should not use sarcasm when Darshan is there.

"We are thinking of sending you two on a date or two to send a message that your relationship is fine." States Darshan completely  ignoring my sarcasm.

"Do we really need to do that?" I pretends to be annoyed

"Yup" anwers Nia casually.

"When?" This is the first word that Ishan speaks.

Nia's head snaps towards him. She gives him a lopsided smile and in a teasing tone says, "Are you eager to go on a date with him?"

When I look toward Ishan, did... did he just... did he just blush? Like a little? Or did I imagine that?

I am staring at Ishan when he also looks toward me, and I just divert my eyes.

"Not now, otherwise, it will look deliberate." Says Darshan stating the obvious.

"Also, the ODI series is going on, so now is not the correct time, probably after a week or so because we don't want people to think that it's a deliberate attempt to make everything look normal." Remarks nia.

"And we came here to tell you not to make any stupid mistakes. If people get to know that it's all fake, then all hell will break loose," Darshan's says with a warning tone.

All three of them looking at me as if I am the only one who is prone to making stupid mistakes. Not that I disagree with them but still making me feel it is very rude of them.

With that warning, they both left, leaving me and Ishan looking at each other, not knowing what to say.

~~~