After parking the car in the parking lot of the building, Arshi went upstairs to get home, when Ayan found them on the way ascending the stairs, Ayan excitedly pulled Arnav close to him, "Bhai come.. I want to show you something now."

As they were about to enter, Ayan gestured for them not to make any noise, so they silently went to the corner where the water tanks were located and hid behind them.

The three hiding behind three water tanks placed in a horizontal row, peeked to see what was in front of them as Ayan gestured for them to do so with a sly smile. Khushi was the first to quickly look away as she closed her eyes tightly, feeling embarrassed after what she saw.

Arnav and Ayan were busy looking at the scene and laughing silently. Arnav motioned for Ayan to take pictures and after Ayan finished, he silently jumped to the water tank side where Arnav was hiding, showing his brother, "Ye dekho bhai (Look at this)."

Arnav was still in disbelief, "Akash bhai itna naughty ho sakta hai ye toh maine socha hi nahi (I never thought Akash could be naughty like this). What the hell is he doing here?"

"I think he's trying to impress Payal didi," Ayan said. Both brothers peeked in to watch the scene again. Akash was standing next to the potted plants on the terrace, striking shirtless bodybuilder poses for Payal, his neighbor who lived in the building across the street, she was standing on her terrace, smiling, blushing and sending him flying kisses.

Arnav and Ayan laughed again after seeing Payal blowing flying kisses to Akash, who took her invisible kisses and kept them securely in his heart. They turned to leave now, as they might get caught by Akash, when they realized that Khushi had been looking at them all this time with
disapproving looks.

Arnav and Ayan composed themselves and became serious. They took her back to the staircase so they could talk properly without any fear of getting caught by Akash.

"Khushi please try to understand this is our opportunity to take revenge now. Mami insults and taunts us everytime as if we're good for nothing in this house. Akash is always the good guy and we're the bad ones in this family. Now this is a good opportunity to show to everyone that Akash is not that innocent as they think and to shut Mami's mouth directly by handling proofs to her about her son's not so innocent secret activities too," Arnav explained to her as they descended the stairs.

Khushi shook her head negatively, "Ye galat hai (this is wrong)."

"Khushi didi please.. jo humare saath hota hai voh bhi galat hai (what happens with us is wrong too)," Ayan cried.

"That doesn't mean you should take revenge on Akash bhai for it. Please think how embarrassed he would feel when you show these pictures to everyone at home," Khushi said disagreeing with them, "Please let's not do this to him."

Arnav and Ayan looked at each other for a minute as if thinking what to do. Arnav spoke first, "Okay.. galat hai yeh.. Ayan delete these pictures now."

Khushi sighed in relief, what she didn't notice was Arnav and Ayan communication through eyes as Arnav signaled Ayan to delete the pictures just to show Khushi but the pictures won't get deleted as they would be transferred to Deleted Recently folder in his phone and they could restore them at anytime.

Ayan did as Arnav said and showed his gallery to Khushi, "See.. I've deleted the pictures Khushi didi."

Khushi nodded acknowledgingly as she whispered, "Thank you."

Ayan smile innocently at her. When she left from there, Arnav and Ayan looked at each other smirking.

"We won't show these pictures to anyone at home," Arnav said.

Ayan widened his eyes, "What? But why? Are we going to listen to Khushi didi?"

Arnav sighed, nodding his head, "Yeah.. I can't disappoint her now."

"Then what's the use of these pictures now?" Ayan asked confused.

"If we can't show it to anyone at home, at least we can show it to the Akash bhai and use this situation to our advantage. We will blackmail him into doing everything we want, otherwise we will show these pictures to everyone," he winked, smirking at Ayan.

Ayan giggled and they both high-five, heading towards home.

************************************
At the gym..

Arnav and Aman were walking on their respective treadmills while talking about their office work, when Arnav decided to initiate the Sheetal talk to Aman, "I need to tell you something Aman."

"Haan bolo," Aman said casually.

"My family was getting suspicious about my feelings for Khushi, so to save me and Khushi from their watchman activities, he lied that I'm in a relationship with someone already," Arnav paused for few seconds, then hesitantly added, ".. and he took Sheetal's name as my girlfriend."

Aman looked at him shocked for a second and Arnav jumped to defend his brother, "I know Ayan shouldn't have lied about it.. but try to understand yaar, he's still immature.. he didn't know what to do in that situation, he just thought he wants to do something to help his brother and he came up with this story."

"Who said I'm angry with Ayan? I know lying is not good, but your brother is more smart than you! Kya idea hai.. Bade miyan toh bade miyan, chote miyan Subhan Allah (The elder brother is no doubt the elder one, but the younger brother is amazing)," Aman laughed.

Arnav smirked, "Chote main hu.. voh Chiku hai (I'm Chote, he's Chiku)."

"Whatever.. You understood what I was trying to say, now don't eat my brain," Aman rolled his eyes, "I'll talk to Sheetal about this. I'm sure she will agree to help you guys."

"You just inform her about this, I don't think I'll need Sheetal to be physically present there to help me. For now, only her name is enough. Nani and Ma think I'm planning to make our relationship official when I'm ready for marriage, so they've decided not to bother me about it. And I made it clear for Ma to think about my marriage after four years, I hope by that time I'll be talking to them about my marriage to Khushi."

"Done!" Aman nodded, "And when are planning to confess your love to Khushi?"

Arnav chuckled at his fate, "That's another problem mere bhai. I can't even think of proposing her at this moment. She'll straight away refuse me. She accepted my friendship after after a lot of effort from my side, mera pyaar accept karne ke liye, majaduri ka kaam karna padega (to accept my love, I'll have to do labor work)... but that only if she falls in love with me too."

"What's the problem?" Aman asked curiously.

"Shashi Gupta!" Arnav sighed as he turned off the machine and step off it to grab his water bottle. Aman followed suit. "Khushi's father?" Aman asked to confirm while drinking water from his bottle.

Arnav nodded his head, "A typical strict, orthodox and conservative man.. just like bollywood movies mein dikhate hain (just like it's shown on Bollywood movies). Can you believe he only allowed his daughter to study in college if she gets married to the man of his choice?"

"What the.." Aman furrowed his brows, "That's insane man! Did Khushi accept this condition?"

"What else she could do? She really wanted to fulfill this dream of hers to study in college, so she accepted her father's condition without thinking about the future consequences of it," Arnav replied.

"So that means.. Khushi has her life decisions planned. After completing her studies, she's going back to Lucknow to get married to the man her father will choose for her. Can you explain to me why are you wasting your precious time on her Arnav? You're letting yourself fall deeply in love with a girl whose future has already been decided and according to the promise she made to her father, she's never going to accept you and will leave you to marry another man. Why are you getting yourself in this mess Arnav? Why do you want to get your heart broken like this? This is the first time you're falling in love with someone and I can already smell a tragic end to this love story, so listen to me.. just move on from this girl bhai. Office mein almost sabhi ladkiyan tujhpe marti hai (Almost every girl in our office is crazy for you)."

"Lekin mera dil Khushi pe fida hai (But my heart is crazy for Khushi)," he glared at his friend, "And we need to take risks in life when it comes to get what we passionately want. That's what I'm going to do, whether I fail or not in this process.. that's upto the ultimate planner.. God's decision."

Aman sighed defeatedly seeing the  determination in Arnav's eyes, "Accha.. ye batao (tell me).. what are you planning to do?"

"Let's change our clothes first!" Arnav said as they walked towards the washroom and headed towards the changing room to change their workout clothes.

As he put on his shirt, Arnav said, "So my plan now is to win Shashi Gupta's heart and become the only choice in his mind for Khushi's future husband. And for that I need to make myself visible in his eyes."

"Don't tell me you're planning to call him everyday to butter him up," Aman chuckled teasingly.

"It's actually not a bad idea," Arnav shrugged, "Par abhi ke liye ajeeb lagega (But for now, it will look weird). I was thinking to talk with Ma and ask her to convince him to let me help him with Khushi's college fees. We can split the bills and pay Khushi's college fees in half. If he accepts it, then I will earn a good man image in his eyes. And that's a plus point for me to get in his top prospective grooms for Khushi list."

Aman gave him an I'm-impressed look, but then frowned slightly, "What will you do if Ratna aunty asks you why are suddenly so interested in  Khushi's college fees?"

"That's nothing to worry about", Arnav sat down on a bench, "Ma is childhood friends with Shashi uncle from Lucknow. They were like siblings until Ma got married and moved to Delhi and their bond was affected by time and distance. They were busy in their respective lives and didn't have much time to get in touch with each other. Shashi uncle even missed Di's wedding, otherwise I would have known Khushi a long time in my life. So if Ma suspects this, I will tell her that it is our duty to help Khushi, as she is Uncle Shashi's daughter, someone who is like an elder brother to her. I'm sure she'll easily agree to that and emotionally blackmail Uncle Shashi into accepting our help as well."

Arnav winked at Aman who laughed surprised with his plans, "Fir toh tension kis baat ka.. baat pakki hai (Then what's worrying you?.. Your marriage is confirmed)."

"The negative points are worrying me. A stubborn man like Shashi uncle won't easily accept my marriage proposal because first, main lucknow ka ladka nahi hoon (I'm not from Lucknow) and he's definitely searching for one with same culture, values and upbringing as theirs for Khushi.. second, mine and Khushi's lifestyle are different.. he might even think I'm a bad influence on his daughter."

"Ye toh bilkul typical 70's, 80's and 90's bollywood movie father hai," Aman said in disbelief.

"I know.. not worse than my father though!" Arnav chuckled sadly.

Noticing the glint of sadness in his friend's eyes, Aman immediately changed the topic, sitting beside Arnav on the bench, he placed his hand on Arnav's shoulder, patting it lightly, "But I'm confident that you'll be able to earn a place in your future father in law's heart through your well thought plans. Don't worry about the negative points."

"Hmm.. but there will be no point of doing all this to impress Shashi uncle if Khushi doesn't fall for me. Can you imagine? My first love story might turn into an unrequited love story if Khushi falls for the man her father chooses for her."

Aman got up from his seat frowning, "See this is what I'm trying to make you understand Arnav.. this is too complicated.. you still have time yaar.. stop this.. get yourself a girlfriend and move on with her.. don't waste your time with Khushi.. I don't want you to suffer.. I don't want you to go through this pain if things don't work out as you planned in future."

"This is the first I've fallen in love with someone.. risk toh lena padega Aman (I'll have to take the risk Aman) .. otherwise I'll live my life with this guilt that I didn't fight for my first love.. the moment I realize there's no chance of Khushi falling in love with me, I'll respect her choice and move on with life. That's my promise to you!"

"Pakka promise?" Aman extended his hand to Arnav. 

"Pakka promise!" Arnav kept his hand on his, blinking his eyes assuringly.

Arnav too got up from his seat, taking his bag to leave while complaining about Aman, "Kya yaar.. You are so different from Ayan. Ayan makes me believe that life in the future will be beautiful with Khushi as my wife, while you're giving me electric shock after electric shock in reality check form to me."

"Because I'm not immature like your brother," Aman stuck out his tongue to Arnav while walking beside him.

"Chal nikal (Get lost).. My brother is the best. Your sister is immature."

"Woh toh hai! Ayan se bhi jyada immature hai Lavanya (That's true.. she's more immature than Ayan)," Aman agreed.

Arnav looked at him shaking his head, laughing in disbelief, "Kitna kamina insaan hai ree tu (You're such a rascal)."

************************************

While driving to Arnav's home, Arnav  chuckled as he began explaining to Aman what happened when they reached home after Usha aunty's birthday, "Do you know what happened today after I went to take my car from Happy paaji's garage? Ayan caught Akash bhai in the terrace  doing bodybuilder poses to show our neighbor, Payal."

Aman laughed, not believing what he heard, "What? I don't believe this.. It doesn't look like he would do something like this.. whenever I met him, he always seemed like a shy guy."

"That's what we all think at home about him too. Guess what.. looks can be deceiving sometimes," Arnav shrugged, shaking his head, "Bichara.. he's forced to do these things secretly because of Mami. She's hell bent on proving to everyone that he's a good, intelligent, honest, well mannered, traditional, never does wrong things type of guy. That I think he feels the pressure to maintain this perfect guy image she created of him."

"Your Mami is no less than Khushi's father!" Aman sighed.

"Yeah," Arnav agreed. 

"So does that mean Akash has a secret girlfriend?"

Arnav shook his head, "I don't know.. I really don't know if they're already in a relationship or he was trying to impress her.. I'll try to ask him, although I doubt he'll share anything with me. If he doesn't, then I've the pictures as proof."

"You took pictures?" Aman chuckled.

"To get revenge on Mami.. but Khushi spoiled everything and made me feel bad for doing this to Akash," Arnav said with sullen face, "So me and Ayan dropped this plan. Now we will only these pictures to blackmail him into doing what he want."

"Khushiii.. kya khel ishq ne khela end mein.. mazza aa gaya (what a game love played in the end.. I like it)," Aman laughed at Arnav's face.

Arnav tsk-ed, shaking his head in disbelief as he sarcastically said, "She can bear seeing me and Ayan getting taunted and mocked by Mami everytime in front of everyone at home, but can't bear to see her Akash bhai feeling embarrassed in front of everyone. Bhai wah!"

************************************

Sometime later..

When Arnav reached back home, he found Khushi helping Ayan with his exam preparations in the dining room. Everyone else were in the living room watching movies as tomorrow was their free-no-work day.

He went straight to his room to freshen up and change his clothes and after checking messages on his social apps, he went to the living room to sit with everyone and watch movie. Although he wanted to join Khushi and Ayan, but decided not to disturb them and let Ayan concentrate fully on his studies.

"Hello hi bye bye Arnav bitwa.. Kahan the you? (Where were you?)" Mami asked curiously.

"Gym," Arnav replied curtly and turned his attention to the TV. A movie name Khushi was telecasting on the StarGold channel, which brought a sweet smile to his lips.

"Gym or raat party with girlfriends?" Mami raised her eyebrow suspiciously. Nani and Ratna who think Sheetal is his girlfriend, smiled surprisedly at each other as they realized that Arnav is meeting Sheetal at this time under the pretext of going to Gym every day. And the sweet smile on his face confirmed it as well. Who would smile so dreamily like this after workout in gym?

Arnav frowned slightly at being interrogated by Mami like this, he sarcastically answered this time, "You can call the gym watchman to confirm if you don't trust my words Mami."

Mami faked a sweet smile to him, "Very funs Arnav bitwa! Today's kidwas don't have accha (good) manners to talk to elders.. Thank God Akash bitwa isn't like this. He's such a well mannered man. I feel so prouds of my son when I sees today's generation kidwas!"

Nani scolded Mami for talking rubbish while Ratna left to her room feeling annoyed to hear Mami's constantly taunting her sons.

Arnav glanced at Akash, who was quietly sitting on his couch, watching the movie. He shook his head slightly thinking to himself, "If Khushi didn't plead me to not show those pictures to everyone.. I would have exposed you so badly Akash bhai because your mother is acting no less than Amrish Puri (villain) in my life now. But I know it's not your fault that's why I listened to Khushi."

He got up and went behind his mother to assure her that he's not feeling bad and didn't take Mami's words seriously. While walking through the corridor to reach Ratna's room, he spoke to himself in complaining tone, "Ek toh Mami aur dusra Shashi uncle.. dono meri zindagi mein Amrish Puri wala role play kar rahe hai.. villains kahike!! (One is Mami and the other is Shashi uncle.. both are playing Amrish Puri's role in my life)."

When he sensed someone's presence, he looked up to see who heard his nonsense talks and almost got an heart attack seeing Khushi approaching him with a confused expression painted on her face.

Why is her father playing role of a villain in his life now? She thought.

"Shashi uncle.. mere senior hai office mein.. not your father," he lied with a sheepish smile.

"Oh okay.. I thought-"

"You thought I was speaking about your father, right?" he faked a knowing smile.

Khushi nodded smiling sheepishly as she hit her forehead lightly for the misunderstanding.

They both stood awkwardly, staring at each other for few seconds. When Khushi broke the silence, she doesn't even know why she was saying this to him but she did, "I was in my room. Amma called me. She was saying she made jalebis today for everyone at home and missed my presence at home. And I told her no matter the distance between us, we're still connected to each other because today I also made jalebis for Usha aunty's birthday."

"You like jalebis, right?" he asked smiling.

Khushi widened her eyes, "What? I don't like..." she smiled brightly correcting him, "I love jalebis."

"Bas kisi din issi confidence ke saath I love you Arnav bol dena.. us din tumhare liye jalebi ki barsaat hogi (Just say "I love you Arnav" to me with this confidence some day.. that day it will rain jalebis for you)," Arnav thought, smiling back at her.

"Voh.. Ayan is waiting for me. I need to go," Khushi said and after his nod, she walked away.

"Not bad Khushi Kumari Gupta! I can see some changes in you already," Arnav smirked happily.