7 years later

iradeus has posted

liked by oliviarodrigo, taylorswift, sabrinacarpenter, conangray, blakelively, vancityreynolds, shubmangill, ishankishan23, trishakannan, trishakulkarni, shreyasiyer96, anirudhofficial, actorvijay and 234m others

PARIS WAS GREAT Y'ALL!!! I loved the crowd sm <33 see you all next tour 🥹🥰🥰

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taylorswift IM SO PROUD OF YOU

olivirodrigo SLAYED SO HARD

anirudhofficial I MISSED THE TOUR :(

conangray AAHH SIS YOU SLAY SO HARD

blakelively I NEED A NEW ALBUM

sabrinacarpenter BBG YOU SET THE STAGE ON FIRE

username I CANT WAIT TO SEE HER NEXT MONTH WITH LIV!

username I WAS THEREEE SHE WAVED AT ME I HAVE LIVEDDDD

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It was early September, and Shubman Gill, one of India's finest young cricketers, was just days away from his 25th birthday. The hotel room where he lounged with his teammates was buzzing with energy. 

They had just wrapped up an intense day of training and were now kicking back, sharing banter, and gearing up for their next international match. 

Shubman sat on the couch with his feet up, scrolling through his phone while Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Hardik Pandya, and Shreyas Iyer were sprawled around the room.

"Bro, you can't leave the tie that loose for the presentation," Virat was saying to Shubman as they casually talked about post-match appearances and meetings, but Shubman wasn't paying attention. His phone vibrated, and a notification lit up the screen.

Ira Deus just posted.

His breath hitched for a second, his thumb hesitating over the notification. Ira. It had been years since they'd last spoken, but he had never stopped following her journey. 

Now, she was one of the brightest stars in the global music scene, an absolute phenomenon. And if his teammates knew just how much she still occupied his thoughts, they would never let him live it down.

"Oi, Gill! You're spacing out again, bro," Ishan teased, noticing Shubman's distracted expression. 

"Thinking about the match or... something else?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, causing the rest of the guys to snicker.

"Nah, it's nothing." Shubman tried to shrug it off, but his heart wasn't in the lie. He tapped the notification, and Ira's latest post filled his screen. 

It was a picture of her on stage in Paris her face glowing with the energy of the performance. The caption read:

PARIS WAS GREAT Y'ALL!!! I loved the crowd sm <33 see you all next tour 🥹🥰🥰

Shubman's chest tightened. She looked stunning—more confident and beautiful than ever. 

Dressed in a black bra and denim jeans that made her look like a goddess, her hair in effortless waves, and a smile that could light up any room, she was the epitome of success. 

She had made it, and it seemed like she was living her dream. But Shubman couldn't help but feel a pang of regret every time he thought about her.

Years ago, when they were just teenagers, she had confessed to him—she had told him she liked him, and wanted more than just friendship. 

At the time, he had turned her down gently, citing his career as the reason. His parents had drilled it into him that love could wait, and his career came first. 

But what he never told anyone, not even her, was how much he had wanted to kiss her that night, to tell her that he felt the same way. 

He had buried those feelings deep down, focusing on his cricket, and becoming the player his family and country expected him to be. 

Yet, here he was, nearly 25, and those feelings were still very much alive.

"Yo, Shubman, you following her again?" Hardik smirked, glancing over at Shubman's phone. 

"Damn, Ira Deus. She's unreal, man. I'm telling you, that voice of hers... I listen to her tracks before every damn match. Gets me pumped."

"Fuck, same," Jaiswal added with a grin. "She's something else. I've been hooked on her songs for months. Did you guys see that concert in Paris last night? Absolute madness."

"Paris? She's in Paris?" Shreyas chimed in. "Dude, she's breaking records left, right, and centre. No wonder everyone's obsessed."

Shubman's jaw clenched as he tried to stay cool, but inside, he was burning. Of course, everyone was obsessed with her—how could they not be? 

She was a global superstar now. 

But no one in this room knew that Ira had once been his best friend, the girl who used to sneak out with him for late-night pani puri, the girl who had hugged him in her hoodie while they laughed like idiots in the streets of Chandigarh.

He hadn't told anyone about their past, or about how he still thought about her more than he cared to admit.

"Hey, Gill, you good? You look like someone just told you to face Bumrah in the nets," Rohit joked, noticing the tension in Shubman's posture.

"I'm fine," Shubman muttered, turning off his phone and tossing it on the table.

"Oh, come on," Ishan said, leaning over to poke Shubman's arm. "Don't tell me you're not into her, man. Everyone's into Ira fucking Deus. Even our girls are into her. She's the whole package."

KL Rahul chuckled, shaking his head. "Man, if I could sing like that, I'd be a global superstar too. I can't even get through 'Happy Birthday' without cracking up."

Virat smirked. "I'm telling you, Shubman's hiding something. He's too quiet whenever Ira's name comes up. What's the deal, bro? Come on, we're all friends here."

Shubman rolled his eyes, but there was no escaping it now. They were all looking at him, waiting for an answer, and he knew they wouldn't drop it until he said something. 

"Alright, fine," he grumbled. "We... used to be friends. A long time ago."

"Wait, what?" Ishan's eyes went wide. "Hold up, you know Ira Deus? Like, know know her?"

"Yeah," Shubman admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "We grew up together. She was my best friend."

"Holy shit!" Hardik laughed, leaning forward with interest. "Bro, you've been holding out on us this whole time?"

"And you didn't tell us because...?" Shreyas raised an eyebrow, smirking. "You know we would've tried to get backstage passes or something."

Shubman let out a heavy sigh. "It's... complicated."

"Complicated?" Virat asked, clearly amused. "Man, this is getting good. Spill it, Gill. You don't just drop a bomb like that and leave us hanging."

Shubman hesitated the weight of years of unsaid feelings hanging in the air. 

He had never shared this with anyone, but now, surrounded by his teammates, he realized he couldn't keep it all bottled up forever.

"Alright, fine," he said finally. 

"She confessed to me once... back when we were kids. She told me she liked me, and I—well, I turned her down. I told her I wanted to focus on cricket. My parents, you know, they made me promise not to get distracted until I'd made it."

"Bro!" Ishan exclaimed, his hands going up in disbelief. 

"You're telling me Ira Deus—Ira Deus—confessed to you, and you turned her down? You're out of your fucking mind!"

"Seriously, what the hell, man?" Hardik shook his head, clearly dumbfounded. "If Ira Deus told me she liked me, I'd drop everything. Cricket could wait. Now don't go tell Nat I said that. She'd run first to Ira."

Shubman let out a bitter chuckle. "Yeah, well, I thought I was doing the right thing back then. But now..." He trailed off, his gaze distant.

"Do you still like her?" Jaiswal asked, his voice softer now, sensing the seriousness of the moment.

Shubman didn't answer immediately. He thought about how he'd felt when he saw her post earlier, how his heart still raced whenever he saw her name pop up on his screen. 

"Yeah," he said quietly. "I do."

The room fell silent for a moment as his teammates processed what he'd just said. Then, Rohit clapped him on the back. 

"Well, it's not too late, man. You're a cricket superstar now, she's a music icon... sounds like the perfect story to me."

Virat nodded a rare seriousness in his tone. "You should talk to her, Gill. Life's too short to let shit like this hang in the air."

Shubman looked around at his teammates, grateful for their support but knowing it wasn't that simple. 

He had missed his chance once, and now, she was halfway across the world, living her dream. Could he really walk back into her life after all this time?

"I don't even know if she feels the same way anymore," Shubman muttered, running a hand through his hair. 

"She's got her own life now. I don't want to mess things up for her."

Hardik leaned back, smirking. 

"Trust me, man. You're Shubman fucking Gill. If she liked you once, she'll like you now. Plus, have you seen yourself? You're not exactly hard to look at."

The room erupted into laughter, and for the first time that evening, Shubman allowed himself to smile. 

Maybe they were right. Maybe it wasn't too late.

soup rants!

- hello everyone!

- I hope you guys are having a great day so far, and I also hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

- so yaayy the boys have gotten to knowwww 

- also comments on the chapter?

- what do you guys think will happen in the next chapter?

- i hope you guys liked this one!

- with lots of love, supraja 🫶