99.
Yug stood outside Ravi's room for a moment before knocking lightly.
No response.
He waited a few seconds and knocked again, a little louder this time. Still nothing.
Frowning, he took out his phone and called Ravi. The ringtone echoed faintly from inside the room... but went unanswered.
"Bhai so rahe hain. Aap andar chale jao."
Yug almost jumped.
Fatima stood behind him, grinning, as if she'd appeared out of thin air.
"Oh—" Yug exhaled. "You scared me."
She giggled. "Sorry."
"I won't disturb him then," Yug said, slipping his phone back into his pocket.
"No, come on," Fatima insisted, already pushing the door open.
Yug stepped inside — and froze.
The room was an absolute disaster.
Clothes were everywhere — scattered across the floor, hanging off the sofa, half-folded piles collapsing off the bed. Shoes lay in random corners. A half-open suitcase sat near the wall. On the shoe rack, a leftover pizza box rested like it belonged there permanently.
Yug blinked slowly.
"Sorry you had to see this," Fatima sighed. "The room was perfectly fine four days ago. Then Bhai came back."
Yug genuinely couldn't process how one person could destroy a room this thoroughly in such a short time.
"Where's Ravi?" he asked, looking around.
He could clearly hear someone snoring, but Ravi himself was nowhere in sight.
Fatima pointed toward the bed.
"You see that pile of clothes? He's behind that."
Sure enough, a literal mountain of clothes covered half the bed.
Yug carefully stepped across the battlefield of socks and shirts, trying not to step on anything important. He leaned slightly over the pile and finally spotted Ravi buried underneath.
Ravi was fast asleep, one arm thrown over his head, mouth slightly open, snoring without a care in the world.
Yug stared at him for a second.
"Gadha hai yeh". He muttered to himself.
"I'll leave him to you," Fatima said, making a face at the mess before quickly escaping the room.
The door shut behind her, leaving Yug alone in chaos.
He slowly looked around again. Clothes everywhere. Half-open drawers. Shoes in the wrong places. Empty bottles. Random papers.
An itch rose inside him — the overwhelming urge to clean everything immediately.
But this wasn't his house. Not his room. Not his place to start rearranging things... yet.
He walked closer to the bed.
"Ravi, wake up," Yug said, shaking his shoulder.
Ravi didn't move.
Yug grabbed him harder and shook him again.
"WAKE UP."
Ravi groaned and forced his eyes open, blinking until Yug's face came into focus.
"Hey..." he mumbled sleepily.
"I thought you were just going to rest. Who even sleeps at this hour?" Yug complained.
Ravi didn't answer. He slowly pushed himself up, hair messy, still half-asleep.
"Sit down somewhere," Ravi muttered.
Yug looked around the room.
There was literally nowhere to sit.
Ravi followed his gaze and sighed. He grabbed a pile of clothes from the sofa and dumped them onto the floor without care.
"Here. Sit," he said, patting the empty space on the bed.
Yug stayed where he was, arms folded.
"Can you at least clean the mess a bit?" he said. "I really don't like these things. I can help if you want."
Ravi stared at him like he'd just heard the weirdest request in his life. Then he rolled his eyes and got off the bed.
"You don't need to do anything."
He picked up a pile of clothes and stuffed them inside the wardrobe randomly.
Yug's eyes widened.
"What the hell are you doing? Who's going to fold them?"
"I can't fold properly," Ravi replied casually.
Yug gave him a deeply disappointed look.
"Take them out. I'll teach you."
Ravi sighed but obeyed, pulling everything back out and dropping the clothes on the bed again.
Yug picked up a shirt and slowly folded it, neat and precise, showing each step.
"Like this."
Ravi tried copying him.
The shirt ended up twisted into something unrecognizable.
Yug sighed. "No, no... leave it."
He took the shirt back and refolded it smoothly.
"Bring a basket and put the dirty clothes there."
Ravi followed instructions silently, picking clothes from the floor and tossing them into a basket.
Meanwhile, Yug worked quickly, folding shirts, jeans, and hoodies with practiced efficiency.
Ravi paused mid-task, watching him.
"Damn," he muttered. "You're fast."
Yug didn't look up. "You live like an animal."
Yug helped Ravi arrange the folded clothes neatly inside the wardrobe, separating sections properly.
"I honestly thought you were one of those spoiled rich guys who've never lifted a finger," Ravi said while stacking shirts. "But you scrubbed your whole house yourself... so I'm not surprised anymore."
"Very funny," Yug replied dryly. Then he pointed at the pile. "Keep the trousers and pants aside. And put all the white shirts together."
Ravi made a face but obeyed.
A few minutes later, Ravi lined up his shoes properly on the rack while Yug scanned the room for anything left.
His gaze stopped at the bedsheet.
There was a greasy stain near the corner.
"What's that?"
"Pizza," Ravi answered casually. "Dropped some yesterday."
"Change the bedsheet."
Ravi sighed. "Okay."
He stripped the sheet and replaced it with a clean one while Yug picked up the remaining clutter. After that, Ravi brought out a vacuum cleaner and cleaned the floor thoroughly.
When he finally switched it off, he stretched and held his back, exhausted.
Then he stepped toward the bed.
"What do you think you're doing? Don't sit there," Yug stopped him.
Ravi groaned. "What now?"
"You just cleaned everything. You're dirty now. Go shower."
Ravi stared at him. "Are you serious?"
"Yes."
With another dramatic sigh, Ravi grabbed a towel and walked into the bathroom.
Yug sat on the sofa, finally looking around the now-clean room.
"I'm surprised there wasn't a single cockroach in here," he muttered, pulling out his phone.
A few minutes later, the bathroom door opened.
Ravi walked out with only a towel wrapped around his waist, hair wet, droplets of water trailing down his shoulders and chest.
Yug instinctively looked up.
Water traced along Ravi's collarbone and chest hair before disappearing into the towel. A faded burn mark was visible on his shoulder.
Ravi noticed Yug staring and smirked.
"Like what you're seeing?"
Yug looked away casually. "What's there to like? I have everything you have."
Ravi chuckled. "It's really hard with you."
"What?"
"Nothing."
Ravi dressed quickly and then flopped face-first onto the bed, clearly done with the day.
Just then, the door suddenly opened.
Fatima and Ravi's mother stood there, frozen in shock.
Fatima looked around the perfectly clean room.
"Bhai... don't tell me you made Yug clean your room."
"Shut up. I did everything," Ravi replied immediately.
Yug slowly turned and gave him a flat look.
The lie hung in the air.
"He just folded the clothes," Ravi added casually.
Ravi's mother shook her head in disbelief. "Yug beta, you can stay here as long as you want. Even I couldn't make him clean his own room in all these years."
Yug chuckled lightly. "I just... can't stand messy spaces. And once I start cleaning, I end up fixing everything."
"Bas, thodi si akal aur yeh aadat mere bete ko bhi de do," she said, throwing Ravi an annoyed look. "Anyway, you both come downstairs for lunch."
She walked out with Fatima, closing the door behind them.
For a moment, silence settled in the room.
Yug stood up, then looked at Ravi, narrowing his eyes slightly.
"Are you trying to impress me?"
Ravi smirked lazily from the bed. "Why not?"
Yug shook his head in disbelief. "You really don't hesitate, do you?"
Ravi only smiled, completely unbothered.
---------
Yug wiped his forehead, leaning back slightly in his chair.
"I seriously can't eat another bite," he said, exhaling in defeat.
"The dessert is still left," Ravi replied, clearly amused.
Before Yug could react, Ravi's mother placed two more kebabs onto his plate.
Yug stared at them in horror.
"Take your time. Eat slowly," Ravi added, sliding a glass of water toward him.
Yug shot him an accusing glare. Ravi only chuckled.
Across the table, Alizeh quietly observed their easy banter — the comfort, the familiarity — how naturally they gravitated toward each other.
Ravi's mother reached for the biryani pot again, but Yug quickly raised his hand.
"Aunty, please... I really can't anymore. Everything was delicious, but I'm full."
She finally relented. "Theek hai. But you look too weak to me. Take care of yourself. Ravi said you weren't well a few days ago."
"Yeah," Yug nodded. "Just a mild fever."
Before he could relax, Fatima suddenly appeared beside him with a plate.
"Yug, I made this pastry for you."
Yug slowly turned to Ravi, silently begging for help.
Ravi just shrugged, clearly enjoying the situation.
Fatima's hopeful face made refusal impossible.
"I... guess I can try a little," Yug sighed, taking the plate.
Fatima beamed.
Yug took a bite, then another.
"This is actually really good," he admitted. "I might start visiting just to eat this."
Fatima blushed proudly.
"Then you'll have to marry me first," she declared dramatically.
Yug blinked.
So both siblings are the same, he thought.
"So this is some kind of contract?" Yug asked.
"Yes," Fatima replied, grinning. "Non-negotiable."
Alizeh nudged Fatima playfully, while Ravi shot his sister a warning look.
Finally escaping the dining table, Yug stood and headed to wash his hands.
Ravi quietly followed.
As Yug washed his hands at the sink, Ravi leaned closer from behind, voice low enough that only Yug could hear.
"You're only mine in this household."
Yug froze for half a second.
"They'll hear us," he muttered under his breath. "Shut up."
Behind him, Ravi only smirked.
"By the way... will you go on a date with me?" Ravi asked casually.
Yug turned to him in disbelief. "I'll kick your ass, man. What are you even saying?"
"Relax," Ravi said. "A friendly date. Compensation for leaving you alone for four days."
Yug shook his head. "You're weird."
"You should actually feel special," Ravi continued smugly. "There's a beautiful girl downstairs with a head full of hair and I'm choosing a hairless man over her".
"My hair is growing, okay?" Yug protested instantly.
Ravi laughed and rubbed his palm over Yug's head. "I still can't hold it."
Yug gave him an annoyed look... but then a small chuckle escaped him. A rare, genuine smile followed.
"You're such an asshole," he muttered.
Ravi went quiet for a moment, watching him.
Yug noticed the stare and cleared his throat awkwardly.
"I like it when you smile," Ravi said softly.
Yug immediately looked away. "Whatever. So what's this so-called date plan?"
Ravi grinned. "We go out. Probably get drunk."
"So you're planning a disaster".