Beyond The Boundary (Shubman Gill x Ishan Kishan)

5; meri jaan

After Ishan left their manager's office, having received an earful for leaving the party without informing anyone, he found Shubman leaning against the wall outside.

He too, had faced their manager's wrath before Ishan. Their eyes met, and they couldn't help but burst into laughter. Partners in crime, indeed.

Scolded and scathed, they headed for their practice session. The practice for the T20 series and the impending T20 World Cup 2024 had begun.

Following his practice in the nets, Ishan, drenched in sweat, took a bench to rest while keeping an eye on Shubman's practice.

He hadn't noticed he was staring too intensely until Surya bhai, after his batting practice, joined him.

"You're staring a little too hard, Ishan," he commented. Ishan, caught off guard, quickly diverted his gaze and asked, "Was it that obvious?"

"Well, yeah, but not as obvious as Shubman post-breakup. That guy's like an open book, thinking he can hide his emotions, but it's written all over his face," Surya remarked.

Ishan inquired, "So, you know about the whole breakup situation?" Surya nodded, "A lot of people do, they just don't speak about it. That's for the best, considering he's on his 'trying to move on' phase."

He shifted the conversation back, saying, "Back to the topic at hand. I've noticed a change in you even before the start of the..."

Surya paused, finding it hard to discuss about the World Cup after their loss. The pain still lingered, leaving a deep cut. It was a painful topic to discuss about.

Trying to get his point across, he continued, "By change, I mean, a change that is related to Shubman, from what I've seen."

Ishan was torn between fearing that his feelings for Shubman were exposed and finding comfort in someone acknowledging the emotional turmoil that had turned him into a hopeless romantic mess.

Noticing Ishan's hesitation, Surya asked, "Is it what I think it is?"

Remaining silent, Ishan left the question hanging in the air. Taking that as an answer, Surya patted Ishan's shoulder and headed back to the nets to continue practicing.

Lost in his thoughts after the conversation with Surya, Ishan snapped back to reality when Shubman approached him, having finished his practice session.

He handed Shubman a bottle of water. His dull expression didn't escape Shubman's notice.

"You look so dull. What's wrong?" He asked, settling beside Ishan and gulping down the entire bottle in one go.

Words seemed stuck in Ishan's throat as he gazed at his friend. He could only utter the two words he'd been using more frequently lately, "It's nothing."

Shubman wasn't convinced. "You've started keeping secrets from me. I thought we agreed there wouldn't be any between us," he pointed out.

Attempting to retaliate, Ishan began, "You also hid the fact that you-" He abruptly stopped himself, realizing he was about to mention Shubman keeping his relationship with Sara a secret for two months from him.

He was obviously aware about Shubman's infatuation for Sara and acted as a cupid for the two, but the latter didn't mention anything about them official dating until two months in. That stung a bit.

Shubman prodded, "Complete your sentence, Ishan." Ishan shook his head as if clearing up his mind and attempted to dismiss the topic, "Arey kuch nahi, meri jaan."

(I've noticed Ishan frequently uses the term 'meri jaan' with a LOT of people, be it his friends or his fans in his Instagram comment section, which is quite wholesome, don't you think?)