"Yug, did your eyesight get worse? You're wearing contact lenses?"
Yug glanced toward Nitya. The deep red wasn't his natural eye color, and the lenses matched Kruti far too perfectly to be accidental.
He wanted to break away from Kruti, Yet a part of him still clung to her. He appreciated these small, possessive choices she made for him. He wanted her support, but Kruti herself was dangerous. Staying close to her only placed him in the center of the storm.
"Oh, yeah. My eyes were a little blurry for the past few days," he replied casually.
It was a lie. There was nothing wrong with his eyesight. The truth was simply that he still hadn't fully prepared himself to see the world directly. Even while wearing the lenses, he relied on TICKET to dull his physical vision and perceive everything almost like a camera feed.
But there was no way he could explain that to them.
So he only curled his lips into a faint smile, letting the excuse speak for itself.
"Let me see."
Nitya reached her hand forward, intending to check his pupils more closely, but a cold voice suddenly cut across her movement.
"What are you doing?"
Her hand stopped midair. For a brief second, her fingers trembled before slowly curling back into a fist. She turned toward Kruti, meeting her sharp gaze.
"Hmm, I was just checking on him."
Nitya only wanted to see if something was truly wrong with his eyes, if there was any way she could help. Yet Kruti had stopped her immediately. She couldn't fully understand the reason behind such a reaction, especially when her intentions had been obvious.
"Did he ask you to?" Kruti said coldly. "Don't barge into things that don't belong to you."
The words landed sharply. It wasn't merely a warning—it was a reminder. Yug was not someone Nitya had the right to casually touch or worry over simply because they had grown a little closer.
Nitya fell silent.
Only then did she fully grasp the meaning behind Kruti's reaction. Yug hadn't come here alone. He had arrived beside a woman who laid absolute claim to him.
"I had no intention like that. Though I heard a thing or two from Yug, I never expected to meet you."
"Don't imagine things on your own," Kruti replied coldly. "Yug would never speak about me to others."
Yug nearly choked on his food when Nitya suddenly shot him a questioning look. After a brief pause, he gave a small, defeated nod.
It was true. He had never spoken about Kruti to anyone—except his sister, since she and Kruti shared a slight connection already.
As Kruti and Nitya became absorbed in their conversation, Yug finally found an opportunity to look toward Lavanya.
She had lowered her head toward the table, almost trying to hide herself while the other two ignored her completely. In the end, avoiding Yug was the only thing she could do.
She was terrified of him. Once, she had been one of the girls who genuinely wanted to become friends with Yug, only to end up beaten badly because of it. And afterward, Nitya had taken revenge on her behalf.
"Hey, Lavanya. How have you been lately? Did you miss me? I always thought about you."
Yug's voice sounded unusually gentle, even carrying a trace of warmth as he smiled at her. But instead of relaxing, Lavanya only grew paler.
She had phenomenal instincts when it came to acting. Acting, lies, forced emotions—she could usually notice them without much effort. And that was exactly what disturbed her now.
Yug had never behaved like this before. Back then, he had always been more straightforward, more honest in the way he carried himself.
This version of him felt wrong.
"Oh, I've been doing fine. I never missed you though, sorry about that."
Lavanya answered smoothly, confidence returning to her almost instantly. A faint pride even surfaced on her face, as though she had regained control of herself through the performance. To her, this had become something else entirely. Yug had stepped onto her stage, challenging her to a battle of acting and emotional control.
If she truly wanted to remain the better actor, then she had to win people over with her own performance. Otherwise, she would only end up disappointed in herself.
Yug's posture stiffened slightly at her sudden shift. Just moments ago, she had looked genuinely frightened, yet now she appeared calm and confident again. It made no sense to him.
Did my words actually motivate her?
For a moment, even Yug became lost.
"That's fine. I expected you wouldn't remember me anyway."
"No—I didn't forget you. I just prefer not knowing you."
Yug hadn't even finished speaking before Lavanya cut into the conversation. It was the second time she had forced him into silence.
He had thought he was controlling the flow of their exchange, yet somehow she had shifted everything back into her own hands with ease.
Something about it felt wrong to him. This wasn't the Lavanya he remembered. Back then, she had never felt this sharp or difficult to read. Had he misjudged her all along?
Even the martial arts style she displayed that day no longer matched the image he once had of her.
For the first time, doubt crept into his mind. Had he failed to truly notice a woman like her until now?
"Hehe, you're funny, Lavanya." Yug chuckled lightly, though his plan was falling apart with every word that came out of her mouth. He couldn't control someone who remained this calm and composed.
"I thought your brother might be useful to me. But it seems you're confident enough to protect yourself."
The moment the words left his mouth, Yug went still.
Even he realized it sounded more like a threat than casual conversation. His thoughts blurred for a second as the implication settled into his mind.
If I make a threat, then I eventually have to carry it out.
The fork stopped halfway to his mouth. His head lowered slightly, fingers tightening around the handle as silence settled over him. The playful expression from earlier vanished completely, leaving behind a chilling, deadly seriousness.
Lavanya stilled. The confidence on her face stretched unnaturally as she stared at Yug in disbelief, her thoughts turning blank for a moment.
He's too good…
A chill ran through her body. The reaction, the pause, the shift in atmosphere—everything had felt disturbingly real. It didn't even seem like acting anymore. It was as if Yug had simply slipped into his true self for a brief second.
Lavanya had spent years studying expressions, tone, and performance. She prided herself on being able to read people while presenting the perfect version of herself in return. Yet sitting across from Yug now, she couldn't find a response that could surpass him.
More frighteningly, she couldn't tell whether he had threatened her intentionally or whether those words had escaped naturally from his thoughts.
"What do you want?" she asked quietly. "I give up."
Her lips trembled slightly. Never before had she experienced something like this—feeling completely defeated by someone she had once feared.
For the first time, she felt like she had lost as an actor.
Tears nearly welled in her eyes before she forced herself to stop. Her gaze instinctively shifted toward Nitya, only to find her still absorbed in conversation with Kruti, completely unaware of what had just happened at the table.
"Good, good," Yug replied with quiet satisfaction, though inwardly, he still felt unsettled.
"Don't look at Nitya."
Lavanya immediately turned back toward him. Only then did she notice the expression Yug had been hiding—uneasy, pale, and strangely disturbed. The change was subtle, almost impossible to catch unless someone paid close attention.
"We can't hear them," Yug said softly. "And they can't hear us. It's like there's a barrier between us."
The moment those words left his mouth, everything changed for Lavanya. Her heartbeat quickened as realization struck her instantly.
She carefully glanced toward Nitya and Kruti again, focusing only for a brief moment on their lips and movements.
Nothing.
She couldn't hear a single word.
"This doesn't make any sen—"
"Shhh…" Yug cut her off before she could speak louder. "You didn't see anything."
Before she could react, he leaned forward and pressed a finger lightly against her lips, forcing her silent as he turned her face back toward him.
"Don't interfere with things that could put us in danger. Do you understand?" he whispered.
Lavanya nodded quickly, though her heartbeat refused to calm.
"What are you two doing, Yug?"
The sudden voice from beside him made her body tense instantly.
For a brief second, Yug's eyes remained fixed on Lavanya—cold, sharp, unreadable. Then, as though nothing had happened, his expression relaxed completely. He leaned back into his chair, cleared his throat softly, and adjusted himself with unnatural calmness.
Then he moved closer to Kruti's ear.
"There's a sniper in the building next to us," he whispered quietly. "And I'm the target."
Kruti didn't react immediately to his words, remaining silent for a brief moment. She had already noticed the sniper long before him. What surprised her instead was the fact that Yug had sensed it as well.
"I'm aware," she replied calmly. "Go ahead. Clean up your mess."