Anjali let out a bright, cheerful sound from the back of her throat.
"Why did you come down so fast? You gave me a fright!"
"I was about to ask you the same thing," Rahul said, laughing. "Why are you here so early? You didn't even send me a text when you arrived. Are you just standing out here trying to cosplay as a Dhaka traffic cop?"
Rahul took a step back to look at her. Anjali was dressed quite fashionably today in a chic, embroidered tunic and jeans, and she was wearing very light, natural makeup that made her features pop. A tan leather crossbody bag with no visible designer logos hung casually at her hip.
She looked absolutely full of bright, youthful vitality.
Seeing the genuine appreciation in Rahul's eyes, Anjali felt a rush of shyness. She looked down at her toes and mumbled:
"Yesterday you only gave me your public Instagram and YouTube handles; you didn't give me your personal WhatsApp number."
"I completely forgot to ask you for it last night, so I couldn't text you. I came here early just to wait for you."
After explaining, Anjali lifted the brown paper bag in her hand and flashed him a dazzlingly sweet smile.
"Look! I brought you breakfast. Fresh sandwiches and a hot latte."
At that exact moment, a beam of the rising morning sun cut through the city smog and fell perfectly on Anjali's profile, making her look as if she were glowing with a layer of gold.
The sight caught Rahul slightly off guard, leaving him staring blankly for a split second.
"Come upstairs with me. It's dangerous just standing by the roadside," Rahul finally said, his voice softening.
He took the breakfast bag from her hand and smoothly led her back into the hotel lobby, walking straight toward the elevators.
He didn't even spare a single glance at the receptionist who had propositioned him earlier.
Seeing Rahul completely ignore her while treating another girl with such care, the receptionist bit her lip hard, her eyes burning with intense, undisguised jealousy.
Once the elevator doors closed and Anjali followed Rahul into his fifth-floor room, she suddenly became incredibly nervous.
This was the very first time in her life she had ever been completely alone with a boy inside a hotel room. Her posture became rigid, her expression timid, and she looked highly unnatural standing near the door.
But watching Rahul move around the room, looking so incredibly handsome and relaxed, her heart immediately began to thud wildly against her ribs again.
Rahul set the paper bag down on the small desk, turned to the frozen Anjali, and asked:
"Have you eaten?"
Anjali walked timidly to his side, keeping her feet firmly planted on the floor, not daring to sit on the edge of the bed.
"I already ate at home. I bought this all just for you."
Rahul nodded with a warm smile. He flipped on his DJI camera and pointed it directly at the breakfast spread.
"Good morning, guys! Look at this setup. This is the amazing breakfast the VIP's daughter just hand-delivered to me!"
"What do you guys think? Looks pretty great, right?"
As he recorded the intro, Rahul grabbed one of the sandwiches and took a massive, exaggerated bite for the camera.
Watching Rahul happily eat the food she had picked out for him, a warm, fuzzy sense of pure happiness welled up in Anjali's chest for absolutely no logical reason.
Rahul treats me so well, she thought happily. He wouldn't even go down to meet that rich girl in the Range Rover, but he immediately brought me up to his room instead. Wait... does Rahul actually have feelings for me too?! Giddy with that thought, Anjali slowly lowered herself onto the edge of the bed, her large eyes fixed completely on Rahul as he ate.
Rahul definitely did justice to the meal; he polished off a spicy chicken sandwich, a tuna sandwich, and downed the hot latte in record time.
Anjali waited patiently until he wiped his mouth with a napkin before speaking up:
"Rahul, the district court is actually holding an expedited hearing for those two pickpockets today. Do you want to go watch?"
Rahul paused, genuinely surprised. "The courts here move that fast?"
"They usually don't move this fast at all," Anjali explained, her voice dropping slightly. "It's because... well, because my father made a phone call to the magistrate."
Rahul immediately understood. The Military VIP had personally intervened in the case.
No wonder the notoriously slow legal system suddenly decided to fast-track a petty theft charge. Privilege truly was a superpower.
Rahul shook his head. "No, I won't go. Even if I show up, my stolen ID cards aren't going to magically reappear."
"Plus, I really don't have the energy to look at those two scumbags today."
Suddenly, Anjali noticed a tiny crumb of bread clinging to the corner of Rahul's mouth.
After a split second of intense hesitation, she reached her hand out and gently brushed the crumb away with her thumb.
The sudden, highly intimate physical contact made Anjali's heart skip a beat, and her face instantly turned bright red.
Rahul looked at the blushing girl, smiled softly, and shook his head before standing up.
"Look away for a second, Anjali. I need to change my shirt, and then we'll head out."
"Today, I want to capture some raw footage of the daily lives of ordinary people in the city."
Saying that, Rahul pulled a fresh t-shirt from his backpack and walked toward the small bathroom to change.
Sitting on the bed, Anjali felt a crazy, rebellious itch in her heart; she desperately wanted to lean against the bathroom doorframe and peek at Rahul while he changed.
But her strict, traditional upbringing screamed at her that peeking at a boy changing was incredibly scandalous behavior.
Without being married, a girl absolutely cannot do those sorts of things! Even just thinking about it is a terrible sin! her conscience scolded her.
But... Rahul is just so unbelievably handsome. Surely, just taking one tiny look wouldn't hurt anyone, right? Just as Anjali was trapped in a fierce, morally compromising internal struggle, the bathroom door clicked open. Rahul walked out, already fully dressed in a fresh shirt and jeans.
He had also safely transferred the 5,000 Taka Samina had left him into his front pocket.
When Anjali saw that he was already fully clothed, a very visible look of deep disappointment flashed across her face.
Catching that fleeting expression as he walked out, Rahul immediately decided to tease her.
"What's with that look? Were you hoping to catch a show while I was changing?"
"No! NO I wasn't!"
Anjali leaped up from the edge of the bed like it was on fire, vehemently denying it.
Because of her intense embarrassment, even the tips of her ears turned a bright, burning red.
Rahul laughed out loud. "Alright, let's go. Today you get to be my official production assistant and carry my gear!"
He grabbed his vlog camera off the desk, shoved his phone into his pocket, and handed Anjali a heavy power bank to slip into her leather bag.
After leaving the hotel, Anjali hailed a CNG auto-rickshaw just like yesterday.
The two of them rode through the chaotic streets together, circling around the busiest parts of Dhaka.
Rahul didn't have a rigid itinerary; he just told the driver to stop whenever he saw something visually interesting, jumping out to grab some cinematic B-roll footage.
Anjali carried the heavy power bank for him, acting as both his assistant and his personal local tour guide. She stayed happily glued to his side the entire day.
By the late afternoon, Rahul had managed to shoot a massive amount of high-quality material for his first vlog.
But as the day went on, Rahul started noticing a very strange problem.
Despite spending the entire day walking through incredibly crowded markets, busy tourist spots, and areas completely packed with local girls...
His Karma Succubus Attribute hadn't actively drawn a single new girl toward him.
Sure, there were plenty of girls whispering, pointing, and secretly taking photos of him from a distance.
But other than that, not a single girl had boldly approached him to talk or ask for a selfie like they had yesterday.
Now that the sun was setting and filming was done, Anjali took Rahul to a highly-rated traditional Bengali restaurant for dinner.
Sitting across from her, Rahul frowned slightly, deep in thought as he analyzed the system's behavior.
Could it be because Anjali's family is too famous? Are the local girls afraid of getting into trouble by approaching me while I'm with her? As soon as that theory popped into his head, he dismissed it.
Impossible. Anjali wasn't some massive Bollywood celebrity or politician; there was zero chance every random girl in Dhaka recognized her face.
Then there was only one logical explanation left.
The Karma Succubus Attribute's internal programming was actively blocking them!
Because I currently have a girl with a highly 'ambiguous' status physically attached to my side, the System has paused delivering new 'Karma' targets to me. Yeah, that has to be the exact mechanic. Rahul looked at Anjali happily eating her food and thought to himself: It seems I definitely can't bring her along with me tomorrow. I need to go out 'hunting' solo if I want to farm Charm Points. Thinking this, Rahul opened his mouth to bring up tomorrow's plans, but Anjali spoke up at the exact same time.
"You go first!" Rahul said, tilting his chin toward her with a smile.
A highly apologetic, slightly embarrassed expression appeared on Anjali's face.
"Rahul... tomorrow is Monday. My weekend is over, so I actually have to go back to work."
Hearing this, Rahul almost let out a massive sigh of relief. This was literally the perfect outcome; he didn't even have to come up with an excuse to ditch her!
"Oh, right! I totally forgot to ask you amidst all the chaos," Rahul said, leaning forward with genuine curiosity. "What exactly do you do for a living?"
"I work in the urban planning department at the Dhaka Municipal Corporation."
"Wait, you're a government civil servant?"
Anjali nodded proudly, and Rahul put on a highly exaggerated look of deep realization and respect.
"So, I won't be able to hang out and assist you tomorrow," Anjali said sadly. She then plucked up all her remaining courage and asked:
"Also... I still haven't saved your actual WhatsApp number yet. Could I please..."
Rahul dramatically slapped his forehead. "I'm so stupid, I totally forgot again! Yes, absolutely! Let's swap numbers right now!"