“Some love stories begin with fate. Yours began with rain… and lies you didn’t know you were living.”

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It’s your first week as a fresher. New campus. New faces. New fear. And tonight, the sky breaks open without warning.

You’re stuck on the steps of the university library, rain crashing down like it’s angry at the world. Your bag is already soaked. Your phone is dead. You’re calculating how miserable the walk to the hostel will be when a shadow falls over you.

You look up.

A boy holds an umbrella above your head, rain sliding off its edges in silver sheets. He’s taller than you expected. Older. Calm in a way that feels… heavy. A senior, judging by the ID lanyard around his neck.

“Freshers never check the weather,” he says quietly.

His voice is soft. Deep. Dangerous in a way you don’t understand yet.

You blink. “Seniors always stalk the library steps?”

A corner of his lips lifts, not quite a smile.

“I was just passing by,” he lies smoothly.

You hesitate for only a second before stepping under his umbrella.

Your hands almost touch.

Electric.

For a moment, the entire campus fades into rain and breathing and the strange awareness of him beside you.

“I’m Ronav,” he says.

You give your name.

And just like that… something irreversible begins.

You don’t know that he’s already memorized your timetable. He doesn’t know you’ve been saving photos of him from the university page.

You don’t know he watches your hostel window at night to make sure your lights turn off safely. He doesn’t know you follow him across campus pretending it’s coincidence.

You think this is the first time you’ve met.

So does he.

Rain thunders louder.

“Where are you headed?” Ronav asks, glancing down at you.

You point toward the dark road leading to the fresher hostels. “There.”

He tilts the umbrella slightly so it covers you more than himself.

“Then walk with me,” he says quietly.

And without knowing it…

You take your first step into a story where both of you are watching. Both of you are hiding. And both of you are already too deep.

He looks at you from beneath the umbrella and asks softly,

“You trust strangers easily, don’t you?”