“Aah—ha!” Meena and I screamed at the same time.
Not because we saw something.
Not because we saw someone.
But because—
We saw our sons.
Kai.
And Lucas.
And listen… we were fully prepared for emotional reunion, tears, background music, slow-motion running— But what we got instead?
…was chaos.
Because those two were in a position that made my brain stop working for a solid five seconds.
Kai was on top of Lucas.
Lucas was under Kai.
And before your brain goes anywhere weird.
NO.
STOP.
DON’T.
It wasn’t that.
It was just—
…okay, fine, it still looked suspicious.
“What the—” I started.
“WHAT is happening?!” Meena finished.
We both looked at each other.
Then back at them.
Then back at each other.
Because— WHAT.
WAS.
HAPPENING.
But the moment our voices echoed, Lucas shoved Kai off him as his life depended on it.
“Hey!” Lucas snapped, quickly sitting up.
“Did you hear something?”
Kai blinked, completely unbothered.
“What?”
Lucas frowned.
“A sound.”
Kai leaned closer, dramatically serious.
“Yeah.”
Lucas froze.Kai smirked.
“Your heartbeat.”
Silence.
Lucas stared at him.
Long inhale.
“…are you insane?” Lucas said flatly.
Kai grinned.
“So, now you can even heard ghost or silence.”
“I’m serious!” Lucas snapped.
“You… you seriously didn’t hear that?”
“Nope,” Kai shrugged.
“Just Ba-dum, ba-dum.”
He tapped Lucas’s chest lightly.
“Very loud. Very emotional. Should I be concerned?”
Lucas slapped his hand away.
“Stay away from me.”
Kai blinked.
“…rude.”
“I mean it,” Lucas said, standing up.
“All of this?” Kai repeated, looking around dramatically.
“Wow. Mysterious. I love it already.”
“I’m not joking,” Lucas said.
“And I’m not leaving,” Kai shot back instantly.
There it was.
That tone.
That stubborn, annoying, I-will-ruin-your-peace tone.
“I’m going to help you in this project,” Kai continued.
“I might be a help think again.”
“I don’t need your help,” Lucas snapped.
Kai tilted his head.
“Maybe you don’t,” he said lightly.
“But I need you.”
Okay.
Pause.
Meena slowly turned to me, slowly turned to her.
Because— WHAT WAS THAT LINE??
Lucas looked just as confused as we were.
“…Now I’m sure your brain is broken,” Lucas said.
“Because you can’t even talk normally for once in your life? Why are you like this? Why are you always joking?”
Kai shrugged, completely shameless.
“What to do? I was born this way.”
Lucas closed his eyes.
“I’m going to lose my mind.”
Kai leaned closer again.
“Why? Something happening to you?”
“Yes,” Lucas said.
“You.”
Meena bit her lip.
I was this close to laughing.
“Just shut up,” Lucas snapped.
“And let me handle this. Now get out.”
Kai straightened.
Cracked his neck.
And said— “No.”
Lucas blinked.
“What?”
“First of all,” Kai said, pointing at the floor, the walls, the air—everything, basically—”why should I leave?”
Lucas crossed his arms.
“Because I said so.”
Kai smirked.
“This,” he said proudly, “is my mom’s writing cottage.”
I froze.
Meena froze.
Lucas froze.
“…oh?” Lucas said slowly.
“Really?”
“Yes,” Kai nodded confidently.
Lucas tilted his head.
“Do you even know where the key is?”
Kai paused.
“…irrelevant.”
Lucas raised an eyebrow.
“Do you even know where your mom’s manuscripts are?”
Kai hesitated again.
“…Maybe….No.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
Kai immediately “you know a lot”
“Yes because aunt Lily told me.”
Oh.
Oh no.
I turned slowly toward Meena.
She turned slowly toward me.
“Of course she did, except me”, she whispered.
Lucas scoffed.
“Yeah, yeah. As we all know that how much aunt Lily loved me. Right?”
Kai smirked.
“She really did.”
Lucas rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, only me. Obviously.” The sarcasm was leaking.
“So,” Lucas continued, voice sharp again, “now will you stay away from me? From all of this?”
Kai didn’t even think – “No.”
Lucas stared at him.
“You don’t even know what I’m doing,” Lucas said quietly.
“Do you understand anything at all?”
“Yes,” Kai replied.
“No, you don’t.”
“I do.”
“Then say it.”
Kai paused.
“…something dangerous, mysterious, and probably illegal?”
Lucas deadpanned.
Meena covered her mouth.l turned away before I laughed out loud.
“Ohhh no so, just let me do my thing in peace,” Lucas said, voice dropping.
“My life is already messed up. I don’t want it getting worse because of you.”
That line hit.
Even Kai stopped smiling for a second.
But only for a second.
“Are you crazy?” Kai said softly.
“I’m here to fix your life. Not ruin it.”
Lucas let out a short, humourless laugh.
“You?” he said.
“Fix my life?”
He shook his head.
“That’s impossible.”
Silence fell.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
And for the first time—
Kai didn’t have a joke ready.
Behind them, Meena slowly looked at me again.
I looked back at her.
And in perfect sync, we whispered—
“What is going on…?”
Because this— This wasn’t just chaos anymore.
This was something else.
Something deeper.
Something we didn’t understand.
And somehow—
It had already begun.
To be continued…
What was Lucas hiding from Kai