I had spent weeks watching Vihaan Malhotra fall for me.
And now?
Now, he was about to finally figure it out himself.
I should have been prepared.
I should have seen it coming.
But when he actually confessed?
I was the one caught off guard.
Because Vihaan Malhotra did nothing normally.
Not even falling in love.
At first, I thought it would take months for him to realize.
Vihaan was oblivious.
He flirted easily, touched casually, talked freely—
So much that I wasn't sure he even understood what it meant when it actually mattered.
But lately?
He had changed.
He started looking for me first during lunch.
He started waiting for me to leave after work—without saying anything.
He started drinking the chai I left for him slowly, like he didn't want it to end.
And most importantly?
He stopped flirting with anyone else.
I noticed it before he did.
And that's when I knew—
It was only a matter of time before he figured it out, too.
It happened suddenly.
A normal day. Nothing special.
We were working late, going over final reports.
Vihaan was sitting next to me.
Close. Too close.
Like he always did.
And then—it happened.
I leaned in.
To point at something on his screen.
To make some comment.
To do what I had done a hundred times before.
But this time—he froze.
Completely.
I raised an eyebrow. "Vihaan?"
He didn't blink.
Didn't move.
And then—very, very softly, like he was realizing it for the first time:
"Oh."
…Oh?
I frowned. "Oh what?"
He blinked rapidly.
Shook his head.
And then—he got up.
Fast. Too fast.
Like he needed to escape immediately.
I stared. "Where are you going?"
Vihaan ran a hand through his hair, looking everywhere except at me.
"I—I just—I need a second."
I narrowed my eyes. "A second for what?"
Vihaan exhaled sharply.
Then—he looked at me.
Really looked at me.
And the way his face changed?
The way his breath caught?
The way his jaw clenched like he had just realized something irreversible?
I knew.
He finally figured it out.
He left.
Walked out of the office without another word.
And I?
I told myself not to think about it.
Told myself he'd brush it off, laugh it away like he always did.
Told myself he wasn't ready to admit it.
But then—the next morning happened.
I walked into work as usual.
Grabbed my coffee.
Made my way to my desk.
And then—
Vihaan was already there.
Waiting.
Looking at me like he hadn't slept all night.
Like he had spent hours thinking about this.
Like he had finally made a decision.
I stopped. "What are you doing here?"
He exhaled.
And then—he said the one thing I wasn't prepared for.
"I like you."
Silence.
I blinked.
What.
Vihaan took a step closer.
Expression completely serious.
Like he wasn't teasing.
Like he wasn't just saying it for fun.
Like he had finally accepted it.
"I like you, Mehul. More than I should. More than I was ready for."
I couldn't breathe.
Because this wasn't how it was supposed to go.
I was the one who had been watching him.
I was the one who had been waiting for this.
I was the one who had been pushing him to realize.
And yet—
I was the one completely caught off guard.
Vihaan watched me.
Waited.
And for the first time—I didn't have a plan.
I had spent weeks pushing him.
Testing him.
Seeing how far I could go before he finally caught on.
But now that he had?
Now that he was standing in front of me, completely vulnerable?
I didn't know what to do with it.
I clenched my jaw.
Exhaled.
Then—finally, softly:
"You're serious?"
Vihaan's gaze didn't waver.
He took another step forward.
"Yeah."
I swallowed.
Because this—this was real.
Vihaan wasn't playing.
He had figured it out.
And now?
He was putting it in my hands.
Waiting for me to decide what happened next.
And that?
That was the scariest part of all.
So my answer was, "I like you too ."