Destiny

Ho-jin looked at Ji-hun's troubled face and got alarmed as well, saying "No, no hyung! You've got it all wrong! I don't like her, I mean: I do like her but as my sister and further, my sister-in-law, nothing else! You don't have to worry about anything!"

Ji-hun let out a breath he didn't even realise he had been holding, relieved to know that his brother didn't like the same girl; things would have become really messy otherwise. But all of a sudden, the realisation hit him really hard like a rock slamming into his face- that his little brother was also having the same dreams! 'Rather, he was getting even more dreams than him, as he had mentioned that he might be lagging somewhere. After all, Ho-jin was the one who had narrated to him what he hadn't known about the girl being a polyglot, as he only knew that she could speak Korean fluently, but did she really know multiple languages? If she was really so talented, then why on earth would she fall for someone like him, for the person he really was? This thought was enough to rob him of all his happiness again, and push him into the ditch full of sadness.'

Ho-jin estimated the change of emotions in his elder brother's heart by observing the change in his facial expressions; he knew how his face lights up by curving his lips upwards; and curves down with his eyebrows becoming crooked. 'He had always been able to predict his emotions correctly; but this time he was unable to decipher what had made his brother sad, even after knowing that he didn't like Noona in the way he had been thinking.'

He asked "Hyung, are you okay? What happened? You can tell me anything, you know this already. At least discuss your problems with me, please. I might love you a lot, but I am also a human and I am not perfect either. So, I can't understand your emotions accurately every time; but I can promise you that I will always be there to listen to your concerns without judging you for anything, just like we used to do in our childhood. So please talk to me…"

Ji-hun finally gathered the courage to speak. "Ho-jin, to be completely honest, I am unable to understand what's going on with me now-a-days. Who is that girl, and why is she saving me? I am not even sure if she really exists, or if this is all in my mind. I think my mind might have come up with an idea of someone I had always dreamt of-"

Ho-jin interrupted him, saying "I know you are concerned about whether she even exists or not; but can you tell me the reason why you planned the cruise party for Chang Min hyung...despite the fact that you could choose any other plan for him?"

Ji-hun didn't quite understand what was the point that his younger brother was trying to prove. But he still answered his question, saying that he didn't know why exactly he had proposed to plan a cruise party for Chang Min's birthday.

Ho-jin smiled enigmatically and proclaimed, "This is destiny, hyung! You really can't change your destiny completely; as the person we are meant to meet in this lifetime always ends up meeting us somehow…"

Ji-hun was in deep thought, but when Ho-jin declared confidently that he couldn't change his destiny, it snagged his attention. He didn't know what got into him, and he blurted out "Then I will change my destiny and prove this to you!"

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After a while, Nitya somehow managed to open her eyes to see her teary-eyed brother holding her. She was confused, not knowing what was going on. She wriggled from his grip and tried to sit up, when she felt her entire body tremble; her vision got hazy as darkness spread in front of her eyes.

Mehul quickly stopped her from getting up, and said "Hey, kiddo. Please don't try to get up and don't sleep again, okay? Just let dada make a call! It will only take one minute, I promise. Just wait here, let me quickly go and grab my phone, it is on the kitchen slab. Make sure you don't go back to sleep, okay!?"

Nitya shook her head, after trying and failing to utter a single word from her mouth. Mehul rushed downstairs as fast as he could, grabbed his phone and dialed a number.

"Hello, this must be a lucky morning indeed; I have received a call from Mehul Jaikar himself!" A chirpy, playful voice could be heard from the other side of the call.

Mehul pleaded in a fragile voice, "Ruchi! I need your help, my sis-my sister..." He was unable to complete his sentence; this was the second time he had seen his sister in this state. She had always had only mild sickness in the two decades since then, never such extreme symptoms. 'But the condition in which he had found his sister this morning, and her demands of staying alone were haunting his mind at once, forcing him to imagine what would have happened if he had not been there.'

Ruchi knew that Mehul had a little sister, whom he used to treat as his own kid. 'But she had never seen her; according to him, she didn't want to be seen in public with him! But why was he in such a frenzy?' Ruchi also got second-hand anxiety with the thought that there must be something wrong with his sister. She took a moment to calm herself before she spoke again.

"Mehul! Calm down, take a few deep breaths. What happened to your sister? Is she alright; where are you? Tell me everything in detail, okay?" She said to him in a soothing voice, as she was also trying to find the correct words without accurately knowing the seriousness of the situation.

Mehul broke down. "Please come here, she is burning with fever, she is not even able to open her eyes! Please, I don't have any female friends other than you, Aanya and Himashree, so please come!"

"It's okay, Mehul. Relax, I am coming; just send me your current location. Okay, I will be there in no time, you just go and check on your sister. Wait- if her situation is getting worse, why don't we take her to the hospital directly?" She suggested just as the idea clicked in her mind.

"Yes, that is a good idea. I am taking her to the hospital, you just come there as fast as you can! I will be sending you the details of the hospital…"

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Nitya was struggling to open her eyes, it felt like her eyelids were holding up a few tonnes of weight. It was giving her the feeling of someone forcing her to close her eyes and make her go to sleep, when her phone vibrated on the pillow beside her.

She somehow managed to grab the phone and whispered "Hello...Bhaiya, I am not feeling well."

This was all she could say before the mobile dropped from her hand onto the floor and she was unconscious once again.

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