The weight of silence was worse than the shame.
She opened the app.
He wasn’t online.
SilverDust:
You said you’d be here.
And now you’re not.
A minute passed. Then the green dot blinked on.
Monk29:
I saw your name. I logged in the second I could.
Medha…
SilverDust:
Don’t. Don’t say my name like that.
Monk29:
Sorry.
I just… I didn’t think you’d come back.
SilverDust:
Neither did I.
But this silence was screaming in my head.
I keep hearing your voice in those chats.
And now it’s ruined, Ankit. You ruined it.
Monk29:
I ruined it?
SilverDust:
No. I mean…
I don’t even know what I mean.
Every time I close my eyes I see your face. And then I see… the way I sent myself to you.
And worst part?
It wasn’t just some accidental thing.
I wanted to show you. I wanted your eyes on me.
Monk29:
Don’t say that.
SilverDust:
I need to say it.
Because if I keep pretending it didn’t feel right at the time, I’ll explode.
Monk29:
Medha, stop. You’re my—
SilverDust:
Say it.
Monk29:
You’re my sister.
SilverDust:
Say it how I say it.
Monk29:
Medha, please…
SilverDust:
Say it, bhaiya.
Monk29:
…You’re my little sister.
My Medha.
My… Medha baby…
SilverDust:
And yet I told you how I touched myself thinking about you.
Told you the kind of kisses I wanted.
The kind of pressure I wanted between my thighs.
I whispered your name as Monk29. I moaned it.
Bhaiya.
Monk29:
Stop. Please. Don’t call me that when you say those things.
SilverDust:
But that’s who you are, na?
You’re my bhaiya.
You held my hand when I was scared of injections.
You combed my hair when mom yelled.
And now I’ve begged you to make me wet in an anonymous room…
Monk29:
This is sick.
This is so wrong.
But Medha… why does it still feel real?
[Silence. Then typing again.]
SilverDust:
Because it is real.
The connection came first.
The blood came after.
Monk29:
I hate myself for this.
I should’ve known. I should’ve—
SilverDust:
You didn’t. Neither did I.
And now we do.
Monk29:
You called me bhaiya.
And my body still reacted.
Do you understand how horrifying that is?
SilverDust:
I cried after you logged off that night.
Not because I felt used.
Because I missed you.
[Long silence. Both are online. Nothing typed for 3 full minutes.]
SilverDust:
Ankit bhaiya…
Tell me honestly.
If I hadn’t sent that picture…
Would we still be talking like lovers?
Monk29:
Yes.
A thousand times yes.
SilverDust:
And now?
Monk29:
Now I’m caught between the man who’s your brother…
And the man who still wants to read every word you type at 2 AM.
Undone – Part 13: Flesh and Blood, Fire and Ash
[Three Days Later | Ankit’s Apartment | Evening]
Ankit stood at the kitchen counter, staring blankly at a half-cut tomato. The news blared from the living room TV, but he heard none of it. All he could hear was Medha’s voice in his head…
“You’re my bhaiya… and I still missed you.”
He hadn’t replied to her last message. Couldn’t.
How do you respond to something like that?
His phone buzzed. A message.
[Medha 🟢]
Mom wants you to come home this Sunday. Some pooja.
I’ll be there too.
He stared at the screen for a long time. Then typed slowly.
Okay.
He didn’t use her name. Or an emoji. Just okay.