When Eyes Meet

Episode 08

Adit shook his head helplessly.

“You seriously have too much free time.”

“And you seriously met someone interesting.”

Before Adit could reply, Shaan stood up and grabbed his coffee again.

“Anyway,” he said casually while walking toward the door, “I’m looking forward to meeting these mysterious first years tomorrow.”

“They’re not mysterious.”

“Mhm.”

“And stop making random assumptions.”

Shaan paused near the doorway before turning back with an annoyingly calm smile.

“Adit.”

“What?”

“You only pay attention to people who genuinely stand out to you.”

For the first time since the conversation started, Adit didn’t immediately respond.

Shaan noticed the silence and smiled knowingly.

Then, without saying another word, he walked out of the faculty room.

Leaving Adit alone once again with the sound of rain…

…and thoughts he still refused to understand.

The faculty room had grown quieter after Shaan left.

Only the distant sound of rain and the ticking wall clock remained.

Adit leaned back in his chair slowly, his fingers absentmindedly tapping against the file in front of him.

Shaan’s words replayed in his mind again.

You only pay attention to people who genuinely stand out to you.

Adit exhaled softly.

“Overdramatic i***t,” he muttered under his breath.

Yet even after saying that…

He couldn’t completely deny it.

Something about Sakshi had stayed with him.

Not just her appearance.

Not even the strange familiarity he felt when she introduced herself.

It was the way she looked at books, like they actually meant something.

The way her face lit up while talking about writing.

The quiet sincerity in her voice.

Most students admired campuses.

She admired stories.

And somehow, that difference lingered in his mind more than it should have.

Adit glanced outside the rain-covered window again.

The campus lights reflected softly on the wet ground, making everything look almost unreal.

Then, without even realizing it, a thought crossed his mind quietly—

Hope we meet again tomorrow.

The moment the thought appeared, he frowned at himself immediately.

“Of course we’ll meet again,” he muttered logically. “She studies here.”

But somehow…

That wasn’t what he meant.

And deep down, he knew it.

Meanwhile, back at home, Sakshi was in complete chaos.

Not outside.

Inside her own head.

She sat at her study table with an open notebook in front of her, but the same sentence had been sitting unfinished for the last ten minutes.

Her pen remained frozen in her hand.

“… What am I even writing?”

She looked down.

The page only contained random half-written words and absent-minded doodles.

One of them suspiciously looked like rain clouds.

Another looked like—

She immediately shut the notebook.

“Nope.”

This was getting ridiculous.

Sakshi stood up and began pacing around her room dramatically.

Why couldn’t she focus on anything properly?

Usually, after visiting a new place, she would already be journaling every tiny detail excitedly.

The campus.

The library.

The people.

The atmosphere.

But today, her thoughts kept circling back to only one person.

Adit.

Every single conversation replayed inside her head with unnecessary clarity.

“Books like that usually make people believe in love too easily.”

“I hope this library becomes your favorite place here.”

Even his stupid calm smile kept appearing in her mind at random moments.

Sakshi groaned loudly and dropped face-first onto her bed.

“What is wrong with me?”

Maybe it was because of a dream.

Yes.

That had to be the reason.

Anyone would feel weird after dreaming about someone and then meeting them in real life the very next morning.

Right?

“Exactly,” she told herself firmly. “It’s just psychological confusion.”

Her brain accepted the explanation.

Her heart absolutely did not.

Her phone suddenly buzzed beside her.

Meera:

Tell me honestly. How many times have you thought about Professor Adit since coming home? 👀

Sakshi instantly sat up.

“Traitor.”

She quickly typed back.

Zero. I’m a very focused person.

The typing indicator appeared immediately.

Liar.

Sakshi stared at the message for two seconds before throwing her phone dramatically onto the pillow beside her.

Unfortunately…

That tiny smile on her face exposed the truth completely.

Outside her bedroom window, rain continued falling softly into the night.

And for reasons she still couldn’t explain…

Sakshi suddenly found herself looking forward to tomorrow far more than she should have.

Her phone buzzed again against the pillow.

Sakshi picked it up lazily, expecting another teasing message from Meera.

And unsurprisingly—

It was Meera.

CHECK THE INSTITUTION GROUP RIGHT NOW.

Sakshi frowned immediately.

Why are you typing like there’s a national emergency?

The reply came within seconds.

JUST CHECK IT.

Curious now, Sakshi opened the newly created first-year w******p group for Media and Communication students.