Krishna raced toward the peak of the hill, his breath ing in quick, frantic gasps. He gnced back over his shoulder, his heart pounding in his chest. Relief washed over him as he realized that Ramu Uncle was o be seen. Finally, he allowed himself a brief moment to catch his breath, leaning against a tree. His heart still thundered in his chest, but the thrill of having escaped Ramu Uncle was evident on his face. After a few moments, he regained his posure and began making his way towards the temple.

  As Krishna approached the temple, he instinctively sed his surroundings. His eyes searched the area, hoping to catch sight of Vikram and Pawan, but the courtyard was eerily empty. A frown creased his forehead as worry began to settle in.

  The area around the temple was serene, almost unnervingly so. The only sounds were the rustling of leaves in the gentle breeze and the faint ringing of temple bells in the distahe air was infused with the faint aroma of inse and sandalwood, mingling softly imosphere. Krishna thought that perhaps the priest might have seen something, so he decided to inquire withiemple.

  Ihe priest was busy cheg the musical instruments that would soon be used for the evening Aarti. Krishna approached him, his steps quid purposeful.

  "Do you know where my friends Vikram and Pawan are?" Krishna asked, his voice sharp with impatience, as though demanding rather than asking. The priest, unfazed by Krishna's tone, tinued with his work, ign the question.

  Krishna's temper fred; his fists ched at his sides. However, as he gnced around the empty temple, he forced himself to take a deep breath, attempting to calm the storm brewing inside him. He tried again, this time with more restraint.

  "Priest, have you seen my friends Vikram and Pawan around here?" His voice was softer now, more respectful. The priest noticed the shift in Krishna's demeanor and, uanding that this matter was of importao the young man, finally responded.

  "They're uhe tamarind tree," the priest said simply before returning to his duties.

  Without another word, Krishna bolted towards the tamarind tree. When he arrived, he found Vikram and Pawan fast asleep, sprawled out in the shade as if they didn't have a care in the world. The sight of his friends, so blissfully unaware of his earlier panic, sent a fresh wave of irritation through him. His face flushed with anger, and his eyes burned with frustratioook a step forward, i on waking them, but hesitated as a thought crossed his mind: What would he even say when they woke up?

  Taking another deep breath, Krishna tried to quell the rising tide of anger. He circled around and sat down oher side of Pawan, gng at his friends who were still deep in slumber. The peaceful expressions on their faces only aggravated him further.

  After sitting alone for some time, boredom started to creep iually, Krishna decided to set aside his anger and unease. He y down beside Pawan, the soft earth and the cool shade of the tree coaxing him into a relut rest. Before long, he too succumbed to sleep, the tension draining from his body as he drifted into unsciousness.

  As the sky slowly shifted from blue to a warm goldehe setting sun cast dappled rays of light through the tamarind tree's leaves. The golden light fell gently ohree friends, like droplets of liquid sunshine, as if nature itself was trying to hem awake. The world seemed to whisper softly in its silent nguage, "It's time to rise."

  Pawan, who was sleepiween Vikram and Krishna, had drifted into a strange, enting dream. He found himself in a magical garden, bursting with vibrant colors and filled with an otherworldly glow. The garden was illuminated by the light of tless ps, moons, and distant gaxies that dotted the sky. The air was fragrant with the st of flowers, mingling with the cool, fresh breeze that swirled around him. This garden seemed to exist in some far er of the os, and there, in that serene paradise, Pawan found himself resting his head on Chee's p.

  Chee's touch was gentle, her fingers bing softly through Pawan's hair, as though her very hands held the power to melt away all his worries. Pawan's exhaustion seemed to dissolve under her soothing caress. His eyes remained closed, but a tented smile pyed on his lips. In that moment, time seemed to stretd blur, leaving only him and Chee in a peaceful eternity.

  Slowly, Paened his eyes, his gaze drifting lovingly toward Chee's face. He began to reach out, wanting to touch her, to feel her warmth, but suddenly a strange sensation gripped him. He felt as though someone had tightly held him in pce. A sense of unease crept over him, and just then, he felt a soft tig sensation near his ear, followed by the warmth of someone kissing his cheek. He heard a faint whisper, "I love you."

  The words jolted Pawan from his dream. His eyes snapped open, and he found himself bader the tamarind tree. To his horror, Krishna was ging to him, sleepily kissing his cheek and mumbling those very words. A surge of anger fred in Pawan, his face flushing red. Without a sed thought, he shoved Krishna away with all his might, shouting, "Get off me, you pervert!"

  Krishna, caught off guard by the sudden assault, was sent tumbling a few feet away. The impact shocked him awake, and as he rubbed the sore spot where he nded, he looked up at Pawan in fusion. "What the hell happeo you, man?" Krishna asked, bewildered.

  Pawan, still fuming, wiped the remnants of Krishna's slobber from his cheek with disgust. "You sicko! Stay the hell away from me!" he growled.

  With that, Pawan yanked off his shoe and unched himself at Krishna, beating him with the makeshift on. Krishna, now fully awake and utterly fused, tried desperately to fend off the blows, pleading, "Dude, what the hell is wrong with you? I was asleep! I didn't know what I was doing!"

  Meanwhile, Vikram, who had been roused by the otion, quickly moved to intervene. He grabbed Pawan from behind, trying to restrain him. "Pawan, stop! What are you doing? Why are you beating him?"

  Pawan, struggling to free himself from Vikram's grasp, yelled back, "Let me go, Vikram! I'm going to make sure this pervert never does anything like this again!"

  Vikram, still holding Pawan back, tried to calm him down. "But what happeell me!"

  Pawan, his face flushed with anger, blurted out the eory of what had just transpired, expining how Krishna, in his sleep, had made a very unwelove on him. Vikram listened in stunned silence, unsure whether to ugh or be angry himself.

  Once Pawan finished his story, Vikram, barely able to keep a straight face, let go of him. As soon as he was released, Pawan resumed his assault on Krishna, who by now was desperately trying to shield himself from the tinued onsught. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" Krishna wailed, genuinely horrified at what he had done in his sleep.

  Vikram, now vihat the situation wasn't going to resolve itself peacefully, turned and walked back to the temple. A few mier, he returned with a small bag of id some bandages, having vihe priest to let him take them.

  When Vikram returned, he found Krishna on his knees, profusely apologizing to Pawan, who was still gring at him, though his anger had cooled somewhat. Vikram hahe ice pad bao Krishna, who gratefully took them and began tending to his bruises. Then, turning to Pawan, Vikram asked, "So, why did you call us here in the first pce?"

  Krishna, still ing the bandages around his arm, looked at Pawan, waiting for his response. Pawan's expression suddenly shifted from ao sadness. He had fotten for a moment the reason why they had e here. The silehat followed was heavy, filled with unspoken tension.

  Pawan finally sighed, u himself to speak. The three friends sat there quietly, the events of the st few minutes hanging in the air like an uninvited guest.

  To be tinued.......