Before we begin —

meet the people who are going to ruin your sleep schedule.

──────────────────────────────────

❝ NITHYA REDDY ❞

( your narrator. your chaos. your girl. )

Age: 23

From: Hyderabad

Currently: Definitely not where she's supposed to be

The kind of person who gives strangers directions even when she herself is lost. Stress-cooks at 2am. Has an opinion about everything — your food, your life choices, the structural integrity of your kitchen shelves. Calls everyone anna or akka within ten minutes of meeting them. Will argue with you in Telugu, Hindi, and English simultaneously if you push her.

She moved to Mumbai three weeks ago for her food blog.

She was not prepared for any of this.

──────────────────────────────────

❝ ARYAN MALHOTRA ❞

( the problem. the solution. the reason this story exists. )

Age: 29

From: Mumbai

Currently: Deeply regretting not having better perimeter security

Ex-Special Forces. Now runs a covert private security operation out of Mumbai. Speaks in commands, not sentences. Has never once in his life said "please" and meant it. The kind of calm that is somehow more frightening than anger.

He has a scar across his left collarbone from a mission he doesn't talk about.

He doesn't talk about most things.

Then Nithya Reddy walked into his restricted warehouse looking for chai, and suddenly he had a lot of things to not talk about.

──────────────────────────────────

❝ KABIR SINGH ❞

( comic relief. loyal to a fault. Aryan's only friend. )

Age: 28

From: Delhi

Role: Aryan's second-in-command and reluctant therapist

Sarcastic. Sharp. The only person on earth who can say something to Aryan's face and survive it. Has watched Aryan go from human to soldier and is quietly, desperately waiting for the reverse. Immediately recognises what's happening between Aryan and Nithya before either of them do.

Takes bets on everything. Loses most of them. Doesn't care.

──────────────────────────────────

❝ RIYA DESAI ❞

( the warning nobody listens to. )

Age: 27

From: Pune

Role: Unit's intel specialist

Terrifying in the quietest possible way. Has exactly zero patience for nonsense. Warns Nithya early — "don't." Means it. Becomes something like a reluctant older sister despite her best efforts not to.

──────────────────────────────────

❝ DEV SHARMA ❞

( the youngest. the most complicated. )

Age: 24

From: Jaipur

Role: Unit's tech and field support

Sweet face, anxious energy. Terrified of Nithya's cooking smells for reasons he cannot explain. Carries a weight the team doesn't fully understand. His arc will make you cry. Fair warning.

──────────────────────────────────

❝ SAMIR HAFEEZ ❞

( the reason none of this is normal. )

Age: 45

Role: Villain. International arms dealer.

You won't see much of him. That's what makes him dangerous.

──────────────────────────────────

A few things before Chapter 1:

→ This story is slow burn. I mean it. Be patient. It's worth it.

→ Nithya swears in Telugu sometimes. Context will tell you everything.

→ Aryan will say something in chapter 10 that will live in your head rent-free. You've been warned.

→ Updates - On hitting vote and comment targets or 1 chapter per week 

Let's go.

──────────────────────────────────