On the other side, things with Yogesh hadn't changed.

At least, not in the way everyone had hoped.They had actually become worse.What had started as a few difficult days had slowly turned into a complete withdrawal.

Yogesh had stopped replying to people.

Not just strangers or people from work-even his friends were finding it difficult to get a proper response from him.

Sometimes they would send him messages and wait for hours.

"Had dinner?"

No reply.

"We're coming over."

Seen.Nothing else.

Sometimes he wouldn't even open the messages.

His social media, which had once been filled with photographs, stories and random glimpses of his day, had gone completely quiet.

No post.

No story.

Nothing.

He hadn't gone to work either.Shoots had been postponed.Meetings had been cancelled.Things that once kept him occupied no longer seemed important enough for him to leave his room.And slowly, his entire world had become that one room.

For almost a week now, Yogesh had barely stepped outside it.

The curtains remained closed throughout the day.

Even when sunlight came through the windows, he didn't let it into the room.

The lights stayed off.

The only light usually came from his phone screen or the faint glow from the bedside lamp when he remembered to switch it on.

Most of the time, he simply sat on his bed.

Sometimes with his back against the headboard.

Sometimes with his knees pulled toward himself.

Sometimes staring at the same spot on the wall for so long that even he didn't know what he had been looking at.

His phone was always somewhere near him.But he rarely used it.There were times when he would pick it up, scroll through his messages, stop at someone's name and stare at it for several seconds.

He would type something.

Delete it.

Type again.

Delete that too.

And eventually lock the screen.It wasn't that he didn't have anything to say.He just didn't know how to say what was happening inside him.And perhaps he was afraid that if he started talking, he wouldn't know how to stop.

Food had become another problem.

His friends kept telling him to eat.

They would leave a plate outside his room.

Sometimes he would eat a few bites.

Sometimes the food would remain untouched until someone came back and quietly took it away.

Coffee, however, was different.

He kept drinking it.

One cup became two.

Two became several.

It was easier than eating.

Easier than doing anything that required effort.Beside his bed were his medicines, a half-empty bottle of water, his phone and several unfinished cups of coffee.

The sight itself was enough to worry anyone who entered the room.But Yogesh didn't seem to notice anymore.

He had stopped taking care of the small things.

His clothes were lying wherever he had left them.

His hair was uncombed.

His face looked tired.

And there was a strange emptiness in his eyes.

Not anger.

Not even sadness that could easily be recognized.

Just exhaustion.

The kind that came from thinking about the same things repeatedly without finding an answer.

That evening, the house was full.

Gullu, Rohit and a few others had come over.

Suzanne was there too.

They had deliberately gathered because they didn't want Yogesh to remain alone again.

The living room was filled with quiet conversation.Someone had put the television on, but nobody was really watching it.Every few minutes, someone's attention would shift toward the hallway.

Toward Yogesh's closed door.

Gullu finally got up.

"I'll try again."

Rohit looked at him.

"Don't push him too much."

Gullu stopped.

"I know."

He walked toward the bedroom and knocked softly.

"Yogesh?"

There was no answer.

He knocked again.

"Bro?"

A few seconds later, a faint voice came from inside.

"What?"

"We're all here."

"I know."

"Come out for a while."

"I'm tired."

"You don't even have to talk. Just sit with us."

Silence.

Gullu looked back toward the others before continuing.

"Sorab is also coming."

There was another long pause.For a moment, Gullu thought Yogesh might respond differently.But the answer came quietly.

"I have a headache."

"Then sit quietly. We'll keep the volume down."

"I just want to sleep."Gullu sighed.

"You've been sleeping all day."

"I'm tired, Gullu."

There was something in his voice that made Gullu stop arguing.

Not irritation.

Not anger..

Just a tiredness that sounded deeper than sleep.

Gullu lowered his voice.

"Okay."

He remained outside the door for another moment.

"At least eat something."

"I'm not hungry."

"You haven't eaten properly since morning."

"I'll eat later."

Gullu knew he probably wouldn't.

But he didn't argue anymore.

"Fine. But don't lock the door, okay?"

There was no response.

Gullu slowly walked back into the living room.Suzanne immediately looked at him.

"Did he come?"

Gullu shook his head.

"No."

"Same headache excuse?"

"Yeah."

Rohit leaned back against the sofa.

"He hasn't even come out once."

For a moment, nobody said anything.

Then Suzanne quietly asked,

"How long can we let this continue?"

Gullu looked toward Yogesh's room.

"I don't know."

"He needs help."

"I know."

"Then do something."

Gullu's expression tightened.

"We're trying."

"Trying isn't working."

The words weren't harsh.They came from fear.Subhangi looked down at her hands.

"I'm scared, Gullu."

That made everyone quiet.Rohit finally spoke.

"We all are."

There was a pause.Then he added,

"He wasn't like this even when things were bad before."

Gullu nodded slowly.

"That's what scares me."

Rohit looked toward the closed door again.For a moment, the old frustration between him and Yogesh crossed his mind.There were still unresolved things between them.

Things he hadn't forgiven.Things Yogesh hadn't explained.But sitting there now, none of that seemed important.

Anger was easy when the other person was standing in front of you.

Fear was different

Fear made you realize how much you actually cared.Rohit lowered his voice.

"I don't even know what to say to him anymore."

Suzanne looked at him.

"Then don't say anything."

"What?"

"Just sit with him."

She paused.

"Sometimes people don't need advice. They just need someone to stay."

Rohit didn't answer.Gullu looked at his phone.

"Sorab should be here soon."

Suzanne nodded.

"Maybe he'll get through to him."

Nobody said it aloud, but everyone was hoping for the same thing.

Because Sorab had always had a different place in Yogesh's life.Maybe Yogesh would listen to him.Maybe he would finally open that door.Maybe he would finally talk.But there was something none of them knew.

Sorab wasn't coming alone.

And whatever was about to happen that evening wasn't something any of them had prepared for.

Inside his room, Yogesh remained unaware.

He sat on thw floor beside othe bed with his elbows resting on his knees.

His room was almost completely dark.

He could hear the faint sound of his friends talking outside.

Their laughter came occasionally.

A chair moved.

Someone said something.

Someone else laughed.

For a few seconds, he listened.

Then he looked down.There was a strange ache inside him whenever he heard them.

They were close.

They were worried.

They were trying.

And yet he couldn't bring himself to step outside.He didn't know what he would say if they asked him how he was.

Fine?

He had used that word too many times.

I'm okay?

He didn't believe it himself anymore.

So silence was easier.

At least silence didn't require an explanation.

He reached for his coffee.

It had gone cold.

He took one sip and put it back.

His eyes fell on his phone.

There were several notifications.

He didn't open them.For a moment, he thought about calling someone.

Just one person.

He didn't even know who.

His thumb hovered over the screen.

Then he locked the phone again.He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.

There was a strange emptiness in his chest.

He wasn't waiting for anything anymore.

Or at least, that's what he had convinced himself.

Outside, the evening continued.

His friends kept talking.They were waiting for Sorab.They didn't know that the person they were waiting for was already carrying something into this house that could change the entire atmosphere.

They didn't know that Sorab wasn't coming alone.

They didn't know what he had decided.

And they certainly didn't know that, behind that closed door, Yogesh was unknowingly sitting at th

e end of a chapter he thought would never change.

He had no idea what-or who-was coming toward him.

He only knew that he was tired of waiting.

But sometimes life changes things quietly.

Not with an announcement.

Not with a warning.

Just with a knock on a door.

And that evening, someone was about to knock on Yogesh's door...

To be continue...