Chapter 1
Chapter One — An Ordinary Morning
In a small rented room in Kathmandu, two sisters lived together—Aayumi and her younger sister, Asmi.
They had left their village, their family, and everything familiar behind to build a future for themselves in the city.
Aayumi was naturally more outgoing. She could talk easily with people, laugh with them, and make friends without much effort. But when it came to the things that truly mattered, she rarely opened her heart completely.
Asmi was different.
She barely spoke to strangers. Even when someone asked her something, her answers were usually short. She had only a few people she felt comfortable talking to, and Aayumi was the person she trusted most.
For the two sisters, life was simple.
College.
Their little rented room.
Studies.
Phone calls.
A few close friends.
And a family waiting for them back home.
But inside Aayumi's heart, there was much more than her quiet routine suggested.
Her childhood best friend was Roshika.
They had known each other since they were little girls and had shared almost everything—secrets, laughter, arguments, dreams, and the kind of silence that only comes with years of friendship.
Roshika was also in Kathmandu for her studies. Although they lived in different places and could not meet often, they remained close.
Then there was Binay.
Aayumi was in a long-distance relationship with him.
There was love between them.
But things had not been the same for a long time.
Small arguments had slowly turned into bigger ones. Sometimes Binay's words hurt Aayumi more than he realized. Sometimes she stayed silent instead of telling him how deeply those words affected her.
A few days earlier, they had had a serious argument.
After that, neither of them spoke.
One evening, Aayumi had told Roshika,
“I don't want to keep waiting for someone forever. I need to move forward with my life.”
She had sounded certain.
But deep inside, she still cared about Binay.
She still loved him.
There was another name hidden somewhere in Aayumi's heart.
Samarpan.
He was about four years older than her and had once been her senior.
For nearly five or six years, Samarpan had quietly carried feelings for Aayumi.
And Aayumi had feelings for him too.
But they had never given their relationship a name.
Their families shared an old ancestral connection—one complicated enough that, within their community, they could be regarded as relatives, almost like a brother and sister.
So they kept their distance.
Close enough to care.
Far enough to remain silent.
Aayumi had once told her elder brother,
“I like Samarpan.”
Roshika knew too.
Even some of Samarpan's friends knew that Aayumi liked him.
But they did not know that Samarpan had loved her too.
Deeply.
For years.
Perhaps that was the strange thing about Aayumi's life.
So many feelings existed around her.
Yet so few were ever spoken aloud.
---
That morning began like any other.
The room was quiet as Asmi prepared for college.
Before leaving, she looked toward her sister's bed.
Aayumi was still sleeping.
“Didi…”
There was no answer.
Asmi walked closer.
“Didi, wake up. You have college.”
Still nothing.
She waited for a moment before calling again.
“Didi?”
Silence.
Asmi assumed that Aayumi was simply sleeping deeply.
She picked up her bag, glanced at her sister one last time, and left for college.
She had no idea that when she walked out of that room, she was leaving behind the last ordinary morning they would ever have together.
Yet, as she walked down the street, something about that morning felt strangely uneasy.
She just didn't know why.
