...****************...
...POV: Saanvi ...
...***************...
It had only been three days since the ByteSummit win, but the campus buzz around “CodeQueen and RogueViper” hadn’t died down.
Saanvi hated the spotlight. She wasn’t the kind of girl who thrived on validation from strangers. Yet here she was—people smiling at her in the canteen, whispering when she passed the hostel gate, juniors asking if she’d do a livestream tutorial.
All because of a boy who sat silently in her Software Systems class, dressed like a background character but coded like a god.
Rudra Malhotra.
They’d started texting since the Summit. Nothing over the top. Just casual back-and-forth—meme shares, code puns, bad jokes. Still, every message from him made her pause longer than she liked to admit.
It wasn’t just an attraction.
It was easy.
With him, there was no pressure to prove herself. He never interrupted. Never mocked her logic. He listened—even through text.
And that... felt rare.
...----------------...
Later That Night – Girls’ Dorm
Saanvi curled up on her bed, laptop glowing in her lap. Across the room, Ananya lounged with headphones in—but her eyes were as sharp as ever. A new notification pinged.
> [RogueViper]: You up for a short game? No stress. Just... us.
She smiled.
> [CodeQueen]: Thought you’d never ask.
Five minutes later, they were inside a dimly lit fantasy maze on ByteBattles. But something felt different tonight.
It wasn’t just coding and combat anymore.
It was talking.
Between traps and battles, Rudra typed:
> [RogueViper]: You ever feel like people only see your IQ and not you?
She blinked.
> [CodeQueen]: All the time. It’s like I’m a walking answer sheet, not a person.
> [RogueViper]: I see you. I’ve always seen you.
Saanvi’s fingers froze.
There it was again—that line. So specific. So intimate.
She typed back slowly.
> [CodeQueen]: You say things like we’ve known each other forever.
> [RogueViper]: Maybe we have. Maybe I’ve just been waiting for you to notice.
Saanvi laughed softly, brushing a hand across her face. Her heart thudded in that dangerous, what-if kind of way.
Across the room, Ananya yanked her headphones off.
“You’re smiling,” she said accusingly. “That’s a Rudra smile.”
Saanvi raised a brow. “What the hell is a Rudra smile?”
“That stupid grin you get when you're texting him. Like you’re glitching.”
“I am not glitching.”
Ananya stood, grabbing her water bottle. “Just don’t let the algorithm trick you, San. People can code who they want to be online. Doesn’t mean it’s real.”
Saanvi rolled her eyes. “He’s the same offline. That’s what’s rare.”
Ananya didn’t answer. But as she walked away, her lips were pressed into a hard, anxious line.
...****************...
...POV Switch: Rudra...
...****************...
Rudra had memorized the timing of her laughs.
She giggled 0.4 seconds after reading something she liked. She smiled before she finished typing, not after. She tilted her head slightly when she was trying to be clever.
And when she said he felt real?
He almost believed she meant it.
Tonight’s game session had gone better than he planned. Saanvi was trusting him more. She even confessed something he already knew—that she felt invisible behind her code.
He knew she wouldn’t ask how he felt.
She thought he was still a mystery.
That’s what made it perfect.
Rudra clicked open his side monitor—her webcam feed.
She was brushing her hair now, humming softly, then checking her phone again.
Probably waiting for him to text goodnight.
> “You’re waiting for me,” he whispered. “You don’t even know it. But I’ve already written the ending.”
He turned off the feed.
He didn’t need to watch her sleep tonight.
He’d dreamed her dreams enough times already.
...----------------...
Next Day – Campus Cafeteria
Saanvi walked in with Aryan, a casual classmate from her Java elective. Tall, goofy, usually harmless. They were laughing about a bug in their latest assignment when Rudra’s gaze found her across the room.
She froze.
He was already seated at a back corner table, alone, flipping through a Python cheat sheet he didn’t need.
“Hey, that’s your gaming prince,” Aryan joked, elbowing her. “Want me to introduce you?”
Saanvi’s cheeks flushed. “Shut up.”
Rudra didn’t wave. Didn’t smile.
Just looked.
Later, she joined him. Aryan left with a wink.
“You don’t like him,” Saanvi said, sliding into the seat across from Rudra.
“I don’t know him,” Rudra replied, voice cool but clipped. “But he talks too much.”
She tilted her head. “Jealous?”
He met her gaze, calm but intense. “Do I need to be?”
The question hung in the air between them like a trapdoor waiting to drop.
Saanvi blinked, caught off guard—and for the first time, didn’t know what to say.
Rudra leaned forward, elbows on the table.
“I don’t like sharing what I’ve waited too long to find.”
“You don’t have me, Rudra.”
He gave her a slow, steady smile.
“But I will.”
End of Chapter Three
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