The coaching centre corridor smelled of stale samosas, cheap whiteboard markers, and teenage sweat. It was 7:15 p.m., peak hour for the JEE/NEET crash course batch. Fluorescent tubes buzzed overhead. Students shuffled between classrooms, heads down in notebooks, pretending not to notice the couples stealing kisses in shadowy corners.

Ananya, Priya, and Rohan had arrived separately—standard procedure to avoid gossip—but the tension between them crackled like exposed wires.