It started with a wrong number.
Arjun was about to sleep when his phone buzzed at 11:57 PM.
"I think I made a mistake today… and I don't know how to fix it."
He stared at the message. Unknown number.
He typed back:
"Depends. Some mistakes are meant to happen."
Three dots appeared. Then disappeared. Then came back again.
"What if this one ruins everything?"
He smirked slightly, sitting up now.
"Then maybe everything needed to be ruined."
That was the first night.
They never exchanged names.
Every night, just before midnight, she would text. Sometimes about her day, sometimes about things she was too afraid to tell anyone else.
She laughed in words.
She cried between sentences.
And Arjun… he waited for those messages like they were oxygen.
One night, she sent:
"Do you believe two strangers can fall for each other without ever meeting?"
He didn't reply immediately this time.
Because the truth was… he already had.
"I think they already do. They just don't say it out loud."
There was a long pause.
Longer than usual.
Then—
"Meet me."
His heart skipped.
"Tomorrow. 11:55 PM. Victoria Memorial. If you don't come… we stop this forever."
The next night felt heavier than any he had lived.
The air was cold. The city quieter than usual.
Arjun reached early.
11:48 PM.
Every passing second felt like a test.
11:55.
No one.
11:57.
Still nothing.
His chest tightened.
Was it all just… a game?
Then his phone buzzed.
"Turn around."
He froze.
Slowly… he turned.
And there she was.
Standing under a dim streetlight.
Wearing a black dress, hair slightly messy, eyes searching… nervous.
Real.
Not a voice. Not just words anymore.
They didn't run to each other.
Didn't say dramatic lines.
They just stood there for a moment… like two people finally seeing something they had already felt for weeks.
He stepped closer.
"So… you're the mistake?" he said softly.
She smiled, eyes slightly teary.
"No… I think you are."
And just when their hands were about to touch—
Her phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
Her expression changed instantly.
Fear.
Guilt.
Something deeper.
She stepped back.
"I shouldn't be here…"
Arjun frowned. "What do you mean?"
She shook her head.
"I never told you… I'm engaged."
Silence.
The kind that doesn't just stay outside… it enters your chest.
"Then why…?" he asked quietly.
She looked at him, voice trembling:
"Because with you… I felt something I've never felt before. And I needed to know if it was real… or just in my head."
He took a step closer again.
"And now?"
Tears rolled down her cheek.
"Now I know it's real… and that's what makes it dangerous."
The clock struck midnight.
12:00 AM.
She wiped her tears.
"This was our mistake… remember?"
She turned and walked away.
This time, no message came.
Not that night.
Not the next.
Not ever again.
But every day at 11:57 PM…
Arjun still looks at his phone.
Waiting.
Not for a message.
But for a mistake… that once felt like destiny.