7:00 PM, Tuesday. After he met Freya in the afternoon...
Two days ago, Vins had officially taken up the mantle as a King in his school—a King who moves strictly in the shadows as the absolute shield and spearhead for his turf's security. It was a highly classified position established by the Student Council and the disciplinary teachers to maintain order beyond academic matters.
This underground tradition had been carried out by the school in absolute secrecy for approximately three years. It was born during a dark period when there was a massive surge in brutal ambushes by rival students from other turfs, constantly dragging the schools into bloody feuds.
Vins opened the first page of the thick file; he saw the foreword written in the book. However, he immediately flipped past it, completely ignoring the massive wall of text written by the creator.
"Rule number 1: Don't prey on anyone within the school environment, but be a fierce wolf outside the school... Attacking your own peers is an act of cowardice and strictly for losers!" Vins read aloud from the rulebook handed to him by Freya, the Student Council President of Ontreight.
"Ugh, who the hell wrote this? The language is so over the top, and there's even a wolf with a crown logo on the cover... Let me check... Who's the author?" Vins criticized aloud, heavily scrutinizing the King's rulebook and duties.
Rustle! Rustle! Rustle!
He flipped through every single page of the file, which was bound tightly with black duct tape holding the sheets together. He traced every line of writing, desperately hoping to find the name of the book's creator. Finding absolutely nothing, he finally gave up and continued reading the listed rules.
"Rule number 2: The office holder is an alpha-male; he must always be the absolute benchmark for his pack of wolves—the fiercest and bravest, standing at the front as the attacker, and guarding the rear as the protector!" Vins read from the next set of rules.
"I swear this reads like a damn scripture, not a rulebook! Does it really have to be this dramatic? DAMN IT!!!" Vins groaned, genuinely baffled by all the heavy rules written inside.
"Rule number 3: As an alpha-male, the office holder must be a person brave enough to make split-second decisions without hesitation... He must fully understand the situation and condition of his pack of wolves! Every word of the alpha is absolute! The alpha must have two fiercely loyal companions who are completely immune to betrayal!" Vins read the third rule clearly printed on the second page.
"Hmm... What the hell are these alpha, beta, gamma, zeta-males? So damn confusing! Maybe I should hit up the internet cafe to check? And I can work on my English paper at the same time! Whatever!" he muttered to himself after reading the bizarre rules.
Vins quickly threw on his long jeans, then stepped out of his room. In the living room, only his mother was visible, deeply engrossed in a television show.
"Where are you off to, Vins?" his mother asked, her eyes still glued to the soap opera on the TV.
"Gonna hit the internet cafe for a bit, Mom... I got some homework to finish up!" Vins replied.
"Alright! Be careful out there, son... Don't go looking for trouble!" his mother warned, giving him permission to leave.
"Copy that, Ma'am!" Vins replied, throwing a playful military salute before reaching for his mother's hand to respectfully kiss the back of it.
"I'm heading out, Mom... Assalamualaikum..." Vins said, giving the traditional greeting while slipping on his blue sandals.
"Yes, son! Be careful! Wa'alaikum salam..." his mother replied.
Vins then left the house, gripping the black-taped file in his hand.
He deliberately didn't take the main road, which would have easily cut his travel time to the internet cafe located two kilometers away. Instead, he chose to take the much longer route through the back alleys, purely because there was one specific thing he wanted to see.
That winding path gave him glimpses of his sweetest, most beautiful childhood memories with the cute girl he used to adore.
He walked past the empty house. A chaotic mix of happiness and deep sadness swirled in his mind as he stared at the shattered window—the exact window he had broken just a few days ago in a fit of rage.
But Vins was a little different now; he consciously chose to smile rather than sink back into depression as the fragments of his childhood memories flooded his mind.
He had finally accepted Belina's departure from his life, genuinely hoping she would find her true happiness elsewhere.
His father had once told him,
"Memories of love are like birds chirping in a cage, son... You can indeed smile hearing them chirp happily inside... However... the chirping of birds perched freely on wild branches sounds far more beautiful, doesn't it?"
His father had said those exact words when he caught Vins constantly daydreaming in the garden, right after the day he parted ways with Belina.
Like those wild birds, his memories now felt completely different in his mind. Without him desperately trying to hold onto them, everything now seemed to fly freely, no longer burdening his chest at all.
Belina and he had finally found their respective paths, without ever having to walk the same road again.
---
He arrived in front of the internet cafe, located near Sector B. The entrance was cluttered with a chaotic mess of scattered footwear. Right above his head hung a large banner reading: HOKI NET.
Vins pushed open the glass door, letting a massive wave of sounds crash into his ears. Some came from the loud laughter and jokes of little kids, while others were the frustrated curses of teenagers his age raging over losing their games. The heavy sounds of digital gunshots and game characters aggressively livened up the smoky room.
He headed straight for the operator's counter. A 25-year-old guy was sitting there, intensely glaring at his computer monitor.
"Several junior high students have been arrested by the police for the brutal extortion of a 27-year-old man using a sharp weapon... The victim, identified by the initial 'J', was walking down a quiet street when he was suddenly ambushed by a group of students... Here is the full report..." The news anchor's serious voice echoed from the operator's speakers.
"Goodness gracious... These junior high kids nowadays have zero respect or fear of their elders! Times are getting crazier by the minute! I see..." the internet cafe operator commented on the broadcast, shaking his head.
"Bro, got any empty PCs?" Vins asked the attendant.
"Eh? We're fully booked right now, boy! Look around! See for yourself, packed to the brim!" the attendant replied with his thick Batak accent.
"Which number is about to open up, bro?" Vins pressed.
"Ahhh... Number 10 is about to be free! You down to wait 10 more minutes?" the man asked, pointing at his master monitor.
"Sure, bro... I'll just wait it out! I'm renting for 2 hours, bro!" Vins said.
"Okay-okay, boy! Pop a squat over there first! Here, take this chair!" the man offered, sliding a plastic chair toward Vins.
"Alright, thanks, bro!" Vins replied.
Vins sat down, patiently waiting his turn. Luckily for him, it wasn't long before someone abruptly ended their session before their time was even up.
"Boy, hey! Number 9 just opened up... You taking it? If not, I'm giving it to someone else!" the operator called out, teasing Vins.
"No way, bro... Come on! I've been waiting here!" Vins shot back quickly.
"Alright... 2 hours, right? Okay, that's it... Pay up first! Six thousand rupiah!" the operator demanded.
"Hold your horses, bro... I'm getting the money now!" Vins muttered, slightly annoyed as he dug into his pockets.
Vins handed over the cash and immediately rushed over to PC number 9, which the attendant had already remotely activated from the front desk.
"Goodness gracious... These junior high kids nowadays truly have zero fear! Tsk... Tsk... Tsk..." the operator mumbled, watching Vins's attitude.
Vins dropped into the chair at PC number 9, double-clicked Mozilla Firefox, and immediately pulled up the Google search engine.
"Gotta blast some music first... To get in the zone!" thought Vins to himself, plugging in his headset.
He opened a new tab to search for the exact meaning of the words he had been stressing over from the rulebook. He placed his fingers on the keyboard and paused.
"What's the meaning of... Damn! I forgot... She-male, right? Ugh... Dumbass!" he mumbled to himself, rubbing his chin, desperately trying to remember the exact term from the file.
Tap! Tap!
"Oh... Right, alpha-male!" he exclaimed quietly.
He quickly typed the words into the Google search bar and hit enter. The screen instantly populated with dozens of articles discussing the topic.
He clicked on the top-ranking domain.
"Ohhh... Like personality traits..." Vins muttered, reading the screen.
"An alpha-male is a term used to describe a man who possesses dominant, strong, firm, authoritative qualities, and is highly decisive in making tough choices! They tend to have incredibly confident personalities, naturally enjoy being the center of attention, and possess raw leadership instincts... The negative side of an alpha-male is a strong tendency to be stubborn, selfish, and highly distrustful of others who share those exact same traits!"
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"Oh, I see... So it's basically a hardcore leadership type..." Vins mumbled, typing notes on his keyboard.
Vins, completely engrossed in his screen, didn't even notice that the guy sitting right next to him was a schoolmate still rocking his uniform. They were both 7th graders, just from different classes. They didn't even know each other's actual names, but since they crossed paths so often, they were used to just calling each other 'Bro'.
"Bro, what are you up to?" the schoolmate asked casually.
"Oh, damn! You're here too, bro? Just the usual grind, man... Working on some homework!" Vins replied, glancing over.
"You're way too diligent... I couldn't care less about that stuff, bro..." the schoolmate chuckled, his eyes glued back to the intense game on his screen.
Vins just watched his friend for a second; the guy appeared to be aggressively playing some sort of rhythm-based battle dance game.
Not long after, the schoolmate, still in his uniform, casually asked for Vins's name without even turning his head. He was way too dialed into his game.
Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!
Click!!!
"What's your name anyway, bro?" the student asked, his fingers flying nimbly across the arrow keys, perfectly matching every beat of the heavy music.
"My name's Vins, bro! I'm from 7-8... You?" Vins replied.
"Name's Andrew Ken, but you can just call me Ken! Or Andrew... I'm from class 7-1. So you're in the same class as Karina, huh?" Andrew Ken asked, still completely hyper-focused on his screen.
"I'll just stick with Andrew then. Yeah! You know Karina?" Vins asked, slightly surprised.
"Yeah... I just see her around sometimes. My friend, a girl, knows her too..." Andrew replied vaguely.
Suddenly, the screen on Andrew's monitor abruptly changed to a massive dolphin graphic with rental options plastered in the top left corner. His prepaid time was officially up.
SLAM!!!
"DAMN IT!!! I was literally almost done too..." Andrew cursed, violently slamming his fists down on the computer desk.
Vins flinched and glanced at Andrew; he noticed Andrew's face, which had a sharp, Korean-Indo mixed look, was currently twisted in pure, unfiltered irritation.
Andrew aggressively ripped off his headset and yanked his backpack out from under the desk.
"Ugh... I was just getting into the zone, and the damn time had to run out!" Andrew complained, looking over at Vins.
"Done, Drew? Heading back already?" Vins asked.
"Yeah... It's over, what else am I gonna do here, damn it!!! I'm out, Vins... Catch ya later!" Andrew sighed, throwing his bag over his shoulder.
"Okie-dokie, buddy! Be careful out there, man!" Vins replied as Andrew shoved his shoes on.
Andrew then stormed out of the internet cafe.
Not long after, Vins, who was busy reading another article on the domain, was suddenly jolted when two soft hands clamped securely over his eyes from behind.
"Huh? Who is it?" Vins asked, completely blinded.
The person covering his eyes didn't utter a single word. Vins sat frozen, racking his brain to figure out who the hell was standing behind him. To his absolute shock, he suddenly felt something incredibly soft pressing gently against the back of his head.
"DAMN IT!!! THIS IS DEFINITELY A GIRL!!! FOR SURE!!!" thought Vins to himself, his heart skipping a beat as he realized the nature of the touch.
"Come on... Guess! Who is this?" a sweet, teasing voice whispered near his ear.
"SEE, I WAS RIGHT!!!" thought Vins to himself upon hearing the girl's voice.
He instantly realized exactly who it was the second her familiar, vanilla-scented perfume hit his nose.
"Ahhh... This has gotta be Sis Freya... Right?" Vins guessed confidently.
"Hehehe... Smart! What are you doing here?" Freya giggled, slowly removing her hands from his eyes.
Vins immediately spun his chair around to look at her; his jaw practically dropped. The girl standing there wasn't wearing her strict, nerdy school glasses. Instead, she was dressed in stunning casual attire—a stylish off-shoulder top paired perfectly with tight black jeans.
"Damn! Why does she look so different? Is this really the same nerdy, bossy Student Council President from this afternoon?" thought Vins to himself, completely stunned by how incredibly beautiful his senior looked in streetwear.
"Why? Do I look weird or something?" Freya asked, casually sliding into the empty computer chair at number 10.
"Ohhh... No, Sis! You look fine... Just... different..." Vins stammered, his nerves completely hijacked by her presence.
"Different how? Prettier, huh? Hehehe..." Freya teased, brimming with confidence.
"No! You just look way more relaxed when you're outside of the school zone!" Vins deflected quickly.
"Oh, I see... But I am pretty, right?" Freya asked, throwing him a devastating, playful wink with her left eye.
"THE ICE AT THE SOUTH POLE HAS OFFICIALLY MELTED, EVERYONE!!!" thought Vins to himself, his brain short-circuiting.
"Eh? Yeah, Sis! Hehehe..." Vins replied, his face burning red.
"What are you even doing here? And why did you bring the classified file I gave you earlier?" Freya asked, pulling out a special microfiber cloth to meticulously wipe her glasses.
"Yeah, Sis, I'm just super confused by the vocabulary in this file! It reads like a damn Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language scripture! Plus, I'm working on some homework too! Hehehe..." Vins explained awkwardly.
"That file really is a mess! I don't even know much about the contents! Most of the classified files hidden in the Student Council room have just been passed down blindly through generations of previous officials... Oh, doing homework at the same time?" Freya nodded, understanding his struggle.
Vins just nodded back, quickly turning his eyes back to his monitor. He felt incredibly awkward and wildly nervous seeing such a drastic, stunning shift in the Student Council President's entire aura.
"Vins!" Freya called out softly, noticing how tense he looked.
Vins snapped his head back to look at her, instantly freezing up again as his eyes locked onto his beautiful senior.
"Keep up the spirit!" Freya cheered, throwing him another killer wink.
"Hehehe... Y-Yes, Sis..." Vins stuttered, completely malfunctioning.
God only knows what was going on inside Vins's head at that exact moment. In his mind, it was absolute chaos—like a massive flock of panicked penguins and seals frantically running around as the giant ice glaciers of the South Pole shattered and melted into the ocean.
Freya then casually returned her focus to logging into her PC, and Vins desperately tried to do the same.
However, Vins couldn't help but steal covert glances at his senior while she was deeply focused on her screen.
He gazed at every single detail of her face with slightly dreamy, mesmerized eyes. Her nose, which looked a bit flat at the bridge, sloped perfectly into a cute, pointed tip. And her lips—painted a glossy, inviting red from her lip-gloss—were incredibly distracting.
Her hair, which was always strictly tied up in a rigid ponytail at school, was now cascading beautifully and freely over her bare shoulders.
Vins's nose, which had always been highly sensitive to scents, was constantly bombarded by the intoxicating vanilla perfume radiating from the girl sitting just inches away. Her flawless, fair skin gave off an undeniable aura of natural, effortless beauty.
Even the older guys gaming around them couldn't help but occasionally steal glances at her. Freya had effortlessly become the absolute center of attention in the entire internet cafe.
---
Completely unbeknownst to him, the clock had already struck 9:00 PM, meaning his prepaid rental time had officially run out.
Vins, who was busy taking off his headset, practically jumped out of his skin when Freya's soft hand suddenly gripped his.
"Where are you going, Vins?" Freya asked, her fingers wrapping tightly around his wrist as she looked up at him with sharp, demanding eyes.
"Eh? Go-going home, Sis! W-where else would I go? My time is up anyway!" Vins stammered, his heart doing flips because of how tight she was holding him.
"Wait, I need to log out of my Friendster account first... Let's walk home together! You're heading to Sector A, right? I'm going to Sector C! It's the exact same direction!" Freya declared smoothly, quickly X-ing out all the tabs on her screen and slipping her glasses securely back into her wallet.
"Eh? Oh... O-okay!" Vins squeaked, his nerves completely fried since the Student Council President was still firmly holding his wrist, even while her eyes were glued to her monitor.
"Done... Let's go," Freya smiled, standing up but refusing to let go of his hand.
They walked down the stairs together from the 2nd floor of the internet cafe.
Because Freya was still blatantly holding his hand, they instantly became the absolute center of attention for every single visitor in the room.
"GOODNESS GRACIOUS... YOU!!! You came in here alone, and now you're leaving with a gorgeous girl... You're truly somethin' else, boy!" the operator shouted, wide-eyed as they walked toward the exit.
Vins could only offer a painfully awkward, stiff smile in response to the operator's loud teasing.
"SHUT UP!!!" Freya snapped fiercely at the operator, glaring daggers at him.
"Good heavens! These junior high kids nowadays truly have zero fear of adults..." the operator muttered, shaking his head as he watched them push through the glass doors.
Once they were outside on the cool, night-lit street, Freya's hands grew even bolder. Instead of just holding his wrist, she slid her hand up and tightly embraced Vins's left arm, pressing herself against him so they looked exactly like a dating couple.
Freya's soft chest was unmistakably pressing against his arm, causing Vins's face to flush a deep, violent shade of red. He became incredibly restless, his entire body stiffening up like a board.
Vins purposefully positioned himself on the right side, closest to the road, as if protecting the girl who should be walking on the safer, inner left side away from the speeding vehicles.
Their closeness immediately drew curious, lingering stares from everyone walking past them on the sidewalk.
"If X equals 3, then Freya and Karina are honestly not that much different!" thought Vins to himself, his brain desperately trying to calculate the situation like a complex math equation to distract himself.
Vins's obvious, rigid restlessness prompted Freya to finally ask her junior what was wrong.
"Why? You seem really restless?" Freya asked, looking up at Vins with big, innocent eyes due to their height difference.
Seeing her beautiful, bare face without her strict glasses looking up at him like that made Vins even more hopelessly flustered.
"Oh! No, no! It's fine, Sis... I was just thinking really hard about who actually wrote that classified file!" Vins lied through his teeth, clearly evading the real reason for his panic while quickly turning his face away to hide his blush.
"DAMN IT!!! SHE'S ASKING ME THAT??? WHAT GUY WOULDN'T BE RESTLESS WHEN BEING TREATED LIKE THIS, DAMN IT!!! STAY STRONG, MY TOUGH INNOCENT SOUL!!! SOB!" thought Vins to himself.
"Oh? Is there really no name in there? Let me see..." Freya replied, casually taking the heavy file from Vins's right hand using her left hand, making sure her right hand never let go of his left arm.
She pulled her glasses back out of her wallet and slid them onto her face.
Rustle! Rustle! Rustle!
Freya flipped rapidly through the pages, stopping under a streetlamp to confirm Vins's claim about the missing author.
"Huh? Yeah... Why isn't it there?" she mumbled, standing close to Vins under the dim orange light.
"I literally just told you that, Sis..." Vins replied, slightly annoyed but mostly just trying to breathe normally.
"I'll help you investigate it tomorrow! You can keep this one! It's fine... We still have a master copy locked in the Student Council room anyway!" Freya declared, handing the file back to Vins and taking off her glasses again.
Freya's hand immediately returned to its rightful place, tightly embracing Vins's arm, and the two of them continued walking down the quiet sidewalk.
"Oh, come on... Just let go already... Please... I seriously can't take this anymore! Sob!" thought Vins to himself.
"Vins..." Freya called out softly, looking down at the pavement.
"Huh? What is it, Sis?" Vins asked, looking down at the crown of the girl's soft hair.
"This Friday..." Freya started, letting her sentence trail off.
"Huh? What about Friday?" Vins asked, his eyes still locked on the girl clinging to him.
"Let's go out this Friday... Just the two of us..." Freya said, slowly lifting her head so their faces were mere inches apart.
"Eh? Friday? Ummm... How do I say this, Sis... Hehehe... I'm actually supposed to meet up with Bro Dani and King J at Mas Ito's food stall... You see?" Vins stammered nervously, completely overwhelmed by seeing Freya's flawless face so close to his for the second time that day.
"Okay! I'll come along... Invite me! Please..." Freya pleaded, her eyes widening hopefully as she begged Vins to agree.
"Eh? Y-Yeah... O-Okay, Sis..." he replied, feeling way too awkward and weak to actually reject her.
That night, Freya completely shattered her usual persona. The girl who always appeared rigid, strict, and terrifyingly wise at school had just fully unleashed her soft, feminine side. And it left the newly crowned King of Ontreight incredibly flustered and entirely out of his depth.
For some reason, being treated like that by Freya stirred something strange and unfamiliar deep within Vins's chest.
For a fleeting second, Freya's beautiful and cute face reminded him of Belina's sweetness. Her maturity and sharp intelligence radiated an aura remarkably similar to Ivana's. And her bold, open demeanor made her feel so much like Karina.
In Vins's eyes, Freya was slowly morphing into the absolute perfect girl; she seemingly possessed every single incredible trait found in the girls he had ever been close to.
Because of this overwhelming realization, the heavy, rhythmic sounds of the vehicles speeding past them on the highway seemed to perfectly synchronize with his racing heartbeat.
He walked home completely dazed, wondering if this chaotic feeling was actually love, or just a fleeting, dangerous sense of comfort.
That night passed slowly, leaving Vins with a storm of mixed, heavy feelings swirling in his heart.
---
-To be Continued