"How did the shoes on the soles become this new?" Zidan showed a confused expression when he accidentally looked down and saw Cakra's shoes. With a lightning movement, Zidan narrowed his eyes, watching Cakra, who was already staring at him.
"Why?"
"How come your shoes are new?" Zidan asked again. "Which sole maker is it? I want them too. I have so many broken shoes at home," he said without stopping.
Cakra looked at his shoes for a split second. Then he turned back to Zidan. A nosy smile was printed on his lips. "What a great shoe repairman! I intend to go there again too, there are a few at home that can't be used anymore. They're badly damaged."
Zidan beamed, his body leaning towards Cakra. "Seriously, want to go there again?" Zidan blinked his eyes, looking very interested. Making Cakra desperately hold back his laughter. "When are you going there? After school, right? I'll definitely come with you!"
Unable to resist, Cakra finally collapsed from his defenses. The boy laughed loudly, his eyes narrowed, and his dimples were immediately visible.
A look of confusion was etched on Zidan's face. His two thin eyebrows were interlocked. "What's wrong with you? Why are you laughing?"
"You're weird, Dan, you're so trusting," said Cakra, shaking his head in disbelief. "That time I didn't find a shoe solver because I had to be punished by Mrs. Chika."
Remembering the incident of Cakra and Rian's fighting action a few days ago in the school canteen, made Zidan a little distracted. The boy snorted softly.
"Can you control your emotions just a little?"
"What?"
Zidan exhaled tiredly. "Don't make a scene again. Especially with Rian. How many times have you fought with him? Three times, man. Don't get too emotional if he starts first. It'll be your own loss. You're also a new student here, don't make a bad name for yourself in the eyes of the teachers or other students."
Cakra rolled his eyes. "I've never messed with him, but you know Dan, he started it first."
"Well then, don't take the bait. If you end up in counseling again, Mrs. Chika will think of you as a delinquent, rebellious student who doesn't know the rules, and even worse, you'll be labeled as a student who can't be advised by teachers. Please... This is for your own good."
Cakra responded half lazily. "Yeah, I'll take your advice."
"I'm serious!" Zidan was annoyed to realize that Cakra was too lazy to agree to his words. He had to pinch Cakra's head because he was annoyed himself, making Cakra glare. "Listen to me, Kra, don't mess with Rian again if you don't want the sap."
"I'm not afraid of that," said Cakra.
"Here's a kid, I'm telling you, he's still being stubborn."
"So what?"
If he couldn't control his emotions, Zidan would have punched Cakra in the face this very second. He was already provoked. But Zidan tried to calm down by taking as deep a breath as possible and then letting it out slowly.
"Cakra, Rian will target people who always disturb his life. Basically, it's the thugs here, helped by his pretty face, so many people like him. Look at our class, the girls also have a crush on that boy."
Zidan's explanation instantly made Cakra stare at each girl in his class. "Got a use for strange methods, maybe?"
"This mouth of yours, makes my blood rise and then gag!" Zidan gritted his teeth anxiously as he gave Cakra a glare.
Meanwhile, Cakra only frowned.
"They purely like Rian. They say he's attractive, handsome, and boyfriend-able. And so on. Many reasons. But Rian likes Inez too. But unfortunately, Inez always refuses, even though if I look at them, they are actually suitable. Good looking all, you will produce superior seeds."
"So I have to go back and forth like that?" Cakra sneered, not at all interested in the topic Zidan had raised this time about his half-brother.
"Just in case you don't want to disturb Rian's life too much."
"I'm not doing enough to disturb people's lives, my own life is still a mess," said Cakra smoothly.
Zidan tried to remain calm. "I mean, don't ever make a fuss with him. Anyway, how come you don't understand what I'm telling you? I'm getting emotional myself talking to you."
"Yes, yes, I'll listen."
"And one more thing you should know because this is very important, more important, and most important than other interests regarding Rian. You listen, okay?"
"Hmm ..."
"Don't have anything to do with Inez. Whatever it is, you can't touch things that involve Inez. Before you were here, Rian had a crush on a boy because that boy was desperate to ask Inez out. Even though Inez refused in the end, Rian still beat the boy to a pulp. That's really scary, isn't it?"
"It's normal," said Cakra.
Zidan's shuddering expression immediately stopped, and he looked at Cakra, annoyed. "Just say yes!"
"It's normal, what's wrong?"
"In short, you can't have anything to do with Inez, you should keep your distance from her as much as possible. Not to mention that time you interfered with Rian's problem with Inez in the parking lot. You could die if you're caught doing anything with Inez," Zidan explained in one breath. "Do you understand now? I'll eat you too if you still don't understand."
"I can't have anything to do with Inez?"
"One hundred percent true!" Zidan replied enthusiastically.
Cakra was silent for a moment. His gaze shifted to the shoes he was now wearing. It was Inez's. Cakra hurriedly looked up again.
"But what now?"
"What now?"
"The shoes I'm wearing right now are from Inez. Does that mean I have a special relationship with Inez? Then Rian will be after me like that?"
"Hey!" Zidan spoke loudly and dramatically. Some students even glanced at their seats.
Realizing he had been noticed, Zidan grimaced and lowered his voice. "What's the story about you being given new shoes by Inez? What's your relationship with her? No wonder I don't believe that a cobbler can fix shoes that shiny. They're just shabby new shoes." Zidan snorted harshly.
"It's a long story, and I'm not happy with you." said Cakra.
"Don't make me suddenly curious like this! Hurry up and tell me!"
Finally, although half lazy, Cakra still told everything from the beginning. From Inez, who got drunk, and Cakra had to take her home. Cakra deliberately cut off the incident about Inez asking to be groped. Until the story ended, Cakra was forced to accept the shoes.
Zidan nodded his head.
***
Rian is very possessive.
That's what's on Cakra's mind right now when he hears Zidan's story about Rian, who can spend someone's life when someone gets close to Inez.
"I suggest you just return the shoes, rather than risking your life. It wouldn't be funny if you were dying." On the way to the school cafeteria, Zidan couldn't stop talking about the shoes and the consequences that Cakra would have to bear later.
But he didn't care. Instead of being afraid of Rian, for some reason Cakra wanted to make his half-brother angry about it.
"Why are you quiet? Don't you understand what I'm talking about anymore?" Zidan grumbled while sighing tiredly. His eyeballs rolled lazily. "I feel like a Mars creature whose words are not understood by earthlings called humans."
"I understand what you're saying, just try to be quiet for a while, my head hurts listening to you babble on."
"My intentions are good, you respond to me like that," Zidan said irritably, his lips twisting after that.
"Yes, I'm sorry."
"It's a good thing I'm not a violent person, otherwise, I would have kicked you into Hello Kitty's house."
"Ouch, crisp."
"I'll go to the bathroom first, okay? I need to pee for a while," Zidan excused himself.
Before he could answer, Zidan had already walked away. Cakra immediately shook his head and sighed heavily.
Not wanting to wait for Zidan, Cakra continued his steps. It was better to order food first to save time. Zidan could look for it later after coming out of the toilet cubicle.
Only a few meters away, Cakra had reached his destination. However, suddenly Cakra was surprised by the arrival of Inez. The girl stopped in front of Cakra and blocked his steps.
Not yet recovered from his shock, Cakra was made even more shocked when Inez pulled his tie just like that. He widened his eyes in surprise. He would have almost bumped into Inez if he wasn't so good at keeping his balance.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked, confused.
Inez released her grip on his tie and took a step back with a small grin.
"I have a few questions for you," Inez said lightly.
"Ask what?" Cakra replied quickly, his forehead slightly furrowed, while his eyes squinted.
Without feeling embarrassed and awkward, Inez immediately asked her question, which left Cakra stunned because he didn't expect such a question to come out of Inez's lipstick lips.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" Inez looked seriously at Cakra.
"No," Cakra replied softly, shaking his head slowly.
Inez smiled and nodded. "Have you been in a relationship before?" she asked again.
"Is that really important to ask?"
"It is," said Inez. "How? Have you done it yet?"
"Why would I ask this?" Cakra sighed tiredly. "Excuse me, I don't have time." Shifting his steps to the side, he intended to push past Inez to continue to the cafeteria.
"Eits... Wait a minute!" Inez held Cakra back, her hand already holding the arm of the tall boy in front of her.
"What else?" Cakra replied lazily. "I'm going to the cafeteria. My friend is waiting for me there," he alibi.
"You haven't answered my question, so answer it first, and then you can go."
"I did..."
"You haven't answered yet!" Inez insisted, her eyes widening. "I repeat, have you ever been in a relationship?"
"Your question is not important for me to answer," Cakra said with a fairly stern accent. "Move aside, I don't have time."
"It's very important, don't be silly, I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important," Inez denied, not giving up yet. "So what?"
Cakra let out a long sigh as he rotated his eyeballs lazily. "I've never been in a relationship, and I don't have a girlfriend right now. How's that? Satisfied now?"
"I was!" Inez smiled brightly. "I can sign up to be your first. Agreed?"
Cakra almost choked on his own saliva. He stared at Inez, not understanding. Cakra's confusion didn't stop there when Inez grabbed his right hand and grasped it very tightly.
"Congratulations! You are now officially my boyfriend today," Inez said confidently. Meanwhile, Cakra, who was still confused by the situation he was facing at the moment, could only stare.
Inez released her hand. Then the girl brought her face closer to Cakra's ear. It took some effort to do that because Cakra's body was so tall, and Inez, of course, had to stand on tiptoe.
"Me and you are dating now, okay?"
Inez stood in front of Cakra again, as before. She smiled widely, before turning around and waving her hand at him.
After Inez left, Cakra did not immediately leave the place. He tried to digest what had just happened. Cakra's gaze drifted to the direction where Inez's body disappeared around the corner of the front corridor.
Blinking innocently, Cakra shuddered in horror while rubbing the back of his neck. Expelling Inez's words from his mind, Cakra shook his head slowly, then continued to go to the cafeteria.
The boy looked around for a while, then his gaze stopped at an object. Cakra blinked his eyes, his gaze locking with Zidan's eyes. Cakra opened his mouth for a moment—why was Zidan suddenly already there? Wasn't he in the bathroom earlier?
Curious about that, Cakra immediately stepped towards the place where Zidan was sitting.
"How come you got here first? You can disappear and move around, can't you?" Cakra asked while taking a seat in front of Zidan.
"You think I have a teleportation device?" Zidan replied exasperatedly while throwing a sardonic look. "Here's your food."
Cakra interjected. "I'm asking seriously, were you in the restroom earlier? Why are you suddenly here? Already ordered food anyway."
Zidan put his food in his mouth, chewed it for a while, then swallowed while looking at Cakra, who had not touched his food at all.
"I saw you talking to Inez earlier. I happened to have come out of the toilet," Zidan explained. He paused to sip his orange juice. His probing gaze was already visible. "I took another road instead of passing you two. Do you understand me?"
Cakra nodded while muttering softly. He immediately picked up his fork to eat his food. He added a lot of soy sauce because he didn't like spicy food.
"I really want to hit your jaw, Kra," said Zidan while exhaling tiredly.
While chewing, Cakra watched Zidan, not understanding. He just kept quiet without responding.
Zidan was annoyed with himself. "You didn't listen to what I said before. I told you to keep your distance from Inez. I don't want you to burn yourself later. What if Rian finds out? You could end up in his hands."
"Don't bother talking to me like that," replied Cakra. "Relax, I'm not afraid because I'm not wrong."
"Not wrong from Hong Kong?" Zidan's lips parted roughly. "You've dared to approach Inez, earlier I saw her whispering something in your ear. Now my question is, what did she say?"
"You won't like hearing it," said Cakra indifferently.
"What are you talking about?"
"She said that from now on, I'm her boyfriend," I answered honestly.
Zidan choked, his breath holding in his throat for a few seconds. He glared and pounded the table quite hard.
"YOU'RE REALLY LOOKING DEAD, CAKRA!"