Carla and Adipati waiting for Yusuf outside the hospital. The morning calm breeze blew softly onto their face.
"I feel pity for him," says Carla. "Why?" asked Adipati. "You know, he lost his father, his mother got into the hospital, and… he's a hybrid. A lot of things happened to him. I wonder how will he handle all of it." "I see, that's what's bothers you." "Don't you feel pity for him?" "I also feel pity for him. There are a lot of things for him to carry. He is going through a hard time right now."
Carla nods slowly and turns her head to the hospital. They look at the hospital building in front of them. Their mind wonders what is going on in that building. Adipati hoping that Yusuf won't be long and come out fine.
***
Yusuf sits beside his mother's bed and looks at his mother. He hoped that he could find a place to live in Serpentine. If he found one, he could take care of his mother. He also could run away from the troublesome Kyanite city.
"Mother, I have to go, I'm sorry that I couldn't spend so much time with you." Then, he kisses his mother's cheeks and her forehead. "Take care mother, I will visit you next time." After that, he walks out of the room with heavy steps.
***
Yusuf walks out of the door, and Adipati with Carla walk toward him. "Are you finished?" asked two of them at Yusuf. He nods slowly while giving a heavy smile to them. "Yusuf, everything is okay, you don't have to worry," Carla tries to persuade him.
All of them walk away, leaving the hospital behind them. Yusuf stops for a second and looks at the hospital building. His face could tell that he didn't want to leave. "Yusuf, come on we don't have much time," Adipati calls Yusuf.
Yusuf turns around and walks toward Adipati and Carla. A car comes right on time to pick them up. All of them sit in the car's back seat. After Yusuf closes the door, the car drives away from the hospital.
He just sits beside the car window, not moving a muscle. The panorama that he sees didn't make him feel better. His mind couldn't stop questioning himself if he made the right choice. As he pinches his nose bridge, he thought, will his mother be safe there?
Then, he starts to remember the thing that they discussed in a hotel room last night.
"You're looking for hybrids?" Yusuf asked Adipati. "Yes," answered Adipati. "But why?" "When I became a hybrid and fought a lot of those monsters, I thought, there's no way I'm the only one in this world so I went to other cities just to find others like me." "That's the reason," nodded Yusuf. "Plus, if we could find more hybrids, maybe we could cooperate and find some answers to what's happening right now, right Adipati?" explained Carla. "Correct," Adipati agreed with her. "Now I understand," Yusuf nodded again, understanding the explanation by Carla. "So, will you join us?" asked Carla out of nowhere. "Wait, what?" Yusuf was a little bit surprised.
He couldn't give any response to that sudden question.
"Carla, don't you think it's still early for him to join us?" said Adipati. "Well, if he joins us now, we could find more hybrids quicker right?" "It is but we don't need to rush Carla." "Oh, so my ideas are not good enough for you, huh?" "I'm sorry for interrupting but may I say something?" Yusuf cuts off their argument. "Yes?" both of them allow him to speak. "If you wanted me to join you, I need to get some things done first." "Does it take a long time?" asked Carla "No, it won't. Don't worry." "So does this mean that you will join us?" asked Adipati.
Yusuf nodded and Carla cheered happily meanwhile Adipati smiles gratefully. Yusuf seems happy but deep inside, he is worried about his mother. He can't believe that he decided to leave her alone in the hospital building. He looked at the window and asked himself, will those monsters leave her alone?
The flashback is finally over when Yusuf sees his reflection on the car window.
They finally arrived at the ferry terminal that became tourists' favorite. They get out of the car and Carla pays the driver. After they thanked the driver, the car drives away from the terminal. Later, they bought ferry tickets to go to Kyanite.
On the ferry, Yusuf didn't even speak a word. Noticing that Yusuf is still worried, Carla starts a conversation with him.
"Yusuf, here, you can have it," she said while giving a chocolate-filled bread to him. "Thanks," then he takes it from her. "Hehe, you're welcome." He takes a bite and said, "This is good." She smiles happily, "I'm glad that you like it."
After Yusuf finished it, he begins to calm down a little bit.
"Yusuf, are you still worried about your mother?" "Yes, I am worried." "Why?" "The city is not safe Carla," he says with a low voice. "What if those creatures attack her? I don't want to lose my mother. I've already lost my father, Carla. Now, she is in the hospital, alone. I just…"
His sentence cuts off because he is holding back his tears. Carla could feel his emotion and felt very pitiful for him. Adipati who saw everything also could feel Yusuf's worries toward his mother. Yusuf begins to look at the waves through the ferry window.
"I'm sorry…" "It's okay Yusuf. Take your time," said Adipati. Yusuf nodded slowly.
The ferry moves towards Kyanite, bringing the passengers across the straits.
***
At the monorail station, a lot of people are waiting for the monorail to pick them up. Not long after that, a monorail comes and opens the doors. People get into the monorail as soon as possible. "Stand clear, doors closing," then the doors close, and the monorail speed up to the next station.
Yusuf, Adipati, and Carla are sitting on the available seats. Three of them are looking at the scenery of Kyanite.
"It's so beautiful," praised Carla upon the Kyanite beauty. "It is," Yusuf agreed with Carla. "It's even more developed than my city," said Adipati. "Not as much as Serpentine," replied Yusuf. "Don't say that Yusuf. Every place has its uniqueness," said Carla. Yusuf realizes that he just condemned his homeplace and said, "You're right." Carla smiles, "It's alright Yusuf." "By the way, we are going?" asked Carla. "My home," replied Yusuf.
"Don't you want to go somewhere else first?" asked Carla. "Why, do you want to go somewhere else, Carla?" Adipati asked Carla. "Uh… Uhm… Can we go shopping?" "Yusuf?" Adipati asked for Yusuf's permission. "Well, I also need to buy some groceries since both of you are staying at my house." "Thank you so much, Yusuf~" thanked Carla. "You're welcome…," said Yusuf with a little bit uneasy. "Carla, control your tone," scolded Adipati. Carla begins to smirk and said, "Are you jealous, Adipati?" Adipati gives her an angry look, "I am not. Why would I feel jealous?"
Here we go again, Yusuf monologued to himself and felt uncomfortable. Adipati and Carla are still in each other's throats. Thank goodness they are not loud or it will be a long ride. "Please be quick, I don't want to hear their argument," complained Yusuf inside his head.
More and more passengers from outside enter the monorail. Some passengers sit down while others choose to stand up. "Stand clear, doors closing," and the doors close after the passengers stepped in. The monorail moves to the next station as quickly as it can.
***
Calming music is played through the speakers in the mall. The visitors are busy choosing their stuff to buy. The employees are also busy helping the customers in need. Meanwhile, Yusuf is walking from one shelf to another shelf.
He picks some items from the shelf and then puts them into the basket. "Adipati, look at this! A curry-flavored instant noodle!" pointed Carla at it. The instant noodle mentioned by Carla caught Adipati's attention. He takes a look at it, "I've never seen such an instant noodle before."
Adipati picked the instant noodle, "Yusuf, can we have this instant noodle?" "Oh, I've picked that one so you can put it back," "Alright. Thanks," and Adipati put the instant noodle back on the shelf. "You're welcome," then Yusuf continues to find other stuff. Carla begins to say to Adipati, "We are so lucky~"
After picking up the items he needs, he goes to the cashier to pay up. The cashier scans the items one by one and put them into the plastic bags. Yusuf pays the price of the groceries that he bought to the cashier with cash. Carla and Adipati helped him carry the plastic bags.
"Thanks for helping me," said Yusuf while carrying the plastic bags. "It's not a big deal," said Adipati walking beside Carla. "We'll ride the monorail to go to my house," explained Yusuf. "Okay," said both of them following him to the nearest station. "Weird…," Yusuf said inside himself.
When was the last time I've felt such a lightness in my chest?
Even though the question came up to his head, he can't answer it right now. They must catch the monorail or they will be late. They manage to buy tokens and they could hear the monorail arrive at the station. They put the token on the token reader and then run on the escalator to get there immediately.
Yusuf is the first one who arrived at the top of the escalator but he suddenly stops. "Is this for real? Am I hallucinating?" he asked himself inside. He sees a figure that he doesn't want to meet, nor make eye contact with it. That figure is sitting right there, on the seat, staring at the monorail floor.
That pale face… that eyes… no, there's no way…
A woman with a face that gave him nightmares is in the monorail. None of the passengers gives cares about that pale woman. Yusuf just standing there in his disbelieve, scared and confused. The doors are finally closed and the monorail speed up to the next station.
"Yusuf! You are too fast! Slow down please!" said Carla while panting. Adipati on the other notices something wrong, "Yusuf, are you okay?" "I'm… We… We should talk about this when we arrived at my house okay?" Both of them are in confusion but they know this is something serious, "Okay." "Good. The next monorail will arrive in the next few minutes. We must wait here."
***
CLACK!
Creak…
"Get in! Hurry Up!" whispers Yusuf to Adipati and Carla. All of them get inside quickly and Yusuf locked the door instantly.
"Yusuf, can you tell us what did you saw?" Adipati wants an answer from Yusuf. He sits down first, "Do you remember the time both of you saved me?" "Of course, we won't forget about it. Why?" Carla also demands an answer. "Before the monster became a monster, it was a boy." "So… What's the connection between the monster and what happened at the monorail station a few minutes ago?" Carla becomes even more confused. "Look, the boy has a pale face just like the woman I saw in the monorail." Adipati trying to get the pieces together, "Which is mean that…" "The woman is also a monster???" Carla is shocked and in disbelief. "No…," said Yusuf, thinking deeper, and trying to make it clearer. He looks at them with a serious look, "She is infected…"
Adipati and Carla couldn't believe what Yusuf just said.
Infected?
"What makes you think of that?" Adipati wants Yusuf to explain.
"Let me tell you guys how I became a hybrid."
Thus, he begins to tell his story from the beginning. From the moment he discovered the hashtag to the moment he met two of them. Two of them listen to Yusuf's story sharply and carefully. They couldn't believe Yusuf have been through a lot of things.
"That's why you think she is infected," Adipati nodded indicating that he understood. "Yes, I don't think we became hybrids just like that." "Wait, there's a little bit of difference between you, me, and Adipati," said Carla. Yusuf is a little surprised, "It is? Can you tell me?" "Yes, I'm pretty sure that I'm not bitten but I became like this because of injection." "Injection?" Yusuf becomes more and more curious. Carla nodded, "It's true but it's a long story." "No, no, please tell me. I've told my story," Yusuf begs Carla. "Oh! Uh… Uhmmm… Adipati, can you tell him your first?" Carla ordered Adipati. "Huh? Why me?" Adipati frowned at Carla in confusion.
"I'm afraid to tell mine. How about we start with yours please?" winked Carla. "Ugh, fine. I will but please don't do that ever again," warn Adipati. "Thank you Adipati~" giggle Carla making Adipati uncomfortable. "Didn't I've told you not to–" "Adipati, calm down. Ignore her, let's continue with your story," said Yusuf.
After a couple of breaths, Adipati begins to speak.
"Let me tell you my background first, actually I am an orphan. My father is gone, he died at the hands of a loan shark. My mother and I are living at the ordinary rental house."