In the sultry hot weather, the sun enthusiastically kept on smiling. Together with the sizzling air, the pair made ones sweltering and scorching. People, willing or unwillingly, should take shelter under this weather. Some fanned themselves and some chose to buy a cold drink to brush away the unwelcome heat.
Amid the people madly moved away from the blazing sunlight, a woman in a suit strode in a hurry to catch a bus she almost missed. The driver of the bus seems to see this figure running to reach his bus, and decided to stay a bit waiting for her.
As soon as the woman stepped into the bus, the door slid closed. With messy breathing and a gasping sound, the woman sincerely thanked the driver.
The driver simply waved his hand and started the bus, "Young woman, next time don't be so late. Not all drivers are like me. Go and sit."
"Yes, thank you."
The bus was riding a bit bumpy, the woman struggled to walk to the farthest seat before choosing the one near the window.
"Ugh, what a day..." The woman wiped her sweating forehead with the last piece of tissue she had, then folded it back inside her pocket.
Her name is Arawinda Ratujaya, a woman in her twenties and at her busiest age to work. She was just an ordinary worker in a small company, and recently the company was facing a crisis making her even have to work after she took a few days off…
That's the story she was running around catching the bus in this hot weather.
Waiting for the bus to reach her workplace without doing anything made her feel like sitting for a million minutes even made her an illusion that she was a statue. Hence, she imitated those passengers reading comics and novels to pass time. One time she searched for a novel just for fun, who knows that she was actually getting addicted?
Arawinda took out her phone and continued to read the novel she read last time.
The title was
To her disappointment, the setting character of this second female lead was just cannon fodder, simply a stepping stone for the male protagonist and the female protagonist relationship. On top of that, she also provoked the villain resulting in her bad ending, death!
Despite this second female lead already dead in a miserable way, Arawinda struggled to keep on continue reading and thankfully she finally reached the end of the book. The villain, once being harmed by the second female lead, had long lost his powers and failed to survive the moment of
Arawinda felt at ease once finding out the end of the book then proceed to post her comment on the comment section.
[Sigh… It's good the character was not me even if we have the same name.]
Afterward, she looked for another novel yet pity, the bus had arrived at her workplace, where she'll wield her stamina left until the night come. Though she was reluctant, she must do it as her salary had not been paid, and the worse, for fear the company won't pay her hard-working effort if she didn't go to work.
Arawinda greeted the other co-workers before beginning to work at her desk, which was full of piled-up papers and documents. Those files were the ones she had to check and remake or edit if there was any mistake. She also needed to create reports and send them to the head of her department.
Nonetheless, while working, she aware something was wrong with her body, her energy drained too rapidly. Guessing she might catch a cold, she chose to lay her head down on the table and took a quick rest to replenish her energy a bit before continuing to work.
Laying her head on the table, she felt sleepy all of sudden and she couldn't control her eyelids from falling. Mostly one of her co-workers would wake her up after finding her sleeping, right? Thinking about this, Arawinda finally surrendered to the stubborn sleepiness and let it dominate her fully.
Still, who knows in the next second she opened her eyes, her environment had switched over to an unfamiliar one??
…..
Sanjaya Core Academy.
A group of young men, all wearing a white suit decorated with red strip, was walking in hurry through the bustling corridor. This group seems to be well-known as many eyes staring straight at them filled with admiration. Moreover, some students were following them like they were chasing after an idol.
This scene created a commotion among the students, taken back at the bunches of people running to catch up with the group at the forefront. Curiosity soon consumed them, which eventually led them to join those people. In the end, the scene became like a troop of soldiers who were about to go on a war.
One of the young men wearing a headband on his head was bothered by the noises behind them, thus turned around to check out yet was shocked stiff by this scene that he immediately tripped over his own feet. If it wasn't for noticing the curiosity and expectant which emitted from those students' eyes, he almost thought those students gathered to gang up against them.
Another young man with glasses helping him stand still asked in doubt at his current appearance, "What are you so shocked about?"
This question broke the solemn silence of the group. The other two young men also shifted their attention to them, waiting for the explanation for this question.
The headband young man patted his shoulder as thanks for helping him while he answered with a sigh, "No, just those students who are following us…"
Listening to his words, the three subconsciously turned their head to look at the situation behind them and were having the same reactions as the young man previously. Moreover, the handsome young man who seems to be the leader, his calmness almost cracked and his fingers twitched, feeling speechless at the unimaginable scene.
Amid his shocked friends, he opened his mouth and voiced out his amazement, "… Why are they following us?"
The headband young man shrugged his shoulders but took initiative to find out the reason behind this scene. He slow down his steps, approached the female student near him. He leaned toward the student and asked her in a whisper.
"Hey, mate. Why are you guys gathering together like this? Is something happening?"
The female student seems to be over-excited, didn't answer right away, and was overwhelmed by the fact her idol was talking to her. In exhilarating, the female student struggled to hid her trembling and sweating hands and kept her breathing stable, answered truthfully to her idol, "I-I'm here because I'm your fan! And they seem curious on what your group gonna do--"
"Alright, thank you very much, mate. Goodbye."
The headband young man cut off her sentence and hurriedly bid farewell, fled away from her side, and ran back to catch up with his group in a chill.
He always feared those people who loved to call themselves his fans. When he met them, either their pupils would be dilated, their hands trembled, their foreheads sweated, or their breathing would become messy. Watching them react like these was almost like seeing people having hyperventilated, making his heart jumped out of his chest. He began to have thought if his fans could die easily simply by talking to him!
The headband young man roughly rubbed both his arms in shiver before telling to his friends what he found.
"This… Aren't they a bit overreacting?" One with blonde hair scratched his head in indescribable feeling then stared at the back of the handsome young man in the front, "With this situation, will you actually still confront your girlfriend and break her up in public?"
The handsome young man clenched his jaw and his fists, his eyes filled with determination, staying firmly on his decision, "It'll be better like this. Just take it as a lesson for her so she won't act on her own wishes in the future."
The glasses young man narrowed his eyes, a bit opposed at the view of his friend. He reminded him with a solemn tone, "I know you want her to change to a better one, but what we're currently talking about is a girl's reputation, Bhahran, a girl's reputation."
The headband young man nodded in agreement and deliberately said, "Adam is right. Although your heart is not for her anymore and has moved to another person instead, you have to at least consider her reputation."
"No. You guys don't have to talk anymore. I'm sure with my decision." Bhahran denied their suggestion decisively and fasten his steps to leave them behind in annoyance.
Looking at his stubborn friend's back, the blonde young man voiced out his concern, "Don't you think it's a bit weird? Ever since he met that girl named Kencana, he always makes choices without thinking of others."
"It's not that! The correct one is ever since he met that fake weak girl, he has lost his rational thinking, okay?! He's bewitched by her!" The headband young man rolled his eyes greatly, feeling nauseated by the changes of his friend.
The glassed young man, Adam, touched his chin thoughtfully, "Back in the time where Bhahran was madly in love with Arawinda, he didn't change like this. Arthur, Sun, you guys are right. He's weird now even like he has been bewitched. If the problem is really that girl, then we have to be careful when she's around."
Sun clicked his tongue and clapped his hands once, "Alright, we will definitely! Right, Arthur? --Let's stop discussing and catch up with Bhahran before he does something more stupid than this!"
…..
On the open field of the academy, the students had long gone to surrounded the commotion in the middle of it. Unlike one from the group of young men previously, this time the commotion was made by two groups of girls.
The two groups had a different color of cape uniform, representing their authorization as a student in the academy. One group wearing a black cape decorated with white strip means having the lowest authorized, while the other group was wearing a white coat with red strip means having high authorization.
Two girls were attracting the attention of the onlookers.
One of the girls in a black coat was currently kneeling and begging with tears on her face, arousing the sympathy feeling in their hearts. Especially she was a beautiful and charming girl, her face was delicate and her skin was as white as snow. Her smooth forehead was sweating as a result of staying under the blazing sunlight for too long. Her bang was wet and stuck on her forehead because of the sweat, creating her image seem too miserable, making the onlookers pity her more.
The other one was from the white cape group yet unlike the two girls behind her, her white gem cape uniform was decorated with golden strip. The white and golden shone majestically by the sunlight, picturing a noble sense in the eyes of the onlookers. This rare uniform means having the highest authorize as a student in the academy, higher than the red strip one.
The girl elegantly stood with her arms folded and with her eyes closed indifferently. Her straight long red hair seems a bit contrast on her elegant image, adding a bit of arrogant taste to her aura. Although her skin wasn't as white as the girl previously, it seems healthier and supple, the dream skin of every woman.
Soon, the onlooker heard the kneeling girl sobbing as she asked for forgiveness from the girl in front of this girl, "… Arawinda, I really don't want to do this but my situation forces me to. I don't have much money to buy food for my little brother. Please, I beg you. Just this once, let me go…"
The onlookers didn't fully realize the detail of the matters and turned to look at the red-haired girl, expecting to get to know more about the cause of the commotion. Yet, they only found the girl only opened her eyes to glance briefly at the kneeling girl, before indifferently closing her eyes again. They thought this girl shouldn't want to accept such an excuse from the kneeling girl.
However, none of them were aware that the moment she opened her eyes, she had already become a different person. She was feeling like being struck by lightning in her current situation, that she closed her eyes again in hurry, hoping everything was just a dream.