Chapter 4 - SURPRISE !!!

(W) Second Protagonist's Point of View

"Here, you drive, okay, I want to sit in the back," I looked sharply at her, trying to understand his signal.

"It's okay, I'll drive, but at least you keep me company in the front," Anggi's gaze indicated her disagreement. Then suddenly, the man casually opened the front door and said.

"Don't make it a problem. Anggi I sit here Ok." he said casually.

"Alright then, I'll drive..." I responded.

"That's enough..." I sighed, then sat in the driver's seat next to the man. And Anggi's face looked sulky.

"Where are we headed?" I asked.

"To Lazy Coffee in front of Mall Middle Asian." the man replied. After a while, the atmosphere became awkward. Then suddenly, Anggi spoke up.

"Hehh... the weather's nice, huh?" Anggi joked.

"..."

"We've been talking a lot, wouldn't it be nice if we got to know each other better...?" Anggi suggested.

"..."

"Alright, Hari, let me introduce the person next to you. She's a senior and my superior, Detective Iswara. Although she may seem grumpy and irritable, she's not usually like that. You must know her since she often appears on TV." Anggi said.

"..."

"And this person is my high school friend, Hari, whom I often talk about. Although his words may seem belittling and indifferent, he's not like that in reality."

"..."

"Hmm, is that so... But why bother getting to know someone you won't meet again?" I remarked.

"Yappp, thank you for your understanding." he said.

"Ahh...I knew it would turn out like this, but why did I still do it? Ahhh... " Anggi whispered.

"By the way, Hari, what business do you have there... Meeting a girl. perhaps...?" Anggi seemed curious.

"No, it's work-related. Currently, I'm working as a comic book writer." Hari said.

"Wow... That's understandable. What kind of comic is it, though? Is it famous?" Anggi asked.

"Sorry, it's a secret. Hmm... it's probably quite well-known. But it's currently on hiatus for a while. I'll tell you someday... Gi, It's related to my anonymous identity as a writer." Hari replied with a smile

"Hmm... what's with the secret identity..." Anggi teased.

"You know, I just don't like being in the spotlight." Hari said.

"Hahahah..."

"What's so funny, Officer?" he asked, looking at me and smiling.

""It's okay, I just thought it's usually only intelligence agents or undercover officers who use secret identities. Others would be leaders of drug syndicates, narcissistic killers, or people from criminal organizations," I said flatly.

"Oh, I see, that's quite funny indeed. But have you ever thought maybe the reason why ordinary people use two identities is because they themselves don't trust that their identity will be kept safe?" he said flatly.

"So is that your reason." I asked, focusing on driving.

"Not really. I just want to protect my privacy. But some people use it because they like someone, but they're too shy to reveal themselves. Others want to oppress someone and don't want their identity to be revealed. Some use it to find out someone's identity, along with their family's secrets and other things. However, usually, two of these reasons will become a problem later on." he said flatly.

"Huhh... from the way you responded, it seems like you enjoy confusing people," I said.

"Not really, I just care about what others think, so I end it that way." he replied.

"Huhh... Interesting."

"Why so serious all of a sudden..." Anggi whispered. Then shortly after, silence filled the air for a few moments.

"Ah, we're finally here," Anggi said.

"Finally, we've arrived," he said. As we reached our destination, Hari quickly greeted two people at the café.

"Heyyy, been waiting long?" Hari asked.

 ""Har, how long did it take for you to get here! " said a man wearing a bucket hat, standing up to greet him.

"Not long, I just arrived," replied a beautiful woman with fair skin, round glasses, and long brown wavy hair, tied to the side, wearing a dress, and sitting gracefully in front of him.

"I thought you said you weren't meeting any girls." Anggi whispered with a pouty expression.

"Ahhh, Surya mentioned you had an acciden, Are you okay? Was anyone hurt? Are you sure you're fine?" The woman expressed concern. holding Hari's head. Then she glanced at me, and Hari releasing his head from her grasp spoke up.

"I..it..It's nothing. Hehe.. Rather than calling it an accident, it's more of a misunderstanding. But who said I had an accident...?" Hari said.

"Then why did you mention trouble on the phone earlier? I thought you had an accident," the man with bucket hat said.

"Well... Anyway, let me introduce my high school friend, Anggi. Anggi, this is Surya, my partner and college buddy, and this is Livy, my editor and friend," Hari introduced.

"Nice to meet you." Anggi said with a slightly heavy tone.

"Nice to meet you too," Livy said softly.

"Nice to meet you too," said the man with the cap, Hari turned to me and said, 

"And this... well,this is Detective Iswara. Both of them are police officers who will be supervising me," Hari explained.

"Detective... Supervising...? Wait, their face looks familiar?" Fajar asked.

"It's a long story..." Hari replied.

"Excuse me, Hari, it might be better if Iswara Sister's and I sit on the other side to avoid causing any inconvenience."Anggi said softly, trying to be gentle."

"Ok, Arigatōgozaimasu, Anggi," Hari said.

"Sure, uhmm... let's go. Sis," Anggi tries to act gently by tossing her hair and changing her tone of voice.

Wednesday 06 April 2022/13:04

"It was sunny earlier, now it's starting to get cloudy, huh..." Anggi said with a slightly sad tone.

"Look at that woman over there. She looks mature, graceful, and understanding all at once. And it seems like she has feelings for Hari, right?" Anggi asked curiously.

"Yeah, and you seem childish when compared to her..." I whispered, shaking my head and sipping my coffee. Then I glanced at the files on my phone about yesterday's case.

"Do you think Hari is interested in her too...?" Anggi pouted again.

 " …Sruttt...ahh..." I muttered as I sipped my coffee.

Not long after, a faint voice was heard from Hari's table.

"Oh, so that's how it is...?" Livy asked.

"Hahaha...how could you not know?" Hari said.

"See, what did I tell you...!" Anggi thought excessively.

"Weird…?" I said. 

"Sis! ahh..haaa...haa..!" Her whining was starting to wear on my patience, bit by bit.

"Shut up...! That's none of my business..!" I said irritably to Anggi.

 " Ishhhh… annoying." Anggi muttered, pouting her lips, which made me shake my head at her behavior. Then the sound of my phone rang, and I answered it.

"Hello Bob, I heard you're the one in charge of the crime scene, right? You probably haven't deleted the copy of the evidence files from Lieutenant Riki's case. I need them, I have to make sure." I said as I made the call. Meanwhile, I noticed Hari hastily passing by the cafe door and heading out.

"Send them as soon as possible, okay. I'll take responsibility." I said, quickly ending the call. Reluctantly, I had to follow him. Not long after, he spoke.

"I know you're obligated to watch over me, but I just need to go to the toilet." he said.

" You mean supervision? Then why did you have to leave the cafe? Doesn't this cafe have a toilet...?" I said.

"The cafe's toilet is under maintenance, so I need to go to the mall's toilet. And I don't need your supervision," he replied.

"No, I can't. My task is to supervise you. So, I'll stick to my task no matter what happens."

"Hahhh, suit yourself. then we headed towards the mall. When we arrived in front of the toilet, he said.

"Stop, this is the limit." while pointing at the sign indicating the Men's Toilet.

"You wouldn't want to be accused of being a lewd woman, by crossing this line..." he taunted.

"What kind of person doesn't know about this sign? I'll wait for you outside. but if you take too long or if there's anything else suspicious, I'll barge in with my eyes closed and drag you out, and I don't care feel embarrassed or not." I stated firmly.

"Huhh.. that's too much, even for a cop," he said as he walked inside.

While waiting, I glanced back at my phone and received the files I asked Bobi for earlier. As I looked through the files again, my attention shifted to a photo of a map with coordinates and markings indicating previous locations of incidents.

Upon closer inspection, those markings eventually formed a pattern. I was shocked to realize that the next likely target was the place where I was standing at that moment.

The next target is (MALL MIDDLE ASIAN). Not long after, I heard a noise.

DORRR…!!!

DRRR…!!!

Accompanied by screams, I hurried towards the source of the sound. However, thousands of people were running in the opposite direction, trapping me in a wave of panic as they tried to exit. Then, Brkkk, I was hit and fell down.

Suddenly, someone's hand managed to catch me. his eyes sparkled, their slightly long black hair was visible, and his naturally pink lips he spoke...

"You're okay," Hari said as he looked into my eyes.

"Huhhh...?" I was stunned looking into his eyes.

"I SAID ARE YOU OKAY! " I quickly snapped back to reality. Then suddenly...

DRRR…!!! DORRR...!!! DORRR…!!! DRRR…!!! DORRR…!!!

DORRR…!!! DRRR…!!! DORRR…!!! DRRR…!!!! 

DORRR…!!!