Ding-ding! Ding-ding!
Aryoso stretched and slammed the alarm clock beside him. Then, he got out of bed and headed for the bathroom.
He opened the bathroom door, ran his hands over his face, and looked at himself in the mirror.
His deep brown eyes, ordinary facial features, a look of someone in their 30s, and an expression of someone tired of life stared back at him. At that moment, there was a deep sense of disgust in his eyes.
Aryoso cursed inwardly. He took off his pajamas and changed into comfortable everyday clothes. In the kitchen, there were two boiled eggs and a cup of cold tea. With every sip, his eyes grew colder.
He glanced at his watch—it was 08:20.
"It's too early, and the only reason I'm up at this hour is because of that damn woman," he muttered, scrunching his face. Reluctantly, he left the house.
As soon as he stepped outside, the heavy traffic, the loud chatter of students on their way to school, and the crowded atmosphere were enough to irritate Aryoso. After a few moments of cursing under his breath, he began walking through the crowd. With every step, he distanced himself more and more from the world around him. Whenever he bumped into someone, he thought about apologizing, but instead of acknowledging the world around him, he preferred to sink further into his thoughts.
After a ten-minute walk, Aryoso reached a taxi stand. He looked around for a moment, then spotted an empty taxi. He quickened his pace and approached the taxi, lightly tapping on the window. A few seconds later, the driver got out, smiling at Aryoso.
"The clouds are darkening, it'll rain soon," the driver said, a fake smile on his face. Aryoso didn't respond, instead looking up at the sky. Neither the rain nor the driver's words mattered to him.
The driver, ignoring Aryoso's indifferent demeanor, said, "Of course, sir," and started the car.
Thirty minutes later, the taxi had arrived at Aryoso's destination. The driver gave him a fleeting look, searching for some hidden meaning in Aryoso's eyes, as Aryoso took his wallet out of his pocket. He handed over the payment, and the driver counted the money. After a moment, he looked back at Aryoso with a forced smile. Without looking at him, Aryoso got out of the taxi and walked toward the building in front of him.
This neighborhood was different from the chaotic ones Aryoso knew. Everything here seemed more organized and calm. It was far from the noise of the city. At that moment, Aryoso realized that what he craved most was peace. There were no children screaming, no traffic noise, and no crying babies.
He took a deep breath and, with hesitant steps, moved toward the building.
When he reached the door, he rang the bell for the third floor and waited for it to open. After a while, the sound of footsteps caught his attention. The door opened to reveal a woman with shoulder-length blonde hair and sharp, amber eyes that gleamed with intelligence.
The woman's smile held a faint mocking tone, and her eyes carried a challenge.
Aryoso pushed her aside with a blank expression on his face and entered. He headed toward the living room and sat on a chair. The woman took a deep breath and sat across from him on a leather chair.
"What do you want, Lora?" he asked, his eyes filled with indifference. "I hope it's something important."
Lora smiled mockingly. "Three months ago, our parents died. They left their assets to us, do you remember?"
"Of course I remember," Aryoso replied bitterly. "Impossible to forget."
Lora's smile deepened. "To get to the point… They left everything to me. As for you, that derelict apartment of yours is all that's left."
Aryoso stared at her in shock. The indifferent expression on his face vanished, replaced by a fleeting sense of hopelessness and helplessness.
"What did you say?" he whispered. "How is that possible?"
Lora shrugged casually. "Everything belongs to me. As for your abandoned apartment… well, that's all you have left."
In Aryoso's eyes, there was sadness, a pile of regrets, and an acceptance of fate. He didn't know where he belonged. The mocking glint in Lora's eyes was slowly extinguishing all the hope within him.
"You're useless. You're 30 years old, and you have nothing, no job, no girlfriend. You're pathetic," Lora said, not hiding her smile. "You weren't a successful student, you couldn't find a job. Now you're all alone."
There was a lost light in Aryoso's eyes. A voice inside him whispered, "Yes, she's right. I have nothing, no job, no girlfriend… I can't move forward. I don't have the strength to shape my own life."
A Month Later
Aryoso stood in the park, a gun pressed to his temple, watching the crowd around him. Some people were recording on their phones, while others were calling the police and ambulance.
For a moment, everything seemed frozen.
Then, with a "Pop!" sound, he pulled the trigger, shooting the gun pressed to his temple.
The world around him fell silent for a second, as the crowd and Aryoso's lifeless body collapsed into the stillness.