That day, Arka's private home, which his father had bought for him, felt unusually lively. Not because there were a lot of people. There were only three people in the family room: Arka, Raka, and who else but the beautiful Alya.
The three of them sat on the floor, with several food wrappers scattered in front of them. At first, Alya had only invited Raka, asking him to work on her assignment with her. Raka was pretty smart, after all. And for some reason, he had suddenly informed Arka too. So now, the three of them were gathered there.
"Are we really going to work on the assignment?" Arka asked, glancing at the laptop that still hadn't been opened.
Raka nodded casually.
"Yeah. That girl's assignment. She said there was something she didn't understand. Can't blame her—her brain's kind of slow," Raka replied.
"Owww! That hurt, idiot!" Raka complained when Alya smacked him.
"You're so annoying! Why'd you call me stupid?" Alya snapped, her lips puckering.
Seeing that, Raka thought Alya looked incredibly cute.
Arka pointed at the food in front of them.
"For the past hour, all we've done is eat." He spoke up, stopping Alya and Raka just as they were about to start beating each other up.
Alya laughed. "Thinking takes energy too," she said, her face completely serious.
"Thinking about what?" Arka asked.
"Thinking about what to eat next. She told us to do her assignment for her." Raka burst out laughing. "That's what she usually does," he continued.
Alya turned toward Raka. "What?" She lifted her chin, giving him an offended look.
"You're always so serious when it comes to food. Don't make that face. It's ugly," Raka replied, reaching over to tug at Alya's pretty face. It annoyed her to no end.
"I'm serious about a lot of things," she said arrogantly, folding both hands over her waist.
Arka called out from across the room. "Like what?"
Alya thought for a moment, placing her index finger against her chin and looking up. "I'm serious about replying to texts," she answered off the top of her head.
Raka immediately burst into laughter, even smacking his own thigh.
"Seriously? You disappeared for three days once," he replied. Alya was notoriously slow at replying to anyone's messages.
"Because I was busy," she answered.
"Busy doing what?" Raka asked. He clearly didn't believe her.
"I had stuff to take care of," she replied.
"What stuff?" Raka still wasn't satisfied with Alya's answer.
Alya lifted her chin and clicked her tongue in annoyance. This guy was so nosy.
"It's a secret. Besides, why do you keep asking? You're so nosy, you know that?" the girl snapped.
Raka leaned his face closer to Alya's. His eyes narrowed as he stared at her suspiciously.
"Don't tell me you were sleeping," he said.
Alya immediately pointed at him, offended by what he'd said.
"Hey! Is that any way to talk to me?" she said.
Arka laughed as he watched them. Apparently, they became this loud and funny whenever they were together.
"Are you two always like this?" he asked, unsure whether he was addressing Raka or Alya.
Raka nodded.
"She's always been like that," he answered honestly. Alya had always been loud and animated. He looked at her with a teasing expression.
Alya jabbed Raka in the arm.
"Don't expose my embarrassing secrets," Alya grumbled, annoyed that Raka was looking at her like that.
"I haven't even told him anything, Al," Raka replied, scratching his perfectly non-itchy head.
"But your expression already gave you away, Raka. What's wrong with you?" Alya was still annoyed.
Raka laughed again. In the end, Alya joined in.
Arka simply watched. He didn't say anything. For some reason, he'd been unusually quiet. He observed the way Alya spoke to Raka.
The way she casually touched Raka's arm whenever she joked around. The way Alya laughed more freely whenever Raka was the one making a joke. And the way Raka seemed to have memorized all of Alya's little habits.
"Do you still like spicy food?" Raka suddenly asked.
Alya nodded. "Why? But not as much as I used to," she answered.
"No reason. I just remembered. You've loved spicy food ever since we were kids, even though you have acid reflux," Raka replied.
Alya smiled proudly, happy that Raka still remembered.
"You still remember, Rak?" she replied delightedly.
"Of course I remember. It's just a little thing." He waggled his finger.
Arka looked at the two of them. He remained silent, merely a spectator.
Raka then picked up the sambal from the table and placed it near Alya.
"Here. But don't use too much, okay?" he said, making Alya smile.
"Thanks, Rak," Alya replied, accepting the sambal from him.
Arka lowered his head without realizing it. His fingers toyed with the edge of a food wrapper. Something felt strange. It wasn't pain. It wasn't annoyance, either. It was simply an unfamiliar feeling he couldn't name yet.
"You two are really close," Arka finally said. He couldn't stand staying silent by himself any longer.