After graduating from high school, Kirana Ayu Prameswari (Kiki) officially became a student in the Faculty of Medicine at Universitas Cendana in Bandung, while Bara Aditya Nugraha chose to pursue his music at Institut Musik Swara in Yogyakarta.
Two cities, two completely different worlds—Kiki was drowning in lab work and stacks of anatomy books, while Bara was busy rehearsing with his band and starting to attract attention from the music industry.
The distance that had once been nothing more than a number on a map app slowly became a real test: schedules that never lined up, jealousy that didn't always make sense, career opportunities that could pull them farther apart, and a question that kept coming up more often—could a love that started with a wrong seat in eleventh grade survive now that they were no longer desk mates?
Kiki had been awake since four in the morning, even though her train wasn't leaving until eight.
Her room was full of half-packed boxes and a large suitcase she'd rearranged three times the night before—not because everything didn't fit, but because she kept thinking of something else she might have forgotten.
"Ki, it's already this late and you haven't had breakfast yet." Mom appeared in the doorway, her voice gentle, completely different from the firm tone she'd once used whenever Bara was involved.
Now, on the day her daughter was leaving, all that came out was the ordinary concern of a mother.
"Later, Mom. There's still a lot to fix," Kiki replied, refolding clothes that were already perfectly neat.
Mom sat on the edge of the bed, watching her daughter stay busy by herself. "Are you nervous?" she asked.
Kiki paused for a moment and admitted it honestly. "Really nervous, Mom. It's not just about college. It's about... leaving home, leaving everything familiar, leaving—" Kiki didn't finish.
"Bara?" Mom cut in with a small smile.
Kiki nodded, her cheeks turning slightly red.
Mom sighed and gently stroked her daughter's hair. "I used to be really strict about your relationship with him, remember?" she said.
"I remember, Mom," Kiki replied with a smile.
"But I've seen how, over these past two years, he's made you more willing to speak up and more relaxed without bringing your grades down. That's not a small thing, Ki. The two of you have already proved a lot." Mom took Kiki's hand. "Now it's your turn to prove that distance won't change any of that. I trust you to take care of yourself and your relationship without needing me to keep such a close eye on you like I used to." Her words were sincere.
Kiki suddenly hugged Mom, her eyes already burning before they had even reached the station.
Dad drove them to the station, with Mom in the front seat and Kiki in the back beside the suitcases lined up neatly in the trunk.
Halfway there, Kiki's phone wouldn't stop vibrating—messages from Bara.
"Ki, I'm already at the station, waiting near the north entrance. Where are you?" he asked.
"Hey, don't forget, my train leaves first. Don't be late just because you're still getting all dressed up and pretty at home."
"KI, ANSWER ME," Bara texted, apparently feeling ignored.
Kiki let out a small laugh as she read the string of panicked messages and quickly replied, "On my way. Relax, be patient."
"Bara's texting?" Dad asked from the front seat, glancing at her in the rearview mirror.
"Yeah, Dad. He says he's been waiting for a while," Kiki said.
"That boy is always excited when it comes to you." Dad chuckled. "Back when he came to the house to ask for permission to officially date you, his hands were shaking so badly he could barely hold his teacup." Dad explained it with a laugh.
"Seriously, Dad?" Kiki asked, stunned. It was the first time she'd heard that story.
"Seriously. Good thing I wasn't as strict as your mother about it, so I didn't make him even more nervous." Dad laughed, followed by a small protest from Mom beside him, who still felt like she was being "attacked" over how strict she'd been back then.
The atmosphere in the car—a mix of emotion and laughter—was the perfect distraction from Kiki's nerves, which intensified as the station sign began to appear in the distance.
As soon as they arrived, Kiki immediately searched for Bara among the huge morning crowd—the rush of new college students heading out had packed the station.
She found Bara standing near the north entrance, exactly where he'd said he'd be, with a large backpack and a blue suitcase beside him. He was looking around for Kiki among the crowd.
"BARA!" Kiki waved and half-jogged toward him.
Bara turned around, his face lighting up the moment he spotted Kiki. "Ki! I thought you really were getting all dressed up first—" he joked, but the sentence stopped when he saw her face up close, clearly holding back tears.
"Were you crying?" Bara asked, his voice turning gentle as he softly wiped her cheek.
"No," Kiki denied quickly, even though her eyes were obviously glistening.
"Ki." Bara gently pulled her into his arms in the middle of the crowded station, which didn't care in the slightest about two teenagers trying to hold back their feelings. "It's okay if you want to cry. I've actually been really nervous since last night, too," Bara admitted.
Kiki's parents stood a little distance away to give them space, exchanging a glance and a small smile as they watched the moment—remembering themselves when they were young and facing a similar separation, though with someone else.
"You brought a power bank, right? A charger? Cold medicine?" Kiki slipped back into her old habit, checking Bara's bag item by item, even opening the front pocket of his backpack this time.
"Ki, I'm a band kid who goes out of town for competitions all the time. I can pack for myself." Bara laughed, but he stayed still and let Kiki inspect his bag like a customs officer.
"Please take this." Kiki held out a small box filled with medicine—acetaminophen, antacids, bandages, eucalyptus oil—that she'd prepared especially the night before. "When you're living alone in your boarding room, you'll definitely be too lazy to buy medicine until things get bad enough that you finally look for some," she said, a little annoyed.
"Ki, this is more complete than the first-aid kit in our school nurse's office." Bara grinned, but he accepted the box carefully, aware that it was Kiki's way of showing affection when she couldn't say it outright.
"I just... don't feel right leaving you without making sure everything's taken care of." Kiki finally stopped rambling, her voice growing heavy as the nerves she'd been hiding behind all that fussing began to show.
Bara took both of Kiki's hands and looked into her eyes. "Ki, we've talked about this so many times. This isn't goodbye. It's just... temporary distance, so both of us can chase what we want. We'll come back to each other somehow," Bara said, reassuring her.
"I know." Kiki nodded, trying to smile, but her eyes were already glistening. "It's just... this is the first time we'll really be far apart. We won't be able to see each other every day like we used to in class," she whined softly.
An announcement for Bara's train came over the loudspeaker, naming the platform and announcing that departure was only fifteen minutes away.
Bara sighed and held Kiki tightly for a long moment, as if he wanted to save as much of that warmth as possible to take with him to Yogyakarta.
"I'm going first, okay?" he said softly in Kiki's ear. "Video call tonight?" he asked.
"Definitely." Kiki nodded and let go of him, even though it was hard.
Bara walked backward for a few steps, waving, before finally turning around and heading toward the platform. Kiki stood there, holding herself back from crying in public—until she realized something that almost made her laugh in the middle of her sadness.
"BARA! YOU LEFT YOUR SUITCASE!" Kiki shouted, pointing at the blue suitcase still sitting beside her.
Bara, who had already walked quite a distance, immediately turned around, his face panicked, and jogged back toward Kiki as several people around the station shouted and laughed at the little drama unfolding.
"OH MY GOD, I ALMOST WENT TO JOGJA WITHOUT A CHANGE OF CLOTHES!" Bara panted as he grabbed his suitcase, while Kiki was already laughing hard enough to forget how sad she'd been.
"Good thing I was still sane enough to notice," Kiki said, still giggling.
"Ki." Bara paused before leaving for real this time. He gave Kiki a quick kiss on the forehead—brief, but enough to turn her cheeks red in the middle of the busy station.
"Thanks for always taking care of me, right up to the very last second like this. See you again, okay?" he said softly, his voice beginning to grow hoarse.
This time, he really left, and Kiki stood alone, one hand still pressed to her chest as her heart pounded with sadness, amusement, and flustered affection all at once—a combination of feelings she realized would become her constant companion throughout college.
Twenty minutes later, Kiki's train was announced.
Dad helped carry her suitcase toward the platform, while Mom hugged Kiki tightly before the train doors closed.
"Take good care of yourself, Ki. Keep me updated," Mom said, tears beginning to well in her eyes too, even as she tried to look strong.
"I promise, Mom." Kiki hugged her back tightly before finally boarding the train and taking a window seat.
As the train began moving slowly away from the station, Kiki watched her parents waving from the platform, growing smaller and smaller until they disappeared completely as the train left the station grounds.
She rested her head against the window, watching the cityscape give way to rice fields and hills. Her phone vibrated in her hand—a message from Bara, who was already on the train to Yogyakarta.
"Ki, I'm on the train already. It's a long trip—eight hours. How about you? Have you left yet?" Bara asked.
Kiki smiled faintly as she typed her reply. "We just started moving. Looks like we're both going to be bored on our respective trains for the next few hours."
"Want to video call once we're farther from the city, so the signal's more stable?" Bara asked.
"Okay. Be careful on the way, Bara."
"You too, Ki. See you in Bandung, whenever that is. I already miss you."
Kiki read the message over and over, the smile never leaving her face, even as loneliness began to creep into her heart—a feeling she knew would be part of her life for quite some time, until one day they managed to return to the same city.