"Such a pain, right? Suddenly there's road maintenance so we have to take this detour just to get home."
That afternoon, Kala was walking home with Kyungmin. He remained quiet, not responding to his friend who had been grumbling nonstop, venting all his annoyance.
Kala's thoughts drifted back to what had happened in the cafeteria earlier. He still found it strange how Gantha suspected him of defending Lyo, yet he was also the one who indirectly convinced the Kaze members to take on Lyo's case in the first place.
Without realizing it, their path was briefly blocked by several motorcycles exiting the school parking area.
"Decelis Academy."
Kala frowned at the signboard displaying the school's name.
"What's wrong?" Kyungmin asked.
"I don't remember the alternate road to my house passing by this school," Kala said.
"Oh, I thought it was something serious," Kyungmin replied.
Kala watched a group of teenagers walking out of the school together. A strange feeling rose in his chest—sudden and inexplicable—and he couldn't quite understand what it meant.
"That's the guy I saw back at the café, isn't it?" he thought.
His eyes followed one of them: a boy with a nametag that read Rahesa Adinarta. He remembered their brief encounter at the café. He had forgotten his book and it ended up getting stepped on by Kala, though he returned shortly after to search for it.
"How did I not realize he looks like Lyo…"
~~~~~~~~
Kala sat alone in a coffee shop inside the mall, waiting for the rest of his friends since he'd arrived first.
While sipping his coffee, he watched other visitors pass by.
"They're taking forever. Should I just look around downstairs? Or should I go buy the stuff I need first?"
After thinking for a moment, he decided to go to the supermarket on the lower floor.
"Whatever, I'll just tell them to meet me there."
Kala walked out of the coffee shop toward the elevator.
"Something feels off."
He didn't know what kind of strange feeling was creeping into his chest, but he ignored it and continued toward the elevator. He pressed the button.
"Hope it doesn't take long."
While waiting, he unlocked his phone to send a message to his friends, but before he could finish typing—
Brukkk—
Kala staggered as the ground beneath his shook, accompanied by a loud and heavy impact.
"W-What was that?"
He froze in place, eyes shifting toward the elevator screen. It had stopped on the 4th floor and no longer moved.
"Are you okay?"
A security guard hurried toward him, concern visible on his face as he saw him standing stiffly in front of the elevator.
"I-I'm fine… what happened just now?" Kala asked.
The guard looked uneasy. Instead of answering, he simply instructed him to leave the area and use the escalator if he wanted to go to another floor.
"Sorry for the inconvenience," he added.
"O-oh… okay."
Kala stepped onto the escalator. As he descended, he glanced at the large glass window beside it, meant to beautify the building.
"An ambulance? Was the elevator accident that bad?"
Since the guard hadn't answered him earlier, he figured there must have been an accident. Him first thought was that the elevator had fallen.
Upon reaching the lower floor, Kala saw people rushing toward the elevator area, some crying, others panicking as staff attempted to evacuate.
Kala watched the scene, confused.
"I heard several people died, and the elevator door still won't open."
"So it really was that serious…"
He turned and found Melvin standing right next to him.
"You're here already?" Kala asked.
"Yeah. I was looking at stuff on the 4th floor when I heard the crash, and the security told everyone to take the escalator."
"How do you know about the victims?" Kala asked.
"I didn't come straight down here. I went near the area first before the crowd got too big. Someone survived and was yelling from inside the elevator… said several people were crushed by the elevator ceiling. When they checked, some of them weren't breathing." Melvin explained.
Kala nodded slowly, absorbing the information.
"What about you?" Melvin asked.
"I was at the coffee shop, then I was about to go down using the elevator. Not long after, I heard the crash. I also saw an ambulance outside, so I figured something was wrong," he said.
"Yeah… let's not talk about it. It feels unsettling," Melvin muttered.
"Yeah."
They both walked into the supermarket.
Some time passed before Kala and his other friends finally met up there. They shopped for supplies together until evening crept in.
"Hey, before we go home, let's watch a movie," Melvin suggested.
"What movie?" Hasta asked.
"Horror," Dion said.
"Bro, it's already late and you want to die?" Yoga retorted.
"You're such a coward," Melvin teased.
"Come on, let's watch something short," Yoga said.
They headed to the cinema area. But when they tried to buy tickets, the horror movie they wanted was already sold out.
"Change of plans, guys. It's sold out," Dion sighed.
"Final Destination," Yoga suggested.
Yoan, who had been quiet, smacked the back of his friend's head.
"You looking for death? We literally just had an elevator fall incident," Yoan scolded.
"Hehe, forgot," Yoga chuckled awkwardly.
"Let's watch Jigsaw," Melvin said.
"You psycho," Dion muttered.
Gantha stepped forward to buy tickets. "tickets for Fast & Furious, please."
No one complained—based on the display, it looked like the most exciting movie left to watch.
After paying, they entered the theater.
It was fairly empty—maybe only half the seats were filled.
"Dang, we can't sit together," Dion said.
"Well duh, the clerk already showed us while buying the tickets," Yoan replied.
"Three seats in Section F, and the rest in Section G," Gantha said.
"I'll sit in the back," Kala said.
"Me too," Gantha added.
"You're just following me, huh?" Kala teased.
"Keep dreaming," Gantha huffed.
"Stop flirting, idiots," Yoga grumbled.
Yoan shot Yoga a side-eye. "Ew."
"I'm in Section G too," Yoan said.
"Same," Melvin added.
"Okay, so me, Yoga, and Hasta in Section F," Dion concluded.
"Got it," Kala said.
They took their seats. Soon after, the lights dimmed and the movie started.
Everyone seemed engrossed. In the middle of the film, Kala glanced at his friends in the row in front of him.
"Asta?"
He noticed Hasta sitting on the very end seat—and someone else seated beside him. Someone who looked exactly like him.
"As far as I remember, Asta doesn't have a twin."
The figure looked entirely real. It even turned its head slightly toward Hasta, who seemed unaware of it.
"Kala—"
Gantha noticed that Kala wasn't watching the screen but staring at the row ahead, so he nudged him.
"N-nothing," Kala whispered, tearing him gaze away.
"What's wrong?" Melvin asked.
Kala realized the two others were also glancing back at him with worry.
"N-no, I'm just sleepy. Probably hallucinating, yeah…"
Melvin seemed relieved, but the other two still looked suspicious.
"Yoan and Gantha… they're impossible to fool," Kala thought.
He looked back at the screen. The seat next to Hasta was now empty. Gantha elbowed him again.
"Your eyes were trembling. And you sounded nervous," he whispered.
"Shut up," Kala muttered, giving him a deadpan look.
"At least lie properly," Gantha said.
Kala just stared at him, refusing to argue.
"Hey… was the seat next to Asta empty earlier?" he whispered.
"Yeah. What did you see?" he asked.
Kala smirked mischievously. "Don't be nosy."
Gantha scowled. "Bastard. Freaking haunted doll."
Kala silently laughed at his grumbling.