By the time the last lantern strings were taken down, the school felt like it had exhaled. The festival was over, the courtyard was back to its ordinary, and everyone moved more slowly than usual, drained from the days of chaos.
Arka was loud as always, chattering to anyone within earshot, dragging Bayu into card games during breaks, joking with teachers until they rolled their eyes. To most people, he looked like a storm of energy that never ran out.
But Rani noticed something else.
She and Lestari sat on the benches near the vending machines, sipping canned tea while watching Arka badger Bayu into another round of cards. Bayu only shook his head, unimpressed, though his lips threatened to curve.
Rani tilted her head. "Have you ever noticed? Arka only shows his quiet side around Bayu."
Lestari blinked. "Quiet side?"
"Yeah. He never shuts up with us," Rani said with a laugh. "But with Bayu, sometimes he just stops. Like he doesn't have to fill every silence."
Lestari followed her gaze, watching Arka laugh too loudly as he lost another round, then slump into the chair next to Bayu. There was something softer there, she realized, the way Arka leaned without thinking, the way Bayu let him.
"…That's true," Lestari murmured. She thought of Ubi—how she could be nervous with others, but with her, she didn't need to explain herself. The way her guard slipped without her even noticing.
Rani nudged her. "Exactly. It's like that. He trusts Bayu differently."
What neither of them realized was that Bayu, standing by the vending machine a moment later, overheard enough.
Not all the words. Just fragments: Arka… only quiet… trusts Bayu differently.
He paused, drink can cold in his hand. His chest felt heavier than he expected, a weight he couldn't quite name.
When he rejoined the group, Arka grinned up at him, already firing off another joke. Bayu sat down beside him like always, but the words Rani had said still echoed, unsettling in their simplicity.
Trusts me differently.