Rohid's eyes sparkled as he looked utterly impressed by the drink that had just slid down his throat.
Still a little doubtful, he took another sip of the tea from his small saucer. The moment it touched his tongue, that same delicious taste bloomed once again, convincing him that the drink was truly exquisite.
Only then did Rohid realize—he was drinking a perfectly made teh talua. Without thinking, he gave Faisal a thumbs-up.
"Wow, this teh talua is amazing, uncle!" he exclaimed with satisfaction.
"Hahaha, right?!" Faisal replied. Though it was phrased as a question, his tone brimmed with certainty.
Rohid's praise lit Faisal up even more. He felt proud that his words had been validated.
Meanwhile, two other customers sitting nearby couldn't help but take notice. At first, they were suspicious, assuming it was just a trick to get them to order. But after a moment's thought, they dismissed the idea. After all, they had tasted it before and knew they wouldn't be disappointed.
"Miss, one teh talua for me!"
"Same here!"
Both shouted toward Siti, who was inside the house just a short distance from the shop's yard.
In the middle of this lively scene, Randa suddenly appeared. He greeted his friends, including Rohid, then asked in surprise:
"What's going on? Why does this place sound so lively from afar?"
Faisal quickly explained, "Your mom made teh talua. It's super tasty because she used eggs from your chickens. If you don't believe me, try it yourself."
Randa immediately understood. With enthusiasm, he called into the house:
"Mom, make one for me too!"
"Alright!" his mother replied.
Randa and his friends nodded with anticipation.
Not long after, Siti came out carrying three glasses of teh talua. She served them neatly, and Randa, along with the other two friends, quickly grabbed their glasses.
Too eager to wait, they mimicked the gestures Faisal and Rohid had done earlier. Once the tea cooled a bit, the three slurped in unison. Their faces instantly lit up with delight.
"Mmm… this teh talua is even better than before. Looks like your skills keep improving, Mom!" Randa praised sincerely.
"Oh, stop it," his mother called back from inside, half-mocking but clearly pleased.
Faisal, hearing Randa's sweet talk, could only shake his head. Deep down, he wondered where the boy had learned such honeyed words. With a tongue like that, surely many girls would fall for him.
Randa, meanwhile, didn't care. He was so happy that he immediately snapped a photo of the teh talua and uploaded it to social media.
The caption read: "Special Teh Talua by Mom, made with eggs from our own farm!"
Corny or not, Randa couldn't care less. To him, only his friends would see it anyway.
After posting, he went back to enjoying the tea. He could really tell the taste had leveled up compared to before.
But just as he was sipping happily, his phone buzzed. Curious, Randa checked—and found that several friends had already commented.
Cheerfully, he replied to each one. Many of them wrote that they also wanted to try.
Seeing their excitement, Randa came up with an idea: he would send out testers via online delivery so his friends could have a taste. Naturally, they were thrilled by the idea.
...
In another living room, a man was watching TV with his chubby, cheerful daughter. The atmosphere was warm and harmonious… until a woman appeared, carrying a plate of jet-black sponge cake.
"Come on, Bella, try Mommy's cake. Daddy, you too," Caca said with a smile.
Bella, eyeing the cake, whispered softly to her father, "Uh… what is that? Why does it look so scary?"
Rizky was speechless, just as powerless. All of this, he thought, was Randa's fault.
It all started with Randa. At Randa's urging, Rizky began to worry that his wife might develop FOMO over extravagant things, like alpacas and expensive handbags.
As a result, whether intentionally or not, Rizky ended up nudging his wife into feeling FOMO about cooking—just as Randa had suggested.
Sure enough, only a few days later, Caca really did start feeling FOMO about cooking.
But the result was Caca becoming obsessed with trying every odd recipe she found in cooking videos.
Her normal cooking used to be decent enough. But ever since the FOMO hit, everything turned into a disaster.
Reluctantly, Rizky took a piece of the blackened cake. He chewed slowly, wincing from time to time, but still managed a smile and said, "It's good, honey."
Hearing the praise, Caca lit up and went back to the kitchen to clean up her mess. Rizky exhaled in relief.
Bella, meanwhile, stared at her cake nervously. She nibbled a tiny piece, then cautiously ate some more. Rizky felt sorry for his daughter—never knowing whether her mother's food would be edible or awful.
He knew the cause: Caca was hooked on bizarre cooking hacks. Sometimes they worked, but more often they failed—either from poor execution or flawed recipes in the first place. Rizky couldn't tell which.
Thinking of it all, Rizky couldn't help blaming Randa for planting the idea. Without that boy, his life would be much calmer.
Luckily, Rizky was clever enough to make a rule: Caca could only experiment with bananas from Randa's garden. That way, even if the dish turned strange, at least the sweetness of bananas would cover the flaws.
But with the banana stock running low, Rizky grew uneasy. He had no choice but to buy more from Randa, even at a high price.
Seeing how quickly he gave in, suspicion crossed his mind.
"Wait a minute… what if Randa deliberately made my wife FOMO so I'd keep buying his bananas?"
"Yes, that must be it! That boy's been cunning since day one!" Rizky thought with conviction.
Later, while scrolling social media, Rizky stumbled upon Randa's latest post. He clicked out of mild curiosity, just to see the teh talua.
At first, he wasn't interested. He'd tried teh talua before and didn't really like it, so naturally, it didn't appeal to him.
But then he noticed—the eggs in the drink were from Randa's own farm. Rizky paused. Could the taste be as good as the bananas Randa grew?
He thought for a moment before messaging Randa.
Rizky: Randa, because of you I'm in big trouble!
Randa: Huh…?
Rizky: You once said my wife was FOMO and told me to redirect her. Now, thanks to you, I've been suffering! You owe me compensation!
Randa: Wkwkwkwkwwk.
At home, Randa grinned at the message. He hadn't expected his advice to backfire this badly.
Randa: Alright, what kind of compensation do you want?
Rizky: I just saw your post. How about sending me one free teh talua?
Randa: Sure, I'll send it via delivery. I'll throw in some eggs too, so you can try making it yourself.
Randa chuckled after sending the reply. He had already planned to hand out free testers to his friends. This way, he killed two birds with one stone.
Meanwhile, Rizky couldn't hold back a smug grin. He felt he'd successfully taken advantage of Randa today. Excitedly, he waited for the delivery to arrive.
Both men thought they had scored a win, though in truth, no one knew who was really benefitting.
On the other hand, Bella found it odd watching her dad grin to himself. The little girl thought for a moment, then put down her chocolate cake in fear.
"This cake must be making Daddy sick. Teacher said we shouldn't eat just anything. Now Daddy's grinning alone… Teacher also said people who grin alone are crazy. Bella doesn't want to get sick like Daddy. Bella's not eating Mommy's cake anymore!" she whispered to herself.
Rizky noticed her muttering and asked, "What's wrong, Bella?"
Startled, Bella quickly denied it. "Nothing, Daddy. Nothing at all. This is all Mommy's cake—you eat it. Bella's full!"
Rizky hesitated but let it go. He went back to waiting for the delivery from Randa.
...
The next morning, Randa woke up early. He felt energized and strong, as if he were Superman.
"Wow, this must be the result of all my training! All that effort wasn't for nothing," he said happily.
He got ready to exercise, but first checked on his garden. After making sure everything was fine, Randa began his Prison Style Workout in the yard, using simple homemade equipment.
The workout left him exhausted and drenched in sweat, but oddly satisfied. Though his muscles ached, he relished the results. Finally, he stopped, rested for a bit, then went home for a shower.
Afterward, Siti had already prepared breakfast. While waiting for the food, Randa noticed his mother looked unusually radiant today.
"What's up, Mom? Did you get good news? You look so happy."
Siti froze for a moment, then smiled shyly. "Nothing, dear. I just feel happy, that's all."
Her vague answer made Randa curious, but he chose not to press further.
After breakfast, Randa prepared to rest a little before heading back to the garden.
As he lounged, he reached for his phone. The moment he unplugged it, he was startled—the phone had been vibrating nonstop. Quickly, he turned off silent mode and opened his messages.
What he saw shocked him:
Rizky: Randa, what drug did you put in those eggs?
Hengky: Randa, are you trying to trick me with narcotics?
Agung: Randa, I want to order more eggs!
Eren: Randa, where did you get this good stuff? Is it safe?
Andi: Bro, last night was insane!
Yusuf: Astagfirullah, Randa, what have you done?
The more he read, the deeper Randa frowned.
"What did I do? Why do these messages sound like I'm involved in something illegal?" he muttered.
He double-checked to make sure the phone was really his. Once certain, another suspicion crept in.
"Could my phone have been hacked? Or… what on earth is going on?"