~?~

  The sound of the arm clock echoed loudly in the room, waking up a girl who was lying on her back under a thick bnket. Slowly, she opened her eyelids and adjusted her vision to the reflected light.

  Shifting her body to lean against the headboard of the bed, she turned to the side of the bed, noticing her brother who seemed to be fast asleep sitting in a chair, despite the loud arm sound.

  She turned off the arm clock and intended to wake her brother up, but froze when she saw the book she hadn’t finished reading now in her brother’s hand.

  The book was open, showing a row of paragraph texts. She thought her brother must have fallen asleep while reading. Considering her brother never wanted to read the books she gave him, the girl couldn’t imagine what his expression was like while reading. She couldn’t hold back her ughter.

  Hearing someone ugh, Arven slowly opened his eyes, revealing the color of his eyes that were clear and gleaming from the sunlight. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to the sunlight.

  The first thing Arven saw was his sister ughing. He got up from his seat, not forgetting to pce the book he was holding back on the nightstand.

  "Why are you ughing?" asked Arven as he reached out his hand, the back of his hand touching his sister’s forehead.

  Getting a question from her brother, the girl stopped ughing and replied with a smile. “No, it’s nothing.”

  Arven sighed and shifted the question, “Do you still feel anything? Like a headache?”

  The girl shook her head as her answer. However, Arven, who didn’t believe her, threw different questions at his sister. Even to the point of wanting to take her to the hospital to make sure she had fully recovered.

  The girl looked up, meeting her brother’s gaze, and then said, “Brother, I’m fine now. And you should know, it’s thanks to you who took care of me all night. So don’t worry, okay?”

  Arven fell silent after hearing his sister’s words. “But—”

  Arven’s words were interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing. He took the rectangur device from his pants pocket. The screen dispyed a contact name—none other than Arven’s boss. He was stunned for a moment before sliding the green button.

  Once the call connected, Arven immediately heard his boss’s scolding voice. He kept apologizing until his boss’s anger subsided and ordered him to come quickly to the office.

  “Yes, I’ll be there as soon as possible. Once again, I’m sorry.”

  The phone call ended, he sighed, and Arven’s fingers were seen typing a message to someone before putting the phone back into his pants pocket. He looked at his sister again. “If you say so, then I give up. But remember to rest enough, and I already called Bi Siti to come over. If you’re hungry, ask her.”

  Bi Siti is the housemaid Arven only calls when necessary, like now. He had already sent a message to Bi Siti after his call with the boss ended.

  The girl who heard her brother’s words nodded as a sign of understanding.

  “Aye, captain!” said the girl, her hand posed in a salute.

  Arven smiled at his sister’s behavior. He then gently patted her head and walked out of her room.

  ---

  The name of Arven’s sister is Vio Ayunda. She is a teenage girl still attending high school. She had been through many life situations with her brother, through hard and joyful times, always together. Now that Arven had reached the peak of his career, she felt proud of his achievements, seeing how hard he worked for her.

  Vio still remembered the first impression when their parents separated. She was sad because happiness no longer had meaning for her. But her thoughts were wrong; happiness still existed—and it was her brother. Vio had been cared for and looked after well by her brother. She considered her brother as a wingless angel.

  Vio sighed once again. She was now in the living room, sitting on the couch while eating porridge made by Bi Siti. The maid arrived shortly after being contacted, since the distance between Arven’s house and Bi Siti’s was not too far. Vio herself opened the front gate when Bi Siti arrived.

  Even though the porridge she was eating tasted delicious, for some reason, she suddenly felt anxious and overwhelmed. As if something was going to happen, but she didn’t know what. Watching the TV show airing couldn’t change her feelings. Vio looked at the wall clock, and the hands showed six thirty-five in the morning.

  Because today was Saturday, she had the day off, but her brother didn’t. Arven only had time off on Sundays and public holidays, which was why he was rarely at home. Vio, hearing the sound of footsteps, turned her attention toward the source of the sound.

  As she saw him, she observed her brother, already neat, with jet bck hair combed to the side, wearing a white shirt, a long-sleeved bck bzer, a diagonally striped tie, and bck trousers. Not to forget his shiny bck shoes and the bck bag in his hand.

  Arven smiled at his sister. He walked closer and then said, “I’m leaving now. Take good care of yourself at home. Don’t forget to take your medicine, get enough rest, and don’t overexert yourself. Got it?”

  Vio was still sitting upright, her usually cheerful face now looked tense. Her lips slightly trembled as she tried to speak. But Arven didn’t notice the change in her demeanor.

  “Got it… but—” Vio tried to say something to her brother, but her words were quickly cut off by Arven’s firm tone.

  “No more buts. Listen to what I said, it’s for your own good. That’s it, I’m off,” said Arven while gently ruffling Vio’s hair, then walked toward the outside of the house. Leaving Vio alone.

  Vio watched her brother’s departure with mixed feelings, full of something complicated that she wanted to say, but could only return to her meal.

  Outside the house, Arven’s steps suddenly halted when he saw a man standing firmly in his yard. Arven stared at the man with a frown.

  Meanwhile, the man also looked at Arven with a smile carved on his face. “Indeed, I’m not mistaken. You haven’t changed,” the man muttered in his heart.

  Arven, who already felt the man standing in his yard was not a stranger, decided to ignore him and walked past. But just a few steps in, a powerful force suddenly grabbed his wrist.

  -To be continued.