growing up, not being socially opened to people around you highkey sucks. the loud, cheerful and friendly me was far long trapped in a cage, in which i never realised it was even there at the first place. the key of the lock was never found, or in my personal opinion, it was never meant to open up the abandoned cage built somewhere in my lone heart.
i almost thought the key was never even created. as if, i am already destinied to be just the way i am, the way how the world sees me as that introvert-silent girl who people thought, "nevermind, she's doing fine by herself." when the truth is, i am not.
and that was when God created Kai. that was when the book introduced him as the new character, moreover, he was not just any character. he was the main one, the one who outshined the most amongst all, including me, myself.
Kai is an extraordinary boy, whom i might say, he is a little bit unique. the way how he sees the world is different, plus he is very positive in every kind of siuation— let it be neither the worst nor the best.
Kai is my best friend, if you're wondering. the only one, and will always be.
TUK!
as i was crying for the nth time today, over how the world had been so cruel to me for the past days, the window beside my bed was thrown with some little rocks. it shocked me, although it was all seemed so familiar. the way how i memorised the sound of the rocks hitting, to the way how i knew who it was behind it. i knew, and i was always aware.
slightly wiping my dried tears, i rushed to open up the window. my eyes were now sewed to a boy standing, smiling ever so beautifully to me with his red and soft lips. how can a boy, a literal boy, be so beautiful? i wonder. he is even prettier than me.
"Sophia!" he exclaimed. i squinted my eyes to look at him clearly. without my sunglasess, i honestly couldn't see anything. but his smile and eyes shone the most, brighter than the street lamp, even far brighter than the city lights around us.
"why are you here?" i asked, expecting a different answer that will come out from that non-stop blabbering mouth of his.
Kai grinned again, before he skillfully climbed the big tree right beside my room. i widened my eyes in horror, i was supposed to be used of this sight. but Kai, he was literally fearless. he fears nothing, but the God, he once said.
"hello." he said, eyes glimmering with adoration as he hugged one of the biggest branch on the tree. his bangs were covering almost quarter of his forehead, yet he still looked good in his mullet-styled hair.
"hi. what are you doing here?" i questioned again, hoping for an answer this time.
he laughed.
"serious banget mba, jangan gitu dong! takut nih, aku. santai aja dong." he spoke, showing off his fluent Indonesian accent. i knitted my eyebrows in confusion.
"what?"
"what what terus, kamu kenapaaaa?" he replied. i scratched my hair awkwardly.
"i told you not to use your own language when talking to me, Kai. i don't understand. aku.. nggak? nggak is it? aku nggak..nger..ngerti. yeah. aku nggak ngerti." i said, trying to recall back those words i used to hear from him. being friends with someone who was a different nationality from you was lowkey hard. but that's okay. i am willing to learn everything for the sake of our precious friendship.
"widdih, udah jago Indonesia nih gais." he mocked, letting out a soft chuckle.
"Kai." i sterned my voice, signalling him that i was serious.
"nggak mauuu~" he sang, making me sighed in disbelief.
"don't you pity me?i have to memorise thousands of Indonesian words just to talk to you!" i said. Kai just stared at me with his sleepy eyes, his chin was on top of his right hand.
"exactly. and that technically means, the more we'll be talking, the longer we're gonna last, and the better you are in my language." he replied, and i was literally too stunned to speak. his English never failed to amaze me, especially when it came from a 16 year old boy like him. his voice. it was attractive.
"aku tuh, cuma mau ngomong sama kamu. cuma mau bersama dengan kamu lebih lama. cuma mahu menghabiskan saki baki hidup bersama dengan orang kedua yang paling cantik setelah bundaku." he continued. and amongst all of his non-understandable words, i only knew one.
cantik.
"hey. i knew that one." i interrupted.
"cantik. that means...beautiful, right?" i asked for confirmation. he raised his brow at me.
"masa sih? it's not."
"it is!" i argued. i turned around, grabbed my diary as i flipped into a few pages. until i stumbled into a full note of Indonesian Words that i have been searching for future purpose, i stopped. i carefully examined the word cantik, and showed it to him.
"see," i proudly spoke. "im right."
"the meaning is wrong." he bluntly said, as he grabbed the diary from my hand and took out a random pen from the back of his pocket.
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i read what he wrote, and my cheeks instantly gone red.
"kamu. the definition of cantik is you, Sophia."
"apasih." i blabbed out the word—one of the things i used to hear from him too. Kai widened his eyes.
"oh, udah jago ya kamu?" he mocked.
"what is jago?"
"me."
"pretty sure that means crazy." i joked.
"yahh parah dah lu, udah berani ya manggil gue gila. but that's pretty true, to be honest."
i laughed, a sincere laugh just escaped from my lips after all of those tiring crying session. i don't know why, but after meeting Kai tonight, it felt like all of my worries and problems had suddenly gone to drain. dissapear within the thin air.
"Sophia! why aren't you asleep yet!" my mother exclaimed from her room, and i started to panic. biting my nails, i hurriedly asked Kai to climb down and walk back to his home.
"Kai! go back home!" i shushed.
"yikes, the big boss sounds kinda salty tonight." he said with a joking grin, and i did not have the time to even laugh at his lame joke right now.
"down!" i ushered. Kai smirked lazily as he nodded his head.
"yes, princess. goodnight! see you tommorow..., cantik." he winked, before he quickly climbed back down and ran his way to his house.
my cheeks felt hot again, and a secret smile suddenly grew on my face.
