Chapter 18

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When Petir looked to his right, he was no less than shocked. His expression gave him away, but it was more than surprise. It was fear.

"Petir?" Cahaya could barely hear his own voice. The streets were almost vacant, many preferring to stay inside after the amok. "Is that you?"

Petir's lips trembled, as if he was seeing something that he could only see in his dreams.

"Cahaya?"

It was like Cahaya's world crumpled to pieces. Mindlessly, he walked over to his missing rival, except he was no longer missing.

He was standing right in front of him, alive and well, in the flesh.

"Why..." Cahaya gripped Petir's collar. He recognized from the fabric that it was their uniform. "Why did you just disappear?"

Petir stared at him, as if still incapable of processing anything else, other than the image that stood before him at this very moment.

"Why are you here?" he said breathlessly, more of a whisper.

"Why am I here?" Cahaya repeated, looking up to him. There were tears in his eyes. "I was looking for you! For months! You never contacted me for months!" Cahaya looked down, glaring at his own shoes. "Where were you?"

"I..." Petir muttered, though he never finished the sentence. "Why are you here, Cahaya? Just to look for me?"

"What else?" he lashed. "You just disappeared one day. You left and never came back. And you didn't even bother to tell me. Of course I'm going to look for you!"

Petir avoided his gaze. "That's..." he whispered. "That's not a good idea, Cahaya."

"WHY?"

Petir looked taken aback by his sudden outburst, but he bit his lip.

"SO YOU'RE JUST GOING TO LEAVE ME AGAIN?" he screamed. "LIKE HOW YOU LEFT CELESTIUM ACADEMY? DO I MEAN NOTHING TO YOU?"

"Cahaya-"

"What are you playing at?" Cahaya snapped, letting go of Petir's clothes. "Why are you so secretive? Do you think I'm going to hurt you?"

Petir bit his lip. He accepted Cahaya's berating quietly, but he was not going to go with his words unsaid.

"Why are you here," Petir rephrased, "in this place? Celestium Academy is hundreds of miles away, and you live in a dorm."

"What school do you go to?" Cahaya demanded, all depressing tones gone. He glared at the teen, a spark of his annoying self returning. "Didn't you see me? I went to all the schools around here! It's impossible not to see me!"

Petir glared back. "Sorry. I have a condition where I turn blind when I see idiots."

"What the hell did you call me?!"

"Did I say who?! HUH?!"

"YOU LITTLE PIECE OF-"

Both of them burst out into laughter, holding onto each other for support. Though they were laughing, there were tears in their eyes, their bodies finally relaxed after such a tense period of time.

It was as if they hadn't laughed for years; that when the other was gone, the emotion was robbed of them, like half of their souls had disappeared without a trace. Two years of resentment, hollowness and loneliness was chased away, all by a single touch.

If only this moment could last forever, but it can't.

So when Petir left, Cahaya couldn't help but feel sorrow, but have a sliver of hope.

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