Sefti became more than just Zixo’s groupmate. She became the reason he came to campus early, even though it meant taking two different forms of public transportation and walking nearly a mile.
They worked on their assignment in the library. Sefti was used to opening her expensive laptop, while Zixo wrote his ideas on scrap paper. The difference should have made things awkward between them, but Sefti carefully kept every sheet of paper.
“I like the way you think,” she said.
Zixo lowered his head. “I just don’t have many tools.”
“Tools can be bought. The way you think can’t.”
Those words left Zixo silent for a long time. Back in his village, people often thought he dreamed too big. In Jakarta, for the first time, someone considered his thoughts valuable.
They finished the assignment with the highest grade. Professor Ratna praised Zixo’s thoroughness and Sefti’s courage in giving the presentation. After class, Sefti invited Zixo to eat, but he politely declined.
“I have to pick up my merchandise.”
“Then I’ll come with you.”
“Sefti, you don’t have to come along every time.”
“I know. That’s why I’m choosing to come.”
On the way, Sefti asked about Zixo’s home, his parents, and why he had chosen to attend college so far from his village. Zixo answered with a smile, though he kept some things to himself.
He didn’t tell her that his Dad had sold a goat to pay his first college tuition. He didn’t tell her that his Mom had patched his bag with scraps of cloth, either.
It wasn’t because he was ashamed. He simply wasn’t ready for Sefti to see how much every step he took had cost him.
That afternoon, while Zixo was lifting a box, a student named Dimas laughed.
“So now the merchant has a pretty bodyguard?”
Sefti shot him a sharp look. “At least he works. What do you do besides spend your parents’ money?”
Dimas fell silent. Zixo wanted to laugh, but he knew Sefti wasn’t defending him out of pity. She defended him because she couldn’t stand seeing injustice.
From that day on, they spent more and more time together. But their closeness had begun to attract other people’s attention—including a man who had never been rejected by anyone.