Bima was still standing there, staring at Farel with feelings he couldn't explain. Too many questions surfaced in his mind at once. Until now, he had held on to a single belief: Arga had left because of circumstances Bima couldn't understand. But now, someone had appeared claiming that Arga's departure hadn't been a simple decision.
Dika stood beside Bima, his face filled with suspicion.
“If you really knew Arga, prove it.”
Farel looked at Dika.
“Why should I have to prove it?”
“Because you suddenly show up, you know about this box, you know about Arga, and you're telling us to leave. That's suspicious.”
Rani nodded slowly.
“Dika's right. We can't just trust you right away.”
Farel fell silent.
Bima watched the man's face. There was something in Farel's eyes that made Bima feel he wasn't someone who wanted to hurt them. But Bima couldn't trust him right away, either.
“If you really know something about Arga, tell me.”
Farel looked at Bima.
“I know you want to open that box.”
Bima tightened his grip on the small box.
“I do.”
“But before you do, there's something you need to know.”
“What?”
“Arga never forgot you.”
Those words left Bima speechless.
Farel continued.
“All this time, he always carried something that reminded him of you.”
Bima stared blankly at Farel.
“Then why did he never contact me?”
Farel didn't answer right away.
Because that question was the hardest thing to explain, too.
“Because he couldn't.”
Bima frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Farel took a breath.
“There was a reason Arga chose to leave without saying anything.”
“What reason?”
“I can't explain it here.”
Dika immediately grew irritated.
“Why does everyone always talk in half-truths?”
Farel looked at Dika.
“Because some things can't be explained in just a few sentences.”
“Then how are we supposed to know you're not lying?”
Farel pulled something from his jacket pocket.
A small fabric bracelet.
Bima froze when he saw it.
The bracelet was black and blue.
He recognized it.
“That…”
Farel handed the bracelet to Bima.
“Arga made it for you.”
Bima accepted it with trembling hands.
Back when they were children, Bima and Arga had made friendship bracelets from thread they bought at a store near school. Bima's bracelet had been lost while they were playing in the river.
Bima had never expected to see it again.
“How did you get it?”
Farel looked toward the river.
“Arga gave it to me before he left.”
Bima stared at the bracelet for a long time.
“Why did he give it to you?”
“He said that if you ever found the truth, this bracelet had to be returned to you.”
Silence fell.
No one spoke for several moments.
Bima slipped the bracelet onto his wrist.
It felt like returning to the past.
A time when everything was still simple.
A time when their promise was only about playing together and never forgetting each other.
“Open the box.”
Farel's voice brought Bima back to himself.
Dika and Rani looked toward the small box.
Bima sat down on a wooden bench.
Slowly, he opened the box's latch.
Inside were several items.
An old watch.
Several small photographs.
And a notebook.
Bima picked up the notebook.
Its cover was worn.
His name was written on the front.
Bima.
His breathing grew heavy.
“He made this notebook for me?”
Farel nodded.
“Read the first page.”
Bima opened the notebook.
Arga's handwriting immediately came into view.
“Bima, if you're reading this, it means I failed to tell you everything in person.”
Bima held his breath.
“I'm sorry I left without explaining anything. I know you might be angry. I know you might feel that I betrayed our promise.”
Tears began to well in Bima's eyes.
“But I want you to know that I never chose to leave you.”
Bima turned to the next page.
“A lot changed after that incident. I had to leave because I didn't want you to get caught up in the trouble.”
Bima stopped.
Trouble?
What trouble was Arga talking about?
He read on.
“I know that someday you'll look for answers. Because you're the Bima I know. You always want to see something through to the end.”
Bima smiled faintly through his sadness.
It was true.
Arga had always said Bima was too stubborn.
“If you've made it this far, it means you've met Farel.”
Bima immediately looked toward Farel.
“He's someone you can trust.”
Dika and Rani exchanged glances.
Bima continued reading.
“I know you may be wondering why I never told you about Farel. The answer is that I wanted to protect you back then.”
Bima turned the page.
But the next page was blank.
“Why does it stop here?”
Farel walked closer.
“Because the rest is somewhere else.”
Bima looked at him.
“Somewhere else?”
Farel nodded.
“Arga made the story in separate parts.”
“Why?”
“Because he was afraid that if the wrong person found one part, everything would end badly.”
Dika sighed.
“So now we have to find the next part?”
Farel nodded.
“Yeah.”
Rani looked at the notebook.
“Where's the next part?”
Farel looked at Bima.
“At Arga's old house.”
Bima fell silent.
Arga's old house.
He hadn't been there in a long time.
After Arga left, his family moved away. The house stood empty for several years before it was eventually sold.
“Is the house still there?”
Farel nodded.
“It is.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I've been back there.”
Bima closed the notebook.
“I want to go there.”
Dika immediately stood up.
“We're coming with you.”
Rani nodded as well.
Farel looked hesitant.
“Are you sure?”
Bima looked at his two friends.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Bima gave a faint smile.
“Because I once promised I wouldn't leave Arga.”
He looked at the bracelet on his wrist.
“And now I want to know what really happened.”
They finally left the old city park as the sun began to set.
But without realizing it, someone was watching them from a distance.
Someone who had been listening to their entire conversation.
That person took out a phone and called someone.
“They found the box.”
The voice on the other end sounded cold.
“Has Bima read what's inside?”
“Not all of it.”
“Good.”
“What if he finds the last part?”
There was a pause of several seconds.
Then the voice replied,
“If Bima discovers the truth, everything will change.”
The person ended the call.
Meanwhile, Bima walked with Dika, Rani, and Farel toward the park exit.
He didn't yet know what awaited him at Arga's old house.
He also didn't know that the promise he'd always thought was simple concealed a great secret.
A secret that had been hidden from him for years.