Karin's days were now consumed by preparations for the school's anniversary celebration, which would be held the following week. Her relationship with Mada had returned to the way it was before, with Mada still staying with his girlfriend, whose name Karin knew was Sila. Karin tried to bury her feelings at the time—or, more accurately, she was busy with student council activities and all the assignments from her teachers.
"Rin, can I ask you for a favor?" Theo, the head of Karin's student council, asked just after they finished a meeting to discuss the progress of their school anniversary celebration.
"What is it?" Karin replied as she gathered her things and prepared to go home.
"The student council officers from tenth grade are going to be chosen soon, so I'm appointing you head of the recruitment committee, okay?" Theo said confidently.
Karin fell silent.
"What?! Are you sure you want to appoint me?" Karin asked, because she really hadn't been very devoted to her student council duties. She had only joined last year's recruitment because every class was required to have at least one student council officer, and none of her friends wanted to do it.
"Yeah. You can do it with Cinta later," Theo said, trying to reassure Karin.
"When's the event?" Karin asked.
"A month after the school arts festival," Theo replied.
"I don't really understand this kind of thing. It's okay if I ask you questions later, right?" Karin asked once more.
"Yeah, relax. It's no big deal," Theo replied, giving her a thumbs-up.
Karin's appointment as head of the student council recruitment committee was officially announced the day after Theo personally asked her. The committee lineup was formed as well.
"Whoa, so you're the committee chair now," Jidan said as they walked toward the school gate.
"This is crazy. At first I didn't even want to join the student council, and now I'm acting all busy like this," Karin complained.
"Hahaha, want to get some hot chocolate first? At our usual place?" Jidan offered.
Hearing that, Karin checked the time on her phone. It was four in the afternoon.
"Sure. Then take me home afterward, okay?" Karin asked.
"Yeah, easy," Jidan replied.
They headed to the usual café, which sold its signature hot chocolate. They talked about whatever came to mind and didn't realize it was already five. Jidan took Karin home on his motorcycle.
That night, Karin was unusually busy preparing a proposal document for the student council advisor about the officer recruitment process. In the middle of it, a call came in on her phone.
'Mada'
"Hello, peace be upon you. What's up?" Karin said without any preamble.
"Whoa, straight to the point, huh?" Mada replied from the other end.
"I'm so stressed," Karin whined.
"Why?" Mada asked.
"I'm the committee chair now. This is crazy."
They chatted about all kinds of things, from Karin suddenly being made head of the committee to a rising star who was currently making headlines because of an affair. Before they knew it, it was 9:00 p.m., and Karin decided to go to sleep first because she would be waking up at 3:00 a.m. to study. Mada already knew about this particular habit of Karin's. He would even get up and keep her company while she studied, studying himself at the same time.
At 3:00 a.m., Karin's alarm went off. She got up, went to the bathroom, and then studied. Today, besides studying, she also continued an assignment for one of her vocational subjects, which required her to print out the legal foundations related to office administration. Karin was a vocational high school student majoring in Office Administration, so she had been studying every aspect of office work since tenth grade. While she was absorbed in her studies, Mada called her.
"Hello, why are you calling?" Karin asked in a whisper.
"I forgot to print the legal foundations. When are they due again? This afternoon?" Mada asked.
"Yeah, this afternoon. Want me to print yours? I'm printing mine right now, too," Karin offered.
Although they weren't from a wealthy family, Karin's parents always gave Karin and her older sibling everything they could. One example was the printer they had provided for her to use in her room.
"Really? I'll pay you back for the cost later," Mada said.
"Yeah, it's fine. I've got it. I'm going to study now."
"Okay, thanks."
After the call, Karin felt like her life had returned to normal. She no longer thought about her heart because she was busy being a vocational high school student and a student council officer.