Trust is strange. It takes years to build. But only one anonymous message to make you question everything.
I stood in front of Ruang Sela Café, staring out at the street. Keanu was nowhere to be seen. Raka had disappeared too. The only person left was Naya, walking quickly toward me from the convenience store.
“Keanu isn't picking up,” she said as soon as she reached me. “Why'd you give him that phone?”
Naya stopped. “We agreed he'd hold on to it.”
I knew. But fear made me want to blame someone.
I opened my chat with Keanu.
Me: Where are you?
Two check marks. Unread.
Me: Give the phone back.
Still unread.
Celine came out of the café carrying Raka's old phone. “This phone is completely dead.”
I took it from her. “I'll carry it.”
Celine held on for a moment longer. “Aluna.”
“What?”
“Raka never told me everything. But when he gave me this phone, he looked scared.”
I stared at her. “Scared of who?”
“That, I don't know.”
Of course. Everyone always knew half the story. And somehow, I was always the last person to find out the rest.
My phone rang. Keanu. I answered immediately.
“Where are you?”
There was no answer.
“Keanu?”
The sound of traffic came through the line. Then his voice emerged.
“Luna, are you still at Ruang Sela?”
“Yeah. Where's the black phone?”
“Answer me first. Who are you with?”
“Naya. Celine.”
Silence.
“Don't go home alone.”
I almost laughed. “You sound like Raka right now.”
“I'm serious.”
“So am I. Why'd you take that phone?”
“Because there's something inside it.”
Naya and I looked at each other.
“What?”
“I managed to unlock it.”
“How?”
“The password is six digits.”
“And?”
“170522.”
I froze.
May 17, 2022.
“That's not a coincidence,” Keanu said.
“What's on it?”
“Photos. Recordings. Screenshots.”
“Screenshots of what?”
Keanu was silent for too long.
“Your chat with Raka.”
My throat went dry.
“Our private chat?”
“Yeah.”
“Why is it on that phone?”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out.”
I pressed the phone closer to my ear.
“Keanu, come back here.”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because if I'm right, whoever owned this phone was at our school on May 17.”
“And the CCTV?”
Silence.
I stared at the street. “ You have CCTV footage from May 17, right?”
Keanu didn't answer.
The anonymous message had been telling the truth.
“Keanu.”
“I'll explain later.”
“Everyone says that!”
Several people turned to look. I didn't care.
“Raka said later. Celine said she didn't know. Now you're saying later too. I'm tired.”
“Luna—”
“Why do you have the CCTV?”
Keanu exhaled. “Because I was at the school that night.”
The world seemed to stop for a moment.
“What?”
Naya moved closer. I turned on speakerphone.
Keanu continued. “I got there around nine.”
“What for?”
“I wanted to grab my camera. I'd left it in the multimedia room.”
I tried to remember. May 17. The night Raka ended our relationship.
“Then what?”
“I saw Raka.”
“At the school?”
“Yeah.”
My heart pounded.
“What time?”
“Around ten.”
I immediately pulled up our old chat. 10:19 p.m. The breakup message had come in at 10:19 p.m.
“Was he alone?”
“No.”
I tightened my grip on the phone.
“Who was he with?”
“I didn't see their face.”
“Keanu.”
“They were wearing a hoodie. I only saw them from a distance.”
The photo Keanu had sent earlier flashed through my mind. A gray hoodie.
“And the CCTV?”
“I came back the next day because I realized my camera had still been recording when I passed the security room. The school's CCTV monitor happened to be visible in the background.”
I furrowed my brow. “So you don't have a CCTV file?”
“No. I have video from my own camera. The school's CCTV monitor just happened to be captured.”
“Why didn't you ever say anything?”
“Because I didn't know it was important back then.”
“And now?”
Keanu didn't answer right away.
“Now I know.”
I heard a door open.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“Home.”
“I'm coming over.”
“Don't.”
“Too late.”
I ended the call.
Twenty-five minutes later, Naya and I were standing in Keanu's bedroom. Celine had already gone home. Keanu sat in front of his laptop. The black phone was connected by a cable.
“What did you find?” I asked.
Keanu turned the laptop toward us. A folder was open.
There were dozens of files. Some were named with dates. Others were just numbers.
One folder sent a chill through me.
ALUNA.
“Open it.”
Keanu did.
Photos of me appeared. At school. At the café. At the bus stop. In front of my house.
Some of the photos had even been taken before Raka and I broke up.
Naya covered her mouth. “This is straight-up stalking.”
I didn't answer.
Keanu opened another folder.
1705.
There were three audio files. Two photos. One screenshot.
The first photo showed Raka entering the old school building at 9:47 p.m. The second showed someone following him a few minutes later.
A gray hoodie.
Their face wasn't visible.
“Play the audio,” I said.
Keanu selected the first file.
A voice I already knew came through.
I can't do this.
The recording sent by the anonymous account.
“The second one.”
Click.
Static.
Then Raka's voice.
“Where's my phone?”
Another voice answered.
The voice had been altered.
“It's safe.”
“Give it back.”
“After you're finished.”
The recording stopped.
I looked at Keanu. “So Raka's phone was taken.”
He nodded. “And that person sent the breakup message.”
Naya looked pale.
“The third file?”
Keanu hesitated.
“Play it.”
“Luna—”
“Play it.”
He pressed the button.
For several seconds, there was nothing but footsteps.
Then Raka.
“If you touch Aluna—”
The sound of an impact.
I instinctively leaned closer.
Then another voice.
This time, it wasn't distorted.
Clear.
Very clear.
“You never should've dated her in the first place.”
I stopped breathing.
I'd heard that voice before.
Not once. Not twice.
Almost every day.
Naya stared at me. So did Keanu.
I didn't move.
“Play it again.”
Keanu replayed it.
You never should've dated her in the first place.
Impossible.
I shook my head.
“This is edited.”
“Luna…”
“This has to be edited.”
I picked up the black phone.
“Is there an original file?”
Keanu opened the audio information.
The creation date was listed as May 17. 10:11 p.m.
I felt sick.
“Who?” Naya whispered.
I didn't answer.
Because I knew.
That voice belonged to someone who shouldn't have been involved. Someone who had never even made my list of suspects.
The black phone suddenly rang.
The three of us froze.
A message came in.
Hidden Number: Finally, you heard it too.
I typed quickly.
Me: You sent all of this?
The reply appeared.
Hidden Number: I just want you to remember.
Me: Remember what?
The typing indicator.
Then a photo came in.
An old photo.
Raka and I stood on the roof of Meridian Building. Someone stood behind us.
Their face was circled in red.
I zoomed in. My hands trembled.
Naya moved closer.
“Lun…”
I recognized that face.
I knew it very well.
The final message came in.
Hidden Number: Now ask your older brother why he was there that night.
I didn't hear anything after that.
Not Naya's voice. Not Keanu's.
Only the sound of my own heartbeat.
Because the person circled in the photo was—
Damar.
My older brother.