Naira quickened her pace, and Nurul followed her, still grumbling nonstop because she was so furious.
"That guy is insane! Does he even have a brain? They've been married for five years without having kids, and he blames God—or Naira?! What an easy life he has!" Nurul ranted, letting all her frustrations out as they walked toward her motorcycle in the café parking lot.
Naira could only remain silent. Her head felt incredibly heavy and full. She couldn't understand that man's way of thinking either.
"Don't you dare agree to become his second wife. I won't be friends with you anymore if you do," Nurul said firmly before randomly kicking an empty drink bottle. The bottle flew into a man's head.
Nurul was shocked when the empty bottle hit the man's head, and she hurriedly hid behind Naira. Realizing what Nurul had done, Naira panicked too.
"Nurul..."
Nurul lowered her head and, with a guilty expression, said, "I'm sorry, Naira... I didn't mean to..."
Naira let out a long sigh, trying to stay calm in a situation like this.
The man was already standing right in front of them. He was even holding the empty bottle in his hand.
"Were you the one who kicked this bottle?" he asked. His voice was flat, but his eyes stared sharply at Naira and Nurul.
Naira bit her lip. Behind her, Nurul was still hiding as she whispered, "J-just say it wasn't us..."
Naira glanced to the side. "Shut your mouth," she whispered softly to Nurul.
Nurul immediately covered her mouth with both hands. But her eyes still stared wide with panic from behind Naira's back.
Naira took a breath, then looked at the man in front of her.
"I'm so sorry, sir... We didn't mean to." Her voice was soft but clear.
The man raised an eyebrow.
"You didn't mean to?" he repeated.
His eyes dropped to Nurul, who was still hiding, then returned to Naira.
"Then who is the person hiding behind you? A ghost?"
"I'm not a ghost, sir! I'm human!" Nurul immediately called out from behind her.
"See?" Naira teased softly, nudging Nurul's arm with her elbow.
"So which one of you kicked this empty bottle into my head?" he asked.
"I did, sir!" Nurul answered honestly.
Naira let out a long sigh and slapped her forehead. See? She was honest too... Naira thought to herself.
Nurul lowered her head, completely mortified at being caught like this. All because she'd accidentally kicked an empty bottle and hit someone in the head. "I'm really sorry, sir. I swear, I didn't mean to. I wasn't trying to kick it at you."
"Please accept our apology. She promises she won't do it again," Naira added.
The man finally let out a quiet laugh, though his face remained characteristically cold and expressionless.
"All right," he said casually. "Next time you want to practice kicking, look around first, miss. Don't let it happen again."
He turned toward Nurul, who was still half-hidden. "Luckily, I was the one it hit. If it had been someone else, the two of you could've been in for a serious scolding."
Nurul quickly nodded from behind Naira. "Y-yes, sir... I promise..."
The man nodded once. Then he slipped his hand into his pants pocket.
"All right, I'll be going. Please be careful next time. Don't let this happen again."
The man started to walk away, but suddenly stopped and turned back to Naira.
"Oh, right. I'm Arka," he said before leaving Naira standing there in a daze over the last words she'd just heard. Nurul, meanwhile, could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Wait, did he just say his name?" Nurul asked.
"No, I think you misheard him," Naira replied, lying. The man had clearly said his name, but Naira was the only one who had heard it.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Come on, let's go home."