After the fake ID card operation that had rocked Adichandra Group, Ian kept his ridiculous promise and washed the dishes from their meals for two days straight.
That night, the boarding house suddenly fell silent. The only sounds were the tapping of keyboard keys and the scrape of a digital pen across Excel’s laptop screen.
“Almost done... two more minutes,” Excel muttered, focused. His eyes were fixed on the monitor displaying the draft of an illustration design ordered by a client.
Ian sat stiffly on his folding mattress, busy using his phone to check on his work remotely without Excel’s knowledge. The wall clock showed ten p.m.
“Ian,” Excel called without looking away.
“What?”
“When this project commission comes through, I’ll treat you to nasi Padang with ren—”
CLICK!
FWOOM!
Everything went pitch-black.
The room light, the wall fan, and even the screen of Excel’s laptop suddenly died completely. The electronic hum was replaced by an ominous silence in an instant.
“FUCK!” Excel screamed, scared half to death. “My client! I haven’t saved my draft!”
Ian immediately turned on his phone’s flashlight. “The power’s out.”
Using the light from Ian’s phone, Excel quickly grabbed his own phone and turned on its flashlight too. “Damn it! The draft deadline is in half an hour! If the power stays out for even an hour, I’ll lose my two-million commission!”
Ian stood up straight, his head nearly brushing the dead hanging lamp. “What caused it?”
“The boarding house’s transformer always acts up when the neighbors all turn on their AC at once!” Excel hissed angrily as he aimed his phone’s flashlight at the door. “I’ve gotta check the fuse downstairs first. You stay here!”
Excel rushed out of the room. Ian slowly walked over to the window and peered outside. It wasn’t just the boarding house where they lived—the entire residential block was pitch-black, without a single light.
Ian switched off his phone’s flashlight and pressed a speed-dial button.
After only two rings, Ardi’s panicked voice came through the phone. “Hello! Mr. Ian?! Sir... tomorrow morning’s board meeting has already—”
“Ardi,” Ian cut him off in the cold, commanding tone characteristic of Adichandra Group’s leader. “Lower your voice. Listen carefully.”
“E-uh... Yes, sir! What is it, sir?”
“The electricity in the residential alley where I am has gone out. Completely,” Ian said quickly.
“Huh?”
“Contact the regional electric company’s technical director or our holding company’s electrical engineering team right now. Send an emergency repair crew to this block. I want the electricity restored throughout this entire alley block within ten minutes.”
Ardi choked on the other end of the line. “Ten minutes?! Sir, repairing the public grid requires bureaucratic procedures and—”
“Do you want me to cut your annual bonus by fifty percent?”
“Nine minutes, sir! The power will definitely be back in nine minutes!” Ardi shouted in terror.
“Send a team wearing ordinary technician uniforms. Don’t bring any cars bearing the Adichandra Group logo. Make sure no one gets suspicious,” Ian ordered before hanging up on him.
Downstairs, Excel’s half-panicked voice could be heard arguing with Radit near the stairs. Ian put his phone away, then walked down to join them.
“How is it, Dit?!” Excel cried in a panic at Radit, who was holding a flashlight. “Can you flip the breaker back on?”
“No way, Cel!” Radit replied helplessly. “It’s not just our boarding house’s breaker that blew. The substation transformer at the entrance to the alley is overloaded. Sounds like it’s slowly giving out. They say a regular repair could take three to four hours!”
“Four hours?!” Excel slapped his forehead repeatedly, his face twisted with intense frustration. “I’m screwed! My client’s draft will get deleted if the laptop stays off too long! My livelihood is going down the drain!”
Ian stood directly behind Excel. His long hand slowly reached out and patted Excel’s visibly trembling shoulder.
“Relax,” Ian said curtly.
Excel turned around with a desperate expression. “How am I supposed to relax?! You have no idea what it’s like to lose an entire day’s work because of a power outage!”
“The electricity will be back on shortly,” Ian replied calmly, without a trace of concern.
Radit gave a disbelieving laugh at Ian’s words. “Where’d you get that info, man? They haven’t even called the power company. How’s it supposed to come back on soon? We’ll have to wait until dawn at the earliest!”
“No. It will be back shortly,” Ian repeated firmly.
Excel slowly grimaced and rubbed his exhausted face. “Whatever. Don’t try to cheer me up with delusions like that...”
Before Excel could finish, the roar of a repair vehicle’s siren came speeding from the main road and stopped right at the mouth of the alley.
Three technicians in yellow uniforms jumped out, carrying fully equipped toolboxes and powerful work lights.
“Hey! Those are the power company technicians!” Radit shouted in shock, his eyes widening. “How’d they get here so fast?! The power only went out five minutes ago!”
“They’re really repair technicians?!” Excel exclaimed.
At the far end of the alley, the technicians worked with inhuman speed. They opened up the substation panel with the skill and efficiency of special forces carrying out a life-or-death mission.
Exactly nine minutes after Ian ended the call—
CLICK!
FWOOM!
The streetlights, porch lights, and every light in the boarding house blazed on at once. The soothing hum of air conditioners and fans returned.
“FUCK! IT’S ON!” Radit shouted in surprise, jumping into the air. “This is insane! Technicians these days are freaking magic! Nine minutes and they’re done!”
Excel stood there speechless. His phone began ringing, signaling that its internet connection had been restored. Without wasting a second, Excel turned and ran up the stairs to his room. “My draft!”
Ian followed behind him at a leisurely pace. When they reached the room, Excel was staring at his laptop screen, which had come back on and was running an automatic recovery.
“Thank God...” Excel whispered in relief, leaning against the back of his chair. “The file saved automatically. Oh my God... thank you!”
Ian stood near the door, resting his shoulder against the wooden frame. “I told you the electricity would be back on.”
Excel turned toward Ian with a strange, suspicious look. He narrowed his eyes, scanning the tall man’s stiff expression from head to toe.
“Ian,” Excel called softly.
“Yes?”
“Do you have a sixth sense?” Excel asked jokingly. “How’d you know the power would be back within minutes?”
Ian blinked once, his expression as flat as a washboard. “I was only guessing. As it happened, my guess was correct.”
“You really think it was just a coincidence?” Excel muttered, still suspicious. But exhaustion made the red-haired young man unwilling to think too hard. He chuckled and shook his head. “Ah, whatever! The important thing is my file is safe and my two-million commission is secure!”
Excel got up from his chair, walked over to Ian, and enthusiastically patted the broad chest of the tall man.
“You really are my lucky charm, Ian!” Excel praised him cheerfully. “When it comes through, I’ll buy you two servings of rendang!”
Ian watched the carefree laughter on Excel’s face. Behind his cold expression, the CEO smiled faintly, feeling that the annual bonus cut he had threatened Ardi with earlier had been completely worth it.