If there was one thing I remembered most from that night's meeting, it wasn't the map Bon brought.
It wasn't the gear list Fathur brought, Adit's camera, or Darma's never-ending jokes, either.
What I remembered most was a group name.
**LAWU — 9.**
When I first saw it, I thought the name was ordinary.
Too ordinary, even.
There were nine of us.
So what was strange about it?
Nothing.
At least, that night I didn't find anything strange.
We were still sitting in the same coffee shop. The yellow lights overhead made the room feel warm, while the rain outside covered the window with beads of water. Every so often, the coffee machine whirred behind the counter. Soft music played, barely audible because Darma was louder than the shop's speakers.
Bon was still busy with the trip plans.
The tablet in front of him displayed a map of the hiking trail.
His fingers moved, zooming in and out on certain sections.
"So," he said, "we leave Friday afternoon."
Darma raised his hand.
"Question."
Bon looked at him.
"What?"
"Why Friday?"
"Because Saturday."
Darma fell silent.
We all turned to look at him.
Bon waited.
Darma finally nodded slowly.
"Makes sense."
I laughed.
"Your questions are never useful."
"The important thing is that I ask."
"You just want to be heard."
"Exactly."
Bon sighed.
"Friday, because if we leave in the afternoon, we'll get there at night. We'll still have time to rest for a bit and get ready."
"Then start night hiking?"
"Yep."
Darma nodded.
"Why not Saturday morning?"
"Because our goal is to see the sunrise."
"We could start in the morning, too."
"If we start in the morning, we'll reach the top around noon."
"And?"
"Then we won't see the sunrise."
Darma fell silent again.
This time, he had no answer.
Ozan, sitting beside him, chuckled.
"If you're going to argue, come up with a good reason."
"I'm not arguing."
"Then what?"
"I'm making sure."
"Making sure of what?"
"That our leader is actually sane."
Bon immediately pointed at Darma.
"If I weren't sane, I'd have left you behind by now."
Darma laughed.
I smiled too.
Our conversations were always like that.
They never stayed completely serious for very long.
Even when we were discussing something that was actually important, there was always someone who made the mood light again.
Maybe that's why I didn't feel tense that night.
We'd traveled together several times before.
Not just climbed mountains.
We'd gone camping.
Taken road trips.
Gone to the beach and spent almost an entire day arguing about where to eat.
We'd known one another for quite a while.
Some had been friends since school.
Some had met in college.
And some had only grown closer over the past few years.
But whenever we gathered like this, it felt as if there were no distance between us.
We were just nine people who happened to have the same idea.
Climb a mountain.
That was all.
Bon slid the tablet to the middle of the table.
"Focus."
We gradually fell silent.
Bon pointed to a line on the screen.
"This is the route we're taking."
I leaned forward slightly.
A bright-colored line cut through a wide green area.
There were several checkpoint names.
Some sections looked straight.
Others curved and twisted.
"We enter here," Bon said.
His finger followed the line.
"Then we go up."
"Obviously we go up," Darma said.
Bon stopped.
He stared at him.
Darma raised both hands.
"Sorry."
I held back a laugh.
Bon pointed at the map again.
"This is the beginning."
"Then what?"
"After that, we enter a steeper section of trail."
Fathur studied the screen.
"How long?"
"If everything's normal, a little over an hour."
"To the first checkpoint?"
"Yep."
Doy, who had been quiet until then, leaned closer.
"The next checkpoint?"
Bon zoomed in on the map.
"Here."
Doy studied it for a long time.
I wasn't paying much attention to him.
Not until a few seconds later, when Bon said,
"Why?"
Doy looked up.
"Nothing."
"What are you looking at?"
"The trail."
"I know."
Doy pointed to one section of the map.
"This?"
Bon nodded.
"Yeah."
"After this?"
"We enter the forest."
Doy looked at the screen again.
I watched his face.
For some reason, his expression changed.
Not frightened.
More like he was trying to remember something.
I asked,
"Have you been through here before?"
Doy shook his head.
"No."
"Then?"
"Nothing."
I waited.
Doy only gave a faint smile.
"The trail looks different."
"How so?"
"I don't know."
Bon tilted his head.
"If you've never been through here, how do you know it's different?"
Doy shrugged.
"I don't."
Darma cut in immediately.
"There you go."
We turned to him.
Darma pointed at Doy.
"That's what you call someone who overthinks."
Doy chuckled.
"You do too."
"If I think, that means I'm alive."
"What if you think too much?"
"Then I'm smart."
Ozan called from the side,
"Then you're annoying."
Darma immediately pointed at Ozan.
"Don't get involved."
The mood grew noisy again.
Bon shook his head.
But before returning to the map, he glanced at Doy one more time.
Doy had already leaned back.
His gaze was no longer on the screen.
But I knew his thoughts were still there.
On that trail.
For some reason.
Bon then started discussing how we'd split up.
"There are nine of us."
Darma immediately said,
"Yep."
Bon ignored him.
"We can't walk separately."
"Right," Fathur said.
"If possible, don't let the distance between us get too wide."
Ozan nodded.
"Who's in front?"
"Me."
Bon pointed to himself.
"In back?"
Doy raised his hand slightly.
"Me."
Darma laughed.
"Why Doy?"
Bon answered,
"Because he's the calmest."
Darma looked at Doy.
"You sure?"
Doy shrugged.
"Why not?"
Darma turned to Bon.
"Being in back is a responsibility."
"That's why it's Doy."
"Why not me?"
Bon answered without thinking.
"Because you'd stop to make jokes."
We all laughed.
Darma looked offended.
"I can be serious."
Ozan patted him on the shoulder.
"For two minutes."
"Don't underestimate me."
"You're the one underestimating yourself."
Darma snorted.
Bon returned to the plan.
"I'll lead."
He pointed at Doy.
"Doy brings up the rear."
Then he pointed to the middle.
"The rest of you can arrange yourselves."
"Who's behind whom?" Fathur asked.
"We don't need a fixed order."
"Why not?"
"Depends on the situation."
Fathur nodded.
Bon then explained rules that were actually quite simple.
If someone stopped, everyone needed to know.
If someone needed to use the bathroom, say so.
If someone felt sick, say so.
If someone couldn't keep going, don't force it.
If someone fell behind, the group waited.
No one was allowed to make decisions alone.
I agreed with all of it.
In my opinion, simple rules like those were the most important thing when traveling in a group.
Problems often didn't happen because of anything major.
Sometimes it was just because one person thought,
*I can still handle it.*
Even though they really couldn't.
Or,
*I'll only be a minute.*
Even though everyone else had already gone a long way.
Or,
*I know the way.*
Even though they didn't.
I'd seen people like that on previous trips.
Not our friends.
A group of hikers who were too confident.
They'd walked far ahead of their group because they thought they were faster.
In the end, they'd stopped in the wrong place and had to wait.
There was nothing really cool about walking alone on a mountain.
Quite the opposite.
That's why when Bon said,
"If anything happens, don't try to act tough."
I immediately nodded.
"Agreed."
Bon looked at me.
"You're the one who acts tough most often."
I stared at him.
"Slander."
"When you're tired, you go quiet."
"That's called not wanting to be a burden."
"Exactly."
Darma cut in,
"Joy's face looks different when she's tired."
I frowned.
"How?"
"Like she's about to die."
Everyone laughed.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
I grabbed a tissue and threw it at Darma.
He dodged.
The tissue hit Alin on the shoulder instead.
"Oh, sorry."
Alin laughed.
"It's okay."
I grabbed another tissue.
Darma immediately raised his hands.
"Okay, okay. Truce."
Bon tapped the table.
"Focus."
We fell silent again.
Bon really was the best person to lead us.
Without him, we might have spent three hours just deciding who would carry the stove.
After we finished discussing the route, the conversation shifted to gear.
Fathur took a note from his bag.
"So we'll divide it up."
He opened a page covered in writing.
"Stove?"
"Me," Fathur said.
"Gas?"
"Bon."
"Tent?"
"Two tents."
Bon answered.
"One for me and Ozan. The other for Doy, Fathur, and Adit."
Darma raised his hand.
"What about me?"
Bon looked at him.
"Where are you sleeping?"
"In a tent, obviously."
"You haven't been assigned one."
"Why not?"
"Because you haven't brought one."
Darma laughed.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"I thought it was automatic."
"Nope."
Darma pulled out his phone.
"Fine. I'll bring one."
Alin asked,
"What about us?"
Bon pointed to the other tent.
"The women will share one tent."
Eka nodded.
"So we bring it ourselves?"
"Yeah."
Alin immediately opened a note on her phone.
"Okay."
Fathur continued.
"Water?"
"At least two liters."
Darma raised his hand.
"At least?"
"Yep."
"What if it's three?"
"Bring it."
"What if it's five?"
"That's heavy."
"What if it's one?"
"Not enough."
Darma nodded.
"Clear."
I smiled.
Once Fathur started talking about gear, he got very serious.
He checked everything one item at a time.
Headlamps.
Spare batteries.
Power banks.
Raincoats.
Warm clothes.
Personal medication.
First-aid kit.
Food.
Trash bags.
Gloves.
I looked over the list.
"Are you bringing a thermometer?"
Fathur nodded.
"Why?"
"Just in case."
Darma cut in.
"What if someone has a fever?"
"We check."
"What if someone gets possessed?"
Fathur looked at him.
"We check that too."
"With the thermometer?"
"I have no idea."
We laughed.
Fathur shook his head.
"You guys need to stop joking around."
"But it's fun."
"Safety comes first."
I nodded.
"True."
Then Adit opened his camera bag.
"I'm bringing my camera."
Darma immediately turned to him.
"Again?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"Are you seriously bringing that much stuff?"
"For documentation."
"What if the battery dies?"
"I have spares."
"What if the memory fills up?"
"I have two cards."
"What if you drop the camera?"
Adit stared at Darma.
"I'll push you."
Darma laughed.
"Touchy."
I looked at the camera on the table.
Adit did like documenting our trips.
Sometimes the results were good.
Sometimes they weren't.
But he always had a reason to bring his camera.
To him, photos weren't just documentation.
"When we're old someday," he said, "we can look back at them."
Darma immediately replied,
"When I'm old, I don't want to look at your face."
"Why not?"
"Because your face never changes."
Adit laughed.
"Yours doesn't either."
"That's exactly the point."
I looked at them.
Then smiled.
Maybe that was the best part of traveling with friends.
Not the mountain.
Not the summit.
But pointless conversations like this.
Small things that would never make it into anyone else's story.
If we really reached the summit later, maybe these were the parts I'd remember most.
The jokes.
The laughter.
The little arguments.
The coffee that was too bitter.
The uncomfortable wooden chairs.
And the nine people who were still all together that night.
"Hey."
Alin's voice made me turn.
She was holding her phone.
"What?"
"Let's just make a new group chat."
Bon nodded.
"The old group is too crowded anyway."
Darma immediately protested.
"What's wrong with the old group?"
"It's full of memes."
"Those are important."
"No, they're not."
"They are."
Bon ignored him.
"Who's making it?"
Darma immediately grabbed his phone.
"Me."
He opened the messaging app.
"Name?"
Ozan answered,
"Failed Hikers."
Darma laughed.
"Good."
Fathur shook his head.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Don't make it weird."
"Lawu Squad."
Alin shook her head.
"Corny."
"Lawu Warriors."
"Even cornier."
Darma thought.
"Night Hikers."
Ozan answered,
"Generic."
Darma looked at us one by one.
"Then what?"
Bon answered,
"LAWU — 9."
Darma stopped.
I looked at him.
"That's good."
Alin nodded.
"Simple."
Fathur agreed too.
"Okay."
Darma typed.
**LAWU — 9.**
Then he created the new group chat.
He added the names one by one.
Bon.
Darma.
Ozan.
Fathur.
Doy.
Adit.
Eka.
Alin.
Me.
Nine.
Notifications came in on our phones almost simultaneously.
**Bon added you to LAWU — 9.**
I opened the group chat.
There was no profile picture yet.
Darma immediately said,
"What should we use for the group photo?"
Adit answered,
"A picture of us."
"Which one?"
Adit searched through his gallery.
A few seconds later, he found an old photo.
A photo of nine people.
Not our best photo.
We all looked a little disheveled.
Someone had their eyes closed.
Someone was laughing.
Someone was looking at the camera.
But that was exactly what made it feel like us.
Darma sent the picture.
"This one."
Alin looked at it.
"Nice."
Ozan laughed.
"Why does my face look like that?"
"Because that's what it looks like," Darma answered.
Ozan gave him a light kick.
Darma dodged.
I studied the photo.
Nine people.
We stood close together.
I was on the left.
Bon was in the middle.
Darma was leaning a little.
Ozan held up two fingers.
Fathur looked serious.
Doy wore a faint smile.
Adit was holding the camera.
Alin and Eka stood side by side.
Nine.
I zoomed in on the photo.
There was nothing there.
Just us.
I returned it to its original size.
Then something strange happened.
Eka suddenly said,
"Don't use that picture."
Everyone turned.
Darma frowned.
"Why?"
Eka looked at the photo.
"Nothing."
"Didn't you just say not to use it?"
Eka smiled.
"Yeah... whatever."
Darma laughed.
"You were the one who said not to."
"I know."
"Then?"
Eka shook his head.
"It's fine."
I watched his face.
He looked uncomfortable.
Alin touched his arm.
"What's wrong?"
Eka looked at Alin.
"Nothing."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
Darma was still confused.
"If you don't like it, just say so."
Eka shook his head.
"The picture's fine."
"Then?"
"Forget it."
Darma set the picture as the group photo.
I didn't get involved.
Maybe Eka just didn't like the picture.
Maybe it brought back a certain memory.
Maybe he thought he looked bad.
All of those possibilities made sense.
And as usual, I chose the simplest one.
I didn't know that a few hours later, I would remember Eka's expression when he looked at that picture.
After creating the group chat, we started discussing the schedule in more detail.
Bon sent a tentative schedule to the group.
**Friday**
4:30 p.m. — Meet up.
5:00 p.m. — Leave.
7:30–8:00 p.m. — Eat.
9:00 p.m. — Arrive at basecamp.
9:00–10:00 p.m. — Register, prepare, and rest.
10:00 p.m. — Start climbing.
Darma immediately replied:
> **Darma:** Is 10:00 p.m. for real?
Bon:
> **Bon:** Yep.
Darma:
> **Darma:** What if I get sleepy?
Bon:
> **Bon:** Sleep.
Darma:
> **Darma:** Where?
Bon:
> **Bon:** At basecamp.
Darma:
> **Darma:** Then what?
Bon:
> **Bon:** Climb tomorrow.
Darma:
> **Darma:** There you go.
I laughed as I read the exchange.
Fathur then added,
> **Fathur:** Don't let anyone be late.
Ozan:
> **Ozan:** Got it.
Alin:
> **Alin:** If someone is late, do we leave them behind?
Bon:
> **Bon:** No.
> **Bon:** But we wait fifteen minutes at most.
Darma:
> **Darma:** What if I'm sixteen minutes late?
Bon:
> **Bon:** You climb by yourself.
Darma:
> **Darma:** That's mean.
Bon:
> **Bon:** Kidding.
I read the exchange with a smile.
Then I saw one message that made me stop without meaning to.
From Doy.
> **Doy:** The important thing is that no one leaves the order.
Bon replied:
> **Bon:** Right.
Doy:
> **Doy:** I mean, once we've started walking together, we stay together.
I read the sentence again.
There was nothing strange about it.
But there was something in the way he'd written it.
As if he wasn't merely giving us a reminder.
As if he was genuinely worried.
I typed:
> **Joy:** Are you worried someone will get lost?
Doy didn't answer.
A few seconds later, Bon sent another message.
> **Bon:** That's enough. Don't talk about weird stuff.
Darma:
> **Darma:** Why? Scared?
Bon:
> **Bon:** No.
Darma:
> **Darma:** Then what?
Bon:
> **Bon:** So we don't get it in our heads.
Darma sent a laughing emoji.
I set my phone down.
The rain outside grew heavier.
Several customers began leaving the coffee shop.
The clock on the wall showed that it was almost ten at night.
Bon was still checking the list.
"Who hasn't given me their shoe size?"
We all looked at one another.
Fathur sighed.
"What do you need that for?"
"Data."
Darma raised his hand.
"Forty-two."
"Got it."
"Shirt size?"
"Got it."
"Blood type?"
Darma fell silent.
Bon stared at him.
"You don't know?"
"I do."
"What is it?"
Darma told him.
Fathur wrote it down.
I smiled.
"You're never prepared."
"I am prepared."
"You couldn't even remember your shoe size earlier."
"I didn't forget."
"Then what?"
"I hadn't remembered yet."
I laughed.
Then Bon turned to me.
"Joy."
"Hm?"
"Are you all set?"
"Yep."
"Medication?"
"Got it."
"Headlamp?"
"Got it."
"Spare?"
"Got it."
Bon nodded.
Then he went through everyone else's things one by one.
Until, finally, everyone was considered ready.
At least in theory.
No one knew that a mountain trip could never really be planned completely.
We could prepare clothes.
Food.
Water.
Medicine.
Lights.
Maps.
Tents.
Power banks.
But we could never prepare ourselves for something we didn't know was coming.
And that night, we hadn't thought about anything like that yet.
Darma suddenly took out his phone.
"Picture first."
Adit immediately picked up his camera.
"Why?"
"For the group photo."
"We already have one."
"A new one."
Bon shook his head.
"You guys are children."
Darma stood up.
"Come on."
One by one, we stood.
We moved the table aside a little.
Adit set his camera on a small tripod.
He set the timer.
"Ten seconds."
We gathered together.
I stood beside Bon.
Darma stood behind us with his hands raised.
Ozan pushed his hands down.
"Don't pose."
"Why not?"
"It looks bad."
"You're jealous."
"Shut up."
Fathur laughed.
Doy stood at the very back.
Eka and Alin stood in the middle.
Adit ran into position.
"Ready?"
"Ready."
"Three."
"Two."
"One."
Click.
The first photo.
Adit looked at the result.
"Again."
"Why?"
"Bon blinked."
Bon frowned.
"I did?"
"Yep."
Darma laughed.
"The leader blinked."
"Shut up."
We took a second photo.
Click.
This time, no one blinked.
Adit looked at the result.
"Perfect."
Darma immediately came over.
"Let me see."
Adit turned the screen around.
We all looked.
Nine people.
I counted without realizing it.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Nine.
Complete.
I didn't know why I counted them.
Maybe because Bon had mentioned our number so many times.
Nine people.
Nine.
I considered it a small habit.
Nothing more.
Eka stood beside me.
He looked at the camera screen.
I glanced at him.
His expression changed again.
"What's wrong?" I asked quietly.
Eka didn't answer right away.
"Do you see something?"
He shook his head.
"No."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
I looked at the photo.
There was nothing strange.
Just nine faces.
I smiled.
"It's a good picture."
Eka nodded.
"Yeah."
Then he said very quietly,
"Hopefully it stays that way."
I turned to him.
"What?"
He smiled.
"Nothing."
I didn't ask again.
Not long afterward, we began getting ready to leave.
Bon put the tablet in his bag.
Fathur put his notes away.
Darma took the last glass.
Ozan checked his phone.
Adit put away his camera.
Alin put on her jacket.
Eka was still sitting.
Doy stood near the window.
I watched him.
"You aren't leaving yet?"
"In a minute."
"Why?"
Doy looked outside.
"The rain."
I stood beside him.
Outside, the rain was coming down pretty hard.
Streetlights reflected off the asphalt.
People hurried by under umbrellas.
Cars passed every so often.
Everything looked normal.
Doy said,
"Joy."
"Hm?"
"Do you believe in premonitions?"
I chuckled.
"What kind of premonition?"
"Just premonitions."
"Sometimes."
"Why only sometimes?"
"If there's a reason."
Doy looked at me.
"What do you mean?"
"If you just feel like something's going to happen, that doesn't necessarily mean anything."
He nodded.
"True."
I turned to him.
"Why?"
"Nothing."
"You've been answering 'nothing' this whole time."
Doy smiled.
"Because there really is nothing."
I looked at him.
He turned back to the rain.
I didn't know why, but I felt there was something he wasn't saying.
But I didn't push him.
We all had our own little secrets.
And not every secret had to be revealed.
At least, that's what I thought at the time.
One by one, we began heading out.
Bon left first.
Darma followed.
Ozan and Fathur left together.
Adit was busy making sure his camera didn't get wet.
Alin waited for her ride.
Eka stood beside her.
I was still inside the coffee shop.
I looked at my phone.
Our new group chat was still active.
Darma sent a message.
> **Darma:** Don't forget to start your diet tomorrow.
Fathur replied.
> **Fathur:** Tomorrow's already Friday.
> **Darma:** Exactly.
Ozan:
> **Ozan:** What diet?
Darma:
> **Darma:** A diet from talking.
Ozan:
> **Ozan:** You first.
I laughed.
Then Bon sent one last message.
> **Bon:** Don't forget. Tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.
I replied:
> **Joy:** Got it.
One by one, the others replied too.
> **Darma:** Got it.
> **Ozan:** Let's go.
> **Fathur:** Got it.
> **Adit:** All good.
> **Doy:** Got it.
> **Eka:** Got it.
> **Alin:** Got it.
I looked at the screen.
Nine people.
Nine names.
Nine replies.
No one was late.
Nothing was missing.
I locked my phone.
Then slipped it into my pocket.
As I was about to leave, I saw the newly created group photo.
I stopped.
I opened it one more time.
A photo of nine people.
We were all smiling.
There was nothing strange.
I zoomed in.
Then zoomed back out.
Just before I locked the screen, I saw something that made my finger stop.
It wasn't in the photo.
It was at the bottom of the screen.
The group name:
**LAWU — 9**
I stared at it for several seconds.
For some reason, the number nine felt different now.
Not like an ordinary number.
I tried counting our members again.
Bon.
Darma.
Ozan.
Fathur.
Doy.
Adit.
Eka.
Alin.
Me.
Nine.
Correct.
Nothing was missing.
Nothing extra.
I put my phone in my pocket.
Then walked outside.
I didn't go straight home.
I stopped at a convenience store to buy some snacks I might bring for the trip.
Not because I didn't already have any.
I just always felt like something was missing if I went somewhere without buying my own food.
I picked up some bread.
Chocolate.
Cookies.
Bottled water.
Then walked to the register.
While I was waiting in line, my phone vibrated.
I took it out.
A message from Eka.
I opened it.
> **Eka:** Joy.
I typed.
> **Joy:** Yeah?
No reply came.
I put my phone away.
A few seconds later, it vibrated again.
> **Eka:** Earlier, when we took the picture...
I stopped reading.
The next message came in.
> **Eka:** Who were you standing beside?
I frowned.
I looked at the group photo again.
"Bon," I replied. "I was standing beside Bon."
The typing dots appeared.
Eka was typing.
They disappeared.
Then appeared again.
Then a message came in.
> **Eka:** Right.
I waited.
No more messages came.
I typed:
> **Joy:** Why?
No reply.
I sighed.
Maybe the signal was bad.
I paid for my groceries.
Then walked outside.
The rain had started to let up.
The night air was fairly cold.
I put the groceries in my bag.
My phone vibrated again.
I opened the message.
Eka.
> **Eka:** It's nothing.
I frowned.
"What's wrong with this guy?"
I almost laughed.
Then the next message came in.
> **Eka:** I just thought...
The message stopped.
I waited.
Several seconds.
Then:
> **Eka:** Never mind.
I typed:
> **Joy:** Thought what?
There was no answer.
I put my phone in my pocket.
This time, I didn't press him.
If it was important, he'd tell me.
If not, it would be over by tomorrow.
I didn't know that brief exchange would stay in my head far longer than it should have.
It was late at night when I got home.
I set my bag on the floor.
Then took out some of the things I'd just bought.
I checked my gear one more time.
Headlamp.
Batteries.
Raincoat.
Clothes.
Water.
Medicine.
Food.
Everything was there.
I put it all in my bag.
When I was done, I sat on the edge of my bed.
My phone was still in my hand.
I opened the **LAWU — 9** group chat.
The latest messages were still there.
Jokes.
The schedule.
The gear list.
Nothing strange.
I scrolled up.
Looked at the group photo again.
Nine people.
I zoomed in.
Maybe because of what Eka had said earlier, I started looking at each face one by one.
Bon.
Darma.
Ozan.
Fathur.
Doy.
Adit.
Eka.
Alin.
Me.
I stopped.
Something made me frown slightly.
I zoomed in on the back of the photo.
Behind us was the coffee shop wall.
A shelf.
Lights.
There was no one there.
I shifted the photo around.
Still nothing.
I sighed.
"What the hell."
I closed the photo.
Then opened it again.
This time, I looked at it longer.
Nine people.
I counted.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Nine.
I smiled faintly.
"Complete."
I locked my phone.
Set it on the table.
Then lay down.
I turned off the bedroom light.
Darkness.
I pulled up the blanket.
My eyes began to grow heavy.
Until my phone chimed.
One notification.
I lifted my head.
Who was sending a message at this hour?
I picked up my phone.
It wasn't the group chat.
A private message.
From Eka.
I opened it.
There was only one sentence.
> **Eka:** Joy, are you still awake?
I replied.
> **Joy:** I am.
Three dots appeared.
Disappeared.
Appeared again.
Then a message came in.
> **Eka:** I want to ask you something.
> **Joy:** Go ahead.
There was no reply for a long time.
I waited.
One minute.
Two minutes.
Five minutes.
I started getting sleepy.
Then my phone vibrated.
> **Eka:** When we took that picture earlier...
I read it.
> **Eka:** Did you see everyone?
I frowned.
I immediately replied.
> **Joy:** What do you mean?
Eka didn't answer.
I waited.
Then another message came in.
> **Eka:** Never mind.
> **Joy:** Never mind what?
> **Eka:** Forget it.
I sighed.
"What is it?"
I typed again.
> **Joy:** Now I'm curious.
There was no answer.
I was about to turn off the screen when a message came in.
This time, it was only two words.
> **Eka:** Nine people.
I read the sentence.
Nine people.
I smiled faintly.
> **Joy:** Yeah. Why?
There was no answer.
I waited.
Five seconds.
Ten.
Twenty.
Then Eka's status changed to *online*.
I watched it.
Three dots appeared.
Disappeared.
Appeared again.
Disappeared.
Then finally, a message came in.
> **Eka:** It's nothing.
I locked the screen.
Enough.
It wasn't worth thinking about.
I set my phone beside my pillow.
Closed my eyes.
But a few seconds later, a thought appeared.
Simple.
Unimportant.
But enough to make me open my eyes again.
**Why had Eka asked whether I'd seen everyone?**
I tried to remember the picture from earlier.
Nine people.
I had seen all of them.
Bon.
Darma.
Ozan.
Fathur.
Doy.
Adit.
Eka.
Alin.
Me.
Complete.
There was nothing strange.
No one else.
I picked up my phone again.
Opened the picture.
I zoomed in.
Then started counting again.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Nine.
I stopped.
Stared at the screen.
Something made me uncomfortable.
Not because there was a tenth person.
No.
There wasn't.
The problem was that I couldn't explain why I'd kept counting all night.
I locked my phone.
Tried to sleep.
The next morning, I woke up feeling normal.
The first message that came in was from Darma.
> **Darma:** Don't forget to leave.
I replied:
> **Joy:** I won't.
Then Bon sent the schedule again.
> **Bon:** Meet at 4:30 p.m.
Fathur:
> **Fathur:** Don't forget to eat before we leave.
Ozan:
> **Ozan:** Got it.
Alin:
> **Alin:** I'll bring extra food.
Darma:
> **Darma:** Bring fried snacks.
Alin:
> **Alin:** No.
Darma:
> **Darma:** Mean.
I laughed as I read the exchange.
Everything was normal again.
No message from Eka appeared.
I stopped thinking about it.
Until around noon.
I was working when a private message came in.
From Eka.
> **Eka:** Joy.
> **Joy:** Yeah?
> **Eka:** Did I say something weird last night?
I stopped.
I remembered our conversation.
> **Joy:** A little.
He replied soon after.
> **Eka:** Sorry.
> **Joy:** Seriously, what's wrong with you?
A long pause.
Then:
> **Eka:** I just couldn't stop thinking about that picture.
> **Joy:** Which picture?
> **Eka:** The picture of nine people.
I smiled.
> **Joy:** What's wrong with it?
There was no answer.
I waited.
Then a message came in.
> **Eka:** Later.
> **Joy:** Later when?
> **Eka:** After we get there.
I read the sentence.
After we get there.
I wanted to ask more.
But Eka had already gone offline.
I stared at the screen for several seconds.
Then set my phone down.
For some reason, this time I couldn't dismiss it as a joke.
There was something Eka was thinking about.
Something he hadn't told us yet.
And I started wondering whether it wasn't the hike that made him uncomfortable.
Maybe he knew something about Lawu.
Something we didn't know.
I tried to ignore the thought.
It didn't work.
That afternoon, before we left, I opened the group chat again.
Bon sent a message.
> **Bon:** Everyone check in.
Then he wrote the names one by one.
> Bon.
> Darma.
> Ozan.
> Fathur.
> Doy.
> Adit.
> Eka.
> Alin.
> Joy.
Nine names.
I read the list.
Then we replied one by one.
> **Bon:** Here.
> **Darma:** Here.
> **Ozan:** Here.
> **Fathur:** Here.
> **Doy:** Here.
> **Adit:** Here.
> **Eka:** Here.
> **Alin:** Here.
I typed:
> **Joy:** Here.
Nine.
Nothing was missing.
No one was late.
No problems.
I turned off the screen.
My bag was ready.
I stood up.
Before leaving my room, I looked toward the table.
Phone.
Wallet.
Keys.
Everything was there.
I picked up my phone.
When the screen lit up, the group photo appeared as the lock-screen notification image.
I looked at it for a moment.
Nine faces.
Nine names.
I smiled.
Then, for no clear reason, I counted again.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Nine.
I sighed.
"Enough."
I put my phone in my pocket.
Lifted my bag.
Then left my room.
I didn't know why the number nine felt so important.
It was only the number of us.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
And at that time, I still believed one simple thing:
**If nine people left together, then nine people would return together.**
I didn't know how wrong that belief was.
Because a few days later, when I remembered the last night we'd spent together before leaving, there was one thing that made it hard for me to sleep.
Not Eka's messages.
Not Doy's words.
Not the group photo.
And not the group name, **LAWU — 9**.
It was something incredibly simple.
Something I could have ignored.
In the last picture we took that night, we were standing in a row.
Nine people.
I'd counted them over and over.
But the more often I looked at that picture, the more I realized something was wrong.
It wasn't the number of people.
The number was still nine.
What was wrong was **our positions**.
Because when the picture was taken, I clearly remembered standing beside Bon.
I remembered Darma standing behind us.
I remembered Ozan beside Darma.
I remembered Fathur.
Doy.
Adit.
Eka.
Alin.
I remembered everything.
But when I looked at the picture again...
I couldn't remember **who was standing directly behind me.**
And strangely, every time I tried to remember, my mind seemed to refuse to give me the answer.
As if one small part of my memory had never wanted me to open it in the first place.
That night, I still didn't know who.
I only knew one thing.
We were leaving the next day.
And for the first time, the number **nine** no longer felt like a count.
It began to feel like a boundary.
A tally.
And for some reason, deep in my mind, the same question appeared—a question I couldn't answer at all:
**If there really were only nine of us...**
**why had I felt ever since that night like I was counting someone who shouldn't exist?**