The bright afternoon sky stretched over Jakarta. Blue skies sheltered the city, as if trying to bring a cheerful splash of color to Jakarta's residents, each busy with their own activities. Such was the atmosphere at a private university in Jakarta. The campus was already bustling with all kinds of activity. Some students were attending their classes. Others were spending time in the campus gardens. Still others were in the cafeteria. That was where Syafir and Pio were, enjoying the mango juice in front of them, seated across from each other.
Besides enjoying the mango juice before them, the two of them were discussing the two new female students in their class. One of them was named Srikandi—a strange girl who acted coldly toward the male students at her new campus.
The girl also always carried a pair of small wayang golek puppets. One was shaped like Srikandi, while the other was shaped like Arjuna. Both wayang golek puppets were characters from the epic Mahabharata, adapted through Indonesian culture. Srikandi always carried her beloved pair of puppets in a large purple shoulder bag. Sometimes she would play with them by herself when her classroom was empty, with no one else around.
What a strange and suspicious girl. She could easily be connected to the purple robe—the one who had recently been terrorizing people with her demon puppets.
The other girl was named Angel. She was the new star of the campus. Her presence was like that of an angel, deeply admired by the university's male students. But the other female students hated her, with the exception of Srikandi, who seemed not to care about anything except her classes and her beloved pair of puppets. The girls were jealous of Angel because her beauty far surpassed all of theirs. Even though many of the male students liked her, Angel seemed coy and hard to get in everyone's eyes, as if she paid no attention to her admirers—whether they pursued her openly or in secret.
"Angel is practically an angel. If only I could be her boyfriend, I'd be the luckiest man in the world ..." said Pio, whose face was oval, with thick eyebrows and hair standing five centimeters high. His skin was fair and clear, and his muscular body was the result of his long-running fitness program.
After saying that, he sucked on the mango juice in front of him through the striped straw inside the tall glass. Syafir followed suit. He had a square face, kinky hair, and brown skin. His body was somewhat thin—thinner than Pio's—but the two of them were the same height.
"So you're obsessed with Angel too?" Syafir asked after finishing his mango juice.
"Only an abnormal man wouldn't be interested in her or obsessed with her," Pio shot back in his high-pitched voice, as though he had just stated an undeniable truth.
"I'm not interested in or obsessed with Angel ..." Syafir interjected in a flat tone.
"Then you're not normal? I'm scared to stand too close to you, my friend. What if you're in love with me ..." Pio replied with his usual over-the-top flair.
"You just say whatever comes to mind, Pio Sanjaya. I'm not interested in or obsessed with Angel. That doesn't mean I'm abnormal," Syafir argued, pointing his right index finger at Pio.
"Then?" Pio asked, looking utterly puzzled.
"Because I'm interested in Srikandi." Syafir's answer made Pio burst out laughing.
"Ha ... ha ...!"
Pio finally stopped laughing and spoke to Syafir again.
"Srikandi, the weird and wonderful one who always carries a pair of puppets in that purple shoulder bag?" Pio asked in disbelief, reacting to what Syafir had just said.
"Her weirdness is exactly what interests me. Who knows? Maybe I'm the Arjuna she's been looking for," Syafir said, imagining Srikandi's face in front of him, smiling broadly.
"Maybe weird people are destined to end up with other weird people," Pio said, seemingly taking a jab at Syafir.
"WHATEVER!" Syafir snapped, pushing out his lips at Pio. Then he finished his mango juice, emptying the glass.
Perhaps because he was tired of discussing the two new female students, Pio changed the subject. This time, he chose something more serious.
"Fir, have you heard about Ari going missing these past few days?" Pio asked Syafir after finishing his mango juice.
"Yeah, I heard. What does Ari's disappearance have to do with me?" Syafir replied, full of questions at Pio's unusually serious tone.
"We have to look for him," Pio said with complete seriousness.
"NO WAY! He's not my brother or anything. Why should I go through the trouble of looking for him? I don't want to know about or get involved in other people's business. You know I'm only a month into being a student at this university. I only transferred here because you talked me into it," Syafir retorted sharply.
"Fir ... listen to my explanation first," Pio said, trying to persuade Syafir, who seemed unusually firm in his position this time.
"What explanation?" Syafir snapped, his temper clearly flaring. The tension between them grew hot.