The second group meeting was held at a café near campus, a more relaxed setting than the stiff discussion room in the library. As usual, Isabella arrived carrying her blue binder and a small leather-bound planner she took everywhere, filled with schedule notes written in colorful ink according to each activity category.
Christian arrived later, as usual, but this time he sat right beside Isabella instead of across from her like he had during their previous meetings. His eyes caught sight of the blue planner lying open on the table.
"What's this?" he asked, picking up the planner before Isabella could stop him.
"Give it back," Isabella said quickly, trying to snatch it away.
But Christian had already opened to the current week, his eyes widening as he took in the neatly scheduled hours, complete with color codes: red for class, blue for independent study, green for organizations, and even a small yellow block labeled "me time — 30 minutes" tucked into Wednesday afternoon's schedule.
"You actually schedule time to rest?" Christian asked, half disbelieving and half amused.
"It's important," Isabella replied, her face beginning to heat up. "If I don't schedule it, I might forget to rest altogether."
"This is the funniest thing I've ever seen," Christian said with a quiet laugh, pointing to one of the blocks labeled "lunch — 12:00–12:30, don't skip again like last week."
"Stop reading people's planners." Isabella finally managed to take it back, hugging it tightly to her chest as though it were her most precious possession.
Reno and Dita, who had just arrived, immediately laughed at Isabella's expression, which was an equal mix of embarrassment and irritation. Fikri, as usual, was busy with his laptop and paid little attention to the minor commotion.
"Seriously, Bel," Christian said, still holding back his laughter, "you need to learn to relax a little. Life doesn't always fit into colorful little boxes."
"And you need to learn some discipline," Isabella shot back, trying to steer the mood back to business. "If you had a schedule too, maybe you wouldn't always be late."
"I'm never more than ten minutes late," Christian defended himself.
"Last week, you were fifteen minutes late."
"That was because of the coffee line."
"Is there a coffee line every week?"
Christian fell silent for a moment, then laughed, this time more freely. "Okay, okay. You win this round."
The meeting continued in a much lighter atmosphere than the first one. They discussed the interview progress, outlined the report, and divided up assignments for the following week. Isabella noticed that although Christian seemed laid-back, he always offered sharp, relevant input whenever it was needed—far from the careless impression others might get from his casual way of speaking.
As the meeting drew to a close, after Reno, Dita, and Fikri had already said their goodbyes, Isabella and Christian stayed behind to organize the final notes.
"Can I ask you something?" Christian asked suddenly, his tone turning slightly more serious.
"What?"
"Why are you so strict about your schedule? I mean, I get that you're organized, but this... this is more than just being organized."
Isabella fell silent for a moment, twirling the pen in her hand as she considered whether to answer honestly or give her usual safe response.
"If everything is scheduled," she finally said softly, "I don't have to be afraid of losing control."
Christian looked at her without answering right away, as if waiting for her to continue.
"Back in high school, I failed to get into my first-choice university because I was too laid-back, too confident in my own abilities without preparing properly," Isabella continued, her voice quieter than usual. "After that, I promised myself I would never get blindsided like that again."
"So this planner..." Christian pointed at the little book in Isabella's hand.
"It's how I make sure that never happens again."
Christian nodded slowly, no longer looking as teasing as he had before. "That makes sense," he said simply. "But you know, you don't have to control everything down to the minute just to prove you won't fail again."
"Easy for you to say," Isabella replied, a little defensive. "You look like you're never afraid of failure."
For the first time, Christian's expression changed. Something deeper than a mere joke flickered in his eyes before he smiled again, this time with a smile that felt more forced. "Everyone's afraid of failure, Bel. We just show it in different ways."
The words sounded as though he were hiding something, but before Isabella could ask more, Christian was already standing and straightening his bag.
"It's getting late," he said, changing the subject. "Want me to walk you home?"
Isabella wanted to ask more about the expression she'd seen, but she chose not to press him. "No, it's okay. My boarding house is close by."
"Okay." Christian nodded, then walked out of the café with her. "See you in Professor Wirawan's class tomorrow."
All the way home, Isabella kept thinking about the change in Christian's expression, brief as it had been. Until now, she had always seen Christian as someone so confident that nothing could shake him. But that short sentence and the way he had hurriedly changed the subject made Isabella even more curious about what really lay behind the relaxed smile Christian showed every day.
That night, before bed, Isabella opened her blue planner and stared at the brightly colored page for the current week. For the first time, she added a small new box in the corner of the page, without any special color, containing only a simple handwritten note.
Find out why Christian always changes the subject so quickly when asked about himself.
She stared at the words for a moment, then slowly closed her planner, realizing that for the first time, there was something outside of grades and rankings she genuinely wanted to know about someone else.
She lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling of the room that had begun to feel familiar as the place where she thought about Christian every night lately. There was something strange about that pattern, she thought. Usually, her thoughts before sleep were filled with the next day's schedule, unfinished assignments, or grade targets she had to reach. Now, almost every night, one face kept appearing, wearing a teasing smile that for some reason was becoming harder and harder for her to ignore.
She brushed the thought aside, deciding not to dwell on it any further tonight. She still had Professor Wirawan's class tomorrow, and she didn't want to lose again like she had last week. But deep down, she knew the reason she was looking forward to tomorrow's class wasn't just about grades anymore.
A small part of her was waiting to see Christian again, hear his jokes again, and maybe, if she was lucky, discover another small piece of the story behind the person she had always considered her rival.