The door Stela had been knocking on repeatedly still did not open. Her fingers were already sore and scraped raw. But the girl refused to give up. She was sure the person she was looking for hadn't left his boarding room. She knocked on the door again and shouted her friend's name.
"Simon!"
A hand shot through the doorway and immediately yanked Stela inside. The girl jumped and screamed. The person she'd been waiting for quickly clapped a hand over her mouth and told her to be quiet.
Once she understood what Simon meant, Stela nodded and calmed herself. The man quickly released her and walked toward the bed. Stela exhaled and followed him.
"Why are you being such a jerk, Mon?" Stela complained.
Simon sighed and walked over to the water dispenser. He gave Stela a glass of water. The man in the T-shirt sat with Stela on the floor. His boarding room was extremely cramped. There was no furniture besides a bed, a wardrobe, a water dispenser, and a study desk.
"I didn't realize it was you, Stel."
After catching her breath, the girl set down her drink and hugged Simon. She forgot that Simon was just like her—both of them were trying to escape a disgusting situation. Simon instinctively rubbed Stela's back gently until the girl began to cry.
Stela wouldn't have come to him if she weren't in trouble. Seeing her sob, Simon could guess that this had something to do with his own problems too. He straightened Stela up and wiped away her tears.
"What's wrong?"
Stela still hadn't said a word. Instead, she picked up her bag and took out her phone. Simon simply watched as Stela opened her social media.
"Look!"
Simon looked shocked by the post Stela showed him. He knew that Stela had transferred schools. He had been one of the people who persuaded her to leave this area. Even though it meant they would have to be apart, Simon was still grateful that someone had helped his girl.
"Do you know who did it?"
Stela shook her head. Seeing that, Simon hugged her again. He let the girl cry her heart out against his broad chest. Immersion wasn't a school that took its reputation lightly. Now he felt sorry for Stela's situation. Ramon's problem still wasn't over, and Stela had to deal with another problem all over again.
"Trouble is my best friend. It never wants to leave me alone. Every time I avoid it, it brings a new friend into my life. Aren't you tired, Mon? Should I confess to the police? Or should I just go back to Ramon? I think I'll just come with you."
"Shh, what are you talking about, Stel?"
Simon held on to Stela as she struggled against him. He realized that Stela was trying to get his attention. Stela was a strong girl, so this problem would pass for her soon enough.
"You don't usually act like this. What's wrong, Stel? Are you PMSing?" Simon asked.
Stela struck Simon's arm hard. The man instinctively cried out in pain. The girl turned her body away from him, showing him her back.
"Pouting, huh? You really are PMSing?"
"Simon!" Stela shouted.
The man burst out laughing. This was the only thing that could calm Stela down. He could see the girl's face starting to turn red as she held back a laugh.
"Come here!" Simon said, opening his arms. Stela approached him and leaned against him. "You don't have to be afraid. Everything's going to be okay."
"What's your guarantee?"
"Immersion kids aren't going to stay obsessed with your life. In two or three days, they'll forget. Instagram's going to have new posts by then too, right? You don't need to worry."
"But who—"
"If it was Ramon, I'll handle it," Simon said confidently.
Stela released him and stared seriously at the person closest to her. "Don't. I don't want anything to happen to you. I need you to stay at the bar. We can't keep relying on Kiko and Awan anymore."
"Just focus on school, Stel. Don't worry about any of this. Kak Sanas will help me. I promise, everything will work out soon."
"Are you sure this is her house?"
Dean nodded confidently. He, R, and Loen were standing in front of Stela's rental house. After waking from his long sleep, R hadn't wanted to wait another day to visit the girl who had stolen his heart. R steeled himself and knocked on the door of the house in the uninhabitable housing complex.
Dean and Loen exchanged glances, as if they were thinking the same thing. Stela wasn't inside. Dean felt compelled to approach R and pat him on the back. The man turned around.
"She's not home, bro," Dean said.
R kept trying to knock on the door. He knocked harder and repeated it over and over. He also shouted Stela's name so the girl would know he was there.
"Hey! Why are so many people looking for this girl, huh? She left hours ago!"
R and his two friends turned toward the source of the voice. Apparently, their actions had disturbed Stela's neighbor. R casually walked over to a man around his mother's age and grabbed him by the collar.
"Huh? What the hell are you guys doing!"
The man was terrified for the second time. He was going to lose his mind if he got treated like this repeatedly and back-to-back within a single week. Dean and Loen just stood behind R. They didn't want to get involved.
"Where did the girl who lives there go?" R asked.
"How the hell should I know? She wouldn't tell me where she was going!"
"What do you mean, saying a lot of people have come here?"
"A female police officer came by last night looking for her too."
"The police?" Dean couldn't hold back his curiosity.
R roughly released the man's collar and left without another word. He kicked everything in his path. Dean and Loen merely followed R, with no intention of helping the man their friend had sent sprawling.
"We didn't hear that wrong, did we, De?" Loen asked.
"Shut up!"
Loen immediately closed his mouth. He didn't want R to hear their conversation. The man in front of him was still busy kicking every object he came across. He also yanked open the car door and slammed it shut. Dean swallowed hard and quickly got into the car. He took the driver's seat, while Loen sat alone in the back.
"Where are we going now, R?" Dean asked cautiously.
"Home. My head hurts."
"Okay." Dean nodded.
"Are you done being curious now?" Loen asked in turn.
R shook his head. "Obviously, I'm still curious. I thought that photo was just some random joke post."
"Getting the police involved clearly isn't normal, right?" Dean guessed.
"Hmm. Tell the guys to find the asshole admin who posted someone's private information like that. Don't forget the reward. I'm serious."
"Your pride over Mia is really that intense, huh, R?" Loen asked.
"This isn't about Mia's accusation. I don't care if they accuse me of all kinds of things. I'm looking for whoever did it, not trying to prove I'm innocent."
"Then why? You never go to this much trouble unless someone asks you to, R."
The man didn't answer Loen's question right away. He looked at Dean, who was focused on driving, then glanced back at Loen, who was waiting for an answer. Then R turned his eyes back to the road ahead.
"I already told you I'm interested in that girl. Of course I care."
When they got home, R asked the housekeeper to call his uncle. It didn't take long for the middle-aged man to arrive and treat him.
Farhan packed away the syringes and various medicines he'd just given R. As usual, Maria was busy dealing with work scattered everywhere. Even when she heard from the trusted housekeeper that R was having another episode, she merely left a message with Farhan, R's personal doctor, since he was her own brother.
"What did you eat at school today?" Farhan asked curtly.
"Meatballs."
At that, Farhan instinctively let out an irritated breath. He rubbed his face in exasperation and shook his head in resignation. R simply stared at the ceiling in silence. He didn't want to lie, even though he knew his ears were about to be treated to a lecture.
"You know red meat is forbidden for you, R."
"Sorry, Uncle."
"Don't do it again. And when your anemia starts acting up, rest immediately, R. You have such a bad habit of waiting until it gets severe. You just had a transfusion a few days ago, so I'm only giving you iron tablets today. You understand, right? Too many—"
"Too many transfusions will cause iron to build up in R's body. R understands, Uncle," he said, cutting Farhan off.
The man snorted while wiping the sweat from R's forehead. He smiled and ruffled his nephew's hair affectionately. R answered with a faint smile.
"All right, get some rest. I'll keep watch from the couch."