She woke up, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
"What was that sound? A mosquito?"
Sitting right beside her, Shintia had reached the absolute limit of her patience.
"HEYYYYY!!! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU SLEEPING IN FRONT OF SOMEONE ELSE'S HOUSE?!"
Still half-asleep, the girl blinked blankly at Shintia and muttered, "Huh?"
Shintia struggled to keep her boiling emotions in check, though she stayed calm enough as the girl suddenly reached out and gently stroked Shintia's hair.
Shintia flinched. Her eyes gave her away instantly—she deeply missed the way Celis used to stroke her hair after a meal and praise her cooking.
"Delicious."
Shintia had always been overjoyed when Celis praised her food, secretly wishing those moments could last forever.
Celis was glad to have Shintia around, and the feeling was entirely mutual—a fleeting, quiet bond built on shared emotions and similar mindsets.
Celis had lost his parents and remained ignorant of his true lineage. Shintia shared the exact same fate: an orphan who knew nothing of her parents, raised in an orphanage before being taken in by Dea's family.
It felt as though they carried the exact same wounds, shaped by the same causes. Being together felt... just like having a real family.
Back then, in those quiet moments—when Celis complimented her—his eyes would briefly catch the light. Though fleeting, for a moment the profound gloom and darkness that usually consumed his gaze would lift.
Shintia had always longed to bring that spark back to Celis's eyes permanently, without any fear of losing him.
And now, here she was, face-to-face with a total stranger who somehow reminded her so much of Celis.
The girl's small lips slowly parted.
"What are you thinking about?"
She asked, staring directly into Shintia's face. She didn't understand what Shintia was feeling, but Shintia forced a faint smile, lying to mask her thoughts. To her, telling the truth right now would be far too much of a hassle.
"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. By the way, who are you?"
The girl seemed to just realize she was sitting uncomfortably close to Shintia. She sat cross-legged and turned to face her properly.
"Me..."
She scratched her head and let out an awkward, sheepish laugh.
"Ahaha... I forgot who I actually am."
Shintia wasn't about to drop her guard easily. The girl's face, personality, accent, and clothes were completely unfamiliar.
Unable to read her, Shintia's mind was racing with one question.
"Who on earth is she?" Her bizarre, overly familiar behavior didn't help either.
"How could you forget? What happened to you?"
"I don't really know either."
The stranger explained that she had been running through a dark, freezing forest at night, surrounded by an eerie atmosphere and the screeches of bats everywhere, until she finally collapsed in front of Celis's house, completely out of breath, and fell asleep right there on the ground.
That story was the absolute limit of her memory. Before that, nobody—including herself—had any idea who she was.
"And that's about it. That's all I can remember."
Finding the story suspicious, Shintia fired off a few questions that might serve as clues.
"What about your parents? Where do you live? And how on earth did you end up out there?"
The girl answered without missing a beat.
"No idea. That's all I remember. I even forgot my own name, let alone my parents or where I live."
"For real?"
"For real. Why would I lie?"
Exhausted from her long drama practice, Shintia stood up. Her mental energy had been thoroughly drained by this utterly bizarre girl. She couldn't understand her or trust her off the bat, but she decided to keep her guard up.
"I'm going to bed. You can sleep in the room next door (Celis's room), but go take a bath first. Your clothes are filthy."
The girl stood up right along with her.
"Do you have any spare clothes? I don't want to sleep in these dirty, ugly things."
"I do. That's why I said go take a bath."
Moments later, standing in the hallway between the two facing bedroom doors...
After finishing her bath, the girl emerged wearing a pair of pajamas belonging to Celis's mother—though her small frame made the oversized clothes look comically large on her.
According to the stranger, Shintia should have been the one wearing them, but Shintia had chosen to stay in her own pajamas.
Shintia stood at 159 centimeters, while the girl was 153 centimeters. A mere six-centimeter difference, but to the girl, the contrast felt like a personal insult.
Annoyed, the stranger glared at Shintia.
"Hey, you're the one who should be wearing these."
Confused by what she meant, Shintia figured the clothes fit her just fine anyway.
"Why? They fit you."
"Fit me how?! Look how long these pants are!"
Indifferent, Shintia turned on her heel and grabbed the doorknob to her bedroom (which used to be Celis's parents' room).
"Just wear them, stop making a fuss. You're a total weirdo, making a big deal out of nothing."
"?"
Shintia stepped inside and shut the door, leaving the stranger standing alone in the hall.
"A weird... what? I didn't catch that."
Instead of leaving, the girl waltzed straight into Shintia's room. Shintia had already closed her eyes, lying on the bed with her back turned as she hugged a bolster.
"Heyyy!!! What did you call me?!"
The girl was desperate to know what Shintia had muttered, even though she had simply misheard her.
"Nothing."
"Liar."
"Go away! I want to sleep."
"Nope, not until you tell me what you just said."
Since the girl refused to drop it, Shintia, utterly exhausted, decided it was easier to just give in than drag the argument out.
"I said you're a stranger."
"Oh, a stranger. I thought you said a weirdo."
"Alright, now go to sleep."
"Go where?"
"To your own room."
"Which room is mine?"
Resigned to her fate, Shintia let out a flat, "Whatever," and forced herself back to sleep.
"Such a weird girl."
Shintia ignored the remark, deciding that getting some sleep was infinitely better than arguing further.
Suddenly, Shintia's blanket was yanked open. The girl slipped under it and lay down right beside her, facing the opposite direction.
Shintia could only let out a long, deeply patient sigh.
Between school, drama, and now this, she had spent the entire day dealing with people who pushed every single one of her buttons.
The next morning, the stranger woke up, rubbing her sleep-heavy eyes. She wandered toward the kitchen, her nose catching the rich, savory aroma of home-cooked food.
Stopping her eye-rubbing, she saw Shintia standing by the dining table in her scout uniform, having just finished plating the food.
Noticing the girl, Shintia greeted her with a soft, warm smile.
"You're awake? Come eat, but wash your face and brush your teeth first."
Without a word, the girl silently obeyed Shintia's instructions.
Once she finished, she sat quietly at the table while Shintia dished out a plate of rice across from her.
The scent was mouthwatering, nothing beat local comfort food in Shintia's eyes.
The spread consisted of clear vegetable soup, fried chicken, fried tofu, and tempeh, all accompanied by a bright, freshly ground red chili sambal on the side.
While dishes like this were a daily staple in Indonesia, Shintia believed that a meal eaten alone could never truly be special.
"Do you want some soup?"
The girl shook her head no, reaching instead for a piece of fried chicken and tempe.
She dragged the chicken through the sambal, popped it into her mouth, and chewed. It should have been an ordinary, everyday meal, but the flavor was astonishingly different—every single element hit the palate at once: spicy, savory, salty, and ultra-crispy, blended in perfect harmony.
The result was an explosion of flavor. The stranger's facial expression completely betrayed how delicious it was. Eagerly, she grabbed another piece of chicken and took a bite. It tasted just as incredible, completely leagues above any regular home-cooked meal.
"This is insanely good, I swear!"
Hearing that, Shintia beamed with joy and satisfaction.
The girl devoured her food in a flash, moving with the exact same speed Celis used to display. The sight instantly brought Celis back to mind, and unbidden, a name floated into Shintia's thoughts.
"Chelya."