BETWEEN THE SCARS

A predominantly white room, the silence so thick that the sound of clockwork can be heard dominating the room, Jessica Alviera-a psychiatrist is sitting opposite Patricia Xavier Saliem-the woman who has been her patient for the past two months.

Patricia's gaze looks uncertainly toward the table that separates the two.

Jessica, on the other hand, was looking seriously at Patricia. Fifteen minutes into the consultation session, Patricia remained silent. There was doubt written all over her face. Even though this was the second time visiting, the young woman was still reluctant to speak.

"Patricia Xavier Saliem..." The woman in the white coat called softly, making Patricia look away. "Tell me. What are you feeling?"

Patricia still didn't move. She took a deep breath, let it out. Her heart was beating faster at that moment. Images of bad memories swirled in her head, making her unable to think clearly.

There were so many things that wanted to be said as if they were fighting for a place to be heard. But in the end, Patricia could not catch anything. An agitated feeling was written in the woman's jet eyes so that it could be read in the eyes of the woman in the white coat.

"I'm... scared...," Patricia whimpered. Her chest was tight with images flashing through her head like a broken record. She could not look at Jessica in front of her.

Both eyes were still fixed on the toe of her shoe tapping on the floor, trying to shake off the irritation. "Everything... the bad events are spinning in my head. Everything... looks bad. I'm worried...."

Jessica was still waiting for Patricia's next words. She caught on like there were still many things the woman in front of her wanted to say now. But Jessica did not force her to speak.

"Tell me what you're feeling, Patricia. I will try to understand your feelings," Jessica replied, trying to calm her down.

Patricia looked at Jessica, still hesitant. Even though this was the second consultation session, she still could not say what she felt.

Patricia's chest was tight with mixed feelings after losing her mother.

Until finally Jessica reached out one of her hands to one of Patricia's hands, giving a fairly gentle stroking. More and more trying to soothe.

"I'm listening, Patricia. I want to help you. But how can I help you if you don't say anything?" Jessica spoke in a low tone, looking at Patricia gently.

As if there was a twinkle of warmth in Jessica's eyes, Patricia was momentarily stunned. "You can think of me as your other self. Try talking to my version of yourself."

Patricia removed her hand from Jessica's. She placed both hands in her lap, playing with her fingernails.

This was not as easy as she had imagined.

Patricia thinks of her mother, who suddenly died two days ago. It was a very unexpected event. In addition, Patricia remembered the man at the scene where her mother died.

After a few seconds of her dreamy look, Patricia looked at Jessica who gave her a faint smile. The more Patricia tried to explain her fear of seeing a male figure at the time of her mother's death, the more she couldn't say anything.

"You shouldn't have done that," Patricia said, looking straight at Jessica. There was a flick in her head that started the memory game.

From a feeling of indignation, she felt a tightness entering the cracks in her chest.

"Was I the cause of my mother's death?" asked Patricia.

"You blame yourself?" asked Jessica.

"It is indeed my fault, because after all... I should have saved my mother," Patricia replied, her voice shaking slightly.

"It's not your fault, Patricia. You didn't kill your mother," Jessica replied.

"But I didn't save her," Patricia argued more forcefully.

Jessica let out a long sigh as she backed away from her seat. She realized Patricia was in an unstable condition.

No matter how Jessica tried to tell Patricia, she could not calm her down enough.

"It's your fault," Jessica said, emphasizing her words a little. "Do you know what's wrong with you?"

Patricia did not answer Jessica's words. Her eyes radiated lethargy.

Jessica then answered, "Those shadows... your mistake was to keep remembering everything. Moreover, you blame yourself for your mother's death."

"I should have saved her. Otherwise, she would have survived," Patricia replied.

"What happened at the time of your mother's death? Did you witness anything disturbing?" Jessica asked, sensing something was amiss.

"I saw a man at the scene of my mom's accident. He was... just standing among the crowd, and watching... with a cold stare," Patricia said.

"And the image of that man still comes to you?" Jessica asked.

Patricia nodded in response.

There was a brief pause for Jessica to take a breath and sigh softly. "You know every human makes mistakes, and so do I," Jessica said then. "But you don't have to blame yourself. Because if you do, you'll only be tormented."

"But my mistake was fatal! My mother died that day, and I couldn't chase after a man who seemed suspicious to me!" Patricia's tone rose. The tightness had already filled the cavity.

Patricia tried to keep the tears from falling. Her expression turned uncomfortable.

"I should have gone after that man... who is that man exactly?"

"Your mother's accident was out of control, Patricia," Jessica replied.

"No, my mother's accident and death have already happened," Patricia replied.

"They attacked you? That nightmare came too?"

Instead of answering Jessica's question, Patricia looked down. In that moment, everything could no longer be avoided or held back. Her hands in her lap unconsciously interlocked, clenching hard as the worry became clearer.

Patricia shook her head, not in response to Jessica's question, but as an automatic reaction to get rid of the bad memory that had caused the upset feeling

"It's all my fault..." The words came out of Patricia's mouth after a few moments of clenching. Within seconds, something she had been holding in her eyes finally slid down her cheeks. "It's all my fault...."

Jessica looked at Patricia without another word. She let the young woman in front of her release what she had been holding in. Silence fell on both of them.

The sound of the clock's seconds reigned throughout the room. Patricia's head fell back as her shoulders began to shake. Jessica chose not to ask any questions. She shifted from her seated position to retrieve something from her bag near the table.

Jessica took something out before moving to her original position. She held out a packet of chocolates to Patricia who was still looking down at the toe of her shoe.

"Everyone's angry, but that doesn't mean it's your fault," Jessica said, quietly and carefully. She was still trying to calm Patricia down. "I heard chocolate can help you feel better. Don't hold it in, let out your anxious feelings."

Patricia looked at the packet of chocolates, then at Jessica who gave her a curved smile. Just then, Patricia felt her tightness getting looser. She looked straight at Jessica.

The drops from her eyes fell harder and harder. Never before had Patricia received such a warm look. Jessica said nothing, nor did she give her a strange look.

"I want to find the person who killed my mother."

***

Patricia's shoes fell off at an inopportune moment!

Patricia hissed in annoyance, then ended up laughing maniacally. How could she be in such a bad mood, her shoes made her mood even worse. She then scrunched her waist staring in disbelief at the toe of her shoe.

"Duh, umpteenth bad luck..." Patricia muttered after sighing. This wasn't a dream, and it really was bad luck coming down on her.

Now, Patricia was confused. She was annoyed but she couldn't just stay silent.

Finally, with a shuffling step because the bottom of her shoe was broken, she walked from where she stood. When her irritation was at its peak, she looked around.

Patricia's gaze fell on the lighted sign with the name of the supermarket a few meters ahead. Her smile curved as an idea struck her.

Still shuffling along, Patricia tried to walk as normally as possible while closing the open toe of her shoe. As much as possible, Patricia did not show her grimacing face.

Although in truth it probably wouldn't be that noticeable to people on the sidewalk because the night conditions were not as bright as the morning.

Unfortunately, the reflection of the lights from several poles along the sidewalk could create the risk of those pairs of eyes seeing Patricia's broken shoe. Where would she put her face if those people saw her later?

Patricia was sure they must have been laughing.

After a long walk down the sidewalk, the supermarket building finally came into view before her eyes. The grin on the woman's face turned into relief. Patricia almost intended to no longer hold her shuffling steps.

Patricia's steps came to a halt when her eyeballs caught sight of a taxi parked on the supermarket grounds, positioned so far to the side that it almost crossed the boundary between the sidewalk and the parking lot.

"Ah, what if he sees me walking like this? He'll laugh at me!" Patricia muttered.

A man of the same age got out of the taxi followed by an older man-Patricia guessed he was the driver. A rough sigh escaped her, which meant she had to abandon her intention to walk without pretending. Her legs were already sore from standing on tiptoe to avoid the gravel on the sidewalk!

Even so, with a scowl on her face, Patricia continued to walk past the two men. Slowly and ignoring what they were talking about, Patricia tried not to look at them.

Patricia pretended to walk normally while closing the broken part of her shoe. She realized that the lights of the supermarket building were very bright, calculating that it was likely that the man and the driver could see her shoe that was broken quite wide.

How embarrassing.

Unfortunately before Patricia could pass the man and the driver, the man noticed her. The two briefly met eyes before Patricia looked away, pretending not to see. Suddenly Patricia was worried that the man had seen her pretending to be normal. But even so, Patricia kept walking.

However, life is often unpredictable and not according to human wishes.

Someone tapped her on the shoulder from behind. Patricia's body jerked, suddenly turning her head with a panicked face. She saw the young man standing looking straight into her eyes. His expression did not show the slightest friendliness.

"Are you alright? What happened to your leg?"

Patricia's face scrunched up as her tactics were revealed. Slightly stammering, she replied, "A-ah, no, it's..."

Patricia paused to think of a plausible answer. "...because there's a rock in my shoe."

"Really?" The man looked in astonishment at Patricia's shoe.

It was hard to come up with a plausible answer in an embarrassing situation like this. Patricia secretly cursed her own lips for making such a ridiculous excuse.

The man frowned uncertainly. Patricia could tell he was definitely not convinced. As a result, one of Patricia's feet was hidden behind the other, covering the broken part behind the shoe that was still fine.

"I think something happened to you," the man said with a brief nod at last.

Patricia's reply was a smile. Her body was busy keeping her balance so as not to daze to the side. The man then walked away, and Patricia let out a sigh of relief.

"It's okay. You can go now," Patricia said while restraining herself from grimacing.

Immediately one of her legs that had been hidden behind the other leg was taken out. Patricia looked at the bottom of the gaping toe of her shoe, exhaling as if to get rid of her irritation.

Patricia did not realize that the man had silently turned his head, watching her inspect the shoe. That was not his concern, but the open toe of her shoe.

The man noticed Patricia's broken shoe.

At that moment, Patricia's head snapped up and she was wide-eyed to see the man watching her. That gaze seemed to be asking: since when did you notice me?

And then the man sighed as he put both hands in his pants pockets, waiting for Fira to walk towards him. This time her walk was not normal.

"Something happened to you, you're lying," the man said as Patricia got closer until she was two steps ahead of him.

"Hey, stop it. Don't do anything. I'm not lying-"

"Your leg is hurt," said the man who noticed the blisters on Patricia's leg.

Only then could Patricia no longer dodge. She flinched. Intending not to respond to the man - she remembered that they had just met - she walked past.

"Don't force yourself to walk, you'll hurt your leg even more," the man said, then looked at Fira who didn't seem to care about his words. The man's eyes darted around, checking the seats, then raised one hand as a signal for Patricia to stop walking.

"Sit on those benches over there. Let me go inside," he said in a tone as if he didn't want any argument.

Patricia's steps stopped. Their eyes met Patricia's lazy ones.

"What are you going to do?" asked Patricia.

"I have something to buy. I'm uncomfortable seeing you walking around like that."

Patricia snorted softly as she looked away.

"I can do it myself," said Patricia, who was about to move on.

But the man chuckled and instead followed suit, standing in front of Patricia, walking backwards. His index finger was pointed at Patricia's shoe.

"Don't act strong in this situation," the man grumbled.

Before Patricia could reply, the man had already turned around and was running a short distance into the supermarket building. Meanwhile, Patricia slowly slowed down. Her face looked both astonished and stunned as she watched the man's back.

Even Patricia still didn't understand why the man suddenly approached her and acted as if they knew each other?

For a moment, Patricia thought of something. When the man went inside the supermarket, Patricia frowned. Why wasn't the man laughing at all?

"Who is that guy exactly?"

[JOHN, MY DEAR]

[I'll come to the festival soon]

Patricia let out a rough breath after reading the message from John, her boyfriend. They had made an appointment to meet at the festival. John should have already arrived, but now half an hour had passed.

"I don't know how long the limit is for someone to squat down and block other shoppers."

Patricia felt like drowning her face right now. She was already

After the embarrassing shoe drop incident earlier, Patricia made a second embarrassing move.

Having just arrived at one of the indoor shops at the Book Festival, Patricia embarrassed herself by squatting in front of a shelf and not realizing that there was someone waiting behind her.

"Are you still looking for your book?"

Patricia was dumbfounded that the man in front of her now was the man who bought her sandals. A.k.a., the man who watched her shoes fall off like a fool!

"Ah, gosh, I'm sorry," Patricia said and quickly stood up.

"I didn't think we'd meet here again," the man said without any expression. "How are the sandals I gave you? Do they fit your feet?"

Patricia looked down at the sandals the man in front of her had given her. Awkwardly, she smiled and nodded her head.

"Yes, they fit. I don't feel awkward in these sandals," Patricia replied.

"But you are awkward to me," the man replied, unceremoniously standing back to Patricia to look at the books on the shelf.

Patricia was confused. But soon she chose to step into the outdoor section of the bookstore. She sat on one of the benches with her back to the stranger.

She covered one side of her face, muttering hopefully so that the man would not look at her.

"Ah, I'm really unlucky today. Why-"

Patricia's speech stopped when her eyes accidentally saw a familiar figure. A few meters away from her, there was John walking with a woman.

Patricia repeatedly tried to blink her eyes and sharpen her vision, hoping that the man there was not John. However, Patricia clearly saw John's posture facing her while looking around.

The problem was, John had his arm around the waist of the woman beside him!

"John?" asked Patricia, who was both shocked and surprised.

Patricia grabbed her cell phone and dialed John's number. At that moment, she watched and waited. Not long after, the man who resembled John appeared to pick up the cell phone and take her call.

"Oh, dear. I was just about to call you..."

Patricia's body froze because the man resembling John was indeed John. Why did his girlfriend come with another woman?!

"I was going to tell you that I can't come to the book festival. I don't know why my body is hurting. So I'm going to rest at home."

Patricia gritted her teeth. She knew John was lying. The disappointment pounded in her chest and she could only flinch for a few seconds.

This was not something Patricia had expected.

Why would John lie to her to be with another woman? Even when John knew Patricia had just experienced the death of her mother.

"Ah, well," Patricia replied in a lethargic voice. "You can rest at home. We won't see each other again."

"What do you mean, Patricia? We can-"

Tut, tut, tut.

Patricia switched off the phone call unilaterally. Her gaze was still on John who looked confused at the cell phone, but then she looked at the woman beside him.

Without guilt, John then embraced the woman and invited her to walk. Meanwhile, the curious Patricia finally moved to follow John.

Patricia's steps moved very quickly after John and the strange woman there. She slipped between the crowds of festival-goers. As her steps approached John, her hand gripped the cell phone very tightly.

When she was a few steps behind John, Patricia could hear the sound of their conversation.

"Honey, I'm so happy that you complied with my request. I think my love for you is growing."

"I'm doing this because I love you more, darling," John answered her gently.

Patricia gritted her teeth after realizing John was indeed having an affair.

"Hey, asshole man!" Patricia immediately cursed while hitting John's head using her sling bag.

Suddenly John and the woman beside him were shocked. John groaned, almost wanting to curse, but he was momentarily stunned at Patricia's presence.

"Patricia? Are you crazy?!" John asked, noticing the bag in Patricia's hand.

"This is what you call wanting to rest at home, huh? You're with another woman?!" Patricia cursed while glaring at John.

John was still grimacing with an exasperated expression and stroking his own head.

"Honey, who is this woman?" asked the woman beside John.

Without taking his eyes off Patricia, John replied, "She's just a crazy woman, I don't know her, dear."

Patricia felt her heart throbbing with pain at that moment.

"What, a crazy woman? Okay, I'm a crazy woman. But what do you call a man who's with another woman when he's engaged?!" Patricia cursed at John again.

John laughed sarcastically.

"Woah, I think I made the right decision to start avoiding you, Patricia. Thankfully, I don't have to go to the trouble of finding excuses not to spend time with you anymore," John replied.

Patricia's eyebrows furrowed, both surprised and shocked that John would say that.

"What do you mean, you've been planning this for a long time?" asked a dumbfounded Patricia.

John nodded his head. "Of course. I felt I didn't need to stay with you for long. The longer it goes on, the more burdened I feel."

"Burdened?" Patricia mentioned the word, then laughed sarcastically again. "Oh my. What am I burdening you with? I'm even paying for my life-"

"Who would want to date a crazy woman like you?" John asked, cutting Patricia off.

Patricia was silent for an instant.

"You've always been moody, sad, and you've been going to the psychologist repeatedly. Being in a relationship with you is exhausting!" John snapped.

Patricia could not move. However, she still responded with a sardonic smile.

"Men are bastards!" Patricia finally snapped.

At that moment, Patricia threw her sling bag at John. Her anger was overflowing. Patricia was furious and did not stop even though John tried to parry her punches.

Until then, Patricia's hand was suddenly held from behind by someone. Patricia jerked slightly, looked back, then was surprised to see the man who gave her the sandals.

"Stop it. Don't do anything embarrassing," the man said.

Patricia furrowed her brow. "What are you doing? It's none of your business."

With no regard for Patricia, the man let go of her hand and stood beside her. The man's gaze was fixed on John.

"I don't know who you are. But cursing and insulting women in public is not the act of a gentleman," the man said.

John frowned. "Hey, I don't know who you are either. The woman next to you is the one you should be reprimanding! She hit me!"

"There's action and reaction. You started insulting her, she was just protecting herself," the man replied.

John laughed sarcastically and looked away. He looked at Patricia and the stranger with a suspicious gaze.

"Oh, you two have a special relationship?" John asked.

Patricia frowned. "Why are you accusing me?"

"Well, you're mad at me for having an affair. It turns out you had an affair first!" accused John.

"Watch your language!" Patricia pointed at John.

"This woman and I have no relationship-"

"Don't pretend you don't know each other! You guys have been in a relationship behind my back for a long time! Gosh, I didn't think I'd made the right decision to break up with that bitch-"

PLAK!

Patricia slapped John before he could finish his sentence.

"I didn't realize you had no conscience. Fine. We're going our separate ways, but I'm not a bitch! I'm not like you who's so cheap for having an affair!"

John immediately glared in surprise and anger.

Before John could say anything, Patricia walked out of his presence. Patricia didn't care about John calling her repeatedly.

She didn't even care about the strange man who was holding her back.

***

Patricia just realized that she didn't know the man's name. Either because they were too deep in conversation that they forgot to introduce themselves to each other. Patricia realized that after moving away from the indoor bookstore.

But that's how it always is at the Book Festival: there will be people she doesn't expect to come along for the ride, even if they don't always stay with her in the end. That happens in life too, doesn't it?

Patricia's footsteps had passed by several shops, food courts and coffee shops, but none of them had caught her attention. The music still echoed through the Book Festival.

All this time, Patricia was wandering around to see where to go next. Until her gaze stopped at one of the shops with a tent roof. There was a box of some kind and some books were placed there. One table, in the center, indicated the genre of the novel.

Impatient, Patricia stepped into the place that made her curious. The store was crowded inside-more precisely on the shelves, people her age or older were looking around.

Patricia stopped at a table-like box in the center, looking at the books placed neatly and sequentially on it.

She wanted to squat down but decided against it-remembering the humiliating

that was so embarrassing. As a result, she bent down slightly, reading the titles more closely.

Wait.

Norwegian Wood?!

Patricia's gaze immediately stopped on one of the books placed in the right corner position-while she was standing on the left side.

She paused for a few seconds to look at the red-bound book. As she remembered, the red-bound book was the English version, and there weren't many available anymore. Having it here made her eyes light up.

Patricia took a step toward the book, but someone from who knows where walked quickly to where she wanted to go.

What the hell?

The man immediately snatched the already tempting Norwegian Wood book.

When the book was picked up, Patricia widened her eyes because it was the last stock on the table! Her shoulders seemed to slump. Her heart sank. She just looked at the red book that was already in the man's grasp.

There was a small crackle. Patricia exhaled and looked away. But for some reason, she felt familiar with the man.

"Isn't that man the one who watched me fight earlier?" muttered Patricia.

Looking again carefully from the side, his posture and face were very similar to the man at the supermarket who bought her sandals.

Unfortunately, with so many people watching, Patricia had to keep her eyes peeled for the man who had snatched her book. She decided to go deeper into the shelves.

Just as Patricia was about to turn around and leave, someone's voice made her body stiffen.

"Wait, wait."

Patricia turned around to see who was speaking. In that instant, her eyes widened because the man holding the Norwegian Wood book was the man she had met at the supermarket earlier. Surprisingly only Patricia gave a reaction of surprise.

"You again?!" Patricia pointed in surprise.

The man moved with a calm face as if they hadn't met before. Patricia became reluctant to show a surprised reaction. When the silence between them was over, the man thrust the red-bound Norwegian Wood book in his hand at Patricia.

"Do you want this book?" The man asked with both eyebrows raised.

"What do you mean?"

"You're the woman whose shoe broke in the supermarket earlier, right? And the woman who was cheated on-"

"Don't say anything about my relationship incident!" Patricia cut in.

"Ah, well," the man replied with a brief nod. "I just wanted to give you something. Consider it my consolation that you were cheated on-"

"I told you not to say anything about my relationship!" cut in Patricia.

The man nodded as he snapped his fingers. "That's right. I just remembered. I'm sorry. But, you have to accept my gift."

The man showed Patricia the book Norwegian Wood. While Patricia looked at the book with an eager look. Her desire to own the book became fierce.

"Oh, you don't want it?"

Without waiting for Patricia's consent, especially since she showed no sign of reacting, the man held the book at his side. There was no expression whatsoever. His face looked like a loan shark.

"Alright. I'll be going."

As if feeling no guilt after breaking someone's expectations, the man turned around and waltzed out of Fira's presence.

Where she stood, Patricia watched as the man's back grew farther away. Both her shoulders relaxed. Something inside her felt cracked. This was even more painful than a broken heart-even though Patricia had never actually experienced heartbreak.

As a result, after lamenting the departure of her dream book with another owner, Patricia let out a rough breath.

"Forced to look elsewhere, or should I look for another book?" she muttered to herself.

Unwilling to dwell on her broken expectations, Patricia strode languidly towards the interior of the outdoor store. Surrounding several shelves while looking through various types of books, ranging from comics, non-fiction, fantasy books, and cooking recipes-for this book Patricia didn't know why she was interested in opening it despite her lack of cooking skills.

"Mr. Bram, are you done?"

While walking, the man with the name Bram gasped and immediately turned his eyes towards his secretary. Bram was a bit stunned for a moment, then he laughed awkwardly.

"Oh, I'm done with my business. Did you wait long for me?" Bram asked.

The man in front of Bram nodded his head.

"I've finished monitoring the results of the survey of public interest in our magazine," said Yoshua, Bram's secretary.

Bram looked at Yoshua curiously. Although part of him was still thinking about the situation of the woman who had fought over her lover's infidelity earlier.

"So, what did you find?" asked Bram.

Yoshua showed his tablet which contained data on consumer interest for Bram's fashion company magazine. For a few moments, Yoshua briefly explained the results Bram needed.

Bram just nodded his head repeatedly as he listened to Yoshua's explanation.

"...so maybe we can extend the production of magazines like this. Because it seems, consumers are more interested in this magazine model," Yoshua ended his explanation.

"Do you know who writes this magazine?" asked Bram.

"In this magazine, the writer uses a pseudonym. But I'll try to find out who this pseudonym belongs to at the AlbayFashion company," Yoshua replied later.

Bram nodded in agreement as he tapped Yoshua briefly on the shoulder.

"Good job. I'll be waiting for your next report," Bram replied.

"All right, Mr. Bram. But... what were you doing earlier? You seem to be thinking about something right now," Yoshua said as he watched Bram's face.

Bram was instantly a bit embarrassed after Yoshua apparently noticed his agitation.

"Ah, this... I was actually thinking about..." Bram stopped talking, he didn't know what alibi to give.

Bram could not understand the affair he had witnessed earlier. He had never seen such an incident in a place like the Book Festival.

Besides, since when did someone have an affair at the Book Festival?

"Let's talk somewhere else, Yoshua," Bram replied later.

Joshua agreed with Bram before they walked to one of the restaurants. Bram chose an outdoor seat with a view of the entire outlet building, while Yoshua chose to order food.

After Yoshua said goodbye to walk to order food, Bram occasionally looked around. At that moment, Bram actually remembered the affair he witnessed a few minutes ago. He did not expect that he would witness such an incident.

"Who would expect to witness their lover having an affair at a book festival?" muttered Bram who couldn't help but smile.

Even so, Bram also thought about how the woman felt-who, unfortunately, Bram forgot to ask what her name was.

"What are you thinking about, Mr. Bram?"

Bram's gaze shifted to Yoshua who had just arrived with two drinks. Bram instantly came to his senses and changed his sitting position to look like he wasn't thinking about something.

"No, I'm not. I was just... thinking about how to strategize selling the magazine," Bram replied briefly and lied.

Joshua frowned. "Why are you thinking about that? Our magazine is already getting a lot of enthusiasm, but... it's not much more than the magazine from the fashion company I told you about earlier."

Bram immediately let out a long sigh. "Ah... right. I was just wondering who wrote that magazine until it got its third reprint," he replied with a thoughtful expression.

Bram wasn't entirely lying. Besides thinking about the woman who had been cheated on at the festival, he was also very curious about the magazine Yoshua had told him about.

As the CEO of a well-known fashion company, Bram really wanted his company's magazine sales to increase rapidly. That was why Bram was thinking about who wrote the magazine for the AlbyFashion company.

"Do you want me to contact the editorial department of AlbyFashion now?" Yoshua asked.

"No, you don't have to call right now," Bram replied quickly. "I just feel very curious."

Yoshua then replied, "You seem very curious. I can find out who the author of the magazine is right away."

"If you insist, then go ahead and do it," Bram finally replied.

Yoshua immediately nodded his head and picked up his cell phone. At that moment Yoshua seemed to be fiddling with his cell phone to find the phone contact of the editor-in-chief of the AlbyFashion company.

Yoshua waited for a few seconds, before finally picking up the phone and saying, "Hello, Mr. Petra. I am very interested in the new magazine you have published. Can I find out who the author is? This is Mr. Bram's request."

For a few seconds Joshua seemed to be listening seriously, he looked directly at Bram. Gradually his enthusiastic smile broadened.

"Ah, all right. I will be very happy if you do that, thank you," Yoshua replied.

Bram then looked at Yoshua who had finished the call.

"How did it go?" Bram asked.

Yoshua said, "They will send me who wrote the magazine."

Bram cracked a smile. "Thank goodness. Send me who wrote it, I just want the magazine writers in our company to learn from it."

"Very well, Mr. Bram," Joshua replied. "But, are you sure you don't have anything else in mind?"

Bram's long murmur rang out. There was no more sound. Because Bram was focused on thinking, Yoshua frowned because he felt something was off about Bram's gesture. After a few seconds, Bram leaned back and folded his hands before turning his gaze to Yoshua.

Bram looked unsure as he said to Yoshua, "Have you ever come across any instances of infidelity, Yoshua?"

Suddenly Yoshua coughed after hearing Bram's question. He was surprised that Bram would suddenly ask that.

Then, after the choking cough had subsided slowly, Yoshua's panicked expression appeared.

"Did you just get cheated on, Mr. Bram?" Yoshua asked.

Bram chuckled. "How can I be cheated on if I don't have a girlfriend?"

"But why are you asking that?"

Although Bram was stricken with embarrassment at having to ask something that confused him, he replied, "Actually, I witnessed an incident of infidelity a few hours ago."

Joshua raised an eyebrow, looked at Bram with an astonished look, after which he almost smiled with laughter. He casually took a sip of his drink first before finally giving Bram a curious look.

"Where did that happen?"

"Here, someone I know-no, I don't really know him. Just had some accidental experiences," Bram explained.

"I never witnessed that. Who was cheated on? The woman or the man-"

"The woman."

Instantly Yoshua gave Bram a teasing smile.

"Wow, did you just get acquainted with a woman, Mr. Bram?"

Bram turned his gaze sharply to Yoshua. He had expected Yoshua's reaction to be like this. Therefore, he had been hesitant to ask about the affair he had witnessed. However, if he didn't ask, Bram's curiosity would have been agonizing.

Bram finally sighed. "Not acquainted in the context of romance, Yoshua Only accidentally met, but I witnessed his girlfriend having an affair here."

"Here?" asked Yoshua, then sighed heavily. "Ah, that poor woman. She must not be feeling very well."

"That's why I'm asking you. Does it hurt a lot to watch your lover cheat on you?"

"Of course," Joshua replied quickly. "Oh my. You've never been in a relationship, Mr. Bram."

Bram rubbed the back of his neck. "That's right, I've never been in a relationship. I don't know how people feel."

"So, what do you want to do? Do you want to do something nice for her?"

"Why would I do that? I'm just curious how he feels."

Yoshua smiled meaningfully. "Oh my. You're so caring, but so prestigious. You should have done something if you asked her how she felt."

This time, Bram did not want to fall for Yoshua's persuasion when he said that. It seemed impossible for Bram to do something to comfort someone he had just met, right?

How strange.

"No way," Bram refused. "He'll think all sorts of weird things if I do that. After all, she must have her own way of healing her feelings."

"Ah, you're so cruel and heartless," Joshua commented.

Bram frowned while glaring disapprovingly. "I'm not like that. At least I questioned how she felt. I didn't want to do more because we just met."

Yoshua just shook his head when Bram said that. It wasn't long before Yoshua saw a notification pop up on his cell phone. He then took the phone and saw who sent the message.

After finding out that it was Mr. Petra, the editor-in-chief of the AlbyFashion company, Yoshua enthusiastically showed it to Bram.

"Mr. Bram, take a look!" Yoshua said as he held up the screen of his phone. "Mr. Petra sent who wrote... wait, a woman?"

Bram frowned. After a few seconds of Yoshua sending what he had received from Mr. Petra, he looked at his phone.

Bram was wide-eyed.

"The writer of the magazine at that company is the woman I witnessed her boyfriend cheating on her with?"

***

FIREWORKS DISPLAY

(Take your seats and watch!)

[The splendor of fireworks

takes place at the Book Festival

tonight!"]

Now Bram and Yoshua's attention was fully focused on the contents of the flyer. When the cashier told him the total price of the book, instead of answering, Bram asked the cashier a question in return.

"Is this event here?" Bram asked without averting his gaze.

"Oh, right, sir. There's a fireworks display at twelve o'clock in the evening," the female cashier explained. "During the Book Festival, it's rare to include a fireworks display."

Bram nodded in understanding at the cashier's explanation. After paying and smiling briefly as a gesture of thanks, Bram looked at the clock on his wrist.

There's still fifteen minutes left, he said to himself.

There was curiosity sparked in his chest at the thought of what the fireworks display would be like.

"Would you like to watch this, Mr. Bram?" asked Joshua.

Bram nodded. "Maybe we should watch this before we go home. It's exhausting to go home and see work again."

Yoshua just nodded in compliance with Bram's request. After that they had only taken three steps away from the tented bookstore, but something stopped them. Bram's pair of irises accidentally caught sight of a woman he knew very well.

That's the woman whose boyfriend was cheating on her and a magazine writer at fashion company AlbyFashion!

"Yoshua, I'm going to someone, you can wait somewhere else," Bram said to Yoshua.

Yoshua didn't have time to answer when Bram took one of the drinks that was still sealed in his hand. Then Bram gave him some money.

"Buy it.

Bram looked at the milky coffee drink in his hand, then looked at the person there. A woman who seemed to be stepping rather clumsily while occasionally tightening the straps of her backpack. As if she was wary of being stalked by who knows what. She didn't realize Bram was here. And Bram didn't expect that either.

Turning away from that thought, Bram sighed and resumed his delayed steps. Bram decided to make a detour to one of the confectionery food courts. No matter what, if there was candy, Bram would hunt it down!

***

In front of a fairly large building, Patricia was stunned. It had been three minutes since she had filled in the visitor's list for the poetry theater performance, and her body only froze at the size of the building and the excitement of the visitors moving towards the entrance. A sign was displayed on a medium-sized board: Welcome to the Night of Silence.

Patricia shuddered slightly. Actually, she didn't know what kind of performance the poetry and theater communities would be putting on.

But from the outside, she could see a bit of the inside of the building, dark without any lights. Patricia immediately thought of horror movies. Unfortunately, it was impossible because this was not a movie theater. Or do the performances inside include elements of horror?

Patricia sighed. Not wanting to guess too much, she finally moved her feet towards the door of the building. The distance between the queue to fill in the visitor list and the entrance was quite far. The courtyard was filled with several teenagers who were busy taking pictures, who knows what for, and Patricia didn't care.

Her eyes were only on the building as she walked. As if mesmerized by the thoughts of what would be found inside. She shuddered a little, but on the other hand, her curiosity had peaked.

When they arrived at the entrance, the darkness of the building became clearer. Patricia gawked a little inside. She was even more stunned to find that there were two paths that seemed to be quite long-as long as there was no visible light at the end, Patricia believed that the dark path must be long.

A rough sigh could be heard again.

"Well, this isn't even more horrifying than watching John have an affair in this place. But why do I feel horrible?" muttered Patricia.

There was a split second for Patricia to consider whether to go inside or would it be better to abort?

Unfortunately, this kind of performance is rare.

Especially since the Book Festival is only held once a year.

More and more people went inside. Patricia's body moved out of the way to avoid being knocked over. She could have followed the visitors. But all the visitors went through both lanes - surprisingly, there were so many visitors who exited the building through both lanes, making the incoming and outgoing visitors mixed. While busy gawking inside, considering the darkness, Patricia felt like retreating!

"Are you happy being in the middle and blocking someone?"

Someone's voice jolted Patricia into consciousness. Immediately turning her head, Patricia was stunned for a moment to see a familiar man standing behind her. No expression gave Patricia goosebumps. The slight frown on Patricia's face indicated awkwardness. She hurriedly stepped aside to make way with her gaze already diverted.

Meanwhile, the man moved forward without looking at Patricia. But already embarrassed, Patricia moved her face in the opposite direction of the man, intending to cover her embarrassment. But unfortunately, the man stopped after realizing that she was still where she stood. He turned around to face Patricia, looking at her in surprise for a few seconds.

"Until when?"

Patricia looked up, seeing the man in front of her giving her a straight, piercing stare.

"Huh? What... do you mean?" asked Patricia. "Hey, why are you here too? Are you following me?"

Bram couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not following you. What for?"