Chapter 41: Chapter 41

Cakra got off his bike as soon as his gaze found a car parked in front of his house. Cakra's forehead raised a deep frown, indicating that his head did not find an answer. Yes, Cakra was confused and felt there was something wrong here.

Whose car is he looking at right now? Why is it in front of his yard? Cakra thought for a moment, he didn't feel like he won the lottery and got a car as a prize. It also felt strange that his grandmother had bought the car.

"Does Inez have one?" Cakra muttered under his breath. But after he thought and remembered again, Inez's car was different from the one he saw today.

He closed his eyes. He shook his head slowly. "No, not Inez's car."

Unable to resist the curiosity that was already aroused, Cakra stepped off and parked his bicycle, before he finally strode slowly towards the main door.

There must be a guest in there, although he didn't know who it was yet. From outside, his grandmother's voice sounded like she was chatting with someone.

Taking a deep breath, Cakra grabbed the door handle, turned it slowly and carefully, then pushed it in with slightly shaking hands.

He didn't know, he suddenly felt anxious. As soon as the door slammed open, Cakra's eyes went straight to his grandmother, who was also staring at him. Not long after that, just a few seconds later, his gaze shifted to someone sitting on a chair.

For a few moments, Cakra felt that the world was spinning until it made his head dizzy. He felt that he was in a place that did not have oxygen, making it difficult for him to breathe. He also felt weak, as if his legs could no longer support his weight.

Cakra did not blink at a middle-aged man wearing a slick suit. Cakra was transfixed by a tongue that suddenly felt sticky.

As his gaze crossed with Cakra's pair of eyes, the man stood up from his seat. His gaze did not move from Cakra.

"Cakra ...." The man muttered his name, making Chakra instantly stiffen. His body suddenly felt cold, and his goosebumps bristled instantly.

The man brought his body closer, moving towards him with slow steps. The closer he got, the more he stepped back. He kept his distance as much as possible.

"Don't come any closer!" For the first time, he raised his voice as he stretched his hand forward. His lips trembled, while the man obeyed his command.

Exhaling tiredly, he looked at his grandmother, who had a look on her face that was hard to interpret.

"Grandma ..." Cakra said softly, swallowing his saliva with difficulty.

Grandmother just smiled, then instructed her grandson to take a seat on the chair, right beside her. Cakra gave the man a quick glance, before finally obeying his grandmother.

Cakra returned his attention to his grandmother, grasping her wrinkled hand. As if she understood his puzzled look, she smiled and nodded to him.

"I'll leave first," said his grandmother.

"Where are you going?"

"To the kitchen, you stay here," replied his grandmother, then the old woman lifted her body from the chair and looked at her guest. "Are you staying?"

"Oh yes, grandmother, please." The man replied politely as he bowed slightly.

Cakra now understood that his grandmother was trying to give him privacy to talk one-on-one with the man sitting opposite him, the man who somehow made Cakra hate him.

Cakra turned his face away, not wanting to look at the man.

"Cakra, how are you?"

Cakra didn't move.

"I am here to see how you are."

Hearing the man's words made Cakra immediately turn his face away. He was disturbed, his ears itched.

"I don't have a father, I only have a father, and my father is dead." Cakra replied curtly, accompanied by a low sigh that escaped his mouth. His sharp gaze made the man's face turn flat.

The man was silent for a moment, his heart hurt by Cakra's harsh words. Although he was not a biological child, the man felt very pained to accept that.

"Cakra, I am also your father."

"No," said Cakra while shaking his head. "My father is dead."

"Cakra ...."

"There's no such thing as a father who sends his child to an orphanage."

It was clear that Cakra was being sarcastic, the man understood. Very, very well. He also felt guilty about it.

"About that, I apologize, Cakra."

"Why apologize?" Cakra smiled bitterly. "You did nothing wrong, what you did was right. I'm not your son, so there's no need to apologize."

"I'm not your real father, but you're my son anyway, Cakra."

"There's no need for pleasantries." Cakra looked right into the man's eyeballs. "What are you coming here for? It's late, I'm tired, and grandma can't sleep too late."

The man didn't blame Cakra for being angry with him. It was normal, this was the first time they had met after years of hiding their faces from each other. No, rather, they had never met and didn't know each other's whereabouts. Maybe he had been looking for her for a long time, but not her.

"I came here to apologize to you. About that, I—"

"You're not my father." As Cakra cut off his stern voice, his breathing quickened, and his stomach churned. It felt like his ears were burning to hear the man before him call himself a father.

Letting out a long breath, the man nodded briefly, even though it felt strange and heavy. There was no reason to refuse him, he was afraid that his son's anger would escalate and end up kicking him out of here. No, he needed a little more time with Cakra.

"About the past, I really apologize to you. I know I was wrong, and now I want to apologize profusely to you." Pausing to take a deep breath, he said again. "I was selfish, it's not wrong if you're angry and still haven't accepted the situation. But believe me, I want to fix everything. I still consider you my son, Cakra. You can call me papa, even though I doubt you want to call me that."

"Already? Now you can get out of here."

"Cakra, I'm really sorry. I want to get along with you again."

"The door is over there." He pointed at the door with his index finger. "I can walk you out if you really don't see where the door is."

"I know it's still hard for you to accept everything, I understand Cakra. Let's fix this slowly." The man spoke softly, with no emotion involved. He then took something out of his pants pocket, pulling out a piece of paper.

"This is my number, you can call me if you have anything."

Cakra looked at the small piece of paper on the table. He had no intention of taking it. Not long after that, the man stood up from his seat. He looked at him with a smile.

"Thank you for your time, I love you. Sorry again. I'll leave first, say hello to grandma too."

Cakra did not answer, instead, he turned his face away. His eyes were already burning. The man left the house, leaving Cakra in the living room with mixed feelings. Why did the man come again after Cakra had almost forgotten him? He hated remembering the old memories. He hated that man so much that he was not willing to forgive him just like that. However, like the man said, after all, Cakra is his son.

They are bound.

One teardrop suddenly fell onto her cheek, followed by another. His chest felt tight. Cakra took a deep breath, trying to muffle the sound of her crying.

***

"Don't worry too much, your grandmother is just tired, you shouldn't work too hard or do activities that drain your energy." The doctor stopped talking for a moment, smiling a little as he looked at Cakra, who dismissed the serious look on his face.

For a moment, Cakra breathed a sigh of relief that there wasn't anything serious lodged in his grandmother's body. Cakra had panicked excessively.

"Try to make your grandmother drink a lot of water and eat fresh fruit. I've made a prescription, you just need to pay for it." A piece of paper was given to Cakra. Cakra nodded slowly while accepting the paper, reading it for a moment even though it was a little difficult.

"Thanks, Doc," said Cakra. "She can go home now, right?"

"Yes, you may," replied the young female doctor. Cakra nodded slowly, not forgetting to say thank you again, before finally standing up from his seat and stomping out of the white-painted room.

Cakra walked back to the room where his grandmother lay. His grandmother looked very weak, her face was pale, and her body was also a little hot. Because of this, Cakra felt panic, and without thinking twice, he immediately took his grandmother to the hospital. Afraid that something would happen.

After arriving, Cakra took a seat on a plastic chair as he carried his grandmother, who was lying weakly.

"How is grandma? Are you feeling better?" He asked gently as he rubbed the back of his grandmother's hand.

"I'm fine, you overreacted by bringing me here." Grandma replied with her face still pale, although not as pale as before when she was at home.

"You're sick, I'd panic if you got hurt." He gripped his grandmother's hand tightly. "I really love you, my grandmother."

Grandma smiled slightly. "Your grandma is fine."

Cakra exhaled harshly. Suddenly, the doctor's words from a few minutes ago came back to his mind. He looked deeply into his grandmother's eyes.

"Grandma, now I'm being honest with you. The doctor said you were just tired, where do you work?"

"I don't work."

"Don't lie to me." Cakra replied with a slightly wrinkled face. "Honestly, grandma, the doctor said that you move too much and do too many activities, so you get tired. You body isn't strong enough."

Grandmother was silent.

"Grandma, please answer my question."

"I work at Ms. Mul's house," she answered, finally confessing. Maybe she wouldn't have told me about this if Cakra hadn't pressed her and she hadn't been here.

Cakra was silent. His gaze didn't move away from his grandmother at all.

Feeling that she had to explain herself fully, she continued. "Grandmother does the laundry and ironing there."

"Grandma ..."

Grandma raised her hand, stroking her grandson's cheek lightly. "I only want to help you, I feel bad for you."

"Grandma, i'm not someone else, I'm your grandson. You don't need to work, you better rest at home. Let me earn the money. You don't have enough energy."

Cakra sighed loudly as he rubbed his face roughly. "From now on, I don't want you to work anymore. I'll talk to Ms. Mul later. You're not physically fit anymore. I don't want to see my grandmother sick like this again."

"I'm sorry."

Cakra gently rubbed the top of her grandmother's graying head. He smiled broadly. "As long as you promise not to work secretly anymore, I'll forgive you."

"I promise," she pleaded in a husky voice.

"Then I'll wait here for a while, I want to get some medicine first. Don't go anywhere, you're still weak."

After saying these words, Cakra swallowed harshly. Now that it was an old date, Cakra didn't have enough money to pay for his grandmother's medicine. Actually, there was still a little money left, but that was for the next week.

Cakra would think of a way he could redeem his grandmother's medicine. At least he didn't want to make his grandmother think about this money problem. He didn't want his grandmother to get sick again.

"Be careful," said his grandmother.

He smiled slightly, rose to his feet, and gave his grandmother a quick kiss on the forehead. "I'll go first, Grandma, I'll definitely come back here."

Cakra stomped out, leaving his grandmother behind. Once outside the room, the boy leaned against the wall, rubbing his face in frustration. He looked up, wondering how he could get the medicine. Grandma needed it.

Sighing heavily, he sat down on the long chair beside him. He looked at the prescription given by the doctor again.

"Cakra?"

It was strange, Cakra even heard Inez's words. Why was his brain focused on Inez? He shook his head slowly, trying to refocus his thoughts. He looked down again.

"Cakra, this is you, right?"

A gentle tap on his shoulder made him open his eyes, which had been closed for a few seconds. The boy turned his head, looked over his shoulder, then looked up.

The first thing he saw was Inez's face, who was also staring at him. No, he must have seen something wrong. There's no way Inez is here. Cakra blinked his eyes, but when he opened his eyes again, a figure that resembled Inez was still in front of him.

"No, you're definitely not Inez." He shook his head vigorously as he glared.

Inez chuckled, moved slowly, and then sat next to Cakra. "What the hell are you? You're so weird."

"So you're really Inez?"

"No, I'm Inez's spirit." Inez answered casually, but Cakra's response made Inez widen her eyes. "Don't overdo it, I'm really Inez."

"Inez?"

"Why are you so surprised? Too many coincidences have brought us together, huh? Just accept it, maybe we are soul mates." Inez gave a small grin.

Yes, what Inez said was true. That's what Cakra had in mind. Letting out a short breath, he shook his head slowly.

"What are you doing here?"

"My aunt is here, she was hospitalized yesterday. I didn't come with my mom yesterday, so I'm replacing her now." Inez answered honestly, "I'm lazy, actually, if my mom hadn't insisted, I wouldn't have come here." At the end of her sentence, Inez rolled her eyes lazily.

Cakra was silent, neither responding nor nodding, making Inez ask the same question. "Are you alone?"

Inez's question caused Cakra's focus to split. The boy didn't answer right away, but instead thought for quite a while, leaving Inez confused and feeling strange.

Cakra cleared his throat. He was already thinking about the problem of redeeming his grandmother's prescription medicine. He turned his face, watching Inez. Ignoring his embarrassment, Cakra also strengthened himself, until he finally said his sentence, which he somehow regretted after he managed to say it out.

"Nez, can I borrow your money?"

He closed his eyes, cursing himself silently. Feeling so slapped. But what else could he do? He thought this was the right thing to do. There was no way he could pay for his grandmother's medicine.

Inez did not answer. Because of that, Cakra's embarrassment piled up even more. He scratched his thick eyebrows, glancing slightly at Inez.

"If you can't—"

"How much do you need?"

Cakra blinked his eyes. "Are you serious, Nez?"

"For what, if I may know?"

"Grandma's sick, I haven't gotten paid yet. You know it's an old date. I promise I'll replace your money when I get paid. I just need a hundred and fifty thousand Nez."

"Your grandmother is sick?" Inez furrowed her brow. "What's wrong?"

"Just tired, the doctor said so."

Inez nodded in understanding, then took out her wallet from inside the sling bag she was carrying. Inez took the money according to the amount Cakra mentioned, before finally handing it to Cakra.

With great relief, Cakra took it from Inez's hand. His face looked so happy. "Thanks, Nez, I'll replace it later. I promise, and I won't forget. I will never forget about this. "Thank you very much once again."

"No need to change, just for you. You need it more."

"No, Nez, I'll change it later. It's not good to accept this. No, I don't agree." Cakra shook his head firmly.

"Then don't change it with money."

"What do you mean?"

"Be my boyfriend." Inez raised her eyebrows, while Cakra gaped. Inez smiled, before finally getting up from her seat and leaving.