At 12:53.

There were only 12 students left in the garden—including Anindya and Desy. They were both lying down, playing with their phones.

"Moo!... Why hasn't he replied to my message yet?! I already sent him an angry message!" Anindya said, annoyed.

Desy, lying next to her, just glanced at her briefly, then sighed. Without saying much, she took her earphones from her jacket pocket and quickly put them on—hoping to avoid Anindya's interruption—who was likely to start nagging.

"I'll just call!" Anindya said.

Anindya looked at her phone screen, pressed the call icon, and began calling Julian.

Back to Julian's side, At 12:51.

Julian was thinking in front of the gate—still unsure of how to respond.

"What should I say to him?" Julian asked with a confused expression.

Julian, with a relaxed expression, began to think—gesturing with his right hand on his chin.

"Should I say I just got home? But if I say it like that, the answer will definitely be..." Julian thought to himself.

Julian began to imagine Anindya's response.

"... 'HAAAH?! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! WHY HAVE YOU JUST GOT HOME AT THIS TIME?!'" Julian thought to himself, imagining Anindya's angry voice.

Julian thought for two minutes—when exactly two minutes had passed, his phone suddenly rang. He stopped thinking and looked at the screen—it was Anindya.

"Ohh Shitt!... She's calling me!!" Julian muttered in panic.

Julian swallowed hard, as he was about to take the most dangerous risk.

"I-I should just turn off my phone" Julian said, his tone audible.

Julian started holding the power button—selecting the power off button—and the phone began to deactivate.

"Phew~... This way I'm safe—at least for now" Julian said, wiping away a bit of sweat from his forehead.

Julian straightened up and started opening the gate to his house.

At Anindya's side.

Anindya was still staring at her phone—which showed Julian had reject her call. Anindya's gaze began to turn blank and gave off an intimidating aura.

"JUST LOOK AT JULIAN... WHEN I COME TO YOUR HOUSE, I'LL BEAT YOU UP!!!" Anindya muttered softly, her voice deep, her expression blank, but the veins on her forehead visible.

Luckily, Desy was playing on her phone while playing music at high volume, so she didn't hear or see Anindya's expression.

Back to Julian's side.

"I'm home!" Julian shouted softly as he walked into the house.

Julian, already at the entrance, tried to open the door, but it was locked. He pressed the smart doorbell attached to the left wall to the left of the door to alert his mother.

Sekar, who was eating snacks while watching a drama, reached for her phone and tapped on the notification—which came from a smart doorbell app.

"Yeah, who is it~?" Sekar asked into the smart doorbell microphone.

Julian, hearing this, leaned his face toward the small camera on the smart doorbell and shouted into the speaker—located below the camera.

"I-it's me, Julian... open the door, Mom" Julian replied cautiously.

Sekar stopped eating her snack and turned down the volume on her TV.

"Julian?... Why are you home at this hour?" Sekar asked into the microphone, her voice high-pitched.

"Anyway, I'll explain later, but open the door first" Julian replied nervously.

Sekar closed the app, then put her phone back on the table and walked toward the entrance. Julian, hearing his mother's footsteps, straightened up. The sound of the door lock turning could be heard clearly from behind the wooden door.

"Click!"

The door was unlocked—but it didn't open.

"I-I don't know why I feel an intimidating aura behind the door..." Julian muttered with a flat expression.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! QUICKLY OPEN THE DOOR!" Sekar said from behind the door, her voice deep.

Julian's body immediately tensed—his expression stiff, like a soldier who had just received orders from a war general.

"Y-yes, Ma'am!" he said quickly.

Julian swallowed, then his right hand slowly reached for the door handle—swinging the handle downward—the door opened, and he began to push it slowly, saying

"I-I'm home—"

Julian stopped talking when he saw his mother—Sekar—standing with her arms crossed over her chest, her eyebrows lowered, her gaze sharp, her body enveloped in an intimidating aura, and an expression that said 'I-want-an-explanation-now!'. Julian immediately stood stiff in the doorway.

"I-I'm home, Mom, hehe" Julian said with an awkward laugh.

"Welcome...!" Sekar replied in a heavy voice.

"So... WHY ARE YOU HOME AT THIS TIME?! WHY IS YOUR ENTIRE UNIFORM DIRTY?! AND WHY IS YOUR ENTIRE FACE COVERED IN BANDAGES?!" Sekar shouted.

Julian immediately flinched slightly with a shocked expression. The atmosphere was silent for two minutes. Julian swallowed hard, steeled his resolve, and answered.

"I-I fell down the stairs, Mom..." Julian replied softly but clearly.

"FELL DOWN THE STAIRS?!, IF YOU FALL DOWN THE STAIRS—HOW CAN YOU GET YOUR ENTIRE FACE COVERED IN BANDAGES!?" Sekar shouted.

"C-Calm down, Mom. I fell down the stairs because...because..." Julian said nervously, his eyes darting from side to side, trying to find an excuse.

"Ah!," Julian muttered, already finding an excuse.

"... Because my shoelace came loose and my face hit the floor, so it's a bit bruised" Julian replied, trying to win his mother over.

"Hmm... Really?!... not because of another fight with your senior or a student from another school?!" Sekar asked, her voice still angry and her gaze suspicious.

Julian began to unwrap the bandage on his right cheek—though his right hand was trembling, worried that a scratch would be visible. As he unwrapped the bandage, he gently felt the entire surface of his right cheek.

"See?! There's no scratch—just a bruise" Julian said, showing the wound.

Sekar walked over to Julian to take a closer look.

"Hmm... there really isn't a scratch" Sekar said with a suspicious look.

Julian breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, why is your arm bandaged?" Sekar asked.

Julian had already prepared an answer for that.

"It's because I accidentally scratched myself on the tip of a nail embedded in the table—while the school staff were moving the damaged tables to the shed" Julian replied.

"Maa~!!!... How could that happen?! If so, the school should be responsible!" Sekar said with a shocked expression, her fingers covering her mouth.

"Don't worry, mom, they've treated me" Julian replied proudly.

"Thank goodness..." Sekar said, breathing a sigh of relief.

Sekar straightened up again.

"So, why did you come home? It was just a simple wound" Sekar asked, confused.

"Th-that's because I have a fever from the wound on my arm," Julian replied nervously.

"Huh?! How can a fever come from a small wound?" Sekar said, confused.

"N-never mind, the point is, I've been treated, and the health teacher told me to rest at home so I can get better soon" Julian said, walking past Sekar.

"...And one more thing, next time lock the gate—not just the entrance!" Julian continued as he walked.

Julian walked to his room.

"Women... when they get suspicious... they really dig deep and it's hard to escape, huh..." Julian muttered, walking towards his room with a troubled expression.

Sekar, seeing this, felt suspicious. She returned to the lounge to grab her phone and call the school. She turned it on and searched for the school's contact information. But before she could call, she received a WhatsApp message from Lia—who claimed to be the guidance and counseling teacher and representative of the principal. The message is:

"Our warmest greetings to Julian Omega's parents. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Lia, the Guidance and Counseling teacher representing the Principal. With great empathy, we express our deep regret and concern for Julian's accident. As a form of our responsibility and concern, the school will provide compensation of Rp10,000,000.00 to the family."

Sekar was surprised to see the message and quickly replied.

"Warmest greetings from me. I'm Julian's mother. I appreciate the school's concern and responsibility, but... isn't that amount too large for a minor injury?" Sekar replied in the chat.

Lia immediately replied within a minute.

"It's okay, ma'am. This money is our apology. It was our carelessness that caused Julian to be injured by the nail," Lia replied in the chat.

"If you would, we would like your bank number so we can transfer the money to you" Lia continued in the chat.

With a still-shocked expression, Sekar immediately gave her account number to the school.

~To be continued~

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