LOGINA mirror can never lie, and tonight, the giant floor-length glass in the corner of the apartment bedroom seemed to be screaming right in Bima’s face.Bima stood frozen, wearing nothing but a pair of dark jeans that weren't fully buttoned at the waist. Under the dim, warm glow of the bedroom lamp, his pale skin stood in stark contrast to the purplish-red blotches decorating his neck, collarbone, and running down to his chest. Those weren't just marks; they were a progressive map of the absolute power Arka had been asserting over these past few weeks—layering new marks over the ones left in the ground-floor sports storage room, and the intense birthday marks from Chapter 20. Bima touched his own throat, feeling his pulse still racing wildly beneath his fingertips."Do you see that, Bim? Beautiful, isn't it?"The deep, raspy voice emerged from the darkness behind him. Arka stepped into the mirror's frame. He wasn't wearing a shirt, only black basketball shorts hanging low on his sturdy h
The digital clock on the desk read 12:00 AM, but Arka had no intention of closing his eyes. He sat leaning against the upholstered headboard, shirtless, letting the dim light from the desk lamp highlight the rugged contours of his hard chest muscles and the sharp, uncompromising line of his jaw. Outside, Jakarta was quiet, but inside the master bedroom, the air suddenly grew heavy and thick as the bathroom door swung open and Bima stepped out with a smile capable of shattering Arka’s carefully constructed defenses in an instant.Bima wasn't wearing pajamas. He wore only a plush white towel wrapped dangerously low around his waist, showing off his pale skin which was still damp, flushed, and radiating heat from the hot shower. In his left hand was a small, dark blue box with a neatly tied silver satin ribbon."Happy birthday, Arka," Bima whispered, his voice raspy yet full of an intoxicating cheerfulness. He walked closer, every slow, deliberate step making Arka
The heavy iron door slammed shut with a loud, metallic bang, rattling the decades of dust clinging to the wooden shelves of the ground-floor sports storage room. The sound was final, dry, and deadening. Bima jerked the rusted door handle repeatedly until his palms turned red, but the result was zero. Damn it. Someone out there had just locked the storage room door from the outside, entirely unaware that inside this stuffy, three-by-four-meter space, two people had just lost their connection to the outside world."Ka, it’s really locked! Hey! Whoever’s out there, open up! I’m still inside, dammit!" Bima shouted, his voice echoing sharply between the stacks of vinyl judo mats and tangled volleyball nets. He pounded the surface of the reinforced wood door with his fist, frustrated.Arka didn't shout. He stood perfectly still in the middle of the narrow room, his massive hands holding a plastic basket full of leather basketballs they had just picked up for afternoo
The empty liquor bottle spun slowly on the wooden table, which was stained with beer spills, making a nauseating scraping sound amidst the deafening thud of techno music. Their friend’s apartment living room had turned into a den of noise pollution and cigarette smoke. There, in the center of a half-drunk circle of people, Arka sat like a rock—cold, untouchable, and intimidating. Beside him, Bima was laughing freely, his face flushed from the alcohol, acting the part of the perfect, bright magnet for every pair of eyes in the room.The tip of the bottle slowed, wobbling hesitantly before finally stopping right at Arka."You're dead! Arka got picked!" Fajar, the host, yelled while slamming the table. "Truth or Dare, Arka? Don't be a coward, pick Dare!"Arka didn't answer immediately. He took a slow sip of his drink, his sharp eyes glancing at Bima, who was now staring at him with a mischievous glint. Bima seemed to be enjoying Arka being cornered. Until now, Arka had always been the on
The studio lights went out, and that was the exact moment Arka stopped pretending he cared about the plot of the trashy romantic movie playing on the silver screen.The air inside the theater was cold, biting sharply into the skin of anyone without a thick layer of protection. But for Bima, the freezing temperature was completely unnoticeable because of Arka’s overpowering presence in the seat next to him. Arka wasn't sitting back and relaxing. He sat upright, his broad, athletic shoulders wrapped in a black bomber jacket, creating a physical barricade between Bima and the rest of the world."Arka, don't eat all the popcorn yourself. Don't be greedy," Bima whispered, trying to thin out the atmosphere that suddenly felt far heavier than last week's engineering course load.Arka didn't answer. He simply shoved the large cardboard container into Bima's lap. The movement was rough, but his fingertips intentionally brushed against the back of Bima's hand long enough to send a sharp spark o
The Canon RF 50mm lens whirred softly as its autofocus motor searched for a sharp point right on Bima’s pupil. Arka stood frozen, his calloused fingers pressing the shutter button halfway, while his breath caught in his throat. Behind the digital viewfinder, Bima was no longer just a roommate or the boy who shared his apartment. Through that full-frame sensor, Bima was a dangerous, intoxicating work of art."Arka, seriously, this pose isn't weird, right? I feel like an adult magazine model or something," Bima grumbled, yet he remained seated on the wooden table in the corner of the small studio they had rented for their campus media assignment.Side-lit by a softbox, the light swept across Bima’s sharp jawline, casting a dramatic shadow along the length of his neck. Bima wore only a thin white shirt—intentionally left unbuttoned—showcasing a lean chest that was beginning to glisten with sweat from the heat of the studio lights."Be still, Bim. Stop complaining. Focus forward," Arka’s







