Linger

Tea and Coffee

Kalea did not expect Gavin would follow her home. When he escaped leaving the man in the park, he thought Gavin would go straight home. But it turns out he was wrong. The man was actually caught sitting in the middle room with Papa when Kalea came down after bathing.

At first Kalea came down to pick up a bottle of water and some snacks that he stored in the refrigerator to take to the room as a friend of the Korean drama marathon that he had not seen for several days. But he ended up standing stiffly on the last steps as Gavin turned his head and smiled a sweet smile of honey at him. In his hand, there was a piece of corn bakwan that seemed to tempt his taste. The saliva in Kalea's oral cavity seemed to scramble to come out as the man carried the cornbasket to the front of his mouth and then took one big bite.

Ah... Mama's really shitty. Why should the woman provide a corn basket which incidentally is her favorite snack when there is Gavin here? Did Mama deliberately serve the snack so she could make him sit there with them? Because Kalea can never refuse a cornbasket made by Mama.

"Well, what's going on in there? Here!" Mama was so excited when she waved her hand to him. So having already been caught off guard by Gavin, Kalea had no choice but to walk over to them.

Kalea sat across from Gavin, next to Mama who had not taken her eyes off Gavin. Kalea's hand moved to grab a piece of cornbasket from the plate as her eyes looked at Papa and Gavin alternately. The two men seemed cool chatting something that Kalea did not understand at all. All Kalea could deduce from the chat was one: it was a chat about a company that until now Kalea would not understand (because he did not want to try to learn about business and all sorts of things).

"Next month is a repeat of the year of the company, right?" ask Papa after putting back the coffee cup after sipping it a little.

"Yes, Om." Gavin nodded. He plucked another bakwan from the plate and then devoured it with vigor. Well, Kalea did not expect the man was also like a corn bakwan made by Mama.

"There's usually a celebration, right? What event this year? Music as usual?" asked Papa, looking enthusiastic.

"Yes, Om. Music shows like in previous years, just as there will be charity events that are off cam. Let's not count the imaging." Gavin chuckled at the end of the sentence. The last batch of corn he picked up had already been devoured.

"Hahaha from the first Jonathan did not like boasting if you want to make such an event." Said Papa. Kalea turned her gaze from Gavin to Papa. To be honest, he was surprised that Papa and Mama seemed to know very well about Gavin and his family. But all this time Kalea had never heard any stories about them. Were it not for this matchmaking agenda, Kalea would probably never have known that Papa and Mama had a close relationship with Gavin's parents.

Gavin just smiled in response to Papa's words. Then there was a pause long enough before Gavin finally rose from his seat, saying retreat.

Kalea was feeding the last bite of cornbread into her mouth when Mama pulled her arm, telling her to deliver Gavin to the front door. With a mouth full and teeth busy chewing, Kalea walked ahead of Gavin who could not resist the hardness when he saw Kalea's tapered cheeks turn into a lock in an instant.

"Here you go, don't go to the front gate." The word Gavin then goes ahead of Kalea.

Gavin paused, looking at Kalea whose mouth was still full of cornstalks then landed his big hand on the girl's head. He ruffled Kalea's hair, making her curse in her heart because of her sudden treatment. No one has ever touched Kalea's head other than her parents and Karel's. No one dared. But this Gavin guy really did a lot to him for the size of a guy who just knew a day.

"Eat a lot. I look around, you're getting prettier if the cheeks are pinched." Gavin.

Kalea nearly chokes when Gavin's big hand pinches her cheek.

"I'm home, yeah. See you soon." Then Gavin passed from before Kalea. Leaving Kalea alone with an insane heartbeat.

Whoa... This Gavin is really.

******

Later that night, at about eight o'clock, Kalea walked to the balcony of Karel. This time he was not too hard to cross because he already knew the technique. As her feet managed to tread on the floor of Karel's balcony, Kalea shouted in a loud voice, calling out the name of Karel.

The one called appeared shortly afterwards. With a look of annoyance and disheveled hair, Karel walked over to Kalea who was shouting like a man of infidelity.

"What, anyway? You're bothering me to play a game!" his nag. His hands crossed, his eyes squinted at Kalea who was now a crybaby.

"You're ngeteh, aren't you?"

Just like that, Karel's annoyed look disappeared. The ngeteh that Kalea offers is not just an invitation to drink tea together on the homepage as most people do. A ngeteh from Kalea means that the girl has a lot to tell and Karel has to prepare an ear. Why tea? Because Kalea can't drink coffee. Her digestion has deteriorated over the past few years and the girl has chosen not to take any risks by staying away from caffeine-containing beverages.

”What's this about?" karel asked as he opened the balcony door wider, letting Kalea barge into his room.

It felt crowded when Karel heard the name spoken by Kalea so smoothly. It was as if Kalea had already known the man so there was no more awkwardness in mentioning his name.

"He why?"

"We go to the kitchen first, make tea with coffee." Kalea pulled Karel's arm. The male complies only when his body is pulled by the female. His long legs were so patiently following the small steps in front of him.

Tonight's a deserted house. I still have an operation schedule at the hospital and probably will not go home, Ibun is going to Oma's house and Mpok Nuria permission to take her mother to the terminal, to go home.

Arriving in the kitchen, Kalea immediately moved quickly to make a cup of tea and a cup of coffee. After the two cups of the drink were finished, Kalea turned to Karel who was sitting on one of the chairs.

"Want to talk on the balcony or the backyard?" tanyakanya.

"In my room. Watching Netflix is fun." Answer the original Karel which was then responded with a dismissive speech by Kalea.

"Daughter is the same boy should not be alone in the room, later fear khilaf."

"Didih, pede crazy lo. Who does the same model like lo?"

"The name of the khilaf mah not squirming how the model should be, Karel!"

"Yes, give it up." Karel decided to give up. There is no point in continuing this debate.

"Come on!" exclaimed Kalea who had walked first towards the stairs and a little sewot when she knew Karel was still sitting with a henchman in the chair.

Karel clucked, but he continued to follow Kalea. At first he thought the boy would invite him to talk on the balcony because in fact they stepped back into Karel's room. But when he reached the front door of the balcony, Kalea instead put two cups that he brought on the nightstand next to the bed. He then shifted the room divider door and balcony until the glass door was closed perfectly. Karel who saw it practically frowned.

"What the hell does this mean?" the question is more confused when Kalea even jumped on the mattress. Sitting cross-legged and his hand grabbed the tv remote nimbly. In an instant the originally dark television screen now began to show moving pictures.

"Would you like to watch Netflix?" kalea said with a plain look.

"He was afraid of the khilaf!"

"Yes, you said you didn't look like a model like me! Ah ah, the game is sitting!" Kalea patted the empty space next to her.

Karel walked towards the bed while grumbling. He glanced at the computer in the corner of the room. The screen is still on and from a distance Karel can see there are many pop up notifications from the online games he is playing. The notification must have come from his friends who were with him. They must have been in protest because Karel had suddenly disappeared in the middle of the game. Kalea really messed up her mabar agenda.

"Buruan, Karelllll."

"Patience!"

Karel jumped on the bed just as television aired Kalea's favorite Korean drama that the girl has been talking about lately.

"So, how?" ask Karel.

Kalea straightened her back. He began to tell Karel about the events that happened during his time with Gavin yesterday and this morning. That night in Indomaret, Kalea only recounted a small number of events. It's just Gavin's identity and what they talk about as a formality at the first meeting. But tonight, Kalea told me everything. Starting from how Gavin treated himself, the way the man praised himself with a sentence other than most people, to the decision of Kalea to try to open her heart to the man.

Tea and Coffee in a cup are shredded occasionally in the middle of the break that Kalea made, until finally the two cups are empty along with the story that is shared. Now, the empty cups bear witness to how horrified Karel's heart was when Kalea told him of the possibility of accepting this match. The cup of tea and coffee was a witness, that since tonight, their relationship may not be the same again.