The Hidden Dragon

Around four o'clock in the afternoon, I finished writing. Then I went back upstairs. I still remember Mario's appearance before. Is Mario still here?

My heart doubted. Even so, I decided to go up. I want to take Victor to dinner. At the same time, to talk about what he wants to talk about. It feels like it shouldn't be delayed. So, I hurried over.

I didn't feel any signs of people's existence. My guess is correct. There was no one on the second floor. In the room for employees and offices, Victor was not there. Where did he go?

I sat in the front seat of the desk. Not his work chair, but in a chair facing his work chair. It seems that this chair is often used to talk to guests or employees specifically, if he want to talk about important things related to work. In short, it is a hot seat.

From where I was sitting, I let my eyes scour the contents of the room thinking where Victor was going and what was he doing? Did he go with Mario?

I checked the phone once again. There was no incoming message from Victor, but when I wanted to close the chat app, I saw an incoming message.

"Wait for me there. We will have dinner together later. I have business outside," Victor said. Victor probably deliberately didn't tell me where he went. I agreed to wait, so to kill time, I looked around.

I saw One Piece action figures. Seeing them one by one makes me nostalgic. I remember, when I was in high school, I really liked One Piece anime. Not only the anime, but also the comics.

When I started college, I started to read or watch less, because I lost access. I don't have enough money for me to set aside to borrow comics. I also don't have more money to watch at Internet cafes or borrow DVDs. I didn't have a laptop at the time, so it was difficult for me to access the official website at any time. In essence, I experienced many limitations when I was in college.

College was a time when I experienced self-development. I learned patience, struggle, and also sacrifice. In addition, I also learned the fact that when I want something, I won't easily get it. Even though there was help everywhere, it still couldn't save me from bad luck. No matter how hard I tried to banish bad luck, the reality was that I remained in a different dimension from the average human being. I am different from others.

I leaned over and saw one action figure that was different from the others. The action figure features a dragon inside a clear tube. The dragon seemed to breathe and swim in the water.

"Why is this different? It doesn't feel like this comes from One Piece comics or anime."

The Action Figure was placed somewhat hidden among the others. If I hadn't bent down, I wouldn't have found it.

I turned it in the palm of my hand. I saw the name engraved on the bottom pad where the action figure stood. It says "The Hidden Dragon". What does it mean?

I've never seen an anime or read a comic that has a dragon character like this one I've seen. The shape is very interesting, has a high mystical value, but why does Victor hide it? Why didn't he put it where it was visible because this was really nice to put by the window, in my opinion.

I tried to put it by the window. When the object was splashed with more light, the dragon looked more charismatic.

"Lest Victor hasn't finished arranging this place yet," I muttered.

I twisted my body. I saw the whole thing once again. It seems impossible if the arrangement of objects in this room is only halfway arranged.

Because I didn't want Victor to get angry, I put the action figure of "The Hidden Dragon" back in its place.

"But... since when does Victor like dragons, huh?"

After returning the action figure, I sat down again. It started to get boring because I didn't do anything. After a long time, I became sleepy and wanted to sleep. I then moved to the room for employees. I arranged four wooden chairs to sleep on.

When I opened my eyes again, Victor was already sitting in the pantry. Victor was seen reading a book.

"Been here for so long? Why don't you wake me up?" I asked, my voice a little hoarse.

Victor lifted his face from the book. It was a scene that made me think back to when we borrowed each other's comics when we were in high school.

"Awake already? You sleep like you're dead, so I dare not wake you up."

Victor stood up and walked up to me. He carried plain water in a glass. He handed me the glass and sat down in one of the empty chairs. I've been sitting with my head a little staggered.

"Sleeping in the afternoon like this is said to be not good for the body," he said.

"I'm so sleepy and don't care about superstitions," I denied.

"Where did you go earlier?" I suddenly became possessive of him.

"I'm talking to Mario."

"What problem do you guys have?"

Something cold crept up on my back. I don't know why this happened. I thought, this is an unnatural reaction from myself.

"You haven't eaten yet, right?"

I shook my head. Again, I felt that Victor avoided the subject. Victor felt ready to tell the story, but then when it was time for the story, he withdrew. Whereas I refrained from forcing it.

"Not yet. Want to eat? What to eat?"

Victor took me to his house. I didn't expect Victor to take me to his apartment. My motorbike was left in the garage of Ecology Cafe.

When Victor said just take my car, I thought we were going to go to the restaurant and then go back to the café. In fact, I actually arrived at his apartment. To be honest, I became jealous of the living facilities he had. Having a café and an apartment are two of my many dreams.

"You have a very good place," I said. I opened the curtains and looked at the scenery outside. The light of the city buildings looks romantic seen from Victor's apartment.

"Thank you. I chose it carefully, because it will be a permanent residence," he said. There was no arrogance from his tone.

I turned my head. Victor walked into the kitchen. In my opinion, the kitchen is very luxurious. More luxurious than the bar table in the café. I came to admire his taste and success.

"I'll make it simple. No problem, right?"

I nodded, then sat down in the chair available in front of the kitchen table. With this, I feel like an exclusive invited guest. I could see him concocting spices and cooking dishes right in front of my eyes. It's a better atmosphere than this morning.

When Victor raised a pack of macaroni, he suddenly remembered something. I followed his movements. Victor approached something from a cabinet shelf near the television. I hadn't noticed the existence of the television since I entered because my eyes were fixed on the big, long curtains. Now, Victor turned on the vinyl record.

"Since when do you like vinyl records?"

"Ever since I knew that it was very interesting," he replied with a smile on his face.

Ten years have passed since we graduated from high school, of course there are many things that must have added to Victor's life. I shouldn't have been stuck in the nuances of high school.

Victor may still be as good to me as he was back then, but Victor who was in high school was a young figure, while the one in front of me was a more mature version, with more experience.

"It's been a long time, yes, we haven't chatted. Hence, there are a lot of things that have definitely changed."

"Maybe it's not changing, but a lot of things make us a more interesting version than we were before."

I lost to him in this regard. I laughed to admit it. "I think you have become more poetic than me who graduated from literature!"

Victor finished the dough. I don't know what he wants to do. I only found out about fifteen minutes later. He makes three dishes at once, lasagna, spaghetti, and finally Macaroni and Cheese.

They looked like snacks to me, not dinner.

"Happy eating," Victor said.

After enjoying the meal, Victor still gave me another surprise. Victor made cocktails without alcohol.

"Because I don't drink alcohol, I learned to make cocktails without alcohol," he said.

The caption cleared the bad thoughts that had flashed in my mind. I asked myself, "Did he often go to clubs when he was in Jakarta?"

"I never go clubbing. Sometimes I go to bars, and if there's a party from Louis Vuitton, I have to come too. That's why I came to know things I never thought of when I was in high school."

"How does it taste?" he asked when I finished tasting his cocktail.

"Sweet and sour, converging in my mouth... Then there was a bit of bitterness," I said. I thought for a while. "I don't think I'm good at explaining."

"It doesn't matter. Because I understand what you mean. I just want to know your opinion anyway. Do you like it?"

I thought. Do I like his drinks or not?

"I'm not sure. This is my first time tasting," I said.

Victor laughed after hearing my answer.

"Why laugh?" I was astonished by his reaction.

"Because you haven't changed. If you give criticism, you always don't want to be half-hearted. If you're not sure if you like it or not, you'll tell you honestly. "Not sure", that's a phrase I used to hear back in the day when we were in high school."

I don't remember saying that phrase so often. I think he remembers my old self better than myself.