I Didn’t Do it For a Poster

The dawn crept over Jakarta like a bruise—muted purples and yellows staining the sky. The streets, still smoldering from tear gas and Molotovs, bore the scars of the night’s battle. Debris littered the asphalt: shredded banners, shattered glass, the husk of a drone sparking in a puddle. But amid the wreckage, the crowd lingered. Not fleeing. Not hiding. Gathering.

Rangga leaned against a graffiti-tagged wall, his knuckles split and ribs screaming. The adrenaline had faded, leaving only the metallic tang of blood in his mouth. A woman approached, her face obscured by a bandana, and pressed a cloth-wrapped bundle into his hands—steaming nasi uduk, fragrant with coconut and lemongrass. “For the Rapid Lion,” she murmured before disappearing into the throng.

He stared at the food, uneasy. They’d begun calling him that months ago, a nickname born from his speed in combat. But now it hung heavier, a mantle he hadn’t asked for.