Chapter 2: Beginning
"I don't think we've been together at this age," Kai said on Diga's 15th birthday.
As usual, the simple birthday celebrations they always celebrated in the tree house, only armed with a tiny tart and a liter of red soda and cassava chips they bought on the street.
"Mature!" blurted Diga making Kai choke while drinking.
Diga thinks that becoming an adult is very fun, and that is his goal, when in fact, without having to be listed in his dreams of becoming an adult will happen to him.
Kai laughed out loud when he heard Diga's words; he didn't expect that his best friend had such a narrow mind about being an adult.
"You think being an adult is good?" Kai asked.
"Delicious, have a lot of money!" answered Diga.
Sometimes we forget that the older we get, the more burdens we have to bear, the mountains, the abundance, and even the endless. We always imagined being an adult would be easier, but not for Kai after seeing his parents and several adults he knows always complaining about his problems.
* * *
Their friendship started when they were babies; their two mothers gave birth in a hospital not far from their housing complex. At the same time, two pregnant women are fighting for their children to be born into the world, despite the pain they have to and the lives they risked for their children.
"Ouch, sick! Sick!" complained Maryam Diga's mother while holding her husband's hand.
Diga's father, still wearing his army uniform because he had just returned from service outside the city, tried to calm his wife down.
"Patience, ma'am. Come on, don't hold it in, scream," said the nurse standing at the tip of Maryam's feet.
Maryam continued to grip her husband's hand to share the pain he was feeling from bringing out their two children.
"Be patient; my father is here."
There is Ratna, Kai's mother, who is also fighting for her child to be born safely; several pregnancy stimulants had inserted into her body because his mother has only complained of stomach pain but is still opening 4. The amniotic fluid that is getting dry is a consideration doctor to take his patient for a cesarean section.
They were both struggling, which took up to 6 hours. Ratna's husband, who at that time couldn't hold back his sobs because his wife had to give birth by cesarean section, forced him to encourage his wife even more.
"Mama is strong; it's okay; our child was born by cesarean; the most important thing is that it can be born safely," said her husband, Surya.
A baby's cry was heard in the delivery room, indicating that Kai and Diga had been born simultaneously, albeit in different ways. When the two mothers had transferred to the inpatient room, it turned out that the two happy families were next to each other and started talking with each other until they realized that their house was not too far away.
* * *
"Your one wish on this birthday, what?" Kai asked.
Diga immediately raised his head to look at the shady trees and birds flying freely here and there. He thought about what request he wanted.
"Together, you continue until you're old," said Diga.
"Ah, it goes on. The others, please," Kai asked because every time it was his birthday, the request he always hoped for was that another would never replace by another.
"Oh, okay. You can enter the same university with you," repeated Diga. Even though the request was different, it was the end of the sentence that never left his request.
Kai just laughed at Diga's words. They plan to enter the University of Indonesia and hope to study the same major, communication.
After singing the birthday song and questioning his wishes, the two continued Diga's birthday celebration by eating Maryam's tek-tek (Mie Tek-Tek is one of the popular noodle preparations in Indonesia).
"SURPRISE!!!" Maryam shouted from behind the door along with her husband, complete with birthday-style conical hats.
Diga didn't expect his father to be there because when he left for school, his father also left for service, and everyone shouted, singing a sacred song on his birthday.
However, in every warmth of the Diga family, a broken heart wants everything to happen to his family. Kai always hides his sadness; all hopes seem to creep freely into his brain, and the imagination can feel the hugs of every family member always in his head.
Even though Diga's parents already thought Kai was their child, his little heart also wanted his parents to be like that.
Sometimes there are wounds we can't tell others about, burying all the pain and desires we can't achieve.
* * *
Like candles amid darkness, Diga and Kai are candles that illuminate each and become light when they are both lost in ignorance, their lives are like a clean white canvas, and they are watercolors and brushes ready to paint their own lives.
Laughter and crying became their food every day. Once upon a time, Kai suddenly came to Diga's house at night because his parents were having a big fight.
Kai cried without giving space for Diga to ask why he was; at that time, they were still in 2nd junior high school. Diga, who doesn't understand how to respond to Kai's cries, buys vanilla ice cream at a supermarket using his pocket money from the school.
"This is for you," said Diga, handing him vanilla ice cream.
Kai, crying without pause, immediately took the ice cream and ate with Diga in the garden in front of his house.
"What's wrong, Kai?"
Diga tried to ask even though he had never felt the pain that Kai felt now, but his concern for asking the reason was a form of Diga's affection for Kai.
"My mom and dad are fighting again; I'm dizzy, Ga. I want to run away but don't know where to go. I'm sorry I keep bothering you," Kai said, his weaker voice making Diga feel sorry for Kai.
Without thinking, Diga's hands immediately wrapped his arms around Kai, trying to calm him down like a teenager who didn't know what to do.
When Diga is serious about winning Kai, Kai pinches Diga's stomach and immediately runs to his backyard and sees Maryam watering her plants.
"Eh, it's just a fight, huh," said Maryam loudly, scolding the two small children.
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