Pras spent his whole Saturday afternoon lazing around either in his room or the terrace next to the small yard on his housing unit. Today he was much more fixated on his phone due to a certain someone adding him in a chat application.

It was none other than his new deskmate who kept asking him about the upcoming chemistry test next week.

He didn’t know if the girl was really that clueless about chemistry or she was just testing him. Nevertheless it was quite worthwhile answering her questions.

The problem was that he was still not used to interacting with her on another medium. He did get a bit more used to her presence around him due to hours, or Zurefgar days, that they spent together. But a chat message is an entirely different form of communication. His heart couldn’t help but race whenever a new message from her pops up.

The pounding heart took too much of his energy reserves and thus he could only bear to lie down most of the time, even on the terrace where he laid his head down on Bozter’s fat body - until the hound got distracted by the noises made by his mother when she fry some sort of banana tempura, locally known as pisang goreng or fried banana.

“Pras don’t want any of this? That’s rare,” his mom asked. The middle aged woman with thin wavy hair was sitting on the dinner table’s chair facing towards the backyard. The three pets were sitting nicely before her, waiting for their quota. A pretty ironic sight considering only now she could get to taste her own cooking after a series of thefts done by Pras’ father and elder brother throughout the cooking process.

“Pras don’t have enough energy to move, Mom,” Pras answered while simultaneously answering Mana’s questions on his phone.

“Here.” A hand suddenly shoved one fried banana into Pras' mouth. “My poor little brother could only muster his energy to reply to messages. How pitiful,” continued Diah, Pras’ elder sister.

“Thwanks.”

Pras still didn’t bother to move and ate the food hands-free relying on gravity and the dexterity of his jaw and tongue.

“Pras... Pras could get choked,” his mom sighed.

“Prash hahve shyen shmweone chocckked tuh-dayh.”

Not heeding the warnings of his mom, the romantically helpless teenage boy was keen to stay low until he heard some movement coming from Danzo and Bozter.

He sat down and barked at them, “Back off, you treacherous hounds!”

Bozter stopped, but Danzo acted like he didn’t hear the command and just licked Pras’ hand to ask for the snack. That caused Pras to give up, stood up, and gave their pets the uneaten part of the fried banana after they lined up nicely before him.

Pras proceeded to wash his hands afterwards before replying to another question from Mana.

The whole thing had triggered curiosity from Diah, “It’s really rare to see you keep replying to messages like that… oh!” She suddenly gasped. “... Do you have a girlfriend?”

“I wish,” Pras groaned. He took another fried banana from the dining table.

“Hey,” his mom protested. “No dating before master’s degree.”

“That’s unfair,” Pras protested, pointing at his sister. “But how are Pras’ siblings allowed?”

“It’s too late to stop these delinquents.”

“It’s still unfair, what if Pras got someone like.. Uh…”

A message from Mana popped out just as Pras tried to argue.

“... like Mana!”

His mom frowned, there was a slight concern on her visage. “Who is Mana?”

“Remember, Mom, that one girl who always got her accumulative score above Pras?”

“Oh the cute one who speaks weirdly formal? She's a really nice candidate for a daughter-in-law, Mom wouldn’t mind.” Pras’ mom nodded as if in approval. “But still... no is a no.”

“W-what if she’s the love of Pras’ life?”

With an ever knowing smile of a mother, his mom smirked, “If she is really Pras’ true love, she would wait. Remember, someone who is meant for you will walk the same pace with you.”

“Gah,” Pras groaned. He gave up on debating and chose to answer Mana’s questions.

However, peace had not come yet as his sister asked again, “Anyway, you haven’t answered my question, what’s with you and your phone today?”

“I’m explaining chemistry to my friend, we got a quiz next week.”

“Shouldn’t Pras study for that?”

“Mom,” Pras sighed. He took a tissue and started hoarding some fried bananas while continuing, “A certain middle aged lady once told Pras that by explaining to friends, Pras is also studying.”

“Don’t you dare use my wisdom on me, young man…”

Pras shuddered, knowing the words definitely ticked off his mom. Then with a sudden lightning fast movement as if he was using cobra’s manoeuvre, he ran upstairs and locked himself in his room to avoid aggravating his mom further.

Despite what he had said, Pras eventually started to open his books and study because Mana’s questions were getting more complex and weird. Especially the part where she questioned every reason why some acids are stronger than the others. Same question was being asked for weak and strong bases.

Yet, her questions were actually valid with a strong counterargument. Several of her demanding questions even caused Pras to resort to looking for online sources before digesting the knowledge and then explaining it to her.

Discussing chemistry with her seemed similar to a final year project or thesis defence. Pras can’t imagine how hard it would be for her students if she someday became a lecturer or supervisor for such projects. May Brahman have mercy on their souls.

Though, one thing that his brain could clearly imagine was the sight of an adult version of Mana wearing a lecturer’s outfit, and with a ponytail, that would be very very… appealing.

The thought had driven Pras to quickly go to the sink near the bathroom and wash his face to reduce its sudden increase in temperature.

Gladly, Mana’s study lesson ended soon after. Thus Pras could play some RTS to calm his mind.

He didn’t play Zurefgar for the rest of the afternoon and even after dinner. Instead, he got an invitation from Pitoy to go to the night market around the residential area where Pras lived. Ega skipped the offer because he had something else to do, Alvin lived too far away, Fathan was excited because he was also living around the same area, and Eggi was missing.

It was right before Pras departed that he got a message from Mana asking if he was planning to play Zurefgar.

Somehow Pras felt that Mana might actually be inviting him to play together from the roundabout way she asked. However, no matter how tempting the indirect invitation seemed, Pras chose to stick with the plan he had with Pitoy and Fathan.

Nevertheless, he told Mana that he might play after he returns from the night market. Pras didn’t have the time to read Mana’s response since his parents and siblings took the chance to ask Pras to buy some snacks for them. As well as his mom urging him to bring a bag and a bottle of tea just in case. After he got out from the housing unit, he simply forgot the whole thing about messaging with Mana and strode towards the night market.

It was rather early in the evening, thus the streets of the residential complex were still lively with minimal involvement of personal vehicles. There were some people walking along the pavement either towards food stalls, the parks, or towards the night market located at a clearance near the entrance towards the residential area.

The night market is only available during weekends in residential areas like this, while on weekdays it usually opens sporadically among the business centre areas. It serves as a marketplace for mostly snacks and foods as well as public space for people. The night market itself is mainly organised by the local government. The people were also encouraged to visit it.

Pras, along with many younger people from hisgenerations, thought that the idea at first sounded very antique considering how advanced technologies in the current age was. However, along with the time he sometimes spent visiting the market, his view about it slowly shifted.

It was rather hard for him to explain, but there was a certain dazzling yet fuzzy feeling he saw in the market. There, people interact and have honest good times as a social creature. Definitely far less stressful than a formal meetup, sometimes even more refreshing compared to an adventure in a digital or virtual world.

Night market had always left a mystery in Pras’ mind as to how it could have such a feel attached to it.

Fathan, who arrived quicker than Pitoy, impulsively ordered lamb satay when he saw Pras was also waiting for his order on the same stall.

Pras dared to guess that the tasty aroma of the satay being grilled was the reason why his friend suddenly wanted it. Which also made Pras wonder if the fan used to help the grilling process was also used to waft the food’s aroma, thus helping the stall attract more customers.

“Thinking about Mana, mate?” Fathan teased Pras who was lost in his thoughts.

“Nah.” Pras shook his head. “Just wondering about the fan being used to attract customers.”

With an ever knowing smile, Fathan chuckled, “You do have to think about that, huh? By the way, where is Ega going? Definitely levelling huh?”

“A virtual idol concert with AdVRSe,” Pras answered while taking his order.

“Virtual what?”

“Virtual idols, don’t tell me you’ve never heard one of those.”

It took Fathan a while to process what Pras was talking about before he suddenly got excited. “Giga nice,” he exclaimed accompanied with his signature hand movement.

It was there that Pras realised something about Fathan’s catchphrase and signature dumbbell lifting movement. The number of times he repeated the movement might have something to do with the binary prefixes mentioned before the word ‘nice’. For example, mega made him do the motion 2 times, giga for 3 times, and tera for 4 times. And it seems, when he can’t do the signature hand movement, Fathan would resort to using another form of adjective like super and ultra.

“Seriously? Satay? You guys haven't eaten or what?”

Out of nowhere Pitoy suddenly approached them. It was rather shocking to see him reach the place that fast.

“Wowza, mate, I thought you’d be late and make reasons like having flat tire of sumthin’.”

“Speak for yourself,” Pras retorted to Pitoy right after Fathan’s comment. “At least I’m just being asked to buy this.”

Pitoy scratched his head shyly. “Ahahah, Yeah, I’m still starving. But I’m going for snacks. So I’ll stroll around, catch up with me after you guys are done here.”

As sudden as his appearance, Pitoy quickly moved away from the other two. Luckily, Fathan’s order was finished sooner than expected thus they didn’t lose track of Pitoy's whereabouts.

Apparently, Pitoy was buying cilok - fried ball shaped dumplings made from tapioca starch - not too far from the satay stall. The sight of the snack caused the other two teenagers to buy it impulsively as well.

They stroll around aimlessly while eating the snack, enjoying the weirdly calming noises of the night market while also looking for some interesting sweet beverages. Their discussion was not far from Zurefgar and how they would proceed next.

It was during that session that Pras realised he had asked for too much chilli on his snack and thus coughed when he bit one of the cilok with massive amount of chilli powder on it.

“Well, well…”

Suddenly, a very familiar voice was heard from behind. The three young man, turned around. Pras was still coughing.

“... It does seem that you are in a dire need of water, desperate deskmate….”

Out of the dark blue of the night, the girl behind them was indeed the person who just recently joined their gaming session. The sight definitely shocked Pras and caused his cough to worsen.

“... as a very kind neighbour, I guess it is up to me to save you from certain demise….”

The girl extended her arm, offering a bottle of water.

“... ten thousand, my desperate deskmate, I offer thee this salvation of yours,” Mana concluded with a sly and proud smile.

There was silence among the youngsters despite how clamorous the night market was. Mana’s rather unusual entrance and not so subtle intent had pushed away all Pras’ hindering infatuation.

While staring at Mana flatly, Pras picked a bottle of tea from his small bag and drank it without heeding Mana’s offer. Pras told himself that he needed to thank his mother for the foresight that saved him from Mana’s revenge.

Mana didn’t speak a word. There was a clear sign of annoyance from her flat expressions. Especially around the area of her eyes that now slightly squinted, creating the image of a pair of crescent moons.

“Did you just try to outwit the guy who defeated me with just a king and a rook when I have a huge upper hand?” Pitoy suddenly commented before he took another bite of his snack.

“Regardless,” Fathan chuckled. “We shouldn’t intervene with domestic matters,” he continued while gesturing at Pitoy to walk away. However, it was both Pras and Pitoy who turned around to walk away.

“W-wait,” Mana called them back. “I have a proposition to make.”

The trio stopped. Fathan turned and asked, “Us or him?”

“Our group.”

“I’m all ears,” Pras answered while Pitoy just nodded.

“Wonderful.” Mana clapped her hand once. “Let us go to a dungeon tonight.”