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Short Story

Bian, seorang desainer grafis yang sedang dihimpit kegagalan dan utang, berdiri di pinggir jembatan penyeberangan Dago. Saat ia hendak mengakhiri segalanya, seorang pria mabuk bernama Hakan menyelamatkannya-hampir membuat dirinya sendiri tewas. Pert...

#bian #hakan #lgbtq #mxm #nulis #queer

Bab 5

Start from the beginning

by sweetman

Compliments yang... feel genuine.

Mereka communicate mostly via email dan WhatsApp. Professional. Efficient.

Tapi kadang... Reza send messages yang slightly personal:

Reza: "Eh, udah makan siang? Jangan skip meals ya, gak baik buat kesehatan 😊"

Reza: "How's the progress? No pressure, cuma checking in aja"

Reza: "Btw kalau kamu lagi stuck atau butuh break, ada kafe baru enak di Dago. Mau coba bareng?"

Friendly. Caring, even.

Bian... conflicted.

Part of him appreciate the concern (reminds him of... someone).

Part of him wary (this feels too familiar).

Tapi dia reply politely:

Bian: "Sudah makan, thanks"

Bian: "Progress on track"

Bian: "Thanks for offer, tapi aku lagi fokus kerja"

Keeping boundaries.

Tapi Reza persistent—not pushy, just... present.

Dan honestly...

Bian starting to enjoy their interactions.

Reza funny. Smart. Easy to talk to.

Beberapa kali mereka end up ngobrol di chat lebih dari cuma project:

Reza: "Kamu dari mana asal-nya?"

Bian: "Jakarta, tapi udah lama di Bandung"

Reza: "Same! Jakarta born, Bandung based. Lebih suka sini, less hectic"

Bian: "True"

Reza: "Kamu kuliah dimana dulu?"

Bian: "ITB, DKV"

Reza: "Wah, Unpar aku. Business Management. Mungkin kita pernah lintas di event-event kampus dulu haha"

Small talks. Getting-to-know-you conversations.

Normal. Friendly.

Tapi...

Tapi semakin Bian interact dengan Reza, semakin dia notice:

Reza persis seperti di cerita.

Charming. Confident. Entrepreneur. Smooth talker.

Umur: 28 (exactly like in the story).

Cara dia approach: friendly tapi ada hint of... interest? Attraction?

"Coincidence," Bian keep telling himself.

Tapi coincidence-nya too many.

Akhir minggu pertama, Reza suggest meeting lagi untuk review progress.

"Biar lebih gampang discuss revisions kalau ada," katanya.

Reasonable.

Mereka ketemu di coffee shop yang sama.

Bian present final logo concepts dan beberapa mockups.

Reza impressed. "Ini bagus banget, Bian. Seriously. Exactly what I want."

Tapi kemudian...

"Tapi," Reza pause, "ada sedikit concern. Client kami mostly conservative business owners. Mungkin warna-nya bisa lebih... approachable? Less edgy?"

Bian noted. "Oke, bisa. Saya adjust."

"Thanks. Sorry for extra revisions. Aku tau ini nambah workload."