RUN WITH ME
CHAPTER 42: SUSPICIOUS

"I'm.sorry," said Arunika with an unpleasant face after a moment of silence hearing Gavin's sorrowful statement about the end of his mother's life.

Gavin shook his head slowly, "No, it's okay. That was a long time ago," he replied while trying to smile to calm Arunika down. It was just that the smile was unable to give the desired result. The bright brown haired girl still looked unsettled.

The man of mixed German-Indonesian blood also put his hands on each of the upper arms of the woman, then rubbed it slowly. Arunika raised her head that was originally bowed and returned a gaze within Gavin. The woman had often seen the above-average good looks of Gavin adorned by a thin smile, but somehow the face shown by the man now felt very different. Somehow—lagi— face that cause uncomfortable feelings in Arunika so that he even became clumsy himself.

Cleaving while turning her eyes became the first step that Arunika took to eliminate the awkwardness within her. After exhaling slowly, Netra Arunika again met with Gavin's.

"You want to hear stories about my life too?" ask Arunika. This desire arises after realizing how open Gavin is to him now, different during their meeting at the tomb. Gavin was very reluctant to talk about his mother and it was all obvious, so Arunika did not dare to pry deeper. But because now Gavin is brave, Arunika instead encouraged to do the same.

Gavin nodded his head without thinking for long. This was the time that Gavin had been waiting for a while ago, Arunika who was willing to tell herself without coercion from anywhere. Not from circumstances, not from the request of himself or others, but from himself.

The brief silence reoccurred as the time that Arunika took to prepare herself. You could say Gavin is the second person—after Hera—who will know how his family is. He would not tell me his mental state. For these conditions Arunika will always keep it alone without anyone knowing, except her personal psychiatrist, Fayn Addison.

"I was born into a family that was said to be very genius, the Bumantara family." Arunika begins to tell her and her family.

"This family has a nickname ..." Arunika stopped her sentence and looked at Gavin, asking the man to continue.

"The Doctors Family." And Gavin picked up the signal.

"Rights. This family is said to always produce qualified doctor candidates with abilities and intelligence that need not be doubted. Many people say being a Bumantara is very good, his life welfare is guaranteed and will have a bright future. I won't deny those words, but if I can choose which family I was born in, then Bumantara will be my last choice" Arunika continued while trying to maintain her smile. Gavin.

"Saking wants it to produce a brighter generation, this family is willing to do whatever it takes to realize that desire. From the age of four they began to introduce us to the basic materials of medicine. At the age of eight, we began scheduled academic courses on a regular basis. Initially only two subjects per week, but the longer it grows, increases, and increases until finally now we course every day for three hours." Arunika's eyes warmed up in every sentence he said. He started to lower his head.

"Sunday, the day where it should be used as a break, we had to stay home and study independently for five hours. When friends my age can travel out of town or just play in the mall after the exam, I still have to go home quickly and learn new semester materials. Honestly, I've always been jealous of you guys enjoying life without worrying about being scolded by your parents when you get bad grades." A clear liquid flowed on Arunika's red cheeks. I heard a little stuffing from the woman.

Gavin knew that until he pulled him back into his arms. The larger hand gently stroked Arunika's back while placing her chin on Arunika's head. "I'm sorry, you can stop now, Arunika. Don't force yourself to say things that hurt you" Gavin said in a very soft and soothing voice. Hearing the sentence spoken with gentleness made Arunika unconsciously push herself to get into the arms of the crossbreed man. He seeks comfort in the warmth of Gavin's body.

The thing that makes Arunika never tell the condition of her family to others— except Hera— is because their response is never good. Arunika has lured the men several times with questions about his family and most of them gave a less than pleasant answer to Arunika. There is an answer that seems to fortify the life of Arunika and assume Arunika lives like a princess in the kingdom. Some demonize their own lives, but praise the life of Arunika excessively. Some directly accuse Arunika will not understand the condition of their lives because they feel they have a huge gap. And there are also those who drop Arunika by assuming Arunika is doing "low to skyrocket".

It was not that Arunika wanted to generalize, but those experiences gave rise to a little fear in her that she was really selective in choosing friends. Fortunately he met Hera who was open-minded and accepted Arunika as she was, not because Arunika was a Bumantara. Even after Arunika told him about her family, Hera immediately went berserk and berated the Arunika family in front of her eyes.

Just this time alone, Arunika's mind closed her eyes.

On the other hand, through this incident, Gavin became increasingly aware of a small part of Arunika's life whose outer and inner life were very different. He also recorded with a red ballpoint pen on his head, everything related to the girl's family will be a topic that may be sensitive so he must ask first when he wants to raise the conversation about it.

Adam and Eve were silent in a similar position. Both are busy with their own thoughts. One is busy writing a new point in his do's and don'ts, while the other begins to think of a foreign but comfortable feeling he always feels when with the adam. But before long Gavin realized Arunika's cry that had stopped so he pulled a little body—but still in the cuddle position—agar can look at Arunika's face decorated by red eyes and nose.

"Don't cry anymore, yeah. Later the beauty is gone," pinta Gavin while wiping the remnants of tears in the corner of Arunika's eyes. The sedative sentence as well as the compliment was enough to make Arunika's chest beat faster than usual so that she completely distanced her body from Gavin, then rubbed her face slowly.

"liks. Is it still pretty now? With puffy eyes and a stuffy nose like this?" tanya Arunika did not believe Gavin's words. The man chuckled and pinched slowly on Arunika's cheek.

"Of course, your face is funny now. Look, everything is red like this" Gavin replied with confidence. Arunika was silent for a few seconds, slightly fascinated by Gavin's extremely gentle demeanor. But after that he was annoyed playfully.

"Gombal." Gavin frowned hearing that one word. Whatdoes thatmean? Please remember, Gavin is still learning about Indonesian slang. He still has a very long way to go to be able to fully master the language, especially understanding each new word with various meanings made by young people of the country.

Gavin's mouth had been opened to ask what the word meant, but it was not so when he realized that Arunika was still wearing a cardigan, just like a few days before. The man continued to hold on to the reason that Arunika was not well lately so he continued to coat his body with cardigan or jacket. The weather is in an uncertain mood. But it seems like the belief must waver when the arm of the girl's cardigan is slightly exposed and shows a bandage wrapped around one inch. It's just that the scene didn't last long because Arunika moved her hand again.

"Vin, is my face still red?" Gavin slightly flinched when Arunika hit his arm slowly. But it seems that Arunika is not aware of that.

Gavin was silent for a while while staring at Arunika with a hard to interpret look, making Arunika put on a confused face. "Why? My face is still red, isn't it?" arunika asked back while holding her look. Gavin nodded with a smile.

"It's not red now." Finally Gavin replied so Arunika smiled with relief.

Without babibu he immediately moved from his seat. "Well, I have to go back inside now, afraid that my family is suspicious that it's gone too long. Do you want to come or do you still want to be here?" asked Arunika again with her head slightly lowered, looking at Gavin who was still sitting on the bench. Gavin shook his head in response.

"Get in first, I still want to be here for a minute." Arunika nodded in understanding so she walked away from Gavin while waving her hand. The lamb was returned by the man. As Arunika shrank in view, Gavin looked at the woman with a suspicious look.

Why isn't the feeling good about this?

...⁕⁕⁕...