The following morning, Bara was poised and ready to depart for a visit to the company owned by his friend Panji.
Bara intended to ask his friend for financial assistance to support his living expenses for the coming months, as well as for Andre to continue covering Bara's costs until the end of his sentence...
Bara was utterly stressed, facing the turn of fate that had flipped his world upside down. In the past, even for combing his hair, Bara would use a pomed costing 650 thousand rupiah – a "Patricks S2 shine finish medium hold pomade."
Now, all these luxury items were no longer in his sight, causing Bara significant stress because he had to rely on low-cost products to maintain his handsome appearance.
After finishing his hair with a standard style, using the urang aring hair oil provided by his father, Bara reached into one of his backpacks to retrieve the wallet inside...
A few seconds later, Bara opened the faux leather wallet and was shocked by the contents.
Bara clicked his tongue in annoyance, because his father had gone to such lengths to consider Bara's appearance as an online motorbike taxi driver. He had even supplied Bara with items that were normally sold at street vendors...
"Tch... tch... ridiculous father. He even got me this imitation wallet and the cheap urang aring hair oil – does he not realize my hair is one of the assets that enhances my already handsome features? It seems he rather enjoys seeing me struggle for real," Bara mumbled, feeling vexed, before beginning to count the money in the wallet with resentment...
Perfectly planned, for the wallet contained precisely 500 thousand rupiah. Bara wondered how he would manage to stretch this amount...
Meanwhile, food expenditure alone exceeded one hundred thousand rupiah daily.
Grumbling... grumbling... grumbling...
Overwhelmed by his thoughts, suddenly Bara's stomach growled loudly, demanding food. He was famished and increasingly irritated because his damn stomach couldn't comprehend the situation he was currently enduring.
Bara, accustomed to a life of wealth, ordinarily required a nutritious and expensive breakfast – like nutrient-rich toast acquired from Paris, oatmeal sourced from Switzerland, or a delicious fruit salad prepared by a chef in his father's mansion.
But now, the idea of an indulgent and healthy breakfast was a distant memory. Even buying a simple wrapped rice meal required Bara to be creative several times over to save what little money he had in his wallet.
Thinking about this made Bara yet more frustrated. He couldn't handle any of this.
"No...! I just can't, Father! How can my life change so suddenly? No matter what, I must escape this poverty. Look, Father! My friends will surely support my living expenses without you," Bara declared with sheer anger before exiting the sweltering room – devoid of air conditioning.
There was just a tiny Doraemon-shaped blue fan, offering relief solely to Bara's face, and once outside, his gaze fell on the gleaming, new-looking Scoopy motorbike parked in front of his rented room.
"Ugh...! At least father finally gave me something new; I won't look so embarrassing riding this," Bara remarked, testing the bike by sitting on it.
Unsure how long it had been since he last rode a bike, Bara hoped he still had the skill and wouldn't fall off.
Unbeknownst to him, a pair of eyes had been observing Bara all this while, the bystander watching in curiosity at Bara's antics on the bike.
"Are you learning how to ride a motorcycle?" the stranger asked, causing Bara to startle...
"You! Who are you? Have you been standing there all this time watching me?" Bara inquired, trying to cover his embarrassment at being caught behaving foolishly atop the bike.
"What do you think? If you want to try it out, why not just ride it? You're an online motorbike taxi driver, aren't you? I'm sure with your new bike, you'll attract plenty of customers," the man suggested.
"Ugh...! You think you know so much... How can you say I'm an online taxi driver? You sound like a fortune teller guessing at people's jobs," Bara retorted, annoyed with his neighbor.
"Ha-ha-ha... don't get mad like that. I heard it from the owner of this lodging when several people were moving your stuff into your room. Don't be ashamed, friend, of having an online taxi job, the most important thing is that it's honest work," the man said, offering a friendly smile.
"Don't preach to me, will you! You don't know who I am, so don't act so familiar with me!"
"Sorry if I offended you; by the way, my name is Bimo, I work as an Office Boy at a reputable company. If you're interested, I can help you apply for a job as an OB there as well," Bimo suggested with a smile.
But Bara scoffed in disgust. This was a first for him – conversing with a poor man like Bimo, and absolutely, Bara had no intention of befriending someone like him.
"No! I don't want to be friends with someone poor like you. Get away from me right now. I don't like making friends with new people," Bara said while starting his bike, then leaving Bimo staring in bewilderment at his neighbor.
"What's his deal? Acts like he's wealthy when he's just as poor as me," Bimo mused with a mocking smile...
On the road, Bara's frustration was growing. He was eager to reach Panji's company as soon as possible to escape the poverty he had been enduring for just a few hours.
"Panji! I'm sure you'll help me out because you consider me like a brother. Throughout our friendship, I've never asked for any help from you or Andra. I was always the one helping the two of you, so now I'm confident that you will return my past kindnesses," Bara mused to himself, trying to ride the motorbike correctly.
Bara was clearly still not smooth at navigating the bike in traffic, so he opted for a very low speed.
"Darn it! If I drive like a snail like this, when will I ever get there? What a lousy father. Just watch! I'll con you, Father," Bara shouted internally...
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