1. Hell Once More

The Jakarta sky grumbled with thunder as Kiran Kania stepped out, looking like a whole new person. Today, she was anything but her usual self – she was positively dapper! At 27, she found herself hit with some jaw-dropping news: she’d snagged a job at Baven Technology, a swanky company in Jakarta that seemed way out of her league.

Naturally, the news sent shockwaves through the neighborhood. After all, Kiran was the local loser and a perpetual source of worry for her family. But instead of murmurs of doubt, the streets erupted with a colorful display of support. Neighbors lined the sidewalks with flowers, a cheerful send-off for Kiran’s foray into the world of professional corporate slaves. Some also secretly spread salt for fear that the girl’s bad luck would transfer to them.

“Kiran, congratulations! You’re finally a full, normal human being!” one of her neighbors shouted with emotion under her giant umbrella.

“Thank you,” Kiran replied, beaming at the well-wisher.

But then, with a sudden twist of her body beneath her black funeral umbrella, she added, “Wait a minute. Do you think I look beautiful today?”

The thunder seemed to grow louder the moment the girl posed her question. For a brief moment, the neighbor stood in silence, gazing at Kiran’s shoulder-length dry hair, before offering her response. “At least this time, you won’t scare off people you’ve just met the moment they lay eyes on you.”

Kiran chuckled, unfazed by the teasing, before waving cheerfully at some of her neighbors and strolling away. She was far too elated that day to let a little jesting dampen her spirits.

Kiran wasn’t inherently unattractive; rather, her lack of guidance in self-care left her appearance overlooked. Without friends to offer fashion advice, she defaulted to an all-black wardrobe, attempting to conceal her pale fair complexion.

Despite her petite eyes, her facial structure exuded a natural charm, adding to her endearing appeal. Beneath her baggy attire, she possessed a stunning figure, yet her insecurity led her to hide her curves beneath loose clothing.

Four years after graduating from an obscure private university that no one believed existed, she was living a life of shameful unemployment. With no prior work experience, she felt the sting of rejection in her job search. So, when she received an unexpected acceptance from Baven Technology without undergoing the usual rigorous testing, she was taken aback.

“Congratulations, Ms. Kiran Kania, you have been accepted to work as a receptionist in our company. Starting September 4, you are requested to begin immediately. Please reply to this message with your clothing measurements and shoe size, so that we can promptly prepare a uniform for you.” 

That message from Baven Technology’s HR department, received two weeks prior, prompted her mother to immediately butcher a free-range chicken and dissolve into tears. How could she not? The subsidiaries of the Baven Group were renowned for their lucrative salaries and generous benefits, even extending to positions as seemingly humble as receptionist, promising prosperity for Kiran.

She was thrilled, determined to give her best no matter what challenges came her way at the office. Sure, Kiran still cared about money. She’d even worship her neighbor’s dried mango tree if it meant making a fortune.

Changing your destiny always costs money. Those who lack ambition and prefer to stay lazy are the ones who say, “being happy is easy.” But… finding happiness is never always straightforward. People are too complicated, always wanting more and evolving desires.

That was Kiran’s guiding principle, one she always stood by. That’s why she was so meticulous about money, even though she was actually quite naive and had lived without income for a long time.

The issue was, Kiran didn’t know what had actually landed her the job at Baven Technology. She never imagined there would be a touch of magic and a threat to her life accompanying it. Just one hour after enduring the typical Jakarta traffic jam on the Transjakarta bus, she got the answer to her crucial question.

Aldi Abbas!

Bewildered, Kiran held her breath fifteen minutes after entering the director’s room at Baven Technology. She never expected that on that day, she would come face to face with the company’s director, someone from her dark past.

Aldi hadn’t changed much. He still had the same crew cut hairstyle as before, the same body posture, and the handsome face with a smile that hadn’t changed since their high school days. The only difference was… he now looked more luxurious in the expensive suit he wore behind his sturdy desk.

“You… you’re the one who hired me here?” Kiran asked Aldi for what felt like the umpteenth time, after witnessing the director entering his office and warmly greeting her.

A few seconds after asking, panic seized the girl, and she immediately shook her head. “No… uh, sorry, I should have spoken more politely to you.”

Aldi chuckled at Kiran’s confused reaction. “Don’t be too formal if there’s no one else around us, Kiran. You can still call me by my name like you used to. I’m not someone who likes honorific titles like ‘Mr. Abbas,’ especially not from my old school friend.”

“But… how did you…?”

“Become the director of this company?” Aldi asked in his characteristic soft voice. “You surely still remember Selia, right? She’s the corporate secretary of the Baven Group’s parent company. She’s the one who recruited me to work at this Baven Group subsidiary.”

“Selia has returned to Indonesia? She… is the secretary here?”

Aldi chuckled again. “A corporate secretary isn’t like an ordinary secretary. The corporate secretary holds a highly important position almost equivalent to a director. They’re directly under the board of directors of the parent company and have a big responsibility to maintain the image of all the Baven Group companies. That’s why her office is on the top floor along with the most important people of Baven Group.”

“I’m Selia’s subordinate,” the man continued, still wearing a friendly expression. “I’m just a director of one of the Baven Group subsidiaries. They have seven subsidiaries in this building, and I’m tasked with leading their technology company on the ninth floor. Even so, I have the authority to recruit you to work here. Selia is aware of this too.”

“Are you still dating her?” Kiran asked cautiously, still quite confused about everything regarding Aldi and Selia.

“Me and Selia? I broke up with her since we all graduated high school. Our relationship only lasted for a few months, roughly until she moved abroad,” Aldi replied with a serious expression. “I’m still single now. As for Selia… she might be engaged to the President Director of Baven Group. Even so, we’re still close friends.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you two had broken up for a long time,” Kiran mumbled, her expression a mix of surprise and awkwardness.

Aldi just smiled. He then opened a folder on his desk containing Kiran’s CV and started reading it with an amused expression.

“I’ve read this before and found something very interesting here,” he said to Kiran. “You’ve never worked in an office before and only have experience as a cashier in your mom’s food stall and… as a rain shaman?”

Kiran’s face instantly looked nervous. “I… I had trouble finding a job before. So, I did work as a rain shaman.”

“A rain shaman, Kiran?” Aldi repeated, laughing. “Is that because your grandmother used to be a famous shaman? What did you do when you were a rain shaman?”

“Um, many things related to trying to prevent rain from falling at certain outdoor events,” Kiran answered with a swallowed voice out of embarrassment. Clearly, she was reluctant to explain that she even once ate flowers and dressed up as a traditional puppet for it.

“Did you often succeed in stopping the rain?”

Kiran fell silent for a moment, before finally shaking her head weakly. “That’s why I didn’t do well as a rain shaman. I often got criticized because I ended up causing floods at many events I handled.”

Aldi chuckled again at Kiran’s honesty. Instead of pitying herself, she seemed to be very straightforward, without considering her own credibility at all.

“Why did you accept me to work as a receptionist in such a big company yourself?” Kiran asked after Aldi stopped laughing. “You’ve read my CV and know that I’m just a graduate of a lousy university. I don’t have any professional work experience. How am I supposed to sit at the front desk and receive company guests if even my self-image is poor?”

Aldi suddenly fell silent and looked down. It was only a few minutes later that he looked back up at Kiran.

“Let’s just say that I owe you a lot in my life… and I’ve been wanting to repay it for a long time,” he replied with a guilty look towards Kiran.

Until now, Aldi and Selia actually didn’t know that Kiran knew their secret behind the leaked exam case. Even so, Kiran stopped talking to Selia when her friend admitted that she had been dating Aldi. That’s why Kiran never knew about Selia’s progress after that dark period.

“Aldi, could it be… you actually drank the drink I gave you back then?” Kiran asked suspiciously, observing Aldi’s kindness towards her. She was still confused as to why after all these years, he still felt guilty towards her and was now helping her, even though it was actually impossible for Kiran to enter the Baven Group.

“Drink? What drink are you talking about?” Aldi asked, suddenly focusing on the strange question from the woman in front of him.

“Do you still remember? I once gave you a cold soda after we went home from school and you just finished playing basketball. Don’t you remember that?”

Aldi frowned. “Ah, the drink you gave me back then? What about that drink? Was it very important?”

Kiran didn’t answer. Instead, she continued to stare seriously at Aldi, as if she was insisting on waiting for an answer from the director.

Feeling uncomfortable being stared at like that by Kiran, Aldi then answered with an expression that seemed like he was trying to remember, “I didn’t drink that drink. If I’m not mistaken… Jevan drank it.”

“Jevan?” Kiran asked, her facial expression drastically changing. “Jevan, our senior from high school?”

“Yes, he had graduated two years prior when he suddenly came back to our school area. Because he used to be a bit of a jerk, he just grabbed the drink from my hand and drank it after playing basketball with me.”

Instantly, Kiran was stunned in her chair. “He was also at the basketball court then? That guy… who actually drank it?”

“Yes,” Aldi answered with a scrutinizing look that seemed more like suspicion. “Kiran, why have you been bringing up that drink all this time? Did you put a love potion in it?”

Kiran was silent for a few seconds upon hearing Aldi’s question, before suddenly hitting Aldi’s desk hard and forcing herself to burst into laughter.

“Hahaha, Aldi, do you really believe in things like that? Just because I’m a descendant of a shaman, do you think I would cast a love spell on you?” Kiran asked with an exaggerated tone. “After all, you work in the technology world, how could you believe in love potions?”

Aldi’s face suddenly looked embarrassed at his own question. “I don’t believe in things like that at all. I was just… joking with you.”

Seeing Aldi now laughing along with her, Kiran immediately wiped the sudden cold sweat flowing on her forehead.

Damn it, Jevan was the one who actually drank that drink? That psychopathic killer?

The girl began to ramble in her own mind. She suddenly remembered the figure of Jevan she used to know.

Jevan Adrian was someone she had known for a long time, longer than Aldi and Selia. He was a boy from the orphanage near Kiran’s house and was also Kiran’s senior in their high school. When Kiran was in tenth grade, he was already in twelfth grade.

Back then, the man had been known to be terrifying and never had any expression on his face. She remembered that Jevan never had any friends and always acted like a lone troublemaker in their school environment.

He was never afraid of anything or anyone and often attacked or hurt classmates in his own grade until they were badly injured and hospitalized. He was known to be cold and brutal when angry. There were many rumors that he often killed animals around his orphanage in the past.

Even so, he was also known to be very intelligent and talented in many things. That’s why the teachers often approached him with caution. Because of these things, many later referred to Jevan as a cold-blooded psychopath.

Basically, before Kiran met Aldi, she had almost liked Jevan. They hadn’t crossed paths near Jevan’s orphanage area for a long time. When Kiran entered high school, she observed that Jevan, who was then a senior, had become very handsome and tall.

However, after seeing the man once brutally beat up thugs near their school, Kiran became extremely afraid of him. She even became more afraid of Jevan after eight years ago, she had been the only witness in a criminal case involving the man.

While still preoccupied with the leaked exam case, Selia’s parents were found dead in their home by residents. The incident delayed Kiran from immediately confronting Selia about her betrayal towards her.

However, there was one crucial detail behind it. Several hours before their discovery, Kiran actually saw Jevan fleeing from Selia’s house through her window. She remembered it vividly because she wondered why Jevan was there, especially since she knew for sure that he and Selia had never known each other before. Moreover, Jevan’s hands appeared to be covered in blood.

Kiran only realized that Jevan might be a murderer after the residents found Selia’s parents dead a few hours later. Because of this, she secretly reported him to the police, resulting in Jevan being detained as a suspect for some time.

Although he was eventually released due to lack of evidence and subsequently disappeared from their area, Kiran still shuddered every time she thought of Jevan. Somehow, she was deeply convinced that he was indeed the one who killed Selia’s parents.

The girl felt lucky that Jevan didn’t know she had reported him to the police. However, after hearing Aldi’s recent words, Kiran was incredibly shocked. She never expected that Jevan was the one who actually drank the love potion from her, not Aldi.

“Ah, it’s okay! I’ll never meet that psycho killer again! If we don’t meet, we won’t have to be involved in complicated situations,” Kiran said to herself while shaking her head vigorously.

Kiran thought she was still talking in her own mind. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize that she had just shouted loudly in front of Aldi, who immediately furrowed his brow.

“A psycho killer…? Are you talking about Jevan?” he asked suspiciously.

“H-uh?”

“You just mentioned a psycho killer. Were you talking about the case that led to Jevan being arrested by the police eight years ago?”

“I-I said that?” Kiran asked back nervously, hearing Aldi mention Jevan being detained by the police — which actually because of her. “I wasn’t talking about him at all. I don’t know much about him, and I was just talking randomly.”

“Good then,” Aldi commented, smiling again. “It would be troublesome if you dislike him and suspected him like many others did back then. Although Jevan is a bit cruel, Selia wouldn’t possibly be engaged to him if he was the one who killed her parents.”

Listening to Aldi’s words, Kiran’s face immediately turned pale. “You said earlier… Selia would be engaged to the president director of Baven Group. Why are you saying now…”

Aldi’s narrowed gaze now turned towards Kiran, who didn’t finish her sentence. “Kiran, have you been reading the news? Jevan is the president director of Baven Group. He changed his last name to Baven eight years ago. Everyone knows this.”

“B-Baven? H-his name now… Jevan Baven?”

“Yes, Jevan is the owner of Baven Group,” Aldi replied, looking amused at Kiran. “You haven’t met him again since eight years ago, have you? Don’t worry, even though he’s known to be very quick-tempered and easily fires people, those from our school have always been protected by Selia. So, at least you’ll be safe working in this office without worrying about Jevan.”

“Those from our school?”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you. Because Selia and I are in Baven Group, of course, many people from our school also work here,” he said again, his voice echoing in Kiran’s head.

“You’ll easily adapt in this office later because there are many people you’ve known since high school, including Selia. Jevan also often comes to our floor for meetings with me. So, you’ll definitely meet them all again after eight years of not seeing each other.”

“Don’t worry, Kiran,” Aldi continued, smiling warmly at Kiran, who was becoming more shocked. “Many of them have matured now and are no longer childish like before. You’ll feel very happy here because you… will often meet them all again.”