The sky was beginning to turn orange when Rian finally left the noodle shop.
His meeting with Diah had lasted far longer than he had originally planned.
At first, he had only intended to eat for a few minutes.
But after discovering that the woman sitting at the table beside him was Diah Pratiwi, his old high school friend—and his first love—his fifteen-minute meal had somehow turned into nearly two hours.
And throughout that entire time...
Rian had barely paid any attention to Jojo.
The cat had already meowed several times, demanding attention.
Ignored.
Jojo sat beside his bowl, watching Rian talk endlessly with Diah.
When Rian laughed, Jojo watched.
When Rian smiled, Jojo watched.
When Rian even helped Diah move her chair to make her more comfortable, Jojo witnessed everything.
Now, as they walked toward the motorcycle, Rian's face looked completely different.
The smile never left his face.
Even after putting on his helmet, the corners of his mouth were still raised.
Jojo, sitting in front of him, stared at Rian through the rearview mirror.
The cat was disgusted.
“Meow.”
Rian smiled.
“Today was great.”
Jojo rolled his eyes.
Rian didn't notice.
“Diah is still just like she was back then.”
Jojo snorted.
“Meow.”
“What?”
Jojo looked at Rian through the mirror.
“You met one female, and your face looks like you just won the lottery.”
Rian immediately fell silent.
His smile slowly disappeared.
“Female?”
Jojo flicked his tail.
“Isn't that what she is?”
Rian frowned.
“She’s human.”
“Even worse.”
Rian raised an eyebrow.
“What do you mean?”
Jojo sat up straighter.
His expression suddenly became that of an old aristocrat preparing to lecture an ignorant commoner.
“I used to rule this territory.”
Rian stared at him through the mirror.
Jojo continued proudly.
“Many females came and went.”
Rian sighed.
“No one asked for your life story.”
“I’m no longer interested.”
Jojo raised his chin.
“My taste has changed. A noble cat has standards.”
Rian almost laughed.
“You?”
“Yes.”
Jojo stared down the road with an arrogant expression.
“The female cats around here are simply beneath my level.”
Rian raised an eyebrow.
“Since when did you become a noble?”
Jojo didn't answer.
He simply flicked his tail.
He truly looked like a cat who had recently been granted a noble title by some imaginary kingdom.
Rian finally grinned.
“All right.”
Jojo glanced at him.
“What?”
“I have a solution.”
Jojo immediately became suspicious.
“What solution?”
Rian maintained his smile.
“Neutering.”
Jojo's entire body froze.
“What?”
Rian nodded casually.
“If you keep talking about your past experiences, maybe we should remove the source of the problem.”
Jojo immediately stood up.
“MEOW?!”
Rian nearly lost his balance when the cat suddenly moved.
“Sit down!”
Jojo immediately sat.
But both of his front paws quickly moved toward the lower part of his body.
His eyes widened in horror.
“No.”
Rian burst out laughing.
“Why?”
Jojo hugged the precious part of his body even tighter.
“That is an important asset!”
Rian almost fell off the motorcycle from laughing.
“What kind of cat calls that an asset?”
“You humans would never understand.”
“Good. I don't want to.”
Jojo stared at Rian with a deeply wounded expression.
“Rian...”
“What?”
“Don't touch Jojo's family treasure.”
Rian laughed even harder.
“You idiot.”
But after a while, Rian's smile returned.
His thoughts drifted back to Diah.
For some reason, after all these years, his heart felt unusually light.
He didn't know whether those old feelings would return or whether this was simply nostalgia.
But for the first time in a long while, Rian was going home feeling genuinely happy.
---
When they arrived at the farm, the atmosphere was surprisingly different.
Several workers had already gathered near the main building.
As soon as they saw Rian get off the motorcycle, they immediately approached him.
Rian frowned when he saw the crowd.
“Why is everyone gathered here?”
One of the workers hesitated before finally asking.
“Boss Rian... are you all right?”
Rian blinked.
“Me?”
He pointed at himself.
“Yes.”
The worker nodded quickly.
“We saw two police officers take you away in a car earlier.”
Several other workers immediately nodded as well.
The atmosphere became noisy.
“Boss, we were worried.”
“We thought something had happened.”
“Was it because of that incident with the thugs?”
“Is it another problem with the hoax?”
Rian raised both hands.
“Calm down.”
He tried to stop the growing panic.
“Nothing happened.”
Then he scratched his head.
“They're just acquaintances of mine.”
That simple statement made everyone fall silent.
Mr. Supri, the field foreman who had been standing behind the other workers, raised an eyebrow.
“Acquaintances?”
Rian nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Police officers?”
“Yeah.”
“Two of them?”
“Yeah.”
“In a police car?”
Rian began to feel that the questions were getting strangely specific.
“Yeah.”
Mr. Supri slowly nodded.
Then he turned toward the other workers.
“Our boss's acquaintances are on another level.”
Several workers immediately laughed.
Rian rubbed his forehead.
“It's not like that.”
Mr. Supri stepped closer, looking even more curious.
“Then what was it?”
Rian briefly explained.
“They came to invite me to lunch. One of them was Bayu, the son of Mr. Herman, whom I helped before.”
As soon as Herman's name was mentioned, several workers exchanged glances.
They might not know the full details, but one thing was becoming obvious.
Their boss apparently knew important people.
Mr. Supri looked at Rian with a completely different expression.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“For all this time, I thought you were just a young farmer who liked calculating profits.”
Rian smiled.
“Was I wrong?”
Mr. Supri laughed.
“No.”
He then patted the shoulder of the worker beside him.
“But it turns out that when there's a problem, our boss can get picked up by the police.”
The worker immediately laughed.
Rian sighed.
“Not because of a problem.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Mr. Supri nodded as if he completely understood.
“Picked up because of lunch.”
Rian stared at him.
“Exactly.”
Mr. Supri put on a serious expression.
“Wow.”
He slowly nodded.
“That's even more impressive.”
“Impressive how?”
“Not everyone can have lunch with the police.”
Rian couldn't argue with that.
The workers began whispering among themselves.
“So Boss has connections with the police?”
“Maybe.”
“Then we're safe if something happens, right?”
Rian immediately turned toward them.
“Don't get any ideas.”
Everyone suddenly fell silent.
Rian's expression became serious.
“I don't have any special power. Don't ever do something stupid just because you think I can protect you from legal trouble.”
His tone made the workers understand that he was serious.
To Rian, having connections didn't mean having a free pass to break the law.
Mr. Supri nodded more seriously.
“Understood, Boss.”
Then he smiled.
“But it's still pretty cool.”
Rian sighed.
“Mr. Supri...”
“Yes?”
“Get back to work.”
Mr. Supri immediately laughed.
“Yes, Boss!”
The workers began returning to their duties.
But as they walked away, their whispers could still be heard.
“Our boss is actually amazing.”
“He knows people in the police.”
“I wonder if he knows anyone in the military too.”
Rian heard them but simply shook his head.
He didn't think there was anything special about it.
To him, Bayu was simply someone who had come to thank him for helping his father.
Nothing more.
Rian walked toward the small house at the edge of the farm.
Jojo followed behind him with lazy steps.
But as they passed several workers, Jojo suddenly puffed out his chest.
“Meow.”
Rian turned around.
“What are you doing?”
Jojo raised his chin.
“Now they know I have connections.”
Rian frowned.
“What connections?”
Jojo pointed at himself with his front paw.
“With the boss.”
Rian stared at him for several seconds.
Then he continued walking.
“Trying to take credit for my reputation.”
Jojo hurried after him, grumbling.
“Meow!”
That afternoon, the farm finally returned to its usual peaceful state.
Rian entered the house with the same smile he had been wearing ever since meeting Diah.
Jojo followed behind him, occasionally touching the lower part of his body with one paw just to make sure his precious assets were still safe.
That day, Rian had gained two things he had never planned for.
First, a connection with influential people in the police and military.
Second...
the return of his first love.
And for reasons Rian couldn't understand, the second one made him far more nervous than dealing with the police.