"It's Riki's turn now! Hurry up, open your card and read what's written on it!"
Tissa pointed at Riki enthusiastically, waiting for him to open the card that had been sitting in front of him.
Riki picked up the card, opened it, and read the words written inside.
"Among your female friends, who do you have feelings for? Say her name and tell her that you like her."
Instantly, Riki's expression changed.
Without giving it a second thought, he immediately reached for the challenge card in the middle of the circle.
"I'll take the challenge instead!"
His friends burst out laughing at how quickly he reacted.
"Why? Afraid of getting caught?" Alya teased.
"I'm not afraid of getting caught!" Riki protested, raising the challenge card in his hand. "I just think this question is way too dangerous. One wrong answer, and it could come back to bite me. Hahaha!"
Still laughing, Riki opened the challenge card and read its contents.
However, instead of feeling relieved, his expression grew even more troubled.
"Unlock your phone and show your private conversations to the others."
Riki fell silent for a few seconds.
Then he looked at the two cards in his hands with an expression of disbelief.
"Seriously! Neither the question nor the challenge is any better!"
Another round of laughter erupted among them.
"That's what you get for complaining too much. Pick one!" Keenan chimed in.
Riki let out a long sigh before placing the challenge card in front of him.
"Fine, I'll answer the first question. My private conversations are too confidential to show to other people."
He leaned back, trying to look relaxed before finally continuing his confession.
"The girl I used to like was Tissa. But that was before she started dating Rian."
The laughter that had filled the air gradually died down.
Several pairs of eyes immediately turned toward Tissa.
Meanwhile, Riki continued speaking as though his confession were nothing particularly significant.
"To be honest, I used to like Tissa because she was kind of a flirt."
"Riki!" Tissa protested, looking both embarrassed and offended.
Riki chuckled at her reaction.
"But don't worry. I'm not going to become the third person in your relationship with Rian. Besides, it's perfectly normal to have feelings for a friend. There's nothing wrong with that, right?"
His final words sounded casual. Riki even smiled as though he wanted to make sure his confession wouldn't change their friendship.
However, for Tissa, those words left her with a feeling she couldn't quite explain.
She simply fell silent, trying to hide the emotions that had suddenly begun stirring inside her chest.
Laras, who was sitting not far from her, noticed the change in her best friend's expression.
She knew very well that Tissa had once liked Riki.
Feelings that Tissa had probably spent a long time trying to forget were now resurfacing after she discovered that the boy she had once liked had secretly felt the same way about her.
Unfortunately, the truth had only come out when circumstances were no longer the same.
Back then, Riki had never confessed his feelings. Meanwhile, Tissa, tired of waiting for something uncertain, had eventually accepted Rian's love.
Rian had approached her with a sincerity that never forced Tissa to guess how he felt. He had continued trying to win her heart and never given up, even when Tissa hadn't fully opened herself up to him.
In the end, Tissa had chosen someone who was brave enough to fight for her.
And now, when Riki finally revealed his feelings, Tissa was no longer in the same position she had been in before.
Laras let out a quiet sigh.
She could imagine all the questions that might be running through her best friend's mind.
Why only now?
Why didn't you tell me back then?
Laras finally decided to break the silence that was beginning to feel awkward.
"Hmmm, then why didn't you confess your feelings a long time ago, Riki?" she asked teasingly. "If you'd been brave enough from the beginning, maybe things would've turned out differently. But now, Tissa has already chosen someone who's willing to fight for her, and that's Rian."
Riki shrugged, as though the question wasn't important enough to think about too deeply.
"Relax. I don't want to fantasize about some college love story."
He chuckled before continuing.
"If possible, I don't even want to date someone from the same campus as me. Because if we ever break up, it'll be hard for both of us to forget each other. We see each other every day, so how are we supposed to move on quickly?"
Some of their friends nodded in agreement, while others laughed at Riki's way of thinking.
However, among everyone listening, there was one person who was becoming increasingly lost in her own thoughts.
Tissa.
She lowered her head and began playing with her fingertips, unaware that Laras had been watching her all along.
Riki might have considered his confession nothing more than part of the game. To him, the past was already behind him.
But for Tissa, his confession had reopened a door she had spent so long trying to keep firmly shut.
And she didn't know whether she should feel relieved to finally learn the truth or regretful that she had only heard it now.
Noticing that Tissa was beginning to drift into her thoughts, Laras quickly redirected everyone's attention.
"Alright, alright! Let's not spend the entire night discussing Riki's love life. Come on, let's continue the game!"
The atmosphere grew lively again with laughter and playful remarks.
At Post 3, the night air was growing colder. The wind slipped through the trees, occasionally rustling the leaves that sheltered their campsite.
Even though the night was getting late, no one seemed particularly eager to end the game.
At least, not yet.
────────
Amid the lively game, Rico suddenly remembered Umar.
Something had been bothering him for a while. There was something slightly strange about Umar's condition, although Rico couldn't quite figure out what was making him feel that way.
Eventually, Rico stood up and walked toward the tent where Umar was resting.
He slowly lifted the tent flap and peered inside.
Umar was still in the same position as before, lying down with his body barely having changed position.
Rico watched him for a few moments.
Finding nothing suspicious, he let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh, maybe it's just my imagination," he murmured.
He closed the tent flap again and walked back toward his friends, who were still gathered beneath the night sky.
Without realizing that there was something he had yet to understand, Rico returned to his original seat.
Meanwhile, the game continued.
"It's your turn now, Hasan Habibi Jamal!"
Alya's voice rang out as she pointed at Hasan, who was sitting across from her.
Hasan immediately rubbed his face with both hands. He had been feeling increasingly sleepy for a while. The cold air and exhaustion from their long trek made him want to lie down and get some rest.
"How about we call it a night?" he suggested. "It's almost midnight. You guys must be sleepy too, right?"
"Oh, don't be like that!" Laras immediately interjected. "There are only four of us left who haven't had our turns. Just keep going, San. We'll be done soon."
Hasan glanced briefly at Laras.
She was making a pleading face, as though she genuinely hoped their game wouldn't end just yet.
And as usual, Hasan found it difficult to say no whenever Laras asked him for something like that.
"Alright, alright. I'll go along with it," he replied resignedly.
He picked up the card in front of him and opened it.
However, the moment he read the question written on it, Hasan suddenly fell silent.
"If your best friend admires the girl you like, what is the first thing you would do to him?"
Thump!
Hasan's heart seemed to beat harder than before.
Such a simple question felt as though it had been deliberately directed at him.
How could it not?
All this time, Hasan had been harboring feelings for Laras. He had never truly confessed them, but the attention he gave her had already gone far beyond how he treated his other friends.
The problem was that Rico admired Laras too.
Rico was his best friend, the guy who had spent so much time with him, shared stories with him, and accompanied him through all sorts of activities.
Hasan had never intended to let his feelings become a reason to ruin their friendship.
But that didn't mean he had never considered the possibility that he and Rico might one day fall for the same girl.
Hasan drew a slow breath, trying to put together an answer that wouldn't sound suspicious.
"I wouldn't do anything," he finally said.
He raised his head and looked at his friends one by one before continuing.
"Because Rico only admires her for now. He still has the right to like someone. The same goes for me, you, or anyone else. We can't stop other people from having feelings."
Hasan paused briefly.
"It's a different story if they're already officially dating. If that happens, of course I'll know how to behave. If there's something that needs to be discussed, I'll talk to him about it calmly."
His answer sounded calm and reasonable.
However, without Hasan realizing it, Laras was watching him closely.
Something about his answer made her curious. She couldn't tell whether Hasan was simply answering the question or trying to express something he had never dared to say directly.
Laras was about to look away when Rengga suddenly interrupted.
"But if I make a move on Laras, that means it's fine, right, San?"
Several people immediately burst out laughing.
Hasan turned toward Rengga with a deadpan expression.
Rengga merely flashed a wide grin, clearly enjoying the opportunity to tease his best friend.
He had long since realized that Hasan had feelings for Laras. Their closeness had been far too obvious to go unnoticed.
Hasan often stole glances at Laras when she was talking. He also frequently asked how she was doing whenever she didn't join their gatherings.
Hasan's attention toward Laras was different.
He was kind to Tissa and Alya too. But with Laras, there were always little gestures of affection that he could never quite hide.
And Rengga had certainly noticed them.
"Go ahead," Hasan replied casually. "You can make a move on Tissa or Alya too. I don't mind."
He patted Rengga on the shoulder before flashing a mischievous smile.
"Besides, the question isn't which girl you want to approach. It's which one of them would actually want you, Rengga."
"Hey!" Rengga immediately protested.
Laughter erupted among them once again.
"What girl wouldn't want a handsome guy like me?" he declared confidently.
"Plenty!" Keenan shot back.
"You're just jealous!"
"Alright, alright! Don't let this game turn into a self-promotion contest!" Alya exclaimed, making everyone laugh again.
For a moment, Hasan felt relieved that his friends' attention had shifted elsewhere.
But when he happened to glance at Laras, he discovered that she was still watching him.
Their eyes met.
Just for a moment.
Laras quickly turned her face away, while Hasan pretended to be busy straightening the cards in his hand.
For some reason, that night, he felt as though a simple question had made the secret he had been guarding all this time increasingly difficult to hide.