In the morning, in Jakarta, inside a modest apartment, Alex woke up from what felt like an incredibly long dream. He blinked groggily, looking around his familiar bedroom—the same bed, the same walls, the same desk with his monitor turned off. Everything was just as it had always been.
Yet, as he sat up, rubbing his eyes, a single tear rolled down his cheek.
"Hmm?" He frowned, confused by the stray tear. He hadn't been crying—at least, he didn't remember crying. Maybe it was just because he had just woken up.
The door creaked open, and his mother peeked in. "Alex, it's morning. Take a shower and come eat."
"Yeah… okay, Mom," he mumbled sleepily.
Dragging himself out of bed, he shuffled into the bathroom and sank into the warm water of the bathtub. The heat seeped into his skin, relaxing his muscles, but something about it felt... strange. Familiar, yet distant. His mind drifted as he stared at the rippling water.
"That was a weird dream…" he murmured to himself.
A dream?
