The hands of the antique wall clock hanging in the corner of the shop showed 7:25 in the morning. A young boy sat with an unenthusiastic posture in front of the long table usually used as a payment counter. His head rested wearily on both arms folded neatly on the smooth wooden table surface.
The child was Nova, a mysterious figure whose existence remained a big question mark, where he came from or how he could appear so suddenly.
His facial expression looked flat and empty.
The Chocolate Shop where he was currently located had a unique L-shaped interior design with a very functional spatial layout. This room had long tables stretching toward the front, right, and left, creating a natural flow of movement for visitors. The inner and outer walls were painted in warm brown colors, while inside the shop there were two access doors: a back door connecting to the kitchen and storage area, and a front door facing directly toward the playground.
Hana had finished her usual shop opening routine, turning on lights, cleaning tables, preparing ingredients, and checking all equipment. Inside the shop there were ten dining tables made of quality teak wood.
Each was equipped with four comfortable wooden chairs with light brown cushions. Five tables were neatly arranged on the right side of the room, while the other five tables were placed on the left side. On both the right and left sides there were large windows with wooden frames that allowed visitors to enjoy the view of the green and lush park from inside the shop while sipping their warm drinks.
Currently, Hana was in the inner cashier area separated by the long payment table, while Nova sat alone in the outer area with a face that looked very bored and uninterested in anything. In front of the long payment table was a soft long bench with a backrest, and Nova sat there staring blankly toward the window. Hana was now sitting relaxed in her comfortable chair while sorting purchase receipts from the previous day.
Suddenly, the sound of *ring* from the door bell rang when the front door of the shop opened, and the cheerful voice of a small girl full of energy,
"Good morning, Sister Hana!"
Nova slowly lifted his head that had been drooping tiredly and saw the figure of a girl around six to seven years old running with joyful steps approaching the cashier area. The girl carried a large brown food box that looked quite heavy for her small body size. Her black hair was neatly braided back with a light blue ribbon, and her white-blue school uniform still looked neat and clean even though she had just run from her house. With her brown eyes,
"This is nasi lemak made by Mom, the most delicious in the village! Please sell it as usual, Sister!"
Nova looked at the energetic little girl with an empty and flat expression, showing no interest or enthusiasm whatsoever.
"Oh... alright. Just put it on the table as usual," she answered.
The cheerful girl was Hanah, a neighbor who lived in the house right next to Hana's house, separated only by a low wooden fence and a small plot of land planted with colorful flowers. Hanah's family and Hana had been running a simple but mutually beneficial business cooperation.
With trained and efficient movements, Hanah opened the large box and began taking out one by one the nasi lemak packages wrapped neatly with fresh banana leaves that were still green and fragrant. Inside the box were fifty portions of nasi lemak with three different variants: nasi lemak with fried egg and spicy sambal, nasi lemak with rendang beef, and nasi lemak with fried chicken.
After finishing arranging all the packages neatly and systematically on the long table grouped by type for easy retrieval, Hanah sat next to Nova while wiping the sweat on her forehead with a small pink handkerchief. Her gaze then focused on the face of the boy next to her with great curiosity.
"Eh, who are you?" Hanah asked directly to the point without small talk, in accordance with the nature of children who are innocent and honest.
"This is the first time I've seen your face here. Did you just move to this area? Or maybe you're on vacation here?"
Nova was slightly startled by the sudden question, not expecting anyone to talk to him.
"Me? Ah... I'm Nova," he answered with the same flat tone as usual, without showing enthusiasm for getting acquainted.
"Nova?" Hanah repeated the name while raising her eyebrows with a curious and slightly surprised expression.
"Wow, what a very unique and strange name. This is really the first time I've heard a name like that in this area. Well then, let me introduce myself, my name is Hanah! I live right next to Sister Hana's house!"
Suddenly, Hanah stopped completely and froze like a statue. Her eyes widened when looking at Nova's eyes from close distance for the first time. Her mouth opened slightly in shock at what she saw.
"What... what's wrong?" asked Nova with an innocent and confused face, not understanding why Hanah was looking at him with an expression like someone who had just seen a creature from another planet.
"Wow! That's so beautiful!" Hanah exclaimed with an amazed tone mixed with shock and admiration.
"You have very unique and beautiful eyes! The color is white like a full moon! This is really the first time I've seen eyes like this in my life! Is this real or are you wearing special contact lenses?"
"Ooh…" Nova only mumbled briefly without showing any reaction. He didn't understand at all what Hanah meant by the full moon comparison, because he didn't even know what the moon was.
"By the way," Hanah continued with undiminished enthusiasm, her eyes still sparkling with curiosity,
"where do you live? Where is your house? I live in the house right next to Sister Hana's house, so I'm very curious why we're just meeting now. I've been living here since birth."
"Live...?"
Nova looked very confused by what should have been a simple question. His facial expression showed total confusion. He didn't know what to answer. Fortunately, Hana came to help with a brief answer.
"He's living with me from now on," Hana answered briefly while coming out of the cashier area and joining them.
"Ooh, I see. I understand now," Hanah nodded enthusiastically.
"So Nova is... like Sister Hana's adopted little brother, right? Wow, exciting! Now I have a new friend to play with!"
"Adopted little brother?" Nova clearly didn't know what that was.
Hana then walked toward the wall and turned on an old 32-inch television hanging on the wall with a sturdy bracket. The television screen displayed a morning news program as usual.
"Hanah," Hana suddenly reminded while looking at the wall clock that already showed 7:40,
"You'll be late for school if you don't leave now. The entrance bell is at eight sharp, right?"
"Ah! Oh my! Hanah jumped from her seat with very panicked movements.
"Hanah really forgot the time! Thank you for reminding me, Sister Hana! If not, I would definitely get scolded by the teacher again!"
She hurriedly and somewhat panicked took her pink school bag with cartoon character pictures that had been placed on one of the tables near the window. The bag looked full of textbooks and stationery.
"Well then, I'm leaving first! See you later, Sister Hana! And see you too, Nova! I hope we can play together sometime!"
Hanah ran with hurried steps toward her school which was indeed not too far from the shop. The distance from the shop to the elementary school building where she studied only took about three to four minutes of normal walking, or two minutes if running as she was doing now.
After the energetic figure of Hanah disappeared around the corner leading to the school, Nova looked in the direction of her departure with an empty and uninterested gaze, as if what had just happened was something very ordinary and didn't attract his attention at all.
"What is school?" Nova asked Hana.
"School is a place where children and teenagers go to learn various kinds of knowledge and life skills," she explained while placing clean glasses that had just been washed on the rack with movements slightly harder than usual.
"There they study knowledge like mathematics for counting, language for communication, history to understand the past, science to understand the universe, and many other things that are useful and important for their lives in the future. They also learn to socialize with peers."
"Ooh…" Nova responded with a short mumble.
"I don't understand what all that is for."
*It seems this child really doesn't know much about the world,* thought Hana while smiling slightly.