In the end, even though Bagas knew that Sheva was convinced by the condition set by Irfan to join the club, he had to stop the negotiation abruptly. After all, compared to Sheva, who was always academically strong but had no experience navigating society, Bagas, who grew up in a fairly wealthy family, knew that accepting the deal hastily would be detrimental to his best friend. It would make Sheva look eager to accept the offer, which would also lower his position in Irfan's eyes. That way, the initiative would fall into Irfan's hands, and while Bagas believed that the IM would never demand anything stupid, he didn't dare to put his best friend in such a disadvantageous situation.
Sheva himself didn't quite understand why Bagas didn't let him accept the offer immediately. However, he still trusted his best friend the most, and he knew that there was no way his best friend would try to sabotage his chance here. Still…
"Can you tell me the reason?" He finally asked. "Not that I doubt you, of course! I am just curious here."
Bagas twitched his lips a little, trying to see Sheva's expression from the rearview mirror. The sun had already set behind a bunch of towering buildings in front of them, yet its light could still penetrate everything before it reflected straight on Sheva's helmet visor, hiding his expression and thought pretty clearly. Bagas bit his lips, trying to think of how to explain this matter. Not that he wanted to hide it, of course, but he wanted to explain things without making it look like Master Irfan had some sort of malicious intent here.
Fortunately, Sheva was just inexperienced, not a stupid person. He could grasp what Bagas wanted to say just by one messy explanation from his best friend and also understood why his best friend didn't want him to agree immediately.
"Also," Bagas added before he could say anything. "I know you tend to forget about a lot of important things once you are excited, so I will remind you of the most important thing first. Before joining the club, you should've talked to your mother first, right?"
Sheva was stunned for a second; his pupil dilated slightly at the reminder. Indeed, he had to talk to his mother, not only about this matter, but also about the money prize that he had just gained from the challenge. There was no way his mother would believe his explanation, probably thinking that he had taken out a loan or something similar to help the family with its financial problems.
"Oh, well, fortunately, you recorded the entire game, right?" Sheva sighed in relief when he remembered what Bagas did during the game.
"Don't worry, I caught a good video!" Bagas smiled, his eyes were still on the road. "Don't worry, Shev! I will help convince your mother to let you join the club! There is no way I will let your talent get buried in my small snack stall!" He grinned, increasing the speed once again while also navigating the motorcycle to get through the traffic flawlessly.
After escaping the bad traffic, it only took three minutes for the motorcycle to reach Sheva's home. Well, it was not an easy three minutes, per se. Bagas had to be careful driving the motorcycle through one dark and narrow alley after another. However, after being Sheva's best friend for so many years, the instinct he honed finally kicked in, letting them arrive at the shortest time possible.
"Mom, I am home! I am with Bagas!" Sheva shouted as he took off his helmet and waited for his best friend to park the motorcycle.
"Come in!" His mother's sharp voice could be heard from inside. "Invite Bagas too! I cook some fried tempeh here!"
"Um?! Fried tempeh?!" Bagas's eyes lit up when he heard the offer from Sheva's mother, making Sheva sigh helplessly. Still, he didn't say anything, knowing best that he shouldn't be on the way between a crazy foodie like Bagas and his prey. "Thank you, Aunty!" Bagas nodded happily as he had already sat on the couch in the corner of the room while enjoying the snack that Sheva's mother brought.
"Oh, don't worry about it. Just a small snack." Sheva's mother waved nonchalantly. "More importantly, thank you for taking care of my son! I know that he could only work there because of you, so I cannot thank you enough, Bagas." She bowed her head a little to show her gratitude.
"Eh, don't think too much, Aunty." Bagas rubbed the back of his neck with his oily fingers awkwardly. "Bagas is my best friend, so it is natural for me to take care of him!"
Sheva could see his mother's gaze soften before she said, "He is lucky to have a good friend like you."
For a moment, the atmosphere there was pretty awkward as silence descended on that small room. Bagas started nudging Sheva's waist a little, signalling him to talk to his mother.
'Coward!' Sheva cursed inwardly, glaring at Bagas who tried to act innocently. Still, he knew this was something that he had to discuss on his own, so Sheva took a deep breath and said to his mother, "Um… Ma?" His tone was nervous.
"Yes, Sheva?" His mom answered without even looking at him.
"Um… Can you see this?" Sheva put the envelope full of money on the table. His mother stopped what she was doing for a moment, frowned, before taking the envelope from the table. Right after she saw what was inside, she gasped instantly, hyperventilating a little bit.
"Shev… Sheva… Where did you get this much money from? You didn't do something stupid and illegal, right?!" She asked in panic. After all, even though 1,000,000 rupiah was not that much money for people living in Jakarta, it would still take Sheva's mother about three weeks or even a full month before she could earn it from selling traditional snacks, and that was only if the number was good. So, to see that amount of money in front of her was enough to make her assume the worst thing here.
"W-What?! No!" Sheva widened his eyes in shock, not expecting such a violent reaction. "No, this is something that I won fair and square!"
"You mean you are gambling?!"
"No! I mean, not really! I… Argh! I cannot explain it clearly!" Sheva scratched his hair in frustration, not knowing what to say here. "Gas, help me explain this matter!" He glared at his best friend.
Bagas just rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, thinking of a way to explain this before things got messy. He couldn't help but wonder, how could a smart guy like Sheva get flustered easily when it was his turn to explain to his own mother? Bagas knew that Sheva didn't have any conflict with his mother. Hell, Sheva loved him too much that the mere thought of him hurting her was pretty ridiculous. But their relationship was always awkward, making Bagas wonder about his best friend's unique family dynamic here.
Fortunately, Sheva's mother was willing to listen to Bagas's explanation, and after watching the footage that Bagas recorded before, she finally believed that the money came from a clean and legal means here and they won't have any problem spending it.
"Oh, I am just glad that you didn't get into any illegal activity…" Sheva's mother sighed in relief before rubbing Sheva's hair fondly. "Anyway, sorry for accusing you of doing something bad. I just couldn't help but worry, you know…"
"Eh, don't worry about it…" Sheva said awkwardly. Even though he was grateful that his mother was always willing to apologize whenever she was on the wrong end, it was still awkward to receive the apology. However, after remembering the main purpose of this conversation, he straightened his back immediately before asking, "Um… There is a little bit more here, and I don't know how to say it…"
"Oh?" His mother raised one of her eyebrows curiously. "Please, do tell."
"Um…" Sheva fell into hesitation one more time. He glanced at Bagas for help, yet his best friend shook his head firmly, silently saying that he had to be the one who informed his mother. He glanced at his mother, who just waited patiently without any judgmental expression on her face, before Sheva finally took a deep breath and asked, "Can I join Master Irfan's chess club, Ma?"