The next morning, Yugh sent a message to Anisa: "Anisa, I'm coming to work today as usual. Thank you for understanding and for managing all the work alone." š²
"Good morning, Yugh. I'm glad to hear that, and you're welcome. It's the same help you'd give me. It's good you're coming back. I was going to invite you to my wedding, it's in two days. Kirana is coming, of course, and Yusuf will be there too," Anisa replied, her message tinged with the normalcy of her approaching life.
Reading it, Yugh felt a pang of dread. The wedding! No, Anisa, you're walking into a trap. You're getting entangled with a monster wearing a mask. š
He quickly got ready and went to the studio. Seeing Anisa after so long gave him a strange surge of energy. He immediately took on a larger share of the workload, wanting to give her some relief after nearly ten days of carrying everything alone. All the while, his mind was focused on one goal: to speak to her after work, before heading home. He had to tell her everything, make her understand the horrifying reality and the immense danger she was in.
The professional atmosphere of the studio was a fragile bubble. Around them, the routine of work continued; phone calls, sketches, client meetings. Anisa moved through it all with the calm efficiency he remembered, yet now every smile she gave, every plan she mentioned for the wedding, felt to Yugh like a countdown to a disaster only he knew was coming. He worked diligently, biding his time, gathering his courage for the conversation that could shatter her world but might just save her life. š