Chapter 15

"So, as I said before, this is my friend who will help me to investigate the theft in my class."

Senja introduced Awan to other teachers. Awan smiled kindly and nodded to greet the people in front of him. Then, he saw Mentari enter the teacher's room, along with Vivi and Yunifer, as well as another girl he didn't know. Awan's smile widened when he saw Vivi's arrival. Even though Vivi only nodded briefly at him and gave him a flat look on her face, but Awan didn't mind that.

Awan recalled the incident yesterday afternoon, when he had lunch at Vivi's house. It's a pretty awkward situation. However, Awan was quite happy because Vivi still wanted to talk to him. He also sent a message to Vivi's cell phone, but she didn't reply. It doesn't matter. His intention to be friends with Vivi was very big. He would do anything to make Vivi want to be friends with him.

"Mentari, Mila," called Senja. The two girls then approached Senja and stood in front of him. "I ask for your cooperation to catch the culprit."

"Okay, Sir," replied Mila, while Mentari just nodded. Her face looked a little pale and her eyes looked sad. Seeing that, Senja's eyebrows raised one. What's wrong with Mentari?

"Then you girls can go back to class." Senja did ask them to come to the teacher's room so they could hear his plan to catch the culprit. When Mila, Vivi and Yunifer had left the teacher's room, Senja immediately called Mentari. "Mentari, can you come with me to my office for a moment?"

Awan glanced at Senja and cleared his throat. He then invited the other teachers to chat, so that their attention would not be directed to Senja and Mentari.

Senja left the door to his office half open. Then, as soon as Mentari was in his office, Senja crossed his arms and frowned. His eyes were worried. Wasn't Mentari fine yesterday after crying? They chatted for a long time while waiting for Awan to arrive. And now, why does Mentari look like this?

"What is wrong with you, Mentari? Are you ill? Or… is there something you have on your mind?" asked Senja in a firm tone. He told Mentari to sit down, while he stood near his desk.

Mentari massaged the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. "I... received threats last night, Sir."

"Threat? From the person whose name is Pelangi? Does she know that Samudra wants to come here and transfer to this school?"

Mentari shook her head. "Not from Pelangi, Sir. But, from an unknown person." The girl couldn't stop her shaking hands. This clearly made Senja frozen in place and hastily stood in front of Mentari. "He threatened to hurt me if I tried to find out about this theft. This morning, when I was about to go to school, I got a package from an unknown person. Because I was suspicious, I opened the package in the backyard, so my father wouldn't find out. And, it contains a cat toy with a severed head. Then, there is also a letter that threatens me again, if I will be hurt later, if I conduct an investigation into this theft case."

Senja clenched his jaw and knelt before Mentari. He held Mentari's hands, which was shaking and felt cold in his hands. Mentari's face grew paler and the tears began to flow down her cheeks. Senja immediately wiped the tears away. In the meantime, the hostility between the two disappeared. Senja must help Mentari and protect her from the thief.

"You don't have to worry, Mentari. I will protect you. As a teacher, it's my duty and obligation to always look after and protect my students," said Senja soothingly. He smiled softly and ruffled Mentari's hair. "Well, don't cry anymore, okay? This is not Mentari Jingga that I know. Mentari Jingga that I know is a brave girl who is never afraid of anything as long as she is right."

Mentari laughed softly and nodded. Then, she pointed her pinky finger at Senja, causing Senja to raise an eyebrow. "In that case, you have to promise me to always protect me, so that I don't become a victim of the thief, okay! If you fail to protect me and I turn into a ghost, I will surely haunt you!"

Senja blinked and the next second he laughed. Nodding, the guy hooked his pinky finger to Mentari's little finger and the two of them now began to devise a plan to catch the thief. In his heart, Senja vowed to make anyone who dared to make Mentari cry, regret it for the rest of their life.

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Awan, who was introduced as an intern teacher, oversees the teaching process in the classroom from behind.

The guy leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. He smiled sweetly at the girls who were busy glancing at him. In fact, Awan would wave his hand silently, causing Senja, who was teaching, to immediately give him a sharp look. Then, Awan's gaze stopped on Vivi. Vivi was playing with her pen while looking out the window.

What was on her mind?

Without thinking, Awan walked towards Vivi's chair. He stood next to Vivi and cleared his throat, surprising Vivi, then turned her head. Then, Vivi frowned as Awan bent down beside her.

"Instead of studying, you were busy thinking about other things. What are you thinking? Your boyfriend?" asked Awan in an amused tone.

"If I'm really thinking about my boyfriend, what would you do? Is there a problem for you?" Vivi asked back. Hearing that, Awan raised one eyebrow and cleared his throat again.

"You have a boyfriend?"

"If so, what would you do?"

"How come I don't know about that?"

"Why do you have to know about my private life?"

Just as Awan was about to reply to Vivi's sentence, Senja had interrupted him. His friend approached Awan and Vivi, then looked at them in turn.

"Is there a problem with Vivi, Mr. Awan?" asked Senja. Then, Senja's gaze turned to Vivi. "Vivi, is there a problem?"

Vivi shook her head. "Nothing, Sir. Mr. Awan just asked me, when is the lunch break. He said he was hungry and Mr. Senja's class was boring."

Awan immediately glared at Vivi, but Vivi just shrugged. Everyone in the class laughed, until Senja had to stop them. Then, Senja looked back at Awan.

"Mr. Awan, the lunch break is still half an hour away. So, if Mr. Awan is bored with my class, you can get out of here and wait in the teacher's room."

Awan smiled awkwardly. "I will wait here, Mr. Senja. I'll be waiting very quietly back there," he pointed towards the back of the class. After Senja nodded and returned to the front of the class, Awan immediately bent down again and whispered in Vivi's ear.

"You're a really annoying girl, Vivi. But, you're also interesting."

Hearing that, Vivi could only snort and shoo Awan away by waving her hand.