Chapter 17

“Thank you for accompanying me.”

“I’m glad I have the chance to go around with you, Carol!”

“Just a reminder, we’re here not to have fun, and keep your voice down.”

We had come to Indonesia's largest library in Gambir, Central Jakarta. Today, it was Carol’s turn to invite us.

“So… why a library?”

A valid question. Our school had its own library, and we usually study online, so I doubt we came here to study.

“I feel like having a change of pace. I have been stuck at home for a while.”

“Because of the recording?” Nadia asked. Carol nodded.

“Guess doing home recording is tough in its own way, huh?”

“It’s not as bad as regular recordings. Not that home recording lacked any drama.”

We walked toward the building. The building had the library’s name written in various languages above the entrance. It was among the tallest libraries in the world, and you couldn’t really appreciate the size until you stood underneath it.

“Have you been here often?” Nadia asked.

“I come when I want a change of pace.”

We entered a large lobby. It had some books on display, a large globe on the back of the right side spinning around, and a tall bookshelf filled with books at the far end of the lobby floor.

“This library doesn't allow us to bring our bags up, so we have to put them here.”

We handed our bags to the lockers on the right side of the lobby. There, we traded our school IDs for a locker number. The staff put our bags into the locker for us, and then we proceeded upward toward the second floor.

Only Carol had been here before, so both me and Nadia needed to join the library's membership. We filled in our personal details on the computer, then printed a number to be given to the printing service. We sat down on a sofa while we waited.

“Wow, this is so soft…” I let my butt sink into the sofa. I could fall asleep here, although doing that would be rude.

Nadia looked up at the screen above the membership service desk. The number there showed seventy-six, while I'm seventy-eight and Nadia seventy-nine. It shouldn't be long before it becomes our turn.

“A library card, huh… that's a new thing,” Nadia murmured.

“New?” Carol asked.

“I mean, new for me.”

“Number seventy-seven, in counter four,” the announcement system called out.

“Number seventy-eight, in counter three.”

I went to the counter, where a staff member assisted me with creating my card.

“So, now, you can access the library's official website. Put your ID number as the username, and put your password in the password section.”

“Alright.”

I typed it in, but the password failed. I tried retyping it, but it failed again. The error message told me that my password wasn't correct.

“Umm… I might have put in the wrong password on the computer.”

The keyboard had capslock on by default, and I didn't change it. I might have put all the letters in uppercase. Still, after typing my password again with uppercase, I still got it wrong.

“... Sorry about this.”

“Don't worry, we can reset your password from here.”

The staff member gave me a temporary password, and I used it to log in. The library no longer prints physical cards, so I only had my online one.

“Thank you.”

I ended up finishing after Nadia, thanks to that little password problem.

“Shall we go?”

We returned to the first floor and headed toward the elevator.

“The balcony? There's a balcony? I wanted to see that.”

“Alright. We can visit it.”

We went up to the twenty-fourth floor, which provided a great view of the city. The top floor provided a great view of Monas from across the street, a popular landmark of Jakarta.

“Let's take a picture!” Nadia shouted.

The balcony was an open space separated from the library, so people could speak here. The three of us took a picture together. I then took on the role of photographer as a different group of people, who recognized Nadia as Lily, came to ask for one.

“Thank you very much!” They said before returning to the library.

I decided to look around a bit more. I could see the school all the way from here, along with the train station right next to it, and also the nearby Gambir station. A train honked its horn as it entered, its sound loud and clear from a distance.

We returned to the library. The library itself had a far different vibe from the balcony. We couldn’t hear a single thing, like what you would expect from a regular library. We went to the elevator and took it to the twenty-first floor. From there, we took the stairs up to the twenty-second floor.

“Woah… there are so many books,” Nadia whispered. Our school library seemed small compared to this place.

Bookshelves occupied most of the space, with the rest consisting of places to sit. Some of the visitors read books, others do their school or work tasks with a laptop in front of them. I picked a book. I didn't have anything I particularly wanted to read, so I just picked one novel from a famous American author that I had heard about. We took up positions in the space near the stairs and began reading in silence.

When reading, Carol tended to be fully absorbed in her book. I tend to read fast, while Nadia seemed to concentrate. Honestly, she didn't strike me as someone who would enjoy reading. Maybe I have the wrong perception of her; I hadn't known her for long, after all. Or maybe the book was that good.

While I read, the alarm on the floor below rang, and a security guard explained to one of the visitors that the books couldn't be brought out. Their voices distracted me for a bit, but it didn't seem to have an effect on Carol.

“Hey Harto,” Nadia whispered into my ear, her voice only audible to me. “Why does Carol like libraries? Couldn't she buy the books herself?”

I glanced at the book Carol read. It wasn't a rare book or anything. A quick search on the local marketplace gave me numerous results.

“She likes the vibe.”

Reading in a library does feel different compared to reading alone at home, and physical books have a different feeling to digital ones. Plus, in a library, the books were often old and borrowed by other people. It felt like the book had some history, telling us its story not just through words, but the color of its pages.

“I see…” She returned to her own book.

As we continued reading, I heard approaching footsteps.

“... Nadia?”

The three of us stopped to look at the source of the voice. A voice filled with surprise, but not like the usual greetings Nadia received. No, it was something else. I could feel slight dissatisfaction in the greeting. It sounded weird. Maybe because I often hear the respectful and excited greetings Nadia’s fans had.

I must be thinking too much about this.

The girl calling out had short black hair with brown eyes. I felt like I had seen her somewhere before. But… I wonder where.

“Rizka…” Nadia murmured.

“And there's Carol, too.”

“Hmm? Oh.” Carol seemed indifferent to her name being mentioned. She seemed indifferent to it all. She tended to do that when reading. I wouldn't want to be bothered, either.

“... Rizka Radani?” I whispered to Carol, who nodded in return.

Ah, it's her…

She was Carol and Nadia's colleague. She previously worked with Nadia on Lily’s Long Adventure, and currently works with Carol on the movie.

“What are you doing here?” She asked.

“We- well… It's… Oh, we're here to-” Nadia covered her mouth. She had just remembered that we sat in a library. We couldn't speak loudly.

“... We're here accompanying Carol…” she whispered.

“I see… How's your new school?” Rizka asked.

“It’s great. Everyone is so kind.”

While the two whispered back and forth, I took a step away and watched the surroundings. The library wasn't too crowded, and only a few people sat nearby, most of them wearing some kind of earphones or headsets. As a general rule, there should be no speaking in the library, but as long as no one hears them…

The conversation wrapped up faster than I expected, and the two parted ways.

“You're not going to talk to her?” I asked Carol.

Carol had her eyes on her book as she answered, “No, we're in the library.”

“... Yeah.”

I wanted to mention the fact that she talked with me, but I decided against it.

“Sorry for that.” Nadia smiled wryly.

Carol reacted with a nod. She's really silent when she's in the library. Guess we all could learn a thing or two from her.