[Author's Note]

So, this is the one-shot I talked about in chapter 8 of Sugar, Coin, and The Underworld.

As I mentioned there, I watched Headshot and happened to ship Ishmael/Abdi (Iko's role) with Besi (Very's role). Yet it would take too long for me to proceed the request to add Headshot in category, so I prefer writing something in The Raid instead.

But, nope. I have always wanted to write this story since long ago, honestly. LOL.

Before I watched Headshot, I've shipped Iko and Very, which makes me write about their lovely friendship in the main story. But then I thought about things, and some of the boys in my class were being intimate in a chat group that makes me inspired lol and then I saw videos of Iko and Very interacting intimately as well, so how can I help myself again?

I've always wanted to set Very as Rama's first love. Long, long before Uco.

The Raid Saga © PT. Merantau Films

Jinx © DNCE

"Ram, this is Very," Bejo stood across the gymnastic door together with a little boy.

Rama blinked twice. He was busy training his fist and kicks with the sand sack in the small gymnastic built at the backyard of Bejo's house. The upcoming pencak silat sectional championship for high school was close that he thought getting trained at school is not enough.

"Oh," he finally talked, "Yeah?"

Bejo chuckled while Rama tilted his head. This Bejo guy was his brother's best friend, but the best term to describe him apparently was 'boss'. An apron still lingered on his waist, which makes Rama realize that he was in the middle of baking something in his own kitchen.

"Very, come here," Bejo called the little boy, who walks slowly right away, "C'mon, introduce yourself properly. This is Rama, he will take care of your training."

Oh, so now I have an apprentice?

Rama furrowed his eyebrow. The little boy across him was smaller than him. His timid eyes ran around the gymnastic, and when he looked at Rama's, he ducked right away. His hair was messy and a little too long for a middle school student.

"He's a little shy, Ram," Bejo caressed Very's hair, "But, I know you can handle him. He's just graduated from middle school and will be enrolled in your school, so, yeah, he's your junior."

"I see," Rama smiled enthusiastically. Hearing that this little guy would be his so-called apprentice and even better, he would be his junior at school, made him excited. He was just going to be in third grade of high school, but all Bejo's subordinates were much older than him that he felt much more delighted to finally have someone closer to his age around.

"Hi, I'm Rama," he stretched out his hand to Very, "Let's get along, okay?"

Very started to raise his head and look at Rama's face. He nodded and smiled slightly.

"P-please do," he shook Rama's hand timidly, "I-I…would bother you from now on."

Oh, dear, he is not only cute but also very well-mannered.

"You arrived?"

Rama waved to give a sign to his coach that he would need a little break. The coach nodded.

"Y-yes," Very replied, "I'm at the gate."

They were talking on the phone. Right after technical training, Rama's phone was ringing and it was Very calling. They set a promise to meet at Rama's school in order to assist Very with the registration and location check. Tomorrow was the first day of school.

"Okay, I'm on my way," Rama ended the call and walked faster. He waved to some of his friends from Student Council who gathered to hold a briefing for the welcoming ceremony of new students tomorrow. He soon arrived at the gate and caught Very right away, but he furrowed his brow right away as well.

Very was standing outside the opened gate, wearing a neat grey tee, which must be new, and slim-fit black jeans. His hair was shorter and looked very well-groomed, he must have got a haircut just now. The wind blew his bangs slightly, and unlike what Rama saw at the first time, Very's hair was actually soft when it was not messy.

He is dead cute, everyone would scream over him tomorrow. Rama chuckled as he walked.

"Hey," he tapped on Very's shoulder. Very turned his head and smiled.

"Oh, hi," he looked relieved before he winced and looked worried, "W-wait…I-I'm not interrupting your important training, right?" he asked with many concerns as he saw Rama was still sweating in his black pencak silat uniform.

"Nooo," Rama laughed as his hand impulsively caressed Very's hair, "Ha-ha, stop being so stiff, I'm in the middle of break now," as expected, his hair is such a soft soufflé. Darn, I'm hungry.

"Oh, good then," Very sighed and smiled again, "I'm bringing my registration form, so-,"

"How about a brunch first?" asked Rama, for it was already 10AM and he was exhausted from a training he had since two hours ago, "The canteen has a nice strawberry pie, you like it, right?"

"Yes!" Very nodded enthusiastically, "Like the one Mr. Bejo served yesterday, right?"

Yesterday, Bejo held a simple tea time at his terrace. He served earl grey tea and some fruit pies, one of them was strawberry pie. Rama and Very were both there, together with Andi, Rama's big brother who also becomes his boss now.

"Oh, no, not that good," Rama laughed again as they both walked in together, "You can't compare any sweets with Chef Bejo's, I think. But-,"

"Eh?" Very was surprised, "Mr. Bejo is a chef?" he asked.

"One of the best pattissiers, I bet," Rama replied, "He must haven't told you about it, but he will. Right now, he must want you to just focus on school and the silat training."

"I-I want to…learn baking," Very stared at Rama's eyes, "Can I?"

"Sure," replied Rama as he winced, "But why?"

"Ah, it's just…,"Very scratched his head timidly, "I once helped a candy craft seller, but then he…died, and I never touched cooking utensils again since then. Ha-ha, don't take me seriously, okay? I-I'm just carried away," he smiled shyly.

Candy craft? Rama rolled his eyes and smiled. I must tell Bejo and my brother about this.

A semester had passed. Rama just won the national championship, and finally he could get some rest from all the trainings. Still, he was requested to supervise Very's training in Bejo's gymnastics nearly everyday, including today, that brings him to the gymnastic this afternoon. He walked as he heard the sound of beaten sand sack, making him recognizes right away that it must be Very training his fist.

He showed up at the door and was surprised of what he sees. Very was training as expected, but not with his fist. He was using a wooden baseball bat instead, and Rama was amazed to see how skillful Very's arms handle the bat. The bat grip whirled artistically within his palms without ever falling, as it hit the sand sack harder and harder. Sweats rolling down his forehead, face, and neck, but he did not seem to plan to stop beating the sack soon.

Rama gulped as he saw Very's eyes. The usual innocence did not exist anywhere. He was in charge of Very's training since they first met, but never he saw those monstrous eyes before. The shy Very was nowhere to be found, instead he had been replaced with this hungry little wolf. Soon Rama realized that the baseball bat was Very's choice of weapon.

The baseball bat was the one that makes Very a fighter.

"Wow," he said after Very stopped beating the sack, surprising the little guy, "Looks like you've made the decision," he glanced at the bat that Very held.

"Oh-," Very raised the bat, "This—ah, ha-ha, I just happen to-," he wiped sweats on his forehead timidly.

His innocent eyes had been returned as if the monster left his body.

Rama stared at him before he smiled. It only took six months for Very to master nearly all the silat moves he taught him, and he even did way better with a weapon. His first apprentice has exceeded beyond his expectation. And not only that, Andi reported to him last night about how this little guy crafted caramels in Bejo's kitchen almost as fast as the lecturers in sugarcraft department of a baking academy where Andi works did.

"I-I'm going to get a drink," yet still he is as shy and stiff as ever, "You want it?"

"I'll get that for you," Rama impulsively wiped a sweat on Very's forehead with his right fingers, "You must be tired, just get some rest."

Rama left the gymnastic and walked in Bejo's house. He went to the kitchen right away to find the fridge and took two bottles of mineral water off it, and he almost closed the door when his eyes caught a small ferris wheel made of brown caramels on the first rack of the fridge.

"Holy shit…," there's no way Bejo or Andi can do this, this must be his work.

Rama took the crafted caramel carefully and brought them to his eyes. He blinked. It was a perfect creation. Every detail was considered carefully, even every smallest part was made thick that they did not break easily. He held his breath again to see how an amazing kid his apprentice is.

He smiled and put it back to the fridge. With a lot of admiration, he walked back to the gymnastic, ready to shower Very with compliments. But when he arrived, the adorable guy was not waiting for him. He fell asleep when sitting down at the corner across the hanging sand sack.

Watching such a view, Rama stepped in slowly that he would not wake Very up. He crouched before he kneeled next to the sleeping guy who was snoring softly. The sound of the snore showed how he was actually tired because of the intense training he did with the baseball bat. Meanwhile, the weapon itself lay right next to Very's left arm.

Rama put down the bottles and watched Very's face closer. The sleeping guy did not move an inch, only snoring, all defenseless, making Rama consciously stretch out his fingers to wipe sweat off Very's forehead and touched his soft bangs. He was always the cute kid that it did not even matter if he sometimes turns to a baseball bat-wielding monster.

A cute monster is not overrated, Rama chuckled.

"I could just kiss you, Little Monster," he pinched Very's cheek softly.