After all the formality was gone, Sheva was finally back at his hotel room, complete with the small trophy and a giant cheque that were given by the organizer. The mont his body slt the bed, though, it was as if there was a hypnotizer there, inviting him to fall asleep imdiately.
"Ah... This is a fucking life..." His voice muffled as he spoke with his face lying flat on the pillow.
"At least, take off your shoes and change your clothes into casual ones first before you jump into bed." Bagas shook his head in exasperation.
"Oh, yeah! You are right!" Within a second, the shoes flew wildly, followed by the formal jacket from the sponsor that he always had to wear. As he changed clothes, Sheva also rembered sothing, turning to his best friend and asking, "So, what is the progress with withdrawing from the Biel Fest? Is there any repercussion?"
His tone was so soft, afraid that Bagas would change his mind after knowing that the consequence of withdrawing from a tournant would be too bad for him.
While Sheva didn’t really say anything, the thought of not having to be stressed over any ga and just having a vacation with everyone in such a beautiful place like Biel definitely tempted him. However, he could only do that if Bagas gave a nod here. He trusted his best friend so much that he knew the boy would do the best for him.
Hearing the question, Bagas stopped, couldn’t help but shudder. It wasn’t like the organizer didn’t allow Sheva to withdraw. Hell, the man in charge even showed his concern, asking whether Sheva needed any professional help for his ntal state. They also didn’t give the boy a penalty or a sanction if Sheva wanted to play in the sa tournant next year, letting Sheva rest with an easy mind.
The European guy sure was open-minded when it ca to ntal health.
No, the problem didn’t co from the organizer. If anything, it ca from people back ho, who bit his ass imdiately when they heard Sheva withdrawing from the tournant.
"What the hell are you thinking, allowing Sheva to be so willful like that, Gas?! You don’t know how prestigious it is to get an invitation to this tournant! What if no Indonesian players are invited again to Biel in the future, just because of this? That will be a disgrace for our whole country! Who is going to be responsible at that ti, you?!"
At least, that was what Irfan said—more like roared, per se—the mont he caught the news. So other senior figures also called him, basically scolding the boy for letting his best friend do this.
As for why no one called Sheva... Well, they tried, but the boy shut his phone off from the start of the day, not wanting anyone to get in touch with him. That was why everyone reached Bagas, going for clarification and also wanting to persuade the boy from acting recklessly.
For those clueless people, fortunately enough, Bagas had a perfect answer to shut them up.
"You ntion disgracing the whole country? Which one of you has achieved the sa feat as Sheva has in the last couple of months? He has done more compared to your whole career, for God’s sake! Now, when he is so tired and not in his right mind, you still want to push him? Then, after he burns out and cannot take a chess piece again, what? Are you going to abandon him? Bah! Shaless!"
It wasn’t often for Bagas to lose his temper like this. However, those people really rubbed his skin the wrong way. They acted so high just because they were seniors, even wanting to blackmail Sheva with the patriotism issue.
Well, Sheva had done more than any other Indonesian player on the international stage, so who were they to try to lecture the boy?
"Uh... Gas?" Sheva suddenly called his na, waking the boy up from his short mory trip. The boy looked at him worriedly, as if he had done sothing wrong here. "If the consequence is too big, I can still play, you know? I don’t mind losing ten or twenty ratings there. I can get it back easily in the future."
’Wha...’ Bagas blinked confusedly, not knowing what Sheva was talking about. However, in the next second, sothing clicked in his brain as he realized why his best friend said sothing like that. "No, no, no! Don’t worry, everything is under control! Here is the email from the organizer. They even wish you to get well soon!"
Sheva caught the phone from the boy, reading the formal email there with a relieved sigh. Now that this matter was solved, he could go to Biel with no pressure.
"Anyway, Anna has been calling several tis earlier, asking why she couldn’t get in touch with you. How about you make a call? Just use my phone, don’t worry about it." Bagas continued, trying to distract his best friend from asking too much.
’He still doesn’t know I scold the shit out of all the senior figures in the country, and in this state, he doesn’t need to know. Let’s just get him relaxed first before dealing with all the headache back ho.’ Bagas thought to himself.
Well, Sheva didn’t need to be told twice. He snatched the phone from Bagas’s hand once again, searching for Anna’s contact before making a call. They waited in silence for a few seconds; only the beeping sound of the call echoed inside the room. After a while...
"What is it, Bagas? Can I finally get in touch with Sheva?" Anna’s voice rang clearly; her tone was full of impatience.
Sheva was so touched here that words seed to stick on his throat. He opened his mouth, just to find out that nothing escaped through it.
"Gas? Is there sothing wrong with Sheva?" This ti, the tone in Anna’s voice was full of concern. "Can I at least get to know how he is doing there?"
"... It’s , Anna." After a while, Sheva was finally able to utter sothing, even if it was barely a whisper. However, he didn’t expect that the girl would squeal so loudly as the answer.
"SHEVA! IT IS YOU!"
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