Bagas had a cold sweat as he felt his best friend's grumpiness on his back. The boy could see that he had come at the wrong time here, and honestly, he himself didn't want to do this either. After all, he also just got back, and the only thing he wanted to do right now was to have a good sleep for at least 18 hours before enjoying all the Indonesian food he could find around.
Unfortunately, the situation didn't allow them to do that.
Just an hour ago, he received a call from the federation, asking him and Sheva to come with the others for a short conference press in their office. Honestly, Bagas himself felt like this was a bit too much, especially just a day after they landed here. However, he couldn't refuse here, not when the other players were complying with the order.
'Well, Sheva is big enough to reject this kind of shenanigan, but the others still need the help of the federation to climb further in the future. Also, it is better to make a friend here rather than make an enemy, especially against the federation itself. We will need them a lot in the future.'
That was his consideration to accept the order, even at the risk of carrying a grumpy bear on his back. Fortunately, Sheva also knew that Bagas did it for him, so while he was in a foul mood, he didn't complain, just grunting silently on the back side of the motorcycle.
The journey took about 45 minutes, and honestly, the traffic added so much to Sheva's bad mood right now. After having so much freedom taking a walk around in either Malmo or Biel, now he was forced to be in the land of traffic again, and the boy felt like his head would explode if he heard one more horn in the middle of the traffic.
'Damn, no wonder most people who have experienced living abroad decided to stay there instead of going back. This traffic alone will definitely drive them crazy, right?' He smiled wryly.
Fortunately, the motorcycle had good flexibility in this traffic, slipping from the small space between so many cars easily. Bagas also showed how good he was at navigating the traffic, guiding the vehicle to arrive so quickly at their destination. There, though, both boys could see some people with cameras and phones chatting outside, as if they were waiting for someone.
"Don't open your helmet, Shev," Bagas warned before Sheva could do that. "They are the reporters that the federation invited for this event. If you opened it, they would recognize you immediately, and you would never be able to go inside the room again."
Sheva shuddered immediately, believing every single word that Bagas spoke. This was not his first rodeo with the media, and honestly, while he himself wasn't as allergic to public appearances as he was in the past, the people from the media really scared the shit out of him. They were like a group of hungry sharks, and he felt like he was a person bleeding on the sea, only waiting for them to drink his fresh blood.
He kept his helmet tight even when entering the building, only opening it once Bagas deemed that they were safe enough from the reporter's keen smell. They went straight to the waiting room, where the others had already been. True enough, though, most of them still had dark bags under their eyes, showing that they didn't have enough sleep.
"Ah! The main character finally arrives! We have been waiting for you!" Master Utut Udayana, the leader of the federation, rose from his seat immediately once he saw Sheva there. "Come here, let me shake hands with our new superstar! The winner of the TePe Sigeman Tournament! I cannot believe that I could live long enough to witness a player from this country standing tall in the chess community!"
Sheva's smile was so stiff as he received all the thanks from the man. Hell, he didn't even have any time to greet the others here, just getting snatched by this legendary figure out of nowhere.
The man's words were also quite big here, praising him to death. Honestly, Sheva had half of his mind being convinced that the man was genuine. Unfortunately, with so many cameras snapping this moment, he knew that this was just a formality for the man's publicity.
'I swear, I read the news that he is about to run for the House of Representatives, right? What is a better way to make a name other than leeching on a big and more relevant name here?' He muttered inwardly, trying to hold back the sneer of disgust to come out of his mouth.
Well, he was at the stage of seeing everything related to politics as disgusting, and honestly, this was quite normal in Indonesia, as so many young adults around 20-years-old age decided to close their eyes about this. Unfortunately, Sheva was standing on a tall place, so he couldn't refuse the forceful invitation here.
The only thing he could sigh in relief, though, was that the image he had been giving to the media as a shy person in front of the camera, so no one minded him smiling so stiffly in this conversation. Sheva didn't expect he would be grateful for so many embarrassing moments in front of the camera that he did in the past, and yet, here he was.
Besides him, the main focus here was on two people, and those were Anna and Nayaka. After all, those two were also the players who gained the most in their little trip, what with the former getting her IM title while the latter got his first FM norm.
Sheva felt so strange, though, as the conference press basically ignored the others, treating them like they didn't exist. He frowned and wanted to speak up here, but when Bagas shook his head, the boy knew that he had to shut his mouth. This was not the stage that he could win, so it was better to follow the flow.
Everything took almost one full hour before the event finished, and that was with him having to reject the lunch invitation from those higher-ups. Once he could escape from the crowd, though, all seven members of the group were waiting for him there, so the boy couldn't help but blurt out a sudden invitation here.
"So… Any of you want to have lunch at my house? My mom is cooking today, and she is the best cook in the world, you know?"
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