That was when we first met.
Two junior high school kids who didn’t really understand love yet.
Maybe just friends… maybe what people said ‘cinta monyet’.
She was the brave one.
She said “I love you” first.
But honestly, what could junior high school love really mean back then?

That little monkey love grew bigger… and maybe slightly smarter.
Maybe not cinta monyet anymore—perhaps cinta simpanse.
We went to different schools, but somehow Kediri kept bringing us back together.

Life started asking bigger questions.
It was time to choose our own paths.
I chose Surabaya for college.
She chose Jogja.
Different cities.
Different journeys.

Eventually we let each other go.
Our worlds felt too different.
So we walked our own roads,
trying to figure out who we were meant to be.

Then suddenly—
a reply to my Instagram story in Bali.

Not a greeting.
Not a “how are you.”

Just a message that somehow found its way back into my life— like the universe gently knocking and saying “Hey… Remember this girl? maybe try this story again”

For a moment,
I even wondered
if fate had just hacked my Instagram.

One day I asked when she would be free.
Because I wanted to come to her house.
Not empty-handed.
But with seserahan.
She said she would cook
the best food she could for me.

After all the growing, the distance, and the unexpected turns—
we realized that through every up and down,
we still choose to love each other.

As the Prophet ﷺ said: “Know that what has been destined for you will never miss you, and what has missed you was never meant for you.”

And perhaps…
this was always where our story was meant to go. 🤍