The next day, silence seemed even more elusive for Boom. It felt like every sound around him carried a message—like fate itself was playing tricks on him. Despite repeatedly telling himself that everything was probably just a coincidence, he couldn't get the string of letters—and the mysterious boy who had appeared and vanished like smoke—out of his mind.
"Boom, here's the new schedule for the kids' evaluation, please review it first," Miss Joy said, handing him a paper.
But he didn't respond right away. His mind was still drifting.
Lax, who had just arrived from a university event meeting, noticed this. "Hey, Boom… are you okay?" she asked as she walked closer. "You've been out of it since earlier. Are you sleep-deprived? Or just overthinking again?"
Boom let out a deep sigh. "I don't know, Lax. It's just… there are things that… I don't know. I can't explain."
"Hmm. You're always like this when you're overthinking. Want to go to the café later? My treat."
"Sure. Maybe it'll help clear my head."
---
On the other side of the city, inside a rehearsal studio, Zayn and Kenji noticed that Auo was quiet, staring at his phone as if reading something but saying nothing.
"Hey bro, you zoned out during vocals again. You good?" Zayn asked, sitting cross-legged on the floor.
"I'm fine," Auo replied, but it wasn't convincing.
Sky walked over to him. "Another note?"
Auo nodded. "This time… it's clearer. Someone's testing Boom's memory. But it's not me. I'm not the one sending the notes."
"Which means… there's another 'A.K.A.' in this story," Kenji said, eyeing Auo's pendant.
Auo clenched the pendant hanging from his neck. "And they know more details about the past than I do. Maybe they even moved before I did."
"Do you think it's… him?" Sky asked in a low voice.
Auo fell silent again, but deep inside, a name was slowly resurfacing in his mind.
Riku.
---
At the café, Boom and Lax were already sitting at their favorite spot. Boom held his coffee but wasn't drinking it. He just stared blankly out the window.
"Boom, if something's bothering you… you know I'm always here, right?" Lax said, reaching for his hand.
Boom nodded. "Thanks. It's just that… I don't know if… if I'm going crazy or if there are memories I'm just refusing to let back in."
"Do you remember anything from your childhood? Like… before you became 'Boom'?"
"Almost nothing. Mama Lilia said they just found me in a hospital, no family, no name. They were the ones who gave me a new start."
"And Kael became your first name, right?"
"Yeah… but I don't know. It's like I get sick whenever someone calls me Kael. There's a sting. Like something's wrong."
"Maybe because there's a part of 'Kael' you really don't want to revisit."
Boom weakly smiled. "Maybe. Or maybe someone's trying to make me remember what I chose to forget."
Suddenly, his phone buzzed.
New Message: Unknown Number
"I'm just around you. The truth begins in the garden. Ask the one who once called you by your real name." ~ A.K.A.
Boom frowned and showed it to Lax.
"Wha—Boom, this is creeping me out. Maybe you have a stalker."
But that wasn't Boom's first thought. Instead, there was an eerie sense of familiarity in the message. The garden. Real name. It felt like someone was deliberately tearing down every wall he'd built to keep his past buried.
In his mind, an image of an old photo frame suddenly flashed. Three children. A swing. A small teddy bear…
He clutched his chest. His head was starting to hurt again.
---
At the far end of the café hallway, a man sat in the shadows, wearing a cap, hoodie, and sunglasses. He smiled quietly as he watched Boom's reaction from a distance.
He whispered to himself.
"This is just the beginning, Boom. You can't escape me anymore."
In his hand, he held a stuffed bear.