The next morning, Kay woke with a strange, lingering hollowness—a residue from her date with Bima, sticky and clinging to her soul. She reached for her phone not with anticipation, but out of mechanical habit. The screen lit up, displaying numbers that now felt absurd.
Her video had surpassed five million views. Likes were nearing half a million.
Statistically, she was a phenomenon. Emotionally, she had never felt emptier.
Her digital fame felt like a distant country she'd seen on a map but never visited. She knew it existed, she saw its population data, but she couldn't feel its soil beneath her feet. Yesterday, she had tried to visit that country with Bima, hoping to finally belong. Instead, she'd been nothing but a lonely tourist—and Bima, a terrible guide.
At school, she couldn't escape her new status. She had become one of the hottest topics. But today, after the date, the gossip took on a new dimension. She was no longer just "Kay, the viral girl"—she was now "Kay, the girl who went out with Bima." It thrust her into the spotlight in a way that was more intense, more personal.
Sarah and Dinda were already waiting for her outside the classroom, their faces bursting with barely contained curiosity. They wasted no time. They immediately pulled Kay into a quiet corner of the hallway, launching the interrogation she had known was coming. This was the main conversation she had to survive—an acting challenge far more difficult than dancing in front of a camera.
"So???" Sarah whisper-squealed. "How was last night? Tell us everything! Don't skip a single detail!"
"Did he pick you up or meet you there?" Dinda pressed, eyes wide. "Did he hold your hand?"
Kay took a deep breath and put on her mask. She knew what they wanted to hear. They wanted a fairy tale. And she would give them one.
"It was fun," Kay answered, forcing a small smile. "We met there. Just… normal stuff."
"Normal how? No way it was just normal!" Sarah insisted. "What's he really like? Romantic? Does he smell good?"
"He smells nice," Kay said, recalling the expensive cologne Bima wore—the only authentic detail from her fantasy. "He's cool to talk to." A lie. Bima wasn't cool. He was boring. He only talked about himself.
"And then what? What did you guys talk about? Did he confess to you?" Dinda's curiosity overflowed.
"Just my video, mostly. And his basketball stuff," Kay deflected, dodging the last question. "No way, come on, it was just one date." Inside, bitterness swelled. Bima would never confess to her. Bima hadn't even noticed Kay's eye color.
The interrogation continued. Kay answered every question with clichés stolen from teen movies, painting a picture of the perfect date—a fake narrative to satisfy her friends and, maybe, to convince herself. But every lie she told felt like swallowing sand, leaving her throat raw.
As they chattered, Bima walked past them in the hallway. He glanced at Kay, gave a small smirk, and nodded. "Hey, Kay," he said casually before moving on.
That was it. But to Sarah and Dinda, it was everything. They muffled squeals.
"Oh my god! He said hi to you first!"
"He totally likes you, Kay!"
Kay only smiled thinly. She knew what that greeting really was. It wasn't personal. It was public acknowledgment. Bima wasn't greeting her—he was greeting her status. He was greeting her five million views.
That evening, in the silence of her room, the hollowness returned in full force. The performance at school had drained her. She was tired of lying. Tired of pretending to be happy. Tired of living on this false peak.
Then, a notification buzzed on her phone. From an unsaved number—but she recognized the blurry profile picture.
Her father.
Her heart pounded with a messy mix of emotions—a stupid flicker of hope, old anger, and familiar hurt. It had been months since they last spoke. With trembling hands, she opened the message. Not a text. A voice note.
She hesitated before pressing play. His voice—charismatic, confident, the voice she used to miss so much—filled the quiet of her room.
"Kaisya, my girl! Look at you, becoming a star. Saw your video on Facebook—someone shared it. Your dad's proud." A small, forced laugh. "When you get brand deals, treat me to coffee, yeah? Heh. Take care."
That was it. Thirty seconds of small talk.
The voice note shattered her in a way cruel comments never could. It was the final confirmation of her deepest wound: she was only worth something when she succeeded. She was only seen when she shone.
Driven by this emotional chaos, she turned to the only thing that gave her a sense of control: numbers. She opened her profile. But that night, she discovered a terrifying trend. While her old video still gained views, her new follower growth had slowed drastically. From thousands per day to just dozens. Her viral peak had passed.
Kay's head spun. This was the night's main conversation—a heated debate inside her own mind. She felt pressure from all sides. From her friends, expecting her to be happy about Bima. From her father, expecting her to keep succeeding. From her followers, waiting for a new video. But she was paralyzed by fear. Fear that her next video would flop. Fear that she'd become invisible again.
She needed a shortcut. A way to keep the illusion alive.
In desperation, she opened a new browser tab. Her fingers shook as she typed words that felt foreign and shameful into the search bar.
"buy followers cheap"
The results page loaded, filled with links to flashy websites and impossible promises. "Active Indonesian Followers!" "Fast & Safe Follower Growth!" "Become an Overnight Influencer!"
Her eyes locked onto one site. It looked more professional than the others. She clicked. A pricing page appeared, displaying packages like a fast-food menu. Budget Package. Popular Package. Celebrity Package.
Her heart pounded so hard she felt nauseous. This is wrong. She knew it was wrong. It was a lie. But the voice of desperation in her head screamed louder. Just to kickstart it. Just to keep the momentum. Once things stabilize, I'll stop.
Her finger scrolled past fake testimonials. Then, she saw it. A package that seemed to call her name.
Popular Package: 10,000 High-Quality Followers – Instant Delivery! 50% OFF TODAY!
For just a few hundred thousand rupiah, she could skip months of struggle. She could leap to the next level. She could impress Bima even more. She could make her father truly "proud."
A cold sweat dripped down her temple. Her entire future seemed to narrow to this single moment, this single click. Her trembling finger hovered over the bright green button labeled "Buy Now."
She was about to cross a line—from a lucky creator to a fraud. And in the dark silence of her room, that secret decision felt like the only way out.