(At Melati’s Boarding House)
“Welly… just leave. I don’t want to argue with you any longer. You’re only making a spectacle of me in front of the other tenants,” Melati said, her patience wearing thin.
“Darling… please,” Welly pleaded, his voice tinged with desperation.
“I said no, and I mean it! Enough!” Melati snapped, turning away, intending to retreat to the sanctuary of her room.
But before she could take another step, Welly seized her arm and pulled her back towards him with force.
“Welly…!! What do you think you’re doing?! Let me go!!” she shrieked, anger flaring in her eyes.
“I’ve had enough, Melati! You’re coming with me... right now!” Welly’s voice was dark with determination as he dragged her towards his car.
“No...! Help! Someone, help me!” Melati screamed, struggling against his grip, but his strength far outweighed hers. Within moments, he had forced her into the car, slammed the door shut, and sped away from the boarding house.
A few of the female tenants who had witnessed the commotion stood frozen in shock. 
They had thought the argument was nothing more than a lover’s quarrel, but now, horror dawned upon them as they realised the severity of the situation. 
However, everything had happened so swiftly that all they could do was scream for help.
“Help! Help! Someone’s been kidnapped!” cried Ria, one of Melati’s closest friends in the boarding house, her voice rising in panic as she watched the car disappear into the night.
A handful of local residents, having heard the desperate cries, rushed towards Ria.
“A kidnapping? Where? What happened?” one man asked, breathless from running.
“Here, sir! Just now! My friend, Melati, her boyfriend took her! They were arguing, and then… he just dragged her into his car and drove off!” Ria explained hastily, her words tumbling over one another.
“Did you catch the car’s number plate?” the man asked, pulling out his smartphone.
“I... I didn’t! It all happened too fast!”
“Do you know where she lives? Or where she works?” he asked, trying a different approach.
“I don’t know her full home address, but she once told me she’s from Jatisari. I do know where she works, though! She’s an apothecary at Derisa Hospital!”
“Right. Then you’d best come with us to the hospital,” the man decided. “They’ll have her family’s contact details. Meanwhile, we’ll have someone report this to the police.”
With a collective nod of agreement, the group swiftly mobilised, hurrying towards Derisa Hospital, only a few blocks away.
*****
(At the Traffic Junction)
"You are my light...
Like a flickering glow…
A glow, a glow of lamps…
Lamps of Aladdin…
Aladdin, Aladdin, a genie…
Genie, genie, an Ifreet…
Ifreet, that’s you… Oh..."
A street busker, his voice rich with emotion, or perhaps mere eccentricity, sang his peculiar composition outside the car window of Dr Zein.
Hearing the bizarre lyrics, Dr Zein felt an instant headache creeping in. Was this man singing or reciting poetry? He couldn’t tell. Either way, it was becoming increasingly unbearable.
Finally, unable to contain his frustration, Dr Zein rolled down his window.
“Are you singing, or reciting a poem?” he asked, his irritation barely concealed.
“Of course I’m singing, boss!” the busker replied cheerfully before resuming his song.
“You’re still out busking at this hour? Doesn’t your family worry about you?” Dr Zein asked.
“My family’s out busking too, boss. Look over there,” the busker gestured across the junction, where a middle-aged couple stood, strumming guitars and singing.
Dr Zein raised an eyebrow. “So… you’re a family of artists, then?”
“You could say that,” the busker grinned as Dr Zein handed him a ten-thousand-rupiah note.
The busker accepted the money gleefully and added, “We actually inherited a billion from our grandfather once, but we gave it all away to charity. It’s better this way, we’d rather keep busking!”
Dr Zein blinked in disbelief. “What?! A billion? And you just gave it away?”
“Yup! Grandpa was a government official. That money was from corruption, so it wasn’t ours to keep,” the busker explained nonchalantly. “Anyway, green light’s on. See you, boss!”
And with that, he walked off, waving.
Dr Zein stared after him, utterly dumbfounded. “That’s… astonishing. But hang on… if that money was from corruption, doesn’t that mean it was technically stolen? Shouldn’t it have been returned to the state instead of donated? Ah… whatever.”
Shaking his head, he put his car into gear and continued his drive into the night, following nothing but his own instincts.
*****
(Fifteen Minutes Later)
As he aimlessly navigated the city streets, his phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the caller ID, Mr Widodo.
He promptly answered. “Yes, Mr Widodo?”
“Dr Zein, there’s an urgent matter concerning our hospital,” Mr Widodo’s tone was serious.
“What happened? Is someone targeting us again?” Dr Zein asked, instantly shifting into high alert.
“No, it’s not that. One of our staff members has been kidnapped!”
Dr Zein’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. “What?! Who?!”
“It’s our new apothecary, Melati Dewi Arwiena. She was at the ICU the other day while you were still being treated…”
“Melati?!” Dr Zein’s heart pounded. “Where did you get this information, Mr Widodo?”
“One of our night-shift security officers called me. Some local residents came to the hospital looking for Melati’s home address and her family’s contact details because none of her housemates had them. Since she works here, they thought the hospital might have her records. I’m heading there now, and I need you to come as well.”
“I’ll be there,” Dr Zein assured him. “Gather everyone in the conference hall. I’ll be there shortly.”
Without wasting another second, he made a sharp U-turn and accelerated towards Derisa Hospital, his car slicing through the darkened streets at breakneck speed.