Chapter 1

TEET! TEET! TEET!

A blaring alarm reverberated inside the room. It was dark inside the room with only the light from the alarm illuminating the surrounding.

On a single bed inside the room, a man was sleeping soundly with his back facing the ceiling. The blanket and pillows were far from the sleeping man and his sleeping posture told everyone he moved a lot when sleeping.

“Hmm…” the man grunted when the alarm disturb his sleep. He opened his eyes lazily and blinked a few times. He was too familiar with the alarm as it was set up for him to wake up in the morning every day for his Subuh prayer.

After staring listlessly for a minute, he got up from the bed and stared at the only light source in the dark room, the smartphone that was currently activating the alarm.

The man reached for the smartphone on the small cupboard beside the bed and turned off the alarm. As he was still groggy from sleep, he accidentally clicked on ‘delay’.

“...” the man stared at his smartphone speechlessly but it was not a big deal. There was a notification on top of the screen indicating the alarm would blare again in ten minutes.

He pulled the panel down and dismissed the alarm. The man looked at the room’s door and there was light under it indicating that someone had woken up outside the room.

The man scratched his scruffy hair and got up from the bed. Using the smartphone screen’s light, he navigated through the room to the room’s door.

He pointed the light source to a switch beside the door. The man clicked on the switch and the lamp in the middle of the room lit up. The room was now fully illuminated.

It was a small room where there was a single bed, a small cupboard beside it, a study desk with a laptop and many books on top of it, and a clothes cupboard.

There were not many things inside but it was apparent that it was a single man room. Although it was a man’s room, it looked clean and tidy. Other than the bed, everything else was in order.

As for the man, now that the room was brighter, it was a young man who was in his early twenties. Somewhere between 20 to 22 years old.

The young man was skinny and quite tall, somewhere around 173 to 175 cm. His short black hair was untidy but he did not seem to care about it. He wore a plain brown t-shirt with black sweatpants.

The young man checked the time on his smartphone. “5:50 AM, I still have time.”

He walked to the bed and started tidying it up. He arranged the pillow properly and folded the blanket neatly. One look and it was apparent that he was used to it. He did it in less than 2 minutes.

After that, he walked to the side of the wall and pulled up the towel hanging on a screw there. He draped the towel on his neck and headed to the door.

The young man opened the door and he was met with a small hallway. In front of his room was another door to another room.

On the left of the room was a dead-end where there was a window leading outside and on the right was to the living room.

The young man walked towards the living room. When he was a few steps away, the door from the room in front of him was opened.

A woman who was in her mid-twenties came out of it. She wore a white telekung and headed to the living room. The woman saw the young man.

“Wan, you just woke up?” the woman spoke calmly to the young man.

“Hmm?” Wan or his full name, Mohd Marwan bin Said looked behind him and saw the woman.

“Kak Ngah…” Wan spoke.

The ‘Kak Ngah’ was a common term to call an older sibling in Malaysia. The ‘Kak’ was a short form for ‘Kakak’, a term used to call a girl older than the speaker.

As for the ‘Ngah’, many Malay families in Malaysia called the second children that. ‘Angah’ was the full word while ‘Ngah’ was the short form.

Wan’s Kak Ngah’s full name was Siti Maisarah bin Said. Her friend called her Mai or Sarah but Wan called her Kak Ngah. Calling older people by their names was considered rude.

Be that as it may, if the person did not mind it, it was fine to call them by name. Still, this was only okay among friends. If you call an uncle or auntie by their name, it is still rude.

“I don’t think I am late though, it’s not Subuh yet,” Wan replied.

“Still, isn’t it better to wake up earlier?” Maisarah added as she looked at Wan’s face. “Do you sleep late?” she could see it clearly through his panda eyes.

“... I have too many assignments to complete and it will soon be the Thesis’s presentation too. I cannot continue to sleep early,” Wan spoke.

Maisarah got beside Wan and they walked out of the hallway to the living room together.

When Maisarah heard Wan’s reply, she had a reminiscing look on her face. “Ah~ good time. I remember that I only slept an hour or two during the night before the presentation,” she smiled.

“...” Wan was speechless. He pouted a bit and did not reply to her. Still, he talked about something else. “Why are you walking out with your telekung?” he asked.

“It is still too early to go to the mosque and aren’t you usually doing your prayer inside your room?” Wan was confused.

“Dad wants us to do our Subuh prayer together today. You should take a shower fast or if you are late, don’t blame me when dad scolds you,” Maisarah reminded Wan.

Wan shuddered and instead of walking leisurely to the bathroom, he immediately rushed there without saying anything to Maisarah.

As he passed through the living room, he saw an older man who was in his 50s standing there. The man heard the commotion and saw Wan rushing to the bathroom.

Wan could feel the glare from his father. He shrunk his neck and immediately went to take a shower.

“Assalamualaikum, Ayah,” Maisarah spoke.

“Waalaikumsalam,” her father replied.

Maisarah saw that her father had arranged the prayer mat properly too. Her mom was not there yet but she came a few minutes later. They sat at the prayer mat and waited for Marwan to come.

While they were waiting, Maisarah and her mom were chatting with each other while her father sat there silently. While they were waiting, the Subuh Azan reverberated.

While the azan was ongoing, Marwan finally arrived there. He did not say anything as he was not late. A few minutes after the azan, they all did the Subuh Prayer together with their father as the Imam.

After the Subuh Prayer, they had breakfast together. There was a sumptuous meal on the table. Their mother cooked a lot this morning.

There were fried noodles, white rice, sambal Ayam (Chicken sambal), and a loyang of Kuih Kaswi.

“Ibu, isn't there too much food this morning? When did you wake up???” Maisarah was puzzled as she asked her mother the question.

“Other than the sambal Ayam, everything else is my cooking,” her mother replied while smiling.

“!!!” Maisarah was surprised but she was elated. “Ayah cooked the sambal Ayam?” she asked with bright eyes.

Her mom pouted. “Are you only excited with your dad’s food? What about mine?” she asked jokingly.

“Eyy~ Obviously your Kuih is the best! Still, you make it almost every day, so it is not that surprising. Ayah only cooks when he is free… Is he free today?” Maisarah wondered.

There was a reason why Maisarah was excited with her dad’s sambal Ayam. In their family, her mom was popular with her Kuih while her dad was popular with his side dishes. The kuih and side dishes were their mom and dad’s specialty respectively.

None of them were cooks when they were young and not until this day too. Maisarah’s dad was a government worker while her mom was a full-time housewife. Maisarah’s mom had recently started making kuih and sent it to a nearby restaurant to sell them but she was still not a professional cook.

Although they were not cooks, they were so good with their specialties. In the beginning, they thought it was just because it was the food from their parents or home-cooked food but their relatives and friends who had tasted their kuih and side dishes always complimented them.

So, the siblings believed that their mom and dad were just that good when making the kuih and side dishes. Since they were aware of it, they had learned to make them since they were children and were now versed in it. They tasted as good as their parents.

Be that as it may, what their parents made was still much better than what they made.

So, when Maisarah heard that the sambal ayam was cooked by her father, she was excited. Still, she was curious as her dad would usually cook on the weekend. It was a weekday and breakfast at that.

“Your dad is retiring soon. He is looking for things to do after he retires and said he wants to try cooking in the morning,” her mother replied.

“Ooo,” Maisarah nodded. She understood her dad. He had been going to work since he was in his twenties and now that he would retire soon, he would have nothing to do at home. He was searching for things to do.

“Wow! This smell! Is it Ayah’s?” Marwan arrived at the table and pointed at the sambal ayam. None of them were that excited for their mom’s kuih as they had tasted it every day since a few months ago.

Their mom pouted again. Maisarah elbowed Marwan lightly and pointed at their mom.

“Oh! Oh! Kuih Kaswi!!!” Marwan spoke excitedly.

“What’s the fuss about?” Suddenly a stern voice sounded and Marwan shut up immediately.

As everyone was here, they started having breakfast.

After that, Maisarah and her dad prepared to go to work. Her mom was a full-time housewife while Marwan’s first class of the day started at 10 AM.

So, only Maisarah and her dad leave the home after their breakfast.