The Art of Understanding Lover (Seni Memahami Kekasih)

My name is Kalis. I'm a senior in high school.

Relax, this is not my baby.

This is not a teen pregnancy movie.

PRESIDING JUDGE

This is not the baby's father.

This here is the father. He's a douche bag.

This is the mother, my best friend.

Her name is…

Miss Rahayu.

And this is their divorce proceeding.

Rahayu and the douche bag.

Those are my friends.

Oh, sorry.

I meant these two.

The blond one is Fatima, the one in a hijab is Wati.

Don't you guys know how hard it is to handle a baby?

Zip it. It took effort to get here, you know!

Do you think it's easy?

Wati? This is tea?

What do we do?

Just give Nurcholis the tea. I gave my baby tea once.

- Really? - Then I guess this is Thai tea.

Cut it out.

Hurry, you guys!

You two have children, but I end up handling this baby?

Lis…

You think we wanted to have babies at our age?

Okay, I'm sorry.

Watch what you're saying.

Fatima and I get triggered by this place.

I wouldn't be here if it weren't for Rahayu.

Okay, sorry, just hurry.

If my husband assaults me again,

and my baby grows up to be

as violent as his father,

will you swear in the name of God

to be held accountable for my husband's and my son's sins?

Finally, we celebrate life over chili chicken at Fatima's diner.

Nothing fancy, but so delicious.

Thanks for being there for me. Now I'm free from Akmal.

Let it go, Yu.

I'm so relieved this is all over before I leave for college.

If I didn't get knocked up in junior high, we'd be in competition.

If I had a high school diploma,

I'd go and study speakology.

- Psychology! - Psychology!

That's the one!

So I can teach my daughter how to separate good men from the bad ones.

So deep.

This is my last night with them,

before Wati goes to work in Malaysia, and I go to Solo for college.

- One, two, three! - One, two, three!

We pin our hopes high for better lives.

After four years of college, I found my passion to be a writer.

I learned that women can have a voice.

Today I'm meeting my favorite writer in Yogya.

But I'm so nervous.

You bailed on me.

Sorry, my future in-laws came to town unannounced.

I have to go see them.

So embarrassing being here alone.

Go make new friends.

It'll make you write better, mingling with cool writers.

This sweet talker is my housemate,

Yana Wijaya.

But I'll look like a weird loner, they'll just ignore me.

Impossible. You write for big media outlets.

My fiancé said,

"If you want to get ahead, you just have to grow thick skin."

That's how Yana is.

Every word coming out of her mouth comes from Supangat, her fiancé.

SUPANGAT SIDOARJO, MARCH 29TH, 2000 - AGENCY GUY

Great place.

This is Puthut EA, owner of Mojok Publishing.

Here you are.

Thank you.

- Congratulations. - Thanks.

- Puthut EA. - The Mojok Mogul.

Are you crashing the party?

I'm Kalis Mardiasih,

I've sent numerous articles to Mojok.

I know. I'm one of your editors.

Oh, so this is Agus Mulyadi.

AGUS MULYADI - MOJOK EDITOR BLOGGER, WRITER, NETIZEN

The editor who always annotates my writing.

I want to annotate his face.

Stop staring. Come!

A warm welcome

to Rusdi Mathari.

Kalis,

I'm glad to finally meet you.

Your writing…

Is so sharp, structured, profound.

But fun to read. Witty.

Why don't you join the tour?

What tour?

Workshops throughout East Java.

Held in colleges.

But I'm nobody.

Don't be silly.

You're Kalis Mardiasih. Activist, feminist.

- Cute-ist. - Smooth!

Thanks for the ride.

Lis, will someone get upset if I call you every now and then?

Yes.

I will get upset.

Such a straightforward rejection.

Look who's talking.

I sent you a friend request on Facebook,

and you haven't accepted it. It's been six months.

Sorry. I wasn't ready to have so many fans that I missed your friend request.

When you're famous like me, you'll understand.

Approve my friend request or I'll put some black magic on you.

Got it.

Take care. Let me know when you get to Solo.

Sure.

- Peace be upon you. - And upon you, too.

Why is my heart racing?

And why am I all smiles?

AGUS ACCEPTED YOUR FRIEND REQUEST

AGUS MULYADI TAGGED YOU IN MOJOK TOUR'S POST.

Going on a tour with the Mojok folks

made me and dear Agus even closer.

Hold on.

Why am I calling him "dear"?

Ah, whatever.

My dear Pangat thinks

this Agus guy is a man with a specific audience.

His charm only works with a niche market.

Like you, Lis.

Shut up!

Do you want to practice for the "ooh" moment?

Ooh? Or the…

- "Ahhh" moment. - Stop it!

CONCERT - FIERSA BESARI SOLO, JULY 22ND, 2017

KALIS MARDIASIH I REALLY WANT TO WATCH YOUR CONCERT

I don't need…

EVEN WITH A VOICE THIS TERRIBLE, I'M STILL HAPPY; IMAGINE IF SHE COULD ACTUALLY SING.

PLEASE DELETE. SAVE HER DIGNITY.

Life will be just…

What? Hey, stop it!

WE ACCEPT FEMALE TENANTS AZZAHRA - 0888-57854805

Since then, we grew even closer.

Wow, Kalis. LDR.

Yogya-Solo.

Lis, if my Bes has a concert,

want to go together? Tickets on me.

Take that back.

Only I have the right to call him "my Bes".

My nickname for my favorite singer.

So, that's a no?

A big yes, of course.

I'm just emphasizing my stance as his fan.

You're not pulling my leg?

Of course not.

Swear to God, hope to die.

Okay.

Lis, I have a plan…

NO CONNECTION

What's happening?

CAN YOU VIDEO CALL ME? RUNNING OUT OF DATA.

Hello? Why are you audio calling?

What did you mean by our text?

I'm running out of internet quota. Can you video call me?

Then why did you pick up? Aren't you using your quota now?

You got a point.

A bit much for a thesis defense day, isn't it?

Too bad it got delivered by a courier.

Please understand.

My dear Pangat is working hard to pay for our wedding.

What does this dear Supangat look like?

I've never seen him even once.

Patience. There's a time for everything.

Okay.

I thought you weren't coming.

Congrats, Lis.

Congrats, Yan.

I'm sorry, Lis.

I tried so hard to come to your thesis defense…

But my stomach was acting up.

I swung by a gas station to use the bathroom.

When I finished, there was no water dipper.

Here's the layout of the bathroom…

A water tub is here.

This is the toilet.

So I squatted…

It's like miles away, right?

How do I reach for water?

Stop it.

Too much information for Kalis, don't you think?

Cut to the chase. Concert date is on tonight, no?

Get straight into it!

That'll be my next apology.

Right?

Tickets were sold out.

But don't worry.

I have something to make up for it.

To avoid spilling too much private information, just come with me.

Come where?

Just come.