Chapter 1: Return to the Island
Raka hadn’t set foot on Batam in twenty-three years, but the island’s humid embrace felt like a lover who’d never forgotten him. In the late '90s, he’d been a lean, restless 20-something, working at a Nongsa beach hotel, serving cocktails to sunburned tourists by day and chasing forbidden thrills by night. Bali’s quiet restraint had suffocated him then; Batam had set him free. Now, at 52, his body softer, his hair streaked with silver, Raka returned with a hunger he could no longer ignore.
He told himself it was just a holiday—a nostalgic escape from his orderly life in Jakarta. But as he checked into a mid-range hotel in Nagoya, the city’s neon pulse whispered otherwise. Batam had grown louder, brasher, its skyline jagged with new towers, yet the air still carried that thick, unspoken promise of surrender. In his room, Raka sat on the edge of the bed, shirt unbuttoned, sweat beading at his temples. His phone glowed in the dim light.
Grindr was alive with possibility.
Profiles flickered past: young men with cocky grins, older ones with guarded eyes, faceless torsos promising quick release. Then one stopped him cold.
Kev42SG | Here til Sunday | Top | Into older men.
The photo was a deliberate tease—a black tank top clinging to a chiseled chest, a dragon tattoo curling over a broad shoulder, dark glasses hiding his eyes. Confidence radiated from the image, a silent command that made Raka’s breath catch.
His thumb hovered. He typed, deleted, typed again. “Coffee tonight? I’m local but been away a while. Would love to talk.”
Five minutes later, a reply. “Coffee’s boring. Marriott. Room 1215. 9 PM. Don’t make me wait.”
Raka’s pulse surged. His hand drifted to his chest, then lower, where denim strained against his growing arousal. He hadn’t planned for this—not so soon, not so raw. But the clock ticked, and his body decided before his mind could argue.
He was going.
