The echoes of applause from the First Pitch Day still lingered in Aruna's mind. Sitting at a small ramen shop later that night, the three of them-Aruna, Naya, and Reza-slumped over the table, exhausted but buzzing with adrenaline.
"I can't believe we actually pulled it off," Naya said, slurping her noodles with the enthusiasm of a victorious warrior.
Aruna chuckled. "Barely. I almost passed out when the projector died."
"And you almost forgot my part in the script," Reza added with a playful glare.
Aruna raised his hands in surrender. "Guilty. But hey, teamwork saved us, right?"
As laughter filled the tiny shop, a comfortable silence followed. Then, Naya leaned back against the chair, eyes soft with nostalgia.
"Hey... do you remember how we even got here?"
Aruna smiled. "Yeah. It feels like a lifetime ago."
And just like that, memories began to flood in.
___
Two Years Ago, City of Velaris Tech Valley
It was during an unusually stormy afternoon when Reza stumbled into the tiny co-working space at the corner of Lumeris Street. His laptop was ancient, his resume unimpressive, and his dreams bigger than his wallet.
He wasn't looking for anything specific that day—just a place to sit, code, and hope.
But fate had different plans.
Naya was already there, hunched over her desk, arguing loudly with the vending machine that had swallowed her coins again.
Reza couldn't help but chuckle as he walked past.
"Need a hacker?" he teased.
Naya turned, her fierce eyes softening slightly when she saw the humor in his.
"You any good at fixing stubborn machines?" she asked, half-serious.
"Only if you bribe me with coffee," Reza grinned.
That was their first conversation. It wasn't much, but it planted a seed.
A few weeks later, Aruna entered the scene. She had signed up for a public speaking workshop held at the same co-working space.
Standing at the entrance, clutching a battered notebook, she looked lost.
Reza was the first to notice.
"First time?" he asked kindly.
Aruna nodded nervously. "Yeah… I'm supposed to join the workshop, but… I don't know anyone."
"You do now," Reza said, flashing his easygoing smile.
He introduced her to Naya, and somehow, the three of them started hanging out during breaks, exchanging wild ideas about startups, dreams, and the kind of futures they wanted to build.
None of them had any money.
None of them had a solid plan.
But they had passion. And that was enough.
Over cheap coffee and worn-out notebooks, Veloria was born—not as a company yet, but as a crazy dream whispered between three misfits who believed, against all odds, that they could change the world.
—
Back to the Present
"Crazy how things work out, huh?" Aruna said, twirling her chopsticks absentmindedly.
"We were just three idiots with no clue," Naya laughed.
"Still are," Reza added with a smirk. "We just wear better clothes now."
They burst out laughing, drawing odd stares from the other customers, but none of them cared. In that small ramen shop in Velaris Tech Valley, surrounded by cracked walls and flickering neon lights, three dreamers celebrated the first tiny step toward something bigger.
Veloria wasn't just a startup.
It was a promise.
A promise to their younger, more reckless selves—
That they wouldn't give up.
Not now.
Not ever.
To be continued...