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I hear you've got troubles, or so I've been told
Maybe just a couple but I'm not quite sold
He read the files in his hand, absorbing the information about a certain heir. His mind picked up pieces and rearrange it like jigsaw puzzle, allowing him the chance to create the likeness of Uco in his mind to be observed. After all, he need to understand the heir to the bone. He needs to know just what make Uco tick, what his weakness are, and above all, how to manipulate him.
"Daddy's boy, huh?" he mutters to himself, reading up on the strained relationship between Uco and his father. It's easy for Bejo to see that Bangun has indeed paved the road for Uco, making sure everything would go smoothly for when his son decided to take over. There's no other reason as to why Bangun would bother keeping the truce with Goto, while at the same time ensuring his hold over Jakarta's vital points. Bangun preserve the peace merely for Uco, because it would be way easier for the Prince to rule Jakarta's underworld when it's in peace rather than when it's in war. And Bejo also admires Bangun's moves, admitting that the old man made a smart decision when he choose to reign Jakarta's underworld through economy. Money is always more effective than power, and money create tighter leashes for those under Bangun's hold.
But oh, how easy it is to see that the spoiled prince doesn't comprehend his father's way of thinking one bit. Uco's understanding of power, it seems, is far more medieval than Bangun's. Bejo's lips curl up into a smirk when he sees what exactly Uco wants: respect. He wants people to kiss his feet, to put him in a pedestal, and to treat him like a real king. Half of it could be blamed on Bangun's way of raising his kid. Out of love, Bangun has been spoiling Uco while at the same time, keeping his guard up to toughen his kid. The result was far from what the old man expected - the Prince turned out to be a prideful young man who resent his father's lack of respect for him. Overtime, Uco's quest for his father's acceptance turned into latent resentment, blinding him from seeing Bangun's logics and future plans. Instead, Uco sees what he wants to see, that his father is scared of losing his power and thus doing whatever he can to tighten his grasp, postponing the time to hand everything over to his one and only heir.
For now, Uco still hold his father in high regard. But Bejo knows he would only need to push the right buttons to turn that thirst for acceptance and admittance into a double edged sword that would brought down both the Prince and his father.
***
It's too easy to be scared sometimes
I'm not gonna lie like I don't understand
Uco stares at the man in front of him with apparent distrust. Bejo, however, doesn't seems to mind.
It was a gamble for Uco to come here, but he can't deny that Bejo piqued his curiosity when he had said that he wanted to meet Uco to discuss something that would benefit the two of them. Admittedly, his current anger towards his father played a part on him agreeing to the dinner that Bejo offered.
"You and I, we're actually the same," Bejo says as his pour Uco some wine. "The only difference is that each of my moves are taken to ensure the future of me and my family. Your moves, on the other hand, will always be shadowed by your father's."
That got him Uco's attention. And as they talk, as he listen to Bejo, it dawned on Uco that he understand. Bejo understand his yearning to prove his worth toward his father. Bejo understand what it feels like to want to be better than his father would ever be. Bejo is also the first one to understand his frustration with the way Bangun run his empire, and share his sentiment about how it should be ruled.
More importantly, Bejo sees him as Uco, not as Bangun's heir, and he wants to work together with him.
For once, Uco realize, someone is treating him with respect, and not with the patience of a man trying to console a petulant child.
When Bejo give him the presents, his chance for revenge – something that his father never gave him, Uco made his decision.
"It would not be easy to start a war," he warns. "You need to kill the right person."
"I already have my mark," Bejo smoothly reply.
Uco smirks. It seems like they could actually work well together.
But it's like the whole world is jumping off the bridge
And you don't want to be the one standing on dry land
***
This is me confessing
God bless the sad and selfish
Stay helpless
The moment his phone rang and Uco relay the green light to do whatever he please, Bejo realizes with increasing confidence that his plan is working. Judging from Uco's words and tone, it's clear that Bangun refused to act upon the alleged attack of Goto's clan that bring about Prakoso's death. Considering they have no proofs aside from some whispered words, Bangun was right not to. Especially because with Prakoso's gone, Bangun had lost his resourceful eyes and swords, and his force has considerably weaken.
This logical course of action, however, was met with blatant displeasure from Uco. The boy had clearly hoped for war, so they can establish their stronghold upon Jakarta – and because that would made it easier for them to initiate their plans. Uco insisting to push ahead with their plans despite not having Bangun's cooperation was a reaction that Bejo actually anticipated, and it only proven his initial suspicion that Uco based his decisions on his emotions rather logic.
He watches as his trusted assassins move out to do their job, and promptly smirk. This newfound fact will only make it easier for him to manipulate Uco, and he can already smell victory in the air.
And he was right. Through subtle suggestion, he managed to plant the idea of killing Bangun if things goes haywire and they're cornered with no other option. He hadn't hoped for it to actually work that well, but apparently Bangun had gone overboard and the combination of having his own father beat him up while refusing to listen to his pleas were Uco's last straw.
Bejo tries his best to hold back the victorious smile that threaten to emerge as he sees Bangun's corpse on the floor. He did it, he actually manage to get rid of the man that had ruled Jakarta for so long. It will only be a matter of time now until he would be able to have this city in his hand, under his mercy.
Looking at Eka's fallen form, Bejo carefully take over the gun that had killed Bangun from Uco's frozen grasp. He's ready to kill Bangun's right hand man and end the old geezer's reign over Jakarta altogether when a commotion arise. Instinctively, he duck when the man that Bejo recognizes as Yudha, the guy that Bangun assigned to shadowed Uco, attack him and he leave the rest to his assassins.
"What would you like to with him?" Bejo ask Uco about Yudha after he was taken care of. Uco, however, was still frozen in shock after taking his father's life. If it was up to Bejo, he would rather have Yudha killed right there and then, especially because he's a bit irked by Eka's escape. But he needs to keep the pretense of Uco having a say in things, so he ordered his men to take Yudha to the headquarters instead.
There will be times to deal with Yudha and Eka later. Now, he need to ensure Uco come back to his senses because their dinner appointment with Reza is approaching.
Because I've always been stronger than that
Hold the weight of the world on my back
Uco was silent during most of their discussions over dinner with Reza, and this doesn't go unnoticed by Bejo. He let it slide, though, because he does prefer to settle things with Reza personally. He only needs Uco to be there so Reza can see that they have indeed take over Bangun's reign.
He doesn't let the news of Yudha's intrusion into their building affect him – his assassins could deal with it efficiently. For now, he needs to focus on convincing Reza because the greedy bastard choosed to be difficult.
His decision proved to have dire consequences when Yudha burst in to the room, effectively putting their meeting on hold. Bejo quickly reach for the shotguns behind the bar, throwing one to Reza while taking the other one himself and start aiming to take Yudha's life.
He was limping toward the couch, getting ready to shot if Yudha dare to show even just an inch of his body when another shot rang out and he found himself on the floor, choking on his own blood. As he struggles for breath, he can see Uco looking down on him with apparent distaste. The spoiled prince take out something from his pocket and drop what Bejo recognizes as tracking device next to his face. It wasn't his, Bejo wouldn't stoop as low as that – and he never actually needs it for he preferred subtle manipulation. Yet it was clear that Uco accuses him as the owner of the device, and there's no way of convincing him otherwise.
Bejo chuckle with his last breath. He should've known better than to gamble using someone as emotionally volatile as Uco. Uco's impaired judgments may have gave him the throne, but it also brought Bejo his own demise.
I've got nothing to confess
It's just love, selfish love