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"Is this your house?"


"Dorm," Gabriella corrected quickly.

"Yes, it means this is where you live, right?"

Gabriella turned her head and furrowed her brow deeply. "Yes, a boarding house."


"Ah, whatever."

Instead of feeling annoyed, Gabriella pulled the corners of her lips up. She smiled as she looked at Ken who was now scowling while looking away. She unhooked the seat belt and grabbed her bag from the dashboard. Seeing that Ken wasn't looking at her at all made Gabriella feel a little more comfortable as she got out of the car.


Bruk!

The woman walked around after getting out of Ken's car. She who was carrying the totebag on her right shoulder, only tightened her grip on the black object.

The windshield of the owner's car lowered, opening fully afterwards. Ken's narrowed eyes now looked at Gabriella. She was standing on the curb, her shoulders squared.

"Remember, you're in charge of my car." Ken frowned. "Don't sell my car secretly to a pawnshop."

The man shook his head, while clicking his tongue. "You're pretty, you know. But your thoughts are still negative."

"This is called being cautious."

"Whatever. I'm back," Ken said, ending their conversation.

But the same thing happened to the man's car. Suddenly, his black Toyota New Rush wouldn't start. Ken couldn't hide the curious and astonished expression on the man's face, when he finally decided to get out and check the engine. Before he could find the answer to his problem, it suddenly started raining heavily.

Panicking, Ken closed the hood of the car and asked Gabriella to immediately enter his dormitory.

"What about you? Your car broke down too, right?"

"I'll just wait in the car."

Amidst the rainwater that began to soak her clothes, Gabriella was desperate to choose a decision that was a little out of 'her'. Suddenly, her hand reached out and grabbed Ken's sturdy wrist, making him look up in surprise and stare at Gabriella in confusion. Gabriella wiped her face with her other hand, then said, "Just follow me inside. Get your stuff!"

Like hitting the jackpot, Ken happily accepted Gabriella's invitation. He nodded and took a small pouch containing his important belongings from the car, before finally following Gabriella's footsteps to enter her boarding house.

The boarding house Gabriella rented was more like a rented house without many neighbors. Only the place Gabriella lives in stands tall there, unlike most boarding houses. The one-story building with a minimalist concept and not too spacious was enough to amaze Ken at first glance. He didn't know that in the middle of New York City, there was still a simple but comfortable residence at the same time.

"How much does this rent per month?"

Ken's eyes couldn't stop roaming when his body reached the inside of the building. Not only because it was very minimalist, but also because everything inside looked very neat and well-organized.

Gabriella threw a clean towel at Ken's face, causing him to flinch. "Woy!"

"Put that on so your clothes don't get wet. If you catch a cold, no one will pay my salary," Gabriella said casually.

Ken chuckled, then returned Gabriella's words with a disapproving look. He then sat down on the ivory-white mid-century sofa while wiping his body with a towel. It was fortunate that Gabriella quickly invited her inside before her body got any wetter than this.

"Why did my car break down," Ken muttered.

Gabriella walked up to him with two cups of hot tea in her hands. She then said, "It's your bad luck. It must be because you were secretly laughing at my car, right?"

"I wonder how you have such negative thoughts about other people." Ken crossed his arms over his chest, then raised one eyebrow. "I think you've been lied to by so many people that you're traumatized?"

Gabriella gasped as the two cups in her hands landed on the glass table. Her face, which had been focused on the simple drinks she was about to serve to her uninvited guest, now turned to Ken. The gray eyes met Ken's black ones, there was a pause there, as if time stopped without being asked.

"You keep all your problems to yourself because you don't trust anyone, right?"

The woman swallowed, then lifted her chin haughtily. "Don't be such a smartass. Here, have a drink first. Then you can get out of here."

Ken moved his body forward, then looked intensely into Gabriella's gray eyes. As he pursed his lips, the man nodded his head. He mumbled for a moment, then added, "Whoever made you like this, I promise I won't do the same thing like that."

Gabriella's pupils dilated. She couldn't believe what her ears had just heard. Ken smiled, making Gabriella look away immediately. At least she had to get out of the way, before he noticed the change in her face. Gabriella couldn't deny that her heart warmed up after Ken said that.

Gabriella's body moved, making Ken flinch for the umpteenth time. "You better finish that tea quickly, I'm already tired of making tofu."

"Yes, yes. What a nag." Ken held the handle of the cup with the brownish liquid inside. His black beady eyes looked deep inside, an idea suddenly popped into his head. He then decided against taking the tea and looked back at Gabriella who was sitting in another chair playing with her cell phone. "Anyway, can I ask you something?

"What is it again?" Gabriella said curtly. She looked up for a moment, then back at her phone screen and got busy surfing the internet. "Don't ask weird questions, otherwise I'll kick you out."

"Why did you want to kill yourself that night?" Deg!

Gabriella's fingers, which were previously busy moving up and down, now stopped doing their activities.

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