---

Gabriella's eyes were now focused on the laptop screen showing the results of her internet search. While taking a sip of the hot tea she made herself a few minutes ago, Gabriella now seemed engrossed in reading the articles that filled the screen in front of her.


The Easiest Way to Die

Suicide Hotline in New York | Into the light New York

8 Signs someone might be suicidal


What is the quickest way to kill yourself?

"How come none of the articles relate? I'll try to find something else," Gabriella muttered, as she began typing her wishes into the search bar.


But Gabriella's search results were in vain. Ever since the death wish emerged, there wasn't a single suggestion on the internet that could help her. Instead of transferring her negative thoughts into something positive after the first failed attempt, the news of her father's illness prompted Gabriella to do the same thing for the second;last time.

This time the woman didn't want to fail again. She had to die after her father was gone. So that Gabriella would no longer feel the pain in her chest from the cavity created by the wound.

All the articles that appeared on the main page were directing Gabriella to contact a professional, where the woman should tell her life problems and share her grief with others so that the burden on her shoulders would be lighter. Several times Gabriella closed articles that directed her to survive, until one article that appeared on the screen slapped her.

She didn't want to die, but if there was a way other than suicide, she would choose it.

"Is there any way other than death?"

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The sound of a knock on her door made Gabriella turn her head quickly. Her brow furrowed as her black eyes found her wall clock pointing to one. Who would be visiting at one o'clock in the morning when Gabriella was looking for a way to die?

"It can't be the grim reaper knocking on the door, can it?"

Suddenly, Gabriella's heart was beating fast. She became nervous afterward. Especially when the door to her dormitory, which was still locked, made another sound.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

---

In a drunken state, Ken was still desperate to drive his car. Instead of going home immediately, he moved the car's GPS to Gabriella's boarding house, which was slightly opposite to the path he should have taken to get to his own house. The streets of New York City at one o'clock in the morning were not as crowded as usual, so it only took a few minutes for Ken to reach Gabriella's boarding house from the First Club.

Ken looked around and there were only a few vehicles passing by. The neighborhood of Gabriella's boarding house was in fact quite quiet at night. Although there were one, two stalls a few meters away from where the woman lived, it was still a crime-prone area according to Ken.

Staggering, Ken made his way to the door of Gabriella's boarding house. From outside, the lights on with the curtains closed signaled that she was home that night. Ken's narrowed eyes widened with all their might as his already staggering body desperately tried to hold on to the door.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The man in his tattered maroon shirt was still trying to maintain his footing even though there was no response at all from the landlord. Ken guessed that Gabriella was still asleep in her cozy bed without knowing that the man had come to her house without permission.

Ken mumbled, then knocked again on the brown-painted door that he was now leaning against. By the looks of it, Ken was like a lizard against the wall now.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Where the hell is the person, why aren't they opening it? My head is already spinning!"

Knock! Knock! T-

Before Ken could finish knocking on the door, his body suddenly lurched forward as Gabriella appeared behind the door.

"Oh my!"

Ken's body fell right into Gabriella's arms. Unprepared for the sudden movement, they both fell to the floor with Gabriella on the bottom while Ken carried her from above.

Gabriella screamed and pushed Ken's body off her body. "AAAHHHH!"

then quickly rolled the other way to avoid Ken's unconscious body on the floor.

The woman sat up as she digested the situation. Her eyes wandered around and there was no other sight to see other than Ken's car parked carelessly blocking the door and her own car.

"Damn this guy! What are you doing drunk and bothering me?" Gabriella massaged her temples lightly. Ken's behavior really gave her a headache. "I'm sleeping there again right now. Ish. How annoying."

Gabriella was about to get up, leaving Ken lying on the floor just like that. But suddenly, one of Ken's hands moved quickly to grab Gabriella's ankle and made her scream instantly.

"AH!"

Ken looked up. "Why have you been screaming all this time?" he wondered with his eyes closed. "Doesn't it hurt your throat like that?"

"Take it off, bitch!" Gabriella swatted Ken's hand away from his leg, and made him roll onto his back.

But strangely, the man still had his eyes closed as if they were stuck together with a very sticky glue.

"I almost lost my heart because of this one man!"

"Elle, don't leave me, Elle!" Gabriella turned her head, watching Ken with her eyebrows knitted together. "I don't want you to die, Elle. If you die, who will I be with, Elle?"

"This guy is out of his mind."

Instead of helping Ken to get up, or simply moving him to the sofa, Gabriella pushed the man's legs so that his whole body was inside the building. Gabriella's eyes darted around to see the situation outside her room, before finally closing the door and locking it. While muttering, Gabriella scrunched up her waist. The pink negligee she was wearing that night was indeed quite thin and dreamy, so when Ken opened his eyes slightly, the man could still see the silhouette of Gabriella's body shape.

"Elle, I can see your underwear, Elle," he mumbled.

But this time Gabriella panicked. She glared and hurriedly covered her body with both hands. "You pervert!"

A slap landed on Ken's cheek, just as the man's consciousness finally faded away.

Gabriella looked down, intending to make sure. She then furrowed her brow and scowled. "Fainted or dead? Ah, never mind. Who told you to be a brainless pervert!" A triumphant smile spread across the woman's pink lips. She grinned contentedly before saying, "Now you'll have to sleep on the floor until tomorrow. Who told you to come over to someone's house at this time of night, you're a nuisance."

The woman immediately turned around leaving Ken alone on the floor without a care in the world. Meanwhile, Ken kept his eyes closed there.

Bruk!

The door to the room of the woman whose full name was Gabriella Nadya Hutama was completely closed, even locked. She seemed to ignore Ken's presence outside her room and felt no responsibility to check on him.

Without Gabriella knowing, Ken's body, which was previously fine, was now warm.

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