After nearly a month, Aya finally replied to my messages.

I told her I wanted to go find her and work in our hometown just like her.

She advised me to think it over and didn’t recommend me being so impulsive.

I didn’t tell her about my recent encounters to avoid making her worry.

Just noticing the unintended weariness in her words.

Roughly realizing that her days were also filled with struggles...

I sat in the living room, looking at this empty house, and remembered being tagged in the group chat this morning about the rent for this quarter being due soon.

I finally decided to post an ad on the rental app to find a roommate.

Once the message was posted, several people quickly messaged me, asking to see the house.

In the following days, quite a few people came to take a look.

But the final results weren’t ideal; either they thought it was too far from their workplace, making commuting difficult.

Or they felt the place was too small for them to have friends over.

【Can a guy rent?】

Just as I was eating instant noodles, worrying about next month’s living expenses.

An unexpected private message popped up in the app.

I swallowed my noodles, thought about it, and replied one word at a time: 【Yes.】

【But can you guarantee to clean weekly?】

After a while, a simple 【Hmm】 came back.

Although I had heard online that living with a male roommate could be inconvenient.

But given my current situation, I no longer aimed to be picky.

*

The new roommate arrived two days later.

A guy with black-rimmed glasses who looked very gentle and refined.

When he came, he only had a small suitcase in hand.

As if he was only staying for a short period.

“This is your room.” I opened the second bedroom to show him.

“This room was originally mine. But since I came here first and pay a larger portion of the rent, the master bedroom temporarily belongs to me. Is that okay with you?”

I explained it to him with a smile. Although it was quite direct, it avoided any future disputes.

“O... okay.”

He adjusted his glasses and then looked down, speaking hesitantly, looking like a recent college graduate.

If I didn’t have his ID and knew he was a year older than me, I might have believed him.

“By the way, let me introduce myself. My name is Jiang Xuan.”

“Gu Shi’an.”

He made eye contact with me and then shyly smiled.

It was the first time I had seen a guy blush nowadays.

So, I couldn't help but look him over again.

Tall and handsome.

With the kind of refined and gentle looks.

Gu Shi'an seemed unable to withstand my gaze, awkwardly turning his head away.

I suddenly realized he might be socially anxious...

“Ah! Well, you rest first. I think I have something to do, so I’ll head out. Bye-bye.”

I smiled at him and tactfully turned around to leave.

The gaze from behind followed me until the door separated us.