After finishing a full day of filming, Charlize returned home with Karl. As she reached the third floor, she was about to take out her key to open the door when Karl, who was standing behind her preparing to say goodbye, suddenly patted his head and whispered, "Charlize, shh."This made Charlize freeze mid-action. Karl then pointed upstairs and said in a low voice, "Come upstairs with me."Charlize frowned, "I want to go back, take a hot shower, and go to bed." Despite her words, she followed Karl's footsteps up to the fourth floor. "Is there anything else?" Charlize rubbed her tired temples and asked, but when the fourth-floor door opened, Charlize saw Alex and Joseph sitting in front of the living room TV playing a Nintendo Famicom.She was stunned. "Why are you all here?"Looking at the clock on the wall, it was already half past twelve. Charlize was clearly confused. "Can someone explain this to me?"Alex and Joseph, who were playing the game, naturally didn't have time to speak. It was Karl who said, "Uma arranged something for Hugo on the third floor tonight. Please, let us avoid it.""Uma? Hugo?" Charlize froze, looked back at the door, and took half a step forward before stopping. After a day of work, Charlize's brain was a bit sluggish, but now she understood that Uma had prepared a special activity for Hugo, and they were helping out. This was perfectly normal for friends."We're all friends, so it's no big deal to help out," Alex's voice chimed in from the side. Charlize lowered her eyelids, savoring the words, and a bitter smile briefly curved her lips before disappearing. Then, a full smile bloomed on her face. "Phew, I'm already so tired, and I can't even go back to my room. It seems Hugo owes me a grand meal."Charlize then walked to the sofa in the center of the living room and sank down, relaxing her tired limbs. The fourth floor's decor, like the third, was simple but full of masculine touches. For example, the tan sofa Charlize was now lying on—an old piece of furniture picked up from the street, but still quite comfortable. However, it was piled with magazines, clothes, two beer cans, a dumbbell, and a slipper, which was truly unbearable.Charlize groaned in annoyance, "You guys did this on purpose!" What Charlize couldn't stand the most was this kind of clutter, and what was hidden was even worse. But she was really tired now and didn't have the energy to tidy up.Hearing this, Karl couldn't help but smile. "You're not sleeping here, just resting for a bit, so don't bother tidying up. I think we can go downstairs in half an hour at most. Just make do with it.""A grand meal? That's too cheap for him," Alex finally took a break and replied, but he was answering Charlize's previous topic. "Hugo bought each of us a brick this time. How about it, isn't that a nice gift?" Alex said excitedly."A brick?" Charlize forced herself to shift her attention from the sofa and looked in the direction Alex pointed. Sure enough, she saw a brick. "Is this… a mobile phone? It's much smaller than the last one I saw." Charlize had seen something like this before at the modeling agency, but its size was much larger back then."Yes, this is the latest model. It's a gift Hugo specially bought for us," Alex said happily. "That one is mine, yours is in your room, but they're all the same model. You can try to learn how to use it.""So he had a plan all along," Charlize muttered under her breath, examining the brick in her hand. Joseph seemed to have caught a few words and turned to ask, "What?" Charlize quickly shook her head, "Nothing, nothing at all." Then she let out a long breath, her expression relaxing. "How do you use this?" Although still very tired, the excitement of encountering a new thing greatly alleviated Charlize's fatigue."I have one too?" Karl sat down beside the sofa, looking at the brick in Charlize's hand with surprise. Joseph pointed to the large box on the table. "That's yours." Karl immediately picked up the box. "Wow, thank you so much, Hugo. Is this thing easy to use? How's the call quality?""You'll know if you try it," Alex paused the game and stood up excitedly. "Hugo has saved all our phone numbers. You give me a call, and I'll go to my room to see what it's like.""But where do I find the phone numbers?" Karl and Charlize looked at each other. Although there didn't seem to be many buttons on this brick, how to use it was truly a mystery.Joseph also stood up and chuckled. "Hugo has already figured it out. He taught me."The group sat there experimenting with the new phones, finding it all very novel, and the passage of time seemed less noticeable. It wasn't until the fourth-floor door was opened again by a key that the sound startled the four people in the room, who all turned to look at the door. It was already past one in the morning, and the surroundings had become completely quiet. Even the roar of a sports car engine would cause an echo, so the sound of the key opening the door seemed even more abrupt and sent shivers down their spines.The door was pushed open, and a tall, burly man appeared in their sight. His neatly trimmed beard and short, clean-cut hair exuded a rugged style."Oh, it's you, you're back!" Seeing the newcomer, Karl immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Joseph also raised his hand and waved, as if to say hello.The man simply nodded, not saying a word, which counted as a greeting. He then continued without stopping, striding towards his room. His black high-top military boots made dull thudding sounds on the concrete floor, ending with the muffled thud of his room door closing, and the living room returned to silence."Who?" Alex asked. Charlize also looked at Karl, indicating her curiosity about Alex's question."Our roommate, I think his name is Droopnir, right?" Karl cast a confirming glance at Joseph, who gave an affirmative reply. "He's German. I didn't expect him to be back so early today.""I say, why are you all whispering?" Joseph's words seemed a bit abrupt, causing Karl, Charlize, and Alex to turn and look at him. This made Joseph a bit awkward, and he also unconsciously lowered his voice. "I mean, we don't have to worry about waking Ernst, so why are we being so quiet?"Alex and Karl only then realized that they had unconsciously lowered their voices, as if they were afraid of disturbing others. Now that Joseph had pointed it out, both of them couldn't help but chuckle. Although Charlize didn't speak, she found that she hadn't noticed anything unusual either, as if their quiet conversation was a matter of course. Only now that Joseph had stated it plainly did she realize this.Charlize couldn't help but look back at the tightly closed bedroom door. Although she had only just met this roommate named Droopnir, his resolute demeanor had indeed left a very deep impression, so much so that Alex had subconsciously lowered his voice."Don't worry, he doesn't mind noise. I guess it's because of drumming..." Karl said very seriously, then pointed to his ears, as if implying that his roommate's hearing had deteriorated due to drumming. This made the other three roll their eyes simultaneously. Even if a band drummer's hearing is affected, it's a result of years of impact, and Droopnir didn't look that old just now.Karl, however, didn't notice that he was being mocked by the three of them. He refocused his attention and continued, "Charlize, you and Alex should go downstairs. Hugo and Uma have probably finished with the living room by now. Go back, wash up, and get some rest early. Charlize has a scene tomorrow morning at half past ten."Charlize stood up and stretched. "Anyway, we've done our best. If Hugo and Uma still haven't sorted things out, there's nothing more we can do, right?" It was already past one in the morning. Whatever romance was going to happen had already happened, and if not, the passion would have cooled down by now.Although she said that, Charlize and Alex still tried to be as quiet as possible when they went downstairs. Upon entering the living room, they only saw the faint candlelight from the kitchen. After confirming that Hugo and Uma were not in the living room, they breathed a sigh of relief. Alex whispered to Charlize, "You go wash up first. You have to get up early tomorrow; I don't."Charlize nodded, tiptoed back to her room to get a change of clothes, then tiptoed into the bathroom, even trying to avoid making too much noise while showering—after all, it wasn't far from Hugo's room. As friends, this was all they could do.Charlize was still seriously considering whether she should switch rooms with Hugo. After all, if Uma came over often in the future, it would definitely be much more convenient for them to live in relatively more distant spaces. However, Charlize then shook her head, dismissing the idea. If Uma and Hugo wanted a private space, they wouldn't find an ideal result in a shared apartment. Perhaps going to Uma's place would be a good option.Lost in thought, Charlize quickly washed up. After coming out, she gently knocked on Alex's room door, signaling for him to go wash up. Alex looked at Charlize, who was walking on tiptoes, and couldn't help but laugh. Their eyes met, and Alex pointed to Hugo's room, then to the mobile phone he was playing with in his hand, and finally shrugged helplessly, as if to say: This phone is quite expensive, so let's sacrifice a little more.This expression immediately made Charlize happy, and she broke into a wide smile. But after laughing, Charlize deliberately flattened her heels and took two deliberate steps in her slippers. To her surprise, the sound of the slippers hitting the concrete floor was unexpectedly loud, even echoing in the living room. This startled Charlize, making her freeze in place, and then slowly rise onto her tiptoes.Alex also froze in place, grimacing, clearly startled by the sound. Once calm again, he saw Charlize's zombie-like posture and almost burst out laughing. In the dead of night, especially when a roommate has a special mission, holding back laughter is truly a difficult task!
