"Ah, no worries, none of that will happen.

Are you one of those types of boys?"

"No, no, I’m not that type.

What do you think of me?

I haven’t held any girl’s hand until now.

That’s far from me.

What’s going through your mind?"

Mayoki laughed,

"Ah, no, no, I wasn’t trying to mean that.

I just meant it feels like living together in a shared place, so I asked.

I’m very simple and straightforward.

So, are you saying that we should pool our money together to rent a house?

Alright… how much do you have now?"

I thought to myself.

I couldn’t tell her the full amount.

Otherwise, she will say she has less money herself and pay for the entire rent with all my money."

So how much should I say?

I actually have three thousand five hundred, but I decided to say two thousand five hundred.

I need to keep some for myself.

"Wait… let’s see how much you have first."

I kept a thousand in my pocket and took out the rest.

Counting, I said,

"I have two thousand five hundred.

How much do you have?"

Mayoki said firmly,

"Ah, I also have two thousand five hundred.

So if we combine our money, that makes five thousand.

We can comfortably rent a house."

"But where can we find a house for five thousand?

Everything here is above fifty thousand.

Not even a single room can be rented for five thousand, and that’s just for a month.

We could never rent a house in our life."

Mayoki puffed out her chest proudly,

"Why are you so tense?

In the hill regions, we can easily rent an old wooden house for five thousand.

Just need to search a little online.

Alright… do you have a phone?"

"Yes, I have a phone, but I don’t know how to search for these things."

Mayoki twisted her hair around her finger,

"Give me your phone, I’ll look it up.

I’ve searched before.

I know how to find houses for rent."

"I’ll give you the phone.

But you have one too, right?

My phone has issues, I mean it lags a lot."

Mayoki got nervous.

She wiped sweat from her forehead,

"My phone?

Oh, I don’t use a phone.

To focus on studies.

My family didn’t allow me.

That’s why I asked if you have one."

I looked at her with suspicion.

She has come this far without a phone, and her family allowed her to travel.

Is Mayoki really trying to hide something through these words?

"Alright… then how will you communicate with your family?

Or how will they keep track of you?"

Mayoki glanced around, words stuck in her throat,

"Ah… my family… oh yes.

My family has many acquaintances here.

They said they will be able to keep track of you like this.

So, they aren’t really worried."

I thought to myself after hearing this.

This is the most ridiculous lie I’ve ever heard.

That her family has many acquaintances here, so they’re not worried.

In truth, Mayoki’s family is strange… almost like they belong to another world.