Helping at one's own expense

After finishing a whole day of shooting, Charlize returned home with Karl. They walked up to the third floor, and as Charlize was about to take out her keys to open the door, Karl tapped his own head from behind and said, "Charlize, shh." This made Charlize freeze in place, and then Karl pointed upstairs and whispered, "Come upstairs with me."

Charlize frowned. "I want to go back and take a hot bath and sleep." Although she said that, she still followed Karl's footsteps up to the fourth floor. "Is there something else?" Charlize rubbed her weary temples and asked, but when the door on the fourth floor opened, Charlize saw Alex and Joseph sitting in front of the TV playing the Nintendo Entertainment System. She paused for a moment. "Why are you all here?"

Looking at the clock on the wall, it was already half past twelve. Charlize clearly didn't understand what was going on. "Can someone explain this to me?"

Alex and Joseph, who were busy playing the game, naturally didn't have time to speak. It was Karl who spoke up. "Uma arranged a program for Hugo on the third floor tonight, so she asked us to stay away."

"Uma? Hugo?" Charlize stood still, turned to look at the front door, took a half step forward, but then stopped. After working all day, Charlize's brain was a bit slow, but now she finally realized that Uma had prepared a special activity for Hugo and asked them for help. It was nothing out of the ordinary for friends.

"We're all friends, so helping out is not a big deal." Alex's voice sounded beside her. Charlize lowered her gaze and pondered over his words, her lips curling into a bitter smile for a brief moment before disappearing completely. Then she burst into a smile. "Phew, I'm already so tired, and I can't even go to my room. It seems Hugo owes me a sumptuous meal."

Then Charlize walked over to the sofa in the center of the hall and sat down heavily, relaxing her exhausted limbs. The decoration on the fourth floor was as simple as the third floor, but it exuded a masculine atmosphere. For example, the brown sofa that Charlize was lying on was an old piece of furniture picked up from the street, but it was quite comfortable. However, it was piled with magazines, clothes, two beer cans, a dumbbell, and a slipper, which was unbearable.

Charlize groaned in frustration, "You did this on purpose!" Charlize couldn't stand this kind of messiness, especially the hidden horrors. But she was really tired now and didn't have the energy to tidy up.

Upon hearing this, Karl couldn't help but smile. "You're not going to sleep here, just take a rest, don't bother with tidying up. I think I'll be downstairs in half an hour at most. Just bear with it."

"A feast? That's too cheap for him." Alex finally found a moment and replied to Charlize's previous topic. "This time Hugo bought us each a brick. How about that? Isn't this gift great?" Alex said excitedly.

"A brick?" Charlize forced herself to shift her attention from the sofa and looked in the direction Alex was pointing. Indeed, she saw a brick. "This is... a mobile phone? It's much smaller than the one I saw last time." Charlize had seen this thing once before when she was at the modeling agency, but back then, it was obviously much larger in size.

"Yes, this is the latest model. Hugo bought it as a gift for us," Alex said happily. "That one is mine, yours is in your room, but they're the same model. You can try using it."

"So he had planned it all along," Charlize murmured as she examined the brick in her hand. Joseph seemed to have caught fragments of her words and asked, "What?" Charlize quickly shook her head and said, "Nothing, it's nothing." She then took a deep breath, visibly relaxed, and said, "How do you use this?" Despite her fatigue, the excitement of encountering a new device alleviated her tiredness.

"I have one too?" Karl sat down beside the sofa in surprise, observing the brick in Charlize's hand. Joseph pointed to a large box on the table and said, "That's yours." Karl immediately picked up the box and exclaimed, "Wow, thanks to Hugo. Is it easy to use? How's the call quality?"

"You'll find out once you try it." Alex paused the game and stood up excitedly. "Hugo saved our phone numbers in there. Give me a call, and I'll go to my room to see how it works."

"But where do we check the phone numbers?" Karl and Charlize exchanged glances. Although the brick had fewer buttons, it was still a mystery as to how to use it.

Joseph also stood up and chuckled, "Hugo has already figured it out. He taught me."

The group of people sat there experimenting with their new phones, finding it fascinating, and time seemed to pass unnoticed. It wasn't until the sound of the fourth-floor door being unlocked that all four of them were startled and turned to look at the door. It was already past 1 a.m., and everything had become completely quiet around them. Even the sound of engines from passing cars would reverberate, making the noise of the key unlocking the door all the more abrupt and eerie, sending shivers down their spines.

The door swung open, revealing a tall, muscular man with neatly trimmed sideburns and short, sharp hair, exuding a tough demeanor.

"Oh, it's you. You're back!" Karl breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the person, and Joseph waved his hand in greeting.

The man simply nodded without saying a word, acknowledging their presence. He didn't pause his footsteps and strode purposefully towards his room. The heavy thud of his high black military boots echoed on the concrete floor, and it all ended with the muffled sound of the room door closing, restoring tranquility to the hallway.

"Who was that?" Alex asked, turning to Joseph. Charlize also looked at Karl, curious about Alex's question.

"Our roommate, Draupnir, I think?" Karl looked at Joseph for confirmation, and he received a nod. "He's German. I didn't expect him to come back so early today."

"I say, why were you speaking in hushed tones?" Joseph's words seemed abrupt, causing Karl, Charlize, and Alex to turn and look at him. Joseph felt a bit awkward and unconsciously lowered his voice. "I mean, we don't have to worry about waking up Ernest, so why speak so quietly?"

Alex and Karl suddenly realized that they had unintentionally lowered their voices as if they were afraid of disturbing someone. Now that Joseph had pointed it out, they couldn't help but laugh softly. Charlize hadn't spoken, but she realized that she hadn't noticed anything unusual either. It seemed like speaking quietly was just the natural thing to do during their conversation. Joseph had pointed it out, and only now did she become aware of it.

Charlize couldn't help but turn around and glance at the tightly closed bedroom door. Although she had just exchanged a brief encounter with their roommate named Draupnir, his determined demeanor had left a deep impression on her. It made Alex subconsciously lower his voice.

"Don't worry, he doesn't mind noise. I guess it's because of his drumming...," Karl said seriously, pointing to his own ear, as if implying that their roommate had hearing loss due to drumming. This earned him rolled eyes from the other three. Even if a drummer's hearing could be affected, it would be a long-term impact. Draupnir didn't appear to be that old.

Karl didn't realize that he was being mocked by the three of them and continued, "Charlize, you and Alex should go downstairs. Hugo and Uma have probably finished using the living room by now. Go freshen up and get some rest. Charlize, you have a scene at 10:30 tomorrow morning."

Charlize stood up and stretched lazily. "Well, we've done our best. If Hugo and Uma still haven't resolved it, then there's nothing more we can do, right?" It was already past 1 a.m., and any romantic atmosphere had dissipated. If there were no romantic encounters by now, their enthusiasm had cooled off.

Although they said that, when Charlize and Alex went downstairs, they still tried to be as quiet as possible. Upon entering the living room, they only saw the faint glow of candlelight in 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 freshen up first. You have to wake up early tomorrow, but I don't."

Charlize nodded and quietly went back to her room to get changed. She tiptoed into the bathroom, even trying to avoid making more noise during her shower. After all, she didn't want to disturb Hugo in his room. As friends, all they could do was be considerate in these situations.

While thinking, Charlize pondered whether she should switch rooms with Hugo. After all, if Uma frequently came over, it would be more convenient for them to live separately in a relatively distant space. However, she quickly dismissed the idea. If Hugo and Uma wanted separate spaces, it was destined not to work out in a shared house. Perhaps going to Uma's place would be a better option.

Lost in her thoughts, Charlize quickly freshened up. When she came out, she gently knocked on Alex's room door, indicating for him to freshen up. Seeing Charlize walking on her tiptoes, Alex couldn't help but burst into laughter. Their gazes met, and Alex pointed to Hugo's room and then to the handheld phone he was playing with, shrugging his shoulders helplessly, as if saying, "This phone is quite expensive, so let's make some sacrifices."

This expression instantly brought joy to Charlize, and she broke into a big smile. But after laughing, Charlize deliberately flattened her footsteps, taking a couple of forceful steps with her slippers. Unexpectedly, the slippers made a loud noise when they hit the cement floor, even echoing in the hallway. This startled Charlize, freezing her in place before slowly tiptoeing again.

Alex also froze in place, grinning widely. Apparently, they were both startled by the noise. Once they regained their composure, Alex saw Charlize frozen in a zombie-like posture and almost burst into laughter. It was quite challenging to hold back laughter during such late hours and when roommates had special tasks!