chapter one

"Oh, so Rin got into the police academy for real?" He then shifted the phone to his other hand and pressed it against his left ear, while he picked up a pencil with his now free hand. "No, I mean, that's good. She's always wanted to do fun stuffs, she said, catching criminals and what not." A light laugh then escaped his mouth, "Me? You know, I'm always the… calmer guy, or what you call it. I don't like getting myself involved in…"

"Everything's alright… Wait, you're coming over?" Without releasing his grip on the pencil—still with the phone on his ear—he turned around from his desk, trying to catch the view of his room. "I don't think it's a good idea, Mom. This place is a mess—no, I'm tidying it! When I feel like doing it… Yeah, I know, I know! Just don't come here. Oh," the note he was writing on then caught his attention, "I'm just about to head out, buying stuffs. How about meeting up at the restaurant? My friend's, yeah, I'll send you the address later."

After some little exchanges he hung up, shoving his phone into his pocket afterwards. While grabbing the note, he stood up from the chair and headed straight to the door, but without missing the unsightly view of his room. The scattered laundries on the floor, the messily stacked magazines, the unkempt bed, the leftovers on the table; it was not in the condition to be seen by anyone else, especially his mother. She would certainly scold him to no end if she saw it with her own eyes.

"I really have to tidy up that mess later…"

With groceries in his hand, he walked back to his car which was parked not far from the entrance. Such a lucky day, to get a nice parking spot. He didn't have to waste his energy getting to his car with heavy bags on his hands. While humming a tune to himself, he threw his groceries in, and as he walked to the driver's side, he saw a girl, standing in front of the car parked beside his. She did nothing but staring at the car's opened hood with her arms crossed over her chest.

He couldn't help but asking, "What's the matter?"

The teal-haired girl turned her attention to him, then she put her hands down. "I can't get it working."

"Why don't you call for help? You're not running out of gas, are you?" he asked as he peered over the opened hood.

"I literally just filled my gas, bought some stuffs here, and here I am," she told him. "I don't understand this kind of stuff, so—oh, you could help me, maybe?"

And he found his eyes locked with her turquoise ones. The sudden eye contact made him feel uneasy, and he hurriedly broke it by looking at somewhere else; back to her car, for example. "Nah. I'm not much an expert, uh, not even close to an amateur mechanic, actually. Sorry to disappoint."

"Well, I thought you guys are good in this kind of stuff…"

"You're… generalizing people, aren't you?" he leered at her.

"Not that I'm having a bad intention with that. Sorry."

"Not a problem."

As their conversation came to an end, the parking lot seemed somehow quiet, save for the light sound of the vehicles passing once in a while. He knew it was that quiet when he got there, but the little conversation changed it otherwise.

"So… what's next? Just staring at it won't get you anywhere, you know." He decided to continue the conversation after the awkwardness got him. "Just call the mechanics. You can borrow my phone if you can't use yours."

She shook her head to his extended hand. "Thanks. Mine works just fine," she said as she pulled out her phone from her bag. After that she quickly proceeded to tap its screen, scrolling through a list of what he thought was her contact book.

He raised an eyebrow to that—he thought she couldn't use her phone. "Then why don't you call them earlier?"

While bringing the receiver to her ear, she answered his question, "I'm not in a hurry so I guess I can wait for a while…"

"But you really shouldn't wait and do nothing like that. You sure you're not in a hurry?" He eyed her from top to toe, although he understood that it might not be a polite thing to do. She didn't seem to mind, however, as her attention was on the phone call she was making. All he did was waiting for the call to end while leaning on his own car.

But it wasn't long before she put down her phone—he noticed she hadn't said a single word into the speaker—with an exasperated look on her face. "No one's picking up."

"Well," he pulled himself up from his leaning position, then he repeated his previous question, "so what's next?"

She shrugged. "Dunno. I'll try to call them later?"

He said nothing; and he scratched his head. She was getting on his nerves, even when he shouldn't be. "How about, I'll give you a ride to the nearby repair shop so you can ask them for help?"

A smile formed on her lips. "Will you? Thanks much. I really have no idea what to do in this situation…"

He gave her another doubtful look. "No problem. You just…" He was going to say that she was terribly helpless, but shook his head instead as he thought it might sound rude, he was the one keeping his manners even to someone he barely knew. "… Get in."

"Oh, you really mean it? You're so nice, you know." And she let out a light giggle before slamming the hood close. "I owe you a lot!"