...…

Shin arrived at their neighborhood not long after he left the Airport together with Cloe.

"You didn't look surprised. Did you already expect this?" said Cloe as she looked at Shin from the passenger seat.

Hearing that, Shin raised his eyebrow a little before replying. "Do I even need to be surprised? Given your father's personality, I am sure that he is going to choose the place near us."

"Heh! And how can you be sure about that?" sneered Cloe while looking at Shin with an amused expression on her face.

Shin looked at her for a moment before turning his head back on the road while replying with a smirking tone. "Because we are the only guys that your father trusts."

Hearing those words, Cloe couldn't help but giggles. "You are talking as if you guys are actually close."

"Are we not?" responded Shin instantly, trying to tease her.

And because of his words, Cloe's face suddenly turned red as she quickly turned her head towards the window. "This dummy!"

Meanwhile, Shin chuckled a little as he found her actions cute. And not long after that, the two of them finally arrived at their destination.

Shin parked the car at the villa next to theirs. It was because Cloe was going to stay there. And while he was taking out Cloe's luggage from the car, Shin suddenly asked. "Your dad really brought the house next to ours, huh?"

Hearing that, Cloe couldn't hold back any longer and immediately said. "Who said that dad brought this house? I am just going to freeload here since I am invited by its owner."

Shin suddenly became stunned when he heard that. "Eh!? He did not? Then-… who-…?"

He started stuttering a little as he was trying to figure out who was the 'house owner' that she was talking about. But the more he looked at the meaningful smile that she was giving him, the more unease he felt within his chest.

And when Cloe's smile turned into a smirking one, Shin's heart suddenly skipped a beat as his thoughts seemed to become a reality. 'It can't be!'

Seeing the stunned expression on Shin's face, the laughter that Cloe was holding finally burst out before running towards the villa.

Meanwhile, Shin was smiling bitterly as he shook his head in a helpless manner. "I got a very bad feeling about this."

"We're here!" said Cloe with a loud voice as she opened the door.

Shin also entered the house, closely following her. And the moment he entered, he was immediately greeted by a scene where Arthur and Leonard were busily moving up some furniture.

And that was when Shin suddenly heard a familiar voice which also crashed his hopes of having a 'peaceful' high school life.

"Oh~! You two are finally here? Then hurry! Help us fix some things."

Turning his head towards the direction where that voice came from, Shin immediately saw Shiella who was 'busily' ordering Arthur and Leonard as she was double-checking whether the furniture that she had brought had damaged or not.

"Eh! You are still not done yet? I thought everything was already fine?" asked Cloe as she entered.

"Yeah, we are already done yesterday but I feel like there is something off at the positioning of the furniture, so I asked these two to help me reposition them," answered Shiella.

After that, she turned her head at Shin and immediately asked. "What are you standing there? Hurry up and enter so that you can start helping us."

Hearing that, Shin could only smile stiffly before nodding his head. "Yes, Big Sis."

Then he turned his head at his brother and asked through some eye signals. 'What happened?'

When the two saw that, they immediately shook their heads while shrugging their shoulders, indicating that they also didn't know.

'She suddenly appeared in front of our house the moment Uncle Sam was done checking your floor plan,' added by Arthur.

Shin was about to ask a little more when he suddenly felt a vase flying towards him with great speed. Out of his reflex, he quickly raised his and caught the vase before looking at Shiella.

"Enough with those eye signals! Do you think that I can't understand what you guys are talking about?" asked Shiella while looking sharply at the trio.

"If we don't finish this before the sky turns dark, then you three are going to work overtime at the Resort," she added threateningly before going back to work.

At this point, Lorraine walked down from the second floor while saying. "Relax, Big Sister Shiella. You will get an early wrinkle if you keep frowning that way."

Meanwhile, the trio could only shake their heads helplessly. They couldn't understand why it was their fault if they didn't finish everything up.

Releasing another helpless sigh, Shin picked up Cloe's luggage and was planning to go upstairs together with Cloe.

But before he could even take a step forward, someone suddenly rang the doorbell which made him halt his steps. Then he swept his eyes at the others inside before knitting his eyebrows.

"Are you still expecting someone, Big Sister Shiella?" asked Cloe as she only knew that she was staying with Lorraine and Shiella.

"Ah! Yeah! After all, it is going to be a waste if we leave the other rooms empty, so I invite someone to fill the numbers," answered Shiella before turning her head at Shin while saying. "Hurry! Open the door, she is one of my juniors before."

Hearing that, Shin slightly tilted his head to the side before turning around to open the door behind him.

Clank!

He was about to greet the person outside but he was suddenly stunned right after he saw who it was. "Oh!"

In front of him was Alice who was dressed stylishly. And naturally, she was also quite surprised when she saw Shin open the door. "Eh!? You? What are you doing here?"

"Why are you still standing there?" asked Lorraine as she suddenly got curious about the identity of their last housemate. And naturally, she was also stunned when she saw her. "Alice Stuart!? You are Alice Stuart, the idol, right!?"

"Eh!? Alice Stuart!?" both Arthur and Leonard who overheard what Lorraine had said, couldn't help but look at each other with wide-open eyes.

'This is bad! What are we going to do?' asked Leonard through some eye signals.

'What we are you talking about? It is not our problem at all. Let him deal with it on his own,' replied Arthur in the same manner.

Meanwhile, Shiella was only planning to watch on the side and wait for what was about to unfold.

On the other hand, Cloe suddenly squinted her eyes as her girl's instincts were telling her something. Especially when she felt that sudden change of the atmosphere inside.

Being suspicious, she hopped beside Shin while asking. "Did you two know each other?" trying to prove something.

"Ah! Yeah. I met her when I was helping Auntie Jane and Big Sis with a particular event. She is a special guest during that time," replied Shin nonchalantly.

"Oh~! So, she is only an acquaintance," muttered Cloe noddingly before extending her hand to introduce herself with a smile. "Hi! I'm Cloe! Nice meeting you! We are going to be housemates starting from today."

"Oh! Alice Stuart. It is nice to meet you too. Please take care of me," answered Alice as she shook Cloe's extended hand.

Though, she was thinking a little differently deep inside. 'Who is this girl? Why do I feel that I can't afford to lose to her?'

At the same time, Cloe was also thinking similarly. 'There is something off with this woman. Seems like I can't let my guard down.'

There seemed to me a pair of invisible sparks clashing in the air as their eyes met while looking at each other.

In the meantime, the others who were waiting at the side to watch the show, couldn't wait any longer at how the scene would unfold. Arthur and Leonard were even making a bet on whose side would Shin lean onto.

Unfortunately for them, Shin didn't live up to their expectations and only walked away from the 'ongoing battle'.

"Big Sis, should I prepare something for us to eat? You guys seem to be hungry," asked Shin while walking towards the kitchen.

Shiella was too dumbfounded to reply to him and just nodded her head, letting Shin prepare whatever he wanted. After all, anything that he made after stepping into the kitchen was going to become a masterpiece.

But at the same time, both Arthur and Leonard immediately became Shin's 'worshiper' right after he did that. Because the 'colliding storms' immediately calmed down the moment he walked away from the door.

'Where did he learn that skill?' asked Arthur with a stunned look on his face as he couldn't believe what he just witnessed.

'It seems like a natural talent of dense people,' answered Leonard almost instantly.

'Hearing that', Arthur couldn't help but look at Leonard with a weird expression on his face while thinking sarcastically to himself. 'Says by someone who is not dense.'

...…