At 3 in the morning, Alex suddenly woke up. Meanwhile, Sam was still deep in her slumber. She looked so peacefully asleep that he didn't want to disturb her. Her clothes were old, worn, and damp from the rain the night before. It seemed like she hadn't had a chance to wash them for days.

Alex kept pondering, "She said she doesn't have a home, no family. Is it true? Does that mean she's homeless, drifting from one place to another?"

Lost in his thoughts, Alex couldn't find an answer. He kept coming up with countless hypotheses and questions. He felt a mixture of sympathy, fear, and worry.

That night, he woke twice before the third time, unable to sleep again.

He turned on his laptop. The screen was cluttered with tabs, graphic design applications for the technical drafts he was working on. Being an engineering student, he had to complete numerous projects related to circuits, models, and microchip programming. His aging laptop raised doubts about its longevity, and he wasn't sure how much longer it would last, started making some annoying noise. Due to financially constrained, he couldn't afford a newer, more powerful one for better studying. So, on days when he didn't have work shifts, he often went to the university library to use the public computers.

- my deadline is approaching, I should complete them as soon as I can now - Alex sighed

While Sam still sleeping, Alex gently moved to his desk with his laptop, hoping the clacking sound of the keyboard wouldn't be loud enough to wake Sam up. There's something about Sam that intrigues Alex, he wants to learn more about this strange girl, as well as wanting to care for and protect her, because he feels like besides him, hardly anyone out there can calmly accept or treat her kindly, he's afraid they'll hurt her and he doesn't understand why he feels that way.

Alex was lost in thought for a moment, then shrugged and said "nah, I don't have any feelings or anything, I just think she's also a human being (probably) and she's a woman, needs to be protected, it's just my instinct."

Alex rushed through his project, then fell asleep on his desk at some point, only to wake up to the sound of his alarm clock ringing at 8 am.

Alex groggily opened his eyes, checked his class schedule on his phone, realized he had a dynamic motor programming class at 9 am, and it took him 20 minutes to walk from his house to the train station to get to school. He quickly woke up, washed his face, changed clothes, and grabbed his bag to head out.

Sam appeared out of nowhere, she had already been awake, wandering around the house and observing everything as if his house was a mini museum captivating her eyes.

- You're up now, huh? - Sam break the air of silence

- Yeah, but I have to go to school, I have an important class today and I have a group meeting too. - Alex respond, while quickly grasping his stuffs to put into his backpack

- I know, it's okay.

- Oh, by the way, I think you should take a shower, because it rained yesterday, we both got soaked and our clothes are still wet -  he suggested to Sam that she should take a shower, as she seemed a bit dirty, 

Alex a bit shy, but still ask:

- Hey, uhm.. if you want, you can use my clothes, I don't know how loose it is but i hope it will to cover you warm enough. 

Sam: "Thank you, Alex. This is really kind of you."

and he gave her some of his clothes to wear temporarily.

Alex smiled warmly, "No problem, Sam. Make yourself comfortable. I'll be in the living room if you need anything."

After Sam showered, and wear Alex's clothes, 

Though the clothes were oversized on Sam, Alex couldn't help but find her adorable.

"Uhm, she looks rather cute... oh, what am I thinking, no, no no, that's not important."

After Sam finished showering, Alex, concerned that she might be hungry, prepared a simple meal for her. His house was quite empty as he hadn't been to the grocery store in a week. Since Alex usually ate at his workplace and only returned home afterwards, he didn't have to worry about preparing food or buying groceries. He cooked instant noodles with eggs for her.

"Ahem... if you don't mind, my house just having some simple things like that. I'm sorry"

 "No. This is great, Alex. Thank you again.

Alex felt a blend of joy and shyness. It marked the first time someone had praised his cooking, even if it was a swift meal for a struggling student at month-end.

He asked if Sam knew how to cook, and she replied that she didn't. She mentioned that her way of survival was hunting. This slightly alarmed Alex, making him wonder if she was a forest dweller and living in the wood.

- Hunting? That sounds intense. I can't imagine living like that. - Alex asked, a bit curios and surprise in his voice

Sam laughed 

- Or aren't people from the city were really timid and weak? Busy dumping themselves in fast, processed food? 

- I.. don't know how to answer about that, you're right but everyone has different life, and they have the right to choose their lifestyles, you shouldn't judge that. - Alex respond

- Aha, okay! As you say so

- But for me, hunting for living is even wilder, and braver, I mean, I have never imagined living by doing thing like this in my life, so....

- It's not as bad as it sounds. You get used to it. But don't worry, I won't bring any wild game into your home. - Sam chuckled

She assured Alex that she wasn't a forest dweller. She was still able to integrate into society and eat regular human food. There were just some small differences. However, she chose not to elaborate further, leaving Alex in contemplation.

After finishing their meal, they cleaned up together. Then, Alex instructed Sam to be cautious in the house, emphasizing important things she needed to remember, and he reminded her to lock the door before he left for school.

Alex: "Alright, Sam. I've got to head to class now. If you need anything, just give me a call, okay?"

- Wait.. Alex, a call? How can I do that?

Alex suddenly realized that Sam didn't have a phone, yeah, she seemed like something out of a different world than the modern world Alex was living in. Alex had thousands of questions in his head wondering about Sam's background, but he decided to leave it for later and explore slowly because he was already late for studying. In this era, no one is without a phone.

He noticed there was an old landline phone that he hoped was still working, he had it since he moved to this apartment.

"Oh, I forgot, you don't have a phone, wait a moment," Alex quickly said and went to find the old landline phone, it was quite old and dusty. Alex quickly wiped it up and connected it to the power, he picked up the phone and dialed his own number because he didn't know what the number for the landline phone in his house was, then quickly saved it in his mobile phone contacts.

"This is my number," Alex hastily wrote his mobile number on a piece of paper and gave it to Sam, "keep it safe, when you need to, just dial the corresponding number on the paper through this landline phone, hold the handset and wait a while, you will be able to call me, but only call when you really need to, okay!"

"Yes, I got it! Just leave it to me." - Sam nodded, appreciating his concern.

"Okay, I'm off then, be careful at home, okay."

Alex feels a bit weird and funny, the first time he told someone "be careful at home" because why be careful at home. But Sam is an exception because he still has too many questions and uncertainties about her.

However, even while at school, he couldn't shake off his worries and couldn't focus entirely. The thought of Sam being alone in his place, with her mysterious background, kept nagging at him throughout the day.