Chapter 16: Does the job title 'gigolo' sound good when you say it out loud?

Her arrival startled the assistant so much that he immediately fell silent. Tristan gave the little assistant a look, signaling him to leave first. Facing Nova's curious gaze, he felt flustered for the first time, unsure how to explain to her. Alright, I'm gonna head out now. Just think about what we talked about, Sir." the assistant said, not wanting to mess up a good thing for the boss, and quickly drove off. Tristan coughed awkwardly, "Just a buddy of mine, needed to talk about something." Nova rolled her eyes, clearly puzzled. "What's so important?" “…” Tristan just smirked. No one else dared to pry into his private life like Nova did. Nova burst out laughing and teased him, "What, some rich lady wants to take care of you and you're too embarrassed to talk about it in front of me, so you rushed him off?" "Nope, that's not it," Tristan replied, feeling ready to handle Nova's probing questions now. "That friend was just passing through and stopped by to remind me about the money I owe. I didn't want to worry you, but you kept asking." Tristan smiled slightly, looking forward to Nova's reaction. Nova looked disappointed and mumbled, "I'll find a way to help you pay it back." "Man, I got into this mess trying to help you," Tristan sighed outwardly, though he was secretly enjoying the drama. Life had definitely become more interesting since meeting Nova. "I'll get you the money as soon as I can," Nova promised again. Tristan nodded, "Yeah, the sooner the better." Seeing Tristan's good looks, Nova couldn't help but add, "But you know, with your looks, it wouldn't be weird if some rich lady wanted to keep you. Might even make your life easier." Tristan chuckled, leaning in to whisper, "I'm a one-woman man, and since you've got me, guess you'll have to be the one to keep me." Nova blushed deep red, flustered at his bold words in broad daylight. Turning away shyly, she stuttered, "How could I possibly afford to keep you!" Seeing her so flustered, Tristan didn't push further but took the bag from her hands, "Come on, let's get out of here. I need to see if there are any good jobs around." "You? Don't you have a job?" Nova asked, puzzled. Every time Tristan thinks about the "job" Nova got him, he gets pretty ticked off. "Gigolo? Seriously? Does the job title 'gigolo' sound good when you say it out loud?” Nova couldn't argue with that. Tristan was almost out of patience when they finally reached the subway station, about 800 meters from their complex. Nova, knowing the ropes, quickly snagged the tickets and handed one to Tristan. He flipped the coin-sized ticket over in his hand. "What's this?" "It's a subway ticket," Nova said, surprised. "You don't know what it is?" "Nope." Nova was a bit amazed—someone who'd never ridden the subway! Tristan kept close to Nova as they moved through the crowd. It was easy to get separated from this crush of people. He was shocked at how packed the subway was—way more crowded than the security check! They were squeezed into a corner of the car, where Tristan, towering over most, grabbed the overhead rail. Here he was, used to private rides, now squished in a subway car. Nova, shorter, struggled to reach any rail and nearly toppled onto someone as the train lurched into motion. "Grab onto me." Tristan assertively pulled her hand to his waist. Nova's cheeks heated up as she held on tight. Man…his body… Tristan couldn't believe it. "You do this every day?" Nova, squeezed even tighter by the crowd, clung to him. "Yep, the fastest way to work." Tristan felt bad for her and swapped places to shield her from the crowd. "Why don't you get a car?" Nova smirked at the naivety of his question. Just a regular office worker and he thinks she can afford a car? "I'll get you one," Tristan declared boldly. "Let's see how much a bicycle costs after this." Nova was briefly taken aback by his offer, but reality hit with the mention of a bike. Right. He didn't even have a place to stay, yet he's talking about buying cars? Nova pictured herself pedaling madly to work on a bike. The mental image made her chuckle. "I'd be half-dead by the time I got there." "Consider it a workout." Just as Nova was about to argue, she felt a poke on her backside and shot Tristan a glare. "Why are you touching me?"