"WHAT?!" Ian shouted over the phone, "What do you mean we need to live off our own money!? WE AREN'T EARNING!"
On the other side, Leon responded calmly, "You can start from now on. Life's easy."
"I am serious right now, dad."
"Does it sound like I am not? Stop throwing tantrums about everything, Ian."
"I am not throwing a tantrum! You could have at least paid for the first year properly!"
"I paid for the tuition fees, I never mentioned taking care of your living fees." Leon said calmly, "But I will give you advice for now. You have a collective sum of 6000 dollars, rent a small decent apartment, share it together and start working part time to pay for rent.
Start with that."
"Dad, you don't know how this fu– fiance of mine is! She just paid a 100 dollar bill to the cab driver and told him to keep the change!" Ian complained, "Just send me 5k more and I would rather live alone."
Leon laughed. "I know how she is, adjust. In life you always need to adjust. It's easy."
Ian resisted the urge to say something bad. He was getting tired of the 'easy' taunts.
"And why am I blocked from mom's number?" Ian asked.
"Isn't that obvious?" Leon chuckled, "I have work. Stop calling your dad for little things, man up."
Saying that, Leon hung up the phone and Ian was left standing alone in the corner.
After the receptionist dropped the bombshell, both Ian and Alice stepped aside to call their parents, hoping it was just a misunderstanding.
It wasn't.
Ian noticed that Alice was also done with her call, standing near the luggage with teary eyes.
"Are you okay?" Ian slightly patted her back.
"Yeah…" Alice turned to look at him and then lowered her head again, "We need to live by ourselves. They just paid for the tuition." she said.
"I know, my father said the same thing." Ian said, "But he gave me advice on how to start. We should start by finding a decent starter apartment, and then work part-time to pay for the rent."
"That's fucked up."
"It is." Ian patted her last time before going towards the receptionist and asking more about their class schedule.
"Sir, the first year starts from monday. The first two days will be orientation and introductions, and classes will start from wednesday."
"Alright, thanks." Ian relayed the same news to Alice who seemed a little better now.
"What the hell is an orientation now?" she grumbled.
"No idea. Roaming around the campus and stuff, I guess?"
"You should've asked."
"Go ask yourself. You have a mouth."
"What kind of a man are you?"
"One that can't tolerate brats." Ian scoffed, "Stop bickering. Today's Friday, so we barely have 2 more days till we need to start attending university."
"Whatever, how will we find a rental apartment?" Alice asked.
She had already gotten in terms with her situation that she needs to cooperate with Ian for this, as she alone would be dead and homeless by the next week.
Sharing an apartment with a guy she doesn't know much about sounded weird, but at least he was a family friend. And they were engaged too…
"Online." Ian said as he typed 'apartments to rent near me' on Gooble.
Alice leaned into the phone and just watched him work without speaking.
"So many…"
A whole list of websites opened in front of Ian as he randomly clicked on a few and browsed the images before moving onto the next.
He even logged in his new number into a site called 'Housing.com', to search for the flats, but luckily, the agent of that site called him soon.
"Hello sir, I am Gerald speaking from Housing.com. I am calling regarding your inquiry, sir. Can you please specify to me your requirements and budget?"
Ian had never handled such situations before, and he was naturally a little naive about them.
"We would like a medium sized apartment, near Sauff University. Our budget is around 6000 dollars." Ian answered honestly.
His mistake.
Gerald, who was sitting in his office, grinned widely when he heard the honest and naive tone of Ian.
'Sauff University? Heh, easy suckers.' He thought before putting on a serious face.
"Near Sauff University? That would be a little costly, sir. There are many people living around it so rents are high." Gerald said, "But don't worry, I have a few properties I can show, sir."
"Okay, what are the rates?" Ian asked.
"They vary according to the apartment, sir. How about I come over there and show them to you first? They are just walking distance from the university."
Alice, who was also listening to the call, nodded as if agreeing to Gerald's words.
"Alright," Ian said.
"Great, sir. I am sending the location of the first apartment, it's just 500 meters from the university."
'Just? Do we need to walk a kilometer daily?' Alice frowned but didn't say anything.
"Let's check it out. Gerald said he is coming there directly." Ian said to Alice as they both picked up their luggage and walked out the university.
Following the GPS towards the apartment.
After a short sweaty walk, Gerald soon arrived there as well, grinning secretly when he saw the rich and costly attire of Ian and Alice.
'Maybe they ran off their house together.' he guessed, but regardless of the reason he knew one thing.
They both were easy money.
"This is one of the cheapest ones here, sir, miss." Gerald welcomed them inside and toured them across the apartment.
It was a medium sized 2 bhk apartment with a small hall and a kitchen counter. Both the rooms had attached bathrooms.
All in all, it was a decent place to live.
Until they heard the cost…
"Just today, there were more than 3 inquiries about this place. Since the new year is starting, many students are interested in it as well. It is on a first come first serve basis, but you two remind me of my lovely nephews." Gerald said with an emotional tone.
"There was an offer of 5000 by a group of 3 students, but for you two, I can lower it to 4500. But that's the lowest I can go, sadly."
Ian and Alice turned to each other, unsure.
"Uh, what about the other ones? Is there a cheaper option?" Ian asked hopefully.
"Unfortunately no. The cheaper ones are at least a few kilometers away from the university, so you will need daily travel costs. Trust me, that gets more expensive in the long run."
Alice was a bit resistant to the idea.
"4500 for this matchbox?! Why don't we find a better one?"
After a few scoldings and explanations from Ian, she finally folded.
He was right, they needed money for food and various other things, after all.
If only Ian knew, the true cost of this apartment was just 1500 dollars, he would have loved to die in a ditch.
But ignorance is bliss.
And in bliss, Ian and Alice signed the rent contract for the apartment.
Falling for their first scam out of many to come… maybe.