Chapter 346 - Matthew, The Apostle

"Stop clinging onto me…" In front of the elevator, Zoey sighed as she closed her eyelids after rolling her eyes. . She took a deep breath, calming herself down as she turned to face him once again. "For Pete's sake! I am not the previous landlord!" Zoey exclaimed in distress. 

If not for him, Zoey would have reached her office already. However, Matthew was purposely lagging behind, using the trick that he was scared! How can a scared person utter such words even though his entire smug face says otherwise? Even a first grader would know that he was lying!

"I'm…"

"No, you're not." Zoe intercepted, shaking her head as this would be the umpteenth time she was hearing that he was scared.

For a second, Matthew blinked his eyes before his lips slowly gaped open. "Yes, I am the landlord." His tone was laced with so much innocence that she couldn't believe her eyes while her ear reddened due to stress.

Once again, Zoey took a deep breath and exhaled her frustrations. "Yes, almighty landlord. So, if you may excuse your kind and adorable tenant, stop clinging onto me like a child!" Zoey said as her hands touched each other as she prayed in front of this 'divine' being.

"But I might get lost." Without batting an eye, Matthew retorted, causing her to gasp in distress.

"Jesus Almighty God! Please whisper to your disciple Matthew, the Apostle, to leave this pitiful tenant alone!" Horrified upon hearing that excuse again for the nth time, Zoey looked up — staring at the old ceiling as she nearly wept at the sight of it.

"Huh," Upon hearing her last remarks, Matthew chuckled. "You read the Bible?" He asked, shaking his head as her humor was truly amusing to him. 

"I was forced to because of a certain dummy." Zoey clicked her tongue, exhaling heavily as she recalled the time Nikolai wanted to become a pastor. Gosh… that was one of the most terrifying moments in her life as Nikolai went into a full-blown Christian phase and read them verses. Not that she was against any religion, it was just the circumstances that she didn't believe in any form of God.

Well, now that Zoey was reminded about that time, she could not help but grit her teeth. She should've let Nikolai become a pastor. In that case, he wouldn't pester her in this lifetime again. Too late, though. That time had already passed and Nikolai was back to his eccentric, creepy self. 

"Do you know that Matthew is also known as Levi? Or so they say." When he glanced back at her, Matthew smiled.

As soon as his words reached her ears, Zoey froze as she stared at him blankly. "Huh?" 

"Just a trivia." Still bearing his meek smile, Matthew shrugged his shoulder as he pretended to not mean anything by his words. After all, her expression was enough to tell that she already knew. However, it wasn't enough proof that the Levi in the manuscript she was writing was in fact him.

Matthew was uncertain why he was bothered by this story written by her. But his curiosity, the more he thought about it, heightened. Even if the thought of it was just ridiculous and illogical. Still, not that his curiosity would do her or him harm — just a waste of time if he came to know that everything was just a coincidence.

"Ahh…" Saved by the elevator, Zoey immediately turned her back against him as she rushed inside the lift. On the other hand, Matthew just chuckled and followed suit. 

Inside the lift, Matthew kept on glancing at her but Zoey didn't make the slightest noise. Even her breathing seemed she was limiting it just to keep it silent and peaceful. 

"How can you ride such an old elevator? Aren't you afraid it will malfunction and you will get stuck?" After a while, Matthew decided to break the ice as he traveled his eyes around the enclosed space of the old lift.

To be honest, Matthew wouldn't get inside this elevator if not for Zoey. Even if someone would try and bribe him, he wouldn't budge a muscle. It just didn't appear safe in his eyes.

"Huh?" Upon hearing his somewhat ridiculous question, Zoey looked at him in disdain. "Who said it wasn't malfunctioning?" She asked, arching her right brow which alarmed him.

Slowly, his eyes widened in disbelief. His gaze never left hers and by the looks of it, she was dead serious. The expression plastered across her face could be translated as, 'even if something goes wrong, it'll be alright'.

"Miss Tenant, that's not a funny joke." Yet, Matthew was in denial as it would be such a coincidence that the elevator would malfunction right now. That's just unlucky and he hoped, deep down, nothing like that would happen.

"Are you stupid or what? How can you buy a property without knowing the catch?" Zoey scoffed, mocking him for being rash in decision making. Although she figured he did what he did because of her — Zoey wasn't pleased that he did things on his own without using his precious brain.

The reason she chose this elevator to teach him a lesson. Zoey was the only brave person who used this lift while the rest would choose the safe route: the stairs! Being stuck in an elevator was troublesome and scary after all.

Well, that didn't mean it would malfunction now. This elevator worked well sometimes and sometimes it doesn't. It's all just luck if it decided to malfunction now. In retrospect, Zoey was pretty lucky as this lift worked well whenever she used it.

"What did you call me?" In utter disbelief, Matthew squinted his eyes as his tone slightly changed into an annoyed note.

"You're stu —" Before Zoey could repeat the insult she spouted previously, a sudden tremor almost made them lose balance. Fortunately, both of them were quick to react as Matthew held onto the handle behind him. 

On the other hand, since Zoey was standing in front of him, she was a few steps away from the handle. Therefore, she clung onto what was the nearest: Him. Slowly, Matthew looked down while she looked up.

"Hehe. This is the way to survival." Zoey chuckled awkwardly; he seemed displeased about something which she didn't know why. 

"I'm what?" Still at it despite the new dilemma that they both knew, Matthew arched his right brow.

"Haha! Mister Landlord is supreme!" Lying through her teeth, Zoey answered loudly as it seemed he would push her away if she said the wrong word.

For a moment, Matthew just stared at her before he retracted his eyes away from her.. "What luck…" He muttered, sighing heavily as his fear came true too soon.