The Exit

The moment the two entered the cabin area, Jean was surprised to see almost everybody in the area on a move.

The ugly guy was taking a seat on the divan, while the tall guy and his peer were walking towards the divan section from the conference table, and the serious guy was just entering the cockpit with the briefcase in his hands. As for the lady, she was nowhere to be seen.

When Jean caught a glimpse of this, he was hit by the realisation that the group must have had a brief meeting a few moments before he entered the cabin area. This might have been the moment Rey was delaying to return to the bed chamber. And from the look of things, he sensed that the meeting might have been about him.

At that moment, the tall guy and his peer were the first to notice him.

"Oh, good to see you Jean"

The tall guy said as he advanced towards the duo.

'So, they already know my name? He must have told them, because he was the only one that I had told my name. But wait… they might have known me already before kidnapping me. There is no way they could have targeted me without having to know me. The list of names on the documents under the bed. Could it be what I am thinking it is?'

During this moment, Jean brainstormed on the purpose of the list of names he got in some of the documents under the bed. He felt like the list of names might have suggested something relating to the targets of the kidnappers. According to him, he felt like the list of names might have been the kidnapper's targets, but since he wasn't sure with his guesses considering the fact that he didn't manage to come across his name on the list of names, he let the matter slide.

"It is good that you have recovered"

The other guy said with a smile as he also moved closer to Jean.

Jean nodded while smiling with the corners of his mouth.

At that moment, the ugly guy whose gaze was now fixed on the screen in front of him, threw a quick glance in the direction of the duo and let out a faint smile. In the next moment, he retracted his attention from the duo and focused on the screen in front of him once again.

Just after that, the tall guy and his peer stopped next to the duo and extended their hands to greet Jean almost simultaneously.

Seeing this, Jean's gazes darted between the two in front of him and let out a stifled smile. He then outstretched his hand and greeted the tall guy first because he was the first to stretch out his hand, after which he went ahead to greet the other guy.

At that moment, Rey shrugged and stepped forward. He then let out a smile and gestured at the tall guy and glanced at Jean.

"Jean, meet Larry one of our team members"

Rey said in a gallant tone while shifting his gaze towards the tall guy.

With that, Jean's eyes narrowed and then nodded silently as he looked at the tall guy with a smile.

Shifting his gaze towards the other guy, Rey gestured at him and gazed at Jean.

"Meet Raff, he is also one of us."

With that, Jean and the other guy exchanged glances as Jean raised an eyebrow before nodding.

With the introduction of the two done, Rey shifted to the side and gazed in the direction of the ugly guy. This act from Rey prompted the other three to gaze in the same direction.

Rey heaved a sigh and pointed at the ugly guy who was now like five meters from where they were standing.

"That is Ged, but we prefer calling him Blockhead"

When the ugly guy heard this, he couldn't help but retract his attention from the screen in front of him and glare at Rey. He then tilted his head and looked at Jean before grinning.

A few breaths later, the ugly guy was embarked on watching his movie as if nothing had happened.

When the introduction was done, Raff turned to Jean and lingered.

"If you don't mind, can you join us in watching the movie?"

Raff said in a friendly tone as he gazed at the divan section.

With that, silence settled between the four. A few seconds later, Jean opened his mouth to answer, but before he could utter a word, Rey resounded.

"That is unnecessary for now as he is hungry"

Rey said while staring at Jean with a complicated look plastered on his face.

Almost immediately, Jean recalled that Rey had invited him in the cabin area to have a drink. With that thought in mind, Jean quickly scanned the surroundings once again with the aim of spotting the drink Rey had called him for.

Knowing that the drink must have been set on a table for him to come take it, his gaze sticked to the conference table the moment he spotted it, because it was the only visible table at this moment. But to his surprise, he didn't spot anything on the table as it was empty.

'If I was here to have a drink as he said, how comes I can't see one? Or did he keep it somewhere?'

With that realisation, Jean's eyes narrowed and quickly shifted his attention to Rey.

Indifferent to Jean's gaze, Rey shrugged and started moving towards the conference table which was a half a dozen meters away from where they were standing.

"Follow my lead"

Rey said confidently as he advanced towards the conference table.

When Ruff and Larry saw this, they felt bitter but suppressed their emotions from showing openly. They then moved to the divan section and Joined Ged in watching the movie.

Hesitating for a few moments, Jean glanced in the direction of the three in the divan section and a thought ignited in his head.

'What kind of movie are they watching? They seem obsessed by it.'

At that moment, Rey's voice echoed from the conference table and immediately snapped Jean out of his reverie.

"What are you still doing there? Or did you opt to watch the movie instead?"

Jean gasped and quickly shifted his gaze towards Rey and blinked severally. Understanding Rey's question, Jean immediately started heading towards the conference table.

"No, maybe later"

Jean answered in a raspy voice.

While Jean was slowly approaching the conference table, his gaze was darting around. He was trying to spot the exit.

When he was two steps away from the conference table where Rey was currently standing, his sight caught something.

 A few meters beyond the conference section, next to the galley, a small enclosed corridor extended to the left of the plane.

'Could there be where the exit is located?'

Jean thought as he took the last two steps and stopped next to Rey. Since the corridor was enclosed, he didn't manage to look through it from where he was standing. Feeling the urgency of spotting the exit, he almost advanced passed Rey, but when he sensed that Rey might suspect his actions, he refrained from the act.

Realising that Rey had noticed his weird actions, Jean quickly gazed in his direction and let out a smile.

At that moment, Rey wore a complicated look as he looked back to check what Jean was staring at before turning and facing him.

"What were you looking at?"

Rey questioned immediately he looked at Jean.

Waving a hand in dismissal, Jean smiled with the corners of his mouth.

"It is nothing, just being curious about some few things."

With that, everybody went mute.

Shifting and taking sitting in a nearby seat, Rey gestured at Jean to have a seat on the opposite end of the table across him.

"Please seat and feel free"

In response, Jean grinned and sat down as instructed.

A minute passed by without any of the two uttering a word.

'From the information I have about planes, that corridor must be leading to the exit.'

It was only after the one minute did Rey decide to break the silence.

"I know you must be wondering why you didn't see the drink I called you here for?"

Rey said while placing his hands on top of the table and leaning forward.

Almost immediately, Jean placed his hands on top of the table and leaned forward before answering.

"I was about to ask you on the same matter"

Jean said with a subtle frown.

Rey snorted and lingered for a while. He then turned and stared in the direction of the galley before gazing back at Jean. He then gave Jean a teethed smile and spoke in a friendly tone.

"I would have liked to bring you as soft drink, but it seems there is none left. So, I hope you can manage a cup of coffee."

When Jean heard this, he smiled gently and looked Rey straight in the eyes.

"It is still fine"

Jean said as he shifted his gaze towards the galley section on the furthest end.

A heartbeat later, Rey got to his feet.

"Excuse me, I am coming"

With that Rey turned around and headed towards the galley.

At the moment Rey's figure disappeared in the galley section, Jean slowly got to his feet and stared in the direction of the enclosed corridor.

'This is the perfect moment to confirm if there is where the exit is located.'

Throwing a quick glance at the trio in the divan section to confirm if they were gazing in his direction, Jean lingered. After he was sure that none of them was looking at him, he stealthily moved towards the corridor.

A few seconds later, Jean was able to have a clear view of the corridor. At its end, there was a rectangular fissure that outlined the door that was locked. From the way it looked, it did not have a lock but had an adamantine silvery handle.

'This must be the exit.'

Jean thought to himself.

Having confirmed the location of the exit, Jean turned around and started going back to the conference section.

At the moment he got to the conference table and was about to take a seat, he heard some footsteps behind him.

^_~