Tense Moment

Turning in bed with a grim expression, Jean's eyes twitched as they struggled to open.

After a short moment of struggle,  the eyelids cracked open as the bright light of the morning made its way into Jean's squinted eyes.

With a yawn, Jean raised his head and directed his gaze towards the small window on the left of the bed that was letting the morning light in the  house.

Without further hesitations,  Jean  turned away from the window and scanned the surroundings. This was the moment he realised that Casper was nowhere in the vicinity.

As if doubting his eyes, he quickly rubbed his eyes and ran a recheck. When he didn't get any result that was different from the previous one,  he shuddered.

'Where could he have slept last night?'

Jean thought to himself as he propped himself to a seating position in bed.

Jean expected the first thing he could see, was Casper laying beside him in the  tiny bed. But when he woke up and didn't find him beside him, he was dazed.

While still pondering on the matter, a thought ignited in his mind. And without a second thought he let out a yawn as he slowly descended from the bed after throwing the blanket to the side.

When he got off the bed, he studied his injured foot for a moment.  When  he noticed that it had already started showing some signs of recovery, he heaved a sigh of relief.

Now he felt that it was time to confirm what his mind was telling him. And that was to check if  Casper slept in the leaving room.

Struggling to get to his feet, Jean sighed and moved forward as he headed to the leaving room.

The moment he walked through the room door and entered the leaving room,  he stopped and ran a quick check. As soon as he was done scanning the room, his eyes narrowed.

Casper was nowhere to be seen.  This sudden  realization caught Jean by surprise.

'Where could he be right now?'

Jean mused as a scowl formed on his bleak face.

The fact that he spent a night in a stranger's house in a strange location,  made him feel nervous the moment  he woke up and realised that his host wasn't around.

At this point,  he felt the urgency of knowing Casper's whereabouts. And without having a second thought,  he headed straight for the exit door which was currently locked.

'Maybe he is in the outsidestructure that he told me about. '

Jean thought to himself as he limped towards the exit door.

The moment he was two steps away from the door, an aroma of freshly cooked food assaulted his nose. Pausing for a moment,  Jean tried increasing his smelling senses in the effort of discerning where the smell was originating from.

Slowly turning his head to the right, his eyes widened the moment his sight caught the food that was placed on the small table next to the exit door.

'Wow! So, he woke up this early to prepare the food!'

Jean mused for a while as a gentle smile shone his face.

If he could have been a little bit keen,  he could have discovered the food the moment  he stepped in the  leaving room.  But since his mind was fixed on finding Casper, his sight couldn't catch this.

Throwing the matter at the back of his head, he retracted his attention from the food and focused on the door ahead of him.

Since the presence of the food had confirmed to him the presence of Casper,  his nervousness faded away to some degree. Now, he felt a little bit relaxed and comfortable.

Inhaling deeply, Jean decided to unlock the exit door and  complete the task that had forced him out of bed.

Since the exit door was currently locked from the inside,  this only confirmed one thing; Casper didn't use it to exit the house.

But since Jean  suspected that Casper might have left the house through the entrance door and made his way to the back of the house, he remained determined to confirm his speculation.

The moment he pulled the door open, a chilling breeze caressed his face making him to gasp in surprise.

Suddenly,  his expression turned serious.

The surroundings were eerily quiet. This was not a usual norm to Jean.

The fact that he used to live in the village and could hear the chanting of birds everytime he woke up in the mornings, he didn't find it normal to wake up in a quiet morning as this, considering the fact that even in the city,  his recent home, he could hear chants from a bird or two every morning.

The silence in the area was almost palpable as if the area was devoid of life.

Feeling reluctant to leave his spot, Jean remained rooted to the ground. Tilting his head to the side, he glanced at the old structure standing on the left of the exit door with a complicated look.

'Why is there no sign of him around?'

Jean pondered as he studied the locked structure standing merely a meter away from where he was currently standing.

The structure seemed to have been accessed not long ago as some smoke was still billowing through the openings under its roof.

'This must be his kitchen. '

Jean thought  with a grin as he keenly studied the structure.

Having spent part of his life in the village, it was easy for him to deduce what the structure was, basing on the basic knowledge that he had accumulated while in the village.

After a few  moments  of contemplation, Jean felt like going to confirm if the door was truly locked, but at the same time, he felt reluctant.

He wasn't well versed with his surroundings since he didn't  have a chance to know how the area looked like the previous night. So, it was normal for him to be cautious when moving in the area. Furthermore, the area seemed abnormal in some ways, as it was too quiet despite it being located within a forest that should be brimming with animals of different kinds.

Just as he was about to approach the door of the old structure, Jean heard a cracking sound from the front of the house.

A little bit startled,  Jean quickly turned around to and faced in the direction of the sound.

Not long after,  the entrance door flung open and a figure with a medium height stepped through the door.

'Oh! It's him'

Jean thought with a sigh.

Since he was on his way to look for Casper and now that he has already  seen him, he decided to leave the matter.

As Jean moved closer to the guy who was now standing in the leaving room dazed, he noticed  him putting on brown safety boots a leather trouser and a leather jacket.

Jean wasn't surprised by Casper's dressing code as he could tell that it was cold in the outside despite the warmth he was experiencing in the wooden house.

"What were you doing?"

Casper asked as Jean got to where he was standing.

Scratching his head, Jean lingered.

"Trying to exercise my body."

Jean lied through his teeth.

The reason for doing this,  was that he knew that Casper might be suspicious of him for feeling insecure around him, if he was to tell him the truth that he was looking for him. And since Jean didn't want to give out such an impression,  he was forced to lie.

"Mmh! That's good of you. And that proves to me that you really care about your health."

Jean nodded in acknowledgement as the two exchanged glances.

"What about you? What exactly were you doing out there in the cold?"

Jean asked after a short moment of silence.  The reason of him asking this question was for him to at least get a hint of where Casper was all this time since he woke up.

With a sigh, Casper took a few steps forward before lowering himself in one of the closest seats. When he was seated,  he motion Jean to move and seat beside him.

Approximately three minutes later, the two were seated next to each other and they were now exchanging curious glances.

With a snort,  Casper broke the silence.

"You wanted to know where I have been, isn't it?"

Casper asked while eyeing Jean with a complicated look.

In response,  Jean nodded as he lowered his gaze to avert Casper's stare.

Clearing his throat,  Casper began explaining...

"I woke up at 5AM and went to look for something important so that I could spare enough time to tend to you and give you company in this weird place of mine."

With that Casper went mute. He was giving Jean time to digest what he had told him before continuing.

When Jean heard the last bit of the statement,  he didn't know if he should be glad or pitiful.  Glad because Casper had confirmed what was running  through  Jean's mind by recognising the place as weird. But pitiful because of Casper undermining his own place despite it being important to the both of them.

Feeling impatient to wait for Casper's explanation, Jean decided to voice out his concerns.

"I am glad that you did that just for me. But if I may ask, where exactly did you go this morning?"

As soon as Casper heard Jean's question,  he let out a genuine smile.

"Before I vanswer you, I would like to ask you a question."

Casper said as the smile on his face faded away and was replaced by a serious expression.

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