With that, they spent the night in the villa. Zayne kept tossing and turning in the darkness, unable to sleep no matter how he tried. He thought about how Heather was to his left and Jason was to his right.
The two most important people were in the rooms next to his, and Zayne felt that it was surreal. The nicer things were, the easier it was to shatter it. For some reason, he thought of Murphy’s Law as his mind tangled itself into a ball of chars. Although he was great at handling cases, he was never good at figuring out his feelings.
Jason had been chatty recently, and Zayne had no idea whether he was thinking over the suggestion he gave earlier. With that, he turned over and continued to think about it.
Likewise, Heather couldn’t sleep as well; she wondered whether it was because she had slept during the day or if it was because she had been constantly sleeping on the couch. Now that she was on a bed, she couldn’t fall asleep whatsoever.
This was a sleepless night, and the only one who could actually sleep was Jason. It had been ages since he got to lay in a bed, so he immediately fell asleep the moment he plopped down. However, his senses were still on high alert despite his slumber. The moment there was a sound or any slight motion, he was awake.
The night sheltered the killer, and likewise, it also gave the killer a good night’s rest. Jason had already gotten used to having his circadian rhythm flipped. When he was overseas, Jason didn’t need to think too much, for he seemingly just picked one of two choices each day—he either killed a target or protected one from being killed.
In the middle of the night, Jason woke up from his deep sleep. He still wasn’t able to sleep peacefully, so he got out of bed and stood by the window before pulling the curtains open. A cold breeze swept inside.
The heating in the house was on. As Jason listened to the sound of the wind as the breeze chilled his bones, he thought this feeling amazing. How long had he been away from his homeland? It had been such a long time that he couldn’t even remember anymore.
The cold wind continued to blow, sweeping over Jason’s face and burrowing under his pajamas. It was a little chilly and cold, but it quickly cleared his mind.
Jason didn’t know what his current adversary looked like, for that adversary still hadn’t shown themselves even until now. The longer this went on, the more dangerous it would be. Moreover, he was worried about the safety of those around Zayne. In other words, no one could guarantee that they would be able to make it out of this situation completely unscathed.
Jason thought that Zayne would be in an even more precarious state if he continued to drag things out further. Everything looked normal on the surface, but in reality, there were waves threatening to rise.
There were quite a few times when Jason wanted to plead for Zayne’s life when he had met that old man, but he wasn’t able to speak up in the end.
He didn’t want to do something that would upset Zayne. Since he was willing to give this chance to Heather, that meant that Zayne cared deeply for her, and at the same time, it showed Zayne’s inherent trust in Jason.
The man had brought this up several times when he was off on one of his tangents, and he would always say that nothing could go wrong as long as Jason was there in such an assured tone.
Nonetheless, this mission was far more difficult than any of the previous ones—it was the first time Jason ever felt pressured. Back when the target he was supposed to be protecting got killed, the most that would happen was a blow to Jason’s reputation. This time, however, was different.
Jason could not allow himself to make a mistake, for if he did, then Zayne would be assassinated. He would live with the pain and trauma for the rest of his life, and that would be even more awful than death.
The howling wind blew Jason’s thoughts into a mess. As the days passed, his worries grew. He had always kept his emotions hidden, not wanting Zayne to know about his concerns. After all, he didn’t want the latter to shoulder these burdens with him.
However, could he really hide everything from Zayne? Jason felt that the man had seemingly caught wind of something in recent days. He wondered if Zayne was naturally self-sacrificing or something, for he hadn’t let anything slip on the surface.
Jason waited for the sun to rise as he stood by the window. He pulled his pajamas closer to his body, feeling as though half his body was still warm from the heating while the other half experienced the chilling wind.
This oscillation between warm and cold cleared Jason’s mind exceptionally well. He looked out the window, and he could see the greenery in the distance with his excellent night vision.
This neighborhood was so quiet that it was a little frightening. There was no one outside at all—not even a single patrolling security guard. West Avenue wasn’t out in the countryside either, yet the house was so silent. Jason didn’t know why, but perhaps Zayne knew something about it. After all, he wouldn’t have chosen this place to stay otherwise.
Indeed, Zayne always could get whatever information he wanted out of others, and he was a genius in that aspect. Jason smiled faintly, his smile warm and gentle.
A night like this was nice, and it was a pity to sleep it away. Jason listened for any signs of motion from the room next to his, not knowing whether Zayne had fallen asleep.
Meanwhile, the latter hadn’t wanted Jason to worry about him, so he pretended to be asleep even though he couldn’t. He did his best not to make any sound, and he was even quieter than if he had actually been asleep.
The two of them clearly thought of the other as important, and they were still concerned for each other. Yet, neither of them could take the plunge and admit their feelings verbally.
The next morning, Jason squinted as he watched the fiery sun rise; the red of the clouds during dawns in winter had always been a welcome sight. He liked to watch the sun rise as well as when sundown came. With the coming and going of the sun, the day would pass by just like that.
It was yet another peaceful night as nothing happened, and even Jason was suspicious. Was there really someone who wanted Zayne’s life? Was this only an elaborate trap that Zayne had set instead?
He heard a sound from the room next door, and it seemed that Zayne had already woken up. It was rather early for him to be awake, though. In reality, the man hadn’t slept the whole night.
Meanwhile, in the other room next to Zayne’s, Heather was currently fast asleep ever since drifting off to slumberland during the latter half of the night. In fact, she was already asleep before Jason had woken up.
She continued to remain asleep at this hour, for it had been a long while since she was able to sleep so comfortably. In fact, it seemed like Heather would only wake up at lunchtime.
When Zayne woke up, he regretted suggesting that they rent a villa. A villa was such a huge ambition, and it was a pain to do anything. If they called for delivery or anything of that sort, there was the danger of the workers leaking their location. Hence, even getting food delivered was a bother.
He had only been thinking about arranging a place for Heather herself to stay yesterday, so he hadn’t thought about it too carefully. After last night’s maelstrom of thoughts, however, Zayne deeply regretted it.
Truth be told, Zayne thought that staying at the apartment he bought would have been better, and it would also be a good place to hide their identities. Now that they were in this arrangement, there was nothing to be done. As such, Zayne wasn’t that worried about being exposed because it was something inevitable. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have actually come along with Heather and stayed with her.
Now, their enemy was lying in wait in the dark. Regardless of how Zayne tried to hide his identity, he figured that he would not be able to escape this foe’s eyes.
Mornings weren’t a great time to be thinking such negative thoughts, so Zayne clambered out of bed, wondering if he could still catch the sunrise outside. He poked his head out of the window, and although he didn’t manage to see the morning sun as it rose, he did see Jason’s own head poking out of his window. He then called out to him, “Morning.”
When Jason saw how comical Zayne looked, he retreated to his room with a hint of a smile hanging from his lips. Often, Zayne had this child-like innocence to him. How did someone like him manage to navigate this complicated society?
Better yet, how did he even become a renowned detective?
Jason thought that Zayne was a miracle, and he envied the latter for always being able to keep that pure heart of his despite his experiences.
Just then, someone knocked on the door. Zayne had come looking for Jason, and the former heard a quick reply from inside the room. “Just come in.”
Without preamble, Zayne pushed the door open and entered. Then, he saw Jason giving him a pure and innocent smile. “How should we deal with breakfast?”
Heather was still asleep at this hour, but Zayne’s stomach was already rumbling. Having no other choice, all he could do was seek help from Jason and his excellent housework skills.
“I’ll make some fried eggs.” Jason wasn’t exactly a skilled cook, and he usually fried just a few eggs for his meals.
Zayne followed Jason downstairs, for he wanted to watch him as he cooked. Back at his apartment, Zayne usually got takeout.
The kitchen in the villa was only kitted out with the basics, but that was enough. When Jason opened the refrigerator, however, it was completely empty. Hence, it seemed that he would have to nix the idea of making fried eggs.
“Looks like we’ll have to go hungry.” Jason didn’t feel one way or another about hunger, for he didn’t fear it.
“What? Let’s just go out and eat then!” Zayne didn’t want to go hungry. He worked to eat better food, after all. In fact, he had been rather particular about his food all this while. His time in Bradfort City was probably when he was at his least pickiest.
Jason shook his head. “We can’t leave whenever we want to. It’ll be easy to leave a trail.”
Zayne stared at Jason, speechless. “We can drive out to some restaurant far away from here for breakfast.” Zayne thought that the pain of exposing their location could not be compared to the pain of hunger.
“Where do you want to go?” Seeing how Zayne was insistent, Jason couldn’t continue to refuse. After all, he knew that Zayne always had a plan.
“To the best restaurant out there.” Zayne remembered that he still hadn’t brought Jason out for a nice meal even though the latter had been in Bradfort City for a long time now.
“Sure,” Jason agreed.
Zayne gave a radiant smile, for it moved him to no end to be able to eat delicious food. However, Jason’s words proceeded to interrupt Zayne’s daydream.
“Aren’t you going to wake Heather up?” Jason had to remind Zayne that Heather was still there.
“Nah, I can’t get her to wake up. We’ll just bring some food back for her.” Zayne thought that it would be better to bring breakfast back for the woman instead of wasting time trying to get her out of bed.
Jason shrugged, for it seemed that Zayne would pick food in a heartbeat if given a choice between food and Heather. Indeed, that was how he rolled.
“Let’s head out then,” the man exclaimed eagerly.
Jason watched as Zayne behaved like a cat who ate the canary, and his mood took a turn for the better. Zayne’s smile had a soothing quality to it.
They went down to the garage to get their car, and Jason slid straight into the driver’s seat. However, Zayne tapped on the glass and said to him, “I’ll drive today. I’m better when it comes to sniffing out great food.”
At that, Jason shifted himself over to the passenger’s side. Jason wasn’t a talkative person, and he generally just did things instead of announcing that he was going to do it beforehand.
“Jason, I’ve checked your expenses and it looks like you don’t spend much.” Zayne changed the subject and suddenly began talking about an unrelated topic with him.
