Chapter 68

“Re: Let’s Collab.”

Casper was staring at his screen with a shocked expression on his face as he read his emails for the first time that afternoon.

“Meet me later @ Guada station mcdonalds 8pm. Let’s talk details and sched. Promise it’s final”

His mouth was wide agape and Julian was standing right beside him looking peeved, whipping out a towel to wipe the drool off of Casper’s face as he seems to be badly unresponsive with what he’d just read.

‘Oh wake up! Idiot!’ Julian finally snaps, pounding his fist on the top of his head to jolt him back to his senses, making Casper wince in pain as he cowers on his seat.

‘Why’d you do that?!’ He protested, whilst Julian looked at him annoyed, visibly trying his best to control himself from giving him another devastating hit. The both of them had just gotten home from school and the two of them were just going with their normal after school routines, when Julian heard Casper shrieking at the top of his lungs, beating the rigorous soundproofing that lined the walls of his streaming room.

All of the alarm bells inside Julian’s body sounded off as he -panic ran- towards his room, slamming the door open hoping he was not too late for the emergency. But all that awaited him was the pleasantly shocked face of his partner, looking at the emails on his screen.

‘I almost died of a heart attack after hearing your blood curdling scream! You ass!’ Julian expressed harshly, making Casper cower lower on his seat.

‘Shit… sorry man I didn’t… I overreacted man… sorry.’ He apologized as Julian calmed himself down and sighs.

‘Fine… But what the fuck are you even on about?!’ He said as he took a look at his monitor.

It's Raven!!!! She finally agreeeeeeeeeeddddd!!!!!!’ Casper shouted ecstatically as Julian could only react blankly, not understanding how important the email was for Casper, even though they had been friends long enough to know the who’s who of the video streaming circles.

‘Wow… greaat. She finally took you seriously huh?’ Julian responds, sounding disinterested.

‘I know! I’m fucking freaking out right now!!’ Casper responds. Not even noticing Julian’s nonchalant reply.

‘So?... What now?’ Julian asks.

Casper looks at him with a blank smile on his face and a glimmer in his eyes as Julian stares back waiting for his answer.

This went on for a few seconds as the energy in the room died down and the silence gradually became awkward.

‘I have no idea. I guess… mcdonalds?’ Casper answered as Julian gave him the loudest most deliberate sigh while he exited the room.

‘Great… I guess I’ll make dinner for one.’

‘I-- I can order you some takeout?’ Casper responds to which Julian replies in exasperation:

‘Don’t bother.

I’ll be asleep by then.

Have fun with those people Cass.

I mean…

It is your job… technically.’

Julian said as he revels on another night alone inside their house.

The house that Casper built.

For Casper.

And for Casper’s use.

Somehow, he’s trying to figure out where he fitted in. Even if Casper never minds it.

And as he goes to close the door behind him; Casper looks back towards him, once again wondering what was the matter.

‘Oh you’re back!’ Val happily greets Ash as he walks through the door of her office while Lorna gives her a sly teasing look. She covers it up, quickly avoiding detection but Val can’t help feeling chills creeping up her spine when she and Ash are in a room with her.

‘Yeah it took me long enough but I made it.’ Ash responds with a tired smile, looking exhausted as he slumps on the sofa by the far end of the office.

‘So…. How’d it go?’ Lorna curiously asked as Ash squeezed out the last reserves of his energy to sit up straight, almost as if he was falling asleep on the couch cushions.

‘Well I'm exhausted and drained but you know what guys?’ He pauses as the two women anxiously keep their eyes on him, waiting for his reply. ‘They love it!’ He finally said.

And almost immediately the stale mood inside became fragrant and electrified as both Lorna and Val gazed at each other silently, their smiles slowly growing from cheek to cheek.

‘Thank GOD!’

‘Phew! Fuckin hell.’

Both sighed in relief as Val immediately pulled out something from her bottom drawer, revealing a cold bottle of champagne as she hastily placed it on the table with a wide grin.

‘Wow… so very optimistic eh?’ Ash said with a smirk as Val goes ahead to pop the cork to get things started up.

‘Of course! I’m always optimistic! Otherwise this business is gonna fail the moment I build it!’ She said as she pulled out four brandy glasses from one of her drawers as J2 joins them with a bucket of ice.

‘I know. Wrong glass but… do you guys care?’ She asked while pouring a significant amount on each of their glasses. As the three others in the room shake their head, gladly accepting the generous servings of alcohol that Val had served them.

‘Cheers!’ Everyone said as all of them toast their glasses and share the first sip of ice cold champagne, with each of them finding their seats inside the office to kick back and relax after a tiring day.

‘By the way… Did Denzo show up today?’ She asked J2.

‘He sent an early text saying he won’t make it.’ J2 reports. ‘I’m starting to get worried ‘bout that kid though… he’s been taking leaves for the most of this week ever since that friend of his came running to our shop.’

‘Yeah I’ve heard about that Val, what happened to that kid?’ Ash inquires. Val looks towards Lorna to see if she has an idea on the matter but her eyes turned up blankly with her gaze, making her sigh as she thought there was something she would know about.

‘Well… apparently Denzo got himself in trouble with the cops. I dunno why cuz I haven’t talked with him but… yeah… If there’s one thing I can connect about this… it’s that.’ She said, pointing her gaze towards Lorna.

‘Ohhhh, that’s why you were looking my way.’ Lorna suddenly chimes in, finally connecting the gears inside her head.

‘What the hell were you thinking otherwise?’ Val questions her with an irate tone as Lorna flips her hair gracefully.

‘That you think I’m gorgeous.’ She states as Val grits her teeth, suddenly remembering that they are celebrating today, as she hopes to keep the toxicity down for everyone’s sake. She heavily sighs and slumps her back on her chair to rest her temper as she resets the conversation in her mind, and gets herself back on topic.

‘So now that you know Lor… any news from your cop friends?’ She asks as Lorna shakes her head.

‘Nope… but I can ask?’

‘Cool. but that can wait till tomorrow.’ Val said as she poured herself another glass. ‘As of now what I DO want to talk about is our new venture in the food business.’ She said with pride as she and Ash exchanged looks, looks which made Lorna internally chuckle, both in a teasing manner and with joy, finally seeing her friend releasing herself from her selfish walls.

‘So I know it’s too early to day dream of all the possibilities but, with everything that I’m planning to do, or revive [since that’s why we needed this in the first place], I think the earlier the better when it comes to brainstorming what can be done from this point on.’

‘I agree on that. After all, we now have some momentum with this new thing that we have since the guys who hired us now want us to cater for their lunches during their meetings. So… in short we’re gonna be a bit busy cooking guys.’ Ash concurs as he adds to Val’s statement.

‘Really? We got return customers already?’ Lorna asked him with enthusiastic curiosity.

‘Yeah. They’ll send us a schedule of their weekly meetings each month and we are to prepare it for them.’ Ash answered.

‘And the pay?’ Lorna inquires as Ash pauses to do some mental computations.

‘I gave them an offer that’s good enough to cover expenses for the food and prep with a little bit of profit aaaannndd…

They doubled it.

So expect at least a 40 percent return on investment for EACH delivery.’

‘EACH?!’ Both Lorna and Val react.

‘Each.’ Ash replies with a wide grin as Val reached down on her drawers once again to reveal a second bottle of champagne.

‘This is an extra but… Fuck it!’ She said as she shakes the bottle rapidly before popping the cork out. Spraying everyone inside the room, even though the only person severely affected by it was the one nearest to where she sat.

Which was Lorna.

Happy screaming shouting noises were heard from her office as the windows got drenched with bubbly while everyone got more than the recommended serving of champagne that one should have in a single night. Nonetheless with all the promise coming in, Val couldn’t help but be celebrative, considering how dire everything almost came to be.

‘Yo Ash.’ J2 gets his attention after seeing the two ladies enjoy the moment for a while.

‘Yep?’

‘What was the company again?’ J2 asked as he remembered something about the men that came in days ago when the topic about catering was asked.

‘Oh those guys we sold the concept to? Well… I remember they initially wanted some *itasha* graphics done on some of their show cars.’ Ash recalls. *[Itasha] Cringe cars - Cars with anime waifu graphics on them. Usually lewd.*

‘What’s the company name though?’ J2 pried deeper.

‘Hmm… I think the company name was “Virtuosa”’

‘Ohhhh the Virtu-pop guys? Shit… no wonder we hit a jackpot.’ J2 exclaimed.

‘Hoho. I see that someone here has cultured blood.’ Ash throws a jab at J2, making him blush in embarrassment. ‘Sadly your boss isn’t… so I made a move after I confirmed their ID’s. I knew somehow that we needed to keep those guys leashed.’ Ash continued as J2 kept his silence seemingly bothered by something.

‘I gotta ask you something though…’

‘What is it?’ Ash asked as he felt the suspicion radiating from J2.

‘Virtuosa has not given any news of making a Southeast Asian sect. So why are they here?

And why now?’ J2 pry's further, squinting his eyes, hiding his hand on one of his pockets, ready to draw something out from within should Ash make any sudden moves.

‘Too good of a coincidence?’

‘Y- yeaaaahh.’

Ash then takes out his phone and sends a message, as a couple of seconds later, J2 receives a ping on his notifications.

‘Wha--’

‘Check it.’

J2 opens the message that Ash had sent. It was a forwarded message coming from none other than Mr. Asia himself. Immediately J2 felt a chill down his spine.

‘You asked… but don’t tell. Something’s moving out underneath us. A ground worm that can swallow us whole if we make noise. And Val is VERY noisy.’

J2 looks at the message:

+9999999999

I heard you left the shop to your subordinates for strange “reasons”. But nevermind that.

Someone you deem close will be left in poverty because of a few misfortunes that needed to happen.

I’m sending opportunity towards their way.

Help them if you must. -A

J2 looked back at Ash as he nodded to confirm what he had just read.

‘The moment I saw that her next client was an Idol company from Japan… I was already brainstorming on how to leash them to us.’ Ash confessed.

‘Oh… I see then… so you had some heads up already.’

‘Yes. though I suppose I got lucky with my guess. But still… It’s weird… and chilling… on how much they know.’ He said as J2 slouches back, feeling a bit defeated as he relaxed his back on the sofa, knowing there was nothing else they could do.

‘But then again J2… Let’s just savor this tiny accomplishment for now.’ He said as he looked towards the ladies who were enjoying their time as they continued with their drinking spree.

‘Yeah… It’s not everyday you get to see those two in a good mood.’ J2 responds as he gulps down his brandy glass filled with champagne as he figured he’d join in the fun and get a few more refills from Val’s bottle.

Meanwhile Ash sat back to observe as he sees Val displaying worrying signs of reddening around her cheek area as he thought:

‘Well I guess someone’s not driving home tonight.’

[Guadalupe Station]

Guadalupe Nuevo - Makati City

8:22 pm

Casper had just arrived via train to the meeting place around an hour earlier, hoping to not disappoint in being late for their very first meeting. He had set himself up in a highly visible corner inside the fast food place they had agreed to meet in and has been holding off on ordering dinner as to not be rude to “Raven”, fearing that she might criticize him for being “insensitive” for ordering and eating dinner ahead of her while he waits.

His stomach was already begging for some sustenance but this is such an important meeting for him that he decides to endure it for the sake of getting a good first impression.

So far, almost an hour had passed, and there were no signs of Raven appearing within the confines of their meeting place.

‘Must be the traffic…’ He justified himself as to why she was taking too long. But the longer he waited the more obscure his thoughts were becoming. Giving him more creative reasons as to why she had not shown up.

‘Come to think of it, what if she was a guy? I mean I’m a guy but my avatar’s a girl so maybe she’s already here and I just…. No no no no…

She gave me a description…

Black hair, blue contacts…

But…

Goddamit…

What if this place is not the only McDonalds in the area….

Oh shit!’

His thoughts had finally consumed him as he quickly got up from his seat to scan the area just outside of the fast food place. He tries to find if there were any other similar establishments around that he could’ve missed, desperately worried that he might have waited at the wrong establishment fearing the possible truth that he was making Raven wait for almost an hour now because of his stupidity.

He was about to make a decision to leave when he felt someone tug on his sleeve.

‘Hey.’ He heard as he turned his face towards the voice that called him. ‘You a Vtuber?’ She said, as Casper froze after hearing the words from someone he doesn't know. But then again, he seems to recognize the voice that spoke to him.

‘N-No… What’s a Vtuber? I have no i-idea what they are…’ He reacts, fumbling his words with a shallow lie. Immediately getting on the defense to hide his identity, which made the girl facing him smile as she reached her hand out towards Casper.

‘W-what’s thi--’

‘Raven Noir.’ She introduced herself promptly as Casper loosened his stance as he was faced with the real life embodiment of the Vtuber avatar that he has adored ever since he stumbled upon the platform back when he was in elementary school. The girl with the heavy gothic Lolita style. Black hair, aquamarine blue eyes and black lipstick, exactly as she had described.

The most subscribed female streamer on SABER. Raven Noir. A.K.A [NanZi Raven]

‘Oh. Hi.’

He could only utter so much as Raven takes his hand and leads him back into the establishment where they both sat down to finally meet face to face.

‘J Vee Dubs?’ She asked. As Casper nods, still star struck that one of his idols was sitting in front of him, reveling in the fact that he was the only one in the know of her true identity. Deep inside he wanted to scream and express how ecstatic he is at meeting her that he is actively stepping on his own toe to keep himself discrete.

‘Have you eaten?’ She asked him again as Casper shook his head to which Raven quickly acts as she stands up and takes her wallet out from her bag. ‘I don’t eat rice but I do love the chicken. So I’m ordering a bucket. How much rice do you want?’ She asked him, but this time Casper snaps out of it as he felt the guilt of having his idol pay for his dinner.

‘Oh! No need I’ll split it with y--’

‘Nuh-uh. I insist. So how much rice?’ She imposed as Casper hesitated for a moment, but the rumble in his tummy spoke for the both of them as Raven chuckled upon hearing his body answer. ‘I guess you’ll be having two cups then.’ She said as she turned her body around with an airy grace and made her way towards the counter.

Casper’s face was flushed beet red as he sat there by the table, watching her do her thing by the counter as he pinched himself to check whether or not he was dreaming. He had been so deeply mesmerized that he never noticed he’d been staring at her for the whole duration of the order.

The next thing he knew was seeing her drop their food on the table, waking him up as she greets him.

‘Yo! We eatin?’ She asked as she stared at him with her bright blue eyes, making him stumble from his seat, hastily helping her set the table up.

‘So just to formally acquaint us…’ She said as she extended her hand towards Casper. ‘Hi. Raven Solaris. Otherwise known as Raven Noir. Vtuber handle Nanzi Raven or Nancy or Raven, whichever you prefer.’ She said as Casper looked dumbfounded after hearing her sudden reveal of her “personal” details.

‘Wow… I’m… I’m surprised you’d tell me your real name… Let alone you have handle names on top of your handle names.’ He nervously responds.

‘Why? If we’re gonna work together, we might as well tell each other our real info. Besides, it’s just a name. There’s a reason all my socials are named with my handle. Even if you decide to doxx me with my real name, no one will ever find anything pertaining to my actual surname.’ She elaborates as she tears away a huge chunk of white meat from the chicken breast she had decided to devour.

‘Oh… I see… It makes sense.’ He replies as he felt like hitting himself internally. In his mind he was thinking ‘Of course! How can I be such an idiot??!’

‘Uhh-- umm-- I’m Casper Arce. Vtuber handle is Jetta Vee Dubs. Nice to meet you.’ He nervously introduced himself.

Raven smiles as she takes his hand and shakes it firmly before looking deep into his eyes while smiling. ‘I’m looking forward to collabing together.’ She said as a wave of electricity travels down from the hand she shakes, all the way towards Casper’s spine as a wave of dopamine floods his system.

Needless to say, so far, this is the best moment of Casper’s life.

‘So! Casper… or Cass? Can I call you Cass?’ She spoke in rapid succession as Casper was struggling to keep up, but thankfully his brain was aware enough that he got the bare minimum of what she had meant.

‘Uhh… y-yeah Cass… Yeah you can call me that.’ He awkwardly replies.

‘Okay cool, Cass. You can call me Rei for short, if that’s okay with you.’ Raven said as Casper furiously nodded in disbelief. Still wanting to pinch himself that his idol had given him her nickname. A name that no one else could say or know, as he fidgets around his seat, trying his best to keep his composure.

‘Sure! Uhh… Rei.’ He responds, cracking his voice a bit, hoping she didn’t notice.

‘So first of all, I wanna apologize to you Cass. I kinda… put this meeting off for a bit. Ya know, life troubles and all that.’ She confessed.

‘Nonoononono No! It’s okay. It’s uhh… Yeah it kinda sucks but um… Yeah I understand.’ Casper replies as he fumbles his words towards Raven. Unsure whether he should be disappointed by the admission or sympathetic as he doesn’t want to put her off since he adores her.

‘Cool! Glad you understand Cass. Anyways…uhhh. I’m actually not based here. I kinda flew by to meet for today then I’m off to Australia next week for a con but, part of what I’m here for to meet is that I’m actually starting up an agency for entertainers like us.’ She elaborates as Cass grew steadily interested in what she had to say.

‘So to get to the point. I’m building an agency for Virtual Livers and I want you to be part of it!’ She enthusiastically said. At this point the message had not sunk into Casper’s mind as he stares blankly at Raven for a few more seconds before he snaps back into reality and gasps at the unreal news he had just heard.

‘OH SHIT!’ He shouts as Raven immediately hushed him, trying to keep attention away from them as Casper tucked himself back on his chair in embarrassment after failing to contain himself with the news. Raven just laughs at his reactions as she takes out a flash drive from her purse and hands it to Casper.

‘In this flash drive is the agency contract that I had drafted. Now I know it’s a bit hasty but you don’t need to sign that yet. I want you to read it first then we’ll sort out the terms. I’ll be here in the country for a week so you have till then to make a decision.’ She said as Casper looked at the flash drive with wonder, as if he was looking at an expensive gem. Suddenly he starts to feel inadequate, making himself question if he was worthy of such an invitation.

‘Can I ask?’

‘Sure. What is it?’ Raven said.

‘Out of all other Vtubers… Why me?’ Casper asked as for some reason his nervous tone had disappeared and his eyes, still filled with excitement, had a hint of a somber look, making it seem like he was not convinced that it was all real. But Raven just laughs as she takes the flash drive and actively placed it in his grasp, enclosing her hands over his.

‘Cuz I like what you produce. Is there any more reason that you need?’ She said with a gentle smile as Casper felt like melting. He nods and takes the flash drive from her and stores it in his bag as Raven slouched back on her seat, looking relaxed and content.

‘Think about the offer alright?’ She said, ‘Especially the extra tidbits I put in there for perks since I’m hoping they’re enough. I already got Lexi and Babe on boa--’

‘Lexi an--!!!’

Raven was forced once again to hop out of her seat to silence Casper as she couldn’t risk any attention being turned towards them as Casper gets a hold of himself again after the numerous surprises he has been told so far.

‘On second thought, maybe this was a bad idea.’ Raven said as Casper immediately apologizes, making her chuckle at how adorable he acted around her. ‘Chill I was just messing with ya. You’re adorable, you know that?’ She said, making Casper blush.

‘Anywho… I’m afraid I can’t stay long. My contacts are all included inside the flash drive. Don’t forget to call me okay? I still wanna hash out the things I want to stream for our collab.’ She said as Raven got up from her seat, preparing herself to leave. ‘Want me to give you a ride home?’ She offers as Casper looked pleasantly surprised that someone like her would do so much for him.

‘I’m happy with the offer but… I don’t wanna take too much of your time. I’ll be fine.’ He said with a wide smile as Raven nods at his decision.

‘No problem then. I guess I'll be waiting for your call.’

And with her last words she waved him goodbye and disappeared outside the door while he was left with the untouched left overs from her meal.

‘Oooooh she only took the breast part.’ He mutters, looking at a full, barely touched bucket of chicken, to which he decides to take home with him so he and Julian could share the meal.

‘Won’t your mom get angry about this?’ Aida said, looking worried as she shut the door behind Denzo.

‘She will but I’ll deal with her tomorrow. I just don’t want to commute back with these damp clothes on my back.’ He said, patting down his gym outfit that had barely dried in the humid rainy weather. ‘Your place is nearer so… yeah. Unless you don’t… you know…’

‘Oh no really it’s… okay. It’s a bit sudden but… I’m-- I’m fine. I guess.’ Aida answered, stammering her words. It was the first time that a boy was standing inside her room. Though technically it was not the first, in her mind that was nothing more than a bad dream that she had awoken from. Denzo stood by the doorway, looking unsure of what to do and where to go, feeling annoyed and wanting to take his clothes off but since it isn’t his room he gritted his teeth and waited for Aida to give him the go ahead. Which wasn’t needed.

As it turns out the both of them were just waiting on each other on what they should do.

‘Oh why are… you… You can come in, you know?’ Aida said to him and looked at her with a big question mark on his face, taking him a few seconds before the message became clear.

‘Oh… sorry I mean it’s your… yeah umm… can I… use the bathroom?’ He asked. He was playing cool before but now that the realization that they were “truly” alone had hit him. An undisputed number of nerves suddenly fired all at the same moment. The last time he had felt this jittery was when he dared to have a cup of Uncle Thor’s black coffee. He challenged the bitterness and thought that that was all there’s to it.

Needless to say he was incapacitated that morning.

But tonight is no exception.

He must stay true.

…

Aida on the other hand had taken his things from the bag and hung them out by the balcony to dry. She thought of waiting for him from the bathroom to retrieve his “other” drenched clothing but thought that it might be too forward for her. So she kept the idea to herself as she arranged his things, including his bag, by the balcony to dry properly. As she sits down by the sofa and waits.

She hears the shower running as the idea of him without clothes enters her imagination, though in truth, she didn’t really need to imagine anything, and strangely enough, she had Neeya to thank for it. Whether it was a curse or a blessing, she doesn’t know as the longer she hears the water from the shower, the longer her mind lingers at what she saw earlier and how she handled it. In truth it wasn’t as impressive as the other girls in her class say it should be, but she also understands that he wasn’t at “that” state to begin with.

Besides, that wouldn’t be the first she would see such a thing, nor was she a complete stranger to it either. But most of her experiences were derived from media, so to speak, and knowing how she feels about him and how he feels about her, she started getting agitated at what could happen.

She didn’t know what to do with her arms, her feet nor her legs. So to keep her mind off of fidgeting around senselessly, she grabbed the remote and turned the T.V on to keep her company. But luck was being cheeky, as the moment she turned it on the screen displayed a movie in the middle of a love scene as it caught her completely off guard, frozen but savoring what was being wildly depicted on her screen. Her subconscious was already telling her to switch to a different channel but for some reason she stayed still and watched as the two actors on screen locked lips and kept on doing more as it made her feel the heat, starting to well up within her.

She was so engrossed that she didn’t even notice the shower turning off. As Denzo’s exit had jolted her back to her senses, quickly hiding the evidence as she changed the channel to something random.

He walks out with only a towel on as she gladly points to where she placed his bag, biting her lips as he walks by, sitting on her hands to keep him from seeing her trembling. Denzo was feeling the same as he walked briskly to get to his extra pair of clothes quickly. Deep inside he knew he should’ve gotten his clothes first before showering, but his mind was so scrambled that he was only noticing things as an afterthought. It also didn;t help that there was a slight breeze inside Aida’s place as he feels certain parts of him that are already on edge, being caressed by it.

None of them knew the reason why, but as soon as they crossed paths the knocking and hollering inside their minds became wilder as Denzo felt something he couldn’t explain that was making him grit his teeth. His abdomen was starting to hurt and the muscles in his legs were tense. He knew exactly what was happening and as caution, he locked himself once again inside the bathroom.

Aida was not as guilt-free either. Denzo didn’t notice but she sat on her hands with her legs tightly crossed as she stared at the T.V “watching” a channel that made her screen look like an aquarium. It was only when she heard Denzo shut the door when she realized what she was watching. Scratching her head at how ridiculous she looked to him, making her impulsively think that the best course of action was to explain herself, afraid that Denzo might think that she was a weirdo.

She knocks on the door and he opens it, still half dressed, as she completely forgets what she came for.

She stares at him blankly, staring at his eyes, his lips, his chiseled shoulders as Denzo never questioned the reason why. She reached out her hand to touch his cheek, once again, doing so with no rhyme or reason as Denzo had finally lost his patience and pulled her towards him.

He feels her breasts pressing up against him, finally losing control of himself as she, in turn, feels his affection growing, making her heartbeat faster as she can feel the moment getting closer. Putting his grasp behind her neck while her gently and firmly pulls her lips towards his, their hot breaths mixing as they slide their tou--

‘Julian?’ Casper called out as he arrived at the doorstep of his house where the lights inside were curiously turned off. ‘Are you home?’ He asked as he threw his shoes to the side before entering, searching around the house for the whereabouts of his friend.

Room by room he looked around as he turned the lights back on with each room cleared and so far any signs of Julian was nowhere to be found.

‘Goddammit…’ Casper said dejectedly as he threw his bag on the sofa, expressing a huge sigh as he sat down beside it as he looked around at the complete emptiness that is his home. ‘I knew there was something with him…’ He mutters to himself as he figured he’d be fixing himself a dinner for one tonight, taking his things back in the streaming room and going straight to the shower after.

When he finally emerged from the bathroom. He was surprised to see that all the lights were off again.

‘Julian?’ Casper called out his name again, but this time there was caution in his tone.

‘JULIAN?!’ He shouts, only to be met by silence.

He frantically starts flipping all the light switches all over the house, freaking out at the idea that he was not alone, making his way to the kitchen to grab a knife for defense.

‘JULIANNN??!!!’

‘JULIAAANN!!!!’

‘WHAT!!’

Casper was severely startled that he had dropped the knife he was holding after hearing a voice shouting behind him, quickly pivoting around to face his attacker only to see the amused face of his friend, smiling smugly while he enjoys the terror that plagued Casper’s face.

‘The fuck did you do that for?!’

‘Did what? I was saving electricity and you keep switching everything on.’

‘Pshhh bullshit.’

‘Bullshit your face idiot, you just never notice since you always lock yourself inside that room of yours.’

‘Huh?’ He responds as for some reason he felt a stab of guilt puncturing his conscience.

‘Yeah I do this shit every night but you don’t see it. Cuz you lock yourself in the room till the afternoon.’

Casper’s anger immediately subsided after what Julian had said as he knew he would always shut himself for the whole day inside his room while he streamed. He never really noticed what Julian really did while he was busy so he felt guilty for being paranoid.

‘Fuck… umm… Sorry I kinda overacted there.’ He apologized as Julian rolled his eyes.

‘I know… I’m starting to notice a trend.’ He said, his tone, disappointed. Deliberately making it so, hoping it would reach through Casper’s thick skin.

‘Shit…’ Casper responds as Julian tries to hide his smug smile after seeing his methods had worked the way he wanted it to. ‘No wonder you were pissed when I left… What else have I been missing then?’ Casper asked, so Julian signaled him to “come hither” as Casper approached him, preparing to get karate chopped in the head for being a complete fool. He stood in front of him with his head bowed low, trying not to flinch as he wanted to accept the punishment Julian would serve to him, but Julian had other ideas. Touching his chin, pointing it up towards his face as he leans into a kiss.

‘That.

You missed [that].’

Casper was stunned.

‘Ju--’ He tried calling his name but he cut it short, as with distress in his eyes, Casper slowly backed away. ‘I didn’t know… I’m… I’m sorry I can’t…’ He said as he slowly walked back, confused about what to say or what to do.

He knew for sure that in his heart he didn’t want to lose him as a friend.

But he also didn’t know what this would now mean.

At this point he just stopped thinking. Letting his feet drag him away, leaving Julian standing there with despair in his eyes while he watched him disappear.

‘I knew it…

I knew it…’