There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 101 - 98. Security Blanket

Chapter 101: Chapter 98. Security Blanket

"So, again, you tamed him just like that?" Han Shin asked as they climbed the small hill inside one of the dungeons owned by Trinity.

Zein scoffed at the phrase. "What do you mean tamed? Is he a beast or something? He wasn’t even going berserk in the first place."

"Nyenyenye~" the healer made a silly jeering sound. "He still walking out of the training room like the happiest man in the world after shutting himself for half a day," and with a higher tone, he added. "And it only took you fifteen minutes too!"

Zein rolled his eyes, and back to observing the guides on duty today. "Eyes to the front, Leo. Use your ears to pick up the beast’s sound, not eavesdrop."

"It’s not eavesdropping if it’s loud enough to be heard, Captain," the particularly short guide replied with a grin. But spotting Zein’s raised brow, he immediately looked forward again, while being smacked by another guide in the back, prompting the rearguard espers to laugh.

Compared to the other two dungeon raids, this time was comparably more relaxing. The environment was pretty mild, with bright sun and blue sky. It almost felt like they were on a stroll for a picnic rather than dungeon raiding.

This time, they did an easy training with the rookie espers inside the eternal dungeon. Zein only took three C-class guides here--the three with the worst performance among the division members.

It didn’t mean they were bad though, just that they were quite behind compared to the others. Two of them also the youngest guides, added at the start of this year, so maybe the lack of experience had something to do with it. But it made them a good fit for the rookie espers, who were also comparatively young. And in this kind of lax environment, friendship was easily built.

Han Shin, meanwhile, came not as a healer but more as a researcher. There was a material he needed and he wanted to procure it by himself in fear of someone ruining it. But so far, all he did was just pester Zein.

"Do you know what people called you?" he suddenly asked. Zein didn’t answer, since he knew the healer would just tell him anyway. "The Serpent Tamer,"

"What kind of nonsense..."

Seeing Zein’s exasperated expression, Han Shin laughed out loud, filling the place with a cheery sound. Thanks to that, they garnered the beasts’ attention, and the espers had something to work on.

"Anyway, spare some time next Wednesday," Han Shin said while hiding behind Zein. It was quite weird seeing an esper hiding behind a guide from a miasmic beast, but with their builds, it didn’t look weird one bit.

"Why?" Zein asked after giving some instructions to the guides per usual.

"It’s my birthday," the healer replied with a grin. "We’re having a small dinner party...and after party,"

Han Shin giggled, and Zein had a flashback of getting nearly drunk at that last party the healer invited him to. Seeing the narrowed blue eyes, the younger man immediately added.

"Don’t worry, it’s truly a small party. Just us, and Reina, and Bas, and Radia..." he paused for a bit, lips parted as if he wanted to say another name, but quickly pressed his lips. "Mm...yeah, just that. Safe, right?"

Zein had a feeling that he knew which name he would say, but it wasn’t his business how Radia and Han Joon managed their secret, confusing relationship.

"Sure," Zein answered finally, after making sure that his three chicks were all safe and sound.

"You’ll really come, right? Right?" Han Shin asked twice, persistently, while tugging on Zein’s sleeve, capitalizing on his wide, clear black eyes and boyish face. "Promise me?"

"I promise," Zein replied firmly, grabbing the healer’s elbow to get him to continue walking. "Where are you going to do it?"

* * *

Zein did not quite understand at first, why Han Shin had his birthday dinner at someone else’s house. Like...the guy had an apartment, a dorm room, and his family’s manor, but still chose to do it in Radia’s mansion.

"Because it’s bigger?" Bassena shrugged as they drove together toward said mansion, situated just outside the Mortix complex, a little bit closer to Althrea’s border wall.

"But isn’t it just a small gathering?" Zein tilted his head slightly. "It’s just...what? Five people? Do we really need a big space?"

"Six; Reina’s older sister is also coming," Bassena replied while pondering about the answer he should give the guide. "The simple reason would be that he won’t need to think about cleaning up, since the house staff will do that. He doesn’t have one in his apartment."

Zein smirked at that. Surprisingly, it was quite an acceptable reason. "Does he have none in his family’s manor?"

Bassena smiled subtly at that, prompting Zein to give more attention to his words. "He has, but that was the problem; he only has staff in the manor; no father, no brother...no one else. Besides, that house never saw a birthday party at all, since his father did not approve of celebrating birthdays," he paused for a bit before adding, "Now that I think about it, we always ended up doing things in Radia’s place one way or another."

"Huh, I see..." Zein tapped on his knee in contemplation, and then thought with a smile. "It’s like he’s adopting you all."

Bassena chuckled at that, and nodded in affirmation. "If you say it like that, he kind of did. Well...it’s more like him and Joon, but..."

"But your ’parents’ went through a divorce," Zein finished the sentence with a smirk, prompting a laugh from the esper.

Bassena glanced at the guide, and let out a warm smile. "It’s kind of nice seeing you without your mask," he looked at the guide, who was dressed casually in a comfortable t-shirt and unbuttoned shirt. But today, the fair neck was free of the black choker and mask, baring his usually hidden, beautiful face.

It was the first time since Zein started to use a mask that he went out without one, leaving his safety blanket behind. Well, in this case, leaving his safety blanket in his dimensional storage ring.

"Eyes to the road," Zein pointed forward, to Bassena’s laughter. "It’s Shin’s request. He bothered me so much until I say yes, saying it was for his birthday present..."

"But you still say yes,"

Zein shrugged. Well, everyone in that party--safe for Reina’s sister--saw his face already anyway. And with Bassena’s presence, as well as doing it in Radia’s mansion, it truly was a safe environment.

Just for a bit--he could take off his security blanket just for a bit tonight.

When the car entered the driveway of the mansion, Zein didn’t even surprise anymore at the castle-like building. He already heard of it, and found out that the main family’s mansion was even bigger than this. Bassena said that Radia demanded this detached mansion as compensation for him taking over the chairman position from his father--who preferred spending time traveling the world with his wife in leisure.

One of the weird things Zein couldn’t understand.

Anyway, it seemed like they were the last to arrive, since Zein had to guide Ashur earlier in the afternoon. When the butler--a real human this time--brought them to the dining room, Han Shin greeted him with arms thrown high in the air.

"Yaaay!" he clapped his hands simply at the fact that Zein followed his request. "That’s right! I need to see pretty things on my birthday!"

"That’s why?" Zein replied with a sigh as he sat on the empty seat, and the healer grinned at that.

Like a team, the healer’s fiancée also chimed in, throwing her hands in the air too. "My muse!" and it was enough to turn the table boisterous just with the two of them. Surprisingly though, Zein recognized Reina’s older sister that was mentioned.

"Huh, Selena?" Zein raised his brow, recognizing the woman as the head of the shard research team.

"Are you surprised?" the woman giggled and looked at him with a face that seemed to be proud of concealing it all this time.

Zein did never heard of her last name, but he also never thought Selena to be Reina’s older sister. For a start, they have a quite big age gap between them, and they weren’t really similar to each other--not the way Zein could recognize Han Joon by comparing him to Han Shin.

But then, he remembered the frenzy eyes that Selena gave him when they first met, which reminded him of Reina. Well, it was probably because they were actually sisters after all.

"Hmm...somehow it makes sense," Zein just shrugged at the revelation, and Selena responded with a laugh.

"Alright, alright, let’s get this thing started, shall we?" Radia--who was still on his phone earlier--clapped his hand from the side and took a seat too.

It was a big round table, so there was no need to qualm about the head chair or whatnot. With that clap from the owner of the house, the house staff--again, humans--walked in with trolleys of food. Lots of it. Plates of food were delivered to the table, as well as water and wines. It filled the table to the brim, but even then, there was still some more in the trolleys that were parked on stand-by with waiting staff.

"Ooh, you really pulled everything from around the continent! As expected of my guildmaster~" Han Shin clench his fist in apparent joy, licking his lips.

Then the venue, the clean-up, and the birthday dinner were all provided by the house owner? When Zein looked at Radia with perplexed eyes, the guildmaster smiled.

"It’s my birthday present for Shin," the man explained, and the birthday boy laughed merrily.

Hmm...Zein tapped on the table. Right, it was something that had been making him wary since yesterday.

Birthday present...

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