There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 235 - 228. Another Year of Being Alive

Chapter 235: Chapter 228. Another Year of Being Alive

"ZEIN!"

A familiar loud voice started the guide awake. The blue eyes blinked toward the dark ceiling, feeling confused. The voice was familiar, but coming from someone that wasn’t supposed to be there.

"Is that...Shin?" Zein squinted drowsily at the sunlight that peeked inside the bedroom. They only went to sleep after dawn, so he was unbearably sleepy.

That being said, he was the type to be immediately alerted to even a slightly loud noise, due to his cautious upbringing--unlike Bassena. So he couldn’t help but immediately roused. He raised his upper body for a bit, but he felt resistace from the arm slung over his torso.

"Just ignore him..." Bassena mumbled against his neck, pulling Zein closer to him instead.

For a second, Zein was contemplating doing just that; he was too sleepy and Bassena’s body heat was too nice. But the voice calling him was keep on repeating.

"Zein!! Zein!"

The blue eyes blinked open again, because now the voice sounded agitated and anxious. It triggered his protective instinct despite his drowsiness, and he jumped off the bed in reflex. With Bassena’s grumbling behind him, Zein snatched the nearest article of clothing he could find--which was Bassena’s shirt he had torn last night, and managed to reach the door while putting on discarded pants.

"Zein!"

"What is--"

Zein opened the door and paused with one hand on the door handle, frozen as he looked down the second floor of the suite to the living room.

Which was filled with people.

Except for Radia, everyone who came to Projo was there, and then there was Han Shin and Reina, who came out of nowhere, jumping up and down as they saw Zein coming out of the bedroom.

They waved their hand and yelled loudly; "Happy Birthday Zein!!"

Zein blinked, in confusion at first, and then in surprise. He walked to the railing of the second floor, and watched the cheery faces--even Jock was smiling from the door. He realized then that there were some...party props? Were that balloons? Oh, cake--cakes? Zein tilted his head as he caught the spread on the table. It didn’t even feel like a hotel seating room anymore.

"Come down, come down!" Han Shin yelled again, but Nadine hurriedly pinched the healer.

"Chief Han, I don’t think that’s a good idea," she hissed, glancing at the not-so-proper appearance of the guide up there.

She had been shielding Dheera and Alice from the view ever since she saw hickeys and bite marks all over Zein’s exposed skin, from the fair neck to the exposed torso peeking behind the shirt that was clearly missing some buttons and two sizes bigger.

They had never seen Zein’s bare skin before, so it was already rather scandalous--but then all of those love marks? She needed to protect the innocence of their youngests, who was now peeking behind her with curiosity.

"Why? Why?"

"But the candles!" the healer protested, pointing at the various cakes they had prepared, with lit-up candles on each of them.

But then they were being startled by the sound of laughter.

Zein, leaning against the railing, had his head between his hand and shoulder shaking as the sound of melodious laughter filled the room, prompting the others to freeze as they watched in stun. Even the hyper couple who came to invade the hotel so early in the morning could only stare in awe. When Zein lifted his head, the blue eyes were sparkling brightly under the incoming sunlight, curling softly as they witnessed the prettiest smile that used to be reserved only for Bassena.

"Ah, damn--you people are so silly," Zein said while shaking his head.

"Wow..." Reina took a deep breath. "I think I can make a whole year of collections with this alone..."

"Damnit Commander--how dare you gatekeep something like this from us," Rina shook her head with a sigh.

And as if being summoned, Bassena showed up behind the still-chuckling guide, slipping the guide’s head through a sweater, swiftly covering any exposed skin. "Have you people any decency?" he hissed at the crowds, who booed him despite being the ones invading someone’s hotel room.

"No, we don’t," Han Shin scoffed. "Now give us Zein!" he demanded like a kidnapper asking for ransom.

Zein chuckled as he put his arms through the sleeve and proceeded to walk down the small stairs. Despite only sleeping for two or three hours, he was totally awake right now. There was a lightness in his steps as he came down, and although he was back to his expressionless face, the bright eyes made it apparent that he was in a good mood.

The only one who wasn’t in a good mood was Bassena, who got his sweet morning cuddle time interrupted. But seeing Zein in a good mood put him in a smile too. He followed Zein to the seating room, where Han Shin immediately gave the guide a tight hug before dragging the man to the couch.

"See, see, we don’t know what kind of cake you would like, so we just get all kinds!" the healer spread his arms at the full table. They even dragged other tables and borrowed a trolley to fit all of the mini cakes these people manage to somehow buy during new year’s morning.

Zein raised his brow as he took a better look at all the cakes; varying degrees of chocolate colors, creams, and fruits. Each was in a round or square shape, a saucer large. And each sported one lit candle.

"There are twenty-eight in total!" Han Shin grinned, kneeling behind the table across from Zein, as the others started to surround the couch too.

Zein pressed his lips to prevent himself from laughing again. Did they prepare one for each of his past ages?

"What--you want to celebrate all of my twenty-eight birthday?" Zein commented as he counted the cakes, smiling subtly.

"No? It’s just that we can’t decide on what cake should be bought," Han Shin shrugged.

"Hmm..." Zein tapped on the table and played with the nearest plate. "So...what should I do with all this?"

"What do you mean what? Of course you have to blow them out, Captain!" Dheera said enthusiastically, even shoving the trolley closer so all twenty-eight mini cakes gathered in one place.

Zein raised his brow again, dumbfounded. "All of them?"

"Yes!!" Han Shin, Reina, Dheera, and Rina replied in unison. They looked more excited than the one who was supposed to have a birthday.

"How?" Zein frowned in confusion, suddenly recalling Han Shin’s flaming cake in Radia’s mansion at that time.

But the hyper group already pushed a chocolate cake in front of him, and stared with eagerness in their eyes. So in the end, he couldn’t help but smile a little bit, rolling his sleeves so they wouldn’t accidentally get smeared by creams.

"Just do one and let them blow out the others," Bassena gave him a way out, which was met with vehement protest from the four ’kids’. But those protests were met with silence after what Zein said next.

"Hmm...this is my first time doing something like this, so I’ll do as much as I can," the guide said, leaning forward while fiddling with the necklace behind his sweater, sounding oddly excited too.

Dheera, who was kneeling beside Zein’s leg looked up and tilted her head in confusion. "Huh? You never blow a birthday candle before, Captain?"

Zein thought a little bit about certain memory of the past. "I don’t have a cake to attach the candle to," he replied with a fond smile. The closest thing he and the twins had for a cake was the meat the twins bought after saving their allowance--in the sense that it was a luxurious indulgence for them.

"Then you can have as much as you want from now on," Zein lifted his head, and smirked at the red-haired man that finally decided to join them--freshly showered and right on time as usual.

"I guess," he replied. Now that the boss had arrived, he leaned forward and blew the one in front of him.

Clutching his necklace, he did one for them; for the twins that hadn’t been able to do it in this life. He blew it in the hope that they would be able to do it now, wherever they were. He watched the leftover smoke, following the flow up, to a place the twins might be.

"An...another one," Dheera put a different cake--with white cream and strawberry this time--in front of him after Reina took the chocolate one away.

Zein wondered if they would continuously shove the rest of the cakes in front of him, but even if that was the case, he didn’t have to go around so Zein was fine with that.

This time, he let go of his necklace, and blew the candle for himself. Just for himself. A celebration that was free of guilt and regret, which he allowed himself to have for a few seconds.

In the end, he actually blew all twenty-eight candles, which everyone seemed too eager to bring in front of him. Once he finished with one, another one had been ready beside it. Bassena joined the procession in the middle of it, and Zein had to take a water break to soothe his parched throat. The last candle was already short by the time they got into it, pitifully holding on.

They took out all the candles after and Zein got to taste a bit of at least thirteen kinds of cakes before he got too sick to continue. Radia had called for room service, so they continued the ’party’ with another spread of proper meals instead of dessert. The generous Guildmaster even took out that mana stone-infused liquor just for Zein, leaving everyone in envy as they watched the glowing liquid pour into the glass in the guide’s hand.

"Well," Zein raised the glass, a smile on his face and a clear gaze in his eyes. "Here’s to surviving yet another year."