There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 239 - 232. The Image of Future

Chapter 239: Chapter 232. The Image of Future

"You’re either getting used to or getting addicted to this," Bassena smirked at the way Zein’s whole face would light up every time they used the helicopter.

"Mm," Zein responded simply. "Or it could be because I think you look hot piloting that."

"Is that why you always became horny after we land?" Bassena raised his brow, praising himself inwardly for getting ahold of himself and not swerving the helicopter too much to the side from fluster.

Zein, however, turned his face toward the esper and said with a smirk. "What are you talking about? I’m horny now."

This time, the helicopter did swerve--a lesson for Bassena to stop being prideful and put on autopilot.

Zein was still laughing as Bassena landed the helicopter somewhere a bit further away from their previous location, on the orchard field that had been cleared out of the unsalvagable trees. He only stopped through Bassena’s aggressive kiss of revenge, pinned to the seat as they consumed each other lips.

Until they felt someone coming over their way, and they climbed down the helicopter like some prim and proper owner doing an inspection instead of two lustful men. As expected, it was old man Senan who came to greet them, with the young esper who barely finished his Tower’s trial, Arlo. Zein didn’t know about Arlo, but Senan had decided to stay at the construction site until it was done, together with the workers. They built temporary housing for the works, since the site was pretty far from anywhere. It cost more, but Zein didn’t mind paying for it.

Just as Bassena had predicted, the early work mainly focused on clearing the estate; getting rid of old stumps and dead trees, clearing out the weeds, taking the house apart, and cleaning the lake. With Senan there, they tried to preserve as much as they could from the leftover furniture, and see if they could restore any of them.

Zein could already see that the house’s structure was no more. Since he wanted to make a bunker, they had to dig deep, and that was what the workers had been doing when Zein and Bassena came. They were working as usual until they realized the one coming with the helicopter was Bassena Vaski. They either flinched or froze when they saw the esper, until the construction manager scolded them.

"Sorry for coming unannounced," Zein said as they moved away to the lakeside to let the workers worked easier, walking alongside the cold water.

"No, no!" the construction manager hurriedly shook his head. "It’s your estate, of course you could come whenever you like, Sir."

They stopped at the place where they could see the remnant of the dock and where the house used to be, with the workers running around even harder now that the one paying them was here.

"Is it going fine? It should be hard doing this during the winter," Zein watched the diligent workers while pressing his sole into the hard soil.

"It’s fine so far," the manager explained proudly with a confident nod. "The hard soil wouldn’t matter with today’s machinery, and this part of the region rarely snows anyway," he looked around the estate, and pointed around the empty lot with spreading hand. "Once we clean up everything, it’ll be nice timing to start planting some seeds and shaping the garden."

"Mm..." Zein had no visual to be used as an example, so he just pictured the orchard he passed through when he accompanied Bassena to the cemetery before.

Rows and rows of apple trees framed the road with yellowing leaves. He wondered how it would be when they were green and blossoming. Would it smell like apples? Those sweet and sour things he liked recently? The thought of walking through the trees and plucking apples, strolling beneath the scattering plum blossoms...it put a smile behind the black mask.

"What about the lake?" Bassena, who was crouching near the water asked while looking down. Amazingly, the lake had retained its clarity after all those years. He glanced toward Zein and Senan. "I mean the dock--it was so broken before that I had no idea what it would look like in the past."

"Mister Senan had provided us with a general image, but we’ll see if we can improve on it for longevity and safety," the manager told them while sweeping his gaze at the lake, as if he was determined to turn this place into the best summer gateway.

Zein dismissed the man after hearing everything he wanted, and continued to gaze into the construction while sitting on a boulder with Bassena, who seemed to wonder if he could go fishing in the lake once the weather turned warmer. The idea of fishing and grilling the fish they caught right there and then on the dock, having a small barbeque party, put another smile on Zein’s hidden face. It was so much easier now; talking about a bright future and picturing himself inside it rather than being a pessimistic outsider.

"Do you know we have their wedding here, Young Master?" Senan, who had been silently watching them, suddenly said with a smile.

"...my parents?" Zein turned his head slightly so he could glance at the middle-aged man.

"Yes," the man nodded, pointing in the direction of the house with his chin. "Right on that dock."

Zein raised his brow slightly. He only had one wedding picture of his parents, and it didn’t capture the background much, except for the showering petals of cherry blossom. Was that actually taken in this place?

"Ah, it was so beautiful before. The sky was bright and the flowers were all in bloom," Senan sighed with a smile, looking up in reminisce. "It’s like the world celebrating their union together."

Now that Zein looked at it better, the lakeside did seem to be filled with rows of trees. They had decayed and dead from the harsh weather, and probably getting destroyed by the people who ransacked the house before. But from the leftover stump and the remnant of dug-up soil, it must have been part of a picturesque strolling path.

Just by looking at the smile on the old man’s face, they could already tell how nice of a place it actually was. "Did you stay here a lot?" Zein asked as he gazed into the remnant of the dock again.

"Before Master Roan’s wedding, this was a vacation home for the Ishtera," the old man said without missing his smile. "When there was an event to be celebrated, we will gather here to have meals and catch up with each other--like a party."

"Party..." Zein recalled the last ’party’ he had on the morning of his alleged birthday. "Sounds like fun,"

"It was," Senan nodded firmly. "I had the honor of becoming part of Master Roan’s group, so I would follow him everywhere. After the wedding, when they finally decided to stay in this place for Lady Lucia, I was here to help with the housework and the garden."

Zein raised his brow. He knew the old man had spent some time in this place, but he didn’t think Senan would be that involved. No wonder he seemed to be on the verge of tears when he found out that Zein wanted to revitalize the estate.

"I see," he nodded solemnly. The place seemed to hold more and more importance each time he discovered something else about it. "I want to see it," Zein muttered.

"Yes?"

"How this place is supposed to be like," he picked a pebble from the ground and twirled it between his fingers. Wordlessly, he threw the pebble into the lake, creating a small ripple.

Bassena, who had been keeping his silence all this time, picked up another pebble and, with a smirk, threw it across the water. It jumped over the surface a few times before submerging, creating several ripples that resonated with each other.

"Oh?" Zein perked up, finding out some inner child in him as he picked up yet another pebble, trying to make it go like the one thrown by Bassena. Alas--it didn’t work.

Laughing, Bassena did another throw, and created another chain of ripples which sparked a sudden competitiveness within the guide. He was watching Bassena keenly before, and this time, he tried to mimic the younger man.

They did it back and forth until Zein managed to make two ripples and they ended up laughing into the silliness of doing things like that out of nowhere.

Zein wondered if the people who lived here before played this kind of thing too, and became competitive like them too. It’d be even more fun with a bet--like who would do the cleaning, who would pull out the weed, and such.

That would be fun, the twins would like it.

Zein paused and subconsciously held Bassena’s hand. There was a little bit of sting in his heart, but the soothing sensation from his earring and the warmth from his esper healed it fast.

As Bassena looked at Zein inquisitively, the guide was looking back at the house instead. "Except for the bunker, you can try to make it looks as similar as it was back then," Zein said.

Senan, who had been watching the two silently, froze for a few seconds. But he quickly snapped out of his stun and hurriedly replied. "Yes," the man said enthusiastically. "Yes, I’ll do that."

Zein glanced at the old man a little bit, who was smiling wide with glazed eyes. He wondered if he was truly saying something that warranted such a reaction. The house must have been so precious to him--probably to everyone in the old generation. Zein was thinking of letting them use the house while he was away--especially for the elder to convalesce--but he thought the man might even burst out crying if he did, so he decided to save it for later.

"How are the others?" he asked instead, ignoring Bassena who tickled his palm and looked at him with a teasing grin.

"Yes?" the old man asked dazedly, still feeling overwhelmed.

Zein pressed his lips and repeated after a few seconds. "The Elder and...everyone,"

"...good," Senan slowly nodded. "They are still confused and trying to adjust to being...free, I guess--but they are well."

"Mm, that’s good,"

Zein responded briefly, awkward from the esper’s constant teasing stare. He kicked the esper’s leg to stop the man, but Bassena just chuckled silently in response. When Zein was in the middle of squeezing the esper’s cheek, the old man asked suddenly.

"May I ask a question?"

"Mm," Zein replied absentmindedly while still pinching Bassena’s face.

"Will you stay here...after it’s done?"

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