There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 302 - 294. Lethargy

Chapter 302: Chapter 294. Lethargy

When Zein opened his eyes again, he was no longer in the car. In fact, it was no longer night. He was snuggly tucked inside a blanket, lying on the comfortable and warm bed.

Squinting his eyes, Zein saw the sunlight had poured into the bedroom, and realized he had spent almost twelve hours sleeping.

Was he really that tired? Zein dragged his body up and felt heavy, almost as if he was fresh out of a burnout. Not exactly that much, but he felt pretty lethargic--which was weird because he expected he would wake up feeling refreshed after such a long sleep. Was he actually sleeping too long?

He got out of bed and moved his shoulder around, and unfortunately, he didn’t have significant sore muscles. He just felt tired, basically, like someone at the end of their long day of work.

A long day...

Ah, well...probably because he did have a long day yesterday; the one that was mentally taxing. He must have been sleeping so deeply that he didn’t even wake up after they arrived, and Bassena had to carry him from the unit’s garage to the bedroom.

Unlike him, Bassena was as energetic as ever, already moving around in the kitchen as usual--which had become a habit now--as if he wasn’t just driving long distances just a few hours before. But then again, he was an esper.

"Morning, sleepy head," Bassena greeted the guide without turning around from the kitchen station. But he raised his brow when he felt a weight on his back. He turned his head to look behind his shoulder and saw the black hair pressed on his back. "Are you alright?"

"Mm," the guide mumbled against his shirt. "Just feeling a bit tired."

Bassena turned off the stove and shifted carefully, turning around to face the guide. Zein almost did not budge, though, so now the tousled black hair was pressed on his chest. He wrapped his arms around the lean waist, and Zein snuggled his head more in the crook of his neck.

Oh? What was this sudden clingy behavior? Bassena thought he was the only one who could act clingy but...this is nice.

"Well, we did a lot yesterday," Bassena grinned, enjoying the rare moment that felt like a reward, nuzzling his face in the black hair.

No--it wasn’t even rare. It was a once-in-a-bluemoon kind of event. It was like those ultimate hidden cutscenes from the dating game Han Shin and Reina forced him to play last year.

"You smell good," Zein mumbled on his neck.

"What kind of smell?"

"Food,"

Bassena let out a hearty laugh. "Wait for a bit, I’m almost done. Ah--I made you a smoothie, so have that first while you wait..."

Hmm...yeah, it was a nice, peaceful morning--Zein nodded while slowly pulling away from the esper. He found himself in hesitation, however, because Bassena was so warm and nice, exactly like a blanket. For his lethargic body, the esper felt like heaven.

So he was pulling away really slowly, kissing the esper’s jaw while doing so until Bassena laughed softly and captured his lips directly. It felt more and more like a reward for being a good boyfriend--or a good driver--yesterday.

Such a perfect morning; a warm hug and a slow kiss. But there was an unfinished cooking behind them and Zein was hungry from skipping dinner last night, so they reluctantly parted.

Bassena didn’t take long to finish the meat curry he had been making since dawn because he decided to not sleep and was getting bored. "Here, eat a lot and get some energy," he said, putting a lot of warm curry over white rice, filled with nice, aromatic spice.

It looked good, it tasted good, and Zein was hungry. But he couldn’t eat a lot. Unlike the time when he actually felt tired from burnout and could eat thrice his usual portion, he had to work hard to finish just a plate this time.

"That’s it?" Bassena raised his brow. Zein usually ate a lot even on normal days; it was his habit to eat his fill when he got food.

"I think I slept too long," Zein reasoned. "It’s delicious, though."

The amber eyes narrowed. "Are you truly alright?" he asked carefully. He knew it was a rough journey yesterday, emotionally, so he thought it might affect the guide’s body too. "Perhaps you should take a day off?"

"No, it’s alright," Zein stood up and stretched his back. "Abel is still going to be absent until next week, so I should be there."

Who knows what those chicks would do if both of their Chiefs were absent. They had already been left alone without supervision for the past three days.

"They can do without you for another day," Bassena shrugged. "What’s the use of having a deputy?"

Zein chuckled and patted the esper’s cheek. "It’s fine. I’ll get rest if it got too tired," he said in compromise. "I just...think I shouldn’t stay still right now."

Ah...

Bassena almost forgot. Zein was the type who distracted himself with work. No matter how fine he looked, or how nice everything seemed to be in the end yesterday, there would still be sorrow remaining. Just like how Bassena used to beat his private training chamber when he had a lot on his mind, Zein had to work to rid himself of the persisting sadness.

"Alright," Bassena sighed. "Just call me if you feel worse, okay?" he gripped the guide’s hand, pursing his lips despite saying it was ’alright’ before. "Or just come to my room to rest if you can’t reach me."

"Alright, alright," Zein patted the platinum hair, having fun ruffling it for a while before going up to feed his lovely fish and getting ready to depart.

* * *

"Captain, are you alright?"

Again. How many times had people asked him that? Did he truly look that bad? Well...he did find himself too tired to proceed with his usual physical training. After doing one regime together with the other guides, he took a seat with the rest of the guides instead of doing his own physical training regime as usual.

But he didn’t just take a seat. He was visibly panting and sweating, a scene that the others never witnessed before. So they approached him to ask about his condition.

Zein squinted at whoever asked him that this time. Who, though? When he lifted his head, everything seemed blurry, which was weird. Also, why did he feel so out of breath? It was cold, and then it was hot, and--

"Captain, can I touch your face for a second?"

Zein heard Nadine’s voice, but he could only reply dazedly. "What?"

"Excuse me,"

Before he knew it, a palm was on his forehead. It really stayed only a second, before the hand was pulled off instantly in surprise. "Captain, you’re burning up!"

"What? Is Captain sick?!"

"W-what to do...what to do?" immediately, Zein could hear panic voices all around, but he could only stare at them blankly. "C-call the healer--should we call Chief Han?"

"Chief Han is in the lab right now, and healers can only fix injuries, not illness,"

"Then what--"

"Noisy..." Zein frowned, feeling his head started to throb. The voices immediately quieted down after that, replaced by worried whispers.

"Calm down, I already called Sir Vaski--" someone said, just a second before the door slammed open, inviting everyone to look over in surprise and awe. "Wow, he’s fast."

Not even a full minute had passed since Alice informed Bassena of Zein’s condition, but the esper was already there. Even if the man was on the third basement level before, it meant Bassena ran to the first basement in a mere forty seconds. Without asking anything, he walked over to the guide and kneeled in front of Zein.

"Zein," he called out to the dazed guide with a tense voice. The guide’s face was flushed, and his breath was slow, heavy, warm. Bassena stroked the flushed cheek with his palm, and it was hot, almost scalding. "You said you’d tell me if you get worse."

So there was a reason why the man felt so lethargic this morning. He didn’t have a fever before, though. But looking at where they were, Bassena knew Zein was doing physical training even in his condition, which worsened the symptoms.

"...who?" Zein replied dazedly, blinking his heavy eyelids slowly. His eyes were glazed and everything felt blurry, so he reached out his hand to the face in front of him. It felt familiar, and he could see a pair of warm amber. His lips parted in a soft smile reflexively, stroking the familiar cheeks. "Oh, it’s my baby..."

It was an understatement to say the place became quiet. It became QUIET--as in no one even dared to breathe, because they couldn’t. Not in front of this view of their strict Captain smiling so gently and calling someone their ’baby’, not to mention the baby was the Serpent Lord.

Nadine and Dheera already knew about it, but even then, they were still surprised, because they never heard it uttered with such...joy and tenderness, like someone calling their whole world.

And actually, not even Bassena expected it. Not the ’baby’ part, but the way Zein said it, and how the stroking hands were now wrapping around his neck. It reminded him of the way Zein acted rather clingy this morning.

Ah...was that because he was sick?

Bassena pressed his lips to hide his smile, and put his hands on the guide’s waist. "Yes, it’s me. You’ll come with me now, right? You said you’d rest if it got worse," Bassena said gently.

Zein leaned forward to lay his head on the esper’s shoulder. "Don’t want to go...to the doctor..." he slurred and mumbled, and Bassena knew it was something that he must have always said when he was sick before.

No need for a doctor. It’s too expensive. It’ll go down after a nap.

He sighed and pulled Zein closer to him, half carrying the guide. "Alright, we’ll just go home, okay?" he patted the warm back. "I’ll make a porridge so you can eat a medicine and take a nap, okay?"

"Okay..." Zein mumbled and tightened his arms around the esper’s neck and shoulder, before Bassena carried him easily like a child, walking out of the training arena.

"Nadine, tell the other deputy to take care of things for now--the both of you," Bassena told the female guide, and Nadine nodded readily.

They watched the esper carry their Captain out, and only after both of them disappeared from the room did they dare to speak. That being said, there was not much they could say except a soft exclamation.

"Wow..."

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