There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 303 - 295. Rest

Chapter 303: Chapter 295. Rest

"You’re the type that becomes clingy when you’re drunk and sick, huh?" Bassena laughed softly while stroking the black hair. "Is it because you become delirious in both cases?"

Well, in Bassena’s case, he would be clingy in any situation, so there wouldn’t be any glaring difference even if he was sick.

Haa...but to think he had to carry Zein twice within less than twenty-four hours...

Bassena had no idea if he had to see it as a nice surprise. The fever part was definitely not nice, but the clinginess was very much welcomed. In fact, Zein refused to let him go even when they arrived at his car, so Bassena had to call his one and only assistant, their beloved Lexus Ong, who looked at them in fascination.

Yeah, just about everyone looked at them in fascination. Sorry Zein, your reputation as a cold-blooded mentor was nothing but history now.

Even after they got back home, Bassena almost couldn’t make the porridge he promised Zein, because it seemed like the guide didn’t want to be apart from his warmer body temperature. Luckily, Zein kind of drifting into sleep at this point, so Bassena could slip into the kitchen and manage to make said porridge.

A portion of warm food and a fever medicine later, Zein was back to sleep. The heavy breathing had become steadier now, and Zein had started to sweat a lot, so Bassena hoped the temperature would go down soon.

Truthfully, aside from dungeon raid-related injuries, Bassena himself had never fallen sick thanks to his constitution. And it was hard to think of Zein getting sick. He would willed himself off any cold or fever, if anything.

But it was easy to see that this fever came not from his physical weakening, but something occurring mentally. A catching-up sadness.

Bassena remembered Shin used to have a fever around his birthday during their adolescent day, or when Joon did not come home for more than a month. Radia also didn’t come out of his house for a week after he sliced Joon’s neck, and they heard later that he actually had a fever.

So it seemed like this wasn’t a rare phenomenon. If anything, it was better than Zein getting all depressed by bottling up everything inside like the last time, before their relationship progressed. Rather than that, Zein being clingy and showing off his vulnerability like this was a sign he let go more, he trusted Bassena more.

What’s not to like?

Well, of course it would be better if he didn’t have to get sick to show it, but...

"Well, you won’t take any rest unless you get to this point, anyway..." Bassena sighed, stroking the slightly flushed cheek. It wasn’t as hot as before, albeit still warm, and the sleeping guide subconsciously nuzzled into the familiar palm.

Curling his lips softly, Bassena laid his head down beside the guide, stroking the sweaty black hair. He would need to change Zein’s clothes in a bit, but for now, he’d have a bit of a rest too.

* * *

"I don’t remember anything..." Zein squinting his eyes at the ceiling, after failing to recall his memory after he was done with the first training regime.

He vaguely remembered seeing something like Bassena’s eyes, but he was so dazed that he kind of thought it was a hallucination that his fried-up brain conjured up because he wanted the esper to hold him.

Turned out Bassena did hold him, because again, he woke up in their bedroom the next day, drenched in sweat.

"How’s your feeling?"

Zein turned his head to see Bassena tilting his head with a smile while peeling something from his forehead. Seemed like a fever patch.

"Pathetic," Zein let out a hot breath, feeling weak. His joints were kind of grumbling at him right now, like something was prickling at them. Well, whatever this was, what he knew now was that he had no energy.

"That means you can’t say no anymore when I tell you to rest today," Bassena grinned. "Which you absolutely had to do today."

The amber eyes stared at Zein keenly, in a rare moment of strictness from Bassena. Well, Zein knew it was he who lacked the self-awareness to know his body’s condition despite always telling his guides to monitor themselves, so he couldn’t object this time.

Smiling at the silent guide, Bassena pointed something that looked like a weird-shaped gun to the sick man’s head. It beeped once and Bassena glanced at the small screen for reading. "Okay, it’s going down now. You should get better today, as long as you stay home and rest."

"Ugh—fine," Zein turned to look the other way, and Bassena pressed his lips to stifle his laugh. The guide looked sober already, but Bassena could see the slight pout on Zein’s lips. "I want potato soup..."

Even the adorable request. "With spices?"

"Mm,"

"Sure, sure," Bassena laughed softly and chased the guide’s face to land a short, chaste kiss. "Should I help you wash up?"

"No, I can do it myself," Zein shifted to get down from the bed. He already felt pathetic enough; it wasn’t like he was an invalid who needed help for everything.

Just like yesterday, he tried to move his body, but even that tired him. Whew—Zein breathed slowly to garner some energy and walked toward the bathroom. When he walked in, however, he was greeted with a basin of warm water on the counter, along with a small towel and neatly folded clothes.

"I have prepared your change," the platinum head peeked inside the bathroom, informing the guide. "Ah, I’m going to change the sheet in a bit, so just lie down on the couch first after you’re done changing."

After saying that, Zein could hear Bassena going downstairs to make his potato soup. Looking at the counter, he caressed the sweater that Bassena had prepared for him, lips curled up reflexively.

For a while, he just stood like that, feeling awed, feeling warmth spreading from his heart. Truly, there was no need for him to worry about anything if Bassena was there. After spending all his life busy taking care of other people, being taken care of felt like a luxury.

But he knew that with Bassena, it wouldn’t be a luxury at all. Being cared for, being provided...it was something that felt more and more natural now. Something that used to be a favor and a debt, became something normal, something expected.

Zein took a deep breath and started to wash his face and his sweaty body, changing into the comfortable sweater that smelled of them both. He stared at the mirror for a while, something that he rarely did. He looked slightly flushed instead of pale, so it was better, he thought. A show of Bassena’s care for him.

These nice, expected things...he should be careful not to take it for granted. He didn’t want to take the esper’s love and affection for granted.

Zein rubbed the Paladin’s Tear on his wrist, smiling fondly at the blessing that he received more and more every day. Next time, when he visited his mother again, he would tell her all about his adorable esper.

His esper that was now bringing him a bowl of warm potato soup with little chunks of mushroom and bacon inside—exactly how Zein liked it. It tasted like warmth and affection, so nice that Zein felt he would probably get well even without the medicine.

After he finished the soup, however, he found Bassena looking at him with downcast eyes. "Why?"

"I have to go," the esper said regretfully.

"...ah, the talk show?"

Bassena shifted closer and laid his head on the guide’s shoulder. "I can cancel it if you want,"

"Don’t," Zein said immediately, even though his sick nerves that carved a lover’s touch wanted the esper to stay. "It’s live, isn’t it? Don’t make the crews cry."

"I know you’d say that..." the esper pursed his lips, nuzzling into the guide’s warm neck.

"I’ll be fine," Zein patted the platinum hair prickling his face. "You’re the one who said my fever had gone down. I won’t do any work today, if that’s what you’re worrying about,"

Bassena pulled away abruptly, staring into the blue eyes. "That’s right, listen to me for once."

"You said it like I never listened to you," Zein rolled his eyes, making Bassena laugh in response.

"I called Ayya here to take care of you," the esper said, and at Zein’s arched brow, he added with a shrug. "It’s not like you can cook by yourself."

Zein tilted his head, only then counting the hours it would need for Bassena to finish his show—a last one that had been scheduled from a long time ago—and calculated that the esper wouldn’t be here until before dinner. Which means he needed someone to provide him with lunch. "Oh, that’s true,"

"Eat this, and then that for a supplement," Bassena put a capsule and a tablet on Zein’s palm along with a glass of water. "Drink a lot of water, okay—not the cold one. Eat the fruits too, also—"

"I get it, I get it," Zein stopped the train of nagging and quickly swallowed the medicine and the supplement. Before Bassena could add more things to that list, Zein quickly made the promise. "I’ll drink a lot and eat the fruit, satisfied?"

Bassena curled his lips and shrugged. "I just want to say you can make a request to Ayya if you want to eat anything specific."

"Oh..."

"I’ll go straight back after the recording," Bassena laughed softly and nuzzled the guide’s neck again for one last time before he departed—because as much as he wanted to stay, he was already late. But hey, Zein always came first in his list of priorities. "Do you want me to bring something back? A cake?"

Zein leaned back into the sofa and caressed the head snuggled on his neck. Cakes did sound good, or something warm—he suddenly wanted those chewy rice cakes with red bean filling too, or steamed buns. Radia told him about something called mulled wine before, so maybe he could ask Bassena to make him that tonight instead.

"...you," after mulling about it for a while, in the end, Zein just gave a simple answer. "Just bring yourself back quickly."

"Ugh—" Bassena lifted his head; jaw clenched and brows furrowed. "Why do you have to go and make it so hard for me to leave?"