There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 365 - 357. Mark of Devotion (1)

Chapter 365: Chapter 357. Mark of Devotion (1)

The moment they stepped out of the portal, Radia spewed out a series of curses, the frustration was apparent in the way he slumped on the couch.

Han Joon looked around, his lips curled slightly as the tip of his fingers swept across a high table holding a flower vase. How nostalgic. It was the room they always used for their rendezvous; the room where they knit their relationship for the first time.

And now, looking at Radia all frustrated, shedding all the calm and cunning persona, brought him to that day again.

Han Joon lowered himself in front of the summoner, who was burying his face in his palms. "Don’t sulk," he said teasingly. "We only have twenty-four hours, so I’d rather see your smile."

"Don’t treat me like I’m a petulant child!"

Han Joon smiled at the frowning brows and snarling lips; didn’t even try to tell Radia otherwise. The crimson eyes had become redder, and he could see those eyelashes were slightly wet. Radia was upset, and the man was upset at the fact that he was upset, unable to control his emotions.

You were the one who told me humans should express themselves. Han Joon chuckled softly and leaned forward to give the angry lips a soft, brief kiss, before proceeding to stand up.

"Where are you going?" Radia scowled, holding the soldier’s arms tightly.

"Shower; I hadn’t had a shower for the past few days," Han Joon replied lightheartedly, swiveling his hands so he became the one who held Radia’s arm instead. He pulled the summoners up, adding calmly. "Why don’t you join me, then?"

Radia would have done it even without the invitation. He had no intention of taking another shower, but he didn’t want to let Han Joon out of his sight, even for a shower.

And Han Joon was right; he needed a shower badly. Ignoring the accumulated sweat and dirt from the past few days, his clothes were reeked of the corrupted hound’s blood, miasma, and the burning trace of activating all of those exploding formation sheets.

"To think you would utilize the item they used at the auction," Radia commented as the burning smell wafted his way.

"Isn’t it nice to give them the taste of their own medicine?" Han Joon said nonchalantly, chucking the bloody, torn shirt into the en-suite floor. He glanced at the mirror, finding out that most of his external injury had been cured by Radia’s aggressive potion-pouring earlier. The lesser elixir had healed his organs, but there were still bruises left all over his pale, cold skin.

Considering he almost died earlier though, this was a massive development.

Softly, he felt a pressure on his back; a warm touch, almost scalding to his cold skin. He felt the forehead pressing between his shoulder blade, and the trembling palms on his back. The warm breaths grazing his skin were stuttering, heavy.

Han Joon turned around, letting the warm forehead fall onto his chest, patting the red locks and the trembling back. He pressed his lips on Radia’s temple, the smile didn’t seem to want to leave his lips. "You’re safe now," he whispered. The system that designed all of the assassination plans had been destroyed, so there would be no immediate danger to Radia anymore. "All you have to do now is root out the one who put the system together."

And it wasn’t something that a soldier like him could do anyway. What would be needed now was connections and politics; his darling’s playing field.

Radia clutched the pale skin tightly, pressing his head more onto that chest, listening to the steady heartbeat. There was so much he wanted to ask, to get angry at. But for now, he basked in the fact that he could hear this heartbeat, beating loudly; alive.

Why did this man go this far for him? Radia had wanted to ask, but realized it was a silly question. Was there even a need to ask? Of course, Han Jon did it because the man loved him. Still, he wanted the answer as to why he never said anything to him. His heart was breaking, thinking that he spent so many years in hatred for a man who sacrificed everything for him.

Radia pulled away, staring at the black eyes that shimmered with the glow of stars. "Did you not tell me about it because you thought I would prevent you from doing it?"

Radia was quite self-aware. He knew what he was like back in the day; he was cheeky, he was daring, he had an understanding that he could almost get out of anything with the power his family had. He knew that if Joon had told him about it, he would want to face this system himself.

But wouldn’t that be better, still? Wouldn’t it be better to face danger together than be at odds with each other?

Han Joon, however, merely gave him a subtle smile and a kiss on his forehead, before walking beneath the shower head. "No," he said, as Radia looked at him inquisitively. "I need you---no, I need everyone to think we are not in a good relationship."

"What?"

Radia had to wait until Han Joon finished washing his face before he could get an answer. "The way the system works, it was to calculate the target’s potential," the black eyes glanced at Radia, "and that includes the people around them."

Radia widened his eyes briefly, before rubbing his lips with a contemplative look. "So you mean...if it was known that we have in some kind of relationship, you will be included in that calculation, and put under supervision top?"

"Yes," Han Joon poured a generous amount of body wash on his hands, and started to scrub his skin. "I wouldn’t be able to make my investigation, then. Also...if it seemed like you knew something about it--"

"The system will put it into calculation too," Radia nodded, starting to understand it more now. He walked toward the bathtub and started to fill it for Han Joon, staring at the running water as he sat at the edge of the tub.

He exhaled slowly; he couldn’t even pretend to be upset at Joon for making a solitary decision right now. He just wanted to curse the people who made this system in the first place, using a corrupted power no less.

"When you find the target list and how the system works..." Radia frowned, dipping his fingers in the water to check for the temperature. "Did you not think about telling someone about it? An adult? Adults?"

Han Joon paused his hand on top of the shower knob, lips stretched into a bitter smile. "I thought about facing it in a lot of ways; I have a part of the evidence--the targets, the manual on how it works..." he exhaled heavily, "but I had no idea who else was involved."

He turned the knob and let the water wash away the soap along with the rest of the blood and grime still clinging to his skin. When he turned off the water, he watched the droplets falling to his toes, eyes blanking for a while.

"Han Gyeong--" he said, and Radia twitched at the way Han Joon called his father just by name coldly, as if the old man was nothing more than a stranger. "He was a high-ranking military officer, so I couldn’t trust any government-related body too, much less Houses. And telling your family...hmm..."

He paused, before shaking his head and stepping out of the shower. "In the end, after much deliberation, I decided on this path."

He ended his explanation with a casual tone. Everything had passed, and he got what he wanted--to destroy the system and keep his darling safe. Whatever scenario there might be to make things easier, it wouldn’t matter anymore.

He entered the tub and let out a slow, relieved, long-due sigh as the warm water caressed his skin. Laying his head at the edge of the tub, he closed his eyes, letting go of the tension he had been carrying for eleven years.

Radia watched the stern face of the soldier relaxing, and he reached out to caress the pale cheek that gradually regained color. "Do you regret it?"

Han Joon leaned onto the caressing hand, opening his eyes slowly. "No," he said, lips drawn a simple smile. "It’s something I always knew would happen one day, ever since I saw your name on his desk."

The soldier paused for a bit, seemingly contemplating his words. "No--if I look back at it, the thought probably had crossed my mind from time to time since my childhood."

The silent tears of his mother, the unheard wailing of his older sister, all of the pain his body had to endure for almost two decades...everything burned in his soul, scarring. The fact that his father was involved in the system that targeted the love of his life merely acted as a trigger.

"Still, I tried to see if there was something more in him," he looked at the ceiling, smiling slightly wider. "I’m glad there was none."

Radia couldn’t help but frown. Han Joon had been smiling so much during the past fifteen minutes, but everything just felt...sad and dry. That being said, he did look at peace, relaxed, letting go of all his repressed emotions.

It was just that everything had been stretched out for too long that it almost numbing at this point. They should have celebrated this or something, but all this felt like was that a long overdue job had finally been done, and it was time to rest.

"What do you want to do now?" Radia asked; his voice was quiet, but it resounding loudly in the bathroom.

"You mean before going to prison?" Han Joon replied teasingly, which awarded him with a flick between his brows. He chuckled and took Radia’s hand, pressing his lips between knuckles. "I would like you to kiss me."

Radia leaned down and gave the man a long, sweet kiss until he fell into the tub, fully clothed. When they parted their lips, he took his time staring at the black eyes, swiping the dark hair away from the pale face.

"And then?"

"Sleep," Han Joon smiled and laid his head on Radia’s shoulder. "I would like to sleep in your arms."