There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 388 - 380. A Stack of Memories

Chapter 388: Chapter 380. A Stack of Memories

"Would he be alright?"

When the question was asked, Radia paused for a second. He shared a glance with Zein, whose lips curled into a smirk. "Oh, my sweet younglings," Radia chuckled as he looked at Bassena and Han Shin, who immediately pursed their lips while looking confused. "How innocent you are."

"Don’t patronize me."

Zein smiled and patted his esper’s arm. "You can’t possibly believe Han Joon is that vulnerable? The man who mentored you in hand-to-hand combat?"

"Well..."

Radia leaned back on his chair and laughed, ruffling the confused healer. "You still have this image of him that was so...gentle, courteous, a role model of morals and ethics," he smiled. "But that, sweet child, was just a facade, don’t you see? His play to be good enough to maintain his rank and access, but not exceptional enough to be noticed."

"All this time...he’d been pretending?" Han Shin narrowed his eyes. He did feel that his brother was rather different the last time they met, but...he had thought it was nothing but nerves.

After all, his beloved hyung had been nothing but gentle and kind to him. A generous and valiant soul.

"Well, I wouldn’t say he was pretending in his love for you," Radia said reassuringly. "But the rest?"

At that moment, the crimson eyes dimmed. "He’d been doing it all his life, hiding what was really inside his mind. You," he looked at the healer. "You should know it too."

Han Shin bit his lips and lowered his eyes, staring hard at the beautiful wooden table. Did he know? Of course, he did, if he took his time to think about it. His silent hyung, always bearing everything alone, buried all feelings and emotions deep so as to not anger their wicked father.

He let out a long sigh and took a piece of chocolate to console himself.

With curled lips, Radia leaned forward, staring into Han Shin and Bassena’s eyes. "Now, there’s no need for him to pretend anymore, no need to maintain his image for his mission and...to appease that person. His only family member is a five-star esper in affiliation with Trinity and Mortix, who will be in the Deathzone in a few months," the crimson eyes glinted like the surface of the lake. "Now, he’s free."

Zein chuckled. It was quite funny to say a man was free when he was inside a prison, but there was nothing but the truth in that statement. The black eyes he saw the other day were no longer the void the man usually wore; they were sparkling, gleaming with life.

"So, you’re telling me that if anyone wants to mess with him, he’ll respond in kind?" Bassena tilted his head.

"In kind? No," Radia raised his brow before leaning back and propped his elbow on the armrest. "Oh no; he’ll give them hell."

"Huh..."

"What a jolly conversation we’re having," Zein leaned back and looked up; a peaceful smile across his lips.

Bassena gently held the guide’s hand, and Zein received it while closing his eyes. Watching Zein on the dock, with the bright blue sky and the lake as a backdrop, fluttering petals falling around him like confetti, Han Shin couldn’t help but smile.

"You look at home," the healer said, propping his chin on the table. "This place is--how does Reina say it...aesthetically fit you?"

"That’s an improvement," Zein chuckled. His ’aesthetic’, as people said it, used to be the harsh battlefield.

Fit him, huh? Zein recalled what Senan told him earlier. "I was given a name here," he said, to which the healer gasped. "Probably conceived here too."

"No wonder!" Han Shin swept his gaze across the estate.

"And? Will you continue to live here?" Radia tilted his head, looking at the couple who looked very much cozy in there.

Zein glanced at Bassena, who was just shrugging in response. The esper did say he would follow what Zein wanted. "No," he said. "How can I do my work from here?"

"You can commute," Radia glanced toward the direction of the helipad.

"And waste how many hours? No--this place is better as a vacation home," Zein smiled in contentment as he looked at the white house and colorful garden.

"A vacation house?" Han Shin raised his brow. "You’re not going to live here in the future? You know...after the Deathzone?"

At that, Zein glanced at Bassena, flicking their intertwined hand. "This one told me he’ll build a new house for us."

"Sounds like a proposal."

"Ahem," Bassena cleared his throat, glaring at the healer. He looked back at Zein then, and spoke in an attempt to let the topic slide by. "But talking about vacation house, we can take a real vacation and spend a few days here."

Radia raised his teacup. "Sounds like a plan. We all need a rest after everything."

"But it’s not yet concluded, isn’t it? Not everything," Zein exhaled slowly. "There’s still the trial."

Han Shin groaned and Radia nodded in response. "True. It’s probably nice to have the vacation after everything has been settled."

"But won’t it take a long time?" Han Shin frowned.

"Not if the Old Houses are involved," Radia drank his lukewarm tea, wincing slightly in dissatisfaction. "Since the evidence against the main perpetrator had been gathered, it won’t be long."

"There we have it," Zein clapped his hand. "We’ll go through the trial and train the troops while we’re waiting."

"And then, vacation?" Bassena leaned closer to the guide, taking Zein’s hand back on his. "A real vacation that does not involve looking for something or getting ambushed?"

Zein laughed and patted the esper’s cheek. "As you wish."

"Can I have one too? A vacation? Here?" Han Shin asked eagerly with sparkling eyes, and Bassena quickly barked.

"Not while we’re here!"

"Ugh--it’s not like I want to watch you shag each other too!"

"No fighting today," Zein shot them a look, and the espers cleared their throat, leaning back on their chair and suddenly getting busy with their teas.

Radia shook his head and sighed, smiling amusedly at the two people whose relationship had never changed since their adolescent days. A good thing, perhaps. "Well, that’s probably the sign for us to get back, Shin."

"Ah, wait--" Zein stood up when Radia patted the healer’s shoulder to update their itinerary. He took out something from his storage ring and looked around the table with a smile. "Should we take some pictures together?"

"A polaroid!" Han Shin exclaimed enthusiastically. While they could take pictures with their commlink whenever, something was exciting about taking one that would get developed instantly. "Right, right! Let’s get one--no, let’s get lots!"

* * *

"They came out good," Bassena commented as they looked at the polaroids in Zein’s hand. He glanced up at the sound of rotors as the deep red helicopter flew away, before following Zein back to the lake.

"The weather is good, lots of natural light," Zein’s lips curled slightly at the silly face that Han Shin made in one of the photos, and the moment when the healer and Bassena bantered about position and whatever before Zein pressed on the button.

Radia, as usual, looked calm and smiling in all of them. But there was one where he gave out a genuine laugh when Han Shin tackled him from behind. They asked one of his summons to take a picture of four of them together; one with the lake in the background, and one with the house.

Smiling, Zein gave the photos to Bassena. This kind of thing would be beneficial in the Deathzone; memories to remind them of the good things, of what they tried to achieve. As they approached the backyard, Zein took out the camera again and took a picture of the people setting up a banquet.

"Luzein!"

He heard the sound of the Eiyuta ladies coming from the forest side of the estate. It seemed like they were taking a walk around the estate, with Fianna and Lisa to accompany them.

"Have you visited her?" Zein asked when Ria and Sherri approached him.

"Yes," they were no longer crying now. Their eyes were still swollen--perhaps because they had been crying since yesterday--but their complexion was much better, brighter, and their eyes shone with a new light.

"This is such a beautiful place," Sherri looked around the estate; the lake, the house, the orchard, and stopped at the garden with a smile. "I know Lucia must have liked it here."

"So I heard," Zein nodded.

The garden, especially, used to be her beloved child whom she tended every day lovingly, before leisurely sunbathing in the dock while reading books. Sometimes, she read children’s books for her unborn child instead.

Zein glanced at Ria and Sherri, who was looking around happily. "You can stay here if you want," he said. The two ladies looked at him with widened eyes. "It’s a good place for a vacation, don’t you think?"

"Well, yes...but--" Sherri paused, looking at Ria timidly.

"You don’t have to do it for us, Luzein," Ria said in a quiet voice. "You’ve been so good to us when we’re just..."

"Don’t you want to visit my mother?" Zein tilted his head, before shifting his gaze toward the field of blue hibiscus on the other side of the garden. "I won’t be able to visit this place much after I go to the East, so it will be nice if there are people to take care of the graves and talk to her," he paused. "To them."

"Luzein..."

"Don’t worry about the travel. You can call the Iron Shield and they’ll pick you up, just like yesterday," Zein glanced at the two espers behind, who immediately replied with a smile.

"Certainly, Young Master."

"You can stay here in leisure too, help me take care of the house."

Ria and Sherri took a deep breath, feeling their eyes stung by tears again. It was hard to stop themselves from crying earlier, and now they already wanted to cry again.

"Well, do think about it," Zein said softly. "For now, let’s have a feast."

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.