There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 195

Chapter 195: Chapter 189. Afterglow

"You look good?" was the comment Zein received the most when he arrived at the guild.

They were quite late because Bassena didn’t really want to come and they ended up spending the time lazily chatting and eating the food prepared by the nanny. Because of this, Bassena was immediately got dragged by Lex to the top floor.

From the barista lady, to the kids on the seventh floor, and now, the member of the committee on the twelfth floor--Zein had received the same comment more than five times already. The last one was by Rina, who looked at him with sparkling eyes in the executive lounge in front of the reclamation committee’s headquarters.

"Thanks?" Zein tilted his head, a bit confused because the phrase this time was uttered like a question.

"No, but seriously," Rina took a seat beside the guide and kept staring at him. "You’ve been looking like you carried the whole world on your shoulder or something lately, but you seem much better now."

So it was that apparent? Zein never looked in the mirror, so he had no idea how bad his facial expression was the past few weeks--especially last week, after he found out about what happened during the spirit attack. Moreover, no one was courageous enough to ask him about it--now when even Bassena Vaski couldn’t.

But now that he looked friendly again, people started to be comfortable enough to comment about it.

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, you looked glowing," Rina made a frame with her thumbs and index fingers, peeking at the guide through it, before pursing her lips. "As if you’re not beautiful enough already."

"You can’t even see my face," Zein rolled his eyes.

"I can see your pretty eyes," Rina grinned, leaning closer to observe the brilliant blue eyes, sparkling like a jewel reflecting the sunlight, deep and rich and mesmerizing--unlike the dull, darkened gaze lurking before. "If I see your face right now, I might really fall in love~" she said while teasingly glancing at Azur who sat on the side.

The warrior glared menacingly at her and Rina giggled in response--which rewarded her with a flick on her forehead. "Ouch?"

"Stop saying nonsense," Zein sighed. But the tone he used was remarkably lighthearted, as if they could feel the smile behind that mask. "Give me your hand if you want a guiding."

"Yee~s!" Rina obediently put her hand on the guide’s palm and scooted closer just to tease the glaring Azur--and because Bassena wasn’t here to give her an additional stink eye. Zein hadn’t been in a good mood lately, so she couldn’t do this for quite some time. Now, the guide didn’t even scold her for sitting too close, and she capitalized on it to inhale the relaxing scent better. "But really, did something happen?"

Zein looked at the ceiling in contemplation, and after a while, answered it with the esper’s words. "Hmm...let’s just say the world is not on my shoulder anymore."

"Eeh, what is that?" Rina twisted her lips. "Give it to me like I’m five, please," she said, despite being the one who said the phrase in the first place.

"I had sex,"

*cough*

Azur spat his coffee at that, and the member of the committee who mingled around in the lounge paused what they did. And even after they awkwardly continued with what they were doing, the side of their ear was directed to the couch.

"That’s not appropriate for a five-year-old!" Rina gasped, and immediately nodded afterward. "But valid reason nonetheless," she grinned and raised her thumb.

The one with the most extreme reaction, however, was the Chief Researcher. "You traitor!"

"What now?"

As an answer, Han Shin tapped on his commlink and shoved his messaging interference to Zein. "Look at this! Look what you’ve done to me!"

[Stop calling me when I’m with my boyfriend]

[I sacrifice my time today so you keep my boyfriend entertained for me]

[Don’t forget to take my boyfriend to lunch]

[Anyway, my boyfriend is so pretty today]

And many more. A string of messages, almost

like spam, filled the interface. Each and every message contained at least one word of ’boyfriend’, some accompanied by smirking emoticons.

To all those displays, which were an annoyance for the recipient, Zein responded with a small chuckle. "Heh, cute."

"Shut up! Now I have to live with him shoving it at my face!" Han Shin retracted the interface, groaning as he sat back in his chair. "What happened anyway? You went to watch one romantic movie and suddenly everything is rose and sunshine?"

Oh, sweet summer child--if only he knew what actually happened during that one romance movie. But in retrospect, it was also the trigger that pushed Zein to the edge, which allowed him to spill everything, letting the rotting water inside his heart flow out and leaving him feeling lighter, feeling better.

So Zein couldn’t help but smile. "It’s your fiancee who set that movie date for us, though?"

Han Shin blinked and paused for a second before typing furiously on his commlink. "Reina, you traitor!"

"I’m tired~" just like this morning, the esper dove straight into Zein’s lap, using the guide’s thigh as his personal pillow. "Ugh--I’d rather dungeon diving for three days than face those foxes."

It was already way past lunch when the sudden video conference was wrapped up. Bassena strolled inside the executive lounge with a groan, taking off his necktie and chucking it onto the couch before taking refuge in his beloved guide’s lap.

"Good job," and just like this morning, Zein stroked the platinum hair--carefully this time, since it had been combed and styled neatly.

Bassena raised his face so he could see the blue eyes better and grinned. "Praise me again."

"Good boy,"

This time, it came with a pat and a soft voice that widened the bright grin. It truly dawned on everyone present that the two were truly, officially, an item now.

"Stop it! I’m cringing!" and of course, there would always be the loyal sound of protest from Han Shin. But this time, Bassena could unhesitatingly respond with a smirk.

"Is that your puppy or your boyfriend?" the Guildmaster, who finally came to the building for the meeting, greeted them with a question.

The crimson eyes stared at Zein, observing the bright eyes and the lack of dark circles. He arched his brow, to which the guide responded with a chuckle. So it seemed, finally, Zein found his help--Radia smiled inwardly. He was about to drag Zein to a psychologist if things didn’t change, but it was good that they didn’t have to go down that route.

"Can’t I be both?" Bassena answered with a laugh as they stood from their seat.

With a chuckle, Radia nodded in satisfaction. "Both it is."

Well, who cares what his label was? Bassena shrugged as they followed the Guildmaster to the meeting room. He just needed to know that Zein had opened his heart to him now, that he didn’t mind showing his affection.

But above all, he just needed to know that Zein was alright. The brilliant blue that gazed softly at him was enough proof, and Bassena intended to keep them that way.

"What are we going to do after the meeting?" Zein asked quietly as they entered the meeting room.

"...I have your time too after the meeting?" Bassena replied in surprise.

He thought he was lucky enough that the reserved guide indulged his show of affection freely in front of other people. But there was a bonus?

"Mm...since I ruined it yesterday," Zein said and made a musing face, before turning to look at the esper. "Do you want to have a birthday date after this?"