There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 352

Chapter 352: Chapter 344. For Granted

Radia was right; his parents were just...normal. They were the kind of parents Zein imagined parents should be. A little bit pushy, a little bit nosy, with extra affection available for anyone related to their son.

"You’re getting way better at this than the last time," Calix patted his cooking partner he kidnapped away from the group.

Bassena chuckled proudly while flipping the meat above the grill. "I can cook a lot of things right now," he glanced at the table, where everyone was. "Laurel said another way to take someone’s heart is through their stomach."

"Does it work?"

Bassena just answered with a small bashful laugh that got his cheek slightly warm, and he received a ruffle in his platinum hair.

That cordial atmosphere, however, couldn’t be seen at the table, where the three waiting for the food drowned in a bleak conversation.

"He came last night," Radia muttered while twirling a bread stick in his fingers.

"Who?" Han Shin tilted his head in confusion, different from Zein who caught it immediately.

"Joon?"

"What?" the healer dropped his hand to the table, looking flabbergasted and offended at the same time. Why his brother would show himself to Radia first and not him?!

The frown and grievance on Radia’s face, however, prevented him from lashing out. "He gave me something before he went away again; a flash drive," Radia continued.

"What? They use that here?" Zein raised his brow. Unlike the digitally infused life of the higher zone which was connected by the interlink, people in the red-zone used flash drives to receive and pass information.

"No usually; that’s why it’s weird," Radia replied with narrowed eyes, before glancing at Han Shin. "I thought it was probably something like the materials he sent to Shin."

"You mean...clues?" the healer perked up, no longer feeling so offended.

"Mm," Radia threw the bread stick to the plate, frowning even deeper now. "So I went to a place that could open it, but the file inside was written in codes. It’ll need days to know what exactly is written there."

"Days..." Han Shin sighed, taking the bread stick that Radia discarded earlier and nibbling on it in disappointment.

Zein, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes as he looked at the summoner. Sure, the item he gave was cryptic, but Radia still got to see the man in flesh; meaning he could ascertain that Han Joon was still alive. If anything, he should be more relieved than worried, but...

"Hey, walk with me?" Zein nudged the summoner, who shrugged and stood up to leave the patio.

Waving to Laurel who looked at them inquisitively, they walked down the walkway to the fish pond in the backyard, which reminded Zein of their first ’outing’ together, where Radia picked him up to go to the fish store. It was fascinating how much their relationship had shaped since that time.

"How was he?" Zein asked quietly, staring at the fleeting fish.

"Bad," Radia shook his head; the restraint in his voice was probably the whole reason why he was getting grounded today. "He was bleeding. He came to me without addressing his wound." _{freёwebnoѵel.com}

Which meant the man didn’t have that much time to spare. Seeing as he immediately went after that showed he was on a tight schedule--or that was all the time he got before he could be traced.

Zein nodded in understanding. Being alive was one thing--being alive in lethal trouble was another. It felt like a race of time between whether we could save them first or the trouble finding them first. The unending gut-wrenching sensation of waiting for news, and the frustration of not being able to do anything--Zein knew too much of that feeling.

That was what he felt during the hours between the outbreak and finding his brothers under the rubble.

"I don’t want Shin to know this bit," Radia took a deep breath, glancing at the healer who was now talking cheerfully with his mother.

"Alright," Zein nodded. "Did you tell your parents? About everything?"

This time, a small smile sneaked its way briefly into the summoner’s lips. "Yeah. They already had a hunch about my relationship with Joon anyway," he paused for a little bit, recalling all the things he talked about with his parents this morning while his mother held his hand.

They didn’t look surprised when he mentioned Han Joon and even gave him some advice. "My father told me to bring the materials and a part of the flash drive to House Apsoro," Radia said.

"The one that excels in spying?"

"Yeah, but...at this point, I’m not sure we know who is on who’s side," Radia sighed. "I can’t risk going there just because I’m feeling impatient and finding out later that they are actually in the enemy’s camp all along."

"He said our," Bassena narrowed his eyes at Zein, who just chuckled and patted the esper’s cheek.