There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 182

Chapter 182: Chapter 176. Spirit Crystal

"Did you see them?" Han Shin whispered.

Abe, who was sitting atop one of the tents squinted to look into the distance. "Yeah."

"What are they doing?"

Below, Julian made a disapproving scowl while scrubbing his shield. "Isn’t this peeping?"

"Sush!"

"They’re talking--ah, he put his hand on the Commander’s neck...I think he’s guiding," Abe reported religiously from above.

"Zein guiding through something other than hand?" Han Shin widened his eyes, before whispering sharply. "Scandalous."

"Huh? Commander is...oh--"

"What?" excited, curious heads shot up to give the archer a united eager look, only to have the man sliding down, almost stumbling as he took a seat beside Julian.

"Oh..." his fair cheeks were suddenly smeared with a flush. "I don’t think it’s right to peek anymore..."

"You don’t think it’s wrong from the start?" Julian rolled his eyes, before going back to his scrubbing.

Han Shin clicked his tongue in disappointment, but offered a defense for the archer. "To be fair, they did it in the open..." he shrugged before pausing for a bit, cooking up a scenario of what those two were doing that made the archer blush like that before continuing, "...whatever it is they’re doing right now."

"What are you talking about?" their little peeping--ahem, discussion--club suddenly got additional members as Zhan and Banner joined the circle after getting back from escorting the surveyor and the porters, scavenging some materials in the vicinity.

Han Shin and Gus gladly filled in the newcomers with the juicy event that happened over the boulder in the distance. The two espers raised their brows before crouching closer to the group.

"So...like...are they really an item?" Zhan asked in a whisper, just like how his sisters did when they were gossiping about celebrities during family meetings.

"Not officially," Han Shin shrugged in response.

"How do you know?"

"Because Bas wouldn’t stop mentioning it if they are," the healer scoffed. Knowing Bassena, and how much Han Shin had teased him about his stagnant relationship, the Saint-class would shove it in his face if he really had permission to call Zein his ’boyfriend’.

Gus curled his lips upward as he recalled the scene he saw during the meeting a few days ago; the tender exchange of gazes, the intimate gesture. "For something that’s not official, they sure act like one," he commented with a chuckle.

"Eh, it’s good," Kei, who had the honor of meeting them during what was supposed to be Bassena’s worst week, remembered how calm Bassena was at that time. She was surprised because during the three years she worked with Bassena, the esper had always acted like a ticking time bomb during that time of the year. "Commander seems more stable now."

"Yup!" Han Shin replied with a nod and a wide grin. But the gaze he gave to the rest of the people was a serious one. "So we do try to not meddle too much with them."

"I heard..."

"Yeah?" they turned toward Nadine, who had been listening quietly before. She bit her lips in contemplation before finally speaking again, low enough for a whisper.

"I heard from the Chief that the reason why Trinity has a better support system for guides is probably because of Captain."

They raised their head and looked at Han Shin swiftly, eyes demanding confirmation. _{freёwebnoѵel.com}

"Well, here’s what I know; Bas had been looking for a certain guide since...four--five?--years ago; he’s the one that drafted the guidelines for the guide department when we established the guild," the healer shrugged. "You do the math."

They were silent for a while before Gus let out a small laugh. "You know, I thought Commander never cares for others’ advances because he’s just as weird and wayward as we are..."

"But it’s actually because his heart is already set on someone, huh?" Kei finished the sentence while nodding.

"Maybe not this much at first, but..." Han Shin smirked as he recalled their early days in the Deathzone. "He definitely falling deeper after they spend more time together."

They nodded in agreement, because they could clearly see the possessive tendency in Bassena--even discounting an esper’s attachment to their favorite guide.

"Bas is not the weird one though. I am actually more intrigued as to how Zein is giving away more and more every--"

"They’re coming back," Abe warned them quietly.

"Oh, shoot--" Han Shin flailed his hand to break their suspicious circle. "Act normal, act normal!"

When Zein and Bassena arrived at the camp, they had busied themselves with whatever--polishing weapons, talking strategies, munching on rations...Han Shin grinned at them and Bassena gave him a narrowed, side-eye glance.

If he knew they were talking about him and Zein, he didn’t say anything about it for the rest of the raid.

* * *

"Tsk...this is the worst..." Kei muttered dejectedly as she came back to where the squad was hiding, two hundred meters from the wall.