There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 226

Chapter 226: Chapter 220. Night of Contending Egos

"What kind of gate was it?" Zein asked when they arrived at the suite.

"Orange."

"Did you arrive on time? Was the damage severe?"

"Cars and walls."

"Anything manage to go outside?"

"The channel to the hotel. Some."

Zein crouched in front of the mini bar, looking at mineral water, but reaching for a beer. Today was even more exhausting than yesterday, and he couldn’t afford to face a sulking Bassena without some help.

When he stood up again, cracking the can open, he found the esper was staring blankly at the night view. Zein had thought Bassena was sulking from how he chose to go meet Han Joon than accompanying him, but looking at the rather listless face, Zein felt like he had to rethink his judgment.

Tapping the bar counter, Zein called to the esper. "Baby, come here and talk to me."

Finally, Zein saw a slight reaction. Bassena flinched slightly at the pet name and, like an obedient puppy, walked to the bar and plopped down on one of the stools as Zein observed him with intrigued eyes.

What was this? Zein had used to Bassena pouting from being jealous. He was fine with it, as long as Bassena did not throw a tantrum and be snarky. Since that night after they met Scarlet Moon, Bassena had grown calmer, and his jealousy came from the inevitable obsessiveness of an esper toward his guide, not a lover.

But this one felt different.

Bassena did not pout, did not sulk. He wasn’t even putting on a passive-aggressive remark about how popular Zein was. Instead, he just sat there brooding with blank eyes, fingers fiddling with the edge of his sleeve, uncharacteristically nervous.

Drinking the beer first to relax his tensed nerve, Zein proceeded with tilting his head to stare at the amber eyes and asked.

"What is it?" Zein couldn’t even feel annoyed, just confused. It was rather fascinating if he had to be honest.

Hesitatingly, Bassena muttered. "I know that you don’t like me acting jealous,"

"Obviously, since it’s ridiculous," Zein told the esper matter-of-factly. "You are Bassena Vaski, for fuck’s sake. You said no one in this world deserves me more than you, so why are you constantly feeling insecure?"

"I know, I’ve been trying to fix it," Bassena chewed the inside of his cheek.

"I can tell," Zein commented fairly. At least, the esper no longer locked himself somewhere and vented his anger through violence.

Bassena pressed his lips hard then, as if uttering what he wanted to convey next was a hard thing to do. "...but, if it’s Joon..."

Zein paused the half-raised can and put the beer down on the counter again, raising his brow in surprise. "What about him?"

"I mean...I can confidently go up against anyone who wants you, and beat them--not physically, but, you know, in getting your heart," Bassena sighed, swiping his head with his hand and lowering his gaze as he muttered heavily. "But if it’s Joon..."

This was...unexpected.

Zein blinked in astonishment as he asked. "Are you going to give up if it’s him?"

"No!" Bassena answered swiftly, looking at Zein with agitated eyes. But he immediately retracted with another heavy sigh and followed in a calmer--albeit devastated--tone. "I mean no, I won’t give up even then. Just...it’s going to be hard..."

"Why? You don’t feel good going against him?" Zein shoved his beer away. This turned out to be something that he couldn’t face without getting completely sober.

"...yeah," Bassena answered slowly. He gripped his hands together, as if he was afraid they would fly to make damage. "He’s...I don’t know how to describe it, but...if he asked me to get blamed for his crime, I’d do it gladly."

Zein felt like Bassena shouldn’t say that lightly, because, for all he knew, Han Joon was the type to easily do that to anyone who wasn’t Radia.

And, for all he knew, the man might have been committing institutional crimes for the past ten years.

But he understood. "You owed him."

Bassena lowered his head even more, pressing his knuckles against his forehead. "Yeah," and then he added, carefully. "You...literally saved my life, and my soul, but before then--"

"He’s the one who saved you first," Zein nodded, and Bassena lifted his face, looking quite relieved that Zein at least understood that. "Him and Radia."

"Yeah," Bassena opened his mouth, but then closed it again, and Zein could see the struggle in those amber eyes. The esper must have a war of thoughts in his head right now, and he waited patiently.

After almost a minute, after biting his lips, Bassena finally opened his mouth again. "So...if you fall for him, and...and he wants you...that will be..." he swallowed hard, grabbing his own hand tighter to suppress any violent instinct--because even as he said it, his heart was roaring in rage. "That might be harder than toppling the Golden Viper."

Zein had to bite his lips to hold back his laughter. Because he knew this was serious for Bassena, and he didn’t want to look as if he didn’t care for the esper’s feelings.

But...oh, God--if only Bassena knew how ridiculous it all sounded. He was tempted to just tell Bassena everything about Radia and Joon, but it wasn’t his secret to tell, so he couldn’t do that without the consent of those two.

"Haa...you adorable fool," Zein flicked the space between the downcast eyes. "There’s no way I would fall for someone like him."

Bassena blinked and looked up, the guide’s words were enough for him to ignore the stings from the hard flick. With widened eyes, he watched the guide walk around the counter and stopped in front of him. Fingers caressed his lips, jaw, the shell of his ears...

Tilting his head, Zein smiled and whispered against the esper’s lips. "There’s nothing cute about that man," a light peck, and then; "Unlike you."

Bassena took a deep breath, and this time, he was the one who captured those smirking lips.

"Stop getting worried over other people," Zein sighed and flicked the esper’s again, who was now able to wince instead of blanking. "You have no competition but with yourself--would you stop worrying if I say that?"

"...maybe?"