There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 239

Chapter 239: Chapter 232. The Image of Future

"You’re either getting used to or getting addicted to this," Bassena smirked at the way Zein’s whole face would light up every time they used the helicopter.

"Mm," Zein responded simply. "Or it could be because I think you look hot piloting that."

"Is that why you always became horny after we land?" Bassena raised his brow, praising himself inwardly for getting ahold of himself and not swerving the helicopter too much to the side from fluster.

Zein, however, turned his face toward the esper and said with a smirk. "What are you talking about? I’m horny now."

This time, the helicopter did swerve--a lesson for Bassena to stop being prideful and put on autopilot.

Zein was still laughing as Bassena landed the helicopter somewhere a bit further away from their previous location, on the orchard field that had been cleared out of the unsalvagable trees. He only stopped through Bassena’s aggressive kiss of revenge, pinned to the seat as they consumed each other lips. _{freewebnøvel.coɱ}

Until they felt someone coming over their way, and they climbed down the helicopter like some prim and proper owner doing an inspection instead of two lustful men. As expected, it was old man Senan who came to greet them, with the young esper who barely finished his Tower’s trial, Arlo. Zein didn’t know about Arlo, but Senan had decided to stay at the construction site until it was done, together with the workers. They built temporary housing for the works, since the site was pretty far from anywhere. It cost more, but Zein didn’t mind paying for it.

Just as Bassena had predicted, the early work mainly focused on clearing the estate; getting rid of old stumps and dead trees, clearing out the weeds, taking the house apart, and cleaning the lake. With Senan there, they tried to preserve as much as they could from the leftover furniture, and see if they could restore any of them.

Zein could already see that the house’s structure was no more. Since he wanted to make a bunker, they had to dig deep, and that was what the workers had been doing when Zein and Bassena came. They were working as usual until they realized the one coming with the helicopter was Bassena Vaski. They either flinched or froze when they saw the esper, until the construction manager scolded them.

"Sorry for coming unannounced," Zein said as they moved away to the lakeside to let the workers worked easier, walking alongside the cold water.

"No, no!" the construction manager hurriedly shook his head. "It’s your estate, of course you could come whenever you like, Sir."

They stopped at the place where they could see the remnant of the dock and where the house used to be, with the workers running around even harder now that the one paying them was here.

"Is it going fine? It should be hard doing this during the winter," Zein watched the diligent workers while pressing his sole into the hard soil.

"It’s fine so far," the manager explained proudly with a confident nod. "The hard soil wouldn’t matter with today’s machinery, and this part of the region rarely snows anyway," he looked around the estate, and pointed around the empty lot with spreading hand. "Once we clean up everything, it’ll be nice timing to start planting some seeds and shaping the garden."

"Mm..." Zein had no visual to be used as an example, so he just pictured the orchard he passed through when he accompanied Bassena to the cemetery before.

Rows and rows of apple trees framed the road with yellowing leaves. He wondered how it would be when they were green and blossoming. Would it smell like apples? Those sweet and sour things he liked recently? The thought of walking through the trees and plucking apples, strolling beneath the scattering plum blossoms...it put a smile behind the black mask.

"What about the lake?" Bassena, who was crouching near the water asked while looking down. Amazingly, the lake had retained its clarity after all those years. He glanced toward Zein and Senan. "I mean the dock--it was so broken before that I had no idea what it would look like in the past."

"Mister Senan had provided us with a general image, but we’ll see if we can improve on it for longevity and safety," the manager told them while sweeping his gaze at the lake, as if he was determined to turn this place into the best summer gateway.

Zein dismissed the man after hearing everything he wanted, and continued to gaze into the construction while sitting on a boulder with Bassena, who seemed to wonder if he could go fishing in the lake once the weather turned warmer. The idea of fishing and grilling the fish they caught right there and then on the dock, having a small barbeque party, put another smile on Zein’s hidden face. It was so much easier now; talking about a bright future and picturing himself inside it rather than being a pessimistic outsider.

"Do you know we have their wedding here, Young Master?" Senan, who had been silently watching them, suddenly said with a smile.

"...my parents?" Zein turned his head slightly so he could glance at the middle-aged man.

"Yes," the man nodded, pointing in the direction of the house with his chin. "Right on that dock."

Zein raised his brow slightly. He only had one wedding picture of his parents, and it didn’t capture the background much, except for the showering petals of cherry blossom. Was that actually taken in this place?

"Ah, it was so beautiful before. The sky was bright and the flowers were all in bloom," Senan sighed with a smile, looking up in reminisce. "It’s like the world celebrating their union together."

Now that Zein looked at it better, the lakeside did seem to be filled with rows of trees. They had decayed and dead from the harsh weather, and probably getting destroyed by the people who ransacked the house before. But from the leftover stump and the remnant of dug-up soil, it must have been part of a picturesque strolling path.

Bassena, who had been keeping his silence all this time, picked up another pebble and, with a smirk, threw it across the water. It jumped over the surface a few times before submerging, creating several ripples that resonated with each other.