There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 283

Chapter 283: Chapter 276. Extended Family

"What the hell is wrong with this schedule?!"

Bassena looked up from the rows and rows of everything he needed to attend for the next week; talkshow, commercial shoot, interview, another talkshow, product testing, more talk show...

"Isn’t that normal after a dungeon clear?" Lex cheekily shrugged. It was also clear that his response stemmed from the fact that he was the one who had to handle all of Bassena’s business during the trip to the Northern Alliance.

He had to push all of Bassena’s existing schedule, handling the constant calls, and everything. And now that Bassena came back all clean and bright, he decided that it was time for his boss to be as miserable as him, dropping the schedule while they rode the elevator.

"It’s your fault to be MIA for three days, Sir," Lex continued nonchalantly. "And it was all approved by the Guildmaster, so..."

Bassena parted his lips dumbfoundedly, and Zein took a peek at the screen. "Well, at least you’ll still sleep at home," the guide said, not really helping his case. "Work hard, baby."

"Zein..."

"Look, I still give you some free time on the weekend so you can have a date or whatever," the assistant huffed at the way Bassena whined at the guide. Acting cute in front of his boyfriend—pfft.

But Zein only patted the esper’s cheek twice before bidding them goodbye to get out on the seventh floor.

Once again, he had to face the cavalry of his little chick that he needed to groom into chickens ASAP—especially since he was getting more and more certain that Trinity would be the one getting the reclamation project.

Even if Celestia did something behind the scenes—lobbying, bribery, and whatnot—there were at least two Celestial Beings behind Zein and Bassena who would support their cause, so the government and the association should at least take that into consideration.

In that case, he needed to get these guides into shape even more. It would no longer be training for the dungeon, but for the Deathzone—and there was a significant difference between them.

He got together with Nadine and Alice to talk about a new training regime, and while Nadine was grimacing, Alice had a subtle smile hidden behind her tablet. Which was a sign that the training regime was hard enough—good.

He would only start implementing that after the announcement, of course, but he showed them the regime still, and the sound of their groan could be heard from the lobby. The espers that were visiting for regular cleansing blinked in surprise, but the other guides and the receptionist siblings just waved their hands nonchalantly as if it was a common occurrence.

"New torture?" Abel smirked as a greeting when Zein came out of the meeting room.

"Yeah, need to prepare them for the view," Zein shrugged. "How is it going with yours?"

"My torture?" Abel’s smirk turned into a grimace. "Going well. So good. I finally met the extended family and now I have to remember all of them before the ceremony," he answered dryly.

Now it was Zein’s turn to smirk. He probably shouldn’t be laughing about it, but he and Bassena had no extended family to be remembered. Hell—they didn’t even have a family. Well, anyone with the same blood, at least. If the scoop was widened, then...

"Ah," Zein raised his brow at the very nice timing that reminded him of an ’extended’ family as Arlo came out of the clinic.

"Oh, good afternoon."

Like a good boy, so different from his rebellious self, the young esper bent his waist and greeted Zein politely. It was clear that his life here, the fulfillment of his dream, had got the young esper brightened up even more. He no longer looked like a rebellious teenager who glared at people left and right, but a mischievous young man with an abundance of energy.

Every time he looked at Arlo, Zein was getting reminded of the twins, and it was as painful as it was nostalgic.

"Is this pre-cleansing?"

"Ah, no. I was in dungeon duty yesterday,"

"So you’re free after this?" Zein asked, and Arlo nodded in affirmation. "Have lunch with me."

"Huh? Oh, yes!" Arlo answered as if it was an order, and Abel chuckled at the way the others were looking at the young espers. Guessed they still didn’t know what their relationship was.

"Your kids will be so~ jealous," Abel commented with a smirk.

"They can only have lunch with me if they get an A," Zein responded as if the guides were college students asking for a reward.

An A for Zein’s infamous hellish training regime? After all that groaning sound they heard earlier?

Well, their apartment now. Apparently, Bassena put Zein’s name on the lease so the guide could have the right over the apartment’s affair. A bold move that would have made Zein uncomfortable before, but he did not particularly hate it, just like he did not mind that Bassena was putting him as the esper’s medical proxy.