There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL) novel Chapter 427

Chapter 427: Chapter 420. Quality Over Quantity

The first thing Bassena did after Zein’s mind-boggling statement was to slap his cheek. It wasn’t light too, but one hard enough to make the sound echoing in the room.

"Wow, it hurts," Bassena muttered, but contrary to his words, he was grinning so wide people would have thought he just won a lottery or something.

But this was even greater than winning a lottery.

He swiftly looked back at Zein and grasped the guide’s face. "No take back."

"Why would I do that--"

"No take back!"

The esper insisted aggressively, and Zein could only chuckle in response. Yeah; this is his Bassena. Instead of answering with words, Zein pulled the man who was now technically older than him for a kiss. This one was soft and gentle and spelled with love in every touch of their lips.

"Wow..." Bassena muttered in a daze, feeling all the butterflies he experienced during their first kiss at that lakeside in the Deathzone.

"Well, that’s only if we manage to get rid of the Deathzone," Zein added with a smirk and a shrug, prompting the esper to roll his eyes.

But the damp mood didn’t last more than a second. Bassena immediately smiled deeply with blazing eyes. "Don’t worry; we’ll get rid of it."

Oh? Zein tilted his head. He recalled the look of worry in Bassena’s face when he told the esper about his vision--about the Fallen Star. But now, those eyes were filled with confidence; with a fire that seemed ready to burn any darkness.

"Seems like you get a massive power-up," Zein smiled and patted the esper to get away from him so he could get up.

"Wouldn’t it be weirder if I don’t?"

After a thousand days of intense isolated training? Yeah. Zein nodded as he slid out of the couch. "I get something too," he said, just as someone knocked at the door. "But you should eat first."

"Hmm," Bassena did not press on. He was happy enough that Zein was finally willing to be imprinted that he wouldn’t mind even if Zein never told him after this.

Hell, he wouldn’t mind doing whatever Zein told him to do at this point. He could dump all of his money to fund Zein’s project if the guide wanted him to. He could hand over all of the shares he owned.

He could change his name now if Zein told him to.

But for now, he realized that he was hungry--which felt weird, because he never felt hungry for the last thousand days. Northern Alliance’s food was too bland for his taste, but even then, everything looked delicious to him.

"I’d rather feel hungry than unable to taste food," he said while stuffing his mouth.

"Don’t say that when you never feel truly hungry," Zein warned the esper--although he did it while piling up more food on Bassena’s plate. Usually, it was the esper who did it for him, so it was rather fun.

Bassena stiffened at the guide’s remark and his movement got slower. "Sorry..."

Zein chuckled and patted the messy platinum hair. "I agree, though. Eating is not a matter of filling one’s stomach. But only people who don’t need to worry about filling their stomachs could say that."

Zein remembered how back then, even being able to bring stale bread home that was enough for three mouths felt like an achievement. He didn’t care about taste because...what taste? What spice? Even salt was a privilege.

Scratch that. Even good water was a privilege.

But even back then, Zein wouldn’t have chosen the option of never feeling hungry if that meant he couldn’t eat. He would rather ask for a whole storage of food that might only last for a hundred hours.

Well, right now, he didn’t need to ask for that. He could provide himself with any food that he wanted. He could eat as many vegetables and fruit as he wanted. Meat and fish too. And sugar. Candy and chocolates.

"I live well, right?" Zein smiled as he popped a berry into his mouth.

Bassena nodded swiftly with cheeks full of food. He swallowed some quickly so he could speak. "I’ll make sure you’ll never be short of food at all."

Zein chuckled as the esper coughed from eating too fast. "I know that already, so just eat slowly."

He pushed a glass of water in front of Bassena, watching the esper fumble with a fondness that he never thought he had last year. Ah, yes; he just realized that it had been exactly one year since they met in the borderland. Who knew that in just one year, he would move from thinking this esper was conceited to thinking he couldn’t live without him?