There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 154 - 149. Rainy Night

Chapter 154: Chapter 149. Rainy Night

"Huh..."

Han Shin stopped unwrapping his chocolate and stared at Zein, blinking slowly. "Bas...didn’t tell you?"

"I haven’t heard from him since Sunday," Zein replied dryly.

The healer raised his brow; was that...annoyance he hear within the dry, flat tone? Zein was still looking at the screen silently, but there was a slight frown above his eyes.

"Umm...I knew because when I called Radia for something last night, he said he was on the way back, and that the meeting had concluded," Han Shin fidgeted awkwardly, suddenly feeling a bit guilty toward his friend.

Although to be fair, he also found it weird that Bassena hadn’t contacted Zein for that long. No wonder he wasn’t around and latched into the guide as usual. Why would a simp as big as him just--

Han Shin paused, and exclaim softly to himself. "Ah..." he reached out to the guide’s hands and put his unwrapped chocolate there, as if giving a peace offering. "I think I might know why..."

Zein looked at the chocolate on his palm, and then at the healer’s wry expression. It was then that he realized he was strangely felt...slightly pissed. It was a strange feeling for him, getting annoyed because of...what? That Bassena didn’t contact him despite the meeting being over?

But why would he feel pissed about it? It wasn’t like there was an obligation for Bassena to contact him every day and told Zein about his day.

Perhaps he just felt annoyed at the jarring feeling of absence, a daily occurrence that was getting cut. Or perhaps he felt annoyed because Bassena promised to give him an update about Golden Viper’s logs as soon as possible and...

Zein inhaled quickly and fiddled with the chocolate wrapper to distract himself from unwanted thoughts. "What are you talking about?" he replied to the healer’s remark with a nonchalant tone.

"About why Bassena hasn’t been contacting you," Han Shin took another piece of chocolate cube for himself and twirled it between his fingers. "Tomorrow...no, it’s the day after tomorrow, if I recalled correctly."

Putting the unwrapped chocolate in his mouth, Zein asked casually. "What is?"

"His mother’s death anniversary."

Zein coughed, almost choking on the chocolate in his mouth. He looked at Han Shin who innocently gave him a glass of water to calm his throat. As the healer thought, Bassena didn’t tell Zein about it.

"I don’t know what he’s doing right now, but..." it was rather rare for Han Shin to defend Bassena, since he preferred to see the hunk magician getting in trouble usually. But he reckoned he could throw the other esper some bone for this special occasion. "He’s usually pretty sensitive and temperamental around this time, so he might have hidden himself somewhere? Don’t be too hard on him, yeah?"

It was rare for Zein to look flabbergasted and flustered, but Han Shin had the honor of witnessing it this time. "I...have to go to Mortix," Zein said and stood up abruptly, a frown and a slight redness were the only sign of his fluster. But before he walked away, he looked at the surprised Han Shin first. "Thanks...for the info,"

* * *

His mother’s death anniversary...and Zein sent the man to the poison swamp of Golden Viper’s vault.

Zein couldn’t concentrate on his work for the rest of the day, just staring blankly at the shard, not even trying to talk to it. And today, he just ended up exercising all day, since he couldn’t use his mind well, ending it with watching the heavy pouring rain from his room’s balcony.

As the rain was pelting on his face, he recalled the face Bassena made on the night they talked about Zein’s father; the hardened eyes, the lips that were drawn in a tight line, the clenched jaw.

He wondered...as he looked up at the churning, dark sky, he wondered if Bassena was making that kind of face again.

Zein also remembered the joy on Bassena’s face when he talked about his mother, and sighed heavily at the pouring rain. He never met his mother, and while it was unfortunate, Zein also didn’t have to face the feeling of being sad about her. So he couldn’t say he would understand the feeling of losing one’s mother.

But if it was the feeling of losing someone precious, Zein knew all about it.

"Where are you?" Zein muttered to the rain. He had tried to call Bassena today, but it seemed like the esper’s commlink was turned off, since the call didn’t even come through.

Zein lowered his head with a frown. He suddenly recalled the day of their Deathzone expedition, when Bassena was getting isolated inside the void barrier formation and he couldn’t contact the esper for two hours. He recalled the same feeling of anxiety that filled him, then and now.

"Should I try again?" Zein sighed and looked at his commlink, just in time for it to vibrate and blinked.

He almost jumped at that, since the tone was the special one he set for Bassena. His heart beat a bit faster, but then he saw another name there, and remembered that he had set the tone for another person too.

Zein swallowed his disappointment and answered dryly. "Yeah?"

[Hey, do you have time?] Radia’s soft and smooth voice flew from the speaker.

"Now?" Zein raised his brow, and walked inside so he could hear the voice better. "Sure, what is it?" he closed the balcony door and the clamorous sound of the heavy rain was instantly muffled.

[I need to talk to you about something]

"Something to do with the meeting?"

[No] Radia paused for a bit before adding. [Something to do with Bassena]

Zein, who was about to open the packet of fish food for his little swimming pets, stopped and stared at the artificial lake inside the aquascape. "Is this...about tomorrow?" he asked carefully, frowning slightly when he recalled how he found out about this one little fact. "His mother’s death anniversary?"

[Ah, so you knew about that already] Zein could hear the sound of Radia leaning into a swivel chair. [Yes, it has something to do with that too]

"Go on," Zein decided to abandon the fish’s little night snack and walked to the couch.

[I’m going to talk about the meeting some other time, since this one is more urgent] Radia started, and it made Zein furrow his brows even more. Something even more urgent than the content of the Federation’s emergency meeting? He sat on the couch and stared at the downpour outside, waiting for Radia to start talking.

[After the meeting was concluded on Monday, Bassena asked me to let him inside the vault where I kept the Golden Viper and the Vaski’s related stuff] the esper said. Zein already expected this one. Han Shin thought Bassena was confining himself somewhere for emotional management, but Zein knew Bassena had promised him to do something, and it seemed like his guess was right on the money.

[I was reluctant, but he told me he needed to look for something, so I let him go there with someone to observe him]

Zein felt his eyes twitch at that. "You sent someone to tail him?"

[It’s a necessity] Radia’s voice sounded stern, as if he was offended by Zein’s accusatory tone. The guide didn’t make any reply, and Radia kept his silence for a while, before finally sighing. [Zein...you probably didn’t know. Bassena had been meek and calmer ever since you’re here, but before, he wasn’t this amiable]

Zein leaned into the couch and looked up at the ceiling. His mind was recalling the way people looked at Bassena; respect, fear, uneasiness. At first he thought it was because Bassena was famous, but after he familiarized himself with the media, he found out that Bassena always had an unapproachable aura when he was working as an esper, although he would act and look charming in front of the camera. Which was why the esper was loved by the public, but not so much by the sentinel community.

Zein had to admit, the adorable, puppy-like man that hovering around him felt like a different kind of breed from that celebrity persona shown on the screen.

[Especially around this time of year, the last week of October, he would become so sensitive and irritable, almost like he was back to his academy days] Radia continued, as Zein listened in silence. [We usually freed him of any schedule around this time, so he didn’t have to meet other people. He’d have so many recurring nightmares that he wouldn’t sleep a wink for weeks]

"Nightmares...it’s not just the plain darkness anymore?" Zein raised his brow. He remembered Bassena told him that all he saw when he was sleeping was dark space, where he was floating endlessly.

Nightmares...he hadn’t heard about this one.

[I see you know about that too] there was a sound of water trickling into a glass in the background. [No, it’s no longer the plain darkness. It seems like things tend to escalate depending on the state of his mind] Radia paused to have his drink, before continuing immediately. [He was already not in a good space, but with the lack of sleep, it was even worse]

"So that’s why you said it was a ’bad timing’ before?" Zein finally understood the meaning behind Radia’s words the last time they met, and he bit his lower lip to restrain a groan.

[Yes] Radia answered with a little sigh. [Anything about the Golden Viper or the Vaski, in general, is a bad trigger for him]

"But you still allowed him to enter the vault?!" Zein spat out despite himself. It was a burst of emotions that surprised even him, as he realized he was slamming the armrest hard.

[Attitude, Luzein] Radia replied with a stern voice. Zein could almost feel the pressuring, piercing crimson eyes upon him. [I told you I was reluctant]

Zein let go of the armrest and took a deep breath. "Yeah, sorry," he pressed his temple to massage it, letting out a sigh. He recognized the feeling that was churning his guts and pounding his heart. It was worry. It was guilt. "So that’s why you put a tail on him, I got it."

Zein heard another trickling sound and waited for Radia to finish another drink. When the man spoke again, his tone was back to the usual soft and smooth one. [I could see that he is miles better this year] Radia mused. [He didn’t look depressed, hadn’t asked for a fight even once--in fact, he looked better than his usual day] he let out a sigh again. [So I thought he’d be alright]

"Mm..." Zein closed his eyes then, rubbing his chest to make his heart beat slower. "So the reason why you called me about this...?"

[After the meeting, he immediately went to the vault, and had been spending his time there ever since]

"What..." the blue eyes snapped open, and Zein straightened his back in reflex as he felt something outside his door. "Since Monday night?"

It was already Wednesday night now, which meant Bassena was in the vault for two days and three nights already. Zein stood up, and started to walk to the door with a frown.

[Yeah, but...] Zein could hear the sound of clicking and typing before Radia spoke again. [My people told me he was suddenly moving not long ago, disappearing with teleport, so they couldn’t track him]

"I see," Zein replied slowly, pulling his door open.

[We still trying to track him, but there’s also a possibility that he--]

"He’s here," Zein cut the guildmaster, staring at the man standing in front of his door, wordlessly, unmoving.

Bassena didn’t knock, didn’t call Zein out. His gaze was vacant, lifeless, and even when Zein was standing there in front of him, he didn’t make a notable reaction. He was just standing there, drenched from the rain, dripping water everywhere.

[I’ll end the call] Zein heard Radia said, although he couldn’t really focus on the guildmaster’s voice right now. [Take care of him...please]

With a clenched heart, Zein reached out and pulled Bassena inside his embrace. "Come here."