There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 723: Side Story 4. Endless Journey - 6

The strongest esper in the Eastern Federation was in distress.

Was it because too many dungeon gates appeared on the sea? No. No dungeon would ever be as hard as the Fallen Star. Was it because his guild’s performance decreased? Not at all. Trinity had become the fifth-largest guild in the Eastern Federation after the expansion.

In that case...was he fighting with his dear husband? They seemed to be as lovey-dovey as always, but...who knows? Sir Luzein Ishtera only came over once in a blue moon after all.

The guild members had been making a pool on the reason behind the Guildmaster’s distress. Naturally, the one who started the pool was his best friend healer, and a certain swordsman-spearman duo.

Still, since the mental well-being of the Guildmaster was important for the guild, Han Shin still brought himself to try and solve this distress. He didn’t want to be the one working harder because Bassena could not function well.

Oh, and head to find out the exact reason so the bet could be concluded.

And so, he marched to the Guildmaster’s office and threw a yellow notepad in front of Bassena. "Make a list," he ordered before throwing himself to the couch and lounging on it.

Bassena squinted at the notepad in confusion. "What list?"

"Things that make you reluctant to have another kid," Han Shin shrugged.

Of course, after being friends for most of their lives, it wasn’t hard for Han Shin to understand what had been plaguing Bassena’s mind. At first, it was fun teasing the esper about it, but when Bassena went from awkward to annoyed to distressed, something must be done about it.

"I know you have gotten over your paranoia about ’breaking’ your children, so let’s talk about the other reasons," Han Shin added while taking the Sentinel Association Monthly from the table.

"Why should I talk to you?"

"Because neither you nor Zein are good at thinking about your problem yourself," Han Shin rolled his eyes. "You can talk to my Hyung, but to be honest...he wouldn’t know anything about having a kid, would he?"

"Well..."

"Just write it, geez!"

"Ugh--fine..." Bassena grabbed the stupid notepad and grumbled. "Taking advice from you...the world might end soon."

Han Shin shrugged. "Eh, as long as it’s after my death."

"What about your children, then?"

The healer gasped. "Oh, right!"

Bassena let out another groan, already regretting listening to Shin’s words. Yes, he had to talk to someone, but...must it be this unreliable shit?

It was even more annoying that he knew Shin was right; the man had more experience in witnessing childbirth than him. Damn it!

"Why aren’t your hand moving?" Han Shin peeking out behind his magazine. Bassena looked deep in thought, but the notepad and the pen were only lying idly in front of him.

Bassena leaned back on his seat and let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "In the end, it only boiled down to one thing..."

"What?"

"I’m scared of seeing Zein in pain."

Han Shin looked at the closed amber eyes and the frown above them. After a few seconds, he only had one thing to say. "You’re stupid."

"What the fuck?!" Bassena opened his eyes and glared at the healer, who, in response, gave no fuck about his reaction.

"I don’t mean to make light of your concern, but..." Han Shin scoffed. "Zein is the strongest fucking person I know--besides my Hyung, of course."

"I know that!"

Han Shin arched his brow. "Why are you acting like this if you already know? Do you think he can’t take it? Even if he is to be cut open without anesthetic, he’d just grit his teeth and bear with it."

"Fuck--stop it!"

Bassena shut his eyes tightly again, shaking his head to get rid of the terrible imagery. It felt especially real because he knew Zein would do just that. He was a person who destroyed his own womb, for fuck’s sake.

"He’s the one who has to bear the pain and is willing to do so," Han Shin said. "Why are you the one who gets scared?"

"Do you feel nothing when Reina gave birth?!"

"Of course I did!" Han Shin threw the magazine to the table, clicking his tongue. "But she wanted it. We wanted it. And for that, I just have to make sure that she would--and will always be--alright. I’ll be ready with my healing and some extra potions," he stared at the fierce ambers. "That’s how I respect her."

Bassena paused and blinked; the agitation vanished from his face. "Respect..."

Han Shin sighed and stood up. "Bas, I know how scary giving birth is. My mother died from it."

Bassena flinched. Of course. Han Shin didn’t show it much, but he spent a lot of his childhood time stressing about it. No matter how much Han Joon told him that it wasn’t his fault, the thought that he had caused his mother so much pain could not easily be rid of.

Especially because he was a healer.

Oh, how many sleepless nights had he spent thinking that he would be able to save his mother if he awakened as a healer from birth? A wishful, delusional thinking.

But he also tried to get better at accepting it. He learned that something was inevitable, but even if it wasn’t, running away from it wasn’t the solution. After all, no one could run away from the world, and the world had a funny way of messing with people.

"I know how dangerous it is, but you can’t just expect your husband to never get hurt. You can’t just expect nothing bad to happen," Han Shin shook his head. "Rather than worrying about it, you should just prepare the best to counter every possible scenario."

Those words suddenly awakened a memory Bassena had kept so preciously in his heart. A memory of a gentle afternoon, and a word of devotion.

Bad things will always happen, Zein had said in the past, after he was kidnapped. But I’m glad I have you to lean on from now on.

"...oh."

How could he forget about it? Had he been keeping it so securely inside the box in his heart that he forgot to take a look from time to time?

Han Shin smirked as he arrived in front of Bassena’s desk. He could see the man’s dumbfounded expression clearly. "Looks like you finally come to your senses."

Bassena frowned slightly, but this time, it wasn’t from agitation or distress. He just felt rather stupid, and he was annoyed that Shin had to be the one to wake him up for it.

Ugh--he’d better take it to the grave.

"Look here," Han Shin spread his arms. "You have me. Do you think I won’t be on standby when he gives birth later? Hell--I’ll be on standby even during his pregnancy!" the healer announced proudly. "Zein is not only precious to you but also to me. Of course, I don’t want bad things to happen to him, but I also want him to have what he wants."

What he wants...

Bassena pressed his lips. What Zein wanted was a family. Surviving was nice, but didn’t he survive and continue to live so he could enjoy his life?

"Don’t you want that too for him?" Han Shin tilted his head.

Of course! Of course, Bassena wanted Zein to be able to do everything Zein wanted to do. But...

Bassena bit his lip. "I just..."

Han Shin groaned and asked impatiently. "Just what?"

Bassena clenched his jaw, furrowing his brow even more. "I have been always--always--absent when something happens to him," he replied in frustration.

"Then just stay this time, no matter what!" Han Shin clicked his tongue. "Even if a gate appears, don’t go anywhere near his due date. You have subordinates, for fuck’s sake--we’re no longer in an unstable state

It’s not like something catastrophic will happen--at any rate, nothing harder than the Fallen Star would appear. Even then, I’m sure that Grandpa will come if you or Zein calls him."

Once again, Han Shin clicked his tongue and shook his head in exasperation. Bassena couldn’t refute though--even he knew his distress was frustrating. He leaned back and sighed again. "Haa..."

"See? You’re stupid."

"Shut up."

"You shut up!" Han Shin scoffed. "Just make babies or something!"

"Pfft--"

Bassena pressed his lips. Ugh--how annoying. He didn’t want to laugh because of this prick. He had to admit that talking it out did help him a lot, but he would never admit it openly to the healer.

Not even over his dead body.

And then, he suddenly remembered something and groaned inwardly/ "But..."

"What now?!" Han Shin looked as if he were an inch away from throwing the notepad at Bassena.

"Do you know how hard it is to look for a chance when you have energetic twin boys?"

Especially ones who loved bursting into their parent’s bedroom. Or knocking hard on the door.

Han Shin, who had an even more energetic daughter, exclaimed quietly. "Ah..."

They stared at each other silently for a few seconds, before Han Shin threw an ultimatum.

"Just for a record, noona would kill us if you left the twins in our house."

"Ugh..."