There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 758: Side Story 4. Endless Journey - 41

"Aaaaaaaargh!"

A loud shout came from the private yacht cruising the Eastern Sea, loud enough to startle the poor Sea Serpent swimming alongside it leisurely. The shout traveled to the open sea in the bright early summer, making everyone sunbathing on deck look over weirdly.

"What’s wrong with him, Oppa?" Nari pointed at Asa, who was still screaming at the top of his lungs to the sea breeze.

"Exam stress?" Kar lifted the towel covering his eyes slightly to glance at his twin before closing them again. "Unfortunately, neither of our fathers are studious or smart--street smart, maybe, but not book smart."

Asa had been staying at the top of his guide class, thanks to Zein’s tutelage. But when it came to general subjects, he had to work extra hard. Those who focused on one thing already had to work hard to stay on top, but he wanted to master two things.

Han Shin did not lie when he said Asa would have to work more than twice as hard as anyone. At least, the healer’s field of study still had something to do with the dungeon, which was material processing. Asa, however, pursued something completely different.

Well, it was a pit he willingly jumped into, so Asa couldn’t even whine about it being hard.

Hearing that, Nari laughed and jumped from her seat to smack the younger twin’s back. "Then, you can use this chance to wind up and have fun, Oppa!"

"That’s the plan!" Asa raised his arms high. After letting all of his frustration fly with the wind, he decided to forget about those difficult questions and just play around to his heart’s content. He pointed at Nari and Lucy, before snatching their waists and jumping to the pool. "Let’s go girls!"

"Kyaaah!"

The girl shrieked as they hit the pool with a loud bang, splashing water to the sunbathing boys on the side. Byul screamed and ran away, almost cursing out before clasping his mouth quickly because he had to train a habit of speaking nicely for his showbiz career.

Kar threw away the wet towel covering his eyes to the floor, sighing. "Eh, might as well," he caught Byul and hoisted the escaping boy over his shoulder. "Let’s go."

"Wait--hyuuung!"

The scream was muffled by the sound of splashing water and laughing girls, reminding the growing teenagers of their childhood days; days of playing in Uncle Dia’s mansion and the lake. Zephyr, the Sea Serpent, let out a soft lament, asking the kids to play together, just like in the past.

Between the pool and the sea, they beat the heat of summer in the private cruise Uncle Dia prepared for them as one of Kar’s graduation rewards. On a yacht enough for a hundred people, the five teenagers were the only guests. The rest were their bodyguards and crews that already known them since they were babies, so their parents comfortably let them play on their own.

Even the cooks already knew their preferences, so the meals were always filled with their favorite food. If they were bored of playing with water, there was always a theater for movies and playing games--or a decent gym for Kar who never skipped his exercise even during vacation.

That night, however, he wasn’t in the gym--which was also a small training arena with a mana barrier--to exercise. Byul found the older boy sitting on the floor, in front of a sizable trunk.

"Hyung," he whispered from the door, testing if Kar could be disturbed.

The older twin turned his head and smiled. "You’re not sleeping yet?"

"I drank Asa Hyung’s coffee," the boy puffed his cheek, fiddling with the door knob restlessly.

"Heh," Kar chuckled and tilted his head to beckon the boy inside. "Come here."

Grinning, Byul entered the gym, curiously looking at the trunk in front of Kar. The older boy chuckled again and scanned a code in his commlink to the trunk, which immediately read his biometrics--including mana--and opened up into a mini display.

"Whoa..." Byul blinked as a set of leather equipment came out in full display. Even though he wasn’t a part of the sentinel community, his maternal family was in the business of making esper’s and guide’s attires, so his eyes could recognize how good the set was. "Isn’t that dragon leather?"

"Oh, you can tell?" Kar grinned. Even his usually calm face couldn’t hide his excitement. "It’s from Uncle Dia."

"As expected of Uncle Dia," Byul nodded while stroking his chin, before glancing at the item on Kar’s lap. "What about that, hyung?"

"Dad’s gift," Kar replied while taking the item, wearing it in his hands. "He wanted to get me a weapon, but I don’t need one."

Byul tilted his head and frowned slightly. "Why don’t you need weapons?"

"Ah, since I use mana freely, I don’t need weapons like swords or something like that," Kar replied, reminding himself that Byul was not familiar with the world of combat espers. After all, his father was a healer. "So, he gave me this."

"Gloves?"

"It increases control over mana," Kar explained, sending his mana to his palm. As expected, it was faster and felt easier than usual, as if he didn’t even need to think about it. "With this, I can shape the mana easily. Here, like this..."

Kar condensed the mana in his hand and shaped it into a bird. If he imbued the bird with his thought, he could use it to communicate with someone--something that the magician association had been developing in the last decade after learning from how difficult it was to communicate during Operation Fallen Star.

As a rookie esper, Kar’s speed and precision in creating the bird were on par with his seniors, and he smiled in satisfaction at the result. Unfortunately, he forgot one little thing.

Byul bit his lips and glanced at Kar wryly. "Umm...I can’t see it, hyung..."

"Ah," Kar scolded himself for forgetting this again. "Oh, right--wait a minute."

Of course, Byul wouldn’t be able to see raw mana. Non-awakened couldn’t see that. Even guides couldn’t see mana if they did not train their sensitivity.

But that only applied to pure, raw, unattributed mana. Kar, who had spent two months toiling around the third floor so he could get as much attribute as he could, infused light and fire into his mana.

Byul gasped as little glowing butterflies suddenly appeared above Kar’s palm. They flew toward him, circling and swirling around his head and arms before flying toward the ceiling and bursting into scattering lights.

Like stars.

Kar snapped his fingers and the light in the gym dimmed, making the ceiling dark and the stars scattering light glowed brighter. "Father said this is how the space looks from the star corridor," he told the flabbergasted boy.

"Oh..."

"Pretty, isn’t it?"

"Yeah..." Byul couldn’t help but part his lips in awe until the scattering light vanished and Kar turned the light back on. He blinked a few times until his pounding heart got calmer before asking about the last item in the inventory. "Then, what about that bracelet?"

Kar picked up the white box on the floor, where a bracelet made of white beads lay against dark blue velvet. "It lessens the miasma absorption--that is, the thing that can poison me."

"I know that much, hyung," Byul laughed at the older’s consideration and patience in explaining things to him. "But thank you for explaining it to me."

Kar chuckled and took off the gloves, placing them inside the trunk with the set from his godfather. While he loved the gloves, he didn’t want to depend on equipment during training. The bracelet, however, was wearable on a daily basis, so he was contemplating just wearing it every day.

"Is that from Uncle Zein?" Byul asked as Kar fiddled with the box in the middle of contemplation.

Kar shook his head. "Oh, it’s from Elena."

"Who?"

"The Saintess of Frejya."

"...oh."

"She also gave one to Father before Operation Fallen Star," Kar told the boy.

"I see..."

Kar tilted his head at the sudden lukewarm response and pinched the boy’s cheek curiously. "What’s wrong?"

Byul flinched slightly and quickly shook his head. "I think I’m starting to feel sleepy..."

Kar smiled, placing the bracelet inside the trunk and locking it. "Let’s head inside," he stood up, offering his hand to Byul.

"Oh, you don’t have to!" Byul shook his head, looking guilty. "I’ll head inside by myself. You don’t seem to be sleepy already, hyung."

"It’s fine, I’ll take you inside," Kar wiggled his hand, and the younger boy sheepishly took it. "I’ll just go to sleep too since Father said I shouldn’t stay too late--or I’ll be like Dad."

"Oh! Appa said Uncle Bas can stay awake for days."

As they walked toward their bedrooms, Byul recalled his father’s story--half of them roasting Bassena and the other half full of praise. He thought it was funny and endearing, and he wondered if he could have that kind of friendship too, one day.

Kar nodded. He had seen it himself during their dungeon excursion, even though his father would happily sleep every night when he was home. He couldn’t sleep well without his husband, apparently.

"Uncle Dia said it’s not healthy, so I better sleep like regular people," the older boy chuckled.

"Mama said it’s not good for my beauty," Byul patted his cheeks. "I have to preserve it for my future."

Kar laughed and ruffled the boy’s hair playfully. "That’s right, our future actor."

"Hehe..."

"But I think you’ll still look cute even with dark circles," Kar said while stroking his chin.

Byul pressed his lips as heat crept into his face. "I--it’s also bad for skin, she said..."

"I see..." Kar nodded. "Well, I know nothing about that."

"That’s because you’re winning Zein’s gene!" Byul raised his finger, grinning sheepishly as Kar arched his brow. "--is what Mama would say."

Kar laughed and patted the boy. "That’s a good impression you made--as expected of our future actor."

Byul cleared her throat and scratched his slightly reddened cheek awkwardly. He was embarrassed by the teasing praise, but it also felt nice--so nice that he felt disheartened when they reached his room. It took great self-control to swallow his sigh as he opened the bedroom door.

"Get your beauty sleep then," Kar ruffled the younger’s hair again, messing it up before stepping back and waving his hand. "Good night, Byul."

"Good night, hyung..." Byul replied quietly, before closing his door to hide the sigh he couldn’t hold back anymore.