There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 780: Side Story 4. Endless Journey - 62

Even after talking about it more, Byul did not change his mind. Of course, he was sad at the thought of not seeing his hyung for so many years. But...if he could survive four years when he only had a crush, he certainly could survive more years after being a lover.

With his baby’s blessing, Kar finally gave a confirmation at the end of the year after discussing it with Uncle Dia, as his guildmaster. Naturally, the Northern Alliance welcomed the participation with open arms.

Fortunately for them, the reclamation would only commence at the end of summer. At least, Kar could watch Byul’s first Esper movie before he left. They watched it twice at the beginning of summer: once from separate seats during the premiere, and once together in a disguise.

Kar couldn’t stop praising Byul on the way back home. He also told the actor what other people around his seat said when the character Byul played appeared on the screen. Many indeed felt skeptical since Byul was known to play romantic teenage drama, but none could refute his skill after he showed a realistic-looking skill usage and action that did not sacrifice his facial expression.

"Too bad," Kar sighed while playing with the actor’s soft curls one night, huddling beneath their blanket. "I won’t be able to see your first movie as a lead esper."

"Then you just have to come back before I have one," Byul shifted closer until he was half lying on top of the esper, feeling their skin flushed against each other. "Finish it quickly, Hyung--quicker than our parents."

"Yeah, I’ll try," Kar leaned down and kissed the younger’s forehead, once again feeling sorry for his sweet, considerate, adorable lover. But he wouldn’t say he was sorry again, because Byul didn’t like it. "As I thought, Byul is the strongest."

Byul laughed and rolled to his back, pulling the esper to prop above him. "I still need you to fill me up for at least two years worth, though."

"Baby," Kar chuckled and caressed the younger’s ear with his lips. "I don’t think potions would be enough to revive you if we really do that."

Byul giggled at the challenge and let his body take everything he could take from his hyung. Unlike with drama, there was no need for him to continue doing a press tour for more than one or two weeks, so he could use the time to enjoy the last day they had together before Kar had to head to the Northern Alliance.

As for telling Byul’s parents...well, they decided against it for the time being, just in case Han Shin would get angry and pull his son out of the penthouse. At a period when they wanted to spend every possible second together before their second separation, Kar and Byul didn’t want to risk it.

Besides, Kar would leave soon anyway. There was no need to make a hard situation when they weren’t going to be together for years.

...

Strangely enough, Byul didn’t think that Kar would face any danger at all. Part of it was Zein’s explanation about how easier it was without a Celestial Being taking command there. But the rest was instinct. He didn’t have a bad feeling, and he had every confidence that his hyung was strong enough for any endeavors.

Still, he couldn’t help the pang of emptiness and loneliness as he watched his hyung’s departure from television, since he couldn’t be seen there. The days of farewell they shared just half a day before kept repeating inside his head as Kar gave ama short statement to the reporters and answered their questions.

At least, he had Lucy and Nari to hold his hands and hug him as they watched the screen together. Asa didn’t have that.

He watched Kar from the research facility in Projo, in front of the public television with everyone else--some only recognized then how similar the esper looked to their research member.

"Isn’t that your twin, Karsa?" someone who had been working with him since his internship days asked. The person had seen Kar several times when the esper visited him.

"Yeah," Asa stared at the screen, smirking. "Look at him maturing--he even answers the reporter’s questions without scowling."

"Huh? Is he usually acting cold?"

"He just doesn’t like media," Asa shrugged.

Honestly, none of his siblings did, including him. While there were good journalists out there, most media thrived on sensationalism. Asa and his siblings had been the victims of the media vulture that disturbed their lives with bullshits. Even at that point, some people kept comparing Kar with their father, and said he only joined the Reclamation in an effort to prove himself to be as good as his father--even going as far as calling him a discount Bassena.

As if he wasn’t someone with his own goals and aspirations. As if he only did things for fame or trying not to lag behind their father’s legacy.

But after he got together with Byul, Kar started to soften up--or rather, he avoided looking like he was antagonizing the media so much. He wouldn’t take any crap, but he at least answered those who were truly asking questions instead of waiting for him to slip up.

Perhaps it was to not tarnish Byul’s reputation once they were going public in the future, or maybe it was because he finally got a proper PR lesson from Trinity--who knows.

"Why are you here, though? Don’t you want to see him off at the airport?" the person asked again.

"Why should I? It’s so crowded over there," Asa shrugged. He cleansed Kar the night before--that was enough. Even their parents didn’t come, avoiding the media to talk about them more than Kar and the project itself.

"Aren’t you worried about him?"

"No?" again, Asa shrugged.

A young woman, slightly older than Asa, raised her brow slightly as she looked at the hands behind his back. "Then why are your hands shaking?"

"They are not," Asa frowned.

"You’re clenching your hands."

"It’s to cheer him up," Asa grumbled, which only raised the woman’s brow higher.

Because the defensive, short answers were not like Asa at all. The sheer fact that he didn’t talk back in teasing like usual already told her that he wasn’t in his usual state of mind.

Well, it was normal for someone to be anxious when their twin went on a dangerous mission. Rather, she would feel aversed if the man could stay nonchalant. It made him look more...relatable, honestly. He had been acting like nothing in life really affected him, not even the secret whispers about how he did not deserve to be in the research team--which was nothing but envious spiels without any substance, in her opinion. The way he scoffed at everything made him look like he had it easy in life, which only worked to exacerbate people’s gossip.

But it seemed like he wasn’t as resilient as he appeared to be--just like other human beings were.

Honestly, she didn’t like how those people talked about Asa. While she also didn’t like getting too involved with Asa, it wasn’t because of prejudice and misunderstanding, which had already been cleared long before.

She was just...not sure how she should act toward the son of her saviors. It didn’t matter before, when she thought he was just another rich kid, but...she didn’t want to offend the people who quite literally allowed her to have a life and education that brought her to this point in her life, living her dream.

That was what she thought at first. She had been fighting a lot with Asa before, so she didn’t want to continue doing that. Thus, she started avoiding the man altogether, since she wasn’t the type to hold her tongue.

But what could she do when they were suddenly being paired? She could only hope everything would be alright, and they could just act like strangers who had to work on an assignment together.

The problem was, only she had that thought.

Asa didn’t want to be strangers. He didn’t even want to be just an acquaintance. And she might not go around much, but she was not dense. She knew if someone was trying to court her.

"Haa..." she let out a sigh, pursing her lips as her mind debated what she wanted to do.

Well...it wasn’t that she disliked the man. As a matter of fact, he had grown on her. She was just...

Oh, it just felt complicated. As complicated as a mere low-level worker getting the fancy of the CEO’s son.

In the end, she rationalized that Asa might not be able to work properly if he kept worrying about his twin. As his research partner, she should do something, right? She glanced at the slightly narrowed amber eyes which were still fixated on the screen.

"Do you still want to have a meal together?"

It took Asa a few seconds to digest the question. He blinked and looked at her, staring in a silent daze.

"...huh?"

"Dinner is...too much. But I can do lunch," she said, turning her head to not meet the eyes of the man who had been constantly asking her to have a meal together. She cleared her throat and added quietly. "...if you want."

"Yes," it didn’t even take Asa a second to reply. "Yes, I’d like to."

The anxious face was finally adorned with a smile. He glanced at the screen again, at the figure of his twin entering the departure gate. Thank you, Kar. You were kind of useful other than for being a good cook sometimes.