There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 82 - 80. Bittersweet and Spicy (1)

"Morning," Zein put a cup of coffee in front of old man Dan, the grumpy dorm manager.

But he wasn’t too grumpy toward Zein, however. Either because the guide came from a red-zone like him, or because of the occasional coffee Zein brought him. It was different from the common instant thing they provided on the lower floor, made from the exquisite bean of Zein’s executive room’s pantry. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

"You’re going out?" the old man let out a rare smirk, taking the steaming paper cup closer to himself. "That’s good, you should go out more now that you’re in a safe zone."

It was technically incorrect to refer to Althreia as a safe zone, but for former end-dwellers like them, any place safer than the red-zone was a safe zone. Zein was more astonished by the friendly advice though. It was hard for the people here to hear anything more than a grunt from the old man usually.

"Did your daughter send you something?" Zein asked with a smirk behind his mask, which grew wider at the old man’s clicking tongue. It was enough as confirmation for the guide’s conjecture.

From the few conversation he got with the old man, Zein found out that the man ran away from the red-zone and lived illegally in the orange-zone a few decades ago. Through some miraculous encounter, he ended up doing some work for Radia’s father in exchange for a residential permit. Now his daughter lived in the yellow-zone, and the only source of good mood for this grumpy uncle.

When Zein first heard the old man tell him that story, he was reminded of his own plan a few years ago--going to the orange-zone, getting a license, and taking the twins to live there. He wondered if that would make him happy too, like this surly old man with his daughter.

Well, he would never know now.

"Where are you going anyway?" the old man asked, probably to shift the topic.

Zein shrugged then, leaning into the front desk while watching the entrance. "No idea," He didn’t ask where they would go, and Bassena didn’t seem to have any intention to tell him either.

"You dressed nicely, though..." the old man commented, observing the guide while sipping his coffee.

During the past few weeks, he rarely saw the guide wearing something other than his uniform and training suit. So seeing Zein in SavAsh’s white canvas jacket and patterned blue shirt was quite refreshing. Perhaps if he wasn’t wearing that mask...

"Hmm..." Zein looked down. He didn’t really know what was considered nice. After all, the only color he ever used was either black or white, and whatever cover him the most. So he just looked at the guide that Reina gave him and took something from it.

The old man narrowed his eyes before throwing some speculation. "A date?"

Zein chuckled at how on-point that guess was, but only replied with a mysterious "An experiment," as his eyes caught the sight of a car coming into the dorm’s parking lot.

Just like in the guild, the dorm was quite empty on the weekend, especially in the morning. Most of the residents were either coming home to their families, or spending precious time frolicking with their beds. So it was easy to spot the tall and dashing figure of the Serpent Lord, who forgo his usual suit for a simple white shirt and black blazer. The man even wore jeans, something Zein only saw Bassena wear once.

"Is that...your date?" the old man raised his brow, looking at the guide who bid him goodbye with a subtle smile.

Bassena blinked when he saw Zein walk at him, seemingly surprised that the guide was there at the front desk instead of in his room. "Wow, you’re waiting for me?"

"You’re very prompt," Zein commented instead. It was actually quite early, still around ten minutes before their appointment. Zein was only there to converse with the old man before Bassena came.

The esper smiled then, all the way to the beaming amber eyes. It was easy to see that he was in a pleasant mood. "It started to feel like a date,"

Zein patted the esper’s cheek briefly and walked out of the building, responding cordially. "Well, it is."

Smiling wider, Bassena followed the guide outside, who looked at his car with a tilted head. "It’s not your usual one."

"I got something simpler to operate," with a deep smile, Bassena circled his arm on the guide’s shoulder, a car key dangling from his finger. "How about it? Feeling like driving one?"

Raising his brow, Zein looked up at the grinning esper beside him. He wasn’t really sure what one was supposed to do on a date, and just planned to follow Bassena’s whim.

But this--it was already better than he thought.

Letting out a smirk, he snatched the key from the esper’s hand.

* * *

Driving was driving--steering the wheel and directing the car’s movement wasn’t something difficult if you already knew how.

What was difficult was discerning the many functions of this advanced moving technology. Zein was familiar with the ancient automobiles, the ones with loud starting sounds, that had clutches and gear, that shook easily on the road and spewed polluting smoke. It was shitty, but simple in a way.

The car Bassena let him drive was the simplest one the esper had. He said it was usually used by his housekeeper to buy groceries. But besides the basic of how to turn the engine on and such, Zein still struggled with the other buttons. He managed to remember which one was used for the light, the automatic parking function, and the auto-pilot at the end, but he gave up on the rest.

Bassena seemed to be having even more fun than Zein in all of this, laughing at the guide’s grumbling and slight panicking. It was rare to see the guide so animated like that, and it was even more delightful since Zein retracted the mask after they went through a drive-through for some drinks.

"Hmm...do you think Radia will let me drive by myself when I go to Mortix?" Zein asked while Bassena put an address in the navigation system--which he hadn’t managed to master until the end.

"Even if he did, the bodyguards will still tail you. That Jock guy will probably follow you with another car," Bassena responded with a smile. "Oh, and you won’t be able to drive in a simple car. Radia will only let you drive alone in our anti-mana armored car."

"Ugh..."

Zein had never used one yet, but he saw one in the guild’s directory. It was quite bulky and looked as complicated as an aircraft. Although it also had some really cool functions like automatic mana-barrier deployment and auto-lock anti-personnel missiles.

But if he couldn’t even master this simple green-zone car perfectly, how could he drive that multi-million personal tank?

"It’s just a temporary measure," Bassena assured him. "You’ll get well known eventually, and people wouldn’t be able to touch you easily then, since more eyes will be set on you."

"That’s not a particularly enticing thought," Zein responded with a sigh, eyeing the direction shown on the screen. He had no intention of becoming well-known, but it was inevitable.

Just being an A-class guide already put him in the spotlight, and it was only thanks to the relentless PR team that the news about him could be curbed. It also helped that Zein practically never showed himself to the public, except for that dungeon anomaly where he met Han Joon. Thankfully, the media shifted towards Mobius, and while the small guild mentioned the help from a Trinity’s guide, they didn’t specify who, just as Zein requested.

Abel did mention that some media questioned the identity of the new A-class guide that Trinity managed to snatch. But since the guild kept mum about it, and Zein never made any public appearance, the excitement around him already died down.

But that would not last.

Soon, Zein would have to come to a dungeon raid, bearing the black uniform. The media would come to know the Strike Guide Division then, and along with that, Zein’s identity as its Captain. The fact that he was exclusively in charge of the 5-star espers would inevitably follow, what with the sentinel community already started questioning Trinity’s absence from the Temple’s service.

Since Zein also had a striking appearance that distinguished him from other guides, people would be bound to recognize him anywhere.

But that would also provide him with a lot of CCTVs, namely the people’s eyes, which would guarantee his safety while being outside. At least to some point.

Talking about that though...Zein glanced at the esper’s reflection in the rear mirror. "Hey, won’t people recognize you later?"

Not only his face was plastered throughout the billboards of Eastern Federation, but Bassena also had a distinguishing appearance. His exquisite bronze complexion and platinum blonde hair were rare traits in Eastern Federation--which residents mostly had auburn hair and brown eyes--just like Zein’s blue eyes which were more common in Northern Republic.

"Mm...maybe," Bassena just shrugged and answered nonchalantly. Being recognized probably was just a daily occurrence for him anyway.

Tilting his head, Zein tapped on the steering wheel in contemplation. "Hmm...is that why you don’t wear that suffocating suit today?"

Bassena blinked at that, before bursting into laughter. Zein just glanced at the man with a raised brow, while concentrating on the road so the Navi system wouldn’t scold him for going the wrong route.

"The answer to that is no," Bassena finally said after he finished laughing. "I can’t possibly wear my work uniform to a date, can I?"

"...uniform, huh? So it’s a uniform?" Zein muttered to himself in confusion while the amber eyes looked at him warmly. "Where are we going anyway?"

"Somewhere you’ll like," the esper answered mysteriously. The navigation only showed Zein the name of the place, and Zein had no idea what kind of place it was.

But once the car rolled into the parking lot and he could see the logo on the big signage, he felt it was quite familiar. The building was big, occupying the whole lot in front of a plaza with a big fountain where families were out and about. Most of the people coming and going to the building were also families with kids, as well as young women.

After tilting his head to dig inside his memory, Zein finally recognized the logo as the one he saw in Han Shin’s chocolate box they ate in the core fragment’s lake.

"Like it?" Bassena, who came out of the car with a hat and glasses tugged on the guide’s elbow to take him inside.

What’s not to like? Zein bit his cheek to hold himself from laughing like a child. He even let Bassena hold his hand as they entered the large front door of the cute white building. Well, they were supposed to be on a date anyway.

It seemed like the store didn’t just sell chocolate, but also candies. The first floor was filled with jars and packages of candies, jellies, and chocolate, a heaven for kids who filled the room with excited squealing.

"This floor is for the common product, the ones affordable for the masses," Bassena explained while Zein looked at the rows of shelves and displays. The place was also decorated with adorable trinkets and balloons, as hired mascots gave out free samples to children. "The second floor holds the more expensive ones and the third floor is only accessible by membership. That’s where you can buy the limited edition one."

"Like we ate beside the lake?"

"Exactly," Bassena replied with a smile, taking Zein through the shelves and the throng of energetic children. "There’s a cafe on the top floor and the rooftop, so we can have our lunch there."

Perhaps because the customers on the weekend were mostly families with children, no one seemed to recognize Bassena. They also didn’t think much about Zein’s mask. At any rate, the candies were more enticing for them anyway. Thanks to that, they reached the stairs without pulling any attention.

Or so Zein thought.

Just when they were about to climb the stairs, Zein suddenly felt someone grab his other hand.

"Pretty Mister?"