There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 735: Side Story 4. Endless Journey - 18

In the end, Zein placed baby Lucy in a portable cradle, putting it in the middle of the fluffy rug so the other children could look at her all they wanted. It was full of aahs and oohs and giggles every time the baby moved her head or yawned.

Even after she fell asleep again, they did not stop staring at her. When she was told not to poke her too much so he wouldn’t wake up, they made a circle around the cradle and held hands so they wouldn’t be tempted to touch the baby.

Naturally, the adults were busy taking pictures and videos of this...ritual.

"Lucy’s not small at all, right?" Asa whispered.

"Iggel than Bul," Nari nodded.

The ten-month-old boy turned his head back and forth. "Igg...Uul?"

"Just a little bit bigger than Byul," Kar whispered while leaning down.

"Huff..."

Shin couldn’t hold back when he saw his son’s puffing cheeks. "Pfft--did he just sigh?"

"It’s okay," Kar swayed the little hand he was holding, giving his rare smile. "Byul is cuter."

"Wow~look at that," Reina laughed when he saw her son perked up happily. "Where do you learn to speak so smoothly like that?"

"His Godfather, obviously," Zein smirked, glancing at Han Joon, who tilted his head behind his cup and arched his brow in response.

Radia, an only child, asked curiously. "Don’t brothers usually say their sister is cuter?"

"Nah--my brother told me I’m ugly all the time," Rina waved her hand dismissively.

Cohen turned toward her, blinking. "You?"

"Oh, don’t make me blush!"

"Sister and Nari pretty," Kar elaborated on his case. "Byul cute."

The adults nodded. "Fair."

"Aww~ not only do we have a new life, but we also have a new couple," Reina clasped her hands in front of her chest, looking at Rina and Cohen who had been standing side by side since earlier. Even without Zein telling them, it was clear to everyone. "What a blessed day!"

"This calls for a party!" Han Shin stood up and raised his arms as if he could summon a party decoration at any time.

Radia rolled his eyes before shooting the healer a sharp look. "We’re in a hospital."

"Do you know a technology called a noise-cancellation barrier?"

"Do you know a basic knowledge called common sense?"

"Nope! I wasn’t built that way--teehee!"

Radia groaned. "I can’t believe you’re a father of two children."

Naturally, Han Shin did not care about that. His household was all about having fun, after all! At that moment, an echo of his request could be heard from the fluffy rug ritual group. "Palty! Palhty! Pal...Palllhhhh...ghhh..."

"What is he doing?"

"Trying to pronounce ’r’," Bassena chuckled.

"Oh! Good luck, Asa!"

Nari let go of her brother’s and Asa’s hands so she could raise and clench hers. "Gu’lak!"

"Gaak!" Byul copied his sister while jumping on his butt.

"Ung!"

Han Shin clapped his hands. "Reward his effort with a party! Come on!"

Radia rolled his eyes in exasperation, but the people he thought would be the most level-headed there betrayed him. "I want a pizza," Zein muttered from the bed.

The summoner stared at Zein incredulously. "You’ve just come out of labor."

"I want a pizza," Zein nodded as if there was nothing more perfect than having pizzas after giving birth.

Naturally, his husband would not deny it, even though he was as much a connoisseur of healthy meals as Radia. "He wants a pizza," Bassena nodded, doubling the betrayal.

"Pissshaa~" Asa hissed, still practicing his tongue.

"Ugh--can’t you choose something healthier?"

"Hey--it has carbs, meat, veggies, and everything," Han Shin argued. "It’s totally healthy!"

"Condolences to your children."

"Hey!"

Despite his complaint, Radia ended up ordering some pizzas from a high-end restaurant that at least claimed their stuff to be healthier. He had given up hope for these adults, but he needed to save at least the children. Tsk--these irresponsible parents.

The Godfather had hoped that he could also lessen the children’s sugar intake, but what could he do when they looked at him with sparkling eyes imbued with pitiful gaze? Before he knew it, he had pressed all kinds of desserts that were available in the restaurant.

Ah. Curse it. Let’s just treat it as a cheating day.

"Order something spicy too, darling."

Traitor! Radia hissed, but his charming husband already used his finger to press some spicy soup noodles. Even sodas. What a traitorous man!

A blessed day full of traitors!

"You can punish me later," Han Joon whispered before landing a quick peck, keeping it chaste in front of the children--even if his words were nothing sort of innocent.

Oh, fine! Radia stopped grumbling and let these weird people have a party in a hospital suite. Well, it was nice seeing the children’s looking happy with the taste they were rarely allowed to have. They especially had fun letting byul taste everything--except for the spicy stuff--bit by bit, before having a bottled milk session together with little Lucy.

"Anyway, what are you going to do about the articles?" Han Shin asked Rina curiously.

"Hmm..." licking her lips, Rina leaned back against the suite’s dining chair to think.

Her manager said she would get rid of the articles and suppress them from circulation, but...once something got on link, it was very hard to do so unless someone activated martial law that controlled all link accounts in the Federation.

In that case...rather than hiding it, she just needed to come clean and make an eclipse.

"Cohen," she turned toward the guarding man.

"Mm?"

"Have you done a press conference before?"

Cohen raised his brow. He was House Ishtera’s Chief of Staff, so naturally, he had attended such an event--whether with Zein or Senan. "A few times, yes."

"Good," Rina stood up and got on the speed dial to call Trinity’s PR Chief. "Sammy, I need to talk to you."

"Oh," Han Shin and Reina gasped before turning to Radia. "Brother-in-law, I think we’ll need popcorn too on the menu."

Radia could only sigh. "Do whatever you want."

* * *

In the morning, the hospital suite was finally calm. The visitors had left after what Radia called a ’junk party’ last night. The twins fell asleep huddled together on the rug last night with Nari and Byul, but they woke up in a bed holding into an empty portable cot.

Gasping, they thought someone was kidnapping their baby princess, and ran to the suite lounge ready to cause mayhem--until they saw little Lucy in their Dada’s arms, sucking on a small bottle of milk.

They let out a relieved sigh that for some reason got Dada to laugh. "You’re just like your Baba, huh?" Zein chuckled. "Go wash your face and have breakfast."

"Yeees!" they replied obediently, but did not go until they gave their Dada and little Lucy a peck on the cheek.

Surely, little Lucy should be introduced to their morning routine kiss.

When they returned from the bathroom, Baba was already there with their breakfast. The twins sat down on their grown-up chair, because they were big brothers now, and did not whine when Baba did not put on a cartoon on the teevee.

Maybe because they recognize the person on the screen.

"Baba, is that Auntie Lina?" Asa gasped in surprise.

"Yes," Bassena smirked. "Doing it first thing, huh? A lot of people will tune in at this time of the day."

"Isn’t that the goal, anyway?" Zein chuckled. "Cohen doesn’t look bad there."

On the screen, Rina was smiling beautifully; the kind of smile she used for her entertainment job. She sat down on a stage in front of reporters, with her manager and Cohen standing behind her. Those who recognize him might question things, but those who didn’t might think he was a bodyguard.

Naturally, she was there to address the news about her dating that doctor’s son. It was easy to rebuke, because there was nothing between them before or after that one dinner she didn’t know she’d be having. In her annoyance, she made sure to look the part, staring at the camera with irritation in her eyes but a graceful smile on her lips.

[There is no scenario in which I will have any kind of relationship with that person, because I am already in a relationship]

As the camera flashed toward the stage, Zein raised his brow. "So that’s why she asked Cohen to come with her? I thought it was for moral support."

Bassena laughed and clapped when Rina clearly turned her head toward Cohen, smiling prettily as if she wanted to tell the rest of the world that they were together now. From the flinching look in Cohen’s eyes, it didn’t seem like he knew she would do that either.

"What a mischievous girl," Zein laughed softly, before stroking little Lucy’s cheek. "Not you, baby."

"But does she need to go on a press con just for that?" Bassena tilted his head. "She could just make a statement through the guild’s PR."

[I have no idea that my dating life takes so much interest from the public, when it should be something personal to me. That’s why, I think it’s time for me to just focus on my personal life and main job as an esper] Rina announced with a bright smile. [With this, I decided to retire from the showbiz]

"That’s why," Zein laughed as Bassena stared at the screen dumbfoundedly.

To be fair, so did everyone else. They had thought it was a press conference to explain a dating scandal, but what they got was an announcement of retirement. The only one who seemed to know this was her manager and the Head of the PR Department of Trinity. And Radia too, supposedly.

The rest of the world and her fans were dumbfounded.

"Are you truly going to stop?" Cohen asked once they were back at Rina’s apartment.

Rina turned around and raised her finger at him. "Don’t take it wrong; my real job is an esper, not an entertainer."

Cohen blinked and stared at the tip of the finger in front of his chin. "Right..."

"I was doing it for fun and attention in the first place, but..." she stepped back and shrugged, smiling deeply while curling her eyes. "I don’t need the attention now. I just want yours."

"Haa..."

"Also...it would be hard to keep working in Althrea while I stay in Lucre, don’t you think?" Rina asked cheekily, but her cheeks were smeared with faint glowing pink.

"...yes," Cohen stepped forward and snatched her waist, pulling Rina back to him. "Yes, I think it’ll be hard."

Rina laughed and circled her arms around Cohen’s neck, welcoming the kiss gleefully. Well...since the patriarch had gracefully bestowed a day off to his Chief of Staff, they should take full advantage of it, shouldn’t they?