There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 745: Side Story 4. Endless Journey - 28

After leaving the Temple, their journey wasn’t over yet. The last step was to check on the various academies to see where they would be the most comfortable.

From Bassena’s old academy in Althrea, Zein’s guide academy in Rexon, the newly established esper-guide academy in Projo, and other academies in various cities- including Lucre. They spent around two weeks going by plane, helicopter, and car, spending more days in each place just to hang around as a family.

A proper school winter break, one must say.

But during those two weeks, the one more energetic and enthusiastic was Kar instead of Asa. Even Lucy looked more hyper, feeling happy that everyone could stay around her without any trouble. She loved being able to talk to people without them flinching from her biting mana, and no one moved away from her because they couldn’t stand the prickly feeling from her unrestrained force.

It was obvious to everyone that Asa had a lot to think about. Whether it was his fathers or his twin, they did not disturb him. Besides, the two-week journey was not just about looking for an academy, but a proper family time. They let him digest things slowly and waited for him to come over for help.

In the end, on the last night of their vacation, Asa pulled on his twin’s pajamas before they went to sleep. "Kar..."

The older twin looked at his brother’s dispirited face, wondering if it was the time. He decided to put aside getting his water and returned to the bed, plopping in front of Asa. "Still confused?"

"Yeah..."

"Okay, let’s talk," Kar nodded.

They sat down, face to face. Kar was waiting patiently, like he always did. But even after a minute passed, Asa still didn’t say anything. The younger twin was fiddling with Kar’s sleeve instead, biting lips and looking restless.

"What do you want to do?" Kar finally asked after another minute of silence. He thought it would back off again if he didn’t bait it out. "I mean, do you want to be a guide? Like...doing guiding works like Dada in the past?"

Asa sighed and looked even more frustrated than the time he had to choose only one dessert from ten options. "I’m not sure, I never think about it."

"Hmm..." Kar tilted his head and looked around. His eyes finally saw something in the corner of their suite’s bedroom. "What about that?"

He pointed at their suitcases. The one they packed and personalized by themselves instead of by their Baba. Kar’s red suitcase--which was chosen by Lucy, as with anything else--was clean, while Asa’s blue one was filled with many stickers that Lucy, Byul, and Nari put.

Of course, as the owner, half of those stickers belonged to Asa. Stickers of planes of many kinds, telescopes, night scenery, and lots of stars that Byul happily arranged.

"Do you still want to build a plane to go to the stars?"

"Well...yeah, but..." Asa fiddled his fingers restlessly, almost like his first day at school. "Dada is a guide and has a guide academy, and...won’t people talk bad if I don’t do it?" he whispered worriedly.

They were old enough to realize that people didn’t only talk nice about their family. They often heard students at their schools or their parents talking behind their backs after smiling friendly and speaking nicely just minutes before.

Most of it was petty stuff like why the twins rarely invite other students to their house, calling them arrogant and such. Or why didn’t their parents donate more money to the school so the other parents could pay less--knowing full well that the twins’ fathers already had a foundation giving out hundreds of scholarships every year on top of three orphanages across the Federation.

Those really petty reasons made the twins conclude that people could really blame others for anything. Auntie Rina told them that the world, sadly, was full of people like that, so they didn’t have to dwell on it.

But still...Asa didn’t like the idea of being hated by people. He still hadn’t developed the ability to ignore people with ease like his fathers.

"But they said you can be whatever you want," Kar, who was better at ignoring people than Asa, grabbed his twin’s shoulder. "Do you care more about what people said, or do you care more about what Dada and Baba said?"

Asa frowned. Of course, Dada and Baba’s words were more important to him! But...he looked at his twin with bowed lips. "What about...what about you?"

"...Huh?"

"We’re...going to be separated, you know!"

Kar blinked and released Asa’s shoulder. He looked at his twin’s frustrated face. The bowed lips and lowered brows, as well as the slightly trembling eyes. He gripped the blanket beneath them.

"I know," Kar replied after taking a deep, stuttered breath. "But...it’s not forever, right? If I go to the academy in Lucre, I don’t have to go to a dorm."

"But...the one in Lucre is not the best," Asa frowned.

"I know, but I can always learn more from Baba and Uncle Joon," Kar shrugged.

That did not smoothen Asa’s frown. Instead, it grew even deeper to the point that he looked angry. Kar sighed and unconsciously frowned too.

"Dada said...someday, we will go our separate ways," Kar said. "We can’t always be together, but...we’re still brothers, and we’re still family, so...I think...it’s okay..."

"Then why are you crying?" Asa squinted at his brother’s glazed eyes.

"I’m not crying!"

"Yes, you do!"

"Shut up!"

"What are you guys doing?" Zein knocked on the door that the twins forgot to close before having their heart-to-heart talk.

Different from how it started, the boys ended up grabbing each other’s hair, growling and scowling while denying that they were crying and too sad for the possibility of parting ways. It was honestly adorable, and Zein would let them be if it wasn’t for the little girl whining in his arms.

"Oh, Dada..." the twins flinched and immediately let go of each other, flushed in embarrassment.

Lucy muttered sleepily while rubbing her eyes. "Blothel...nosey..."

"Noisy," Zein corrected.

"Noiseeeey~"

"Oh! I’m sorry, Lu!"

Zein chuckled and entered the bedroom, handing the little girl over to the older twin. Lucy stared at her brothers with narrowed eyes. "Ale you faiting?"

"No," Kar laughed softly while hugging his sister. "We’re just...talking about school."

"Skool?"

Zein took a seat beside the younger twin. "Have you decided?"

"Ngh..."

Asa buried his face in the pillow, groaning in frustration while his father stroked his back. He peeked his head behind the pillow and stared at his father, shifting closer. "Dada..." fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

"Yeah?"

"I want to build a plane," Asa confessed quietly.

"I know," Zein smiled.

How couldn’t he? The boy had been building a plane with toy bricks since before he could even say plane. Always choosing aircraft for toys, always reading about stars, always asking for the same story about the star corridor and the Celestial War...

Above everything else...how could Zein not know, when he saw it in his dream before their conception.

"But..." the amber eyes looked at Zein with confusion. "I also want to help Kar, and guide him, and work with him..."

"Mm," Zein nodded. Of course; even more than planes and stars, Asa loved the brother he shared a womb with. And so did Kar.

Wasn’t that why they were arguing earlier? Both wanted the best for each other, but were also reluctant to part with each other.

"Is it...is it possible to do both?" Asa bit his lip. "Am I being too greedy?"

"Not really," Zein chuckled, stroking the platinum hair. He smiled and tilted his head. "Do you forget that your Uncle Shin is a researcher?"

Both twins straightened their backs and widened their eyes. "Oh!"

"Right? I’m pretty sure he still entered the Esper Academy and does both healing work as well as researching," Zein stroked his chin. "Well, he doesn’t do that much these days, but...why don’t you ask him about it?"

"Right, let’s do it," Kar whispered eagerly, making sure his voice did not wake up Lucy who had fallen asleep in his lap. "We can play with Nari and Byul while at it."

And so, their journey did not end in their home, but in Nari and Byul’s lake house. Unlike usual, when Asa would enthusiastically join in the souvenir unboxing with the others, he immediately came to his Uncle Shin and dragged the healer to the corner.

"What is it?" Han Shin whispered and looked around as if they were about to discuss something scandalous. "Were you fighting with Kar?"

"No?" Asa shook his head. "I have a question for you, Uncle."

"Me?"

Asa nodded. "Dada--ahem, Father--said that you’re a researcher too, not just an esper."

"Mm, yeah..." Han Shin nodded while stroking his chin. "I’m a healer, but my official position in the guild is Chief Researcher," he raised his brow. "Why? Do you want to be one too?"

Asa shook his head, paused, and then nodded. "I want to build a plane that can go to where the stars are!"

Han Shin grinned widely, ruffling the platinum hair as he felt somewhat proud. To think Bassena’s son would take the path of knowledge...It was his win!

"So, you want to do both guiding and plane building?" Han Shin nodded. "And you are wondering how you can do it?"

Asa nodded again. "Is it possible?"

"Of course it is," Han Shin smirked, patting his chest. "Am I not the proof of it?"

Asa didn’t really know what Han Shin did in the guild, how many patents he had, or how many papers he wrote that had been cited by other scholars, but the boy just nodded to get an answer.

"It is possible; you just have to work hard on it," Han Shin smiled, replying seriously this time. "Twice than anyone else."

"Twice?"

The healer nodded. "Because you need to learn both, don’t you? In your case, you must learn guiding and the necessary knowledge to become an engineer."

"How did you do it, Uncle? You went to the same academy as Baba--ahem, Dad--right?"

"The academy normally has two kinds of classes; one for the skill-related one and the other for the general knowledge that you’ll find in normal school," Han Shin explained. "The general knowledge classes are optional, but you have to take them so you’ll be able to enter a college."

"Ah..." Asa nodded, eagerly taking notes in his little book.

"I visited the library often back in the day since there’s no way for me to get a tutor, but you can just ask your Dad to get you one," Han Shin added. "It’ll be better if the tutor is someone who will work in the same field as you--like a college student from an engineering school or something."

"Okay, okay. What else, Uncle?"

Han Shin chuckled at the sparkle in the boy’s amber eyes. "Just do that for now. Oh, don’t just aim for the best engineering school--choose one that has been doing research on outer space exploration."

"Hmm..."

Han Shin tilted his head, glancing at the boy’s fathers, and sighed. "You know what? Leave it to me; your fathers won’t know anything about this anyway. I’ll look for good colleges and ask my friends for some tutors for you."

Asa perked up. "Really, Uncle?"

"Of course," he leaned down and added in a whisper. "You’re my best nephew, after all."

Asa giggled with sparkling eyes. "Does that mean I can still go to school with Kar?"

"Of course," Han Shin ruffled the boy’s hair, who immediately ran to his twin right after to share the good news.

Han Shin smirked and typed on his commlink, sending a message to a certain very wealthy man, who was busy transitioning from an heir to a formal patriarch of his House.

[Your godson wants to build a spacecraft. Make a facility or something, will you?]

The reply was a simple one-word answer. [Easy]