There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 759: Side Story 4. Endless Journey - 42

After playing in the water for three days, the kids got bored of the sea breeze and opted to play games indoors while the yacht made a return journey to Lucre. The controller had never left Asa’s hands as if he was afraid he would pick up some random practice books and study if he did.

And as if he wanted to vent all of his stress in a different way from shouting, Asa had been playing action games since morning, going against the girls until they took a break for lunch. There was no strategy or anything, just pure rage-pushing with random bullshit thrown in the middle. It was full of screaming and boisterous laughing that the bodyguards gave up on staying in the same room with them.

"Is the exam that hard?" Nari asked after finished laughing at the second controller Asa broke just that day. They decided to play something tamer afterward--something that only needed ’yes’ and ’no’ buttons.

Asa groaned and sighed. "It’s hard if you want to go to a good place."

"At least you’re not an esper, Oppa," Nari grinned.

"My Appa had to study for college during his final Academy year. I heard he brought his practice books inside the Tower."

"Pfft--" Asa laughed. Thinking back, his Uncle Shin did warn him it would be very, very hard. At least, Asa didn’t have to go to school again at this point so he could concentrate on the exam. "Yeah, I guess I’m in a better place, at least. Guide’s final exam before measuring the vessel in Temples is also easy."

All he had to do was successfully guide an esper to get the letter of recommendation so he could measure his vessel in the Temple and submit the result to the guide center. Since he had already guided his twin regularly, it was just like arriving for a free point.

"That’s why you can still go on a cruise like this, right?" Lucy poked her brother’s cheek, grinning.

"That’s right!" Asa laughed. Although he looked like he was throwing a tantrum while playing the games, his stress was actually shedding more and more with every scream and button abuse. "But forget about the exam--how should I go through this, Lu?"

Asa pointed at the big screen with his chin. The game they chose to defuse the tension from the action game was none other than Han Shin’s and Reina’s favorite genre: dating sim. He patted the head using his thigh as a pillow, demanding an answer.

"Why would you ask me? The only one who’s ever in relationships is Sis Nari," Lucy shrugged before returning to her bag of chips. This vacation was a chance to eat whatever she liked without her daddy and uncles nagging at her.

Asa turned toward the older girl who had been reading some magazines, but she just shook her head. "Nah; real-life situations do not apply to games--and vice versa."

Both Asa and Lucy raised their brows--even Byul looked up from his commlink curiously. "Why?"

"Because it’s supposed to be fantasy, duh," Nari rolled her eyes, pointing at the screen. "Look at that guy; if someone comes at me acting that cocky and suddenly getting all flirty, I’d punch them already."

Asa arched his brow at the admittedly annoying love interest on the screen. "Violence much?"

"Okay, maybe a warning first..."

"A warning for a punch? How many seconds did you give them?"

Lucy rolled to her stomach. "Did?"

The three looked at Nari, who chewed the inside of her cheek before giving up and throwing her hands. "Okay, so what if I did?" freeweɓnovel.cøm

Asa threw his head back to laugh. Oh, too bad that Nari entered the Academy at the same time he started training from home. If he knew things would be interesting there, he would visit the Academy more often. Just for the gossip.

"Will you still punch them if they are good-looking?" Asa asked with a smirk.

"Who said anything about punching them in the face?" Nari scoffed. "Besides..." she looked at the pair of beautiful-looking siblings staring at her and sighed, shaking her head. "Haa, my standard is just too high to consider people good-looking."

Asa smirked, swiping his hair back. "Oh, my...thank you for the compliment."

"I’m talking about Kar Oppa," Nari rolled her eyes.

"I’m literally his twin?!"

"Whatever."

Lucy got up and tilted her head, poking her brother’s upper arm. "You’re never going out with anyone, Asa?"

"When do I have the time for that? My school friends would just scatter after graduation anyway," Asa shrugged before crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes. "I’m going to look for a girlfriend in college instead."

"Just don’t use dating sim’s strategy, okay?" Nari warned him.

"So I can’t tease her until she gets frustrated or pester her until she gives up and accepts me?" Asa tilted his head.

"No!"

"What about reserving the whole restaurant so we can dine in private and use drones to confess?"

"Do that for your fifth anniversary or something," Nari clicked her tongue. "Do things moderately at the start, okay? You’ll scare people if you get too aggressive from the start."

"Hmm..."

Asa didn’t seem to be satisfied, but Nari waved her hand and shifted the topic to someone else who wasn’t there. "Anyway, what about Kar Oppa? He didn’t have to study like you."

"He just has no interest in human relationships," Asa replied nonchalantly.

"Don’t say it like that," Lucy smacked her brother’s arm. "Kar just hasn’t thought about stuff like that yet. All he had in his head was training and training. Right, Byul?"

The youngest boy almost dropped his commlink. "H-huh?"

"Why are you suddenly talking like an expert? You’ve never even been in a relationship," Asa pushed his sister’s forehead.

Lucy crossed her arms. "Hmph--I’m just that good."

"But you said you can’t help me with this game!"

"Don’t sweat trivial stuff," the young girl clicked her tongue. "Just choose one and repeat if it’s wrong."

She snatched the controller and randomly pushed the button, prompting her brother to shriek. "Aaahh!" Asa jumped to his knees in panic, but a scene suddenly came out and he tilted his head in confusion. "Wait...why are they suddenly kissing?"

As the cutscene of the main character and the love interest kissing came out, Lucy covered her eyes with her fingers spreading wide, letting out an energetic scream. "Kyaah!"

"That’s so fake, Lu. Disgusting," Asa narrowed his eyes in a grimace.

"How can you call your pretty sister disgusting!" Lucy gasped and slapped her brother’s back repeatedly. "I’ll tell Papa!"

Asa gasped scandalously and threw a sharp retort. "I’ll tell him you read young adult novels secretly!"

"Foul! Traitor! You promise!"

Nari rolled her eyes at the bickering siblings, clicking her tongue in exasperation. "It’s just a kiss, geez. Stop exaggerating."

Asa and Lucy immediately stopped glaring at each other and shifted their gaze to Nari, both smirking and arching their brows. "Oh, so you kissed before, huh?"

Nari parted her lips, realizing that she had been baited by the cunning siblings. Byul widened his eyes at his sister. "Noona?!"

"Shush, Byul! Don’t be so loud!" Nari frantically put her hand over her brother’s mouth, glancing at the door. "Don’t tell Appa or Oemma too!"

Asa and Lucy glanced at each other before taking a deep breath. "Nari kissed someoneee!"

"Aaaaaghhh!"

While his sister was trying hard to shut the mischievous siblings’ mouths, Byul ran away from the chaotic room to look for the person this vacation was actually made for.

Perhaps because he actually wanted to have some rest in this vacation, Kar was avoiding chaos he knew his twin and sister would ensue. The white hairs of their family were all agents of chaos, it seemed. He preffered to enjoy the sea breeze and the sunlight on the solarium.

As expected, Byul found Kar up there, peacefully fallen into his afternoon nap. After going through intense training, dungeon diving, and three months of tower climbing, Kar had been using his leisure time to just lounge around until he got his license once he had his eighteenth birthday in the fall.

"They made all that fuss and you’re just sleeping here peacefully, Hyung," Byul laughed softly when he found Kar lying on one of the sunbeds under the parasol. "Well, I know you prefer virtual reality simulation."

The boy stood beside the sunbed, staring at the older twin. Just like Bassena said, Kar was growing to look more like his grandfather, Alteroan, unlike his twin who maintained the delicate guide look. Perhaps it was the difference in their daily life, which made Kar grow taller and bulkier.

Truly...a beautiful person.

It was a fact that no one could refute, and Byul knew that. For him, however, Kar’s beauty was beyond the breathtaking appearance. From the warmth of the fingers he often held when he was just a baby, the soft pat on his head he received all his life, and the gentle words that easily soothed his heart...

Karna Ishtera was a beautiful existence for him.

"Hyung...is it true that you have no thought about...love...or something like that?" Byul crouched beside the sunbed and sighed, muttering in a whisper. "I know you have been focusing on improving your skills though, just..."

The boy exhaled heavily, laying his head on his knees. A beautiful existence was like a precious gem. Of course, he wanted to have it. But he also knew the gem garnered a lot of attention and desire from other people. A lot of other people.

People who were better than him. People who stayed in the same world as that gem.

"Yeah...someone like me...won’t understand anyway," Byul bit his trembling lips. "Once you start working..."

At this point, Kar did seem to not have any interest in a relationship like that, but what about when he was already a member of society? Already had his work and career? He would meet more people who resided in the same world as him and understood him more. They could see his mana and provide support and...

Byul pressed his lips and stood up abruptly. He was going to return inside initially, but he stopped when he saw the older boy’s face. The sudden chaotic thought swirling in his head made him filled with strange thoughts.

Or maybe it was because of the game and the conversation he heard in the gaming room? Before he knew it, Byul already gripped the armrest of the sunbed and leaned down.

So close to the older boy, Byul could hear the steady breathing and saw the unblemished skin. Before any part of their skin could touch, however, he froze. His lips trembled, and after a few seconds, he shit his eyes tightly while pulling back.

"Ugh--what are you doing, Byul?!" he hissed to himself, slapping his own head before running away from the solarium. "Stupid! So stupid!"

The door to the solarium closed with a soft thud, and a pair of heterochromatic eyes opened, staring at the twilight sky in a heavy silence.