There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 727: Side Story 4. Endless Journey - 10

"Saaaand!"

Despite the warning, Asa ran across the white sand the moment their car door opened. It didn’t take long for him to stumble and roll down the slope. Still, his crisp laughter filled the beautiful resort, and he continued running after standing up.

"...rowdy," Kar let out a sigh and followed his twin’s path carefully while shaking his head in exasperation.

"They don’t know cold, do they?" Zein chuckled as he watched his sons from the resort’s parking lot.

"I’ll watch the Young Masters, Patriarch," Cohen followed the twins to the beach. He gently picked up Asa who had rolled for the third time already--and still laughing out loud as if having his head on the snow was the best thing ever.

No wonder their Uncles looked tired.

"I brought him here so he could rest too, not babysitting..." Zein sighed.

"Babysitting man is appealing, I heard," Bassena said with a shrug. "Who knows? You did bring him so he could meet girls, didn’t you?"

"Oh, you found out?" Zein laughed.

Cohen was around the same age as the couple who invited them to the resort for a wedding anniversary, and yet, there was no sign of him settling down. No--it would be better if he at least had some flings, but the man had never gone past the first date. Based on Arlo’s report, it seemed like Cohen was acting too stoic and stiff, too hesitant about making progress.

Was it because his fiancee had left him before?

It was really too bad since Cohen was a great guy. Zein wouldn’t do anything if the man just wanted to focus on his work and be happily single forever--like Zhan--but Cohen did want to have a relationship.

People did say good people often had difficulty finding the right partner.

Eh, what could he say? He wasn’t a good person after all.

"Daadaaaa! Babaaaaa!" Asa called out from the beach, waving his arms to beckon his parents.

"Let’s go," Zein laughed. "I promised him we’ll play in the sand."

"Wear your clothes properly," Bassena frowned and buttoned Zein’s coat. "What will you do if you catch a cold? Shin can’t cure a cold."

Zein flicked the frowning brows above the amber eyes. "It’s not even that cold yet. Besides, you’re the one who has been experiencing morning sickness."

"I’m fine," Bassena grumbled. "It’s just--urk..."

Like an irony, the esper turned pale, and before Zein could finish blinking twice, Bassena had already scattered into shadow--probably to the nearest bathroom.

"Pfft--" Zein chuckled and looked down at his totally still flat stomach. It couldn’t even be considered flesh yet, but it had already played pranks on his father.

The father who did not carry it, to be exact.

"Or should I say ’her’?" Zein muttered with a tilted head. He didn’t have any real proof, but he believed the baby was a girl. Bassena’s dream seemed to confirm it too. "Wait--was this why he’s the one experiencing morning sickness? Because he was the one with the conception dream?"

How amusing. Like his son, Zein ended up walking down the slope while laughing, making his bodyguard worried that he would slip and fall. What would Master Bassena do to them if they let the Patriarch roll down like Young Master Asa?

"Patriarch, please be careful..."

"I’m fine," Zein rolled his eyes.

People seemed to forget that he had been active in combat five years ago. Even if he rarely entered the dungeon nowadays, he still exercised regularly. Well, at least his sons treated him like usual. At least, Asa did.

They did cling to him more than before, staring at his stomach and asking when the sister would be able to hear them. Hmm...perhaps they told the twins about it too soon? Should have told them when the fetus properly formed.

"Aaaah! Asa flyyyy!"

"Hmm?" Zein raised his gaze to see his son moving like a plane, high in the air. A pair of arms--one of them cyber-prosthetic--held his waist. A familiarly loud laugh, even rowdier than Asa’s, made Zein smile.

While Asa experienced flying with his Uncle Zhan, Kar pulled Uncle Cohen to the water. His Baba said he shouldn’t go to the water alone, so it would be alright as long as he had someone, right?

"Wait, Young Master--Patriarch said you shouldn’t get wet now!" Cohen stretched out his hand, and before the wave could reach Kar, a soft round barrier had covered him.

But of course, that was not what Kar wanted. "No!" he stomped his feet on the ground--or rather, the shield. "I want to play with water!"

Kar stomped on the shield for three seconds, before remembering that he had decided to stop acting like a child. And so, he stopped and took a deep breath. Still, the disappointment was persisting. He turned around with pursed lips, staring at Cohen pitifully.

"You shouldn’t go into the water before changing, Young Master Kar," Cohen smiled and picked the boy out of the shield, into his arms.

"Oh..." only then did Kar remember that he was still in his travel clothes. Right--Dada would scold him if he entered the water right away. "Ung...thank you, Uncle Co’en."

"Then, would you like to change now? We can do it in the car if you don’t want to go to the resort first."

"Hmm..." Kar glanced at his father, who was still walking down the slope. "Do you think Dada will let me play in water now, Uncle?"

Cohen pressed his lips at this drastic change. As expected, everyone was afraid of the Patriarch. "Should we ask together?"

"Do you have to get wet? Or do you simply want to get to the sea?"

Kar and Cohen turned their head to where the voice came from, raising their brows. "Aunt Rina!" Kar smiled, before frowning curiously. "What you mean?"

"Like this," Rina smiled and stomped her feet once on the beach. The wet sand beneath her feet immediately froze; the cold spread quickly into the sea. Soon, an island made of ice formed on the beach. "How is it?"

Kar gasped and patted Cohen’s arms. "Wait a minute, Young Master," Cohen held the boy’s feet, creating a barrier with the bottom side akin to rubber so Kar wouldn’t slip. "Please be careful."

Kar, who had never stood on solid ice sleet before, widened his eyes. He couldn’t stop staring at the ice without blinking, and when he took a step forward, his eyes sparkled. Slowly, carefully, he took more steps into the sea.

Cohen bit his lips in concern and clenched his fist to create a soft barrier around the ice island. "Ah," he exclaimed softly and turned to look at Rina. "Pardon me."

Generally, it was rude to stack one skill above another without permission--especially if they did not belong to the same team.

"It’s fine," Rina laughed at the sincere conscience on Cohen’s face. "Did people tell you that you’re old-fashioned?"

"Some," Cohen’s shrugged.

"And the rest of them?"

"They called me boring."

Rina laughed at the answer. Interestingly enough, she used to think that men who did not react to her presence were boring. But after she matured, she grew an aversion toward people who only approached her for her look.

Hmm...was that why she started to feel differently about Ashur? Because the man treated her as an esper instead of an object of desire?

At any rate...

"Zein didn’t say that," Rina tilted her head, prompting Cohen to arch his brow. She curled her eyes and stared at the unflinching grey eyes. "How about it, Mr. Chief of Staff? Would you care to be my escort tomorrow?"

"Huh..."

Cohen blinked and raised his hand--just in time to place a soft barrier in front of the slipping Kar. He recalled that his master told him that he was coming as a guest, not a bodyguard. Well...he’d been going through this many times already anyway, so what was another one?

"Sure," he nodded briefly. "Then, I’ll see you tomorrow, Miss."

Rina pressed her lips to hold back her laughter as Cohen left her to pick up his little young master. She watched the big man convince Kar not to lie down on the cold ice with a little smile playing on her lips, before shrieking when a pair of strong hands grabbed her shoulder.

"Eeek!" ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

"Ahahaha! What are you doing just standing still like that?" Zhan laughed boisterously.

Rina was so close to kicking him to the ice sleet, but she held back because Asa was sitting on the spearman’s shoulder and giggling.

"Pfft--"

Also, she heard a chuckling sound from the ice.

"Aca want too! Aca wanna go to ayce!"

Asa climbed down the tall spearman skillfully and ran toward the ice field. Of course, he spectacularly slipped and slid across the sleet until Cohen caught him. Rather than crying, Asa was laughing hysterically at the fun experience while Uncle Cohen also made the shoe barrier for him.

"He’s not so boring after all..." Rina muttered quietly.

"Did you say something?" Zhan asked.

Rina moved her neck and stretched out her arms. "Heh--these amateurs have no idea how to enjoy ice fully!" she smirked while sliding across the ice with skating blades attached to her shoes, leaving the blinking Zhan confused.

"What the hell? Why are you ignoring me?! I want to play too!"