There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 680: Side Story 3. Stellar Blossom - 15

In the winter after the twins’s second birthday, they received a gift of a beautiful little sister. With a baby-faced father and mother, the real baby was bound to be cute; a fact that the twins themselves agreed upon.

"Gyuu!" Asa shouted in a high-pitch, energetic voice while dangling on the bassinet railing, arms stretched out trying to reach the baby.

Of course, his father was carefully holding his waist as he did so, while correcting his pronunciation. Or rather...making sure it was the right word. "Cute?"

"Kyut!"

The older twin had a slightly different opinuon. "Peetee..."

"Pretty?"

"Ung," the calm toddler nodded. "Pweetee."

"Kyut!" Asa insisted. "Bebee small!"

"You’re smaller than her when you were born, you know," his Baba told him in a loud whisper, and the twins gasped in disbelief.

Only after Bassena showed their newborn photos with his hands as a comparison did they believe it, and their shocked expression was enough to ignite laughter, including from the nannies. The little boys ended up going through their whole baby album and compared it to their newborn little sister, discussing stuff with their own twin’s language.

"Ah, I’m so relieved~" Han Shin exhaled slowly as he leaned against his wife’s headrest, patting his chest.

Unlike Zein, Reina had a vaginal delivery, so it couldn’t be done in just one or two hours. From the first contraction to the delivery, it nearly took twenty hours. While they had prepared everything from the labor bag to hospital room reservation in advance, Han Shin couldn’t help but panic in the end. It was a confusing and frustrating concept for a healer to see their partner go through massive pain without being able to help.

The only thing he could do was heal Reina at the end, after his daughter safely out, so hus wife didn’t have to be stitched up. And while he had seen enough wounds and injury during his career, he couldn’t help but tremble while healing Reina.

Even now, he still found his hands trembling from time to time at the memory. It was such a bizarre, terrifying, and wonderful experience.

"Heh," Bassena sneered after giving up his commlink to the twins. "You mock me so much in the past--look at you."

"I’m sorry, okay?" Han Shin groaned while rolling his eyes exasperatedly.

"Can you stop bickering in front of the children?"

Under Zein’s stern gaze, Bassena and Han Shin pressed their lips obediently, prompting a laugh from Reina. Thanks to her husband’s healing, she did not experience much pain afterward, and after resting for a while, she regained color in her face again despite the exhaustion that couldn’t be cured with potion.

Still, she was giggling happily. Her parents and older sisters were amused at these high-ranking espers’ interactions and decided to leave her in their hands while they prepared the baby’s place in their Lucre house.

"I’m not sure who she looks like, though..." Bassena tilted his head as he stared at the little princess bundled in a cute bright yellow blanket. Like a chick--he thought while smiling. fгeewebnovёl.com

Was it because he had children of his own? Looking at these little humans made him smile automatically these days.

"I don’t exactly look like my parents either," Radia shrugged, narrowing his eyes as he observed the little princess. Not to scrutinize the genetics, but to appraise what gems would suit her color scheme. "Anyway, Zein just has a strong gene."

"Absolutely," Bassena chuckled. He still felt amazed how, despite having his eyes and hair, as well as his childhood personality, Asa still looked like a mini-Zein.

Naturally, Kar looked even more like Zein, down to the reserved nature.

"Hmm..." Han Joon tilted his head as he held his niece in his arms, somehow looking like he had used to it.

"What is it?"

"She kind of looks like her."

Everyone looked at Han Joon in surprise, especially Han Shin, whose eyes were widening gradually. There were not many women in Joon’s life, much less if it had something to do with ’genetic’.

"...who?" the healer asked in anticipation.

"Noona."

"Oh..."

The information was uttered in a dry voice; the lack of expression made Han Shin at a loss of how to react. Actually, the existence of his deceased older sister was something akin to an illusion for him. How could it not? He only found out about it a few years ago.

Naturally, he never knew what she looked like, and he needed time to digest the fact that his daughter looked like that faceless family member.

But not his wife.

"Really?" Reina clasped her hands, looking genuinely elated. Her eyes crinkled and sparkled as she stroked her daughter’s reddish cheeks. "Isn’t that lovely? You look like your Aunt, Lily!"

Han Joon raised his brows slowly. "Are you going to name her...Lily?"

"...Nari," Han Shin told his brother carefully. "We’re going to name her Nari."

"Ah..."

It was such a coincidence. They had prepared the name not long after finding out the baby’s gender, but he never thought that his daughter would look like her namesake.

Han Shin asked carefully, checking his brother’s expression. "Is that okay...hyung?"

"She’s your daughter, so you can name her whatever you want," Han Joon shrugged, still staring at the baby’s face without any particular expression.

Perhaps that was why Han Shin kept getting restless and persistently asked. "But is that okay with you?"

Han Joon blinked at the concerned tone in his brother’s voice, and turned his head to look at Han Shin’s anxious eyes. "Yes," he finally smiled as he shifted his gaze back to the little princess. "Yes, it is."

* * *

The next day, while Radia showered her niece with all kinds of gifts, Han Joon called his younger brother to the sitting room of the hospital suite to give his own ’gift’.

"What is this?" Han Shin stared curiously at the box in front of him.

It was an old, worn-out box. It wasn’t even a proper box--more like a large-sized biscuit tin. Seeing that it was from a brand that no longer existed, it seemed like the box itself was older than him.

"That is Mother’s...and Noona’s."

Han Shin raised his head with widened eyes. "Nari Noona’s..."

"Those are the only things I can get before that man throws everything out," Han Joon smiled bitterly.

He was just a child himself at that point, but he had a strong intuition. The moment he came home, he grabbed whatever he could from their bedroom--hairpins, brooch, the only pearl necklace his mother had, his sister’s keyring, ribbons from their clothes, the cute wallet his sister bought after saving her allowance...

He grabbed what he could grab with his short height and small hands, using the biscuit tin his sister used to keep some photographs the three of them took secretly. The only pictures with genuinely happy faces of them, unlike the straight face all around the house.

And it was proven to be the right thing, because the next day, several people in military outfit came to get rid of his sister’s existence. Even his mother’s. The only proof his mother ever existed was the stiff wedding picture--the time before his sister was born.

Well...that picture and Han Shin, who looked like their mother.

"Sorry for hiding it from you," Han Joon smiled apologetically.

Of course, half of it was because he couldn’t tell Shin about their sister, fearing the kid would blabber accidentally. But also...there was a part of him who wanted to keep that memory to himself. Just himself. Even Radia didn’t know about this box’s existence.

As he caught the guilt in his brother’s eyes, Han Shin quickly shook his head. "No!" he almost shouted, before remembering that they were still in the hospital--even if this whole section of the ward was reserved for them. "I mean...don’t be..."

Han Shin looked at the box, sighing inwardly. "This must mean much more to you than to me, Hyung. I mean...I never knew them."

"I guess," Han Joon leaned back, feeling rather relieved. He looked at his baby brother, who had a baby on his own now, and smiled. "But since you have a daughter now, I’m thinking you can show them to her. There are...some pictures too. I think it’s good for her to know her grandma and aunt for a bit. I’m not sure if the jewelry can still be used, but--"

Han Shin stood up and threw himself to his older brother, hugging the man tightly. "Thank you, hyung!"

Han Joon chuckled as he held his younger brother. Even after having a baby, the kid was still a baby after all--at least in his eyes. It felt like not long ago since he carried the snifeling kid around, and just ten minutes ago, he held that kid’s daughter.

Time was like that. As his brain trying to erase the eleven years of separation with his darling, the period before that felt like yesterday to him.

Yeah. People should live with good memories.

"Shin," he stroked the fluffy black hair.

"Yeah?"

"Be a good father, will you?"

Han Shin stiffened for a bit, knowing full well the weight behind the request. The way it was uttered in a soft voice pierced his heart even more.

And that was why he understood how important his answer was for Joon.

"I’ll try my best," Han Shin replied firmly, pulling back from his brother’s embrace, which had gotten nicely warmer and warmer. He looked straight into the sharp black eyes. "I know I have a lot of flaws, but...I can at least promise you that I will love her with all my heart."

"Yeah," this time, Han Joon patted his brother’s shoulder. "That’s a good start."

With a twinkling in his eyes, Han Shin continued. "But I’m confident."

"Are you?"

"Because I was raised by you, Hyung!" Han Shin grinned.

Han Joon let out a hollow chuckle. "I don’t think I’m good either."

He hid thing from Shin, and left when his younger brother was still a teenager. Due to his ploy, he deceived even his brother, hiding his true self. In the end, he didn’t think he did much.

"But you’re always there," Han Shin smiled widely. That cheerful smile could only be there because of Han Joon, and Shin wanted his brother to understand that. "You protected me, and always made sure I was well-provided. Above all else..." he glanced at the bedroom. "You let me be myself and pursue what I want. I made a promise to Rei noona to do the same for Nari."

Han Joon blinked slowly, and Shin let his brother digested his words, patiently waiting with a cheerful smile. "I see..." Han Joon finally said while patting the side of his baby brother’s head.

Those pats and caresses too, was something that their father never gave them. At least, he knew Shin would provide his child with this.

"But, hyung..." Han Shin looked up awkwardly in the middle of his brother’s pats.

"Mm?"

"If I say I’ll go to the Tower, will you get angry again?"