There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)-Chapter 685: Side Story 3. Stellar Blossom - 20

When Bassena and Zein received a call from Radia’s secretary instead of Radia himself, they knew something really wrong happened. Possibly to Han Joon.

And they were right.

They met Secretary Min in front of a special care single-unit--one with a glass window so they could see the patient from outside of the room, but also a restricted entry so that only family could come to see.

There, they saw a man sleeping with a peaceful face; so peaceful no one would think there was something wrong with the man. Even the monitor beside him saw the steady heart rate of someone in a deep sleep. If there was anything off, it was the low statistic of brain activity.

"Master Joon is in a coma," the secretary said. "From what I heard, he suddenly fell unconscious."

"Suddenly?" Bassena frowned. "There’s no noseblood or anything?"

"No," the secretary shook his head, looking solemn and concerned. "It was like he suddenly fell asleep."

Zein and Bassena glanced at each other, as the same memory came across their mind; the day Han Joon fell asleep after playing with Kar and Radia suddenly looking all worried.

"Did it happen often before? The suddenly falling asleep?" Zein asked.

"It seemed to be so," Secretary Min nodded. "The previous diagnosis was that Master Joon was merely feeling increasingly tired. It also usually happens after a long day or increased activity. This is the first time..." the secretary glanced at the man beyond the glass window. "It’s the first time he fell unconscious in the middle of doing something, and...he hadn’t woken up since."

Bassena clenched his fist, amber eyes staring hard at the sleeping night star. If he felt this awful about it, how would Radia...

"Where’s Radia?" Zein asked.

"Ah, Master is..."

The Secretary’s face darkened, as if a black cloud suddenly hovered above his head. With a troubled, cast-down look, he glanced at the end of the corridor. In front of the emergency exit door, a familiar black figure was standing, as if guarding the door.

Zein let out a sigh and asked the secretary while stroking his esper’s back. "What about his parents?"

"They were coming from the Southern Kingdom. They are scheduled to arrive around midnight."

"And the Matriarch?"

"Madam is currently talking to the doctors. Master Radia was..." again, the secretary glanced at the emergency exit door. "He wasn’t in a condition to talk to other people."

That was to be expected. Even Bassena still couldn’t talk, probably because the only thing that could come out of he opened his mouth was curses.

"Did you tell Reina?"

"Not yet, Sir. I’m waiting for instructions."

The protocol in place for this kind of situation was for him to call Radia’s parents, the matriarch, and the branch guildmaster--in that order. It should be Han Shin first initially, but the healer was unfortunately still in the Tower.

But Bassena didn’t look like he could take care of others at this point, so Zein decided to take action himself. Someone had to keep Radia stable until his parents were here, since he wasn’t sure the matriarch could handle him. For all Zein knew, only his husband and parents could handle an emotional Radia.

[Please keep him company]

Zein glanced at his commlink, at the message coming from the matriarch while he was on his way. Well...he could do that much.

"Stay here," he stroked his esper’s cheek before walking toward the emergency exit door.

Despite looking like a guard, the butler with a pair of hardened black eyes stepped out of the way when Zein came, letting the guide approach the handle and open the heavy door.

He didn’t immediately see Radia, but he caught the shadow. Walking down a flight of stairs, he saw the summoner in the corner, crouching. Small and trembling. The dim light obscured his face, which was covered by messy red strands. Unlit golden needles were scattered around his feet, along with a smashed-out lighter and another one dangling between shaking fingers.

How long had he been there? Perhaps since the moment they declared Han Joon fell into a coma. A couple of hours. Zein could see it, how the man dazedly walked away to a corner where no one could see him, losing his mind. Losing his pillar. Losing his world.

What could he say to such a man? He didn’t even know what he would do if he lost Bassena.

Silently, Zein took a seat on the staircase below the one Radia sat on. He could sense the summoner flinch, which was rather unsettling for him. Well, for anyone, really. Radia was in a daze the first time Han Joon collapsed, but he quickly regained his wits the moment the doctor came.

It wasn’t so easy this time.

Zein, however, wasn’t someone good at consoling. He was never asked to do that anyway. If he still could, he would offer a guiding session to at least make Radia calmer; but that method was no longer available.

"Have you found the relic?" he asked.

Understandably, the answer didn’t come right away. But Zein patiently waited, without saying anything, without looking back to look at the summoner’s face. It took a long time, but Zein refrained from glancing at the clock, only staring at the white wall and their stretched-out shadow.

It was probably ten minutes later before an answer came. The voice was low and devoid of energy, but it was an answer nonetheless. "We found someone who might have such an artifact," there was a slight shaking accompanying the answer, which was paused by a deep breath. "But people from the Western Republic are already hunting it down, so the competition will be fierce."

The voice gradually sounded steadier, and Zein swallowed a sigh of relief. With a slight smile that couldn’t be heard in his voice, he asked again. "But you will get it, won’t you?"

"Naturally."

This time, the answer came faster, with an overwhelming certainty that made Zein believe the man would defy the deity if he had to. After all, he sounded the same as Bassena who said he would fight Setnath for Zein.

That should be enough, right?

"The Saintess will be here tomorrow," Zein told the man, finally turning around.

"Thank you."

Radia wasn’t exactly looking like his usual, but at the very least, he was no longer trembling. The crimson eyes were looking dull and his complexion was ashy, but it wasn’t a problem that Zein could solve. Even his parents might not be able to get him back to his usual self.

Not until Han Joon could wake up.

Zein deemed his role was fulfilled and proceeded to pick up the scattering golden needles around Radia’s feet.

"What are you doing?" the summoner asked curiously.

"It’s such a waste," Zein said nonchalantly. "They’re not even lit. Should be usable."

"They’re dirty, throw them out."

"Did you not hear the part about it being a waste?"

"Did you not hear the part about it being dirty?"

Zein scoffed. "What a posh."

"What are you, a cheapskate?"

"Don’t make the manufacturer cry."

"My company manufactures it."

Zein looked up with a handful of golden needles. His indifferent face only lasted for five seconds before a chuckle escaped his mouth at the sight of Radia’s twitching lips. "Should we get back?"

"...yeah," Radia took another deep breath before standing up, trying to ignore a handful of golden needles disappearing inside the guide’s coat pocket. Still, he stopped before the door and looked at the serene blue eyes. "Thank you." freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

* * *

The matriarch came first, along with a doctor bearing bad news about Joon’s condition.

"His organs are deteriorating. It wouldn’t be apparent right away, and the hospital can provide life support--but we are racing against time."

It wasn’t exactly the kind of news that Radia’s fragile mind could take; but fortunately, his parents arrived that night. The tears and emotions he had been keeping in the corner flew out inside his mother’s embrace and his father’s gentle stroke on his head.

It couldn’t solve everything; it couldn’t make him feel better. But, at the very least, he would no longer crouching in the corner doing nothing but trapping himself in a quagmire.

"Just focus on finding that relic for now," his father said. "Leave Mortix to us--your grandma will help too."

"I’ll oversee the guild with Rina, so just stay here with him," Bassena added. He might not be able to see the twins for a while, but he figured they would approve knowing it was to help their beloved uncle.

"What about Shin?" Zein asked. "Should we tell Reina?"

"We should tell Reina, but not Shin," Radia shook his head. "It’s almost winter anyway--he’ll come out eventually. And if I were him..."

"I’d prefer to finish the trial so there’d be hope in curing him," Bassena nodded. Had he the ability, he would have done anything to heal Han Joon. But all he could do was help Radia focus on his task of searching for the cure.

Thus, as the autumn leaves turned into falling snow, Radia lived in the hospital. The pain, which was unbearable at first, gradually became manageable as he focused his effort on looking for a cure without any distraction.

The Saintess came twice during that time, together with Zein who guided her in better guiding. Thanks to that, the rate at which Joon’s organ was failing slowed down considerably. As expected, it was caused by the cold energy.

At least, it gave them time, although it was apparent how pale Han Joon had become. Even the Saintess’ guiding couldn’t make his skin warm again. As the snow began to fall, his weight also started to decline.

But in this depressing and beautiful season, a light finally shone through.

"We find it, darling," Radia whispered as he stroked the black hair tenderly. "Wait for a bit. We will bring the relic home."