Chapter 311 - 303. A Clean Wash
Bassena had seen and touched Zein’s skin so many times at this point, that he even remembered where all of the guide’s beauty marks and scars were. Whether it was during their lovemaking, or when he cleaned the man after, the sensation he felt when he touched that fair skin was...bliss.
But not today.
Today, it was pain. It was heartbreak. It was regret.
As he wiped the remnant of blood off the guide’s limbs, he cursed himself repeatedly. He recalled, once again, the slight disappointment inside those blue eyes before he was going this morning. He knew Zein told him to go, but he should have just listened to himself.
Does it matter if he caused a problem for the television crew? Does it matter if his image worsen?
No. Nothing mattered more than Zein. Nothing should matter more than Zein.
Even if he was scolded by the guide, he should have just stayed to nurse his sick boyfriend. He should have known it was a dangerous time, after Zein’s face was getting circulated on social media and news outlets.
He should have known. He should have stayed. Then this awful thing didn’t need to happen. Then Zein didn’t have to dirty his own hands for worthless, dirty people.
It should have been him. It should be him that bathed in filth and blood. Not Zein. Not his guide. Not his light—
"Don’t," a wet hand, reddened after a clean scrub, lifted Bassena’s face, revealing a distraught face drenched in tears.
Tugging the esper’s jaw, Zein told Bassena to stand up, to face him beneath the running water. He stroked the trembling cheek, staring into the amber eyes that as of now, reminded him so much of himself. It was the eyes he saw when he looked into the mirror once in a blue moon.