Chapter 396 – Side Story 11   - Jupiter (3)

“Aren’t you having fun?” asked Soo-Jung with a wide smile. By now, they had already taken a crack at all the rides. And since they had to wait in long lines to try these rides, the day was almost over.

Jupiter remained quiet.

“I guess it was boring for you.”

“No, it was fun,” Jupiter finally replied. “I was just surprised, that’s all.”

Suddenly, Jupiter grabbed Soo-Jung’s hand and dragged her toward the food carts. He entered a restaurant and brought back two servings of chicken popcorn and two sodas for takeout.

Soo-Jung burst into laughter. “What are those?!”

“I thought we could have some snacks.”

The two of them sat down on a bench together. It was getting late, yet the amusement park was still very crowded.

Jupiter popped a piece of chicken into his mouth and mumbled, “I had fun today.”

He wasn’t lying when he said he was surprised. He explained, “I didn’t know that it would feel so different just because I’m not alone.”

Jupiter had no fun the last time he was here. He got bored quickly because he was alone. He had tried many rides because he saw the other people were having fun, but he didn’t find anything amusing. Since it was a long time ago, he had forgotten all about it until now.

“None of the rides were exciting, but I still had fun.” For Jupiter, today was nothing like that day. The rides were still too slow for him, but he had fun. His heart had even beat faster occasionally; he wondered if it was because he had fun.

“A lot of things have been on my mind lately, so it was a nice distraction. Thank you,” Jupiter said to Soo-Jung.

“No problem.” Soo-Jung smiled. “I had fun today too. And I agree that it’s amazing.”

“What do you mean?”

“How you experience something changes completely based on the company you have.” Soo-Jung and Jupiter’s eyes met. Realizing something wasn’t right, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

Thinking that perhaps there was an enemy nearby, Soo-Jung looked around, but she didn’t sense anything unusual.

Jupiter blurted, “What am I to you?”

Soo-Jung flinched, and Jupiter’s eyes wavered. He continued, “I made a few mistakes, but afterward, I made sure you knew how I felt about you. And it hasn’t been too long since you began accepting my feelings.”

“...”

“It was difficult for me to get close to you because…” Jupiter hesitantly continued, “I believe that you… had feelings for Kim Gi-Gyu.”

Jupiter looked away, embarrassed that he was opening his heart to her like this. He had fumbled a few times in the past whenever they met. Neither of them had openly revealed how they felt about each other. A few times, they had joked about their feelings, but there had been no progress in their relationship. Everything felt so awkward, and it wasn’t just one person’s fault. Both of them were not good at showing how they felt.

Jupiter asked, “So… are you over Kim Gi-Gyu now?”

“...” Soo-Jung smiled.

*** “It’s not what you think,” replied Soo-Jung after a long silence. “I…”

“...” Jupiter waited patiently. It wasn’t easy to watch the one he loved being in love with someone else. ‘Especially because she’s my first love.’?

Jupiter lived a long time, but most of his life was spent being oppressed and controlled. When he had separated from Gi-Gyu, his mind, for the first time, could think clearly. So, this was his first time feeling love.

“It’s true that I had feelings for Gi-Gyu.” Soo-Jung finally opened her lips. “But they are not the kind of emotions you think.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m saying that I don’t love him that way.” Staring into his eyes, Soo-Jung continued, “All I wanted… was forgiveness and salvation from my pupil. That’s all.”

Jupiter listened quietly as Soo-Jung added, “It would have been understandable if Gi-Gyu never forgave me. After all, I lied to him, and I almost destroyed everything toward the end.”

“But he…”

“Yeah, he forgave me anyway. And he saved me. He understood that I didn’t want to do the things I did. He believed in me and saved me from my fate, which was to destroy the world. Gi-Gyu did all that for me despite my many lies.”

Soo-Jung smiled faintly. “That’s all I feel for him. And besides, we’re supposed to be loyal to him, right?”

“...”

Soo-Jung tapped Jupiter’s shoulder and leaned toward him. She whispered in his ear, “And do I dare seduce him when he has such a pretty girlfriend?”

Jupiter blushed.?‘El.’?

Before he knew what he was doing, he stood up and yelled, “You’re prettier than El!”

He had yelled so loudly that the passersby stared at him. Even Soo-Jung blushed from surprise. Just then, all the lights in the amusement park went off. Jupiter looked around in confusion, trying to sense if there was an enemy around, exuding bloodthirst.

-I am the god of this world! You are…!

A solemn and loud voice rang inside the amusement park. And seconds later, a giant manly face with a beard and blue hair appeared at the park's center. A sword appeared in Jupiter’s hand.

“Stop,” said Soo-Jung.

“What?”

“I said stop, you idiot.” Soo-Jung, trying hard to suppress her laughter, asked, “I guess you didn’t stay till the end the last time you were here?”

“...?” Jupiter stared in confusion. A giant had appeared all of a sudden, his voice booming everywhere. He was the most nervous because he couldn’t sense magic or bloodthirst energy anywhere. One had to be insanely powerful to hide their presence this well. Remembering Uranus’ sudden appearance, Jupiter felt anxious.

“It’s a show,” explained Soo-Jung.

“...A show?”

“I’m saying this is just a show! The amusement park puts on a show when it's almost closing time! Look over there!”

Jupiter obeyed and turned around.

And then he realized the oddness of the situation. Despite the appearance of a giant with a booming voice, no one was panicking. Everyone watched in excitement instead.

-Feel my lightning! Fwoosh!

A sudden flash illuminated the amusement park like a thunderbolt.

“This is just a show,” Soo-Jung repeated. She was right. The light just now was made of magic, but it didn’t have any destructive power. Jupiter finally accepted that this was indeed just a show.

“...” He looked down in embarrassment. Soo-Jung held his arm and murmured, “You’re so cute.”

This woman truly believed he was cute, and Jupiter found this moment magical. He was standing with the woman he loved among the flashing lights and crowds of people.

“You—” Jupiter began as he stared at Soo-Jung. But before he could finish his sentence, Soo-Jung put her finger on his lips, silently asking him to be quiet. Jupiter pouted and turned back toward the show.

The play continued when suddenly, Soo-Jung’s voice tickled into his ear, “I’ll do the asking. Will you marry me?”

Fwoosh!

“Uwahhh!”

“That was crazy!”

“What was that just now?”

“What the?! Did they come up with a new show recently?”

The audience exclaimed in shock as real lightning bolts shot down around them. The lights inside the amusement park also began flashing uncontrollably. The scene was so beautiful that people stared in awe.

“Idiot! Don’t use your lightning!” Soo-Jung yelled. Jupiter was responsible for the real lighting because he had lost control of his emotions. Despite Soo-Jung yelling at him, the lightning flashes didn’t stop.

Soo-Jung ultimately grabbed his chin and kissed him to stop him.

“...!”

Unfortunately, this worsened the situation.

Kaboom!

***

“I let you have a vacation, so how could you cause trouble like this?” Gi-Gyu scolded Jupiter, who remained silent.

“Thank goodness there were multiple barriers around the amusement park. What if someone got hurt?” Gi-Gyu continued.

Jupiter’s position in Eden was an awkward one. Although he was powerful and Gi-Gyu’s close acquaintance, Jupiter’s seniority was technically well below Sung-Hoon. But knowing who Jupiter was and his rough personality, Sung-Hoon always found it hard to deal with him.

So when Jupiter caused an accident in the amusement park, Sung-Hoon requested Gi-Gyu to take care of the tongue-lashing part. Jupiter had destroyed the entire electrical system and all the barriers. Fixing them was costly; thankfully, no one got hurt, and the customers thought it was just a special show. However, the outcome could have been much worse.

Gi-Gyu yelled, “Hey! Are you listening? Stop ignoring me!”

Gi-Gyu’s personality had changed after living for so long and experiencing many things. But his kind nature never changed. He asked, “Haa… Why did you do that?”

When Jupiter remained quiet, Gi-Gyu stepped back. Jupiter finally replied, “You’re smiling, which means you already know what happened.”

There was a faint smile on Jupiter’s lips as well. He announced, “I’m getting married.”

“What?”

With a wide grin, Jupiter continued, “I’m marrying Soo-Jung.”