After Ten Millennia in Hell

Side Story Chapter 32 - Troubling Date (3)

An awkward silence fell between the two people who came out of the Ferris wheel cart.

“U-Umm... Kang-Woo.”

“I’m disappointed in you, Darling.”

“Ngh...!” Han Seol-Ah flinched and she hunched. She lowered her head like a sinner and twiddled her fingers. “I’m sorry... I-I couldn’t hold myself back because it’s been a while since we’ve been a-alone together.”

“Even if we were in a Ferris wheel... We would’ve been visible to everyone if I hadn’t used the Authority of Blindness.”

“Oh, then does that mean we can do it anywhere as long as you use that Auth—”

“Darling.”

“I’m sorry.” Seol-Ah lowered her head sorrowfully.

Oh Kang-Woo sighed. The Authority of Blindness was overpowered in that it could alter the target’s sense of sight to make things not visible to them or turn into something entirely different in their eyes. Purely regarding its capabilities, not even the Authorities of the princes of Hell could hold up to it.

‘But it comes with a massive amount of restrictions.’

Not only was its demonic energy consumption rate insanely high, but its effects plummeted when used on an unspecified large number of people. Most of all, the Authority of Blindness would be undone almost instantly if the target had even the tiniest amount of demonic energy resistance.

‘Fortunately, there are only regular people with no resistance to demonic energy around.’

If there had been a High Ranker in the area, they could have seen through the Authority of Blindness and what was happening inside the cart.

“Are you angry...?” cautiously asked Seol-Ah as she grabbed Kang-Woo’s clothes, teary-eyed as if she were about to cry.

“No. It’s okay, Darling.”

No one could get angry at Seol-Ah after seeing her face. Kang-Woo smiled brightly and patted the dejected Seol-Ah’s back.

“Kang-Woo!”

Two soft mounds of fat pressed against Kang-Woo’s cheeks.

“Urgh.” It took Kang-Woo a few minutes to barely escape her embrace. “Ahem. That aside, shall we get something to eat?”

“Oh, look at the time.”

It was already past lunchtime after the two did all kinds of things. They did not require sustenance but couldn’t pass up on delicious food when they were on a date.

‘I’ve never had American food either.’

Kang-Woo preferred Korean to Western cuisine, but that did not mean he didn’t like hamburgers, fried chicken, pizza, and other foods. He practically liked anything delicious.

“Here are the restaurants. Let’s go here.”

“Okay!”

Seol-Ah smiled brightly again after judging Kang-Woo's anger had quelled, and hugged Kang-Woo’s arm again. They headed to the food court.

“Th-The smell of grease is insane,” Seol-Ah remarked.

“They say half of America’s population is obese, and I think I get why.”

Kang-Woo and Seol-Ah’s mouths were left agape as they entered the food court. The stench of grease and cheese was so pungent that they felt full just from being in the area.

“Let’s see, what should we eat?” Kang-Woo wondered.

“Ngh... I think I lost my appetite.”

He circled the food court, holding hands with Seol-Ah. The place was filled with familiar foods like hamburgers, pizza, and pasta, as well as foods he had never seen before.

‘Ah, I’m craving kimchi stew.’

Kang-Woo sighed as he stared at foods he did not particularly crave. He would likely not find a place that made kimchi stew in such a faraway foreign country.

‘I’ll make sure kimchi stew is sold all over the world one day,’ he thought passionately.

“I’ll just choose randomly.”

Kang-Woo sighed and walked to the nearest restaurant that mainly sold fried chicken thigh lunchboxes mixed with mashed potatoes and other vegetables. It seemed the most appetizing out of the rest of the foods he had seen.

“I’ll have the same as you, Kang-Woo.”

“Sure.”

They took their seats once they ordered and the guest pager vibrated soon after.

“Right then, shall we eat?”

“Hoho, you love your friend chicken, don’t you, Kang-Woo?”

“I sure do.”

Kang-Woo loved Korean food far more but enjoyed fried chicken the most among Western foods.

“Okay, let’s have a taste of American fried chicken.”

He opened the lunchbox, stuck a fork into the large chicken thigh, and took a big bite.

“Pffp!!” An insanely salty taste attacked his taste buds. “What the fuck is this?!”

‘Did they stuff the chicken with salt or something?’

“Ngh...”

Seol-Ah also grimaced after biting into the chicken thigh.

‘How much salt did they add for it to get this salty?’

Kang-Woo took a mouthful of the mashed potatoes to cancel out the saltiness.

“Pffp! Why the fuck is this salty?!”

It was even saltier than the fried chicken for some reason.

Kang-Woo and Seol-Ah looked down at the lunchbox in astonishment.

“I guess... the Western food we had in Korea was just Korean food.”

“I once saw on the news that Korea has been shifting to saltier foods lately, but it’s not even close to this,” Seol-Ah mentioned.

Kang-Woo threw away the lunchboxes. Although they were on a date, he did not want to eat fried chicken practically covered in salt.

“Urgh, let’s just look around some more, Darling.”

“Okay, Kang-Woo.”

They got up from their seats and looked around Universal Studios again. The food left much to be desired, but there were tons of things to do in the amusement park. It was already evening after they rode various attractions such as one themed with robots that could transform into cars, a boat where a massive shark suddenly appeared next to them, and many others.

“Whoa, time flew by so quickly.”

“I had a wonderful time.” Seol-Ah smiled in satisfaction.

“Why don’t we go back now?”

“Ah...” she expressed disappointment. She wanted to spend some more time with Kang-Woo alone. “A-Already?”

“We should, considering the time difference.”

Seol-Ah’s expression darkened. She bit her lip, softly grabbed Kang-Woo’s clothes, and said, “I want to... be with you for a little longer, Kang-Woo.”

“But we live togeth—” Kang-Woo tilted his head in confusion but remained silent as he noticed Seol-Ah’s teary eyes. “Okay, then. We’ve seen everything there is to see here, so why don’t we head to the beach?”

“Ah...! O-Okay!”

Seol-Ah’s gloomy expression brightened in an instant. Kang-Woo grabbed her hand and headed to Santa Monica Beach located in Los Angeles. It was considerably far from Universal Studios, but it was no problem for Kang-Woo and Seol-Ah who could fly at supersonic speed.

Swoosh.

“Fufu, This feels kind of romantic.” Seol-Ah giggled as they walked along the beach in the dark, holding hands.

It was not talking despite them barely talking; rather, they were hit with waves of joy.

“Haaa, haaa.”

Just then, Kang-Woo heard heavy breathing. He turned to see Seol-Ah, her face red and biting her lip as if desperately trying to hold something back.

“Darling?”

“Yes?!”

Seol-Ah flinched and turned to Kang-Woo in surprise.

“What’s wrong?”

“N-N-N-N-Nothing!” she stuttered as she rapidly shook her head.

It was not difficult to figure out why. “Are you having trouble holding back?”

“N-No! Not at all! I’m happy enough just holding hands with you like this!” However, her cheeks were so red it could be seen in the dark. She forcibly made a leisurely expression and continued, “S-So... I won’t suggest things like going on the Ferris wheel or anything like that from earlier.”

She seemed to have taken the scolding she had gotten after the incident in the Ferris wheel hard.

“Pfft! Hahahaha!”

Kang-Woo burst into laughter and softly kissed Seol-Ah. Her awkward smile as she desperately held back her impulses couldn’t be any more lovely; after all, the key reason was her deep love for him.

“Wh-Why are you laughing, Kang-Woo?!” shouted Seol-Ah as she lightly pinched Kang-Woo.

She shrank back cutely like a dog being scolded by their owner.

“There seemed to be tons of motels in the area, so why don’t we stop by one of them?” Kang-Woo suggested.

“A m-motel?”

Seol-Ah’s eyes shook, panting even more heavily than before. Kang-Woo could feel her trembling because they were holding hands.

“I mean... I doubt you’ll be satisfied with my current body.”

Kang-Woo lowered his head in sorrow, just like his lowered Fran?ois.

‘Fuck my life...’

He was swept by a massive sense of shame. He felt like a middle-aged man searching for foods that boost libido like a hyena.

‘Well, libido isn’t the issue in my case.’

There were no issues since what was sucked out of him was replenished with Seol-Ah’s healing magic, but there was a different issue entirely.

Riiing.

[It’s an issue of scale (Vienna).]

‘Quiet.’

[Puhi! Puhi! ~(???~)(~???)~!]

[Kufufufufu.]

‘Hahaha. Oh, Eve. You’ve been having it so easy lately, huh? You said that I’ll gain the privilege to influence the Law of Titans once I regain my powers, didn’t you? Did you forget that we can have a tearjerking meeting once that happens?’

[...]

‘Just you wait, bitch. I’ll turn your head into a question mark as soon as I get to you.]

[?(?• ? -?)?❤]

‘Fuck off.’

[??ˊ?ˋ?????❤ ]

‘Get the fuck out of my sight. Those goddamn emotes won’t help you.’

“Hohoho. Don’t worry about that,m Kang-Woo,” Seol-Ah said as she smiled and hugged Kang-Woo. She licked Kang-Woo’s ear and whispered, “I told you I like it just as much when I can fit the entire thing in my mouth ❤”

“...”

Seol-Ah’s switch was flipped. She dragged Kang-Woo by the arm and quickly left the beach. They reached a nearby motel and locked eyes with each other.

“First, let me take off my clothes—”

“Fufu, I’ll take them off for you.”

Seol-Ah smiled gently as she reached for Kang-Woo, who stepped back in embarrassment.

Thud.

Just then, something fell out of his pocket.

“Huh...?”

“What’s this, Kang-Woo?”

Seol-Ah tilted her head and picked up the rectangular box that fell to the ground. It was the box that Kang-Woo had put into his pocket after teasing Cha Yeon-Joo as much as he wanted to. Seol-Ah’s expression froze as she saw what the box contained.

Deathly silence fell in the motel room. Cold sweats ran down Kang-Woo’s back.

“U-Uhhh...”

Kang-Woo’s eyes darted crazily, his vision whitening. He needed to find the words that would resolve this situation as quickly as possible.

“It’s best to be careful since we’re not married yet, you know?” The hesitation was over in a mere instant. He held Seol-Ah’s hand and said in all seriousness, “Even if I can alter my bodily fluids, you can never be too careful. I want to consider having children in the future, but right now, I...”

‘Yeah! Hell yeah! This should be good enough! Okay, just one more step! One more step!!’

“I want to enjoy the time we have together as a couple some more.”

‘Am I safe? I’m safe, right?’

“Kang-Woo,” said Seol-Ah, her tone as cold as ice. She thoroughly examined the contents of the box and slowly turned to look at Kang-Woo, her eyes devoid of life. “This box...”

Creak.

Her head tilted abnormally like a wooden doll.

“Why is there... one missing?”