Chapter 1486.1

“Haah.” Just looking at Chris, sprawled comfortably in the passenger seat and fast asleep, put Hyun-Ah’s emotions in a state of complete disarray.

She glared at Chris like she would an annoying kid.

Sure, he was called America’s superhero. And yes, he was America’s best Awakened individual. He was indeed one of the strongest S-rank Awakened, but, as far as she was concerned, he was also the biggest psycho she had ever met in her life.

In fact, he had been all excited and teasing her just moments before, only to fall fast asleep less than ten minutes later. While Chris probably only acted that way because he trusted her, Hyun-Ah, being inexperienced with those kinds of things, didn’t pick up on it.

“You crazy bastard...” Seeing him asleep, Hyun-Ah remembered the surprise kiss he’d given her, and before she knew it, her face turned bright red. “Oh, seriously!”

Hyun-Ah forcefully turned her head, trying hard to put it out of her mind.

“Let’s forget it...” She strongly shook her head numerous times, shaking off the thoughts.

“Ugh. Why am I getting stopped at every signal...” she grumbled, picking a fight with the innocent traffic light. She growled as if she was going to bolt out the second the light changed.

She had to focus on driving. Otherwise...

‘Something about it felt incredibly stimulating.’

Before she knew it, she had been staring at Chris for multiple seconds. She even began reaching for his face.

Hooonk! Hoonk!

If it hadn’t been for the horn she heard blare behind her, she might’ve unconsciously touched him.

The light had already changed, but she had been so absorbed in him that she didn’t get going.

“No, no... I must be out of my mind. Shin Hyun-Ah, snap out of it!” She slapped her own cheeks and decided Chris was the cause of all her confusion.

Irritated, she stepped on the gas.

“Zzz... Phew, Ugh! W-what’s going on!”

She wanted to kick Chris, who was mumbling in a daze with half-closed eyes.

* * *

“Is the work all done?” Chris asked Hyun-Ah with a smile.

“I was supposed to stop by another place, but Uncle already sent someone and took care of everything else. It’s been ages since I’ve been able to sign off this early!”

He chuckled and grabbed her arm as she celebrated, then playfully asked, “Where are you going now?”

“What do you mean? I’m going home.” She looked at him like he was crazy. “Do you think it’s often that I get to stop work early and rest?”

“What about me?”

“I’ll take you to HQ. You can also go home.”

Hearing that, his expression twisted into a glare. “Is that how you’re going to be?”

“What’s the matter?”

“You’re going to leave just like this after coming all this way? What about our date?”

“Date? Don’t make me laugh.”

When she snorted and tried to turn back, Chris couldn’t take it anymore and yelled, “Ah! Over there!!!”

“Huh?” Startled by his sudden shouting, Hyun-Ah turned her head, but didn’t notice Chris approaching at a terrifying speed.

“Heek!!! What are you doing, you crazy?!”

“Since we’re already here, we should have some fun!” He threw her over his shoulder and shouted, “Excuse me, but I’ll borrow two day passes!”

He then grabbed two day pass wristbands that were prepared beforehand and bolted back toward the park with swiftness. Hyun-Ah was mortified, but Chris just laughed happily and carried her away.

The place he dropped her was none other than the entrance of Alfland.

Countless people stared at them once he appeared with her slung over his shoulder, but he didn’t care at all. After all, he had two face blindness artifacts he’d borrowed from Davey to avoid drawing unnecessary attention.

“Are you insane?!” As soon as he put her down, she started wildly punching and kicking him, but he wasn’t America’s strongest Awakened for nothing. “Ouch...”

She was the one who ended up hurting herself more.

“Hey, now, don’t be mad. We don’t get opportunities like this often. Take this first.” Chris put the day pass wristband on Hyun-Ah and lightly pulled her arm. “You’re off work anyway, so how about you invest some time in me today?”

She glared at Chris with a pouting face, but he kept his smile. She finally relented, saying, “Alright, alright... Let’s go. We can have fun. One day should be fine. So? What are we going to do for fun here?”

He looked at her like she was crazy. “What do you mean? We came to an amusement park, so we’re going on the rides. Let’s start with a light warm-up.”

Finally giving up, she followed him into the park. Yet of course, she didn’t forget to be mad at him while doing so. “If you throw me over your shoulder like a potato sack in front of a crowd again, I’ll seriously kill you.”

“Haha, okay, okay, I’ll be careful. So, what should we ride first, Princess? Anything you’re too scared to try?”

“As if!”

“Then... should we get on that one first?”

He pointed to a ride which happened to be the steepest drop roller coaster in Alfland, famous for being the most thrilling ride in the park.

“Uuuh...” Hyun-Ah instantly turned pale, exactly as Chris predicted.

He had noticed a big “X” drawn in black on the pamphlet Hyun-Ah held, clearly in her own handwriting. Unless there was some special reason for it, the meaning behind that mark was obvious.

She was scared of it.

She could handle a decent amount of thrill, but there were definitely things she wouldn’t even dare to ride.

She pointed to a viking ride, which offered a moderate thrill, stammering, “U-ummm. C-Chris? Instead of riding something like that to start, h-how about we ride that one?”

“No way, it has to be the Hell Drop coaster! I never get a chance to come here, and I’ve always wanted to ride it.”

Worried she’d get dragged onto it, Hyun-Ah quickly tried to come up with a plan. Just then, she spotted the long line and shouted with a triumphant smile, “Ha! Haha! W-we can’t just go on rides at random! Look, can’t you see the line over there?! This ride gets really crowded around this time. So let’s save it for last.”

Hyun-Ah desperately tried to change his mind, figuring that buying time would somehow lead to a way out. However, Chris knew Hyun-Ah very well. He shot back, “Are you chickening out?”

“Huh?! You bastard! Fine! Let’s ride it, you son of a bitch!”

She got carried away and folded, but It didn’t take long for her to regret it. She climbed onto the roller coaster with a stiff expression. Chris sat beside her, giggling with excitement.

“Hey... Hey, Chris,” she began.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t feel so good. Let’s get off first...”

“Are you scared?”

“N-no, I’m not scared! I just don’t feel good...” Her face turned from pale blue to white as she saw the safety bar come down. “Hmph?!”

Clunk!

Alongside a heavy sound, a floating sensation washed over her.

All the color drained from her face.

As she watched the roller coaster slowly climb the tracks, she trembled with her lips pressed together. Just then, she felt the warmth of a hand grabbing onto her.

“Huh?”

Chris turned to her and softly said, “If you’re really that scared, I can stop it right now.”

“A-as if!!! W-when did I say I was scared?”

Clunk!

“Hmph?!”

She opened her eyes wide when they reached the highest point. It felt like even sound itself had disappeared. The ride abruptly shot forward at an incredible speed, and she froze, unable to even scream.

Chris, on the other hand, shouted with joy, having the time of his life.

‘So what qualities exactly am I supposed to like about this guy?!’

Hyun-Ah was fuming with rage.

* * *

The ride that felt like hell every second eventually, mercifully, ended.

Once they returned to the platform, Hyun-Ah forced her sweat-soaked body to its feet with an awkward smile. She shakily declared, “T-that was nothing!”

“Want to ride it one more time?”

She couldn’t bring herself to admit she was too scared to ride it again, or yell about how he was acting like a jerk. “Since we already rode it once, we should ride something else, you dumb dumb.”

“Be honest, you’re scared but you’re trying to act tough.”

“I... I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“My bad. I didn’t know you’d be this scared. Then how about we ride that next?” He pointed to a merry-go-round spinning with cute piano music. “I know a lot of things scare you, Princess, but you should be fine with that one, right?”

She trembled in frustration. “Forget it, you bastard! Just follow me!”

Unable to stand anyone getting the upper hand on her, she quickly thought up something Chris would absolutely never do and marched toward it.

However, for Chris, whose normal behavior was as thrilling as extreme rides, most attractions had virtually no effect on him.

“Die!! Die, you son of a bleach!!!”

Clank! Clank!

“Ahahahaha! You’re pretty good! Then here I come!!”

They went after each other relentlessly in the bumper cars, slamming into one another.

“Yes! Got you!”

“Not bad, huh? Want me to show you what I can really do?”

“Gasp! You lying cheat!”

“Ahahahah! Princess, don’t you think I need to be at least this good if I’m going to protect you?”

“Be... Be quiet! P-people might think you’re my boyfriend or something!”

“That’s fine, since I’ll be yours someday.”

“Says who?!”

They spent a long time playing against each other at the arcade as well.

“Pfft. Ahahahahaha!”

“Holy shit... I can’t stand pink!”

She forced him to wear a ton of pink accessories.

Of course, in return, Hyun-Ah also had to wear a bunch of cute accessories that she didn’t want at all.

It was a war that left nothing but scars.

She tried every means possible to find something Chris would dislike for a long time, but his defense was surprisingly solid.

He was unfazed by parades, plays, and even incredibly boring adventure rides.

Yet, at that moment, when she was fretting over not getting any results, something caught her eye. She smirked and said, “Chris. Follow me.”

“Huh? Princess, I thought you already gave up. Let’s just have fun now, really. It’s not good to tear each other down like this.”

“Funny you say that. Just follow me,” she insisted.

“Ahaha. Sure, well, I’m having fun anyway. Isn’t this still pretty fun, though? It’s nice to not think about work and hang out like this together, right?”

“It’s... not bad. Stop talking nonsense and follow me!”

The place she dragged him to was none other than the haunted house.

Of course, she didn’t think it’d faze someone like him who fought grotesque monsters all the time. Honestly, she’d gotten so excited that she had forgotten everything else and unconsciously started to relax and enjoy the date.

Chris made a difficult expression while looking at the massive thriller attraction in an isolated area. “Uh... Um. Hey, I’m sorry, but can we skip this one?”

“You’re joking. What’s there to be scared of for someone who wins against the undead?”

“Well... Monsters aren’t a problem... but I’m really bad with this kind of thing. It’s not like I can’t handle it, but it really messes with my head...” he admitted.

“Are you chicken?”

“What...? No way! Let’s go.”