Ch.165Chapter 165. Something Big is Coming

“Achoo!”

“Hey. Drink this honey water.”

“Ugh……”

Cuss was having a fit, sniffling and sneezing since morning.

I quickly dissolved honey and sugar in hot water and brought it to her. She sat on the sofa and started sipping it.

I knew this would happen.

After playing around so much yesterday, how could she not catch a cold?

“The snow…… It’s all melted.”

“Tell me about it.”

Yesterday felt like a dream.

As soon as the sun rose today, the sunlight came down intensely and melted all the snow that had piled up overnight.

By 7 o’clock, almost all the snow had melted.

Thanks to that, shallow water was continuously flowing down from above as if there had been a flood.

Anyone who didn’t know better would think there had been a heavy shower, never imagining it was the day after snowfall.

“Will I never see snow again?”

Cuss looked up at me while holding her mug.

It’s true that snow rarely falls in LA these days.

Global warming has made it even more rare.

Still, it snowed once three years ago, and exceptionally this time in October, so there’s no rule saying it won’t snow again this winter.

Even if it doesn’t, there’s always next year and the year after.

It will come again someday.

Just like yesterday.

“No, it’ll snow again. With time.”

“Hehehe…… I want to play again when it does. Come to think of it, I was so absorbed in sledding that I didn’t have much of a snowball fight with Jinsoo.”

“Uh……”

She calls that “not much”?

On our way back, she was busy jumping into every pile of snow, making snowballs and throwing them.

She had such an intense snowball fight that I worried she might dislocate her shoulder, and yet she says it wasn’t enough?

I found myself praying it would never snow again.

“I wanted to have a snowball fight with Cuss too!”

“Ugh……”

Juliane appeared, drying her hair with a towel, and planted a big kiss on Cuss’s cheek.

“I used up all my vacation days…… I seriously considered sneaking out of the office.”

“No, you shouldn’t sneak out……”

“That’s how much I wanted to see you! No, I mean, I wanted to ride the snow sled with you!”

“Do you want to see the video instead?”

“As if mere videos could fill this emptiness in my heart…… Kyaah! What’s this! Is this Cuss? Oh my! She’s so cute!”

When I showed the video to the complaining Juliane, her expression immediately softened.

Seeing Cuss flying down on a sack, crashing into a snow pile, and then getting up with a grin brought back yesterday’s memories.

I had recorded it thinking Juliane would love to see it.

“Look at her giggling. How can she be this cute, seriously…… Hehehe…… Ah. I’m drooling.”

It was worth recording seeing how happy she was.

I immediately transferred the video to Juliane’s phone.

She’ll probably watch it whenever she’s tired.

Just like I do during breaks at work.

“I finished it. Ahem.”

“Give me the cup. You should get under the covers and rest today.”

“No way. I’m going to stick with Jinsoo. Stay by my side, Jinsoo.”

“I have to go to work today.”

“Even on weekends?”

“They’ve been calling me in a lot lately.”

There have been frequent meetings at work recently.

With Ares entering the solar system and information being updated in real-time, the maintenance team had to keep up.

The equipment we needed to prepare varied greatly depending on its condition.

“I’ll be back.”

“You won’t drink, right?”

“Okay. I won’t drink.”

“I wasn’t really trying to pressure you. Drink if you want to.”

“I said I won’t. Even if I do, I’ll drink with my honey when I get home.”

“Hehe…… See you later.”

I got up from the sofa with a thud.

But suddenly I felt resistance on my wrist that stopped me.

When I turned around, Cuss was holding my wrist while breathing heavily.

“What are you doing?”

“Don’t go, Jinsoo.”

“Will you earn money for us if I don’t go?”

“Well, no…… But still, don’t go.”

“I have to go.”

“Don’t go. I’ll be angry.”

“You……”

I touched her forehead and found it burning hot.

She wouldn’t normally say things like this.

The fever must be affecting her judgment.

“Get some rest.”

“I’ll be angry! If you go, I won’t hug you anymore!”

“Then don’t.”

I know you’ll get tired and come for a hug first anyway.

Or you’ll forget what you said today.

“I won’t kiss you!”

“Whatever.”

“And I won’t let you touch my chest!”

“Now that’s a problem.”

“Excuse me, Jinsoo?!”

I gently removed Cuss’s hand and stood up.

She’ll forget everything after sleeping.

The priority was for her to rest well and bring down the fever.

I kissed Juliane, who looked slightly displeased, and put on my coat.

Cuss had already closed her eyes and fallen asleep.

It would be best to leave before she woke up again.

I gave Juliane a quick eye greeting without making much noise and left the house.

-Fly me to the moon…… And let me play among the stars……

When I got in the car, jazz was playing on the radio.

It was the song we listened to when traveling with Cuss.

I was thinking how cheerful the song still sounded when it suddenly cut off.

“What now?”

Did the radio break down?

Even after tapping the dashboard a few times, nothing changed.

Damn it. I need to visit a repair shop sometime.

“Hey! Jinsoo! Why are you so late?”

“Sorry. But you probably wasted the first five minutes chatting anyway.”

“Your mouth is too quick…… Here are the meeting materials. Get in quickly.”

As soon as I arrived at the company, we started the meeting.

Same topic, same pattern as always.

Various information updates, equipment to order or cancel……

Just those administrative and boring stories.

Since everyone was skilled, the meeting ended in 10 minutes.

As the employees organized their materials and left, I could hear complaints like “If it’s going to be like this, we should have done a video conference……”

While I understand how they feel, I still think meetings should be held face-to-face.

Is this why people call me old-fashioned?

“Manager.”

“I’m not a manager anymore.”

“What? Were you demoted again?”

“No. I’m getting promoted next quarter. They’re removing my disciplinary action.”

“Oh. Congratulations.”

By now, only Darry and I were left in the meeting room, handling the cleanup.

Speaking of promotion.

It seemed the company had only imposed the disciplinary action as an example, but thought it was a waste to keep Darry stagnating.

“Why did you call me anyway?”

“I was just curious about something. The spacecraft we’re maintaining. Why on earth is it named Ares?”

“Huh? Suddenly?”

“It’s strange, isn’t it? Looking at the names of spacecraft so far – Apollo, Orion, Artemis, and so on…… They’ve all been named after cool, impressive gods, but why Ares? He’s the god of war who only showed violent and ugly behavior.”

“Ah. That.”

Hearing my question, Darry turned off the screen with a strange smile.

“I once heard about that from a friend who works at NASA.”

Wow, he even has connections at NASA?

This guy’s network was frighteningly extensive.

“But he said he doesn’t know.”

“Excuse me?”

“He said they don’t tell employees the reason. But there’s one theory circulating within NASA.”

“What is it?”

“Although Ares was violent and caused trouble everywhere like a thug, he apparently had fewer issues with women compared to other gods. And he was good to his children too.”

“Oh, really?”

I didn’t know that.

He had an unexpected side.

“So far, they’ve only sent very capable and strong gods into space. So maybe they thought they should give a chance to someone who might be incompetent but is a caring spouse and father.”

“You said that’s just a rumor, right?”

“Hahaha. Well, it does seem like a stretch. Maybe they just ran out of Olympian gods to use.”

Right. That explanation made more sense.

Why give an opportunity to someone incompetent?

“Jinsoo.”

“Yes?”

“You can do this, right? It’s no exaggeration to say our company’s future depends on you.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll thoroughly steal those NASA guys’ technology.”

“Good. You make me feel secure, man.”

Ares’ entry into Earth’s atmosphere wasn’t far off now.

I was starting to feel it.

The feeling that something big was coming.

***

“Mmm……”

Cuss opened her eyes with a comfortable feeling.

She felt a warm pressure.

She smiled instinctively and turned around……

“Ugh.”

Her face was buried in something soft and large.

This wasn’t Jinsoo.

“Ah. You’re awake, Cuss?”

“Yeah……”

It was Juliane.

She had been lying in bed under the covers, hugging Cuss all along.

It was comfortable and warm.

A peacefulness almost comparable to when Jinsoo hugged her.

Cuss instinctively burrowed into Juliane’s embrace and wrapped her arms around her waist.

“Uhehe……”

If only she didn’t make these perverted sounds, it would be much better.

The mood was suddenly ruined.

“Your fever…… seems to have gone down. How do you feel? Less dizzy?”

“I think I’m much better.”

“That’s a relief. I was really worried about what to do if you kept being sick.”

Pat pat.

Juliane’s gentle hand stroked Cuss’s head.

Everything was nice.

Everything was nice, but…… the only slight discomfort was the occasional catching of the ring on her fourth finger.

“Do you remember what you said before Jinsoo left?”

“Hmm? Is Jinsoo not home right now?”

“Ah. So that’s where your memory stops…… Never mind. It’s fine.”

“……?”

Being pulled closer to Juliane, Cuss wondered what she meant.

She just decided to let it go, thinking it probably wasn’t important.

Feeling Juliane’s warmth made it seem real.

The feeling that this was truly her home.

She felt the reality of being treated not as a pet raised by Jinsoo or a murderous monster that needed to be controlled, but as a precious family member.

Although only three years had passed, Cuss could barely remember her life before becoming human.

It felt as if she had been born and raised on Earth from the beginning.

As if she had always been destined to come to this house and become Jinsoo’s daughter.

She could no longer even imagine a life outside this daily routine.

“Cuss. Should we all go to the zoo sometime? We could see the penguins you like.”

“Penguins…… I want to see them, but I don’t like zoos.”

“Why?”

“I want to see free penguins like in documentaries. I don’t really want to see penguins locked in cages, living on feed given by humans.”

“Ah……”

With a sigh, Juliane hugged Cuss more tightly.

Just then, Cuss heard a small sound.

It was an email notification from the computer in the master bedroom.

She decided to forget about it, thinking Jinsoo would check it later.