Second Chances (KPop Demon Hunters)-Chapter 57: Aquarium

A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next FIVE chapters are up on
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Jinu learning from Sensei Zoey~
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"Hm, alright… let me see if I've got this straight."
From next to him, Zoey nods excitedly.
"Yeah, show me what you've learned!"
They're both sitting in the backseat of one of HUNTR/X's unmarked black cars. It has tinted windows so no one can actually see inside. On the other side of the back area of the car, Rumi and Mira are seated as well, looking on with no small amount of amusement when Jinu flicks his gaze over to them. Finally, he focuses back on Zoey.
"Alright then… so Four-Twenty is funny because it stands for April 20th, which is commonly understood to be the date upon which a lot of people smoke a certain herb. Sixty-Nine is raunchy because it has come to represent the sexual position in which two lovers perform oral sex on one another. And Thirty-Four is amusing because it references a universally accepted rule that says if something exists, there is sexual content created about it known as 'pornography'."
Giggling to herself at what she likes to call his 'dry' explanations, Zoey nods some more.
"Yep, you've assimilated my lessons well, my dear pupil!"
Jinu hums… and then tilts his head to the side.
"There's just one thing I still don't understand. Why is Six-Seven so amusing? And is it supposed to be Six-Seven, or Sixty-Seven?"
Here, Zoey gets a philosophical look on her face (or what she imagines one to be anyways) and even goes so far as to steeple her fingers together before spreading them as she nods slowly.
"Hm, yes… now that, detective, is the right question."
Jinu just raises an eyebrow, knowing full well from her tone of voice that this is a reference of some sort. But he's also learned not to bother being confused, because everything with Zoey turns out to be a reference in the end. Of course, his lack of reaction prompts Zoey to break character and launch into another fit of giggles as she bumps his shoulder with her own.
"Well… the thing about Six-Seven is that it kind of doesn't mean anything at all. But since it's written as Sixty-Seven a lot of the time, I personally subscribe to the theory that it's a replacement for Sixty-Nine!"
A replacement? Jinu tries to imagine the sexual position Six-Seven could possibly mean… it sort of made sense he supposed. As much sense as six and nine being used to describe people anyways. But just as he's starting to nod in agreement, Mira groans and covers her face with her palm.
"Zoey… that's a terrible joke."
Zoey snickers and then tries to cover her mouth with a hand to hold it in… only to fail in the end. Mira just shakes her head as she gives Jinu an apologetic look.
"She's only saying that because of the old joke that seven ate nine."
Hearing Mira say it out loud promptly causes Zoey to launch into a full blown laughing fit. Jinu has to admit… he doesn't get it. But to be fair, he doesn't have to get it. A quick glance at Rumi and she nods, smiling widely before calling out to all of them.
"We're almost there."
Zoey stops laughing long enough to pat Jinu on the leg.
"Don't worry, I'll explain it later."
Then, the youngest hunter finally glances out of the car window for the first time in half an hour, only to blink owlishly and furrow her brow in confusion.
"Huh… hey guys, where are we? I thought we were doing some shopping, but the drive shouldn't have taken this long…"
Jinu can't help but be a little pleased. His role in today's adventure was simple… he just had to keep Zoey distracted so she didn't realize both the length of the drive or their ultimate destination. Luckily, one of her favorite things in the whole world had become teaching him 'random internet stuff' that she felt he absolutely NEEDED to know. Today's impromptu lesson had been all about funny numbers and what made those numbers so 'funny'.
Admittedly, it had been an amusing conversation… but in the end it was all just a ruse to keep Zoey in the dark about Rumi and Mira's surprise for her.
"Guys…? Guys are we at… THE AQUARIUM?!"
Mount Zoey erupts a moment later as she finally realizes their ultimate destination. Jinu watches on in amusement as Zoey literally plasters herself up against the inside of the car window, pressing her face into the glass as they turn the corner and pass a big sign before making the final leg of the journey up to the Aquarium.
Only, after a moment she drags herself backwards and looks over to them in confusion.
"But… the Aquarium is closed on Sundays."
Rumi, looking quite pleased with herself, shakes her head and pretends to study her nails a little haughtily.
"Not for us, Zo. Not for… private visitors."
Zoey's eyes bulge out of her skull as her jaw drops open.
"RUMI! Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod!"
Soon enough they pull into a private parking lot. From there, the four of them are escorted into the Aquarium itself. Jinu has to admit; there are some spectacular views in pretty much every direction.
Back in his day, the palace had had ponds of course. The Emperor had kept fish as well as turtles from what he recalled, along with a bunch of land animals, but he'd never paid the Palace Menagerie much attention. And when he'd come up to the human world in the modern era, well, his focus had been on other things to say the least.
This though… well, this was like nothing he'd ever seen before. It was almost like they were under the water, able to stare at the sea life from the side rather than a top down view. The glass and water were both so clear too, so you could see the sea creatures in all of their majesty.
"Welcome, honored guests. If it pleases you, I will be your tour guide today."
Jinu turns to regard the woman in a uniform that approaches them, only to smile when Rumi steps forward and gives a short bow.
"Apologies, but we will not be needing a tour guide today. If you are required to keep an eye on us for your work, then feel free to do so, but otherwise treat this as a chance to rest your throat… we've brought our own specialist."
The woman blinks before slowly nodding and stepping back. At which point Rumi proceeds to turn to Zoey with a grin.
"Well, Zoey? Ready to give us a tour?"
Rather than being upset at the work she's being volunteered for, Zoey looks like her birthday has come early. Her eyes literally appear to be sparkling with happiness and she's excited as all hell as she reacts by lunging forward and hugging Rumi as hard as she can.
"Yes! A thousand times yes! Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!"
Rumi just laughs, hugging the younger hunter right back. Finally, Zoey pulls back and grabs Rumi by one hand and Mira by the other. As she begins to drag them along, Rumi looks to him and offers her free hand, which Jinu takes with an amused grin, allowing himself to be pulled along as well.
From there… well, Jinu may not know much about the modern world or how an 'Aquarium' like this one usually works, but he's fairly confident that Zoey does as good a job if not better than the assigned tour guide would have done. And that's not meant to be a slight against the Aquarium Worker either, Zoey is just that enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Like Rumi said, they'd brought their own specialist.
Over the next couple of hours, Jinu learns more about the sea life contained within the Aquarium's habitats than he ever thought possible, with Zoey's mouth moving a mile a minute and every new creature they lay eyes upon prompting a fresh excited babble. They travel up and down the length of the Aquarium like they're on a mission, leaving no exhibit untouched.
It's obvious that Zoey has been here before, but then Jinu already knew as much. According to Rumi and Mira when they'd brought him into their plan to surprise her with this trip, this was one of Zoey's favorite places in the whole wide world. She loved turtles the most, but all sea life was a topic of happiness and joy for her.
In fact, Zoey even went so far as to donate massive amounts of her income to sea life conservation efforts worldwide apparently. That part had taken a bit more explaining for Jinu to properly understand, truth be told. As it turned out, all of the modern conveniences and technology he was just barely starting to get the hang of… came with their own downsides. It wasn't as simple as 'technology gets better and world gets better with it' like he'd initially imagined.
Human beings were apparently hurting the oceans with their industrious activities, which made sense to Jinu once he found out there were apparently more than eight BILLION of them living in the human realm at this point. And here he'd thought they'd gotten most of the human population in their 'fandom' back when he and the Saja Boys reached fifty million fans. But no, that wasn't even a full percent of all the humans on Earth now.
Truly, the world was a big place, but it seemed that in the past four hundred years, humans had made sure to conquer nearly every part of it… and not always for the better.
Still, at least there were humans like Zoey who cared so much about what others of their kind were destroying. Hearing about her efforts and the work numerous humans were doing with her money to protect places like the ocean… well, it went a long way to settling momentary fears that Jinu had. After all, he'd lived in a desolate wasteland for four hundred years. He had no desire to see the human world go the same way as the demon realm.
Eventually, they've completed a full circuit of the Aquarium though, having stopped at every exhibit and listened to Zoey ramble on excitedly for about ten to fifteen minutes apiece. Which is when Mira suddenly gives Zoey's hand a tug and Rumi lets go at the same time.
"Hey, I want to see the turtles again Zo, I have some more questions to ask you about the different types."
"Really?! Okay!"
As they pull away, Jinu moves to join them, only to pause when Rumi tugs him back and stops him in his tracks.
"Thank you for coming today, Jinu. And for serving as a distraction so we could surprise Zoey properly. She's usually very alert and perceptive about her surroundings, so our only other idea was going to be kidnapping her from her bed and driving her here in the early morning while she was still sleeping."
Jinu chuckles at that mental image, shaking his head.
"It was my pleasure. Besides, I learned a lot. Like all about sixty-nining. Or should I call it sixty-sevening now?"
Rumi goes bright red at the mention of 'sixty-nining', groaning and placing her hand to her forehead.
"Zooey…"
But she lets it go with a laugh a moment later, before gently pulling him in the opposite direction. They walk a lot more slowly than they were going before, and with a lot less… energy to their motions. Just the two of them among the sea life, holding hands and enjoying each other's company.
"… I'm glad you protected the other demons from Gwi-Ma when you destroyed him, you know."
Jinu inhales sharply at that. Rumi and the girls had been pretty impressed when he'd called up the illusion of him dealing with Gwi-Ma and the rest of the demon realm once and for all. Summoning the Saja Boys and turning them into wardens for the remaining demon population was something Jinu had really just thought up in the spur of the moment.
Still Mira had called it 'inspired', Zoey had thought it was 'soooo cool', while Rumi… hadn't really commented too much on the matter until now. She hadn't seemed disapproving or anything like that, but only now was she giving an actual opinion. Though it felt like it was based on a bit of a misunderstanding.
"I didn't exactly do it out of the kindness of my heart. Every demon he consumed would have made him stronger and drawn out the fight. Protecting them from his flames was a calculated maneuver, plain and simple."
Rumi hums and nods, her eyes following a fish as it swims past them on their left. Jinu watches it too, waiting for her to gather her thoughts and respond.
"In the end… I don't think it really matters why you did it. You yourself proved that not all demons are bad people when you sacrificed yourself for me, Jinu. And I bet plenty of the others still down there are just as desperate as you were. Those demons who still live, so long as they aren't endangering humans… it's good that they have a chance at redemption. And you're a good man for giving them that."
Jinu grimaces, squirming for a moment… which prompts Rumi to turn to face him fully, her free hand reaching out to capture his. Her fingers intertwine with his fingers as she pulls their hands up between them.
"Take the compliment, dummy. And stop acting like you're some monster who can never do anything right. You're a better man now, plain and simple. You can't deny it anymore after everything that's happened."
Huffing, Jinu rolls his eyes and smiles a little bit.
"I suppose I can't. But if I am… it's all because of you, Rumi. I wouldn't have become anything worthy of your love if it wasn't for everything you did for me."
Rumi blushes and now its her turn to grimace as she looks away.
"I mean, I didn't really do much… especially in the original timeline. My- Future Rumi's plan was so stupid. 'You'll get to stay on this side of the Honmoon once its golden', I can't believe you even bought into that cra-mmph!"
Jinu silences Rumi with a kiss, leaning down to capture her lips with his own as they stand in the shadow of one of the Aquarium Exhibits and the creatures within swimming past. Rumi in turn goes up on her tip toes just to be able to kiss him back as hard as she can, a soft moan leaving her lips and being swallowed up by his.
When they finally pull back, Rumi is flustered.
"W-Wha… what was that for?"
Jinu just grins at her, already knowing exactly what he's going to say.
"Take the compliment, dummy."
Her jaw drops open as she immediately gets offended despite it being her own words he's throwing in her face. But then to be fair, offending her was exactly what Jinu had been after. Jinu had decided that 'trolling' as Zoey had labeled it, was one of his favorite pastimes in the modern era.
"Jinu!"
Jinu just laughs and hastily lets go of her hands in order to run away as Rumi begins to chase after him. Not quite as enjoyable as one of their little games of teleport tag, but still quite good fun in the end.
They're truly free now. The Idol Awards had been a week ago and every day since had been completely new and exciting. Jinu could hardly wait to see what the future held for them all.
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A/N: Yay, Aquarium Scene made it in~
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