"Achoo!"
Eugene covered his nose with the sleeve of his upper arm before shaking his head in bewilderment. He touched his forehead curiously, wondering if he had come with a cold.
"Papa? What's wrong?" Hannah gasped and grasped Eugene's coat in fright. In all her five years of life, she had only seen her father get sick once--except for headaches, which Eugene had quite frequently. "Do you feel sick? Flu?"
"No, I don't think so," Eugene shook his head and smiled to reassure his daughter. If there was anything he was proud of, it was his stamina and constitution. He added teasingly in a whisper. "Maybe someone is talking about me somewhere?"
"Huuuh?" The round green eyes widened, and Hannah followed her father, lowering her voice to a whisper. "Like telepathy?"
More like a curse--Eugene snorted inwardly, while giving his daughter a playful wink. "Maybe."
"That's so cool!" The widened green eyes were practically sparkling, so much that Eugene could see the hidden violet sheen clearer around the ring. "Miss Areoluya can do that too!"
Who was that? Eugene narrowed his eyes slightly to remember the characters of the many cartoons his daughter watched. Why do they even use a difficult name for a children's show?
No--why can you spell that but not the actually useful words?
While Eugene was feeling agrieved, the staff of the clinic where they were currently at looked at them over the receptionist's table. "Miss Hannah Kim?"
"Yes! Hannah is here!" The little girl jumped off her chair and raised her arms high.
The staff smiled and gestured to the hallway beside the receptionist area. "Please come inside."
With the energy one wouldn't usually find in a child during a doctor visit, Hannah walked to the doctor's office with light steps. Perhaps because Eugene pinky promised her that there wouldn't be any needle involved this time. Inside, they were greeted by a gentle-looking female doctor who looked like she was born to work with children.
"Good morning, Hannah," the doctor greeted kindly, with a warm smile that looked genuine even for Eugene's cynical eyes.
The clinic that people like Sophie used sure was nice. At least, it reflected the high fee.
"Good morning, Miss Sharla!" Hannah replied with equal enthusiasm.
"You look more energetic than ever!" the doctor laughed while clapping her hands. "Shall we start the usual?"
"Uunn!"
With a smile, Eugene watched the non-invasive examination and small interview that the doctor and the nurse conducted. They were as gentle as Hannah's kindergarten teacher, carefully maintaining her mood and making the process entertaining so it didn't feel like a medical examination at all.
Truly worth the extra money Eugene had to fork out.
After the examination ended, the doctor gently sent Hannah out of the office. "Now, can you go with Miss Estelle while I talk to your Papa?"
"Okay!" Hannah nodded obediently, but her eyes darted toward the cute jar on the doctor's table. She fiddled with her fingers while asking carefully. "Umm...can Hannah have that grape jelly again?"
"Of course!" the doctor laughed and gave Hannah not just one, but two purple-colored vitamin jelly.
Chuckling at her giggling daughter, Eugene took out a small notebook filled with his own handwriting. "This is her chart this month."
The notebook was filled with dates and corresponding reports for each date, such as food consumption, places that Hannah visited, and things that she touched. Each of those was written in different colored pens, ranging from green to orange and red. Those with the most intense smell were written in red.
"I have tried feeding her food with a sharper smell, and she seemed to be alright," Eugene said as the doctor perused the notebook. "Her dislike stems from the taste rather than the smell."
"What about artificial pheromone?"
"That one had also been consistent," Eugene nodded. "Her reaction escalated with the intensity the device showed. Mostly disgust, or sometimes she felt itchy--is it normal to show a physical reaction? It feels almost like an allergy."
Eugene didn't know when it started, or if Hannah had it since birth, but she had been showing a high sensitivity to smell ever since she was three. With him not producing pheromone, Hannah had always been in a rather 'sterile' environment, but she got triggered when she was in preschool, by one of the other kid's parents' scents.
It wasn't so bad at first, but it got worse last year, during the kindergarten fieldtrip where she experienced a large crowd for the first time. She felt so sick, as if she was eating something bad, and constantly feeling nauseous.
Thankfully, she got calm when Eugene hugged her. It reminded him of that time when Hannah got a fever, and she kept crying when someone other than Eugene tried to pick her up, including the nurses. This was why Eugene thought she might have it since birth, and asked Sophie for a good pediatrician.
"It's quite normal, actually. Children haven't developed their scent glands, so most of the reactions are usually felt by their skin or their nose," the doctor explained. "It's quite fascinating, however. The test shows that her condition is actually genetic, but..."
The doctor looked at Eugene rather sheepishly. For a better diagnosis, Eugene had naturally provided the doctor with their family history, including the fact that half of the parents was not in the picture.
Eugene caught what the doctor wanted to convey easily. "My condition is the exact opposite," he said with a dry smile.
"Pardon me, Mr. Kim, but..." the kind doctor said carefully. "It most likely came from the alpha father. Do you happen to know if that person has some kind of condition?"
Eugene felt the corner of his eye twitch. "Do...we need to know?"
"Well, not really," the doctor smiled, seemingly caught onto Eugene's uncomfortable tone. "But that person might be more knowledgeable about how to cope with it."
Eugene almost let out a sigh. He didn't know about it two weeks ago, but after observing Arthur a little bit, Eugene couldn't help but recognize the familiar reaction. Those frowning and scrunching that made the alpha look like he was always in a bad mood, the comment about perfumes being too much...
There could only be one conclusion.
Still, looking at how Arthur was still making faces and was easily irritated...
"I don't think that's the case," Eugene muttered quietly. That guy didn't look like he knew how to cope at all.
The doctor tilted her head. "Yes?"
"It's nothing," Eugene shook his head, returning the doctor's smile in kind. In a way--in a selfish way--he felt relieved that he didn't have to look for a solution through Arthur. "What should I do next?"
"If she's only reacting to pheromones, I don't think you need to concern yourself too much," the doctor closed the notebook and slid it back toward Eugene. "Environments for children are usually pheromone-free by law to avoid early triggering."
"That's a relief," Eugene nodded. Hannah did get triggered at her school, but it was more like an isolated accident than the norm. It wasn't the school's fault, but the parents' carelessness. "We don't have to come for more examination, then?"
"Yes, I don't think there's more we can do," the doctor said, which sounded so melodious for Eugene's wallet. "If something does happen and she gets triggered by a scent, you can use a neutralizer."
Eugene raised his brow. Naturalizer was a solution akin to essential oils to be inhaled, and like its name, it neutralized the pheromone ingested by someone. In a case when an alpha or an omega got too affected by others' pheromone, it was a quick, temporary solution so they wouldn't get subdued or lose control.
"Will that be okay? It's not made for children, right?" Eugene, who had never used one before, asked cautiously.
"There are some made for teenagers who get triggered easily. Just let her sniff it for three to five seconds, and she'll be alright," the doctor reassured him. "Would you like me to prescribe one just in case?"
Eugene quickly nodded. "Yes, please."
Hannah would calm down as long as Eugene was there, her own living neutralizer. But there might be times when it happened while Eugene wasn't by her side, and having one secured in her bag so her teacher could help her with it wasn't a bad idea.
"I'll give you the mildest one," the doctor said, understanding a parent's concern.
"Thank you."
With that, they ended their--hopefully--last visit to the clinic, with a tube of mild, underage neutralizer in Eugene's pocket. Hannah also still had one of the grape jellies in her dress pocket, skipping out of the clinic while humming her favorite show's tunes.
"You looked cheerful these days, Miss Hana," Eugene swung his hand lightly, watching his little girl twirling under his arm.
Hannah giggled and looked up at her father with a big grin. "It's because Papa spends more time with Hannah these days."
Since he didn't have to look for extra gigs to save up for Hannah's school fund anymore, Eugene had more free time on his hands. Instead of sending Hannah to Sophie's house during the weekend, he could play with Hannah instead. They had been watching a lot of children's shows together, reading more books, and exercising in the park.
"Is that so?" Eugene smiled and twirled his daughter again. "I love it too."
Hannah stopped after twirling once more, eyes widened in pleasant surprise. "Really?"
"Of course," Eugene bent slightly and swooped Hannah up to his arms, making the girl shriek and giggle in joy. "What do you want to do today? Should we go see a movie? Or do you want to buy some groceries with me? We can try baking together."
Thanks to those free times, Eugene also had time to polish his...questionable cooking skills. Clearly, his spectating daughter wasn't very impressed.
"You're going to bake, Papa?" the girl looked at Eugene with doubtful eyes.
"What's with this look, huh?" Eugene pinched the chubby cheek, grinning. "I'm going to adhere to the recipe this time. You can watch over me, Miss Hana."
"Really? Really, really?" Hannah grabbed the hand squeezing her cheek, eyes narrowed at her father. "Papa can't secretly add something when Hannah don't look, okay?"
"Mm, promise," Eugene nodded confidently.
"Okay!" Hannah finally looked convinced--or she was just happy to spend more time with her father. "Let's have cookies, Papa!"
This puppy-like cheerfulness...is it also genetic? Eugene lamented inwardly while heading to the bus stop.