Eugene ended up accompanying Arthur to the cafe, and then went all the way to the basement. All to make sure that the alpha truly left the mall instead of going back to the second floor to talk to Sophie. Only after he saw Arthur's car leave the parking lot did Eugene heave a breath of relief.
By the time he arrived at the playground, the two hours were almost up. He only needed to wait for about fifteen minutes while enjoying the flood of pictures and videos from Sophie before everyone came out. Hannah was immediately running to him with a bright, satisfied expression.
"Where did you go, Papa?" she asked curiously. "Auntie came alone and don't want to tell Hannah!"
"I saw someone from work," Eugene crouched to button his daughter's coat. "We have a little discussion at the park."
"Poor Papa," Hannah sighed. "Working when we're playing."
She reached out to pat her father's dark hair, shaking her head with clear pity. Eugene laughed and snatched her into his embrace, hugging her tightly while tickling her until her laughter reverberated in the hallway. A flood of relief washed over him as he felt his daughter's warmth. His daughter.
Sophie tilted her head and observed Eugene closely. "You're okay?"
She did have a good intention, but if the outcome was less than desirable, it would be completely her fault.
"Yeah, thank you for watching her," Eugene said with a smile.
"No probs!" Sophie grinned sheepishly, secretly sighing in relief.
Honestly, she felt guilty receiving a thank you when she was the one orchestrates it. In her defense, she did make sure Hannah was already inside before telling Arthur he could come out of the bookstore, making sure the alpha wouldn't see Eugene's daughter.
But...why didn't Eugene want anyone to know about Hannah? For all Sophie knew, he wasn't the type to be embarrassed about having a child out of wedlock or not knowing who the other father was. Well, she knew Eugene probably wanted to avoid people who worked on the movie to know about it, just in case. That being said...
He knew Arthur was Ashley's cousin, right? And Ashley knew about him having a child. Wasn't the probability that Arthur knew about it also quite high? Those two were more like siblings than cousins after all...
Hmm...was there something else? That reaction back then--the agitation--was also quite extreme--not like the usual Eugene who would use more subtle deceit. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Eugene was in panic.
Sophie tilted her head curiously, watching Eugene squeeze Hannah's cheeks like stress balls. Her eyes narrowed as her gaze fell on Hannah's wavy auburn hair, so different from Eugene's, but at the same time...felt familiar?
Like something from a distant memory. Something from her childhood days...
Oh, whatever. The most important thing was that Eugene didn't look too stressed out anymore. Well, at least there was no trace of fluster or irritation in his face, and the green eyes were filled with clarity; his smile seemed lighter than before.
"Ahem--Have a good talk?"
"I'm not sure about it being 'good', but..." Eugene narrowed his eyes. "I guess we're no longer at odds with each other? Probably..."
"That's good!" Sophie clasped her hands, genuinely in joy and relieved. "Oh, I like it when my friends are on good terms."
Eugene scoffed. "We're not exactly on good terms."
"Neutral, then!" Sophie did not give up.
Thankfully, Eugene merely shrugged this time. "I can take that."
The outing only ended after they had a hearty early dinner with warm pear stew as dessert--off course, courtesy of Queen Sophie, the first of her name. By the time they got home, Hannah had started to rub her eyes, and Eugene had to lead her to the bathroom to wash up and brush her teeth.
And yet, when they were in bed and Eugene was taking off his fake scent blocker patch, Hannah was already full of energy. Instead of asking Eugene for a bedtime story, she excitedly retold all of her adventures in the playground with her friend, Prince Tobias the First.
As he listened to Hannah's passionate yap, Eugene was once again reminded that his daughter's similarity to her other father did not stop at the visual department.
* * *
Arthur brought his shopping back to his study--or rather, studio. It was a soundproofed room that became the whole reason he got this particular apartment.
The room was as big as a home office; it was filled with his digital equipment, as well as a keyboard, two guitars--acoustic and electronic--and a bass guitar. Two of them he raided from his grandfather's collection in the annex, along with the violin he kept by his bedside.
Standing in the middle of the room, which was more expensive than the apartment unit itself, Arthur was reminded of the way Eugene called him privileged earlier.
"Haa..." he exhaled heavily in self-disappointment. "I thought I had matured after spending six years abroad, but nothing much changed, huh?"
But then again, he didn't socialize much while he was abroad. People in graduate studies mostly kept to themselves and their own projects. He had worked on several projects himself, but the nature of his work did not open much room for interactions in the first place.
"Well...it is true that human beings should never stop learning," Arthur consoled himself, nodding and humming as he took out his haul from the bookstores.
The books piled up on the desk, four in total. They were the only books he found in general bookstores that were translated by Eugene Kim. The store's employee told him most of the books on the list were too niche and could be found online or in a specialized bookstore.
"Even finding his books is difficult," Arthur shook his head. "It's so like him..."
And then he paused, staring at the books while wondering why he even bought them when he didn't even read that much. The books he owned were those he used during his studies; most of them had to do with music. That was why his only bookcase was in his studio.
Thinking back, it was because Sophie told him to wait in the bookstore of that mall, strictly banning him from moving until Sophie gave him a signal. Arthur thought it would be weird to come out of the bookstore without buying anything, so he started looking for some books--he needed to wait, anyway, might as well read something.
And then he remembered that the man he was going to meet was actually a translator, not an author. With that thought, he looked at the list of books Eugene translated, and since he was checking them out...might as well buy them for a leisure read in his free time.
"Leisure read, my ass..." Arthur grimaced as he looked at the books. They weren't particularly thick, but he recognized two of them--not because he had read them before, but because he had seen them within his grandmother's collection.
If Arthur had to use one word to describe his grandmother's collection, it would be 'difficult'. Sure, they were difficult because they were in their original language, but the content itself was also difficult!
Even when his grandmother explained it to him verbally, dumbing it down, Arthur still couldn't understand!
Mm...perhaps he was just not made for this literature stuff.
"Was I getting brainwashed or something?" Arthur tapped his temples in confusion. "Or, is this that..."
When you like an author's work so much that you start to look for the author's other works.
"Like some sort of parasocialism?"
Arthur chuckled. It felt even more like that because he knew the man. He quite literally had just a fan meeting a few hours ago.
When he realized it, Arthur couldn't help but whisper in awe. "Wow..."
Well, calling it a fan meeting was probably too much. But they did have some meaningful discussion, although he ended up getting scolded. They even had some more discussion on the way back to the cafe to pick up the shopping bag.
It felt like it had been forever since he had fun interacting with other people like this. Despite being an omega, Eugene wore a scent blocker in public, so Arthur could talk to him comfortably. The omega was also a mature one, accepting his apology that easily. Arthur was honestly ready to receive a punch or two, but Eugene just let it go after cooling his head off in the park.
"I'm the childish one," Arthur murmured while arranging the books in his sparse bookcase.
Perhaps because of that, there weren't a lot of people who could stand him. Aside from Eugene and his mentor, there was only...
Arthur gasped.
Gin! The scent! The scent he smelled when Eugene caught him on the escalator!
He had planned to ask about it, but because of his blunder and Eugene's anger, he completely forgot about it! He groaned on the floor, slumping over the rug as he lamented.
"Should I...ask him through text?" Arthur mused while rolling to his side, reaching out for a pillow he kept there. "Ugh--wouldn't that be weird? It's rude for an alpha to ask about a scent they smelled on an omega."
Arthur groaned. Everything about Eugene was truly difficult. Somehow, he felt like someone courting a potential love interest, although all he wanted to do was to have some discussions and track a scent.
But...it might not be Eugene's scent, right? Since the scent reminded him of Gin, the scent might be a perfume. After all, Gin was a beta.
Arthur pursed his lips in contemplation, staring at his studio's ceiling. After a few minutes, he took out his phone and sent a text--not to Eugene, but Sophie.
[Thank you for today, Honorable Sis. I want to gift Eugene Kim something since I kind of offended him today. Do you know what perfume he's using?]
Arthur stared at his screen for a long time, waiting for a response with bated breath. Thankfully, Sophie was the kind of people who replied to people promptly, even if it was only to tell them that she couldn't be bothered at that moment.
[Perfume? That's some intense stuff right off the bat, lil bro]
[Don't worry about it tho, Gene doesn't look angry or anything earlier, so you're good]
[Besides, he doesn't wear perfume, so it'll be useless. Just treat him to some gourmet, he'll like that]
Arthur blinked. So...it wasn't a perfume he smelled? Or rather, it wasn't Eugene's perfume. Perhaps...it belonged to someone else? If it stuck so delicately like that, it could only come from intimate contact like...a hug, or something.
A hug...
Arthur widened his eyes, staring at the ceiling blankly.
Gin was...Eugene Kim's partner?