Arthur and Eugene...Allen was stunned. He did a quick calculation based on Eugene's pregnancy, counting back to the expected time of conception, and recalled the night of chaos when Ashley told Arthur to stay away from the house.
The guy didn't spend any nights out after that, since they were busy with the custody battle and he started preparing to go abroad, so... it was a pretty obvious guess.
Allen just didn't think it would end in a pregnancy that destroyed Eugene's mental state, although the final result was a lovable little angel who had been running in and out of his house.
"That's..." Allen shifted his gaze toward the cabinet, "...explain so much."
He nodded, and took out his regular scotch. He needed a little swig to digest this bombshell revelation. But now he had the answer to Eugene's weird reaction to them knowing Arthur, and why Hannah's features seemed familiar even though she didn't look like Eugene.
"But, Allen--Eugene doesn't want Arthur to know!" Sophie lamented.
"That's quite obvious," Allen nodded. Otherwise, there would be no need for the sour reaction, nor would it take him this long to tell them about it.
Well, Sophie also wouldn't look this frustrated while telling him the story.
"I understand why Eugene doesn't want Arthur to know," Sophie sighed, "but I also don't think Arthur would do anything to him and Hannah."
"Of course, Darling," Allen smiled, finishing his scotch before continuing. "But you also don't know what Arthur's reaction would be when he knows he has a child."
The boy...well, the man had never been in a real relationship, so he might not take it well. Besides, Arthur had gone for six years during a period that could shape someone's personality. He even returned as a smoker, so who knew what kind of change was happening to the man without them knowing.
Sophie sighed again, pacing around the bedroom restlessly. "But...but if we explain Eugene's situation and persuade Arthur, I'm sure he'll be understanding enough not to do what Eugene was afraid of."
"Sure, but you'll need to persuade Eugene first before you can persuade Arthur, won't you?" Allen smiled and gently held Sophie's shoulder so she would stop jumping around. "Are you confident about convincing that stubborn guy?"
"Ugh..."
With that groan, Allen led Sophie to the dining table to finally fill his stomach after the flight. Sophie busied herself with stuffing food into her mouth, but it was clear that her mind wasn't in the meal.
Allen smiled and tried to give her an explanation. "When one has already formed a perception in their mind, it will be hard to change unless they experience the shift themselves."
Especially for someone stubborn with a strong mind like Eugene Kim. He was the kind of person who kept saying their help was 'charity' and insisted on paying it back--which he actually did.
Sophie bit her lips. "But if I tell him about Arthur's situation--"
"If you're a stranger who just happened to know Arthur, it might work," Allen interjected gently. "But you are also Arthur's friend, darling. You have known him longer than you have known Eugene, even."
"But Eugene is my best friend!"
"Exactly," Allen nodded, prompting Sophie to tilt her head in confusion. "You're trying to convince him, meaning you want him to change his mind, don't you? You'll have to...how should I say this? 'Promote' Arthur in a good way," Allen lifted his hands, imitating a scale. "How would that make Eugene feel?"
Eugene was stubborn and had a mental fortitude, but deep down, he was also riddled with insecurity--thanks to his nasty father and brothers.
Sophie couldn't help but sigh. "He'd feel like I'm on Arthur's side."
Allen smiled and added. "And if that happens, he'll withdraw even from you."
Again, Sophie sighed. She didn't even know anymore how many times she had done it that day. If the saying was true, she probably lost many years of her life force already. Seeing his saddened, disappointed wife, Allen tried to give a cheerful input.
"Anyway, from the look of it, they're no longer fighting, aren't they? Eugene just hides Hannah from Arthur because of his perception and misunderstanding," Allen said. "From how I look at it, it's also deeply rooted in his trauma regarding alphas."
Sophie nodded eagerly. That was exactly why she wanted Eugene to talk to Arthur; so that whatever misunderstanding between them could be solved. So whatever fear inside Eugene's heart could be dispelled.
Still, what Allen said was right. Eugene couldn't be persuaded with mere words.
"But seeing as he doesn't hate alphas, there's certainly hope," Allen continued. "Remember, he only got to know Arthur for a short time. Perhaps with more interactions, he'll get to know Arthur better and will someday change his mind."
"I see..."
"You know..." Allen suddenly chuckled. He leaned back with a glass of water in hand. "Seeing how they ended up meeting again after six years--no, even seeing that Eugene ended up becoming our friend," he drank his water and smiled, raising his glass to Sophie. "Don't you think fate is gearing toward their reunion from the start?"
Sophie gasped, the tip of her fingers covering her open mouth. "Oh, my God!"
"Don't you think it'll be more fun--I mean, more apt for us to just watch and see how their fate unfolds?" Allen winked, for the sake of his romance-enthusiast wife.
"You're right, Darling!" Sophie nodded energetically, finally regaining her spirit while her husband watched her with an adoring smile.
* * *
As Allan had predicted, Fate did run on its course. As it happened, fate didn't want Eugene to get away from the movie production.
Or rather, Ashley didn't want to.
[I'd like you to come and check the location for our crank-in. See if it serves the place you pictured in your head when you wrote it]
Eugene knew his involvement in the production wasn't over yet, but he didn't expect it would be this fast. Like...it only had been a week. The bud of spring hadn't even reached them yet.
But, well...he couldn't really reject Ashley's request. As the original work's author, he had a certain degree of authority. As the contracted 'consultant', however, Ashley was his superior. From what he heard about the alpha woman, she was a perfectionist.
So he said yes, and the next thing he knew, he was waiting for Arthur to pick him up on the side of the road.
"Haa..."
When Ashley told him she was sending Arthur to pick him up, Eugene almost sprayed his laptop screen with the coffee in his mouth. He wanted to tell Ashley that he could just go to the location by himself, but before he could say anything, Ashley already told him that the location was quite restricted, on a hill that couldn't be reached by public transportation. It would need about twenty minutes to get there by car from the nearest train station, but taxis rarely come around the place because the surrounding estate was privately owned.
What could he do, then? Even if he managed to hail a taxi, it would be expensive as hell. He couldn't just borrow Sophie's car without making it awkward for Ashley. Besides, Sophie needed the car to pick up Tobias and Hannah.
And that was how he ended up waiting for Arthur at the side of the road--armed with a real scent blocker plastered on his neck--somewhere near Sophie's place--the side that was filled with flats and riddled with apartments. And more importantly, it was the area he never used to travel with Hannah.
There was no way he would let Arthur guess where he lived.
Five minutes before the appointment time, Arthur's black car pulled up in front of the cafe he used as the meeting point. Realizing that he would need more energy, Eugene decided to splurge on a drink again, even ordering an extra whipped cream.
It was a new month, anyway.
When the car stopped, Eugene stepped out of the shadow beneath the cafe's awning, right as Arthur rolled down his window. He approached the car while the alpha's eyes were squinting as if trying to identify him, and observed as the brown eyes lit up in recognition.
The cautious face softened into a smile, even if it was an awkward one. Well, the way they parted last time was bad, after all, even if they managed to reconcile through text.
Eugene, on his part, truly didn't want to see Arthur this soon. His mind was still reeling from the discovery that he actually did emit pheromone--just in such a minuscule amount that only people with an extra sensitive nose could pick up. After a quick meditation to reach his zen, however, Eugene decided that avoiding Arthur too much might actually make him more suspicious, as if he had some unspeakable past with the alpha.
Thus, he decided to just act normally, as if nothing had happened.
"Good morning," Arthur said, although it was already close to noon. "You must have been surprised. Ashley is just...like that," he added wryly.
"So I heard," Eugene simply nodded and handed over a cup of hot chocolate--the same kind that Arthur had in the cafe last time--as some kind of sign that he was no longer angry.
Since he decided to act normal, anyway, might as well make it less awkward.
Arthur received the hot chocolate with widened, unblinking eyes. He didn't move for a few seconds, until he heard the sound of the car door closing. When he realized it, Eugene was already sitting there, sipping on his salt caramel frappe while putting on his seatbelt. He stared at the omega, who glanced back at him after a few seconds of nothing but silence.
"Are we not going?"
Arthur quickly put the hot chocolate in the cup holder and smiled brightly. "It'll take about an hour and a half if there's no traffic, so please make yourself comfortable."
Eugene nodded silently as the car smoothly rolled back on the road. It was a good decision to have this sweet coffee with extra whipped cream, because he wouldn't be able to make himself comfortable otherwise.