Eugene felt his spine grow cold as a familiar name came out of Sophie's mouth.
It couldn't be, right? It was just a coincidence, right?
But...
Someone who used to follow Allen around, meaning someone younger. Allen and Sophie were childhood sweethearts, and they were also childhood friends with the producer, Ashley Wynne, who was the same age as Allen.
What did Eugene hear today?
'The proxy is the producer's cousin'
Yeah. Cousin. Cousins...usually hang out together...weren't they? Especially when the age gap wasn't so big.
As much as Eugene wanted to tell himself that it was only a coincidence, everything just lined up too perfectly.
Swallowing hard, Eugene tried to maintain his expression. It was good that no one seemed to realize his inner turmoil. Having crab shells flying around while eating it was normal anyway. Just keep calm and pretend it wasn't true.
"Ashley's cousin," Allen nodded.
And there you go--Eugene's effort was crumbling like the crab shell in his hands.
"Unlike Eugene, however, he cultivates a decent cooking skill because he likes to eat so much," Allen continued with a chuckle, oblivious to Eugene's churning stomach.
Sophie clasped her hands as if memories suddenly flooded her mind, replying brightly. "Right, right. He had to create good diet meals because he became so overweight in the past."
Huh? Eugene stopped eating--not that he could anyway, at this point. His head tilted a little bit. The Arthur in his memory was someone who looked like he never knew his body contained 'fat' at all.
"The diet meals that he got were so nasty that he researched a lot to the point that he could cook almost as well as a common chef," Allen chuckled. "What a tenacious fellow."
...how interesting. Still, he wished the topic would die quickly and shift to something else.
"Hmm? Now that I think about it, isn't he supposed to be working on your project too, Gene?" Sophie shifted her gaze to Eugene, who was secretly sweating buckets.
Ah, damn it.
Allen raised his brows. "Is that so? I did hear he's coming back this year--well, it's the new year already."
"Right! You had that production meeting today, right?" Sophie's eyes widened slightly, shimmering bright in excitement. Perhaps the prospect of two people she knew becoming coworkers was fascinating. "Did you meet someone named Arthur today, Gene? An alpha, a bit taller than Allen."
"Not just a bit," Allen scoffed. "All that food and gym really boost his growth. That being said, why would a post-production team member be there?"
"Why not? He's Ashley's cousin after all," Sophie argued. "So, did you see anyone like that, Gene?"
Eugene was in a dilemma.
He wanted to say no. He was trying to avoid that man as much as he could, even vowed to never mention his name under any circumstances. If he had to, he would just call him thatalpha. Besides, there was no reason for him to have more contact with that man, who was supposed to work after the shooting was done.
But that could only work if Arthur had no connection whatsoever with Sophie and Allen. This situation, however...
They were close enough to hang out from time to time; childhood friends who kept in contact with each other. It was possible that the producer would talk about how she couldn't attend the first meeting because of her wife--and as friends, there was no way Sophie wouldn't come to visit the new baby, right? Then they would know that Arthur was there as a proxy, and if Eugene lied now...
He didn't want Sophie to think he was lying to her.
With a restrained sigh, Eugene replied dryly. "I did."
Both Allen and Sophie raised their brows in surprise. Not because they didn't expect Eugene to meet their friend's cousin, but because Eugene looked...irritated.
The guy who had been inhaling seafood a minute ago suddenly looked like someone had stolen a king crab from under his nose.
With a smiley glance, Allen stood up and called the kids, asking if they wanted some dessert. Of course, the kids were shrieking happily and climbing the alpha father, using him as a carriage to the heavenly kitchen.
Eugene wasn't so dense as to not realize that Allen was giving him space. It annoyed him further because he realized that he failed to keep his emotions intact and let them show on his face.
And now Sophie was looking at him in concern, asking gently and cautiously. "Is something wrong, Gene?"
"...Huh?"
Eugene tried to feign it. Perhaps he could pretend that his stomach got upset because he ate too much?
"Did you probably..."
Oh, no. Did she probably know? If she knew Arthur's face...she might be able to draw a conclusion by looking at Hannah!
"...had a bad run-in with Arthur?"
"Uhh..." Eugene groaned quietly, although he felt a surge of relief inside. "You can say that."
Well...he didn't lie--although, to be fair, he was the one who started it.
"Mmh..." Sophie leaned back on her chair and crossed her arms, head swaying from side to side as if thinking hard.
Suddenly, Eugene was filled with worry again, wondering what Sophie would say. Arthur was her friend's cousin, and they seemed to know each other for a long time already. Compared that to Eugene, whom she only met six years ago in the Omega-care center...
Eugene held his sigh. He might be friends with Sophie now, but...who was he, really? A charity case that turned into a friend? Compared to a childhood friend with more history, who would someone take the side of more?
"Well, that's possible," Sophie nodded, prompting Eugene to widen his eyes. She gave him a wry, knowing smile. "He probably kept frowning and talking rudely, huh?"
"Uh..."
There was not much conversation between them to define anything as rude, but the frowning was on point. So those traits had already existed since his childhood? Not just because he was a bitter adult tried by the harshness of society?
Well, well...
"It's not something new, but..." Sophie opened her mouth before pausing, and then closing it tight with a troubled expression. She grasped her hair once in frustration before shaking her head. "Ugh--I can't tell you why since it's a personal problem, but there's a reason why he ended up acting like that, okay? Just..." she took a deep breath and looked at Eugene with an awkward smile, as if asking for something that might be difficult to achieve. "Just be patient with him."
Eugene raised his brows for a second. Hmm...it seemed like the man had a complicated background. Not that Eugene wanted to know. In fact, it would be better if they didn't have to see each other again.
"...it's not like we'll be crossing paths often," he said.
Just because they worked on the same project, it didn't mean they'd cross each other's path. Eugene's next schedule with the team was a meeting with the actors who got offered the roles and auditions for key characters. Surely, a sound editor had no business being there.
Right?
Unless, of course, he kept playing as a proxy for his cousin.
Eugene secretly crossed his fingers when he thought about it, praying for the producer's wife's swift recovery and smooth labor.
"Well, that's true," fortunately, Sophie seemed to agree that Eugene and Arthur wouldn't have the chance to interact much. "Haa..."
She let out a long, heavy sigh--which was atypical of her. For a little bit, her gaze reminded Eugene of the first time they met in that omega-care facility; a gaze of pity and regret, as if questioning why such things had to happen to someone. But this time, Eugene knew the gaze was directed not at him, but at the person they were talking about.
Why? What exactly happened to that man that--
No!
Let's not be curious. Eugene reminded himself repeatedly.
"He might seem like an asshole at first, but I promise you he's not so bad once you get to know him," Sophie continued. "Although I guess you won't be seeing him a lot anyway."
Well...that was the plan. There was no need to get to know him. Not at all.
* * *
"I can just take a taxi, you know," Eugene said while following Sophie and the kids downstairs to the main entrance.
Allen had called the driver--the one who usually drove Sophie around when her husband wasn't available or picked up Hannah when she wanted to play with Tobias--to round up the car and take their guests home.
"How can I do that when I was the one who invited you here?" Sophie scoffed. "Don't worry; you know Angelo likes a bit of night driving."
"Thanks," Eugene smiled gratefully, despite refusing it just a moment ago.
Honestly, the taxi fare from this place to his apartment was quite high, and Eugene didn't want to use public transportation at night while bringing Hannah. He might get mistaken as a beta or a recessive alpha often in the past, but his omega traits came out more after he gave birth--probably because of the hormonal spike--and made his appearance more delicate. Sometimes, people recognized him as an omega after watching carefully, or even by instinct, especially when they were alpha nearing their rut.
The metro and subway stations were filled with people like that at night. People with bad intentions toward an omega. An omega with a child? A perfect hostage target.
Of course, if it came down to it, Eugene would just get a taxi even if his account had to be bled dry. Even then, cases about taxi drivers assaulting their clients weren't unheard of. Eugene had no problem subduing up to three people alone as long as no weapon was involved, but if they got Hannah...
Just imagining it made his blood curdle. Allen probably called his own trusted driver because of that, right?
Ah...what a wonderful fucking society. If it came to his daughter's safety, Eugene didn't want to gamble with anything.
"Soph, how many people know about me having a child in that production house?" he asked, watching Hannah whisper quiet goodbyes and goodnight to each other with teary eyes.
"Hmm? Probably everyone who was there during the contract signing, right?"
That would be the producer, the scriptwriters, and the director, plus the legal team. It was because he had to explain his unseemly appearance during an important contract signing, and couldn't help mentioning the kindergarten and the fact that he had a child.
Arthur clicked his tongue in frustration. "Do you think they already told the others?"
"There's no reason they had to tell anyone, but also no reason for them to keep it a secret. Though..." Sophie tilted her head. "You can ask them. They probably wouldn't mind."
"Mm..."
"Why?" She turned her head to look at him, one hand on the front door's handle. "Honestly, your story wasn't even that problematic."
Yeah. Looking at it on a surface level, it was just a love story with a bit of revenge in the end. Not exactly uncommon. Eugene knew he might look paranoid, but...
"Just..." Eugene took a deep breath, once again looking at Hannah as if to steel his resolve. "I don't want to take any risk, I guess."
"I see," Sophie smiled and opened the door, where the family's car was already waiting.
"You're also..."
"Hmm?"
"Uhh..." Eugene bit his lower lip slightly. "Can you keep it a secret?"
Sophie tilted her head in confusion. Who would she even tell someone like this to? Why? What for? But Eugene looked so serious while asking it, so she just shrugged. "Sure?"
"Thanks."
"Hey, don't worry too much," she patted Eugene's back. "You know I'll always be available if you need help, right? Allen too."
"Yeah, I know."
Finally, a smile formed on his lips.
Sophie smacked Eugene's back with a laugh, enjoying the way that smile turned into a grumble. The tensed face finally reverted to when he thought he was in a seafood heaven. "Toby! Say bye-bye to Hannah!"
Tobias, with messy blonde curls like a living cherub, gripped his mother's pants with one hand and looked up with wet blue eyes; his other hand was holding tight to his friend's hand. "Can't Hannah just sleep here?"
"Aww...maybe next time, baby," Sophie crouched and stroked her son's hair, before shifting her gaze to the little girl beside him. "Good night, Hannah. Give Auntie a kiss."
Tobias reluctantly let her hand go so Hannah could hug his mother's neck and give her a light peck on the cheek. "G'night Auntie! Thank you for dinner! It's delish!"
"Anytime, sweety!"
Eugene let out a subtle smile as he picked Hannah up. The little girl waved vigorously and screamed goodbye until the car's window rolled up again. Sophie watched the car drive away, thinking about what Eugene asked her earlier.
The weird request about keeping his daughter's existence a secret...the harsh reaction toward Arthur Crowley...
Sophie widened her eyes. Could it be...?!
Did Arthur say something rude about children?! She gasped. Did that punk say something insensitive again because he was in a bad mood?! Should she call him after a while and ask about it?
Hicc...
Sophie's train of thought got cut as she heard the sound of quiet sobbing beside her. Tobias's shoulder was trembling as tears were dripping from his eyes.
Geez. You'll be seeing each other tomorrow at school anyway! Sophie laughed while carrying her sobbing son back inside.