Staring at the rows of seafood behind the showcase, Arthur stroked his chin in contemplation. Rather than thinking about which one he would choose to replenish his fridge, however, he thought about his latest guest.
"He seemed to like seafood more than meat," Arthur muttered. "Sophie said he loves crabs--should I buy some to practice?"
As the employee weighed his chosen goods, Arthur fell into another contemplation. What else? He seems to like bold flavors. Spicy stuff too. He prefers juicy fruits like berries and pineapples rather than something like apples or bananas.
But that was only preferences--things he would enjoy more. In truth, Eugene wasn't picky. The man could and was willing to eat anything, even questionable stuff.
"Heh--he's the kind that'd be perfect for a show about exploring exotic ingredients," Arthur chuckled.
On the contrary, despite his big appetite, Arthur could only eat what tasted good to him. Perhaps because of his sensitive nose, he wasn't good with something that had a sharp or funky smell, such as fermented ingredients.
"Hmm...maybe I am too sheltered," Arthur muttered while pushing his trolley toward the next fresh product area.
There, he found his grandmother carefully inspecting several cuts of cured meat. "Where's Grandpa?" Arthur asked curiously, looking over the aisles at the other side.
"A brand is promoting new spice mixes," Cynthia replied briefly.
Arthur chuckled, knowing that the old man would probably be rooted there for at least half an hour. No wonder his grandmother decided to ditch his husband.
Haa...what was the point of having a grocery date when they weren't even walking together? It was just a regular shopping trip!
Still, Arthur thought it was cute that his grandparents loved to have these so-called grocery dates. They'd go twice a month, using buying groceries for their grandchildren as a reason. Since they no longer had the strength to carry all of the bags, however, they'd dragged Ashley or Arthur--depending on availability--with them as a mule.
Since he had been shirking on this duty for six years, Arthur had to fill the quota for the foreseeable future.
Well, he got the advantage of choosing the ingredients he wanted for free anyway, so Arthur didn't mind at all.
As he thought about his adorable grandparents, Arthur suddenly imagined walking through the store's aisles with a certain black-haired, green-eyed omega, picking up ingredients to fill their fridge and pantry while arguing about what they should do for dinner.
As his cheeks heated up from the imagery, he heard an illusory sound of a toddler running around the trolley, adorably calling Eugene, 'Papa'--and Arthur froze at this. The illusion shattered, and the alpha fell into deep ponder.
When did Eugene give birth to a daughter? Arthur couldn't help but wonder. It must have been after they met at that bar, right? That physique didn't look like someone who had given birth recently, and there was no c-section scar on Gin's abdomen.
Seeing how he cared about his daughter, there was no way he would be going around sleeping with a random alpha when he had a child at home.
Besides, his initial calculation of the child's age was younger than five years old, seeing how Eugene was still looking for a way to handle the oversensitivity.
After him, huh...Arthur clicked his tongue. Who was it? Who got his Gin pregnant and left the man in the dust? Ashley had said Eugene's situation was complicated; did the person neglect Eugene since he ended up as a single parent? There was no wedding, even!
How could it be? How could that person abandon someone like Eugene? If it were Arthur...if it were him who had a child with Eugene instead--
"What's wrong, Arthur?"
Arthur snapped out of his deep thought with his grandmother's question. She was putting several packages of meat on the trolley while observing Arthur's face.
"Huh?"
Cynthia replied with a soft smile. "You're making that face again."
"W-what face?"
"When you asked me if I ever fell for someone with a partner," Cynthia said with a teasing glint in her brown eyes.
Arthur's cheeks were instantly tinged with red. "I...I told you it was a misunderstanding, Grandma!" he hissed in embarrassment.
He was already getting teased when he called his grandmother after Eugene left that morning, and he had to beg her not to tell Ashley about it. That cousin of his would easily guess that he had fallen for Eugene Kim if she knew, and Arthur couldn't bear more teasing from that woman.
Thinking about Ashley, Arthur suddenly wondered if what happened to Eugene was similar to Ashley's situation.
"But...what do you think happened, Grandpa?" Arthur asked as they walked away from the fresh products area. "What would make someone raise a child on their own without any partner? Do you think..."
"Do you think it's like Ashley's situation?"
"Yeah..."
Cynthia pondered it for a while. "It might be," she sighed. "I heard more and more people have children without marriage nowadays. It's easier to leave one's partner without any legal bond."
Grandmother shook her head in regret. Even married couples easily get divorced these days--how unfortunate. Perhaps that was why more couples chose to be together without getting married, or even having children without any feelings between them.
After all, there was not much difference anymore between those.
"But," Cynthia looked up and gave Arthur a forlorn smile. "There's also another possibility."
"There is?" Arthur raised his brow.
"When one's partner passed away."
Arthur widened his eyes at that possibility. T-that made more sense! After all, what kind of jerk would leave someone like Eugene? But...
It was easier to curse out and get jealous of an asshole ex-lover than a deceased lover. Moreover, it was harder to move on from a deceased lover than from a jerk. How could he even compete with a ghost? Arthur lamented inwardly while pouring bags of potato chips into his trolley to console himself.
Cynthia, despite feeling relieved that his grandson wasn't a homewrecker, still couldn't help but think that his grandchildren never seemed to have simple love stories in their lives.
* * *
On Tuesday morning, Arthur blinked his eyes open at the sound of a ringtone instead of an alarm. He squinted his eyes at his cousin's name displayed on the screen before answering in a hoarse and irritated voice. "What?"
[Get up and get ready]
"Ugh--for what?" Arthur groaned without moving any of his muscles.
[Drive Eugene here]
The brown eyes opened wide in an instant, as the alpha jolted awake and sat down on the bed. "What? Where does this come from? Why weren't you telling me last night?!"
[I forgot] Ashley replied nonchalantly. [He'll be waiting for you in an hour at the place you picked him up before]
"This prick?!"
Arthur nearly screamed at the phone, but all he could hear was the disconnected beeping sound. He stared at the blank screen incredulously at the audacity of that woman.
"Damn it!" Arthur cursed his cousin while stumbling out of bed. "It takes twenty minutes just to reach that coffee shop!"
So early! He couldn't even make a decent breakfast, much less prepare something for Eugene to be eaten on the way! How could he court someone properly without gifting anything?! Arrrgh!
Crying inside, Arthur had no choice but to make do with a simple breakfast of toast, bacon, and egg. He dedicated most of his time to taking a shower and making sure he looked decent, all the while blaming Ashley's receding memories.
He prided himself on always coming early for an appointment, but this time, even while going at the top speed permitted by law, he still ended up late by a few minutes. Eugene was already waiting by the side of the road, with two cups of coffee in one hand and a paper bag in the other.
"Sorry!" Arthur immediately apologized to the waiting omega. "Ashley just told me an hour ago."
Of course, he had to defend himself so as not appear bad in front of his crush.
"No problem," Eugene gracefully said, handing Arthur a warm chocolate as usual. "Thanks for picking me up."
"It's my pleasure," Arthur said, giving his most charming smile. Now that he knew Eugene didn't have a partner, he didn't have to hold back on his advances.
Eugene returned the smile tersely before giving Arthur the paper bag in his hand. It was the coffee shop's scones, both sweet and savory. "Dessert," he said before going around to get into the car from the passenger side.
Arthur couldn't hide his grin. Not just for the dessert he desperately needed after that sparse, unsatisfying, sorry excuse of a breakfast he had after Ashley's wake-up call, but because Eugene acted like usual.
Honestly, he was rather worried after watching Eugene leave with the bus. It couldn't be said to be a warm parting, since the omega had just warned Arthur not to look up his residence. As stupid and insensitive as he was, Arthur could see a rejection when given one.
But Eugene also didn't tell Arthur to stop contacting him, so the alpha couldn't help but harbor a semblance of hope.
If Eugene suddenly acted cold at him, or at least acted like he was when they had just met, as if they were strangers, then Arthur would take the clue and back off. He would either try to bury his feelings or just watch the omega from afar.
And so, seeing that Eugene still bought him the hot chocolate to thank him, still smiled at him, and even bought dessert for them to enjoy on the way, Arthur couldn't help but feel giddy.
It meant he could still hope, right? Right??