Their Parallel Universe ✓

Chapter 17

AN: Ey, hi there. This must be the longest time this story went on without an update. 😀 I don't think it has been that long though 😅

Enjoy this chapter! Maybe?

Also, this may be a bit late, but I wish everyone a great 2023.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Gaele: Can I ask you a question, Ten-Ten?

Ten2: look, i'd normally answer that question with sarcasm like last time but i know when you open up the conversation with something like that, it means you're being too serious again. what is it?

While he is lying on the sofa in his living room, Eujae looks at the chat with an unreadable expression on his face. He puts his hand that is holding the phone down and examines his ceiling as though something is interesting to see there.

It has been a couple of hours since Poll left his house this morning. Time has passed since their conversation during breakfast, but something about the talk has stuck with him until now. Sighing, he closes his eyes and rewinds the whole thing in his mind.

"Ketchup? It's spicy, though. I don't have something sweet."

"I'll take that. I'm fine with anything spicy as much as I'm good with sweets," Poll replied. Rather than on the bottle of condiment, his curious gaze was all on Eujae.

Eujae handed him the ketchup across the table, before heaving a sigh. "Alright. Fire away."

Intrigue slid off Poll's face and was replaced by perplexity. "What?"

"You seem like you have been aching to ask me a lot of questions, so shoot."

When Eujae saw that the frown had found its way onto Poll's face, he thought he was going to receive another denial as a response. But it was a wrong guess.

Poll looked down at his food, poking the omelette with a fork, as he mumbled, "Are you a son of some rich hotshot? Maybe the CEO of a big company or something?"

Eujae almost choked at the question. It was obviously just an icebreaker but not something that he had expected to hear. He wanted to laugh but held it back.

"No?" he answered, unsure, but paused for a brief moment when he remembered something. "Ah, but my parents have put up and are leading their own touring theater with other people so I guess, in a way, that makes them CEOs, huh? Their primary occupations, however, are playwright and actress. And as for being rich..." Eujae looked around the dining area and back at Poll, knowing exactly what was going through the other guy's mind. "I'm not going to deny that my and Lia's grandpa came from a rich family. This house was my grandparents and my parents' gift for me when I graduated from high school and passed the entrance exam for college."

"So you're not an illegitimate child of some stuck-up rich guy."

This time, Eujae did laugh. "I think you're watching too much anime, Apollo. I'm sorry to shatter that cute imagination of yours, but my folks are pretty good people."

Ignoring the jest, Poll remarked, "That still makes you a rich kid with a rich dad though. Must be nice, huh?"

Upon hearing the comment, Eujae paused from eating his breakfast and sent Poll an unexpressive gaze. He shook his head, sighing, before putting his spoon down just so he could bore his eyes on the man across from him again.

"I think you're getting it wrong, man," he began talking, his tone sober, "My Pa is not a rich hotshot or whatever you call it. His father may have come from a rich family, but whatever my Ma and he have right now are things they acquired through their own hard work. Even their little theater company was not something that was given to them on a silver platter. Sure, my grandparents were pretty supportive of them and they helped with the startup, but that was it. They didn't keep on spoon-feeding my parents."