After finishing their ice cream, Eugene dragged Luo Hai around to try every snack and dessert nearby.
Bursting fruit candies, steaming crab roe buns, exquisitely packaged liquor chocolates, overpriced but oddly flavored cuisine…
By the time their hands were full of food, enough to make every child in the square envious, Eugene caught sight of a nearby arcade.
The flashing lights and exaggerated game sounds had drawn a crowd of kids—apparently, including the oversized child next to him.
As Eugene turned with expectant eyes, Luo Hai felt an oncoming headache.
“Don’t tell me, at your age, you still want to—”
Before Luo Hai could finish, Eugene excitedly pointed at a claw machine outside the arcade.
“Luo Hai! I want to play that one!”
His voice was so clear and energetic that Luo Hai wanted to bury him on the spot.
But no, a corpse in the middle of the crowded square would cause public panic.
“Are you serious?” Luo Hai said in exasperation.
“Come on, I don’t have much time left—just indulge me a little?”
Eugene shoved his half-finished milk tea into Luo Hai’s arms and dashed toward the arcade.
“Hey!” Luo Hai tensed, worried that Eugene might try something, or worse, forget about his ankle monitor. He quickly caught up.
Outside the arcade stood a row of colorful claw machines. A little boy was lying in front of one, crying and throwing a fit, while his distressed parents stood nearby.
“I want that one!”
“Sweetie, how about we buy you the exact same one later?”
“No! I want this one! This one!”
Luo Hai watched in disbelief as Eugene ran straight over, completely ignoring the crying child and his parents, and shamelessly claimed the machine.
The boy and his parents were stunned. Then, the boy started crying even harder—no longer the whining of a tantrum, but genuine sorrow.
Meanwhile, the culprit casually held out his hand to Luo Hai, eyes full of anticipation.
“Luo Hai, coins.”
At that moment, Luo Hai suddenly felt he had more in common with the boy’s parents than he ever thought possible.
Inside the claw machine was a giant plush alpaca, suspended by a single thread from its ear. The game required players to insert a coin and time their move precisely so that a blade would cut the string, allowing the plush to drop.
Eugene excitedly fed more than a dozen coins into the machine in a row, yet the blade never once even grazed the string.
The little boy was eventually coaxed away by his parents, still whimpering, while Eugene remained fixated, crossing his eyes as he waged a silent battle against the blade and string.
Watching the pile of coins in the tray shrink, Luo Hai couldn’t hold back his sarcasm. “If throwing away other people’s money is your idea of fun, you might as well switch careers and become a financial advisor—at least then you’d get a ‘thank you’ for it.”
“Hey!” Eugene lifted his head from the machine, looking aggrieved. “This thing is really hard, okay? I’ve played so many times and never managed to cut the string once. If you don’t believe me, try it yourself!”
“I have no interest in children’s toys,” Luo Hai replied briefly.
“Oh? So you won’t even challenge a children’s toy?” Eugene folded his arms, giving him a provocative look. “Afraid you’ll lose to me?”
Luo Hai knew full well that this childish idiot was just using a childish provocation tactic—but the competitive streak ingrained in him since childhood still flared to life.
“Give it to me.” Luo Hai took Eugene’s coin box, inserted two coins, and focused intently on the blade’s distance before pressing the button with a sharp snap.
Luo Hai had great confidence in his dynamic vision and sense of distance—both of which had been essential skills during his time as a prosecutor.
Yet, despite being certain of his accuracy, the blade still didn’t even graze the string as it moved past.
Eugene burst out laughing, making no attempt to hide his amusement. He clapped Luo Hai on the shoulder. “What did I tell you?”
Luo Hai said nothing and inserted two more coins. This time, he was even more precise, but the result remained unchanged—the string always stayed just out of reach, perfectly positioned to avoid being cut.
Eugene watched gleefully from the side. Although Luo Hai remained silent, Eugene could already see that familiar stubbornness on his face—the same look that had belonged to the teenage Luo Hai.
Just like that boy who, no matter how many scoldings or beatings he received, would still climb over walls to steal a bag of osmanthus flowers. Eugene knew that if Luo Hai didn’t figure out how to beat this claw machine today, he would never let it go.
After failing a third time, Luo Hai suddenly took a step back and handed the coin box to Eugene. “You try.”
Eugene blinked in confusion but still accepted the box and inserted a coin.
While Eugene operated the machine, Luo Hai moved to the side and stared fixedly at the blade’s trajectory. Unsurprisingly, the attempt failed again, but as soon as the blade reset, Luo Hai returned to the front of the machine and grabbed two more coins.
“I got it.” Luo Hai inserted the coins.
Eugene raised an eyebrow, but before he could say anything, Luo Hai had already started the machine.
His movements seemed no different from before, but the moment he pressed the button—before Eugene could even react—the blade swiftly and cleanly sliced through the string. The giant alpaca plush dropped straight through the hole with a satisfying thud.
The machine blared an ear-splitting victory tune, drawing the attention of everyone nearby. Children’s eyes lit up with envy and admiration.
Eugene stared in stunned silence before finally managing to speak. “Holy shit?”
Luo Hai bent down, pulled the massive alpaca out of the machine, and tossed it into Eugene’s arms. “Here.”
“Wait… you… how the hell did you do that?” Eugene still looked utterly shocked.
“Just observation.” A barely perceptible smile tugged at the corner of Luo Hai’s lips. “The blade in this machine has a built-in trick—no matter how precisely you aim, it always surges forward slightly when it moves, ensuring that unless you hit the exact programmed probability, the string won’t be cut. But that extra movement can be used to our advantage.”
As he spoke, Luo Hai pointed to a spot on the left side of the blade through the glass. “If you aim for this position, when the blade surges forward, the string will get caught in the groove behind the blade. When the blade retracts, it will hook the string and slice it cleanly.”
Eugene stared, dumbfounded. “…This was really your first time playing this?”
“Obviously.” Luo Hai frowned. “Why would I ever be interested in something this childish? I—”
Before he could finish, Eugene had already grabbed his wrist and was dragging him toward another claw machine, the giant alpaca still tucked under one arm. “With a talent like this, it’d be a crime not to use it. Come on! Keep going!”
…
Half an hour later, the two of them walked toward the counter, arms overflowing with plush toys, surrounded by the amazed exclamations of children.
Even the girl at the counter looked astonished. As she searched for shopping bags to hold their “spoils,” she couldn’t help but gasp, “Wow, that’s a lot of prizes! Did your boyfriend win all of these for you?”
Luo Hai parted his lips to refute her, but before he could, Eugene grinned shamelessly and answered, “Yep! Impressive, right? He won every single one of them himself—and he paid for them too.”
The cashier giggled. “Your boyfriend is really sweet to you.”
“Of course!” Eugene leaned forward conspiratorially, resting his elbow on the counter. “I pursued him for fifteen years before finally catching him. Now, not only does he take me everywhere, he’s never let me spend a single cent. Where else could I find such a perfect boyfriend, huh?”
“Enough.” Luo Hai cut him off with a frown before he could spew any more nonsense. “Just pack these up so we can leave.”
The cashier chuckled as she handed them the stuffed-full shopping bags. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she turned around and grabbed a wrapped rose from the shelf.
“Here! Since you two are so in love, I’ll give you a little gift to celebrate!”
She passed the rose to Eugene with a bright smile. “Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness together!”
“Thank you, thank you! And I wish you great business, endless prosperity, and increasing beauty every day!” Eugene accepted it smoothly, throwing out auspicious blessings as naturally as breathing, making the girl blush and wave him off shyly.
Luo Hai stood beside them, pretending to scan his surroundings casually.
Yet, despite everything, he still didn’t spot anything worth noting.
His luck wasn’t great—nearly an hour had passed since they arrived at the square, but he had neither seen any sign of the two Omegas Colin had identified nor discovered any place that could be used as a hideout.
And no matter if it was the snack street or the arcade, the places they had visited were all rather secluded, making it difficult to get a full view of the entire square. If this wasn’t intentional on Eugene’s part, then it was too much of a coincidence.
However, Luo Hai couldn’t just bluntly refuse and drag him into an open space. He would rather wait for another opportunity in a few days than risk letting Eugene notice his suspicions.
Perhaps today would have to end like this. Looking on the bright side, at least he had surveyed the buildings around the square and ruled out a few impossible directions.
“Here.”
Eugene’s voice suddenly rang beside him, pulling Luo Hai back to reality. He turned his head to see Eugene holding out the rose that the counter girl had given them.
“Keep it for yourself,” Luo Hai said flatly. “You were the one who insisted on playing the claw machines.”
“That won’t do. A rose only has meaning when it’s given to someone else.” Eugene naturally grabbed Luo Hai’s hand, pressed the rose into his palm, and gently closed his fingers around it. “For you.”
The warmth of their fingertips touching made Luo Hai lose focus for a moment. He silently looked down at the rose in his hand. There were still droplets of water on the petals, and under the sunlight, the deep red color stood out vividly.
It wasn’t a flower he liked. It wasn’t a color he liked. And it certainly wasn’t a meaning he liked.
There were no promises between him and Eugene, no emotions involved. This wasn’t a real date.
They were not, and could never be, in a relationship where giving a rose made sense.
Luo Hai lifted his hand, about to return the flower, but suddenly, his movement froze. In that instant, a figure flashed past the corner of his vision.
