"You've had enough of playing around with women. You're at an age where you're ready to get married, Arthur."
"I—don't want to!" Arthur flatly refused.
The corners of his dad's lips twitched at his son's disrespectful refusal. "You ... how long will you refuse marriage?!" snapped Albern.
"Dad too! How long will you keep telling me to get married?!" Arthur retorted, not to be outdone.
Albern sighed heavily, having a son like Arthur did require more energy because it was really tiring. "Don't you want to see your mother with grandchildren, huh? Don't you feel sorry for our age?" asked Andrew, now trying to sound compassionate.
"Then you can tell Angela to get married first," Arthur suggested lightly.
"Your sister is still continuing her studies!"
"I'm sticking to my guns, Dad. Please don't arrange an arranged marriage for me like before. It will be in vain. Because I don't want to get married yet," Arthur said firmly, showing that he really meant it.
"Then when are you going to get married?" asked Albern, still stubborn.
"I don't know."
"Look, you're not giving us any certainty, how can your mom and dad keep waiting!" Albern scolded again, his eldest son always wearing out his patience.
"Listen to me, Dad. If you keep forcing me to get married and I give in to your demands, what will happen is that the divorce rate in this country will increase rapidly," Arthur said.
Albern was speechless, his son was beyond belief.
"Come on, Dad. Let me enjoy my life first. I'm happy with what I have anyway. I'll get married if I want to, you know I don't like being forced," Arthur continued as he sipped his americano coffee.
Previously, Albern had often arranged his son's match with several women who he thought would suit Arthur. However, what happened was that Arthur dated them only briefly after getting what he wanted. Even though Arthur was a jerk, no one held him accountable or got angry with him. Albern was surprised that he had a son who was too good at playing with women.
"Alright. I'll wait again," Albern broke off.
"Wait a minute, I didn't ask you to wait!" screeched Arthur as Albern still wouldn't understand what his son wanted.
Albern stared at Arthur with the sharpness of a samurai sword, enough to make Arthur shudder in horror. "Listen, Arthur. I'm going to say this because I'm still your dad. If you keep playing around with women, one day you will feel what they feel," Albern advised.
Arthur raised his eyebrows, impressed by his dad's words. He already understood the risks. The corners of the man's lips turned up, smiling very sweetly. "Thanks for the advice, Dad. I'll always remember it."
Albern must have been very worried about his eldest son's life. There was no way Arthur's life could continue like that. Deep down, he and his wife always hoped that their son would find true love that would make Arthur a better man.
"The inauguration of Camille's branch office is coming up, don't forget you have to come. That girl keeps asking you to come," Albern said as he got up from his seat.
"Wh-what? Do you know too? And are you coming?" asked Arthur.
Albern knitted his eyebrows in surprise. "Why are you panicking? Of course I'm coming," his dad replied. Shit, Arthur had forgotten that his dad was close to Camille's dad.
Even though he planned to take Kalea there, somehow seeing the girl excited to try new things amused Arthur as well. However, if Albern camethere too, of course the plan to bring Kalea was automatically canceled. It was not the right time to bring them together. His dad would ask Kalea strange questions, and think that Arthur was going to get serious with her. After that, Albern would again urge him to get married. So far, Arthur had never personally introduced a woman to his family before.
No, no, no. Arthur really didn't want that to happen. He would go crazy.
"You're coming, right?" asked Albern again as Arthur continued to daydream.
"Y-yes, I'm coming," Arthur replied nervously.
Albern was a little suspicious but he didn't want to make too much of it. "Ah, by the way, doesn't Camille like you? Why don't you guys-"
"If you want Camille to be one of my toys too, I don't mind marrying her. It's just that it will be troublesome for our inter-company relations because of personal matters," Arthur cut in quickly. He knew where his dad was going with this. He knew very well how Camille behaved. She was spoiled and possessive. And Arthur was most reluctant to bond with such a troublesome woman.
"You're really... where did your disloyalty come from? It's so different from me and your mom," Albern grumbled.
"Eh~ really? But what mom once told me was that you used to be just like me. Before you were with mom, you also had many women," Arthur replied with a very sweet smile.
Albern couldn't seem to reply anymore, he turned his face to the side as if he had been defeated by his own son.
"B-but I'm not like that anymore after meeting your mom!" Albern defended himself.
"And I haven't found anyone like mom yet!" Arthur said, not to be outdone.
On the other hand, Juan looked at the two men wearily. They had not finished arguing about marriage. The dad who kept insisting that his son should get married quickly while the son did not want to get married and still wanted to play around with many women.
"Just tell Juan to get married! Don't you already think of him as your own son?!" Arthur threw at Juan. The man with ash gray hair looked confused and did not accept that his name was suddenly linked.
"You disobedient child, throwing the blame on someone else!" scolded Albern as he hit Arthur's arm with a wooden stick.
"What's my fault?!" screeched Arthur.
Juan sighed heavily, this was how it was when the two men met. More often than not, they fought over the marriage. That's why Arthur rarely went home to his parents.
"Gezz, I'm getting old talking to you. Juan, please keep my son sane," Albern said as he walked out of the room. Juan smiled slightly as he escorted Albern without Arthur following. The man ruffled his black hair and settled himself on the soft sofa.
Arthur sighed heavily, this was what it was like when it came to love and marriage, what a headache. Arthur reached for his cell phone from his pants pocket. Intending to call someone who could keep him company tonight.
[Hello?]
"Tonight let's go to the usual place."
[What? I can't today because my niece is coming.]
"I'm your nephew too."
[It's still daytime, Arthur. Don't talk crazy.]
Arthur snorted in annoyance. "I'm going crazy. If you can't do it, I'll just take Zeline."
[I'll try to come. Don't get so drunk like that time you raped your sugar baby].
"... don't bring it up again."
After that, Arthur hung up the call. He just wanted to forget what happened earlier by having fun at the club.