After reading the first chapter, Arthur found himself scouring the internet, looking for Y.J. Gabriel. He found nothing, however, except for an archive of the list of a literary competition's winners. Because Invisible Scent only won second place, however, the manuscript was not published.
Arthur was at a loss for words. Why? He hadn't read that many books, but he could tell it was good enough to be published. He even thought it was better than a lot of published books he had read before--that was while still feeling irritated at the author.
Even if it wasn't first place, Arthur felt like one or two publishers somewhere would want to get this manuscript out there.
Wait--isn't Eugene Kim working in a publishing company as a translator? Arthur frowned as he typed the man's name in the search bar. As expected, the publishing company's web page was listed, and Eugene Kin's name was attached to several works.
Couldn't he ask his own publishing company to publish it? Arthur wondered. The company seemed to only publish classical works that Arthur's grandmother usually read, however, so maybe the manuscript was rejected...
Arthur shook his head suddenly, feeling embarrassed. Why should he care about that annoying alpha-hater? Clicking his tongue, Arthur grabbed his forgotten pencil and picked up the manuscript again.
"Maybe the story gets deteriorated along the way," the alpha shrugged. "Maybe it's only good at the first chapter--after all, it didn't get first place."
Arthur snickered at his own thought before continuing to read, feeling annoyed after finding out the cousin in question was the one who actively shoved the 'medical report' in Illian's face. A third-rate bully who couldn't think for himself and only followed what the main villain instigated.
Hmph. How good could a story be with this kind of third-rate villain?
After the heavy first chapter, the story had a time skip and shifted to how Illian lived after he got thrown out of the house. The narration got lighter, not as depressed, but filled with snide remarks that might annoy the readers.
The decision to make the main character annoying was quite bold, honestly.
"But...how envious," Arthur sighed. "I'd rather not be able to smell the pheromones too."
The alpha, who had temporarily forgotten that he would be completely blind without his sensitive nose, continued to read through the main character's new life.
This was the part where the main character, after living a comfortable and pampered life, had to struggle on his own. Illian got to see which friends pretended like he never existed--which was most of them--and which one stayed by his side, ready to help. Thanks to those friends, at the very least, he could find some crude jobs to sustain his life.
In his attempt to get his bearings, Illian redirected his grief and guilt into anger, pointing his invisible dagger at those who had betrayed him. And while it wasn't exactly the man's fault, he also pointed his anger at his fiance. Well, his former fiance.
The alpha who had never come to him through all his misfortune.
When Arthur read this part, he stopped and furrowed his brow, muttering in protest. "Isn't this just showing that he's an alpha-hater?" Arthur clicked his tongue, suddenly longing for a smoke. "Why did Ashley keep saying he's not?"
Reading further, Arthur decided that Illian wasn't an alpha-hater. To be exact, the omega wasn't only an alpha-hater. This protagonist indiscriminately just hated everyone, including himself. He talked in mockery, deliberately using harsh words as if he didn't want to be reminded of his time as a young master. He looked down on other omegas for being so susceptible to alphas' pheromones, and often made self-deprecating remarks about himself being born as an omega.
"What an intense fella," Arthur mused. "The way he talked, though..."
It's exactly like Eugene Kim when the guy was talking to him--Arthur snickered, feeling validated in his view during the meeting earlier.
If people started to read from the first chapter, they would have hated this protagonist for sure. The way he kept belittling other omegas as if he had an internalized hatred for his own kind...
Because of that first chapter, however, the reader couldn't really hate this character. Like Arthur, they'd feel pity, seeing that the shift in his attitude was a way to cope with his grief. Misguided, but then again, the protagonist didn't have anyone to guide him either.
"What is it called?" Arthur pursed his lips, deep in thought. "I want to fix him...or something?"
There was that kind of sentiment stirred within the readers--or the audience. The frustration of seeing someone spiralling badly without being able to do anything but spectate. Should that first chapter be moved to the middle part of the story, it would only feel like an excuse, but placing it at the start made it hard to hate the protagonist, no matter how irritating his attitude might be.
Right away, Arthur formed the scene and the sounds he had to put to make that first chapter's scene strike true to the audience's heart. To make it as raw and real as possible. He wanted to translate the narrative into the most appropriate, the most exquisite sounds befitting of the prose that the author used.
Begrudingly, Arthur had to admit that Eugene Kim was rather...good. It lit a desire to make some background music. Arthur was itching to open his computer and play some scores he had composed himself to accompany his reading.
But, no--he was still annoyed, and he still wanted to criticize!
With that motivation, Arthur resumed his reading, finally getting to the part where the love interest, the alpha Jude, came.
It was the second time Illian felt his world was falling apart.
Arthur had thought Jude was a new character. As it turned out, Jude was the ex-fiancé that Illian was supposed to hate. Well, Illian did hate Jude, although his feelings for this alpha were a bit confusing. Convoluted.
It was during this meeting that Arthur finally found out why Illian hadn't been able to sense others' pheromones. As it turned out, Illian wasn't insensitive; he was just unable to feel pheromone except for one person's: his alpha.
"Fuck," Arthur cursed quietly, covering his mouth as if his grandfather could hear him from somewhere. "They're bonded?"
In this modern era, bonding is no longer a common occurrence. The omega movement a few decades back stated that it was a violation of omega's body, since they were the ones who had to bear the brunt of the mark. A new method--and a new law--had been created to eliminate the 'biting' method the alpha usually does, substituting it with injecting the alpha pheromone into the omega's scent gland and vice versa, making sure the bond goes both ways and eliminating error where the bond only happened one-sidedly.
The 'primitive' way, however, could still happen, and there was no punishment for it as long as it was done with consent from both sides.
Apparently, that method was used by two teenagers who were secretly in love, and miraculously got engaged to one another without their families knowing about their relationship.
Of course, the foolish teenagers back then would never expected that this secret bond would get Illian into trouble.
"But what does it matter?" Arthur grumbled. "Why aren't you there when your omega is in distress and needs help, huh? Where are you?"
Arthur clicked his tongue, frowning in dissatisfaction as if he had become an alpha-hater himself. No--he was a Jude-hater. He would be pissed off too if he were Illian!
With this thought, Arthur understood why Illian ran away from the alpha when he met Jude again. The alpha's presence even triggered his heat, which had gotten suppressed from years of separation. Of course, Illian would be scared! He refused to see the alpha, or even just talk, feeling betrayed and unsure about his own feelings.
What if he got swayed? Arthur also didn't want Illian to get swayed! This feisty omega had to get his revenge first! Screw the romance!
Jude, however, had his own way to open Illian's heart--although that way felt kind of stalkerish sometimes. The alpha stayed near where Illian stayed, trying to find a way to talk to the omega peacefully. He tried to make a lot of accidental encounters, making contact with Illian's friends, even writing letters.
"Just give up!" Arthur found himself yelling at this alpha character.
Despite his stalkerish behavior, however, Jude never really crossed any boundaries. He left when Illian told him to get away, never used force, and most importantly, never used his pheromone. It would be easy for him to subdue Illian, since his pheromone was the only one that worked on the omega.
At least, in that sense, he was commendable.
On the other side, Jude's appearance messed with Illian's mental state. He had been hating on his identity as an omega, which he thought was the root of all his misfortune. If he were born as an alpha, there wouldn't be so much discourse about his eligibility as the heir. Perhaps his relatives wouldn't be so wolfish and so greedy to take over the family's wealth, and he wouldn't have to be shunned just because he was barren.
Illian hated how Omegas were so pathetic, hated how he could be subdued easily by an alpha's pheromone. Jude's reappearance only reminded him of how much he hated being an omega.
"Ah..." Arthur exhaled heavily. "So this is why they said the movie might be risky."
In the end, Illian left the town, running away from his alpha. He stayed in a secluded place, finding crude jobs while staying in a mountain cabin. One of his jobs allowed him to meet a painter. This painter was a beta, aloof but knowledgeable. After a while, Illian was comfortable enough conversing with the painter that he started to tell her about his situation.
Illian received a scolding of his life on a cliff overlooking a beautiful mountain scenery.
The painter scolded him as if he were her younger brother going astray. Belittling other omegas wouldn't make him feel better. How dare he disrespect people who tried their best to live with the disadvantages that life had given them? In that secluded place, Illian listened to the painter's lecture and had a deep conversation about himself.
A free therapy session, basically.
Far from wordly affair, Illian started to rediscover himself--or rather, find the old Illian, the old Ian who was a respectable gentleman raised well by his parents, not one full of spite and revenge. Finally, he dared himself to read the letter that Jude had written for him.
Arthur took a deep breath, finally reaching the beginning of the third act. His pencil rolled on the couch, forgotten.