I am sorry for this chapter guys😢
••••••
It was a weekday after just before lunch, the ice cream parlour a walking distance from the hospital was empty - it was nothing unusual, school teens and children would still be forced to sit in lessons, the only ones that had the free time to have ice cream at such hour would be college students like Perth who classes had been cancelled (or might be skipping class) or retired men and women.
Perth watched as Son happily munched on rainbow coloured sprinkles and almond toppings first before actually getting onto the ice cream. His eyes were smiling, creating crinkles at the sides and he squealed in delight at the taste of strawberry and vanilla. Once in a while they boy would turn to Perth and smile - melting his heart - before continuing on devouring his dessert.
Sighing, Perth closed his eyes and rubbed at his temple. He shouldn't have ordered coffee, he thought; his migraine was kicking in, his vision blurring. And the fact that he had Boun's words were repeating themselves in his head wasn't helping him one bit.
"The tempered hormones in him are keeping his eggs healthy" Boun said, eyes still focusing on the grey matter on the ultrasound machine screen, "your father is truly a genius."
Perth groaned, "Boun, stop. He violated laws."
"Yes, it's true but I have to give him credit for such masterpiece."
"An evil genius sounds more like it."
Boun nodded to Perth's statement, agreeing, yes, his father was an evil genius. Someone that thrive for success without acknowledging the boundaries that separate the good from the bad. Someone that only existed in movies or fantasy - never in Perth's life would he imagine his own father as an antagonist. He loves his father, there was no denying that - Jack was his father, regardless his busy days where he went missing, lost in his work, Perth still have memories of his father kissing him goodnight when he was younger or days where he would take Perth out on a lad's day while his mother went with his sister for a ladies' day.
It's just that after he grew older he
realised his dreams and his father's dreams were completely different. And that maybe, he still loves his father but he no longer admired him. Jack certainly wasn't the best father, but he was Perth's father.
"Ah!" exclaimed Boun when he was examining the barcode tattoo on the back of Son's neck, the boy flinching slightly "there seems to be a chip underneath his skin! Here, feel this, Perth."
And Perth did, gently rubbing the skin and feeling that there was indeed something beneath the subcutaneous layer. Something small and rectangular -thin - like a micro chip. It goes unnoticeable in the naked eye, the barcode tattoo helping in masking it.
"Your father is truly a genius, Perth."
"Perth! I finished."
Perth didn't realise he was staring, but now he was staring at a happy Son, smiling at him with a smudge of pink coloured ice cream just at the corner of his bottom lip.
"Can we please go to the theater, now?" the young boy asked, holding his hands together in a hopeful manner while his eyes brightened with every word.
Perth chuckled, fixing Son's hair underneath his beanie so that his fringe covered his eyes before he pulled Son by the jumper's collar, tenderly meeting their lips together when he took this opportunity to wipe the ice cream smudge on the boy's skin with his tongue. Or maybe it was the other way around. But nevertheless, it made Son shiver, his eyes closing as he felt the familiar softness of Perth's lips on his, whining when Perth pulled away.
