Eugene and Hari are so precious. š„ŗ Here's hoping they get their chance at love this time around, and Eugene won't make the same mistake of keeping his feelings a secret like he did in the first timeline. Thanks for the update! ā¤ļø
As a side note, I'm surprised people didn't pick up that Eugene/Hari was going to happen till now. Since chapter one, it's been hinted Eugene was in love with Hari in the original timeline. In that chapter alone, he chose the best husband candidate for her, went out of his way to see her fitted in her wedding gown, fled the scene when caught, avoided her thereafter and managed to get Cabel to walk her down the aisle instead of him, becauseāit's impliedāit wouldāve been too painful for him to do so. In later chapters, it's revealed he didn't force Hari into a marriage she didn't agree toāit was all on her to make the final decisionāand often gazed at her softly when she reached out to him, looking as though he was "protecting a secret dear to him." This all happens in the first seventeen chapters. We then learn he was cold and on-edge during his own wedding, and 28 when he finally did marry. Hari noted women marrying at 27 was odd, since most women married in their early twentiesāyet this can be inferred it was also the case for men, since she later questioned why Johannes hadn't married yet at the age of 29. The fact Eugene waited so long to marry speaks volumes.
Of course a romantic relationship can't be one-sided, and while Hari wasn't necessarily in love with him in the first timeline (RIP Eugene, she misunderstood his affections as them being a lack thereof, because she bore an understandable grudge), she did reveal to have a soft spot for him. They'd often hold hands and she'd "act close to himā (her words, not mine). As stated previously, she'd also reach out for him, and the image of him being unhappy on his wedding day stuck out to her even into this new timeline. She also noted she never had lovers or fantasized about marriage, she simply wanted to get out of the house (which, in later chapters, was revealed to be a lie she told herselfāshe actually wanted to be accepted into the house, and could never really leave it). The biggest standout, though, is that she noted second timeline Eugene was starting to act like first timeline adult Eugene, which was framed as a good thing (and this was where she revealed they'd act close and hold hands). Again, all of this but the bits on his wedding are in the first seventeen chapters.
Speaking of the second timeline, the narrative didn't waste time in establishing the two would be spotlighted in a romantic angle. The classic "they accidentally landed on top of each other"āon a bed, no lessāin chapter seven was employed and should've sent out a signal they'd be romantically entangled. The growing consciousness of each other as they reunited; the way he hovered over her as she worried over him during their childhood; the way he was too embarrassed to hold her hand as a kid, or pat her head; the melancholy she felt when writing a letter to himāall of it has been built up throughout the story and in the second timeline, complemented by the wistfulness (and tragic misunderstanding) of the first.
I guess this is my long way of saying it should've been obvious Eugene and Hari would go down this route. It's not forced, and not once did the narrative pretend it would go down any other way.