"Chris, come here."
"Yes?"
As he stood in front of her, she did her best to make his hair somewhat presentable with her hands. Realizing how difficult it was, she knew he needed a haircut. However, with time probably running short for him and her absence in the evening, she decided she would go with him tomorrow.
"Okay, it looks better now. You're ready to go"
Although he still felt a bit awkward needing his sister's help with his hair, Christian still thanked her normally and went out.
After walking a bit and arriving at the bus stop, since, according to his search, the best places for brand bags were too far to walk, he started waiting.but it seemed going out was really not meant for him, as the bus he needed took nearly thirty minutes to arrive.
He hopped onto the bus and paid with cash, as he didn't have a bus card. Finding an empty seat, he sat down and kept a careful watch to avoid getting off at the wrong stop.
Fortunately, without encountering any issues, he finally arrived at the mall where the brand bag store was located.
Entering the mall and inquiring about the store's exact location, he went straight to it.
"How may I help you?"
Entering the store, one of the staff, a woman in her early thirties, dressed in neat clothes with the store's brand, approached him and asked him, Christian, feeling a bit flustered and wondering why it wasn't a self-service store, even though he knew the answer, tried to stay calm. He thought about what he should buy and decided to just get it over with.
"I'm looking to buy a bag for my sister as a gift. Could you show me some of the available options?"
Christian felt a sense of giddiness inside, pleased that he managed to say the sentence clearly and confidently to a stranger, especially a woman.
"Yes, here."
As he followed her and she began showing him some bags, Christian noticed how he was the only male in the store. And this made him feel embarrassed, his cheeks even turning a little red.
He tried to encourage himself, reminding himself that he needed to get used to these situations. If he couldn't even handle it now, how would he manage to talk to his Eva later? And finally he managed to calm himself down somewhat.
As he started looking at the bags she showed him, noticing that their prices were mostly in the hundreds, Christian felt frustrated and somewhat insulted. He knew there had to be better, more expensive options. So while trying to suppress his anger he said.
"I'd like to see the most expensive bags, not these cheap ones."
Seeing the staff look at him strangely but still comply, Christian not knowing the situation any better, felt a sense of satisfaction inside, like he could face-slap her now.
But when she brought him to another section, Christian saw price tags mostly in the ten of thousands. And as she began explaining everything from the materials used to the designer behind each bag and other details, Christian was initially surprised by how expensive they were. Then, remembering what he had said earlier, he felt his cheeks redden even more with shame, realizing that in trying to "face-slap" her, he had ended up getting slapped instead.
Wanting to end this public execution already, he spoke up again.
"I mean one within the price range of two to four thousand."
While the staff woman appeared a little surprised this time, she still guided him professionally to another section. As they looked at the bags, Christian also told her a bit about his sister so she could offer some advice.
He finally chose a bag priced at three thousand, which he found the nicest among them, and asked for it to be gift-wrapped.
He then hurried out, not wanting to return to that store again.
Still feeling embarrassed by what had happened, he headed straight home, no longer in the mood to do anything else outside.
…
Entering the house, Christian, who finally returned to normal after repeatedly telling himself to just erase what had happened from his memory, went to the living room, but when he didn't see his sister there, he headed to her room and knocked on the door.
"Knock, Knock."
Opening the door for him, Annabelle was somewhat surprised that he returned early and feared that his date hadn't gone smoothly, so she said carefully.
"Come inside."
Christian looked at his sister, who was wearing short leggings and a sports bra. The sweat on her made her already tight clothes cling even more, highlighting her body shape and exposing most of her white, unblemished skin. While her stomach and belly button glistened with drops of sweat.
Then, looking higher toward her chest, he saw an even more provocative scene. The front of her sports bra was visible, giving him a glimpse of the deep valley between her breasts, with a drop of sweat struggling against gravity, trying not to fall between them and die from crushing.
Feeling his blood rush even more from the provoking scene, he shifted his gaze higher to her face. There, he saw her hair pulled back into a ponytail, her breath still uneven and her eyes narrowed, and despite his confusion not knowing why, the sight made her green eyes shine even more, adding to her overall sensuality.
He felt her attire was inappropriate, but he tried to calm himself by focusing on the fact that they were indoors. However, Christian couldn't shake off the feeling of discomfort and didn't know where to look, so he simply said.
"No, change first. I'll come back later."