Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Part 1 - Unsure

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<POV: Carene>

That darned stupid old woman... Screw You!

No matter how good of a person you used to be before or not, if you dare make my Sis Lin sad, then you are my enemy.

Hah! Take That! As a redemption, I have pulled a loyal customer like Sis Lin away from your stupid shop. Possibly forever!

Haha. Take that, you old bat!

...

When the both of us had come out a few distances away from that Cursed Shop, I turned back to look at Sis Lin's face, to check if the incident earlier had relapsed her back into a state of distress.

I was shocked to see that not only was Sis Lin not in any sort of visible distress, but she was also smiling somewhat cheerfully, with her face having taken a deep shade of red... while continuing to hold my hands.

Aaaah! I h-held her hands in the heat of the moment! Oh, God! What do I do next?!

Should I... let go of her hands? Well, honestly speaking, I don't want to. Her slim, warm and soft hands actually feel very nice to touch too.

Hopefully... No, don't get distracted again, Carene. I must not trouble Sis Lin any further than this.

But... I just can't bring myself to tear myself away from a ridiculously cute creature like her either.

Then, let's have her decide what to do next. Meanwhile, I should just continue to hold her hands, as if I didn't notice yet what I myself did.

However, if Sis Lin herself decides to pull her hands away from mine...

...

As time kept passing, with the two of us staying silent for our own reasons, there was something that really turned out great.

After all, Sis Lin hadn't pulled her hands out from mine!

On the contrary, though, Sis Lin looked to have a lot on her mind today. Maybe she didn't shake me off for that reason.

Well... at least she didn't complain about it. It's okay from her end too, I guess.

After walking together in silence, with butterflies swimming around my belly, and the mood between us being so good, Sis Lin suddenly pulled me a bit, as she pointed towards another small store and spoke to me,

"Little Carene! Hold on for a bit, alright? No need to rush aimlessly in these streets. It's easy to get lost if one isn't being careful. Also, this shop right here is another one that Mother often brought me to. I remember how Mother always gloated about the things that she would buy from here. Those really were the good times..."

Sis Lin became silent for a moment as her eyes kept staring at the store. Maybe she was revisiting the old memories that she made here?

She soon broke her trance and spoke further to me,

"Let's try going in to see if the two of us would be able to find something good as well. No! I am sure that we would get something great this time!"

Uh... I don't really mind going there with Sis Lin, but... what happened earlier won't repeat again, right?

I surely hope not. I don't want our trip out today to keep ending up in bad endings. If that thing happens again though, maybe I am the one who has been jinxing Sis Lin all day today.

There was also a small hope inside of me that this shop could be that Lingerie shop.

As if she had sensed my consent, Sis Lin slowly pulled me along with her... with our hands still grasped together as we walked into the store.

This hands-holding incident might be one of the few good things happening today. Let's hope that today, God has kept the best for the last.

This other store had a lot more variety of accessories, along with a nice and welcoming aura.

The decorations and arrangements didn't remotely feel old at all.

Did Sis Lin really make a mistake this time? Nothing here seems to hint at this place not being relatively new.

There were obvious signs of architectural inspiration in the furniture all around the store.

Maybe I am the weird one here who is noticing these obscure little details too much. They weren't what I was searching for though. My eyes kept trying to look for any sign of Lingeries in the store.

The shopkeeper was busy arranging items on the display shelves when he noticed us standing and walked towards us. There was another thing that surprised me here, as the shopkeeper was young, too young perhaps as he didn't even look to be 18 yet, probably 12 or 13 if I had to take a guess.

Sis Lin took a swift look around the store, looking at every item once on display before she turned to face the approaching young shopkeeper, who smiled at her with a cheeky smile.

"Welcome! How may I be of help to... both of you? Um... I didn't make a mistake somewhere this time again, right?"

After giving a small greeting to Sis Lin, the boy began to mumble by himself about something that I could barely catch a hint of. Sis Lin though smiled genially and answered the young shopkeeper,

"Hello to you too. If I am not wrong here, are you Young Sean? Sorry, I know that you couldn't possibly remember me. It was a long time ago after all. And you were so little back then too~!"

W-What?! Wait. Sis Lin... don't tell me that you used to babysit him as well?!

Ah! But, why am I feeling jealous about it? It must have been just a job. A part-time job at that. S-She couldn't possibly hold any feelings for that boy...

Staring at Sis Lin giggling to herself over her past memories, the boy quickly lost his temper and shouted out loudly at Sis Lin.

"H-Hey! Watch what you call me! I am an adult already, for your kind information. Nowadays, the customers even call me the little Boss of this place! If you really wish to buy anything from this place, then refer to me as Little Boss!"

What? Little Boss? How is that any different from how Sis Lin called him earlier? Besides that, 'Little Boss' is an adult name for you.

Little guy... you have probably been duped pretty badly to believe something like that to be true.

Sis Lin didn't seem to mind the young shopkeeper's short temper, as she continued to gently smile at the boy. That smile of hers though seemed to evoke some deep memories within me.

It was as if she used to give me the same kind of smile a lot in the past. Then, the way she smiles at me has changed in some way by now.

When did that happen?! How come I never noticed something like that?!!

Wait... Sis Lin did get married afterward, so maybe some changes in her treatment of others could be considered normal, I suppose...

But, what if that isn't just the only reason behind it? Well... what other reason could be behind that?

Does... Sis Lin not feel close to me anymore? Or, I-Is it about that secret new boyfriend of hers...?

...

Part 2 - Impatience

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<POV: Carene>

While I was still getting rid of those unnecessarily troubling thoughts in my head, Sis Lin appeared to have giggled enough, as she nodded twice toward the shopkeeper and began to speak to him in a soothing voice,

"Alright, alright. As you say, 'Little Boss'. Where is your Father and Grandma? Do they not manage the shop anymore?"

The young boy seemed a lot more pleased from being referred to as the 'Little Boss', as all of a sudden, he became very approachable and talkative towards Sis Lin.

"Well! The old man has taken Grandma to the hospital at the... Salty Lake City...? Ah! I don't remember the name all that well. Since I am the only one left behind as the one in charge here by Grandma, you must do your best to please me if you want to buy anything here!"

H-Hey!! W-What do you mean by pleasing you, Little Boy?!

Customers never entertain the shopkeepers, the shopkeepers do their best to please their own customers! Just what kind of madness are you expecting here?!

Sis Lin... pleasing the young boy...?

Over my DEAD BODY!!

...

As I was breathing out fire from within my lungs in anger, Sis Lin pointed at a few things while trying to enquire about their selling price.

Although the young boy seemed pretty unreliable at handling the customers, his know-how of price concepts and of value seemed well-honed as he kept trying to fight back against Sis Lin's bargaining techniques.

He refused to budge and lower the price point under any kind of tactics.

Still, what could a little kid do before the gentle and cute persuasions from our Sis Lin here?

In the end, he relented and was convinced that a great adult would surely be magnanimous and give cute ladies a big discount.

I couldn't be sure about the ethics of what we were doing, but at least the cute part wasn't a lie.

After having been pursued and praised to the moon by Sis Lin, she just swindled the poor boy...

No, that is not correct. It's called 'bargaining' and 'haggling' the price, right? Besides, there is just no way that someone as kind as Sis Lin would ever intentionally let the boy go away with a loss at all.

After selecting over ten items by herself, Sis Lin pulled me along and made me select a few for myself as well. Although I kept trying to find any hidden Lingerie left behind by the boy's parents, it actually seemed impossible that the parents of the boy would actually let him be involved with selling Lingerie at all.

Hence, I mentally noted down whatever I found interesting and selected four amongst the many.

The four items are a trendy keychain, a silver ring, a pair of matching bracelets, and a cute hairpin. Don't bother asking me, since I counted them all as four items.

Since there were a lot of kind people around me who care about me from the bottom of their hearts, I decided to buy souvenirs for all of them, obviously to thank them for everything they did. I may present them all at separate points in time though.

After being done in the little Boss's store, Sis Linn led me a bit further away. Sadly, the new area looked to be even more poverty-ridden. Rather than being able to sell their stuff in a fancy shop, the peddlers here were all selling their goods either on their wooden carts or on either side of the road's pavement.

Looking at how malnourished and anguished the children around them looked, it kind of suddenly made me realize how lucky I was to have been born to wealthy parents. Even if they were not the best, at least I didn't have to suffer the same hardships that these children have to face each day.

As the complex feeling kept rising within my chest, Sis Lin stopped by some of them to buy baby items like clothing and some cookies.

Surprisingly though, the amount of them was seriously huge, so much that we would definitely need at least a few round trips from here till our car to put them away.

Also, not to forget Sis Lin was seemingly a pro at shopping. And in particular, in the spotlight were her price-haggling skills. Not caring who she bought from, she would first ask for a discount to decide on any item, after which she would keep dropping the price point, until the seller almost paled from fright, after which she would agree to a good price before finally buying the stuff, and moving on to the next place.

An endless shopping spree... that is how this truly felt like. I had honestly no idea why Sis Lin was buying these items in such large quantities, mostly because my mind was busy despairing over something else.

Where the hell is that bikini shop?!! The Lingerie shop?! the swimsuit shop??!!

Why the hell are both of us just roaming the streets buying these kinds of things than spending our time buying those sexy costumes?!!

Did Sis Lin really forget about it?

Oh no... Sis Lin... she never really mentioned anything about us going Lingerie shopping!!

Aaaah! Maybe I just assumed us to be going for that? Oh, God! What a mess this is... No, don't give up just yet Carene!

If Sis Lin hasn't been planning for it, then let's try proposing it to her instead. I believe that we can still go Lingeries shopping.

That's right... Fight, Carene! Fight!!

For a better and sexier future, I must do it!!!

...

The self-motivation and all was good. Very good, in fact. However, the problem was that... I cannot find the perfect time to pop the question to Sis Lin.

After having finished carrying everything we bought back to the car and arranging them specifically not to replace them later on, Sis Lin and I departed the outskirts streets of the City, as she wrote the car away.. towards an even more remote area.

The map feature on my phone told me that we had already left the City boundaries, making me really wonder where Sis Lin will actually planning on heading. And that was when a strange thought entered my head.

Sis Lin... she isn't really planning to kidnap me away to some hidden and remote warehouse, right?

Wait for a second!! I-If that really happens then... that would be so friggin Awesome!!!!

Being held as a captive of love by Sis Lin, in an abandoned location somewhere, with just the two of us...

The possibilities are really endless!! Sis Lin teasing me to strip in playfully, biting me on my body... Sis Lin... s-sitting on top of me!

Aaaaah!! Too darn exciting! Calm down now. Deep breaths... deep breaths...

Phew! Okay now. I really need to keep my head under control. The lustful thoughts seem to be way more empowered whenever I am around Sis Lin.

Now that I think about it... is that a good thing? Well, probably... since it means that I even subconsciously like Sis Lin a lot.

Hopefully... Sis Lin likes me one percent just as much. No matter how low the possibility may be, I can at least hope for that to be the case, right?

...