Chapter 37
The city streets were crowded, people moving in every possible direction, while merchants called out from their stalls. Yuna followed closely behind me, neither of us saying anything. Feeling awkward about the silence that had persisted since we started the shopping trip, I decided to slow down my pace.
I glanced back to check on her, and saw her eyes nervously darting around the crowd. When our eyes finally met, she quickly looked away.
“Is something the matter?” I asked.
“...it’s nothing” she murmured, though her fingers, curling and uncurling with restlessness, said otherwise. It was as if she wanted to reach for something but couldn’t bring herself to grab it.
Luckily, I already had a pretty good guess of what she wanted, so I quietly offered my hand toward her. Yuna’s eyes widened, surprise flickering across her face. But when she saw I wasn’t pulling away, her shoulders eased, and she slowly reached out—her small hand wrapped around mine, holding on a little tighter than I expected.
“I’m sorry…” She spoke in a voice barely above the crowd, “there’s… there’s a lot of people. I don't want to lose you.”
I flicked her forehead gently, as she let out a squeak.
“Lost? Me?” I let out a grin, “Not happening.”
“Besides, you’re a kid, sticking close is what you’re supposed to do.”
Yuna let out a small breath, like she’d been holding it the whole time. She nodded, her gaze dipping toward the ground. But this time, she didn’t try to hide the small smile forming on her face.
As we started walking again with me holding her hand, I could feel just how thin her fingers were, like they’d break from the slightest touch.
“How old are you this year, Yuna?”
Yuna snapped her gaze away from a stall when she heard my question, almost stumbling in the process. “Ten.” she answered, clutching my hand a little tighter.
‘Ten, huh.’
From her build, I would have guessed younger. Growing up in the slums had clearly taken a toll on her. I turned my eyes to the stall Yuna had been staring at earlier, it was a vendor selling grilled meat skewers, the fragrant smell it gave off drifting through the air.
“Do you want one?” I asked.
She quickly shook her head, a little too fast, her hair swishing with the motion. “No, I’m fine…” she trailed off, her eyes flickering back to the skewers, unable to look away.
Watching her right now—trying and failing to hide her desires—kind of reminded me of a hungry stray cat. I let out an amused sigh.
“Alright, come on.”
Yuna blinked in surprise as I approached the stall. The vendor caught sight of us and greeted me with a polite, businesslike smile.
“Hi there! Care for some fresh skewers?”
I nodded, holding up two fingers. “May I have two, please?”
The vendor obliged, and within seconds he had the skewers cooked and packaged before I could even blink.
After paying the vendor a few copper coins, I made my way to the street side, Yuna. Her eyes peeked over at the skewers, and when I handed one to her, she hesitated for a moment before carefully taking it, her small fingers brushing against mine.
“If you’re not going to eat it, then I will,” I teased her.
At my words, she quickly popped the skewer into her mouth. Her eyes brightened, sparkling with delight as she savored the first bite.
“How is it? Does it taste good?”
She nodded eagerly, a tiny, satisfied hum escaping her lips. The more I watched her, the more she reminded me of a cat. If she had a tail, it probably would have been swishing back and forth in pure delight.
We continued to walk down the street. Yuna seemed to have opened up a little—this time, she didn’t hesitate to chatter softly about the things she noticed around us.
We soon stopped in front of a tailor’s shop. Though I’d never seen it before, from the outside, it didn’t look like anything special. Pushing through the door, I was immediately proven wrong.
Smooth, polished wooden furniture filled the room, paired with pristine glass display cases that showcased neatly folded fabrics and finely tailored garments. For a second, I questioned whether I’d even walked into the right place. This felt more like a shop meant for nobles than anything else.
‘Sorry Yuna, but I’m not financially able to afford this.’
I tugged at Yuna’s sleeve, planning to leave—but a woman with glasses, her hair tied up in a neat bun, noticed us from behind the counter. Her eyes widened slightly as she took us in.
“Ah—! W-welcome!” She straightened her posture far too quickly. “Are you here for—”
“Sorry, we must’ve come to the wrong place.” I interrupted, turning to leave.
“No! P-please, don’t go!” she suddenly lunged forward. “It’s been so long since I had a customer—I can’t let you leave!”
She was now on the floor, clinging tightly to my leg, leaving me in an incredibly awkward predicament.
“L-let go already!” I hissed, trying to shake her off. “Don’t you have any shame, clinging to a person like this?!”
She refused to let go, crying out, “I do have shame—but it left after the third month without customers! Please! Just five minutes! I’ll even give you a discount!”
“How much?” I asked.
The tailor hesitated, thinking it over. “… Ten percent.”
I immediately continued my way to the front door.
“W-wait—no! Twenty percent!” she cried out.
I still didn’t budge. The tailor bit her lower lip, panic flashing across her face before she screamed one last offer,
“Fine! Fifty percent! That’s the best I can do, so please don’t leeeeave!”
I stopped in my tracks. Looking down at the tailor clinging to my leg, I then glanced back at Yuna. She stood behind me, eyes wide as saucers, clearly not expecting a grown woman to be sprawled on the floor like this. She stood on her tiptoes and whispered in a small, worried voice,
“B-big brother, is she… okay?”
The tailor froze at Yuna’s question, as if only now realizing what she was doing.
I gave her a long stare. “Fine. I won’t leave. Now can you please get up and act like a human?”
Her tears immediately stopped as she sprang to her feet, briskly dusting herself off as if she hadn’t just been wailing on the floor a moment ago. She adjusted her glasses and cleared her throat.
“Ahem. Now then—how may I assist you today, my dear customers?”
I pointed toward Yuna. “I’m here to buy some clothes for her. Do you have any recommendations?”
The tailor stepped closer, clearly trying to get a better look, but Yuna immediately shrank back and hid behind me. I let out a small sigh and gently nudged her forward.
The tailor knelt down to Yuna’s level, lightly cupping her cheeks as she brushed aside a few stray strands of hair, inspecting her face with a thoughtful gaze. Then she grabbed Yuna by the shoulders and looked up at me, eyes burning with sudden passion.
“Don’t you worry,” she declared. “I’ll make her so adorable that people won’t be able to look away.”
“... Right. Just don’t go overboard. I’ll just be waiting over there.”
With my approval given, the tailor promptly dragged Yuna toward the changing room. Yuna looked back at me with desperate eyes, silently begging for help—but all I could offer in return was a silent good luck.
For the next thirty minutes, I did nothing but zone out into the ceiling as the tailor, Ryn, as I’d found out—continued to test a variety of outfits on Yuna.
From inside the changing room, I could still hear Ryn muttering to herself.
“Hmm… no, this one doesn’t feel right either. Alright, Yuna, try this one on next.”
‘If she keeps this up, we’re going to be here til sunset’
After a while, her voice suddenly grew excited.
“No—wait. I think this is it! Okay, Yuna—go on. Step out and show your big brother!”
I looked down from the ceiling just as Yuna emerged from the changing room, her face faintly flushed. Her hair had been styled into neat twin tails, each tied with a pale ribbon that matched her dress.
She wore a modest white dress adorned with pale ribbons, the fabric falling gently around her frame in a way that made her look unexpectedly elegant.
“What do you think? I’d say this is one of my greatest works yet,” Ryn commented, her eyes sparkling with pride as she gestured dramatically toward Yuna.
Yuna also looked at me expectantly, her body twirling slightly as the ribbons on her dress fluttered with the movement.
“Cute,” I muttered. I wasn’t expecting such a drastic change—she’d look fine before, but now it's like she's a completely different person. It was hard to believe this was the same scruffy kid I’d walked in with.
Yuna’s eyes visibly brightened, and she bit her lip, doing her best to hold back a smile. A faint blush crept across her cheeks as she glanced down at her dress. From the look on her face, she clearly liked it too.
“Thanks, we’ll take this. So how much is it going to cost?” I asked Ryn.
She waved a hand dismissively. “I’ve changed my mind—you can have it free of charge. Consider yourselves lucky you’ve got such a cute little sister.”
“If that’s the case… then let’s go, Yuna.”
Ryn froze mid-motion and slowly turned to stare at me. “Huh? W-wait—aren’t you supposed to say something like, ‘No, I can’t accept this for free,’ or ‘At least let me pay something’?”
I tilted my head. “Didn’t you say it was free?”
Ryn puffed out her cheeks and jabbed a finger at me accusingly. “You shameless bastard!”
“Weren’t you the one before who was clinging onto a guy's leg while crying her eyes out?” I pointed it out.
Her face immediately turned red, and she started to fumble over her words. “T-that was—! Just shut up! If you don’t have anything else to buy, get out of here!”
I paused then nodded, “Actually, I do. She still needs everyday clothing.”
That seemed to have shut Ryn up. She huffed away as she gathered a small stack of simple shirts and undergarments, muttering the whole time about “ungrateful customers” and “ruined profit margins” under her breath as she did. She packed everything up in a bag and handed it to me along with a receipt.
“Here. These you pay full price for!”
I took the bag and glanced at the small price scribbled onto the slip of paper. For a shop like Ryn’s, the number was suspiciously low. Not free, not even close, but definitely still a lot less than what these clothes were actually worth.
I looked at Ryn, but her hand was already outstretched for payment. I set the coins on her palm without comment.
Ryn snapped her head toward Yuna instead. “Listen here, Yuna. Your big brother is a terrible role model. Don’t turn out like him when you grow up, okay?”
I let out a small ‘heh’, giving a light shrug as I took Yuna’s hand. “Alright, alright. We’re going.”
“Thank you for everything, Miss Ryn!” Yuna waved goodbye, and I gave Ryn a thankful nod before leading her out.
Once outside, the door slammed shut behind us, as the bustling streets greeted us. It was still early into the day,
“Is there anything you want to do, Yuna?” I asked.
She shook her head, her twin tails swaying as she held onto my sleeve.
I looked farther down the street and noticed a sizable crowd clustered together, voices overlapping in excited chatter as if something interesting were happening. It seemed to catch Yuna’s attention too.
Without thinking, I grabbed her arms and hoisted her onto my shoulders. She let out a startled yelp, quickly clutching my head for balance.
“B-big brother?! W-what are you doing?!”
I smiled faintly.
“What else? We’re going to have some fun.”
