"Hello there."
"Yeah."
…
We stare at each other's faces… for a moment…
And more moments…
"You need help?" I say.
She looks up as if to see her thought, "Maybe, yes."
"If the cookie is too high for you, I could—"
"You smell different," she says, sounding dreamy. I don't think she heard my offer.
I discreetly scent myself. Smells normal.
"Maybe it's the soap I'm using."
Her tiny nose twitches.
This is the second person to sniff me in plain sight now.
Sohee should teach these girls how to do it in a more polite way like hers.
"Hmm," she holds her chin as if evaluating something, "You are neither. This is strange."
Okay…?
This is the weirdest encounter I've ever partaken in.
Mind you, I've met a creature that can possess human beings and pull people from other dimensions.
They seem more normal than talking to this girl.
Her nose moves again.
Can I just step off now?
The girl giggles, "Sorry. You just smell so out of this world I couldn't help myself. Yet… have we met before?"
"I think I'd remember you if we had."
"Same here, maybe we met in dream. I always have hard times remembering my dream. Or tell whenever now I'm still in it or not. We're not, in a dream, you think?"
"I don't think we are."
No idea if these conversation have been worth it or not.
"Excellent, then this feeling pushing down onto me is real then," she comb her hair and it slips out of her fingers like silk. "Do you want something from me? I have to say people tend to avoid me in public. So I am very curious what's your reason for approaching me."
"No, I just feel like you need help with something, that's why."
She follows to where I'm looking.
Once the cookie jar is in her sight again, her eyes brighten a little—though it feels like she's nowhere near happy.
"So you're buying?"
"Can't."
I ask her if it's money that she lacks.
"Have more than enough to buy one. The problem is," she says, puckering her lips, "I can't reach it."
"Want me to help?"
I could have just given it to her, sparing myself some few breaths.
But based on my experience, not everyone that seems in need of help, wants to be helped. So if you have a luxury to choose, it is far better to wait and ask them first. Save yourself from a little embarrassment if things don't go as planned.
Her eyes peek at me. Quiet for a while. As if she's deciding. "Yeah," she answers. "I'd like that very much."
So I easily grab the cookie and show it to her.
...
She's not taking it from my hands.
Instead, she just sighs in relief… or pleasure?
The grey in her eyes sweats.
Her face flushes.
I have no idea of what I just did.
She wants this to eat, right? Maybe not.
"You… okay?"
"It felt so real." She put the tip of her fingers on the jar, rubbing it. "I wanted this for so long. All these time I can only wish. Now it's here. I can touch it. Have it.
"Ah... Something is escaping. Yes, that. The despair I felt being not enough to reach it—that is what I'm losing. I'm promised something else to gain. Something I'd like more. Why am I still empty? What is it that I'm expecting?"
Joy should be what fills someone after despair. But they never came to her. Emotion has abandoned her face.
Now she looks just like her.
"I wonder," her voice seeps out from her teeth, "if I have done it myself, I wonder if it would be different. Do you know?"
I should be confused.
But somehow, I know what she's asking.
So I answer truthfully. "I don't.
"I can't"
Not anymore.
She only gives me a nod. "You are one sad creature. You'd be needing this more than me."
Her hand pushes the jar into my body.
The girl smiles once again. "It is yours now. May it make you a little happier, as I thought it would to me."
"Um…"
"Go on, dear Worthy One. Walk out of this place with a smile I've given to you."
"No, you see…"
"What's the matter?"
I look down at the cookie jar.
And its price tag.
"We need to buy this first."
We go to the counter, putting it on the table to purchase.
This is the second time I'm here.
The store clerk notices the girl following behind me, and whistles a note as if to applaud.
"How'd you do it?"
"... I have no idea. Think it's about how I smell."
"She likes a smoker maybe."
"Except I don't smoke."
"Then why buy six blues?"
"Those are for the bitch duo."
After all is done, we step outside the store.
The cool air runs back inside, leaving us with a warmer one.
"Boss!"
Shouts a man in a black suit and purple necktie. He hurries to the girl behind me.
"Fuu, fuu…" he pants, "Boss, you can't just leave the car like that!"
"I see no problem with it."
"We were in the middle of the road."
Did she exit out of a moving car?
She must be more insane than I thought.
Also... Boss?
This petite girl that talks weird, is somehow the boss of a group?
Are these people from an anime and manga club?
That girl, maybe.
This dude looks like he's thirty and an ex-convict.
After calming down, he stands up straight and notices me. "Boss, get away from that guy; he could be working with a rival mob."
"He could?"
"Who're you, punk? You with them Garcia?"
The girl jumps a little as if surprised at herself. "You're right. I never asked. What is your name, Worthy One?"
I don't want any more trouble. It's best to give what they want and move on "... Sunbae. I tutor high school girls."