Kiss Me if You Can

As soon as he finished speaking, the bodyguard dashed into the store. Without hesitation, he found the doll that Pete had been staring at, and immediately went out and handed the doll to Chase just as he had entered.

“Here, Pete.”

Chase held out the doll, expecting to see the child’s happy face. However, Pete hesitated and hid his hand behind his back, then lowered his head with a troubled expression.

“Pete, what’s wrong? Didn’t you want this doll?”

The child didn’t answer Chase’s question for a moment. After a pause, Pete muttered softly.

“That’s stealing.”

Chase was taken aback by those words. The bodyguard who had confidently brought the doll was no different. Pete added more loudly and clearly this time.

“Taking someone else’s stuff is stealing.”

“… … .”

Chase looked down at Pete without saying anything. He opened his mouth, trying to think of something to persuade the child.

“Pete, do you remember when we went to the amusement park before? With Josh, yeah… … the hero.”

It was embarrassing to call himself a hero. If he talked about Jason, he would remember right away, but he didn’t want to do that. Instead, Chase told him a few things that happened that day.

“You rode the train and the rides to your heart’s content, right? You even ate ice cream? What did you say then? I bought the amusement park that day, so you could eat whatever you wanted and do whatever you wanted, right? It’s the same today. I bought this place, so you can have whatever you want.”

After calmly explaining, Chase held out the doll again. But Pete still didn’t release his hands that were hidden behind his back.

“Don’t you remember that day, Pete?”

Chase asked again, holding back his nervousness. Pete paused and said quietly, “I remember.”

“Then why… … .”

Chase, who had been talking up to that point, suddenly realized. Why was Pete’s reaction different then and now?