Ch.255255. Power Struggle

As we walked to the convenience store, I kept touching Nabi under the pretext of our bet. By the way, I won this bet. I merely caressed her earlobe slightly, but she squirmed and surrendered.

“Ah… really, I should have known from the moment you suggested it. You always target people’s weaknesses.”

“That was a bet, wasn’t it? Of course I should focus on attacking weak spots.”

“Whatever. You’ll see later.”

While we were chatting, the automatic door of the convenience store opened with a clear chime. The employee inside reflexively looked at us. Judging by appearance, definitely a local—a young-looking employee, probably early twenties or late teens.

“Welcome. Wel…”

He started greeting us in Spanish, but stopped abruptly when our eyes met. Then he stared at Nabi beside me with trembling eyes, his pupils dilating in surprise.

The emotion in his eyes was admiration or envy. I’d encountered such looks many times in Korea. It’s not uncommon to receive similar glances when going around with Nabi.

I’m used to it by now—as long as they don’t act creepy, I don’t care. Dismissing it, I led Nabi past the counter.

We won’t be buying much, so we don’t need a basket. Let’s just get what we need and leave quickly.

“Do you need anything specific?”

“No. Just food is fine… Wait, I need to check something.”

After saying that, she started typing busily on her phone while nestled in my arms. Curious about who she was messaging so intently, I casually asked.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing special, just checking the advertising DM I mentioned earlier. I thought I should do it now since I might not have time later.”

“Oh, right. Did you get a reply?”

“Yes. I thought they wouldn’t see my DM since the offer was from so long ago. But they replied very quickly and positively. They’re asking if I can try the product as soon as they send it?”

It’s good that she received a positive response, but we’re currently in Puerto Rico. Even if they send the product, we can’t try it right away.

But Nabi smiled as if to say not to worry, suggesting she had already thought about this. She seems to have a plan.

“It doesn’t matter that we’re not in Korea because, as I mentioned earlier, the company has grown and exports overseas. I asked for details, and they said their products are sold in places like convenience stores even in Puerto Rico. They said we’d recognize it immediately—blue box with the company name in white letters.”

“Really? Blue box with white letters…”

There must be many similarly packaged condoms. But since Nabi knows the company name in detail, there shouldn’t be any confusion.

With a lighter heart, I scanned the display shelves before me.

“You said you wanted to buy food, right? What do you want to eat? My treat.”

Looking around, there’s quite a variety. Some look familiar, while others I’m seeing for the first time.

Especially this one—it’s a famous green potato snack in Korea, but the packaging material is different here. It feels heavier somehow, and looking at the price tag, it’s cheaper than in Korea. Why does it seem like there’s more content?

While pondering this, Nabi picked up a snack from the middle of the shelf—a thin stick-type chocolate snack.

“I want this, this, and that.”

“Aren’t you buying too much? You might not be able to eat dinner later.”

“Hmm… I don’t think we need to worry about that, do we?”

Still holding the snacks, Nabi glanced at me with a trailing voice. Her expression suggested she had something to say.

Surely she wasn’t going to say something like dessert stomach is separate from dinner stomach? While leisurely waiting with such vague thoughts, she fidgeted with her fingers and said in a small voice:

“I don’t think we’ll have time to properly eat dinner anyway.”

“…”

It took me about three seconds to understand what her statement implied.

So Nabi means that if we return to the hotel like this, we’ll be doing that kind of thing without even having time for dinner. So she wants to buy plenty of snacks we can eat easily in preparation.

I couldn’t immediately deny this because, thinking about it, it’s true. How many times have we skipped meals and spent time intensely? Her opinion was reasonable in many ways, based on experience rather than speculation.

“We can always make time.”

“You’ve said similar things before. I’ve heard you say we can make time in between several times, but have you ever actually kept that promise?”

“Um… maybe not?”

“No, you haven’t. Not even once.”

Nabi shook her head firmly. Seeing her be so definitive, she must clearly remember. How many promises did past me break?

Feeling awkward, I tried to recall past incidents but quickly stopped when inappropriate thoughts surfaced. It’s not right to have such thoughts outside, especially during daytime. Let’s focus on our purpose here.

“…Then, let’s buy some food too.”

“Just some?”

“No, let’s buy a lot.”

Thinking again, it would be embarrassing to only buy a few snacks and condoms. Well, buying contraceptives isn’t a crime, but buying only that seems like announcing “we only have that kind of thing on our minds.”

Of course, others might not care, but once that thought occurred to me, I couldn’t shake it off. If buying more food could reduce my embarrassment, that would be much better.

I suggested Nabi get a few more types of snacks, and I picked one or two for myself. In the end, we had three chocolate snacks, potato chips, and a pack of plastic gum for freshening up.

All these items are available through room service, but the reason we’re buying them separately… well, I don’t need to mention that.

Anyway, we went to the counter and put down the snacks. The young man who appeared to be the convenience store employee or part-timer looked only at Nabi and asked:

“Shall I ring these up for you?”

“Yes, please.”

Since I’m not familiar with Spanish, all communication with the employee falls to Nabi.

Yes, that’s right, but as he carefully scanned each barcode, he glanced at Nabi and couldn’t help but smile, which made me uncomfortable. He should just focus on his job.

“That’ll be 16 dollars. Would you like a bag?”

“Yes, please. Here’s my card… Oh, wait a moment.”

Nabi paused as she was about to take out her card from her wallet. Then she turned to me slightly and whispered in my ear, quiet enough that the employee couldn’t hear.

“…Hey, we didn’t buy that thing.”

“What thing?”

“The condoms…”

“Huh? Oh… right.”

I only realized it after hearing Nabi’s words. I was so focused on buying food that I forgot the most important thing. That was our original purpose for coming to the convenience store.

It might sound like an excuse, but this is because I’m not used to it. Since doing it without protection has become routine, I unconsciously forgot.

“You forgot too, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I did.”

As we whispered at the counter, the employee’s expression, which had been watching Nabi, gradually became strange. His smiling face slowly hardened, becoming sullen like someone very uncomfortable.

The way he stared at me was concerning—he couldn’t say anything because I was a customer, but he seemed internally displeased.

I didn’t intend to flaunt our relationship in front of him, nor did I have such intentions… but I’m a customer too. Is it appropriate to look at me with such a displeased face? Where’s his professional attitude?

Until now, I felt a bit apologetic thinking I might be overreacting, but seeing the employee’s expression, that feeling completely disappeared. Indignantly, I grabbed Nabi’s waist, which I had released earlier, as if to show him.

“Honey, we didn’t buy condoms. How could we forget the most important thing?”

Nabi’s body trembled slightly at my whisper in her ear. She looked at me with a very embarrassed response, her earlobes reddening, then briefly glanced at the employee.

She seemed conscious of being in front of a stranger, but I didn’t miss the opportunity and pulled her even closer.

“Let’s go get condoms.”

“Ah, yes. But… why are you suddenly speaking in English?”

She started answering in English but switched to Korean when asking me. I didn’t answer immediately but led her to the condom display with my hand still on her waist. Then I whispered so no one could hear:

“That employee keeps looking at you with a strange gaze.”

“…A strange gaze?”

“He was looking with very impure eyes. Maybe he didn’t realize we’re a couple.”

“Really? Why wouldn’t he think we’re a couple…”

“If we had been close like this, he would have seen us as a couple. Maybe because we weren’t sticking together.”

“Ah… so that’s why you suddenly spoke English. For that employee to hear.”

It’s uncertain whether the impure convenience store employee understands English, but if he does, he would have found it quite unpleasant. Seeming to understand my intention perfectly, Nabi gave me a peculiar smile.

“Yes, so please cooperate.”

“What kind of cooperation?”

“Nothing much. I’ll say some suggestive things, and you just play along as best you can. Can you do that?”

“…Heh, this could be fun. Yes, I can.”