Is this really necessary?" Alec grumbled. "We could have just bought ready-made clothes from one of the shops we passed earlier."

Sitting in the middle of the dressing room, he glared at Gael who sat on a couch in front of him. The older man tried to hide his smirk behind a glass of juice, but Alec could still see it. He had an urge to spill the juice over his head.

"Yes, it's necessary and we will indeed buy ready-made clothes later," Gael said. "But, you are my little brother and I intend to give you the best of everything. Ready-made clothes will not cut it."

"Clothes are clothes."

Gael put down the glass and looked him in the eye. "You promised that you would let me buy you two gifts. One was a welcome gift from me, and another was a thank-you gift for helping with the case. This is the welcome gift. Ready-made clothes are too shabby to be gifts from me."

Alec let out a frustrated groan and ran both hands through his hair. He would rather be in his room and study the curriculum for Gael's classes. But the man had dragged him out to the Business District, which he later learned was referred to by the locals as Serene City. They spent the entire morning, going from shop to shop buying things Alec would need—using his own money of course. He spent a majority of the time catching Gael trying to secretly pay for his purchases. The man was as stubborn as a flame rhino.

It was three hours before noon when Gael led Alec into a high-end clothing shop called Thread Haven.

The moment they entered, the store manager greeted Gael with familiarity and led them to one of the dressing rooms. They were politely asked to wait for the tailor, who was finishing up on a project upstairs. It had only been ten minutes, but Alec was ready to bolt. The clothes on display were all beautiful but were too much for him. All of it had some kind of complicated embroidery and decoration in a fitted style. Clothes that were simple, loose, and easy to move in were more to his taste. He was also dreading getting his measurements taken. He did not like being touched by anyone.

Loud footsteps sounded from outside the room before stopping in front of the dressing room door. Alec nearly jumped when the door flew open so hard that it slammed against the wall. A large blur darted inside towards Gael.

"Mr. Fenrin, I am so happy to know that you're back. It is also such an honor that you have chosen me to make clothes for your beloved little brother."

The large blur, which turned out to be a person, looked towards Alec. Brown eyes widened when they fell on him.

Alec's eyes also widened and he clamped his mouth shut when it almost fell open. Standing in front of them was a middle-aged woman with the most muscular build he had ever seen. She stood nearly seven feet tall and made Gael look like a child. Her arms, which were exposed by the sleeveless pink dress looked big enough to choke anyone to death.

Said muscular arms had also clamped down on his shoulders before he managed to get out of his shock. Her brown eyes scrutinized him from head to toe, and Alec refused to squirm from the stare that gradually brightened so much that it looked like they were glowing.

She let go and stepped back, her stare intensifying. "What kind of clothes do you prefer?"

Alec blinked. He looked to Gael who nodded at him with an amused smile. Looking back to the woman—who he still did not know the name of—he answered. "I prefer clothes that are simple...loose and easy to move in."

With another blur, a notebook and pencil appeared in her hands. She began to pace the room, scribbling something on the notebook, grumbling to herself. Occasionally she would use the pencil to scratch at her blonde hair. "With a face and body like that...no! The client prefers loose clothes...but he looks best in.... Oh, he'd look good in anything...."

Seeing that she was lost in her world, Alec stood and very slowly made his way to Gael and sat next to him. Gael's shoulders shook from suppressed laughter at what he did. Alec glared at him.

The tailor stopped and regarded Alec with another intense stare. He refused to flinch at the intensity and looked back at her. "Is it okay to make it loose, but still fit and accentuate your figure a bit?"

Alec wanted to say to make it as baggy as possible, but being in her presence made him give a jittery nod. He had met people like this before. People who were so eccentric and passionate about their jobs. From experience, it was best to let them do their job and they would end up with products that went beyond expectations.

A large smile bloomed on her face at his answer. She clapped her hands and three of her workers entered with measuring tapes in their hands. "Now, let's take your measurements."

Alec shivered.

-------

Nearly an hour later, they left Thread Haven. Gael had to practically drag Alec's tired and soulless body into a nearby restaurant for lunch.

"You, okay?" he heard Gael ask. When he did not answer and remained slumped over the restaurant table, the man poked his head. "Alec?"

He continued to poke at him for a few more minutes before Alec lifted his head and glared at him. "Do I look okay?"

Gael looked like he was about to laugh, but covered it with a cough. "I know that Katarin is a little intense, but she's a good person and the most talented tailor in Serene. I can guarantee that your clothes will turn out great."

Little? Everything about Katarin is way more than little! She's as scary as Granny Rey when she starts haggling.

"She seems to be familiar with you?"

"I met her the same way you did," he said. "I entered her shop, and she immediately clamped down on my shoulders and asked what kind of clothes I preferred. A few minutes later, my measurements were taken and I was sitting as she presented designs she made for me. By the end of the week, I had more clothes than the three sets I bought."

His brows furrowed when he focused on Gael's words. "Earlier, you said "your clothes"? As in plural? But you only bought me one set."

"I only did buy one set," Gael nodded. "Katarin has this thing where she will make free clothes for people that she sees as her muse for her designs. The only payment she needs is that you will tell people that she made your clothes when somebody asks."

"Me? As her muse? Why me?"

Gael's brows furrowed at him. "Why not you?"

Alec fell silent, eyes furrowing in confusion at being someone's "muse."

"Alec, just out of curiosity, how do you physically see yourself?"

He fell silent and looked at the ceiling. "Above average?"

Slamming his hand down on the table, Gael glared at him. Alec flinched in surprise. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

He looked around the restaurant to find that most of the customers had turned their attention to their table. "Why are you getting angry? You're disturbing the other diners."

Gael continued to glare as his jaw tightened. "Alec, calling yourself above average is like downgrading me from handsome to average!" He then began to gesture to his face. "I do not take care of myself this well to maintain my looks just to be downgraded to average!"

He wanted to say that he did not call him average, but Alec stopped when heard a few chuckles from the other diners near their table. Bowing his head in embarrassment, he desperately hoped that the blush behind his ears did not spread to his cheeks. It had been a long time since he last felt secondhand embarrassment.

Alen had always been the one to do things that made him squirm in embarrassment. At one point he even asked if his eouno actually knew shame, only to receive "What is shame?" as an answer.

Why do big brothers act like this? Is it enjoyable to embarrass their younger siblings in public?

Alec nearly sighed in relief when the waiter brought their food and the discussion ended. When he was about to cut into his stake, he paused.

Big brother? Did he just refer to Gael as a big brother?

What do you think? His inner voice said.

He immediately shoved it into a mental box, locked it, and threw it down the dark abyss of his mind. A loud click came from the porcelain plate when he pushed the knife a little too hard to cut the stake.

"Something wrong?" Gael asked.

I'm going crazy, that's what's wrong.

"I'm fine."

Gael looked like he did not believe him. But soon nodded anyway.

"So, how was your time yesterday with the Munstone twins?"

Alec threw himself into the conversation. He refused to open the mental box of his crazy thoughts.

-----------

Me: I saw that.

Alec: Get out!

Me: Can't. Won't.

Alec: I'm serious.

Me: *slowly moves away*

Alec: ...

Alec: I know you're behind that wall.

Me: Tsk.