Charles pulled ra through the night market, the ce buzzing withughter,


    bright lights, and the mouthwatering smell of street food. It was the kind of chaos


    that felt alive, like the city itself was throwing a party.


    ra drifted toward a stall selling candied hawthorns, her eyes zed with


    curiosity. She trailed behind the old man running the stand, grabbed a stick, and


    strolled off without a word about paying.


    The old vendor spun around, ready to scold her-until a crisp hundred-yuan note


    appeared under his nose. He nced up, startled, and found himself staring into


    the sharp, intimidating face of a guy who looked like he''d walked out of a movie.


    Charles''s voice was low and t. "Keep the change."


    The vendor snatched the bill and hurried away, half-shivering, eager to put


    distance between himself and Charles.


    As soon as he was gone, Charles''s tough-guy vibe disappeared. He turned to


    ra, suddenly looking more like a scolded dog than a bodyguard. "ra, you


    know you''re supposed to pay for stuff, right? Don''t just grab things."


    But before he could keep scolding, ra handed the stick of candied hawthorns


    to him. "This is for you, bro."


    Charles blinked, caught off guard. "For... me?"


    She nodded. "You were staring at them."


    He took it carefully, like it might break, and bit into the glossy red candy. It was


    ridiculously sweet, but for some reason, his chest felt even warmer.


    He''d never felt like this around his older brother, Mitch. It was weird, but in a good


    way.


    After a couple bites, he handed it back. "Alright, you should eat some too."


    ra shook her head and pointed into the crowd. "Wanna try that?"


    Not far away, a small amusement park beckoned, its lights drawing in a swarm of


    teenagers. She pointed at the basketball toss.


    Charles hesitated. His whole life had been training and discipline-he''d never


    even yed a game like this before.


    But ra seemed to know what she was doing. She showed him where to put in


    the coins and cheered him on as he started tossing shots.


    He got the hang of it fast-make that really fast. Ball after ball slipped through the


    hoop, and soon, a crowd circled around them, cheering.


    When the game finally ended, ra was hugging the biggest stuffed bear at the


    stall.


    Charles nced around, a little embarrassed by all the attention, and gently


    nudged her out of the crowd.


    ra hugged the giant bear to her chest. "What should we do next, bro?"


    He said he''d brought her out for fun,


    but honestly, he was having the time


    of his life. ra, meanwhile, seemed


    happy just to tag along, content to


    watch and wait, like the world itself


    was enough.


    Even the only candied hawthorn she''d "bought" had been for him.


    The night market stretched on and on, packed with food stalls and games.


    Charles stopped at a sugar artist''s booth, watching the man pour golden syrup


    into shapes. "Can you make me two really big, fierce dogs? Like, as tall as me."


    The sugar artist nced up, skeptical. "You''re joking, right? No dog is that tall."


    Charles sat down, unfazed. "Just do it. What are you waiting for?"


    The artist grumbled, "That''s impossible."


    Charles started to argue, "Hey, old man-" but then he caught ra''s eye and


    changed his mind. "Okay, then make my little sister. Make her pretty."


    The artist nced at ra, eyebrow raised, but shrugged and got to work. In a


    few minutes, a delicate sugar figure took shape-a girl with a gentle smile.


    Charles handed the sugar figure to ra, grinning. "Here. For you. From your big


    brother."


    ra''s smile lit up her whole face. "Thanks, bro."


    Charles felt a weird, happy tingle in his chest as they wandered on. "Is it sweet?"


    he asked.


    "You want some?" ra offered.


    He shook his head, dead serious. "No, we shouldn''t eat the same one. Mitch says


    it''s not proper."


    The sugar artist watched them go, shaking his head and muttering, "Weird kids."


    By the time they''d made it through


    the whole market, both Charles and


    ra were stuffed. For once, he


    didn''t want to go back to the estate.


    Compared to this, home felt kind of


    empty.


    It was well past midnight when they


    ended up on a park bench, the city


    quieting down around them. ra


    still hugged her giant bear, and the


    night air was thick with the fading


    scent of grilled meat and popcorn.


    Charles crossed his legs and almost started humming when ra turned to him.


    "Hey bro, where are our parents?"


    He froze, brain scrambling for a story. Lying wasn''t exactly his strong suit; the


    more he tried, the less he came up with.


    ra saved him the trouble. "Did they both die and leave us a huge inheritance?


    And two super cute dogs?"


    It was the first time anyone had called his Czech wolfdogs cute.