One day, when things were quiet and no one seemed to be paying attention, Shiori decided to take a small packet of gum from the display near the counter. It wasn’t anything expensive or fancy, just a simple item she could have easily bought.

As she slipped the packet into her pocket, her heart raced a little, but she quickly shrugged it off. No big deal. Shiori figured she could get away with it, like she had with other harmless stuff in the past. She was about to turn around and get back to work, acting like nothing had happened, when she suddenly froze.

Her eyes widened as she spotted someone standing right in front of her. Her hand instinctively tightened around the packet in her pocket as she tried to keep her cool, but her voice betrayed her.

Shiori: "Oh... hey, you saw nothing!"

She forced a nervous laugh, her other hand awkwardly scratching the back of her neck as she tried to play it off, but inside, her mind was racing.

Shiori could feel her face getting warm as she tried to figure out what to say next, her confidence slipping away as she realized she’d been caught red-handed. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her gaze darting around, searching for a way out of this awkward situation.