Hollywood: The Greatest Showman - Chapter 303: Perfect Disguise

Chapter 303: Perfect Disguise

As Renly strolled down the supermarket aisle, Scarlett kept flipping through the floral shirts on the rack, unable to suppress a smile from creeping up her lips.

In the U.S., each state operates under its own legal and economic systems, which makes the lifestyle in each state quite distinct. The most popular banks, supermarkets, and chain restaurants vary from state to state. In Hawaii, the largest supermarket chain is ABC Stores.

Although it’s called a supermarket, ABC Stores are more like large convenience stores. Besides food and drinks, they sell beach gear, souvenirs, Hawaiian shirts, and other items, and you can even top up your bus card or pay utility bills. On the island of Oahu, you can spot an ABC Store almost every few hundred meters, making it the most convenient option around.

The store has a dedicated section for all sorts of beach shorts and Hawaiian floral shirts, but the clothes lack any real design, appearing as mass-produced and basic. Every piece is a common sight on the streets, with sizes that make no effort to flatter — just straight, oversized cuts designed to accommodate the average American body shape.

Scarlett had flipped through the racks three times but still couldn’t find anything satisfactory, the more she looked, the funnier it got. Just earlier, she had picked out a traditional Hawaiian floral shirt for Renly, jokingly claiming, “Every man visiting Hawaii picks one of these, blending into the crowd is key.”

Now, imagining Renly in that shirt, she couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Speaking of Renly, why was there no sound from him after he went in? Could it be that he fainted from the shock?

“How are you feeling?” Scarlett placed the red palm tree patterned shirt back on the rack and walked toward the fitting room, glancing around — or was there a back door? Had Renly fled in shame?

The only response was silence.

Scarlett stood still, wondering if she had gone too far this time. Was the shirt really that outrageous? But Renly didn’t seem like someone who couldn’t take a joke!

Just then, the creak of the door sounded, and the fitting room door opened.

Scarlett’s eyes dropped first to his bare feet, planted firmly on the floor. She could hardly imagine how dirty the ground was, how many germs there might be. But it did fit the Hawaiian vibe — after all, Waikiki Beach was right across the street, so going barefoot wasn’t entirely out of place.

Her gaze traveled up his legs to the dirt-colored canvas shorts, with two oversized pockets hanging awkwardly just above the knees, completely breaking any sense of proportion, giving him a stumpy look. And the strange color… neither dark enough to resemble military desert gear nor bright enough to be natural wood — a shade of brown that was hard to digest.

Further up, Scarlett had to stifle her laughter, covering her mouth with her hand, but the giggles still escaped through her fingers.

The light blue shirt with large, bright yellow pineapples and a busy palm tree pattern was garishly colorful, reminiscent of Spongebob. The loose, shapeless lines of the shirt looked like a burlap sack gone wrong, with sleeves almost reaching the elbows, making it look more like a clumsy mid-sleeve than a short sleeve. To top it all off, two white hibiscus flowers bloomed boldly on the collar, their oversized petals making a striking impression.

“Pfft.” Scarlett knew this was exactly the effect she had been aiming for with her prank. She should have stood there, pretending to take it seriously, nodding approvingly and saying, “Looks great.” That would have driven the joke home.

But she just couldn’t hold it in.

The garish upper half paired with the indescribable brown shorts and bare feet… The oversized shirt hid his shoulders, chest, and waist, making him look like a tree trunk with no shape at all. The shirt’s untidy hem and the awkward length of the shorts divided his body into a harsh “6-4” ratio — top half being the “6”. The effect was… remarkable.

Even Karl Lagerfeld wouldn’t have been able to save this look.

Scarlett’s grin spread uncontrollably from her eyes to her lips, her shoulders shaking with laughter. She tried to calm herself down to speak, but it wasn’t easy.

In the midst of the hilarity, Scarlett felt a pang of guilt — she shouldn’t have treated Renly like this. After all, he had helped her out quite a bit today, hadn’t he?

Lifting her gaze, Scarlett met Renly’s face, which wore a calm, smiling expression as he stood there looking at her.

His sharp eyebrows framed his face like drawn swords, giving him a rugged look. His deep-set eyes always seemed veiled in a light mist, mysterious and unreadable. And for a brief moment, the light in his eyes shone like a shooting star streaking across the dark night sky, brilliant yet fleeting, etching itself in her memory.

She had expected Renly to be angry, embarrassed, or at least flustered. But Renly wasn’t any of those things.

He just stood there calmly, playing the part of a model with poise, his relaxed smile carrying a hint of humor and mischief, as if nothing could be more normal. If anyone looked foolish, it was her, not him.

As their gazes crossed, it was Scarlett who suddenly felt awkward.

“Are you two doing okay?” The store clerk’s voice came from nearby, and Scarlett quickly stepped forward, pushing Renly back into the fitting room to avoid anyone seeing him in such an outfit. She hurriedly responded, “We’re fine. Everything’s fine.”

As the store clerk’s footsteps receded, Scarlett looked up to see the amusement in Renly’s eyes. Her face heated up as she realized her prank had backfired, and she was the one left embarrassed.

Scarlett quickly took a step back, clearing her throat and raising her chin. “Do you like it?”

“I don’t mind,” Renly smiled, his demeanor as calm as the moonlit sky, making Scarlett look away in slight embarrassment.

She bit her lip and cursed herself inwardly — when had she become so timid, acting like a shy little girl?

Determined, Scarlett straightened up and looked Renly in the eye. The visual impact of the outfit had been so strong earlier that she hadn’t really taken in the full picture.

The clothes were still hideous. But standing there, Renly’s calm composure gave the ridiculous outfit a strange sense of credibility.

His unique mix of serenity and intensity, maturity and youthfulness, made everything seem strangely right. Amidst the chaos of the clashing patterns, his faint smile was like sunlight breaking through the forest canopy, bringing a sense of brightness to the world.

Scarlett found herself thinking… it actually looked kind of good.

Why was that? This wasn’t the effect she had expected. Scarlett glanced at Renly again, his expression unchanged, his eyes asking, “So, are you satisfied? Can we go now?”

Scarlett hadn’t anticipated this at all — was he really ready to leave like this? Before she could react, Renly had already started walking out. In a panic, Scarlett grabbed his right hand to stop him. Meeting his curious gaze, she scolded herself inwardly: Just let him go! It’s not like she was the one who’d be embarrassed.

But there was no turning back now. She had to see it through, so she mustered up the courage to say, “The colors are too bright; you’ll attract too much attention. Let’s pick something more low-key.”

“Alright,” Renly agreed easily, still as unbothered as ever, though Scarlett couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a hint of mischief in his eyes.

But now wasn’t the time to dwell on it. Whether it was true or not, she couldn’t let Renly leave in that outfit — the bright yellow was just too much.

Scarlett pushed Renly back into the fitting room, assertively declaring, “Wait here,” before quickly walking away, leaving Renly standing there, finally letting the smile tug at his lips and his eyes sparkle with amusement. Looking down at his outfit, he felt like a palm tree adorned with egg flower soup — absolutely ridiculous.

Twenty minutes later, Renly and Scarlett finally left the ABC Store, now in new outfits.

Renly wore a pink shirt adorned with hibiscus flowers, the large white blooms proudly standing out, simple yet tasteful, exuding a strong Hawaiian vibe. He paired it with navy blue shorts and dark blue canvas shoes, giving off a relaxed yet youthful energy.

Scarlett, meanwhile, had swapped into a black shirt with birds of paradise flowers, the vibrant petals making the black pop with brilliance. The combination of jeans and flip-flops completed her vacation look, mixing casual coolness with a touch of elegance.

Clearly, they had swapped colors to match, now looking like a couple in their Hawaiian honeymoon attire. Blending in with the sea of newlyweds around Waikiki Beach, they looked perfectly at home. Both put on their cheap plastic sunglasses, lifted their chins, and strolled down the wide street by the beach.