“Call me if anything happens. I’m heading out!”
“Yes.”
Boss Bbiik, who’d stayed longer than usual, smiled as they left the café.
After making pudding and cookies, I started cleaning, circling the floor.
Still, I’d been seeing a lot of new customers lately. Should I have made more pudding ahead of time?
Delicious snacks really were powerful. There wasn’t a single being in existence who hated dessert. Smiling to myself, I checked the ingredients, wondering if I should make something else with the time I had left—
—and felt someone watching from behind.
I rose a little and looked back. It sounded like someone was lingering just outside the door.
What…?
I stared at the door for a long while. Then—
Ding-a-ling—
At last, it opened, and a familiar presence stepped inside.
They looked oddly solemn.
Half their body was a snake’s… the snake son? Oh—right. He’d said he was applying for the part-time job.
“Uh… hello? The owner isn’t here right now…”
I couldn’t help smiling, genuinely happy to see him. The snake son hesitated, then shuffled toward the counter.
My gaze wanted to drop to his snake legs on its own, but I pretended not to notice and forced myself to look at his face instead. His cheeks reddened, and he dipped his head low.
“I… cookies. Cookies…”
“Cookies?”
“I want to learn how to make them! That’s why I asked for the part-time job!”
Ah. Yes. I heard.
He practically screamed it, like a confession, voice blasting out at full volume.
I flinched and leaned back. Then I went, “Oh,” and laughed awkwardly.
This was… flattering and embarrassing at the same time. But hiring part-timers wasn’t my call, so it was hard to respond properly.
“If you get hired as our part-timer, I’ll teach you.”
“…Yes! Ah, um… then, uh—one tomato juice, and… one matcha latte, please.”
His eyes were so determined it was almost intense. I took his order, trying to encourage him.
He was like a cute junior. I couldn’t stop myself from smiling.
And now that I looked at them this way, those snake legs were kind of cute, too…
…Of course, I still wasn’t fully used to them. I made the drinks, then hesitated a moment before packing up two puddings from the fridge and handing them to the snake son.
“Have these with your mom. It’s pudding. You’re the one who came last time, right? I think you said your name was Silk.”
“Ah, yes. Th-thank… you!”
“I’m rooting for you to get the job.”
I figured I should mention it to Boss Bbiik later. The snake son nodded hard, bowed with a stiff, folded posture, then hurriedly opened the door and left.
I smiled to myself, then turned back to get back to cleaning—
Knock, knock—
This time, someone knocked.
Huh? That was unusual. It wasn’t common to have a lot of customers at this hour.
Or did the snake son forget something?
I lifted my head and looked at the door. Even after a while, whoever it was still didn’t come in.
“Um…? The door’s open.”
Knock, knock—
“Excuse me.”
What?
The voice was pretty deep. I stepped out from behind the counter and cracked the door open.
And immediately saw a leg that looked like it was made of wood.
Huh…?
I tilted my head up.
Up…
…and up…
I had to look way up before I met the eyes in a wooden face. I blinked.
So, uh…
A gigantic tree—about the height of a utility pole—had arrived?
After the enormous snake… now this.
Out of everyone I’d seen so far, they had the strangest aura. The scent of a forest spread around them, and somehow it even made me feel better.
“Welcome.”
“The café door is small, so I can’t get inside. Sorry, but could I place a drink order?”
“…Ah! Yes. Go ahead.”
But… could a tree drink something besides water…?
Then again, this was a place where a fish and a praying mantis drank coffee. I reminded myself to stop trying to make it make sense, nodded hard, went back inside to grab the menu, then brought it out and handed it over.
Wow… there were even ribbons tied to their branches.
“What brings you all the way down here?”
“Oh, you’re here as well.”
I was listening, waiting for the order, when my eyes met a man walking over slowly from the other side.
I smiled, genuinely glad, and almost called out Lord Bihyeon’s name as he came closer. He gave the tree a small nod.
So Lord Bihyeon knew them too?
He didn’t exactly look like the friendly type, but he had connections in places you wouldn’t expect.
“Haven’t you heard the rumors lately? I was curious about this boy, so I came to see for myself.”
Rumors…
So it was about the food, after all? Ever since I started working at this café, even I could tell my hands had gotten better at baking.
While the two of them talked, I wondered if I should step back inside for a moment—
—but the tree turned to me, held out a palm, and smiled.
It felt like they’d come a long way because of me, so I reflexively greeted them with a thank you and offered the menu again. When I met their eyes, they went, “Ho-ho,” and took the menu with a warm laugh.
…Could they even see it?
Compared to their hand, the menu looked ridiculously small.
“It’s a mountain spirit.”
Lord Bihyeon came up beside me and said it softly, amused.
“Ah. Right. Of course… wait, what?”
A mountain spirit.
No wonder they felt so mystical.
I nodded with a serious face—then the words finally hit my brain, and I stared at Lord Bihyeon.
A… mountain… spirit…
“What?!”
Was someone that high-ranking allowed to leave the mountain?
Was the mountain moving right now?
In the shape of a tree?
I clapped a hand over my mouth. My eyes widened like they were about to pop out of my skull, and my fingers shook as I pointed in sheer, frantic politeness.
Lord Bihyeon burst out laughing, like my reaction entertained him, then held a hand out toward the mountain spirit.
“You can’t see it anyway. Give it here.”
“Right, if you’d be so kind. Getting old makes my eyes blurry.”
…Was age really the issue, or was it that the menu was just tiny?
This was more shocking than finding a cursed talisman on my front door. My heart started pounding hard.
Honestly. Life just kept finding new ways to be absurd.
“I want something refreshing. Can you recommend something?”
Lord Bihyeon had asked for the menu, but it was the mountain spirit—kind and gentle—who asked me.
I stared blankly at the menu for a second, then snapped back to myself and nodded.
“If you want something refreshing, how about an ade? Lemon, cherry, blueberry flavors…”
“Mm. Then a lemonade, please.”
“Yes. I’ll have it for you right away.”
“And that friend will pay.”
What they pointed to was none other than Lord Bihyeon, who was watching us with an intrigued look.
I glanced at him, silently asking if that was really okay. The mountain spirit only laughed—“Ho-ho-ho”—as if it was nothing.
Lord Bihyeon shrugged and handed me a card.
“Ah, I heard the snacks here are famous. Do you have cookies or something?”
“I… I do. And I actually just made fresh pudding today, too. If it’s okay, would you like some? It’s a bit small, though…”
Considering the mountain spirit’s size, “a bit” was a lie. It was tiny.
But hey—this was basically advertising. I was planning to get Boss Bbiik’s permission after I’d tested it on a few others.
“Then I’ll take that as well.”
Nodding, I put on my customer-service smile and hurried behind the counter.
I was smiling, but I was more flustered than usual, like the room was spinning.
I moved quickly, made the drink, and took out the pudding.
Yeah… next to that size, it was ridiculously small.
But they’d come all the way here. I couldn’t just send them off with nothing.
After a brief debate with myself, I carried the drink and pudding out and offered them politely to the mountain spirit.
“Payment?”
Lord Bihyeon, who’d been following me around with a lazy smile, waggled the card.
“Uh…? Right.”
I’d been so thrown off I’d completely forgotten to take the card from him—and forgotten to ring it up.
The mountain spirit watched my reaction and laughed loudly. “Ho-ho-ho!”
Then they took the drink and pudding and tossed it into their mouth in one go.
Their mouth moved slowly. They swallowed with a heavy gulp, then went, “Mm,” and nodded before bending down and leaning their face closer to mine.
They were huge, but strangely, I didn’t feel scared.
Maybe because they were a mountain spirit…?
A mountain spirit was supposed to be someone kind who protected the mountain, after all.
“You’re a gentle child. Do you have something you can tie onto me?”
They lifted a hand and indicated the ribbons hanging from their branches.
Something to tie on?
Did I have anything like that?
I blinked dumbly and dug through my pockets.
Nothing.
And if I was giving it to a mountain spirit, I couldn’t just hand over anything. After thinking hard, I went back inside, opened my bag, and pulled off the string from a bookmark I usually carried.
It wasn’t new, so I hesitated, but it was one of my mom’s belongings—something I’d always treasured. If anything counted as sincerity, it had to be this.
I couldn’t just do nothing for someone who protected the mountain.
I stepped back outside, met the mountain spirit’s eyes, and saw a soft smile in their gentle gaze.
They leaned down for me. I carefully, carefully stroked them—and tied the string onto the closest branch.
The string was short, so I could barely manage a knot, but I smiled in satisfaction.
The mountain spirit, who’d had their eyes closed, silently lifted the corners of their mouth in a tender smile.
“This is far too precious an object. Let’s see…”
Then they held something out.
“Here. Take this.”
“Whoa…”
I hadn’t asked for anything, but what they offered was a small branch blooming with a tiny, beautiful flower.
“You really are a gentle child. So… life will be hard for you. But new encounters—those precious bonds—will help you.”
Their quiet eyes stared straight at me. I blinked.
Hard… as in the curse?
It felt like there was more meaning tucked inside their words, but I didn’t force the question.
“Thank you. I’ll treasure it.”
“And next time, I’d like walnut pie. That friend keeps eating the good-looking one all by himself and won’t share.”
The mountain spirit laughed—“Ho-ho-ho”—stood, waved to Lord Bihyeon, who was wearing a small smile, and walked into the alley.
I watched as they vanished in an instant, like they’d used magic, then looked down at the flowering branch in my hand.
It’s so pretty…
Was it really okay for me to receive something this beautiful?
“Before you forget again—payment.”
Lord Bihyeon smiled and offered the card again.
Ah. Right.
I stared at the flower with conflicted eyes. Lord Bihyeon chuckled softly, took my hand, and pressed the card into my palm.
……?
My hand was suddenly being held. I stared blankly—then looked up and met his eyes.