“Lord Bihyeon doesn’t like me.”
It must be my imagination.
Hansol blinked slowly, then smiled.
“I just… hope Door doesn’t get scolded because of me.”
He raised his hand and stroked the door again. This time he carefully patted the drawing of the guardian lion.
“Thank you. For today.”
For a moment, he had the strange feeling the guardian lion’s tail swayed at his small words.
Hansol withdrew his hand and turned around.
A short distance behind him, Lord Bihyeon was standing silently, holding a large shopping bag while watching him. His gaze looked sunken somehow.
Hansol’s eyes widened. He awkwardly stepped aside and forced a smile.
“Uh… there was something on the floor here…”
“Yes.”
Smiling lazily, Lord Bihyeon walked up and handed him the large shopping bag.
Hansol looked inside.
Besides the honey pastries, it was filled with everything he had eaten today.
Huh?
Wow.
Porridge, rice, soup, and even beef fritters made from the beef.
There was a ridiculous amount.
“W-what is this… Is today my birthday?”
The thought slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it. His hands trembled as he accepted the bag.
Lord Bihyeon laughed softly.
“Hyeonung said if it’s not enough, you should come back for more.”
“T-that’s not…”
Wow.
I don’t think a cookie recipe will cover this.
“Oh, and he said he wrote the honey pastry recipe inside.”
“Seriously?”
Hansol’s eyes widened. He rummaged through the bag, found the recipe, and immediately grabbed it with both hands before holding it back out to Lord Bihyeon.
“Hmm?”
“I really don’t deserve this much. I feel terrible…”
He already felt guilty enough about eating and sleeping here today.
Hansol held it out earnestly, but Lord Bihyeon slowly tilted his head. He simply stared at Hansol as if he had no intention of taking it.
Hansol quickly shook his head and pressed the recipe firmly into Lord Bihyeon’s hand.
“You said the payment shouldn’t be too big or too small. I’ll write the recipes properly and bring them next time. Then you can give it to me.”
Cookies and walnut pie…
I’ll write down everything I know.
Lord Bihyeon chuckled quietly and nodded before tapping the door.
Tap.
Creak—
The door opened.
“I’ll go say goodbye.”
“Everyone’s busy right now, so just go. I’ll pass your greetings along.”
“…Okay. Please make sure you tell them.”
“I will.”
“Good night!”
Hansol waved with a smile and stepped through the door.
When he turned around, the door slowly closed behind him.
He kept waving through the gap.
THUD—
The door shut completely.
Hansol lowered his hand.
Everything that had just happened felt like a dream. He gripped the shopping bag tightly.
Coming back to his empty house made his chest feel strangely hollow.
“Sigh…”
He rubbed his face, then began neatly organizing the food in the refrigerator.
I should write the recipes before work.
And make the walnut pie at the café…
I’ve got plenty of time, so I’ll take it slow.
Hansol took one honey pastry, ate a bite, then grabbed a new notebook and began carefully writing the recipes with a pen.
If I give him these recipes… will Lord Bihyeon stop coming to the café?
It seemed like he was already coming because of Hansol’s cookies.
Hansol paused for a moment.
Then he shook his head and kept writing.
It really feels like I had a dream.
He scratched his forehead and glanced at the door.
* * *
Big walnut pie packed.
Recipes packed.
As soon as Hansol arrived at the café, he organized his things in the staff room and came out wearing his apron.
Strangely, there were no customers.
Puzzled, he grabbed a mop and started cleaning the floor that had become a mess because of the rain.
“Today feels…”
“No customers, right? Everyone’s busy preparing for the festival. The Central District’s festival is coming up soon.”
The owner answered.
Ah, a festival.
Like the ones humans have?
That’s interesting.
The owner smiled while restocking the coffee beans on the shelf. Then they brought their phone and showed Hansol several photos from previous festivals.
A brilliantly decorated night market.
Inhuman entities laughing as they walked down the streets with food in their hands.
Fireworks blooming across a sky filled with stars.
It didn’t look much different from human festivals.
Even the happy expressions of those enjoying it were the same.
“Look at this. Amazing, right? Our world has five districts. East, West, South, North, and Central. We take turns holding the festival every year.”
“So this year it’s in the Central District?”
“Yep. The Central District is Lord Bihyeon’s territory.”
Hansol nodded.
The owner smiled excitedly, saying they were really looking forward to it.
Seeing that smile made Hansol smile a little too.
“Are you not preparing anything, Boss?”
At the question, the owner made a slightly troubled face.
“Oh, because of the café?”
“Of course… I run both the morning and afternoon shifts by myself.”
“Should I cover three days?”
“What?! R-really?”
“Even I can’t stay awake twenty-four hours a day… but if you handle the night shift.”
“Of course! Of course! Thank you, Hansol! This festival is huge, so I really wanted to participate. It’s a perfect chance to promote our café!”
If we get more customers than this, there won’t even be seats left.
But the owner looked so excited that Hansol nodded without thinking.
“I want to use this opportunity to create a good impression of humans. To show that kind people like you exist.”
“Oh…”
Ah.
So it’s not for promoting the café.
Hansol scratched his head awkwardly.
Sure, there were probably people like him among humans.
But there were far more who weren’t.
He wasn’t sure if making inhuman entities view humans more positively was actually a good thing.
“There was a time when our kind and humans lived together peacefully. A very long time ago…”
The owner muttered quietly.
Then they suddenly pressed their lips together.
Soon they brightened up again and raised their phone.
“Alright! Time to organize what we’ll sell! Hansol, can I add your cookies to the list?”
“Sure. I’ll make a lot.”
“Great! If they sell well, I’ll give you a big bonus. Of course I will.”
“I hope it goes well.”
The owner laughed cheerfully.
They prepared to leave for the day and didn’t forget to mark the festival date on the calendar with a marker.
Hansol said goodbye as they hurried out the door.
Then he let out a quiet sigh.
A festival…
Come to think of it, he had never even been to a festival in the human world.
When he lived at that house, they said it would bring bad luck.
After leaving, he had been too busy surviving to think about it.
The closest thing he had experienced was a university festival.
Even then, his department had run a drinking booth, so he spent the entire time serving customers.
Hansol brewed coffee for himself and slowly drank it.
It was so quiet today that he baked cookies, made pudding, and, feeling hungry, made simple pizza toast with sliced bread.
Ding-a-ling—
“Welcome.”
“Wow, that smells amazing.”
Hansol turned around.
The woman in the red coat with three eyes was standing there.
Her eyes widened as she approached.
Sniff, sniff.
Seeing her sniffing the air, Hansol smiled and held up the freshly baked pizza toast.
“Would you like one? I made too many.”
He had intended to share them with customers like usual.
“Then I’ll take one of those too. You’re not giving it to me for free again, right?”
“I made it because I was hungry… and it’s not even on the menu, so I’ll just give it to you.”
“Hmm… if I keep receiving things like this, I’ll build up bad karma. I’ll give you a talisman again.”
Frowning thoughtfully, she walked to a table and flipped her bag upside down.
Shake shake—
A large pile of talismans spilled out.
They were all different colors.
Hansol blinked from behind the register and leaned forward slightly to look.
Some of them looked ominous just from appearance.
She selected several talismans and walked back toward him.
“Pick one.”
There were five talismans in front of him.
Hansol hesitated.
Then he chose the one wrapped in light-blue cloth.
It felt the calmest somehow.
Wait.
Why do I even know that?
Maybe working at this café has made me better at sensing things like this.
“You can read talismans? That’s the best one I have.”
Hansol actually knew.
He knew that he also possessed spiritual ability to some degree.
But he had always pretended not to notice.
Pretended to be unaware.
“Uh… actually, I’ll pick another one.”
“Oh my, it’s fine. I was just curious.”
She laughed brightly and handed him the talisman.
“But you have to keep giving me delicious food sometimes.”
A fair exchange.
Hansol nodded.
Compared to all the snacks he had given her before, this was still far too valuable.
I should give her pudding too.
He packed pizza toast and pudding along with a drink and handed them to her.
She smiled brightly and waved.
Then suddenly she pointed at the talisman Hansol was holding tightly.
“You’ll meet a god who favors you.”
“A god?”
A god…
Like the mountain spirit?
“Yes. That talisman creates a connection with a god. When you meet them, ask them to protect you.”
Hansol already felt he was receiving too much help.
If someone else came to help him again…
He felt like he wouldn’t be able to bear it.
The fear of not being able to repay that kindness.
Still, he couldn’t ignore her goodwill.
Hansol stared at the talisman and slowly nodded.
“Now that I look at it, this suits you much better than the one I tried to give you before. I really can’t imagine someone like you casting curses.”
Really?
When he was young, there had been times he hated someone enough to want them dead.
Times he had cursed them with all his heart.
And before that…
Before that?
Hansol thought for a moment.
Then he met her eyes and smiled faintly.
She nodded and left through the door.
Hansol bowed slightly and looked down at the talisman again.
Ding-a-ling—
“It does smell nice, but…”
He knew it was something special.
But right now he couldn’t tell exactly how valuable it was.
Hansol murmured to himself while examining the talisman.
He shook it lightly.
Then suddenly realized someone was standing in front of him.
He hurriedly hid the talisman away.
Lord Bihyeon stood there in front of the menu board, his suit jacket draped over his shoulders, quietly staring at him.