They say that when you’re too shocked, your body freezes and no words come out.
That was exactly what was happening right now.
Through the thick fog, I could see a huge golden body gleaming brilliantly. The cold, snake-like scales were right under my hands, and before I even realized it, I reflexively wrapped both arms tightly around the massive body.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Not long after, my feet touched the ground.
My eyes flew open.
The fog had already cleared, and the mountain spirit stood before me. With a gentle smile, they took my hand and lightly tugged.
“Did you arrive?”
“Yes… huh? Wow…!”
I had been about to say something because Lord Bihyeon wasn’t beside me anymore, but then the glittering lake came into view, and admiration burst out of me first.
I had never seen a lake this beautiful in my life.
The water was so clear I could see straight to the bottom. Something dazzling was swimming inside.
Too stunned to say anything, I slowly approached.
It felt dreamlike—hazy, a little dizzy.
“It’s really beautiful….”
I knelt down to look closer.
The mountain spirit suddenly gripped my arm tightly.
Plop!
A fish popped its head above the surface of the lake and shook its head with a smile.
Was it greeting me? It looked happy.
“Ah, hello? I came to visit today. Please take care of me.”
When I spoke softly, the fish wiggled its body excitedly from side to side.
It dove back underwater, then came up again holding something.
It looked like a stone from the bottom of the lake.
The fish held a brilliant black stone in its mouth, nodded toward the back, then tapped my hand.
Oh. Was it giving it to me?
“This too must be a connection. Take it with you.”
The mountain spirit’s voice sounded strangely different today…
After hearing them, I carefully held out my hand.
The fish spat the stone into my palm—ptoo!—then splashed back into the lake.
I gave the fish a small bow of thanks and looked down at my hand.
Wow. It looks like a jewel.
“Oh, right! Mountain spirit, Lord Bihyeon said—”
When I turned around to look at the mountain spirit, several eyes slowly opened across their body—eyes I had never seen before.
Eyes embedded throughout the tree-like form.
For some reason they felt oddly familiar.
Those eyes smiled gently at me.
The mountain spirit slowly raised a hand and pointed toward the lake.
I followed their gesture and turned my head.
Something enormous and golden was swimming through the water.
“…A dragon?”
It was a golden dragon.
As it swam with its long body, parts of it were stained black.
Just like Lord Bihyeon’s hair.
But as it stayed in the lake, the black color was gradually fading.
I blinked, stepped closer, and reached out my hand.
The dragon raised its head above the water and seemed to hesitate for a moment.
Then—
it gently pressed its cheek against my hand.
“Lord Bihyeon… right?”
The dragon smiled with its eyes before diving back under.
After swimming around a few more times, it emerged again—
and this time it had returned to Lord Bihyeon’s human form.
The black in his hair was gone now.
It had turned completely golden.
I finally let out the breath I’d been holding and smiled.
Wow. He’s really beautiful.
I raised a hand and carefully brushed away a strand of hair sticking to his wet cheek.
“What about the mountain spirit?”
“Huh? They were right behind—”
I turned around.
There was nothing there.
They had been holding my arm just a moment ago…
Touching my arm, I looked around.
Crunch.
From far away, hurried footsteps approached.
Rustle—
The mountain spirit came through the bushes, looking apologetic as they approached us.
“Whew… I didn’t expect you to arrive so quickly. I was feeding the birds. Did you wait long?”
“…What?”
No.
They had definitely been with me.
Blinking in confusion, I looked at Lord Bihyeon.
He tilted his head.
“Hm? You were alone the whole time.”
That can’t be right…
“No, that’s not true. They told me to take this too….”
I carefully opened my hand.
Huh?
A moment ago it had been a beautiful black stone.
Now its appearance had changed.
The stone, once black like a jewel, now shimmered with blue and green.
Rather than a simple stone, it looked like a gem that held an entire mountain and lake inside it.
The mountain spirit and Lord Bihyeon stared silently at my palm.
Then the mountain spirit spoke.
“It’s a soulstone. As the name suggests, it’s a jewel that contains the power of this mountain and lake.”
“What?!”
I jerked my hand back in shock.
Lord Bihyeon burst out laughing.
“At the very bottom of the lake, once every few hundred years, a jewel forms where all the energy of this place gathers. The guardian spirits only give it to very special guests….”
I’m not a special guest!
My hands trembled as I tried to hand the gem back.
Both of them shook their heads.
This is way too valuable for me to keep!
How many times has this happened now… please…
When I glanced between the two of them rapidly, the mountain spirit chuckled.
Then they took the gem.
They also took the flower tied with my bookmark string and combined it with the stone.
In an instant, they fused together and became a small bracelet.
The mountain spirit took my hand and fastened it onto my left wrist.
Then they looked at me with a warm smile.
“If it was given to you… then there must be a reason it had to come to you.”
Ugh…
So it ended up with me after all.
And the bookmark string I’d given before had returned to me too.
“Mountain spirit, this…”
“Yes… it seems this also was meant to return to you.”
Is it really okay for me to just keep receiving things like this?
I gave them that bookmark string and got that precious flower in return…
“The walnut pie was truly delicious. I hope you’ll make it again from time to time.”
Their voice was incredibly gentle as they chuckled.
I opened my mouth, then shook my head.
I’m receiving way too much.
While I stood there frowning, Lord Bihyeon grabbed my arm.
“Let’s go back down and eat the rest of the snacks.”
“Yes, let’s go together.”
The mountain spirit and Lord Bihyeon walked ahead slowly.
As I followed with my arm still held, I turned back once.
By then the fog had grown thick again, and the lake was no longer visible.
But somehow…
it felt like someone was waving at me.
I raised my hand slightly and waved back before turning forward again.
The fog hid everything.
Anyway…
‘Lord Bihyeon… was a golden dragon.’
Unreal.
Everything that happened today felt completely unreal.
It was like I’d stepped into a fairy tale.
‘Did I save a country in my past life or something?’
I’d just been surviving day by day…
but somehow days like this came too.
Staring blankly at the ground, I eventually noticed the fog thinning and looked ahead.
The palace appeared.
The enormous gate opened, and we entered.
The tiger and fox, who had been sweeping, came over to greet us.
From the dining hall, the bear emerged carrying honey pastries and some clumsily made cookies.
“Hey, Hansol! Is this right?!”
Still feeling hazy, I was staring around blankly when the bear’s booming voice snapped me back to reality.
“Y-yes…?”
“This! This right here! Cookies!”
Thump thump thump.
The bear stomped over and held out slightly dark cookies.
“Are they supposed to be this color? They look a little different from the ones you made….”
I picked one up and took a bite.
Hmm.
I thought it might be burnt, but apparently not.
It was good.
I smiled and nodded.
“It’s delicious. If you just adjust the shape a little, it’ll be perfect.”
“O-of course! There’s no dish I can’t make!”
“Of course not. Lord Hyeonung’s hands are golden hands. No—how could I compare them to gold? They’re full of this much sincerity….”
“You little—! Is there anything you want to eat?!”
Ugh, my ears are ringing.
I laughed quietly and shook my head.
My refrigerator and freezer were already packed with the food they’d given me.
At this rate, I wouldn’t have to worry about meals for a while.
Thanks to that, my stomach had expanded and I’d been eating a lot more.
Lord Bihyeon and the mountain spirit watched my smiling face for a moment.
Then they exchanged glances and started laughing too.
“Hm? But that bracelet…”
“Huh? Oh, this….”
“W-what is that?!”
The bear’s eyes shook as if they’d just seen something incredible.
“Oh my! That’s….”
The fox and tiger, who had come over after sniffing around, stared wide-eyed at my bracelet.
“Go do your work.”
The moment Lord Bihyeon spoke, everyone who had crowded in to look scattered.
The bear placed the snacks in the pavilion and hurried back into the dining hall, gesturing to me as if to say look forward to it while laughing heartily.
His sharp teeth were visible, which was a little scary, but I smiled back awkwardly.
“But Hansol, do you have time?”
The fox tilted their head while looking at me.
“Huh?”
It felt like we hadn’t stayed at the lake for very long.
Shouldn’t it be fine?
Thinking that, I took out my phone to check the time.
“…Huh.”
It was the time for my part-time job interview.
If I didn’t run there immediately, I’d be late.
W-what?
Weren’t we only there for a moment?!
As I jumped up from the pavilion, Lord Bihyeon laughed.
“Ah, I forgot to mention. Time flows a little differently up on the mountain.”
“You should’ve told me sooner!”
I took off the outer robe, neatly folded it, grabbed my things, and ran toward the door.
“I’ll get going! Thank you for everything today!”
There were still so many things I wanted to say, but I was too flustered.
I bowed quickly and grabbed the door as it opened.
“Thanks, Door!”
A nearby alley appeared immediately beyond it—close to where my interview was.
I shouted hurriedly and stepped through.
Running down the alley, I suddenly stopped and looked back.
The door had vanished.
The alley was empty and silent.
‘Wow… it really feels like I dreamed all of that.’
Suddenly my heart felt strangely empty.
Maybe it was because I’d been in such a lively place and now everything was quiet.
…Sigh.
I let out a long breath before turning again and running.
Even though I knew I wasn’t late yet, I sprinted with everything I had.
* * *
As expected, there really aren’t many decent part-time jobs around here.
When I entered the place for the interview, the owner was chopping vegetables with a hand that had just been smoking a cigarette.
The moment I saw that, I gave an awkward smile, glanced around briefly, and left.
The next place wasn’t much better.
And the one after that.
There were barely any customers, and the cleanliness was terrible.
So I just went through the interviews half-heartedly.
Sigh.
With nothing else to do and nowhere to go, I wandered the streets even though I didn’t want to go home yet.
‘…Let’s just go home. What’s the point of looking more….’
There was really nowhere else to go.
Just as I turned around to head back, I noticed a small stationery shop and stopped.
Inside were all sorts of cute little items.
I browsed slowly until a ribbon in a pretty color caught my eye.
I carefully picked it up.
‘This color looks similar to the mountain spirit’s flower.’
I checked the price.
It was over ten thousand won.
A ridiculous amount.
But I steeled myself and decided to buy it anyway.