Today, Do-Jun was at the bank. “Customer number 371, please proceed to counter number 5.” Do-Jun checked the number on his ticket, then walked over to counter number five and took a seat. A young female employee greeted him warmly. As she took his ID, she quickly realized that Do-Jun was a VVIP client of the bank with an account balance of over 8 billion won. “Hello, Mr. Lee, how can I help you today?” she asked, voice full of respect. “I’d like to open a new chequing account.” “Yes, I can definitely help you with that. First, could you please fill out this...” She trailed off as she got distracted. The reason? A small dog sitting on Do-Jun’s lap, wagging its tail and looking at her with sparkling eyes. It had a slightly unusual appearance, with the number “1” marked on its forehead and two little horns sticking out of its head. Composing herself, the employee finished her sentence. “Form.” Do-Jun accepted the form and began filling out his details. Yong-Yong, seemingly fascinated by the process, watched the form intently and asked, “Uh, Master, isn’t this going to be under my name?” “You’re not a registered resident, so the account has to be in my name,” Do-Jun answered. Not that it mattered much. Yong-Yong was happy. Having diligently saved his allowance, which had now exceeded 50,000 won, his coin pouch was stuffed to the point of bursting. Seeing this, Do-Jun had brought him to the bank to open a proper account, explaining that it was similar to a savings bank used by Earthlings. Unlike his coin purse, the account could hold an unlimited amount of money and didn’t weigh anything. “Could you please input a PIN?” the employee said. In turn, Do-Jun asked Yong-Yong, “Would you like to pick the PIN? It’s four numbers.” “Hmm...” After some thought, Yong-Yong decided on 0002[1]. Shortly afterward, the account was set up, and the card was issued. Holding the new bankbook and card, Yong-Yong’s eyes sparkled with delight. “I’d like to deposit this, please,” Yong-Yong said. “You’re depositing a thousand won?” “Yes.” Yong-Yong handed a 1,000 won bill and his bank card to the bank clerk. Moments later, the deposit was processed, and Yong-Yong checked the updated account balance. He chuckled, seeing the neat record of deposits. Lately, he’d been enjoying saving money more than spending it. Watching his allowance grow gave him an odd sense of satisfaction. [Current Balance: 64,000 won] Waiting on a bench in the lobby, Byeol yawned repeatedly, bored out of her mind. She nodded off, dozing lightly as Yong-Yong finished his banking. Once he was done, Yong-Yong approached Byeol, lifted her up, and patted her back. Slowly, she opened her eyes. “Byeol, kiss,” Yong-Yong said, offering his right cheek. Still groggy, Byeol turned her head away abruptly. “No.” Yong-Yong chuckled and kept patting her back. He knew exactly why she was upset. Dragging her to the bank every day, not buying her any tasty treats, and wearing her out—it was no wonder she was pouting. Yong-Yong knew all of this but thought it was only a matter of time before she’d give in and kiss him. On the way home, they stopped by the nearby clothing store—Deok-Bae’s Clothing Store—located right in the heart of Bangbae-dong’s shopping district. It was the same store where they had previously bought rabbit pajamas for Byeol. A new arrival had caught her eye this month: bear pajamas. Byeol’s gaze naturally gravitated toward the adorable outfit displayed behind the glass. Yong-Yong gently set her down, and she pressed herself against the window, staring at the bear pajamas. “Do you want that?” Yong-Yong asked. “Yeah! I’m gonna save up my allowance and buy it!” “Ha. Is that so? Do you like bears?” “Yes! Bears go ‘Raaawr’!” “, ‘Raaawr!’” Byeol mimicked a bear, growling and pretending to bite. The sight was so cute that Yong-Yong couldn’t help but laugh. The bear pajamas were expensive. The fabric was of high quality, and since it was a new arrival, there was no discount. For both Yong-Yong and Byeol, the price tag of 70,000 won was a steep amount. Yong-Yong had been saving up to buy the pajamas for her. “Hm?” Ryzagal scratched his head as he picked up a small rectangular card from the ground. It was smaller than his palm, was blue, and had “NH” written on it.[2] As he examined the card, his eyes widened. Memories came flooding back of when a fellow dragon, Hakase, treated him to ice cream. Hakase had used a similar card to pay. Feeling both nervous and excited, Ryzagal walked into Changshin Supermarket. He grabbed a melon ice bar from the freezer and handed the card to the store’s owner. The elderly woman casually swiped the card, handed him a receipt, and returned the card. “T-this is incredible.” Instinctively, Ryzagal knew he shouldn’t misuse the card. However, his deeply suppressed cravings overwhelmed his restraint, and he gave in, using the card freely. As they say, the first time is hard; after that, it’s easy. A few days later, Ryzagal was once again leaving the store with snacks in hand when he heard a voice. Startled, Ryzagal flinched and looked down. The small child addressing him was none other than Byeol, who also happened to be under the King of Earth’s care. “O-oh, hey,” he greeted her. “Did you come to buy snacks, too?” Byeol asked, eyeing the melon ice cream in his hand. “Y-yes, that’s right.” Byeol toddled into the store and returned with the cheapest treat available: a tiny hard candy that cost only a hundred won. She peeled off the wrapper, popped the candy into her mouth, and savored it slowly. Usually, she’d buy a Choco Pie or ice cream, but those disappeared too quickly and weren’t cost-effective. “Is that tasty?” Ryzagal asked. “Yeah. But Choco Pie is better.” “Then why not buy that instead?” he asked curiously. Byeol rolled the candy in her mouth and paused. The temptation was too much, and she bit into it, swallowing the pieces quickly. The place where Byeol and Ryzagal arrived was the clothing store owned by Deok-Bae. Byeol pointed with her tiny hands through the glass window at a teddy bear pajama set. “I’m gonna buy that,” Byeol said. “Do you want me to buy it for you?” Ryzagal asked. “Weally?” Byeol’s eyes widened in surprise, but soon, she shook her head firmly. “No way. It’s too expensive.” “It’s fine. Look at this. I found this today. I’m rich now.” Ryzagal held up a card in his hand. Byeol stared blankly at the card and then squinted up at Ryzagal. “That’s a bad thing to do.” “Doing bad things means you’ll eat prison food.” Stealing someone else’s belongings was a very, very bad thing to do. Her dad had told her that if a person did bad things and went to jail, they couldn’t eat tasty food and had to eat bland prison rice every day, which was just terrible. “Mistah, you have to give it back to the owner,” she said. “I don’t know who the owner is... A-actually, I already spent 8,000 won,” Ryzagal admitted. Byeol was momentarily stunned, then staggered back slightly. “Are you cwazy? Mistah, you could weally end up in jail!” She stared at Ryzagal in disbelief, then opened her chick-shaped wallet and dumped its contents onto the floor. She carefully counted the 100-won and 500-won bills and coins one by one. Her total savings amounted to 8,900 won. Byeol sighed in relief and handed Ryzagal 8,000 won. “Bwing it to the owner and say you’re sowwy. Got it?” She then added, “And pay me back.” Ryzagal sat for a while at the pavilion near Changshin Supermarket, where he had found the card. He hoped the card’s owner might return to the spot. He reflected on what Byeol had said when she handed him her 8,000 won. He felt foolish—he’d lived for thousands of years, yet he was less mature than a child. Yong-Yong was roaming the area, nervously looking around. “W-where is it?” “Hm? Lord Izaas,” Ryzagal greeted him. “Oh, hey, Ryzagal. I’m busy now. I lost my card.” Ryzagal’s face turned pale. Of all people, it had to be the Dragon Lord’s card! “L-Lord Izaas, by any chance...” Ryzagal showed him the card and the cash. Yong-Yong gasped and quickly snatched the card with a small sob. “Ugh, thank goodness! Did you find it?” Ryzagal confessed everything—how he found the card, spent 8,000 won at the store, got scolded by Byeol, and decided to return the amount he had spent using the money she had lent him. “I have no excuses. Please punish me.” Ryzagal braced himself to be at least half-dead from the punishment, but Yong-Yong simply stared at the card and the cash. “No,” Yong-Yong said. “You did well.” “P-pardon me?” Ryzagal looked confused. Yong-Yong took Byeol to Deok-Bae’s store. She looked at the 80,000 won in her hands and then pinched her cheeks in disbelief. According to Yong-Yong, Ryzagal had returned the borrowed money with interest, totaling 80,000 won! “I must be dweaming,” she said happily. “Byeol, does this mean you can buy the teddy bear pajamas now?” Yong-Yong asked. As they entered the store, Byeol handed Deok-Bae 70,000 won, saying she wanted to buy the teddy bear pajamas. The wholesale price of the pajama set was 30,000 won, which was an amount that Deok-Bae was more than willing to gift to Byeol. But knowing that it might make her feel burdened, he had refrained from doing so. Yong-Yong, aware of this, had added his own money to Ryzagal’s repayment, giving Byeol 80 won under the pretense that it was all from Ryzagal. “Raise your arms,” Yong-Yong instructed. Byeol raised her arms high, and he helped her into the teddy bear pajamas. Looking at herself in the mirror, Byeol smiled with joy. Yong-Yong smiled proudly and lifted Byeol into the air, offering his right cheek. “A kiss.” Feeling cheerful, Byeol kissed Yong-Yong on the cheek. “This side, too.” He pointed to his left cheek with his finger. Byeol gave him another kiss, this time on his left cheek. Yong-Yong chuckled and set her down on the floor. Though his bank account was now empty, he considered the kisses a fair trade. Byeol laughed brightly, and Yong-Yong smiled warmly. However, Byeol’s laughter stopped abruptly, and her face turned pale as she swallowed nervously. “What’s wrong?” Yong-Yong asked her. At that moment, Byeol remembered something—she had borrowed 800 won from the Horned Squirrels two weeks ago. She had completely forgotten to pay them back. It had already been two weeks. How much interest would she now owe? The Horned Squirrels were overjoyed at Byeol’s visit after such a long time. A little teddy bear waddled toward them. The Horned Squirrels gathered around the teddy bear as it crouched down and poured all the money from its wallet onto the ground—a total of 10,900 won. “Wow! Byeol has lots of money!” Byeol hung her head low. “This... is all my money...” “Can I pay off my debt with this?” The Horned Squirrels glanced at each other, tilting their heads in confusion. 1. This is not a mistake. The number “0002,” when said in Korean, sounds like Yong-Yong’s name. ☜ 2. NH is short for Nong-Hyeop, one of the major banks in Korea. ☜