Hey, That's My Spot
Hey, That's My Spot
Trying to get through dinner with just bottled water was apparently too much to ask.
It was fine up until an hour had passed.
Even when two or three hours had passed, it felt like my stomach was somewhat full.
Kkoreureuk.
The sound coming from my stomach echoed inside the quiet studio apartment.
I stood still while holding onto the refrigerator door.
Jjangryongi also bowed his head from on top of my shoulder and looked down at his belly.
"That sound wasn't me."
"Kya."
"It really wasn't...."
This time, Jjangryongi looked down at his own belly.
Kkoreureuk.
A slightly smaller, cuter sound came out.
I silently looked at Jjangryongi.
Jjangryongi also silently looked at me.
"......Shall we head to the convenience store?"
Jjangryongi's wings spread wide open.
Bank account balance: 8,420 won.
I hadn't even paid the monthly rent yet, and I didn't even know if today's daily wage would be properly deposited.
So I had to spend it systematically.
Two bags of ramyeon.
One triangle gimbap.
And one thing for Jjangryongi to eat.
'This much should be enough.'
I threw on a black jacket over the gray hoodie I received from the hospital.
I still didn't like the sneakers with the pink rabbit on them, but those were the only shoes I could wear right now.
Jjangryongi intently looked down at the rabbit decoration on the shoes from atop my shoulder.
"What."
Jjangryongi looked back and forth between the rabbit and my face.
"If that means it looks like me, no dinner for you."
Jjangryongi turned his head right away.
This guy..., pretty cute, huh.
When I opened the front door, cold night air drifted in.
I pulled my hood deep over my head and walked down the stairs.
Since Jjangryongi is an Invisible Dragon, when he's on my shoulder, other people can't see him.
The problem was that Jjangryongi wouldn't stay quiet.
While walking down the alley, the little guy, finding everything so fascinating, flew up onto a streetlamp, chased after a stray cat's tail, and then landed back on top of my head.
"Don't go far."
"Krereng."
"Even if you say you won't get lost, no. If you get lost, I won't go looking for you, okay?"
Although I said that, my steps subconsciously quickened whenever Jjangryongi disappeared from my line of sight.
Just looking at what he showed at the site today, he's stronger than me, yet I worry for no reason and can't help it.
The convenience store was a three-minute walk from home.
As the automatic door opened, warm air swept in along with the smell of food.
Before the door even fully opened, Jjangryongi took off from my shoulder.
"Hold on."
He headed straight for the hot bar display shelf.
"Jjangryong-ah!"
A sausage slowly floated up from the shelf.
I hurriedly ran over and grabbed the sausage floating in midair.
Perhaps because my voice was loud, the part-time worker at the checkout counter looked over in this direction.
"......."
"It was about to fall, so I caught it."
Without saying anything, the part-timer looked back down at their phone.
Phew.... Thank goodness.
I lowered my voice.
"What if you just pick things up as you please?"
Jjangryongi pointed at the sausage with his front paw.
"If you fly around holding stuff, people nearby will think it's weird...."
The little guy tilted his head.
Come to think of it, I did tell him to pick one thing to eat.
"Alright. Shall we check the price first?"
2,600 won.
Tuk—
I set the sausage down.
A shock felt like the world was collapsing transmitted over from Jjangryongi.
"No, it's too expensive."
"Kyaa."
"I mean just for now. Later on, when we become S-rank Hunters or something, I'll feed you things tastier than that every single day."
Jjangryongi fluttered his wings for a moment as if feeling wronged, then flew over to the refrigerated display case this time.
Grabbed by his feet, a pudding floated up into the air.
"Not that one either."
The pudding went down, and chocolate milk floated up.
"Those are obviously expensive things."
The chocolate milk went down, and a small bag of gummies floated up.
"That's a snack."
After deliberating for a long while, Jjangryongi grabbed the initial sausage again.
'In the end, it's that one, huh.'
I looked back and forth between the price tag and Jjangryongi.
Jjangryongi hugged the sausage tightly to his chest, giving a look that said he would absolutely never let go.
"Ehyu..., fine. Just this once."
Jjangryongi's tail wagged rapidly.
I put two of the cheapest bagged ramyeon and one triangle gimbap into the shopping basket.
On my way to the counter, the moment strawberry milk caught my eye, my steps came to a halt on their own.
'Come to think of it, milk is good for the growing phase.'
Right now, my body is clearly a child's to anyone looking.
I need calcium, and I'll need a lot of protein too.
Mm-hmm. Right, the fact that it's strawberry-flavored doesn't matter.
It was just that it looked a little more nutritious than plain white milk.
Because that's the reason.
I picked up the strawberry milk.
Jjangryongi poked his head above the sausage and looked at me.
"What. This is for my health."
Jjangryongi's eyes narrowed.
"For real."
I placed the items on the counter.
Two packs of ramyeon.
One triangle gimbap.
One sausage.
One strawberry milk.
"That will be 8,100 won."
I recalled the screen and my bank account balance back and forth.
Remaining money: 320 won.
"......I don't need a bag."
Even a single plastic bag was a luxury right now.
I hugged the ramyeon and triangle gimbap in my arms, and stuffed the strawberry milk into my jacket pocket.
As for the sausage, Jjangryongi had snatched it before I knew it and was holding it himself.
If Jjangryongi is holding it, in the cashier's eyes, the sausage would look like it's floating in midair all by itself, right?
Floating all by itself...?
The moment I realized that fact, I quickly snatched the sausage away and jammed it between the ramyeon packs.
"Jjangryong-ah, stay still just until we get outside."
Jjangryongi stretched out his front paws as if asking why I stole the sausage he picked.
"Did you pay for it?"
The little guy stared blankly at me.
"I only have 320 won left now, too."
Jjangryongi thought for a moment, then snapped his head away.
For some reason, I felt ignored.
As soon as we returned home, I filled a small pot with water.
There was no need to cook both packs of ramyeon.
Cook one pack to eat today, and use the leftover broth for one meal tomorrow.
With two bags, that's four days' worth of food, you see.
'Even I think it's a perfect plan.'
With such thoughts, I stood in front of the gas stove, then stopped my hand.
City gas utility fees cost money too....
"Jjangryong-ah."
Jjangryongi, who was about to tear open the sausage wrapper, raised his head.
Why use a gas stove when we have a fire-breathing dragon at home?
"Can you boil this?"
I pointed at the pot filled with water.
Jjangryongi puffed out his chest as if it were obvious.
"You really have to do just a little bit."
"Kyaa."
"If you do it like when you destroyed the wall, the pot will disappear too."
Jjangryongi looked at me as if asking if I couldn't trust him.
"Well, it's true that you couldn't control your strength."
Jjangryongi landed in front of the pot.
A silvery light gathered around his small mouth.
Feeling anxious, I grabbed the handles of the pot.
"Just a little bit."
The light grew brighter and brighter.
"Seriously, just a tiny bit."
Jjangryongi's cheeks puffed up plumply.
"Wait, that's too big—"
Pong.
A blue flame grazed the bottom of the pot.
Chiiik!
The water boiled up in an instant, and half of it turned into steam and shot up to the ceiling.
"Gkueak!"
I raised the pot lid like a shield to cover my face.
After a moment, it became quiet inside the kitchen.
Inside the pot, only about a finger-joint's depth of water remained.
The bottom was glowing red-hot.
Jjangryongi proudly looked up at me.
"Don't put on that smug face."
The little guy's tail stopped.
"I told you to boil the water, not eradicate it."
Jjangryongi pointed to the remaining water at the bottom of the pot.
"That's not boiled water, that's what survived out of the evaporated water."
An emotion of feeling wronged was transmitted from Jjangryongi.
I fetched water again.
"This time, do it from a distance."
I had Jjangryongi sit three steps away from the pot.
And I pinched my fingers together to show a very tiny size.
"Thiiis~ much. Make it just this much, got it?"
Jjangryongi nodded his head.
This time, a silvery flame stretched out thin as a thread.
As the light gently wrapped around the bottom of the pot and maintained for a moment, small bubbles began to rise from the water.
"...It worked!"
A little later, the water boiled properly.
See? You can do everything if you put your mind to it.
"Jjangryong-ah, stop."
The flame vanished.
Excited, I stroked the little guy's head.
"Good job!"
Jjangryongi's tail tapped the floor rapidly.
You're happy too, thinking about eating delicious ramyeon, right?
As I added the ramyeon and soup powder, a familiar aroma spread throughout the small room.
Jjangryongi rested his front paws on the edge of the pot and looked inside.
"It's hot, so don't get close."
The little guy tried to touch a noodle with his front paw.
"No."
This time, he pointed at the sausage.
"We're sharing that half-and-half too."
Jjangryongi's eyes opened wide.
"I bought it with my money, after all."
The little guy hugged the sausage in his arms.
"Don't you want to eat ramyeon?"
Jjangryongi contemplated for a moment, then held out the sausage.
The negotiation was a success.
'If you were going to give it anyway, you should've done it sooner.'
I divided the completed ramyeon into two small bowls.
For Jjangryongi's portion, I cut the noodles into small pieces and cooled them down.
"Eat slowly."
Instead of answering, Jjangryongi plunged his face into the bowl first.
He seems to have been really hungry, but eating like that will give him indigestion, so I'd better stop him.
"Hey! Raise your head while eating."
When Jjangryongi raised his head, a strand of noodle was hanging between his nose and horn each.
Unable to hold back my laughter, I reached out my hand.
"Pfft.... You can't even eat properly."
Jjangryongi bit my finger as I tried to pluck off the noodle strands.
"Ouch! I cleaned you up, and you dare bite your master-nim's hand?"
Munching on the noodle strand, the little guy pretended not to notice and turned his head away.
Still, it seemed he liked the ramyeon.
The half piece of sausage also vanished in an instant.
I dipped the triangle gimbap little by little into the ramyeon broth and ate it.
I also took out the strawberry milk from my jacket pocket.
The moment I stuck the straw in, Jjangryongi's gaze followed.
"This is mine."
"Kyaa!"
"You ate sausage."
Jjangryongi pointed at the bowl as if pointing out the fact that I was eating sausage, ramyeon, AND triangle gimbap.
"...I'm a human, so I have to eat a lot."
As I made excuses while avoiding Jjangryongi's gaze, the little guy looked back and forth between my body and his own body.
"Even if we're similar right now, I'm bigger."
Jjangryongi didn't look convinced.
In the end, I poured a little strawberry milk into the bottle cap.
'Why do I have to read the room when I'm the master?'
Jjangryongi licked it once with his tongue.
His turquoise eyes widened.
Immediately, the little guy lunged toward my strawberry milk.
"...What? No! Hey hey!! This is seriously mine!!"
I raised the milk high above my head.
Jjangryongi fluttered his wings and came up after it.
"What! That's cheating, so get down!!"
I realized my mistake too late, but it was already too late.
Inside the narrow studio apartment, a chase scene between me holding the strawberry milk and Jjangryongi began.
In the end, Jjangryongi drank half of the remaining milk.
"Ah, shit.... Tomorrow, I'm seriously not buying you anything."
I don't know what I'm talking about buying when I don't even have money, but anyway, I'm not buying anything.
Jjangryongi, feeling full, lay down on the futon and patted his belly with his front paws.
He didn't look remorseful at all.
As my stomach was full too, putting feeling wronged aside, the tension released all at once.
During today alone, I almost died in a gate, achieved the awakening of my dreams, and formed a contract with a dragon while turned into a pretty young girl.
It was a much longer day than I thought.
I put the empty bowls in the sink and spread the futon on the floor.
Now, all that was left was to sleep.
However, while I went to wash my hands for a moment and came back.
Jjangryongi was lying curled up in a ball right in the middle of the only pillow.
"......Hey, that's my spot."
Jjangryongi closed his eyes.
"I know you're not asleep."
There was no response.
I pulled on one side of the pillow.
Jjangryongi tightly wrapped his tail around the pillow.
"Jjangryong-ah."
"Kkiiing...?"
"Get off my bed."
It's no use playing pitiful.