It was late afternoon when they started feeling hungry. After leaving the village school, So, Domok, and Derek were walking down an alley when the mouthwatering smell of rice soup made them stop.
"Let's go over there!" So dashed inside first.
Mrs. Yeo's soup shop was run-down, but it was always packed with customers. The moment So sat down, her eyes sparkled, and she wolfed down a piping-hot bowl of rice soup.
"More, please!" Derek began to grow increasingly anxious as So ordered her second bowl.
Just as So finished her third bowl and rose with a satisfied look on her face, Mrs. Yeo approached, wiping her hands on her apron. "Sweetie, what about the bill?"
So tilted her head. "What's a bill?"
The restaurant fell silent. Derek put a hand to his forehead. *Oh, right. This kid doesn't even know what money is.*
"Well, you see..." Derek stepped in to smooth things over, but So spoke first.
"I don't have any money. But it was really delicious! I'll come again next time!"
At those innocent words, Mrs. Yeo wore an expression that seemed unsure whether to laugh or get angry. In the end, Derek emptied his pockets and paid the bill. It was money he'd been saving for his younger sibling.
As they left the restaurant, Derek sighed. "You really don't know what money is?"
"No. Everything I needed was just there in the Palace," So answered innocently.
Domok, walking beside them with his arms crossed, cut in.
"In the human world, you have to pay a fair price to get anything. That's how things work here."
"A fair price?" So's eyes widened.
Derek stopped walking and faced So.
"To eat a bowl of rice soup, someone has to grow the rice, someone has to sell it, and someone has to cook it. Money is what you pay for all that hard work. Nothing comes for free."
So turned his words over in her mind for a long while.
"Then... did I just eat earlier? Without paying anything at all?"
"Yeah, well, that's what happened."
So's face darkened in an instant. The next moment, she ran back into the soup shop without even looking back.
"Um... could I use this to pay for what I didn't pay earlier?" So untied the norigae pendant from her waist and held it out to Mrs. Yeo—the very same one the Queen had given her, the one Derek had stolen the first time.
Mrs. Yeo waved both hands. "Oh, sweetheart, how could I take something so precious for three bowls of rice soup? No, no, it's fine."
So didn't back down. "I have to pay you back. It would be wrong not to."
Faced with that stubborn look in her eyes, Mrs. Yeo finally burst out laughing and patted So on the head.
"All right, then. How about you do one thing for me instead? Would you help me wash the dishes? Then we'll call it even."
So's face brightened again. "That counts?"
And so, that evening, So washed dishes for the very first time in her life in the backyard of the soup shop. Derek leaned against the doorway and watched her, letting out a little laugh before he even realized it.
Only Domok, standing a short distance away, watched without missing that smile.