Yokai Come to the Countryside Café

Chapter 4: The Second Guest Is a Raccoon Dog (1)

Knock, knock.

Who could this be at this hour?

It was 9 p.m.

It was far too late for customers, and there was even a large “Closed” notice taped to the door—knocking shouldn’t have happened.

If one were thinking sensibly, that is.

“Who is it?”

“I’m just a normal human.”

“Eh?”

If that youthful voice hadn’t come from down low, I would’ve just shut the door.

“I am human!”

Nope.

This was definitely not a human.

It was wearing something like pants, but the fluffy fur, snout sticking out, and the wagging tail—

Anyone could tell it was a raccoon dog. And it could speak.

“Ouch ouch oyat! I am putting this down!”

“Really.”

Worried it might be some malicious prank with a robot, I poked and stretched it all around.

It was warm, and the texture felt exactly like petting a friend’s cat.

A rush of thoughts flashed through my mind.

Should I call the police?

Would they even come if I reported a talking raccoon dog?

More importantly, why was it here?

Just as the pieces of the puzzle began to fit together, I snapped back to find the raccoon dog had already scurried into the café.

“I want to drink that. That warm, sweet thing!”

“That thing?”

“That thing! The sweet thing the gumiho drank here!”

Tap tap.

It seemed disappointed or restless, stamping its feet—and it was unbearably cute, almost making me burst out laughing.

Fear is relative.

An unknown creature that speaks human language should have triggered defensive behavior, yet I couldn’t bring myself to act that way.

Were it not so adorable?

“Just wait a moment.”

“If I wait, will you make it?”

“Yes.”

I went to the kitchen and filled the coffee pot with water.

I could easily guess what food it meant. And who might’ve told it.

I’d only ever served coffee to someone once in this café.

The crazy youth before must’ve been a gumiho or another weird being, not a cosplayer.

Since it said gumiho, it was likely a powerful supernatural creature, right?

But was it okay for a raccoon dog to drink coffee?

It was a needless worry. If the gumiho drank it before, then surely it was fine for raccoon dogs too.

Hesitating only briefly, I busily prepared the same coffee I had offered the gumiho and brought it out.

“Hmm-hmm~ Honung‑hwam‑yeo‑nyo~ Li‑yeok‑jak‑seosaeng~ The fox could change into a beauty~ And now the raccoon dog into a scholar too~ Hmm-hmm~”

Maybe waiting was boring, because it was dancing and singing a strange song.

If I filmed this, I’d instantaneously become a YouTube star.

Clink.

No sooner had I placed the coffee on the table than the raccoon dog stopped dancing and leapt onto the chair.

“Aah! This is it!”

“It’s hot, so be careful.”

“Ho-oh-oh-oh-oh!”

Why was it so happy about the coffee?

Come to think of it, that gumiho youth also liked this café’s coffee enough to revisit in just one day.

To be exact, it was the recipe left by the previous owner.

Glug glug.

“Is it delicious?”

“It is veerrrry delicious!”

I stared blankly as it clumsily held the cup with its tiny paws, then suddenly grew curious.

“Where do you all live?”

“We live in the mountains.”

“Even the gumiho?”

“Gumiho doesn’t live in the mountains. It lives with humans in those stone houses.”

“I see, got it. How old are you?”

“I am 3,200 years old. Ah, no! I’m human! Um, hmm. I am 300 years old!”

Seeing it panic so badly, I knew pushing further wasn’t possible.

The bits of info still gave me an idea.

Mystical beings that live long and possess mysterious powers apparently liked drinking coffee here.

He was the first raccoon dog, though.

Honestly, I wouldn’t say I wasn’t worried after hearing all that.

I even thought about running away, afraid I might get tangled in something I couldn’t handle and disappear without a trace.

But these extraordinary beings all seemed a little… scattered.

That gumiho youth with flapping ears, this raccoon dog—neither seemed hostile, nor likely to do anything life-threatening.

“Should I just let it be?”

“Huh? What did you just say?”

“…Nothing. Have you finished already?”

It had finished. It licked the cup clean like it’d washed dishes.

“It was delicious. I shall now be going.”

Beaming, the raccoon dog straightened up and patted its belly.

“Take care on your way.”

“Ah! I almost forgot! You said to pay for it!”

“Pay? Coffee? Just go. It’s on me today.”

Of course I wasn’t going to charge. Watching a talking raccoon dog enjoy coffee is an experience money can’t buy.

But “today” didn’t come without caveats.

Because it was so cute, I’d ended up serving another free cup—but if I kept giving it out free, I had the feeling it’d show up every day.

Yet, even when I said it could go without paying, it responded firmly.

“No, I must pay!”

“Really, it’s fine.”

“I heard from the gumiho. If I don’t pay, humans will dislike yokai!”

Drip drip.

The raccoon dog emptied its pant-sash, scattering things all over the table.

Leaves, acorns, and round little pebbles.

They were the items he brought out, saying he would pay the price.

“Just look at this. Isn’t it huge? It’s the biggest acorn from our mountain! I bet you won’t find another this big for a hundred years! And this stone here…”

The raccoon dog, who had been explaining the value of his trinkets for quite a while, looked so full of pride that his chin might have pierced the sky.

It was a funny sight.

Ever since I took over this café, hasn’t everyone been desperate to give me something expensive for free?

Just like the gumiho who casually paid five million won for a cup of coffee, the raccoon dog also handed over his cherished junk as if it were treasure.

“I’ll just take this one.”

“No! You must take them all!”

“Then I won’t take anything.”

What I picked was the leaf. The one that seemed the most useless of them all.

The completely dried-up leaf looked like it would soon crumble into dust even if it stayed in the raccoon dog’s pocket.

This was enough.

What I wanted wasn’t something of value, but the feeling of gratitude.

“Are you sure that’s enough?”

“I said it is. Now go on. You’re really late. No, wait! Hold on a second!”

The raccoon dog stood on a countryside road where even the streetlights flickered sparsely.

Feeling a little worried, I quickly brought out a headlamp from the storage.

It was something I bought when my manager, a mountain hiking enthusiast, had dragged me out for a dawn hike.

Though I had bought it, I never had the courage to wear it on my head, and it wasn’t worth selling secondhand either.

But now, finally, the moment had come for it to shine.

-Click.

With fresh batteries, the LED lit up brightly. Thankfully, it seemed to be in working order.

“Ooooh! It lights up!”

“It’s dangerous out there, so wear this.”

I wondered if something was wrong with me, worrying about the roadkill risk of a 3,200-year-old raccoon dog.

But there’s no harm in being safe.

I considered walking him home myself, but it didn’t seem ideal for a human to visit the yokai’s dwelling.

-Click. Click. Click.

“If you turn it on and off too much, it’ll break. So only use it when you need it, okay?”

“If it breaks, I’ll get scolded!”

“No, you won’t be scolded. It’s just that if it breaks, you won’t be able to use it when you really need it.”

“Right. Since it’s brighter than fireflies, I can pick mushrooms at night or catch fish by the stream. If it breaks, I can’t do that. Oh! And look, if you do this, you can make it look like a will-o’-the-wisp! And also…”

Even though the farewell charm had been given long ago, the raccoon dog kept fiddling with the headlamp and showed no sign of leaving.

His grand plan to use the headlamp wisely over the next hundred years didn’t seem like it would end anytime soon.

If I hadn’t given it to him, I would’ve regretted missing out on such cuteness.

“Well, I’m really going now! Ho-neung-hwa beautiful lady~ Raccoon turns scholar~ Fox turns into a beautiful lady~ Raccoon also turns into a scholar~”

Only after I saw the raccoon dog disappear into the distance, singing an unknown song, could I return to the café and lie down.

Could he really have wandered around like that without ever being caught by a human?

Well, it should be fine. He said he’s been living like that for thousands of years.

After experiencing such unbelievable things over the past few days, it seems I’ve gotten rather numb.

No, honestly, it was fun.

When I was a child, I too once believed I had to become someone special.

A celebrity, a scientist, or maybe a president. In those far-off days, my future dreams changed every night, but I was always the main character.

Around the time I entered middle school, as I began to understand the harshness of society and the weight on my parents’ shoulders, my dreams gradually became more realistic.

Graduating from a good university and getting into a major company, or perhaps becoming a stable public servant seemed okay too.

And so I lived that way.

I graduated from a fairly decent university with not-bad grades and joined a company whose name people vaguely recognize when they hear it.

That whole process was far from who I truly was.

In the countless decisions I made, it wasn’t my will but my circumstances that shaped them.

Because I had to go to a university that matched my grades. Because the science track was better for employment. A major like electrical, chemical, or mechanical engineering, which had a high rate of entry into large corporations. TOEIC, TOEFL, just like everyone else.

Living by just going with the flow, I ended up at this age.

There was no special me in that. No, there couldn't be.

Because the inexplicable ability I had shouldn't seem special to others.

But now, something has changed. At least one thing has been granted, hasn’t it?

This trivial uniqueness—being able to brew coffee that non-human beings like.

Right now, I feel like I’ve returned for a moment to my distant childhood. Like this old café, back to the time when I hadn’t forgotten my dreams of becoming someone special like a president or a scientist.

“I guess it’s okay as long as they don’t come too often.”

The problem was, it only took two days for me to regret saying that out loud.

“Sniff, sniff…”

What was that sound?

In the dead of dawn, I definitely heard someone crying.

Damn, I let my guard down. This time, it seemed like something really troublesome had come as a guest.

Just in case, I grabbed the self-defense baseball bat I had prepared and slowly went down to the first floor.

“Waaah!”

As I turned on the light, the sobbing, sensing my presence, became clearer and louder.

Something small clung to the window.

That something banged on the window with its front paws and cried sorrowfully.

“Waaah! Ever since I drank that, I can’t sleep! I haven’t slept in two days! I’m going to die at this rate! Waaah!”

“Ah.”