Daddy is too Strong-Chapter 167

After cleaning the bathroom, Yong-Yong dashed into the living room and went straight to Yoon-Hee, who was folding laundry. He held a small notebook labeled “Good Dragon Notebook” in his mouth. Each time Yong-Yong did something good, he earned a “Great Job!” stamp in the notebook. Collecting ten stamps meant receiving a thousand won in allowance.

Finally, the tenth stamp was added.

Smiling warmly, Yoon-Hee fetched a thousand won from her wallet. “Good job! Here’s your allowance.”

Yong-Yong smiled brightly as he accepted the money and carefully tucked it into his wallet. Thanks to his diligent saving of his allowance, Yong-Yong had accumulated a grand total of eight thousand won.

There was only one reason he had been saving up so eagerly in recent days. Yong-Yong wagged his tail while looking at a flyer for a chicken restaurant. It had been left on the front gate a few days ago, advertising a special promotion for their grand opening: all menu items for just ten thousand won.

“Hehe.” Chuckling to himself, Yong-Yong scanned the menu intently. What should he order? The original fried chicken was good, as was the saucy fried chicken. Oh! The charcoal-grilled chicken, a recent addition, also looked delicious. Just thinking about ordering chicken soon had him too excited to sleep.

Do-Jun chuckled softly from the sofa as he watched Yong-Yong agonize over his decision. This dragon’s life seemed to revolve heavily around food.

***

The next day, early in the afternoon, Byeol was wandering around the city by herself. The clear sky and crisp air made it a perfect day for a stroll. About five minutes into her walk, Byeol suddenly stopped in her tracks. What had caught her eye was a pajama set displayed in the window of a clothing store: a pure white rabbit pajama set made of soft cotton. The hood was adorned with perky, long bunny ears.

“W-wow... I can’t believe it...”

Byeol pressed her face against the glass wall of the shop, taking a closer look at the rabbit pajamas. For about three minutes, she examined the pajamas from every angle. Then, rummaging through her pockets, she pulled out her bear coin purse and walked into the shop, greeted by the jingle of a bell.

“Welcome—oh?” The store owner, fiddling with his smartphone, noticed the unusually small customer.

He stood up and glanced around, expecting to see an accompanying adult. However, no matter how hard he looked, there was no sign of a guardian.

“Sweetie, are you here by yourself?” he asked Byeol.

This little girl, who wasn’t even a meter tall, had light brown wavy hair cascading down to her waist. However, the most striking feature was her face—unbearably cute, like a character straight out of a fairy tale.

“Yes. Yong-Yong is sleeping at home today,” she said.

Byeol toddled over to the rabbit pajamas and stared at the sheet of paper attached to them, reading the text.

“Customer Appreciation Day. 50% Off During Event!

“20,000 won → 10,000 won”

Seeing the sale, Byeol’s face lit up with joy, only to have her excitement crushed by the staggering price of ten thousand won. She dropped her coin purse with a soft clatter, the sound of coins jingling echoing from inside.

Byeol picked it up again, unzipped it, and checked her money. Her entire savings amounted to eighteen hundred won: two five-hundred-won coins and eight one-hundred-won coins. She counted on her fingers, calculating how many more five-hundred-won coins she would need. Upon realizing she needed twenty of them to afford the pajamas, her shoulders slumped in disappointment.

“Aha, you want that rabbit pajama set, don’t you?” the owner asked.

“Yes... But I don’t have enough money. It’s too expensive.”

For a child, ten thousand won was indeed a fortune.

The owner crouched down to meet Byeol’s eye level and said kindly, “Why don’t you ask your dad to buy it for you? I’m sure he’d be happy to.”

Byeol shook her head vigorously. In her mind, ten thousand won was an astronomical sum. Spending that much all at once would surely bankrupt Do-Jun. To Byeol, bankruptcy meant becoming homeless—losing their home, not being able to eat properly, and possibly freezing to death on the streets.

“Mistah, is this pajama set popular?”

Byeol looked at the store owner nervously, biting her lip. She worried that someone else might snatch it up before she could save enough money. Scratching his head, the owner confirmed it was indeed a popular set. Children’s pajamas always sold well.

“Weally? Will it be sold before I can save enough?”

Her desperate expression made the owner’s heart ache. He wanted to just give her the pajamas for free, but that wasn’t feasible. Instead, he made her a promise.

“Alright, I’ll put this pajama set on hold until you’ve saved up enough money.”

“Weally? Then I will save up and come back, so don’t sell it!”

Byeol smiled radiantly with joy.

***

“Finally!” Yong-Yong exclaimed.

He had saved up a whopping eleven thousand won. Looking proudly at the bills in his wallet, he decided it had been too long since he had gone to the neighborhood store with Byeol.

“Byeol, let’s go to the store!”

At the mention of the supermarket, Byeol smiled and grabbed her wallet. “Yes! Store!”

But the next moment, she gasped, and her expression became serious as she placed the wallet back in her drawer and firmly shut it.

“No! If I go, it’s over!”

Byeol knew herself well. If she went to the store, she would definitely lose control and end up spending money on snacks. That would mean she could never afford the rabbit pajamas.

***

The next morning, Byeol woke up much earlier than usual at 9 AM.

Normally, even after waking up, she would laze in bed for another ten minutes or so before getting up. However, today, she immediately tossed off the blanket, rushed to the front door, put on her shoes, and headed into town.

***

Her destination was none other than the clothing store she had visited the previous day. She pressed herself against the glass wall and scanned the shop’s interior. Seeing that the rabbit pajamas were still there, she smiled brightly.

“It’s still here!”

***

Yong-Yong spread the flyer from the chicken restaurant on the living room floor and asked, “Which chicken do you guys want to eat?”

There were many options to choose from, including fried, sweet and spicy sauce, soy sauce, charcoal-grilled, and more.

After some deliberation, Karsiel pointed to the saucy chicken and said, “I’d like this one, please.”

“Ooh, good choice. Byeol, what about you?” Yong-Yong asked eagerly.

For some reason, Byeol seemed unusually unenthusiastic. Normally, at the mention of chicken, she’d exclaim, “I love chicken!” and jump around excitedly. However, today, she seemed lost in thought, staring blankly into space.

“I’ll be back!” With that, she hurried out the front door.

Yong-Yong and Karsiel exchanged glances.

“I’ll follow her and see what’s up,” Yong-Yong said, getting up.

***

Byeol stood in front of the shop’s glass wall, staring intently at the rabbit pajamas.

“Still there.” She sighed in relief.

“What’s still there?” Yong-Yong asked her. He had followed her to the shop.

Byeol pointed at the pajamas. “That.”

“Pajamas?”

“Yeah.”

Yong-Yong noticed her earnest expression and understood that this was why Byeol had declined to go to the store the previous day. She really wanted those pajamas dearly.

“Ten thousand, huh?” Yong-Yong commented.

“Yeah. I’m gonna save up and buy them!”

Looking at Byeol’s allowance, Yong-Yong realized it would take her ages to save up enough for the pajamas.

***

Returning home, Yong-Yong crossed his arms and stared at a ten-thousand-won bill placed neatly next to a chicken restaurant flyer. His stomach growled loudly. He had worked tirelessly all week just to eat chicken. He had run errands and even helped out with household chores.

“Sigh...” He was conflicted.

What should he do about this? He shouldn’t have followed Byeol. The image of her standing in front of the clothing store, looking so earnest, lingered in his mind. After a long moment of hesitation, Yong-Yong made his decision.

“Chicken is temporary. Byeol’s happiness will last much longer.”

***

That afternoon, Byeol went back to the clothing store, but her heart sank when she saw that the rabbit pajamas were no longer on display. She hurried inside and scanned the racks.

“They’re gone. Why? I didn’t get to buy them yet...” she mumbled to herself, confused. “They were right here. I checked before eating lunch.”

Just then, the store owner stepped out. “Back again, sweetie?”

Byeol ran up to the owner and asked, “Where’s the rabbit?!”

“Haha, it’s been sold.”

The owner remembered the little dog that had accompanied Byeol earlier that day. About an hour ago, that same dog had handed over ten thousand won and bought the rabbit pajamas Byeol had been eyeing. The owner had promised not to sell it to anyone else, but made an exception after the dog insisted it was a gift for Byeol.

“Ugh...” Tears welled up in Byeol’s eyes. “Mistah, you’re a bad person.”

“H-huh?”

“You lied. You said you’d sell it to me!”

The owner was flustered. “Wait, no, it’s not like that...”

Then he explained what had happened an hour earlier.

***

“I’m home.” As Do-Jun entered the house, he loosened the suffocating tie around his neck.

Yoon-Hee, who was taking ingredients out of the fridge, came to greet him.

“Welcome back!” she said, taking his briefcase and jacket.

“Thanks.”

“Oh, right. So, today, Byeol...” Yoon-Hee smiled, pointing to the sofa where Byeol was sleeping.

“Hmm?”

Curled up on a pillow, Byeol was sound asleep in a pure white pajama set. The long ears of her hood made her look like a sleeping rabbit.

“That’s really cute,” Do-Jun said with a smile.

“Right?”

“When did you buy that for her?” he asked Yoon-Hee.

“Oh, I didn’t buy it...”

Yoon-Hee gestured toward Yong-Yong, who was snuggled in Byeol’s arms. Fast asleep, Yong-Yong didn’t even realize Do-Jun had come home.

“Looks like Yong-Yong used his allowance to buy it for her,” Yoon-Hee clarified.

Do-Jun chuckled as he remembered Yong-Yong staring intently at the chicken flyer a couple of days ago. Glancing at the dining table, he noticed cabbage, tofu, and eggs laid out—likely for dinner preparations.

“Why don’t we order in tonight?” he said.

“Huh?”

***

Yong-Yong stretched and got up just when Do-Jun emerged from the shower, drying his wet hair with a towel. Yong-Yong ran over, wagging his tail.

“Welcome back, Master!”

“Thanks. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes!”

Yong-Yong’s stomach growled loudly. A glance at the clock on the wall revealed it was past 7 PM. However, something felt amiss.

The kitchen was empty. Startled, Yong-Yong trotted over to the dining table, only to find it spotless.

“No way...”

He dashed to the bedroom, where Yoon-Hee was tidying up the bedding.

“Y-Yoon-Hee! Did you already finish dinner?!”

“Huh?”

“I-I haven’t eaten yet!”

His stomach growled again, as if on cue. His face was a mix of panic and despair. Yoon-Hee giggled at his reaction, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she turned away.

“Maybe?” she replied.

“Hey! I’m being serious!”

“Go ask Father.”

***

Yong-Yong darted to the sofa where Do-Jun was sitting.

“M-Master! Please tell me you didn’t have dinner without me, right? Right?!”

Do-Jun barely suppressed his laughter. Did this little guy genuinely think they’d eaten without him?

Just then, the doorbell rang, and someone called from outside, “Chicken delivery!”

“Huh?” Yong-Yong turned toward the door.

Do-Jun pulled out forty thousand won from his wallet and handed it to Yong-Yong with a smile. “Go pay the deliveryman.”

For a moment, Yong-Yong stood there in a daze. Then his face broke into a huge grin as he bolted to the door.