Chapter Text
"I seriously have no idea what we would do without you, Dong."
Handong shrugs her shoulders with a soft laugh as she hands the brown pelt over to the Selkie on the other side of her desk with a smile. "It's not a problem, really. It's my job to find things."
"Yeah, yeah, I know, but seriously. We'd be so screwed if it wasn't for you." The Selkie clutches her pelt to her chest and heaves a sigh. "I could've been stuck on land forever with no way of ever getting home if you hadn't appeared like a literal angel and offered to help me."
Handong laughs at that and shakes her head. "I think you're misremembering how things went, Yuqi."
Yuqi makes a face. "I don't think that I am. You appeared on the beach like an angel and offered to-"
"You walked into my office, crying your eyes out and begging me for help," Handong cuts in with a laugh.
Yuqi frowns at that and shakes her head. "I think you're the one misremembering, but I really don't think it matters all that much anymore. I got my pelt back, and I can go home, and it's all thanks to you!"
Handong smiles and nods, watching Yuqi hug the pelt tight to her chest. "Well, you're welcome."
"You should come out with me and the girls sometime!" Yuqi beams as she pushes herself up from the chair and swings her pelt over her shoulders. It melds with her skin and disappears, leaving Yuqi looking as though she's surrounded by a faint glowing light. The light lingers for a few seconds before fading away as Yuqi sighs and rolls her shoulders back, getting used to the feeling of her pelt again.
Handong tries to keep her expression neutral, but she feels her nose scrunch up slightly.
Yuqi notices it right away and pouts, moving around to lean against the back of the chair she'd just occupied. "You know, vacation is a thing you can take."
Handong laughs at that and shakes her head. "Not in my line of work, it isn't. There are not that many finders these days, and we're scattered all over. I cover this whole entire city by myself, plus the surrounding woods and plains."
Yuqi frowns. "That's a lot of area for just you," She points out.
Handong nods, shifting in her chair to sit up straight. "Yep, and I've got requests piling up, so I can't exactly just drop them and take a vacation. So, as much as I would like to enjoy a night out with you and the others, I'm going to have to rain check."
Yuqi heaves a sigh and pushes herself away from the chair. "As usual," She says, but her tone holds no annoyance. Just defeat and resignation.
Handong hums, feeling a bit bad that she's had to say no once again to the invitation. She sighs and reaches up to run a hand over her hair. "I'll try and maybe see about hiring some help," She offers, looking up to see Yuqi's face break into a wide smile.
"Perfect!" The Selkie exclaims. She moves closer to the desk and offers her hand to Handong.
Handong stands and grasps Yuqi's hand in her own, squeezing tightly.
"Swear?" Yuqi asks, her eyes searching Handong's face.
"Swear," Handong agrees, squeezing the Selkie's hand again.
"Great! You better get on that soon, then, Dongie."
Handong chuckles and nods, taking her hand back. "I will," She says, watching Yuqi retreat across the room toward the door. "Say hi to Jihyo for me if you see her."
"I will, but you should really just come visit and say hi to her yourself," Yuqi replies, pulling open the office door.
"I know. I'll try."
"Good," Yuqi says, exiting the office. She looks back at Handong with a smile. "Thanks again, Dongie! You're the best!"
The door clicks shut behind the Selkie, and Handong sits down heavily in her chair, resting her elbows on her desk as she drags her hands down over her face with a groan.
She has nothing against Selkies, really. In fact, she prefers them over any other creature, but gods, do they talk a lot. Yuqi is one of the better ones, knowing when a moment requires silence or just knowing when she's talking a bit too much. But most Selkies don't have that kind of self-restraint or filter and just yammer on and on and on about anything and everything under the sun.
Handong sits back in her chair and shuts her eyes with a soft sigh. The day is almost over. She's almost able to pack up and head home. She wonders what she should have for dinner. Maybe she'll make some stew. Some stew and freshly baked bread, with a nice pot of tea to wash it all down.
Her stomach rumbles in response to her thoughts. She'll have to stop by the market on her way home, then. Handong opens her eyes and sits up, setting about tidying up her desk and the rest of the office as the clock ticks closer and closer to five in the evening.
She's flipping through a folder containing a request to find a missing pot of gold when the door slams open, and heavy footsteps stomp into the room. She goes still, hearing heavy puffs of breath and feeling the room heat up a few degrees in response.
Tucking the folder back into place in the filing cabinet drawer, Handong pushes it shut before slowly turning around, finding a rather small dragon staring her down. She swallows. This wouldn't be the first time she's helped a dragon with something, but it would be the first time a dragon has ever appeared in their dragon form in her office.
"Hello there," Handong says with a nervous laugh.
The dragon releases a rumble from deep in its chest, opening its mouth and hissing out a few words.
Handong clears her throat gently. "Okay, I have no idea what you just said. I don't understand dragon tongue, so I apologize, but I'm going to have to ask you to shift."
The dragon growls at that and snaps its mouth shut tightly, white smoke curling up from its nostrils. It takes a few steps back, its tail whipping from side to side before the dragon begins to shift.
Handong averts her eyes to give the creature some semblance of privacy and moves to her desk, turning the chair away from it and taking a seat while she waits. She's only ever dealt with a handful of dragons, and usually, they're very polite and straightforward, but something tells her this one is going to be a bit different.
"You find things, right?"
Handong chuckles at that and turns her chair back toward the desk.
On the other side of the desk stands a woman with long, dirty blonde hair and sharp brown eyes. She wears a thin tee shirt and cut-off shorts, which would be strange for any other creature, given the snow outside. But the woman is a dragon, so it makes sense that she would dress in such a way.
"Yes," Handong says, gesturing to one of the chairs in front of the desk. "I find things. How can I-"
"I need you to find my hoard," The woman interrupts as she sits down. She sets her hands on the armrests of the chair and taps her nails against the lacquered wood, one of her knees beginning to bounce.
Handong blinks. "You lost your hoard?" She quickly shakes her head, clearing her throat. "Hang on." She reaches for a pad of paper and pulls it closer, grabbing a pen from a small cup on the desk. "Okay, first things first. What's your name?"
The woman pulls in a breath, biting her lip as she looks to the side.
Handong doesn't push, knowing that dragons are extremely private creatures. She's helped a few of them, but those have been few and far between. She gives the woman a smile to try and ease the tension.
The woman huffs out a breath. "Myoui Mina," She answers quietly.
Handong nods and scribbles down the dragon's name at the top of the paper. Underneath it, she writes "lost hoard??" and underlines it. She looks up at Mina, who's looking off to the side again and tapping her nails against the armrests of the chair.
"Nice to meet you, Mina. My name is Han Dong," She says, offering her hand over the desk. She watches Mina's eyes flick over to her hand before the woman looks at her blankly. Handong chuckles and drops her hand to the desk. "Alright, so what's this about your hoard? It's missing?"
Mina doesn't answer, turning her head to look around the room in silence.
Again, Handong doesn't push. She sits back in her chair and waits.
"It's embarrassing," Mina murmurs, lifting one hand to pinch the bridge of her nose. She sighs heavily, moving to rest her hand against her forehead as her gaze drops into her lap.
"This is a-"
"What kind of dragon would let their hoard get stolen?" Mina interrupts with a scoff. She shakes her head with a soft groan, sliding her hand over her eyes.
Handong sits in silence for a few seconds before gently clearing her throat to get the woman's attention. "Walk me through what happened."
Mina sighs and adjusts herself in the seat, sitting up a bit straighter. "I left my nest for a few days so I could go and get food from…" She trails off, eyeing Handong with sharp eyes. "To get food from the village near my mountain."
Handong nods, writing down the information. It will most likely take some time and maybe a little bit of pressure to get the dragon to reveal the exact location of her nest, but that'll be for a later time.
"When I returned, I noticed that-" Mina stops, pulling in a shuddering breath. She drops her hand from her eyes and grabs the armrests, digging her nails into the wood. She lets out a slow breath.
Handong blinks, seeing the smoke curling out from the woman's mouth. She doesn't want to make the dragon more upset by telling her how to breathe or anything, but she worries a bit about her chair and the armrests.
"It was still there; it was fine," Mina says.
Handong quirks an eyebrow at that, glancing down at her pad of paper. She crosses out, "Lost hoard??" and looks back up at Mina, waiting for the woman to continue.
"Except it wasn't because my-" Mina stops again to pull in a breath, shutting her eyes tightly as her nails dig harshly into the armrests of the chair. Smoke curls from her lips and the temperature in the room increases by a few degrees.
Handong clenches her jaw, trying to figure out how to approach this. Clearly, the dragon is distraught and very upset about whatever was taken, if anything was taken. She's not sure if she should say anything or suggest that the dragon try to relax.
"My stone is missing," Mina eventually says, her voice a choked whisper. She sniffles, scrunching her nose as she lifts one hand to rub at her eyes.
Handong clears her throat gently, shifting in her chair. "Your stone?" She watches Mina's jaw tighten, and she goes still, worried that she'd crossed a line by speaking.
"It… It's going to sound stupid to you," Mina grumbles softly. "You're not a dragon, you wouldn't understand."
"Try me," Handong prompts gently, giving Mina a smile to hopefully ease the dragon's nerves.
Mina huffs a breath, smoke curling up from her mouth. "It's a stone," She mutters, looking to the side as her cheeks start to fill with red. Her jaw tightens again, and she blows out a puff of smoke. "It'smy stone."
Handong hums softly, pursing her lips slightly as she writes down "missing stone" on her pad of paper. She doesn't understand why the dragon is so worked up over a rock, but she isn't a dragon.
"I know you think it's stupid," Mina grumbles.
"No, I just…" Handong trails off, tapping her pen against the paper. "Something precious of yours is missing, that's… That's not stupid."
Mina turns her head slightly to look at Handong with slightly narrowed eyes. "My precious something is a rock. You don't think that's stupid?"
Handong shakes her head. "Of course not!" She exclaims, holding up her hands in a placating gesture. "I mean, personally, I don't get it, but it's precious to you, and that I can understand. Losing something precious can be tough, especially if that something is stolen."
Mina hums, her jaw relaxing and her eyes softening. "I found it when I was a child," She says softly.
"If you don't mind me asking, how-"
"Ancient," Mina replies curtly.
Handong nods and makes a mental note not to ask dragons how old they are. She looks down at her notes for a few seconds before lifting her head. "Do you have any idea who might've taken your stone?"
Mina's face scrunches up. Her nostrils flare, and smoke pours out of her mouth. "That imp," She hisses, her eyes narrowing.
Handong swallows and tugs at the collar of her shirt as the room temperature increases. She scribbles down "imp" on her pad of paper. "W-what imp?"
Mina grits her teeth. "Son Chaeyoung," She growls, the sound rumbling out of her.
Handong scribbles the name down and pauses, glancing up at the dragon, who's glaring at the wall, smoke curling out from the corners of her lips. "If you already know who stole your stone, why did you come to me?"
Mina blinks and settles back in her seat, the smoke dissipating as her expression softens. "I need to get back to my nest. What if someone else comes along and tries to steal from me? That and I have no idea where she could be."
Handong hums softly, looking down at her notes. She sighs softly. "Well, in order for me to help you, I'm going to need to know the mountain."
Mina stiffens.
"I won't write it down, okay?" Handong asks, putting her pen down and pushing herself slightly away from the desk, just out of reach of her pad of paper. She lifts up her hands to show that they're empty. "I just need to know the location so I can start looking around for clues to where the imp might be."
Mina clenches her jaw.
"And a description of the imp wouldn't hurt, either, if you know what she looks like," Handong adds gently with a smile.