The Dokkaebi Waiting for the Moon

Chapter 26

Yeo Moon-beom sat down beside Eun-hwi, enveloping the hand holding the gonggi stones. The scent of salty sea breeze mixed with peppermint tickled Eun-hwi’s nose. It seemed Yeo Moon-beom had safely escorted Dr. Hong back to the village.

Eun-hwi put the gonggi stones down on the floor and turned to the side, saying:

“I waited so we could eat together. It’s boring to eat alone.”

“While playing gonggi?”

“Yes! I did fifteen rounds and succeeded in all fifteen. Impressive, right?”

“That’s amazing. You could enter a gonggi competition.”

“A gonggi competition? Is there such a thing?”

The half-dokkaebi’s eyes suddenly widened. Even if he couldn’t achieve top honors in the civil service examination like Gabi did in the past, he felt he could win first place in a gonggi competition.

He found another thing he wanted to do if he became human.

“There probably is. I’m not sure if it’s an official competition, but… If there isn’t one, we could create one. It’s not hard to establish an association.”

Yeo Moon-beom replied nonchalantly as he adjusted his posture to sit more comfortably. It seemed he was ready to start eating the susu-patteok in earnest.

“I’ll go wash my hands. They’ve gotten sticky from sweat.”

“No need, give me your hands.”

“Huh?”

Inside the box was a thin envelope with jagged edges like a saw. Yeo Moon-beom tore it open and took out a white cloth, then meticulously wiped Eun-hwi’s palms, fingers, and the backs of his hands in turn.

As if to say there was no need to go to the well and draw heavy water to wash.

“There. Clean now, right?”

“Wow. It really is!”

It was amazing that the cloth could clean hands without being wet with water.

As Eun-hwi exclaimed in admiration while examining his now soft hands front and back, Yeo Moon-beom wiped his own hands and then intertwined his fingers with Eun-hwi’s. Feeling the tight grip that left him unable to move, Eun-hwi asked while leaving his right hand in Yeo Moon-beom’s:

“Why are you suddenly holding hands?”

“I want to hold onto our Eun-hwi so you can’t go anywhere.”

“I’m not going anywhere. I’ve already washed my hands.”

Despite this clear answer, Yeo Moon-beom didn’t let go of Eun-hwi’s hand. Instead, he used his other hand to pull Eun-hwi closer by the waist, narrowing the distance between them.

Eun-hwi’s vision was filled with Yeo Moon-beom’s deep-set eyes, densely packed eyelashes, and dark eyes tinged with blue-gray. Somehow, it felt like facing a dokkaebi fire glowing in the darkness, and Eun-hwi felt a bit strange. The inside of his rapidly beating heart felt inexplicably ticklish.

“From now on, get my permission before going anywhere. Don’t go out alone and get caught by other humans like today. Didn’t Kim Gabi tell you to stay away from humans? Friends can ask this much of each other, right?”

We’re not friends yet…

Eun-hwi, still unable to shake off his hesitation, looked into Yeo Moon-beom’s unwavering eyes and said:

“Hey, Yeo Moon-beom.”

“Yeah?”

“Why do you want to be friends with me? I’m not human, just a half-dokkaebi. Everyone hates me. They say I’m impure. That I’m so ominous they wish I’d just die.”

These were words that had always been stuck in his chest like thorns, hurting him. He tried to speak casually, but his voice trembled at the end.

Eun-hwi clenched his molars, trying hard not to cry as he looked at Yeo Moon-beom. After meeting his gaze for a moment, Yeo Moon-beom spoke in a gentle but firm tone:

“If there’s someone who deserves to die because they’re unnecessary, it’s not you, Eun-hwi, but those bastards who curse others.”

“…”

“If anyone says such nonsense again, tell them clearly: ‘I don’t need a bastard like you either, so why don’t you die?'”

I don’t need you either.

Eun-hwi was shocked that he had never thought of it that way before.

He had always believed that the other party held the initiative in all relationships, and that it was only natural for his existence to be denied because he belonged neither to humans nor spirits.

To think that he too had the right to deny someone. It was truly surprising.

But if he did that, he’d really become a loner…

Hatred was just another expression of interest. Always having been alone, the half-dokkaebi who desperately craved even that interest couldn’t bring himself to agree.

As Eun-hwi bit his lower lip hard and dropped his head weakly, Yeo Moon-beom squeezed his hand again and whispered:

“Eun-hwi.”

“…Yeah.”

“You’re not a half-dokkaebi who should die because you’re unnecessary. You’re a dokkaebi who deserves respect because you are needed.”

It was the first time someone other than Gabi had told him he was needed. Eun-hwi asked in a low voice, as if he couldn’t believe what he had heard:

“…You need me?”

“I need you. Really.”

“…Why?”

“Because you have something special that I don’t have.”

“Something you don’t have?”

Two small horns, pointed ears, yellow eyes.

Things that Yeo Moon-beom didn’t have but Eun-hwi did, yet they seemed trivial rather than special. They were things he had always wished would disappear, as they were constant targets of ridicule.

No matter how much he thought about it, Eun-hwi couldn’t think of anything special, so he lowered his gaze with a gloomy expression. Then, as if telling him not to lower his head and to look at him, Yeo Moon-beom pinched one of Eun-hwi’s cheeks hard.

“Ow. That hurts.”

Eun-hwi involuntarily frowned slightly at the spreading pain. Chuckling lightly, Yeo Moon-beom released the stretched cheek and answered in a more serious, low voice:

“You don’t know how to lie, you know how to repay kindness, you know a lot about mushrooms, you’re good at gonggi, you have sharp ears, a good sense of smell. And most importantly…”

Pausing briefly to catch his breath, Yeo Moon-beom slowly moved his lips. A gentle voice tinged with a faint smile flowed through the gap:

“You have a heart that’s willing to cry for others. That’s Eun-hwi.”

Is that special?

He had only thought he was a crybaby with lots of tears. After all, Dr. Hong-salgwi’s story was so sad he couldn’t help but cry.

As Eun-hwi blinked and looked up at this unexpected statement, Yeo Moon-beom added an explanation:

“People who genuinely care for someone they barely know are surprisingly rare. Unless it’s just putting on a superficial act of kindness. Usually, people are interested in others’ misfortunes to confirm that their own situation is better. Not because they genuinely feel sorry for that person.”

It seemed like a rather cold-hearted statement. But because Eun-hwi had only observed from afar and never lived among humans, he found it difficult to argue that it wasn’t entirely true.

Still…

“But you care about me.”

Although there were times when Eun-hwi found Yeo Moon-beom’s intentions hard to read, he never thought it was fake.

When Yeo Moon-beom cooked delicious food for him or applied ointment to his wounds, when he praised him for trivial things or comforted him like now, Eun-hwi felt his sincerity.

“That’s because I wanted to be friends with Eun-hwi from the start.”

“…”

“Are you disappointed? That I’ve been nice to you with impure intentions?”

Yeo Moon-beom asked in a playful tone.

“…No.”

Long ago, when he lived on Baekdu Mountain, Eun-hwi had tried his best to befriend Sinrok, a deer with golden shining wings. Despite its gentle appearance, it had quite an aggressive personality, and Eun-hwi ended up being hated and kicked by its hind legs.

He couldn’t express how envious he had been seeing even the ferocious Baekdu spirits not daring to act recklessly in front of Sinrok. He felt that if he could be by its side, he could become such a being too.

Because he had a similar experience, Eun-hwi could understand Yeo Moon-beom’s desire to be friends from the start.

Whether it was due to the lingering pain in his cheek or the kindness that soothed the sorrow buried deep in his heart, Eun-hwi suddenly felt a sting in the bridge of his nose. With teary eyes, he looked up at Yeo Moon-beom and pulled their joined hands to his chest.

“Then will you stay here from now on and not go anywhere?”

The real reason he had waited for Yeo Moon-beom, even refusing his favorite susu-patteok.

He wanted to confirm whether Yeo Moon-beom still had thoughts of leaving, even if he became a boarder living in the same house.

“Of course. We agreed to be friends, so where would I go? I have nowhere else to go but here. To be honest, I was secretly worried about where I’d sleep after boasting that I’d leave on my own.”

Yeo Moon-beom continued with an uncharacteristically excited face, as if he was so happy to have become a boarder:

“I have a good idea.”

“What idea?”

“To celebrate becoming friends, shall we sleep together? Just the two of us, cozily holding hands.”

“…Sleep together?”

“There’s no easier way to get to know each other than living in close quarters in the same room. It’s the method humans use to build friendship the fastest.”

Despite the house being large with nine rooms, Eun-hwi had always lived in the main room with Gabi. If they had used separate rooms, they might not have developed such a close father-son relationship as they had now.

Finding the suggestion quite reasonable, Eun-hwi readily agreed, saying “Okay.” Finally releasing Eun-hwi’s hand, Yeo Moon-beom picked up a susu-patteok and personally fed it to him.

“Try it. I didn’t make it, but that Dr. Hong-salgwi has surprisingly refined taste, so he probably bought it with care.”