The Dokkaebi Waiting for the Moon

Chapter 30

“Why are you taking the dokkaebi hat?”

“In case ghosts appear.”

“They won’t come out during the day. They’re all sleeping.”

“Still, I’ll bring it just in case.”

Although it didn’t seem necessary, Eun-hwi said to do as he pleased. He felt guilty for wearing the bamboo hat alone to prevent the misfortune of becoming blind like before.

“Shall we depart then?”

Yeo Moon-beom secured the box to the A-frame carrier he had prepared and slung the straps over his shoulders.

Even though Eun-hwi tried to dissuade him, saying it wasn’t necessary, Yeo Moon-beom just laughed lightly, mentioning that during his training days in the country, he used to walk around carrying even heavier loads.

Indeed, it was fitting behavior for a former constable.

“Eun-hwi.”

“Yes?”

“I’m bored. Shall we play a word chain game? The loser has to grant the winner’s wish.”

As they were climbing the mountain for a while in search of dead trees suitable for firewood, Yeo Moon-beom suggested a bet. Yesterday too, despite looking like someone who would dislike games or pranks, he seemed to enjoy them as much as a dokkaebi.

“What if… just what if… it’s a difficult wish to grant?”

Like wishing to become human.

Yeo Moon-beom stared at Eun-hwi’s timid face for a moment before answering in his most serious voice yet:

“Even if I have to search the entire world, I’ll definitely find a way and grant it.”

It was a wish that even the divine power of the jangseung dokkaebi, who had lived for 1,500 years, couldn’t fulfill. Although the possibility seemed very slim, Eun-hwi wanted to place his hope in Yeo Moon-beom’s determination.

“Promise?”

“If I win, you have to grant my wish too, Eun-hwi. Understood?”

“Of course. Dokkaebi keep their promises.”

As Eun-hwi answered proudly with his chest slightly puffed out, Yeo Moon-beom opened his mouth as if to say, “Let’s give it a try.”

“I’ll start. Dokkaebi bat.”

“Tooth.”

“Red.”

“Color… quality?”

“Funnel.”

“Energy!”

“Exercise.”

“Animal!”

“Object.”

Object? What word starts with ‘object’?

Suddenly, Eun-hwi felt like there was a name of a disease that meant the inability to remember something, and it definitely started with ‘object’, but true to the word’s meaning, he couldn’t recall it at all.

Frustrated, Eun-hwi wracked his brain and suddenly shouted a related word he thought of:

“…Health!”

“Strong person.”

“Nature!”

“Light green.”

“Another color? Hmm… bride.”

Just as Eun-hwi was relieved to have passed this round, Yeo Moon-beom said a word he had never heard before.

“Seesaw.”

“Seesaw? What’s that?”

“It’s a play equipment where two people sit on each end and go up and down.”

“Like a jumping board?”

“Similar.”

“Wow, that sounds fun! I want to sit on a seesaw too.”

He used to jump on a board with Gabi during New Year’s and Chuseok. It was an enjoyable game that made him feel like he was flying into the sky, but he couldn’t do it alone and hadn’t jumped for ten years.

“I’ll definitely let you ride one later.”

“Really?”

“I’ll let you ride even if it’s not your wish, so now say a word that starts with ‘saw’.”

Yeo Moon-beom reminded him of the last syllable he had forgotten, as if to say they could do such things later anytime, and to focus on the word chain game now.

“Umm… sound?”

At Eun-hwi’s answer, Yeo Moon-beom pulled at the corners of his lips as if he had been waiting for this.

“Livermorium.”

“Liver… mo?”

Faced with an unfamiliar word that was even difficult to repeat, the half-dokkaebi stared blankly at Yeo Moon-beom with his mouth round open.

“Livermorium, artificial element number 116. It’s the name of an element in period 7, group 16 of the periodic table.”

Periodic… what?

His additional explanation, which was hard to understand, reminded Eun-hwi of Dr. Hong-salgwi. But fearing that saying so might make Yeo Moon-beom angry like yesterday, Eun-hwi kept his mouth shut and tried hard to think of a word starting with ‘rium’.

“Rium… rium…”

But no matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn’t think of a word to continue the game. Eun-hwi’s ambitious plan to win the bet and get both the chance to fulfill his wish and ride a seesaw seemed about to be shattered.

I want to win.

I want to win and become human.

Eun-hwi glanced sideways at Yeo Moon-beom, who was waiting for him to declare surrender with a triumphant smile. This was the only way to beat an opponent he couldn’t possibly defeat.

“Riumrium.”

“Riumrium? What’s that?”

“It’s, it’s a made-up word used when excited. Riumrium.”

Yeo Moon-beom loosely twisted up the corners of his mouth and spoke as if reciting:

“A made-up word even I don’t know… I’ll have to ask Siri if it’s a real word.”

Gasp.

Seeing Yeo Moon-beom tucking the stick he was holding under his arm and about to search his pants pocket, Eun-hwi swallowed hard with a visibly agitated expression.

If it was Siri, even if it didn’t know where his father was now, it would probably know that ‘riumrium’ was a word he had just made up.

If the lie was exposed, the grim reaper would come to take him away.

His heart sank.

A very long time ago, he had disobeyed Gabi’s words to never, ever encounter a grim reaper and went to peek at Mr. Kim’s funeral in the village, resulting in a beating with a switch.

Even though he hadn’t gone down to the village after the first rooster crowed and had no chance of meeting a grim reaper, Gabi had been unusually fierce in his anger. Although he was usually a kind father who couldn’t bear to see even a small tear, that day he continued to beat Eun-hwi no matter how much he cried.

“Ugh…”

He recalled the sting of the switch on his calves.

Eun-hwi looked at Yeo Moon-beom with a pale face drained of blood. Just as he was about to honestly admit his mistake, unable to deceive him any longer,

“I lost, Eun-hwi.”

Yeo Moon-beom admitted defeat first.

“…Huh?”

“No matter how much I think, I can’t come up with a word starting with ‘rium’. And I can’t use ‘riumrium’ since you said it first, right?”

“R-really?”

“I remember now. Riumrium. It’s slang Hogwarts students use when they’re excited.”

It seems the random word he had thrown out actually existed in the world.

Although he didn’t know which country Hogwarts was in that used such made-up words, Eun-hwi silently thanked this very helpful country. He was extremely relieved not to be taken away by the grim reaper.

“Our Eun-hwi is smarter than he looks. Knows many words. Even knows made-up words. With a little more teaching, you’ll grow unrecognizably.”

Making a light deflating sound, Yeo Moon-beom smiled lightly and instead of taking out Siri from his pocket, he gently pinched Eun-hwi’s cheek.

“Now, tell me. Your wish.”

“Can I really say it?”

“You can. You won the bet.”

“…”

“Is it an embarrassing wish?”

As if asking Eun-hwi to whisper it only to him, Yeo Moon-beom bent down with his hand to his ear.

“…”

Since he had never told anyone except Gabi, the words circled only on the tip of his tongue, not coming out of his mouth.

After hesitating and just moving his lips, the half-dokkaebi swallowed dryly and then whispered:

“My wish is… to become human.”

Yeo Moon-beom stared at Eun-hwi with an unexpected expression.

“It’s not a wish to bring your father back?”

“Father will come back if I wait.”

He hadn’t considered that as an option from the beginning.

Aren’t wishes supposed to be things you desperately want but rarely come true, making you anxious?

As long as the world doesn’t end, Gabi will definitely come home and end the hide-and-seek game. Eun-hwi believed in Gabi.

“Hmm… I see.”

Observing the half-dokkaebi’s confident expression, Yeo Moon-beom asked in a more serious tone:

“Eun-hwi, do you want to become human?”

“Yes.”

“Why do you want to become human? I’d rather become a dokkaebi.”

“That’s…”

After a moment of hesitant silence, Eun-hwi opened his mouth again.

“I want to be ordinary.”

When they left Baekdu Mountain and moved to Wolhwa Island, Eun-hwi and Gabi wandered the Korean peninsula like nomads. At that time, Eun-hwi couldn’t transform into a dokkaebi fire and could only move on two legs, so it became a journey combined with migration.

They wandered as they pleased, wherever their feet took them, observing the human world on their way to their destination, Wolhwa Island. Although they weren’t allowed to mingle due to the risk of their identity being revealed and could only watch from afar, Eun-hwi was content with just that.

Humans.

Small but great beings who do their best to shine in their short lives.

Their vibrant lives provided a fresh shock to Eun-hwi, who had lived his entire life surrounded by plants, animals, and spirits, and even evoked admiration and awe.

For the first time, Eun-hwi began to contemplate his identity and dreamed of living as a human, not a dokkaebi, belonging to a group.

If only that could happen, he thought he might become less inferior, less abnormal, less detestable, and be able to live in harmony with everyone. He hoped it might uproot the source of loneliness he had to carry for life.

He worried that Yeo Moon-beom might laugh at him because it wasn’t for grand reasons like ruling over all people or living a life contributing to the peace and development of the human world.

As he waited for a reaction, unnecessarily tense, Yeo Moon-beom, who had been staring intently at his face, spoke in a calm tone:

“Even if you become human, you won’t be ordinary, Eun-hwi.”