The Dokkaebi Waiting for the Moon

Chapter 33

“Moon-beom!”

“Sorry I’m late. Are you okay?”

Since Moon-beom was wearing the dokkaebi hat, Eun-hwi couldn’t immediately see his condition.

The half-dokkaebi, his eyes blurry with tears of relief and worry, carefully touched Moon-beom’s back where the human-faced bird had clawed him. A hot, sticky liquid seeped through the long tear in the fabric.

Even without checking, he could tell by the feeling that it was blood. Eun-hwi burst into tears.

“Wh-what should we do, Moon-beom? Because of me, you’re like this… *sob*”

I should have gathered firewood earlier. I shouldn’t have brought Moon-beom to the mountain. We shouldn’t have come up near the mountain god’s domain.

All sorts of regrets swirled in his chest. Eun-hwi, crying as if he might stop breathing, created a wall of dokkaebi fire to try to protect Moon-beom from the human-faced bird.

However, having never used his dokkaebi abilities like this before, he couldn’t gauge when the wall might disappear. As Eun-hwi trembled anxiously and whimpered, Moon-beom cupped his wet cheeks and spoke in the gentlest tone:

“Let’s kiss, Eun-hwi.”

“…K-kiss?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”

As soon as he finished speaking, something soft and supple touched Eun-hwi’s lips. The half-dokkaebi’s eyes widened in confusion at the unfamiliar sensation of warm flesh.

And the moment he realized it was Moon-beom’s lips, a hot tongue pushed into his slightly parted mouth.

“…Huh!”

He let out a moan while flailing his arms in surprise, but the sound was swallowed into his throat due to the invading tongue. The hand caressing his cheek tightened its grip.

Eun-hwi, his body firmly held by the man whose form he couldn’t even see due to the dokkaebi hat, obediently offered his tongue.

The tongue that had gently touched his tongue tip soon wrapped around it entirely and sucked deeply. It was a completely different act from when Gabi used to lightly kiss his cheeks and lips.

Every time the saliva-moistened flesh rubbed against the inside of his mouth, it felt as if sparks were flying where they touched.

Although the dokkaebi hat should have erased all traces, for a moment a strong mint scent wafted, and there was a strange feeling as if their souls were connecting.

The sound of his rapidly beating heart, his heightened and boiling emotions, and the tingling sensation accompanied by heat spread throughout Eun-hwi’s body along his spine.

“…Mm.”

For a moment, his mind went blank from the unfamiliar stimulation he had never experienced before. The fine eyelashes under his lowered eyelids trembled slightly like butterfly wings.

The half-dokkaebi gripped Moon-beom’s clothes tightly and endured the tongue that was vigorously exploring inside his mouth. If the hat behind his head hadn’t supported his repeatedly tilting head, his neck would have snapped long ago.

“Ha…”

Moon-beom finally separated their lips and exhaled a long breath he had been holding. When the thin silver thread that had formed between their lips broke like it was cut by scissors along with his exhaled breath, the sensory connection between them also severed.

Kissing is really amazing…

The anxiety that had been lurking deep in his heart disappeared. Like breath that could heal wounds with a “ho,” it seemed that kissing also had some mysterious power.

With his face flushed bright red, Eun-hwi stared blankly into space. Moon-beom’s large hand rested on top of his head.

For some reason, a strong dokkaebi energy emanated from his father’s ring that he always wore on his hand.

“Thank you, Eun-hwi. This should be enough.”

“…Enough for what?”

“For my long-awaited revenge.”

“Revenge…?”

With a low chuckle, the hand stroking his head withdrew. Eun-hwi tilted his head in confusion and followed Moon-beom’s disappearing figure through the dokkaebi fire that was noticeably weakening, about to go out.

“Foolish half-breed! The game ends now!”

“I’ll be the one to end you.”

A cold voice retorted in midair. Soon, a thick, rough line was drawn diagonally across the neck of the human-faced bird that was flying towards where Moon-beom’s voice had come from.

“Gaaah!”

It happened in an instant. Eun-hwi blankly stared at the human-faced bird that collapsed, clutching its neck with its wings – the neck that was barely attached, like a log about to split.

“Foolish half-breed? Who are you to insult others when you’re neither human nor beast? The more you do, the more you’re just slapping yourself. Ah, is it because your head is a bird brain that you don’t understand?”

The wing was suddenly ripped apart, as if he had swung the axe again. The human-faced bird writhed in unbearable pain.

“Auspicious being, my ass. What bullshit.”

As the human-faced bird completely lost its fighting power due to the sudden ambush, Moon-beom finally took off the dokkaebi hat and threw it aside. For some reason, his pupils were widely dilated like a spirit with good night vision, and the axe he was carrying over his shoulder was imbued with dokkaebi energy.

“If you’re a divine beast, you should set a good example. Because of bastards like you who try to solve everything with force, even I’ve ended up in this state.”

Moon-beom spat out, as if in self-mockery.

“Ugh!”

Eun-hwi inadvertently let out a groan as he watched Moon-beom firmly press his foot down on the tattered, shredded wing.

The eeriness he had felt when he first encountered Moon-beom ran down his spine. With his eyes gleaming fiercely as he mercilessly trampled his opponent, he looked just like a wild beast. The back that had been slashed by the human-faced bird’s claws looked exactly like tiger stripes.

Broken feathers clung to the blood that had been washed away by the rain, staining the ground red. A light chill ran up the nape of Eun-hwi’s neck.

“S-stop it, Moon-beom.”

The half-dokkaebi’s voice, filled with fear, echoed in the air. However, his thin voice was buried under the pouring rain and couldn’t reach where Moon-beom was standing.

Moon-beom raised the axe he had been carrying on his shoulder into the air. A bluish energy was still gathered at the tip of the sharply ground axe blade.

“Moon-beom!”

It seemed like one more blow from the axe would annihilate the human-faced bird. Eun-hwi instinctively ran forward and hugged Moon-beom from behind.

“Don’t kill it. Moon-beom, don’t kill the human-faced bird.”

“I told you, didn’t I? Not to stay still if they cross the line. Don’t you know ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’? This bastard attacked first, intending to kill. There’s no need to show mercy.”

“Still, don’t do it. You’ll accumulate bad karma.”

“One more bit of bad karma won’t make things worse, and I’ll bear it myself.”

“N-no, Moon-beom.”

“It’s dangerous, so you stay back.”

“No. Don’t do it.”

Eun-hwi shook his head while hugging Moon-beom’s waist tightly. Although he had often thought it would be nice if the human-faced bird disappeared because he hated it, he hadn’t actually wished for its death.

The grudge of a spirit is as deep as the darkness of night and will follow like a shadow forever. Although he didn’t know how the dokkaebi power had become imbued in the axe, Moon-beom was an ordinary human who didn’t possess the spiritual power to overcome such a grudge.

They had just become friends, and Eun-hwi couldn’t allow anything to happen that would harm Moon-beom.

And…

His selfish desire not to let any harm come to the one who had promised to make him human made him stubborn. He didn’t want to carelessly throw away the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity he had gained because of the human-faced bird.

“You’re too soft. That’s why these bastards keep looking down on you and causing trouble.”

Moon-beom threw down the axe he had been holding up. Only when Eun-hwi saw it fall to the ground with a thud did he finally relax and loosen his grip on Moon-beom’s arms. His palms were covered in cold sweat.

…Hiccup!

As he exhaled the breath he had been holding and finally relaxed, a sudden hiccup escaped. He immediately covered his mouth and tried to hold it in, but his shoulders jerked comically. The half-dokkaebi’s eyes, wet with tears and rain, widened like large droplets.

Seeing this, Moon-beom instantly withdrew the murderous intent from his eyes and spoke in a soothing voice:

“You must have been really scared because of me, our Eun-hwi.”

Hiccup!

Was it because he tried to forcibly suppress it? Instead of saying “Mm,” an ill-timed hiccup sound burst out on its own.

The rain continued to pour, and Eun-hwi felt very embarrassed to be hiccuping in a situation where everyone was in tatters. He blushed and pinched his nose, trying to hold his breath.

Hiccup!

But it was no use. When he looked at Moon-beom with teary eyes, Moon-beom chuckled as if he hadn’t just been wielding an axe with fierce determination moments ago. His deep eyes creased into gentle curves.

“Stick out your tongue.”

“Huh? *hic*!”

“Stick out your tongue and count to my age, and it’ll stop.”

“Really? *hic*!”

“You know you’ll die if you hiccup 100 times, right? Quickly, stick your tongue out.”

Although he didn’t know exactly how many times 100 was, the idea of dying from hiccups…

There was no more ridiculous way to die. Startled, the half-dokkaebi did as Moon-beom said and stuck out his tongue. To count to twenty plus half of twenty.

“One, two, three, four…”

Meanwhile, the human-faced bird, who had been trying to straighten its torn wing and neck nearby, made an incredulous expression. It seemed dumbfounded by the sight of Eun-hwi trembling with his head held high and tongue sticking out.

However, it too seemed concerned about the claim that hiccuping 100 times would lead to death, and surreptitiously listened to the numbers Moon-beom was calling out.