Chapter 70
After passing through a dense oak forest, the two entered an extremely treacherous mountain path and headed towards the peak where the secret place was located, climbing and descending without rest.
If Yeo Moon-beom hadn’t received the egg shower, he would have worn the dokkaebi hat and gone down to the village, taking a relatively easier path up.
However, Eun-hwi, who didn’t want to even look at the village, guided Yeo Moon-beom to the steep mountainside beyond the mountain god’s domain, where even ghosts hesitated to tread. Though it was tiring, he didn’t want to create anything that would trouble Yeo Moon-beom’s mind.
“Heave-ho.”
The half-dokkaebi fearlessly climbed a large rock as tall as himself and extended his hand to the man standing below, showing no signs of fatigue.
“Yeo Moon-beom, take my hand and come up.”
After struggling to even stand properly due to lack of strength in his waist, Eun-hwi was now bouncing around as if nothing had happened. Yeo Moon-beom asked with an incredulous expression:
“Aren’t you tired?”
“Nope. I’m not tired at all because Yeo Moon-beom gave me a massage.”
Even without applying the pain relief patches, the massage alone had loosened his knotted muscles, making his body soft like rice cake dough. He felt sorry for Dr. Hong-salgwi who had brought the patches specifically for him, but he thought it was a good decision to give them as a fee.
After all, he got both a reward and a massage.
With a faint smile at Eun-hwi’s bright response, Yeo Moon-beom replied with a nuance suggesting he didn’t need to lend a hand:
“Still, I’m worried, so don’t overdo it and go slowly. Don’t fall and get hurt again.”
He stretched out his long legs and leapt onto the rock, looking around at the scenery that was quite different from around the house.
Wolhwa Island, shaped like a thin crescent moon, was an island with different environments in its southwestern part, composed of primeval forests and plains, and its northeastern part, with steep rock faces rising up.
Yeo Moon-beom, standing on the rock and looking down at the distant village where electric lights leaked out, somehow looked lonely. Eun-hwi, feeling unnecessarily uneasy, tugged at his arm and urged:
“Let’s hurry, Yeo Moon-beom. If we’re late, we won’t be able to see it.”
“What are we going to see?”
“You’ll know once we cross that stream over there.”
The half-dokkaebi moved the dokkaebi fire he was holding under his hand like a lantern to illuminate the stream flowing through the valley.
“…Huh? The stepping stones are gone!”
The stepping stones that Gabi had placed from one end of the stream to the other were stuck in strange places. They must have been washed away by the typhoon that had hit the entire island a few years ago.
After being unable to enter the mountain god’s domain, Eun-hwi had stopped visiting the secret place. Although there was another path that could be taken even if it took more time, he hadn’t bothered to look for it because it wasn’t fun to visit alone.
If he had known this would happen, he should have come here every year to check if the stepping stones were safe.
It was a mistake to wait for his father to return, not wanting to feel the loneliness of being abandoned by the whole world again.
He wanted to go in right away and put the stepping stones back in place. But he hesitated, worried that the shoes Yeo Moon-beom had given him as a gift would be ruined. But if he went in barefoot, he might slip on the moss-covered rocks.
“What should I do…”
Eun-hwi stood in front of the stream, stomping his feet, not knowing what to do. Even though he knew it was meaningless to regret it now, he was regretting the late visit when suddenly,
“Hold onto my neck.”
Yeo Moon-beom lifted Eun-hwi’s body and crossed the stream. Not caring whether his leather shoes or the hem of his pants got wet.
Splash, splash.
The sound of feet crossing the stream without hesitation broke the quiet stillness of the forest. Ripples forming concentric circles on the calm water surface spread endlessly.
For some reason, his heart fluttered like waves, and he couldn’t bear it. The half-dokkaebi held onto Yeo Moon-beom’s neck tightly, as if he would lose him forever if he let go, and swallowed his breath.
‘I like Yeo Moon-beom so much.’
It always felt like he was standing precariously with an unfathomable abyss beneath his feet. It had been days of desperately waiting for someone to cling to, unable to escape anywhere without even a small stepping stone to place his foot on.
When the loneliness that had been just a small ripple was rushing in like a wave, threatening to sweep him away, a human appeared who willingly became a stepping stone.
A sturdy stepping stone that safely protected him, not letting even a drop of water touch his toes.
How could he not fall in love with a human who was so kind, so reliable, and made his heart beat so fast?
You know, Yeo Moon-beom.
I look forward to every moment we spend together because it’s so enjoyable.
Will you like me today? Will you look at me with different emotions than yesterday?
I’m holding back from saying that I’m still expecting it.
Eun-hwi, resting his cheek against the chest that held him tightly, listened to the slow but strong heartbeat.
With a contradictory heart hoping not to reach the other side of the stream despite having come to the secret place with such difficulty.
“Is this it? The place where you want to receive a reward?”
The sound of water spreading in all directions finally stopped, and a deep, mellow voice rang out.
“…”
“Don’t want to get down?”
Wanting to stay close continuously, Eun-hwi just nodded his head without unwrapping his arms from around Yeo Moon-beom’s neck. Yeo Moon-beom, who had adjusted his hold on Eun-hwi with a slight bounce, chuckled and said:
“I told you not to overdo it. I could tell from when you were hopping around like a rabbit.”
His reproachful tone was only gentle. When Eun-hwi acted coy, rubbing his forehead against Yeo Moon-beom’s shoulder and saying he hadn’t done that, Yeo Moon-beom lowered his head and placed a kiss on the smooth crown between Eun-hwi’s horns.
Although it was just a light touch that made contact and then separated immediately, the sensation of warmth spreading inside his skin spread throughout his body.
The feeling of fullness from being in contact with someone you like.
Wanting Yeo Moon-beom to feel that very human-like sensation too, Eun-hwi gently pressed his lips against Yeo Moon-beom’s dry cheek. Yeo Moon-beom immediately burst into laughter, as if it tickled.
“Now that we’ve crossed the stream, hurry up and tell me. There’s nothing but rocky mountains here, what kind of reward did you want to receive that you brought me here?”
“You’ll know soon. Really.”
Finally breaking free from Yeo Moon-beom’s embrace and jumping down to the ground, Eun-hwi lifted the willow leaves draped over the rock. A secret passage that no one knew about appeared before the two of them.
“How did you know there was a path in a place like this?”
“Mmm. My father discovered it a long time ago when he came to dig for wild ginseng.”
“Is that so?”
“Let’s hurry, Yeo Moon-beom.”
As Eun-hwi entered without hesitation through the gap in the rock wall that barely allowed one person to pass, Yeo Moon-beom followed closely behind, as if guarding his back.
Not long after, numerous lights illuminating the pitch-black darkness came into view.
“It’s already started!”
They quickly moved towards a small forest surrounded by horseshoe-shaped stone walls. There, hundreds of fireflies emitting yellow light like some kind of yellow-eyed fish were dancing, embroidering the night sky.
“…Wow. This is no joke. Here.”
Yeo Moon-beom, who had finally entered the forest after barely squeezing through the narrow gap, exclaimed in amazement.
“This is a firefly forest that only my father and I know about. Isn’t it cool? I really wanted to show it to you, Yeo Moon-beom.”
Everywhere was a field of stars and flowers. Groups of fireflies floated around like evening primroses undulating in the moonlight. It was a mesmerizing sight no matter when you saw it.
“My father said that they all come out to find mates after spending a year underground. That’s why they emit light too.”
Gabi had said that he really liked how the fireflies, living brilliantly even with their weak light to spend their fleeting short lives with someone, were just like humans.
He too had loved that gentle light and had visited this place without fail every year with Gabi.
“The last time I came here, I was alone, so…”
I was lonely.
Eun-hwi swallowed the last words he couldn’t bring himself to say out loud.
He too possessed a yellow light, but his situation of not being sought by anyone had been unbearably sad, and he had cried until his eyes stung all the way home.
“But now it’s okay. Because Yeo Moon-beom came with me.”
The warmth of the thick, long fingers intertwining between his own, the cool and slightly bitter scent wrapping around his nose, and the eyes looking at him even with the shimmering golden light in front of them erased all traces of his past sorrows.
“Are you feeling better now, Yeo Moon-beom?”
Instead of offering grand words of comfort, he just quietly squeezed their clasped hands. Looking at the hand with strength in it, Yeo Moon-beom drew a soft curve with his eyes.
“The one who received a reward.”
After catching his breath for a moment, he continued.
“Was me, not Eun-hwi.”
He thought the mood would be lightened with eye contact accompanied by a smile, as if telling him to be selfish just for himself. But Yeo Moon-beom only traced Eun-hwi’s face with deeply sunken eyes, as if settling.
Wondering if he needed a more plausible comfort, the half-dokkaebi called out to him:
“I received a reward too!”
“What reward? Money?”
“No? You carrying me across the stream earlier.”
“That’s not a reward. This is a reward.”
Yeo Moon-beom, who let out a small laugh, tilted his head diagonally.
His wet tongue delved between Eun-hwi’s slightly parted lips. As Eun-hwi blinked his wide-open eyes, not understanding what was happening, Yeo Moon-beom entangled their tongues and continued the deep kiss.
The half-dokkaebi, unable to come to his senses from the intense kiss, let out a suppressed moan.
“…Hng.”
The lips that left an intense heat cleanly separated. When Eun-hwi looked up blankly with a questioning look that seemed to say ‘already?’, Yeo Moon-beom gently pulled at Eun-hwi’s cheek.
“Don’t look at me so sexily. We should be watching the fireflies.”
“If I keep looking at you sexily… what will happen?”
“I’ll fuck you senseless.”
Eun-hwi, as if controlling himself, pressed his lips thinly together and answered without being able to take his eyes off Yeo Moon-beom, who was smiling:
“Fuck me, Yeo Moon-beom. Let’s mate too.”
