Dojin reached out the hand not holding his briefcase toward Iri. He was trying to wrap an arm around his waist. Of course, Iri didn’t allow himself to be caught and slipped away smoothly. Brushing nothing but empty air, Dojin tried a different excuse this time.
“Master, there are lots of loose rocks and tree roots, so be careful. Or should I carry you?”
“Where are the loose rocks and tree roots? It’s completely flat.”
The moment Iri said that, it truly became just as he claimed. The dirt path smoothed out, and Iri lightly bounded upward with quick tak-tak-tak steps. Dojin tried drawing up his energy to create even a single rock in front of him, but it was useless. He’d given up on competing with Immortal Iri a long time ago.
“Still, it’s nice getting out of the shop and climbing a mountain with you, Master. Once we hire a new employee, we’ll make them guard the rental shop and go on a nationwide trip together.”
“Let’s talk about that after we actually hire someone. There isn’t a single applicant yet.”
Iri let out a sigh. Dojin felt the same way. Even with the fatal downside that he’d have to share time with Iri once a new employee arrived, Dojin continued posting job listings online. The rental shop had so much work that there was no time for cultivation, no time for sweet moments with Iri. More than anything, he wanted to ease Iri’s exhaustion as soon as possible.
“It would’ve been nice if that person who became a living spirit had some talent.”
“Min Jiyon?”
“You still remember her name? What the hell. Seriously—since when did you get such a good memory, Master?”
“It hasn’t even been a week, Dojin.”
“Still. Forget her already. She’s someone we’ll never meet again anyway, so why tire yourself remembering her? You’re way too soft-hearted.”
“You nag too much.”
“I keep telling you—don’t give me reasons to nag.”
“I should’ve come alone.”
“If I sent Immortal Iri alone to a place crawling with small-fry like this, I wouldn’t be Kim Dojin—I’d be Lee Dojin.”
‘Smal- fry’ referred to extremely minor beings that had just stepped into the level of Wia.
Many Wia exist in the mountains. Familiar yokai found throughout Korean mountains—Geumjeo, Hyangnang, little foxes, Pyojan. And lesser creatures like Yanen, Silgureongi, and Hanjungi. Among these, the tiny ones like Yanen, Silgureongi, and Hanjungi were considered ‘small-fry’. Young Wia that had only just evolved from animals into yokai.
Iri found these small-fry Wia utterly adorable. When any approached first, he’d scoop them up without hesitation, rocking them gently in his arms.
Right now, however, Dojin was emitting such a menacing aura—and perhaps the dokkaebi Yori-iki, who ruled Uamsan, had warned them—that none dared approach first. Instead, they followed at a distance, sending sidelong glances of admiration toward Immortal Iri.
“You’ve got something sweet, right?”
“If it’s for you, I’ll give it. If it’s for the small-fry, I won’t.”
“Take some out.”
“You’re going to eat it?”
“Dojin.”
“Ah—no, I said I won’t if you’re only giving it to the small-fry. This chocolate and these snacks are expensive. Dohi bought them abroad.”
Dohi was Dojin’s younger sister. Every school break, she went overseas, and whenever she came back, she brought bags full of sweets.
“If Dohi bought them, they must be really good. Let’s give some to the kids. I’ll eat some too.”
“…Seriously.”
In the end, Dojin stopped and opened his briefcase. Most small-fry were omnivorous, so they ate chocolate and candy just fine. They even ate the wrappers, but when Dojin looked around and saw animals like mountain rabbits and cats mixed among them, he grumbled and peeled the wrappers off.
When he scattered the chocolate and candy, the small-fry swarmed in, making pii-pii-pii, kyuu, ping, byaek-byaek sounds. A pebble-eared spirit delicately holding a piece of chocolate with tiny hands and nom-nom-nom gnawing on it; a Saeang rabbit yokai picking up a candy, then wiping the sticky residue onto a nearby friend’s fur; a tit yokai pecking at bread without realizing its feathers were getting all tacky. Even to Dojin’s eyes, they were undeniably cute.
“They’re really adorable.”
Under the faint moonlight, Iri smiled brightly. Dojin unwrapped a piece of chocolate and held it up to Iri’s mouth.
“Have some too, Master.”
“Thank you.”
“…Won’t you open your mouth?”
“I’ll eat it myself.”
“Seriously. I need to learn the small-fry transformation technique someday. I’m too bitter otherwise.”
While Dojin grumbled, Iri plucked the chocolate from his fingers and popped it into his mouth.
“Dojin. You should eat some too. It’s good.”
“I’m fine. Sweet stuff dries my mouth out. And besides, watching those small, pretty lips moving is filling enough on its own.”
“……”
Iri awkwardly turned his gaze away.
Moments like this were the only times the usually unshakable Immortal Iri ever wavered.
“Please don’t say things like that… Every time you do, I don’t know how I’m supposed to react.”
“You can just fucking love it.”
“I fed you baby food.”
“Yes, yes. You fed me baby food, watched my first steps, changed my diapers. Go on—say it a few hundred more times. Let’s see if I ever understand or accept it.”
Dojin added that he genuinely didn’t see why that should be an obstacle in a romantic relationship.
Iri said nothing, only fiddling with the bracelet on his wrist. Whenever he felt awkward, he always touched the black thread bracelet he constantly wore—it was a habit.
After filling the small-fry’s bellies, the two resumed climbing the mountain.
After a while, they truly seemed to have entered the dokkaebi’s domain. No Wia followed them anymore, and not even the sound of insects could be heard.
In mountains ruled by a Mountain Divine Spirit, animals and Wia roam freely everywhere. But mountains ruled by a mountain dokkaebi have a clear domain like this—nothing is allowed to trespass within it. Not only Wia, but even low-intelligence animals instinctively avoid it.
Iri stopped in a moderately spacious clearing. Waist-high bushes surrounded the open ground. Sensing something ominous, Dojin edged closer to Iri’s side.
“Yori-iki.”
When Iri called his name, the wind suddenly whipped up. The dense bushes bent violently in a single direction. Though the dokkaebi’s form was nowhere to be seen, a chilling voice echoed from all sides.
“It has been a long time, Immortal.”
Dojin raised one eyebrow. Speaking informally to Iri…?
Among the rental shop’s customers, young Wia of yokai level sometimes spoke casually to Iri out of ignorance, but this was the first time someone at the very end of a lineage—like a dokkaebi—had done so.
“Is that one the infamous big-eyed, big-mouthed new employee from the rental shop?”
“That’s right. Dojin, say hello. This is Yori-iki, the mountain dokkaebi of Uamsan in Cheongju.”
“How am I supposed to greet you when I can’t even see you? How do I greet someone who won’t even show their face?”
“Dojin….”
Iri pressed a hand to his forehead. The mountain dokkaebi laughed boisterously. Hahaha! The booming laughter echoed through the entire mountain.
“So the rumors are true—an arrogant human! Humans with arrogance taste bad. If only your backer weren’t an Immortal.”
“Yori-iki. Don’t say frightening things…. I need five bamboo bird eggs. You have them, don’t you?”
“I can’t hand them over so easily. Only five are born every hundred years, and the fourth one already died. I only have six eggs left.”
“Bamboo birds aren’t that rare.”
“I can’t go to the True Mortal Realm, so the bamboo birds here are all I have. Big-eyed, big-mouthed employee—will you compete with me for the bamboo bird eggs?”
A competitive spark flared in the dokkaebi’s voice. Dojin’s very existence had provoked it. Iri had fully expected such a proposal from a competition-loving dokkaebi, but he still tried to deflect it politely at first.
“How about competing with me instead?”
“Are you mocking me, Immortal? No matter how much I rule a mountain, before the master of all things, I’m nothing but a trifling creature. Would I commit such foolishness as to challenge you?”
“Don’t you want the title of having competed with an Immortal?”
“I already have that title. I once crossed hands with the Butterfly Immortal. But this is stranger. That one doesn’t feel human to me. Why does he feel so… familiar?”
The voice drew closer. Yori-iki, hiding his body, was observing Dojin from close range. Yet Dojin stepped forward, shielding Iri behind him.
“Very well. Compete with me. What kind of contest do you want?”
“There’s only ever one thing a mountain dokkaebi wants.”
“Wrestling, then. I’ve never done it, but I know the rules well enough.”
Dojin set his briefcase down on the ground. A smile curved his lips. Iri no longer tried to stop him. This was exactly why he’d brought Dojin along.
A dokkaebi should be able to handle Dojin’s monstrous strength to some extent…. Using a dokkaebi as a means to relieve his disciple’s stress.
As Dojin lightly stretched, Iri offered advice.
“Dojin. Don’t go too far…. If you injure a dokkaebi, the mountain will resent you.”
“Hmm. It’s my first time testing strength with a dokkaebi, so I’m not sure how much to hold back.”
“Even if you lose, don’t overexert yourself. Don’t get excited. Start with… about one-fifth of your strength.”
“That’s weaker than I expected. Understood.”
As Dojin replied with a smile, a powerful wind born from the mountain valley blew straight toward them. It was strong enough to make one think even sturdy trees might be uprooted.
Dojin swiftly pulled Iri into his arms and turned his back to the wind. In his embrace, Iri was momentarily flustered. Every time Dojin acted like this—trying to protect him—it left him embarrassed. It was like a child… no, like a tiny sparrow trying to protect a divine beast that could summon thunder and trigger landslides with a single growl.
