Chapter 101
“You’re trying to get the fox bead.”
Professor Bang Ki-bong, who had been staring intently at the long scratch on the lighter’s surface, continued speaking while looking straight ahead.
“With the dokkaebi’s divine power.”
Behind his round glasses with silver frames, his small yet distinctly bright eyes gleamed. His unexpectedly sharp gaze seemed to pierce through one’s mind.
Well, look at that.
I thought he was a human as clueless as he was fearless, but apparently not. While he might not have figured out my revenge plan entirely, he’d made a pretty close guess.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I have zero interest in immortality, so why would I want a fox bead? Stop changing the subject and just answer my question. What exactly is bothering you?”
Yeo Moon-beom deliberately hardened his voice and clutched the lighter. As if threatening to throw a punch if the professor spoke nonsense again. Smiling gently yet menacingly.
His slightly slouched posture, the lazy smile playing at the corners of his lips, and the arrogant downward gaze were those of a natural-born ruler.
Seeing how he refused to show any of his own cards while demanding to see his opponent’s final hand, Professor Bang Ki-bong let out a soft sigh.
Unless he deliberately lost, as he did with the half-dokkaebi.
It wasn’t easy for Bang Ki-bong to defeat someone sharp, suspicious, and absolutely unwilling to reveal his true intentions.
“Do you remember the tale of the widow with a dokkaebi husband and the horse blood?”
“You mean the oral folktale on page 76 of the dokkaebi materials you gave me before?”
Despite being just a gangster managing a gambling den, Yeo Moon-beom had apparently not wasted his higher education, as he remembered even the exact page number. Impressed by his extraordinary memory that never forgot anything he had seen or heard once, Bang Ki-bong inwardly clicked his tongue and said:
“Actually, there’s an untold sequel to that story.”
“The dokkaebi, betrayed by the widow, drove stakes into the fields around her house, threw rocks to damage them, and then disappeared. But the widow, who had grown wealthy from the treasures the dokkaebi had given her, lived well until she died. Wasn’t that the end?”
Yeo Moon-beom wore an expression that seemed to rebuke him for not including the sequel in his materials earlier. Deep wrinkles formed on his smooth forehead visible beneath his neatly slicked-back hair.
“That’s only what appears on the surface. What happened afterward was so horrific that no one dared speak of it.”
No matter how horrific, could it possibly match what Chairman Jang Gitae did to his own mother?
Yeo Moon-beom snorted and replied to Bang Ki-bong:
“What? Did the dokkaebi kill the widow because he couldn’t stand seeing her living well?”
“He did kill her. But not just the widow—everyone connected to her died with their heads crushed. The widow’s relatives, the merchant she remarried, the servants working in her household, all the villagers who knew her face.”
“If their heads were crushed, then…”
Unlike the simple-minded, soft-hearted dokkaebi who only suffered at human hands, there were evil spirits (gui) that inflicted harm beyond the darkness. When Yeo Moon-beom seemed to grasp the idea, Bang Ki-bong nodded.
“Yes. The dokkaebi, shocked by the betrayal of his loved one, transformed into Eodukseoni, an avatar of vengeance.”
Eodukseoni, avatar of vengeance.
This was certainly welcome news. To think he killed not just the betrayer but everyone around them. If played right, this could be like getting something for nothing.
For a moment, he wished Eun-hwi would resent him enough to smash the skulls of Jang Gitae and Black Tiger.
But he never intended to complete his revenge through someone else’s hands.
Becoming a monster who betrayed human ethics and jumping into the fires of hell.
That had been his mission, his mandate from heaven, since the moment he lost his mother.
“Insincere kindness is a sin.”
Yeo Moon-beom replied in a gentle tone to Bang Ki-bong, who as a lifelong scholar seemed unable to read between the lines:
“It’s also a sin not to embrace such a lovable child tenderly.”
Even after his revenge was complete, he had no intention of casting Eun-hwi aside carelessly like the widow who sprinkled horse blood to drive away the dokkaebi she’d grown tired of.
Unless he could love him comfortably without worry.
His dark, arched eyebrows twitched slightly, as if the full story was none of his concern. Seeing his arrogant attitude and his continued unwillingness to yield, Bang Ki-bong advised him again:
“If you don’t want to regret later, don’t make the dokkaebi shed tears. I’m warning you clearly, Manager Yeo.”
How frightening.
He was so solemn that Yeo Moon-beom couldn’t help but laugh. With humor lingering in his eyes, he asked Bang Ki-bong:
“And exactly what right do you have, Mr. Bang Ki-bong?”
“I-I may not have any right, but as someone who cares about the dokkaebi, it’s only natural for me to say this.”
“Well, that’s just your opinion.”
After putting the lighter back in his pocket, Yeo Moon-beom showed Bang Ki-bong the mask-shaped jade ring on his middle finger and whispered secretively:
“I have the right to make him cry.”
The half-dokkaebi was the legitimate prize he had received from his father, the Jangseung dokkaebi. In other words, as long as he held ownership, no one could object to whether he made him cry or laugh.
Even Eun-hwi himself.
“Manager Yeo.”
At this choked call, the end of which cracked with emotion, Yeo Moon-beom slowly curled his fingers inward as if grasping something in his palm. Then, in a calm tone suggesting there was nothing to worry about, he said:
“Even if we fall into the abyss together, I have no intention of letting go until the end.”
He didn’t want to lose any part of Eun-hwi—neither his dokkaebi power, nor his soft, gentle body, nor the purity that illuminated the darkness in his heart. In the end, he didn’t care if these became shackles for Eun-hwi.
There could be no more comfortable and happy life than being protected in the cozy castle he had created.
Yeo Moon-beom revealed his true feelings to Bang Ki-bong for the first and last time.
“This much, at least, is sincere, Dr. Hong-salgwi.”
## Eight. Where the Heart Has Passed
“Ugh…”
Standing before the mirror, the half-dokkaebi examined the silver pillar with a slightly curved, elegant arc at the end, his face filled with confusion.
‘How do I turn on the water?’
He clearly remembered learning that you pull the handle outward to make water flow, but there was only a faucet attached to the sink with nothing else connected to it.
He looked around carefully, checking this way and that, but couldn’t figure out how to turn on the water. Yet he couldn’t leave without washing his hands, so he was just sweating nervously when a man dressed in an elegant light purple hanbok entered the bathroom.
Swoosh—
He merely placed his hands under the faucet. Amazingly, the water gushed out automatically.
So it was a magic faucet…!
Finally understanding how to use it, Eun-hwi began washing his hands at the sink next to the man. He pressed the top of a square container with his palm to make foam with the cleanser, and even pulled tissues from below the mirror to wipe the moisture from his hands.
After placing the used tissue in a small hole in the corner of the sink, he unconsciously turned his head and his eyes met directly with the man’s.
‘Oh no! Big trouble!’
Could the man be upset that he had imitated him, using him as a mirror?
The half-dokkaebi hunched his shoulders fearfully as the man continued to stare at him without looking away. It seemed like he might point him out as a hideous monster if he removed his hat right now.
“The weather is very nice today, isn’t it?”
…Huh? Weather?
“I was worried because it was cloudy until this morning, but I didn’t expect it to clear up so beautifully.”
“Ah, oh… yes.”
The man’s light brown eyes curved gently, creating a beautiful eye-smile. Eun-hwi stared blankly at Kim’s handsome face, which bore a smile as lovely as a peach blossom.
The man, about half a handspan taller than him, had a clear face without any anxiety or shadows, radiating both bouncy vivacity and gentle warmth.
He seemed like a compassionate person. Eun-hwi thought that if he ever became human, he would want to be kind to everyone like the Kim before him.
Fascinated by the person who had turned his vague ideal into a concrete desire, Eun-hwi found himself staring. Then, suddenly noticing the embarrassment on the man’s face, he quickly spoke:
“Um, your… your ribbon…”
“…Ribbon? Ah. It’s crooked.”
The man seemed unfamiliar with hanbok, as his hands fumbled awkwardly while adjusting the ribbon. The half-dokkaebi, fidgeting and tapping his feet nervously, steeled his resolve and called out to the man:
“I-I’ll fix it for you!”
“Really? Thank you then. I appreciate it.”
This was the first time he’d touched anyone other than Yeo Moon-beom and Dr. Hong. Eun-hwi barely controlled his trembling fingertips as he tied the ribbon as neatly as he could.
“…There!”
The ribbon, which had been slanted diagonally, now formed an elegant horizontal line. As he grinned with undisguised pride, a large man carrying a child wearing a dangui entered.
“Why aren’t you coming out, Seo Hee-min.”
“Ah, Lee Heon-ah. My ribbon was crooked, and this person fixed it for me.”
The man, wearing an ivory jeogori with a blue dopo over it, was similar in height and build to Yeo Moon-beom but had sharper-looking eyes. A long scar on one eyebrow added to his fierce appearance.
Though he was clearly meeting Kim for the first time, something about him seemed familiar, so Eun-hwi once again raised his head and stared intently at the man from under the brim of his hat. Just as he realized that the man resembled the old Mr. Kim that Yeo Moon-beom had greeted yesterday, the man asked gruffly:
“Who are you?”
Who am I?
Is he asking for my name?
“I’m Kim Eun-hwi…”
Though he honestly gave his real name, the corners of the man’s eyes twisted. Judging by his reaction, it seemed he had answered incorrectly.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
