Chapter 115
As if to show it wasn’t a joke, the black fox applied slight pressure with his fingertip.
A scratch appeared on the wrinkled neck, and blood formed. The bright red liquid welled up in a small circle, then flowed down in a thin line. It happened just as a drop of sweat that had been clinging to the half-dokkaebi’s spine fell.
He no longer liked humans. Moreover, since this was a stranger he had never seen before, he could have just ignored him.
But not having a selfish personality that would simply run away to save himself, Eun-hwi couldn’t move his feet and stood like a Jangseung planted in the ground.
“Why… Why are you doing this? You want to drink my blood, don’t you?”
The black fox from his memories was a crueler monster than any spirit he had ever seen. Just like the white fox who had tried to achieve immortality by drinking dokkaebi blood, the black fox clearly needed his divine power too.
As Eun-hwi trembled like a small, fragile animal but still dared to challenge him without averting his eyes, the black fox suddenly burst into loud laughter.
“Blood? Hahahahaha!”
His voice was like scratching a brass basin with a nail, making the hair on the back of Eun-hwi’s neck stand up.
After laughing heartily, the black fox swung his sharply gleaming claws in the air to shake off the droplets of blood, then transformed them back to normal. The man lying sprawled out was sleeping soundly, snoring, unaware that he had nearly lost his life.
“That would be fun too, but dokkaebi blood isn’t to my taste.”
“Th-then why did you bring me here?”
“I brought you because I wanted to talk. I don’t intend to harm you.”
“…Talk?”
“I was curious. How Yeo Moon-beom secretly installed a toy in the house without anyone knowing. And my business partner also asked me to check on how his son is doing.”
His business partner must be referring to Moon-beom’s biological father, who closely resembled him… But what did he mean by a toy?
His unusually large eyes blinked with puzzled light. The black fox, who had been carefully observing his reaction, spoke:
“Praying to the mountain god who protects the mountains and rivers for the success of construction? That’s nonsense. Unless he meant going to incur the mountain god’s wrath.”
With a snort of laughter, he made these incomprehensible remarks and observed Eun-hwi’s face up close. Rather than examining his features, he seemed to be measuring the amount of divine power residing within him.
Feeling as if his inner thoughts were being thoroughly examined, Eun-hwi stepped back nervously. The black fox shifted his gaze to his horns and stared at them intently as he continued speaking.
“To think that the existence he tried to hide with such blatant lies was just a fledgling dokkaebi.”
Pure amazement burst from the black fox’s lips. His expression was one of utter astonishment, as if completely caught off guard. The black fox seemed to be a spirit with a personality entirely different from the coquettish white fox.
“Without a fox like me around, I guess he planned to keep a dokkaebi by his side and commit treason like his father did? Did he ask you to lend him your dokkaebi hat instead of offering tributes?”
The half-dokkaebi stared at the fox, whose appearance was indistinct but whose presence was enormous, with his lips tightly sealed. There was no killing intent in those black eyes tinged with purple. He really did seem to have brought him onto this boat just to talk.
Just as the sound of tearing human flesh that had been ringing in his ears like an auditory hallucination began to fade—
‘Eun-hwi. Run away quickly.’
Yeo Moon-beom’s urgent voice disturbed his ears. He didn’t understand how someone without any spiritual power could send a telepathic message, but he thought perhaps something similar to when their consciousnesses had connected through dreams was happening. Eun-hwi shouted in his mind:
‘If I run away, that man will die!’
‘Whether he lives or dies has nothing to do with you. Don’t be deluded by a hostage. What Black Tiger wants is clearly your power.’
‘So I should just let him die? How could I do that!’
‘Even without using you as an excuse, he’ll kill him as soon as his usefulness ends. Both my father, Jang Gitae, and that black fox have always been like that. Don’t fall for his persuasion. Please listen to me.’
‘But you… You also tried to use me!’
‘What the hell would I even use this for?’
‘Too precious to sell.’
He had truly intended to use him. Though he had changed his attitude because he coveted the dokkaebi’s power.
After trampling on both his fond longing for Gabi and his desire to become human, he now blamed others for the same reason and tried to manipulate him again. While treating other people’s lives like roadside insects.
‘Eun-hwi. I…’
‘No! I don’t want to hear it!’
Even beasts protected each other at the risk of their lives when they were of the same kind.
He hadn’t known that Yeo Moon-beom was a human worse than beasts, who considered even his own kind worthless.
The vague expectation for him that had remained in his heart instantly changed to disappointment.
Eun-hwi had pretended to be asleep every day when Yeo Moon-beom came looking for him, occasionally opening his eyes slightly to scan the empty space, wondering if he might have taken off his hat and revealed himself.
But now even that fluttering feeling in his heart had faded. He felt betrayed by Yeo Moon-beom once again.
“You said you don’t intend to harm me. Can you promise that?”
The half-dokkaebi ignored Yeo Moon-beom’s voice echoing in his head and asked the black fox. His eyes, hidden between his long, monolid eyes, shone brightly.
“I don’t trust anyone except my father, so I need a soul-binding oath.”
He could no longer trust deceitful tongues that manipulated others. Unless it was a promise engraved on the soul that couldn’t be broken.
‘…Eun-hwi! Eun-hwi!’
Annoyed by the continued calling, Eun-hwi completely closed the door to his heart. After consciously cutting him off, the low, heavy voice that had been lingering in his ears no longer came.
“I promise. Staking all my tails.”
The black fox plucked eight strands of fur from his tails and blew them away. The fine hairs that flew about in his breath became purple flames and burned away instantly.
A soul-binding oath had been made.
“Can you trust me now?”
The half-dokkaebi nodded slightly. Though he couldn’t fully trust everything, he was now certain that the black fox could no longer harm him. The weight of wariness that had been heavily resting on his shoulders lessened.
However…
“…”
The fact that humans were even more cunning than the fox monsters, who were said to be the most deceitful spirits in the world, saddened Eun-hwi once again.
Despite receiving a definite answer, he sighed with a dejected expression. The black fox, sitting in a leather chair, patted the seat beside him and said to Eun-hwi:
“I’ll put you back on the boat and send you back when we arrive, so sit down with ease. Don’t keep standing and tire your legs.”
“…You’ll really send me back?”
“I told you. I brought you here because I wanted to talk. I have to go to work tomorrow, so I don’t have time to stay on the island.”
“You could have just explained properly from the beginning…”
If he had calmly started the conversation, Eun-hwi might have listened. Although still frightening, he was a spirit, not a human, after all.
Eun-hwi sat next to the black fox and examined the interior of the boat. Unlike Oh Seok-gu’s round boat that let wind in from all directions, this boat completely blocked external air and was equipped not only with comfortable chairs but also a kitchen and a bed.
While he was looking around with curious eyes, the black fox asked Eun-hwi, who had pressed himself against the armrest and drawn his knees in to sit as far away as possible:
“Since I’ve made an oath, would you like to have a drink as a sign of getting friendlier?”
“D-drink? I can’t handle bitter things… Ugh…”
Recalling the bitter taste of the immortal wine, he shook his head in horror.
“I don’t like dry, acidic wines either. Foxes naturally dislike sour grapes.”
The black fox brought a bottle with a long neck and elegantly stemmed glasses and poured him a drink. The golden liquid, which swirled like a whirlwind and had popping bubbles, smelled of flowers and fruit.
“It’s champagne. It’s sweet, so it should suit your taste.”
Having always been bullied by spirits, unconditional kindness felt unfamiliar. Eun-hwi stared blankly at the drink that resembled the color of his eyes. Since he had promised not to harm him, it seemed unlikely that he would have put poison in it.
“Go ahead and drink.”
“Okay.”
After hesitating briefly, the half-dokkaebi drank the alcohol without even taking time to smell it. His tightly closed eyes opened wide at the taste, which was both refreshing and sweet.
“How is it? Delicious, right?”
Though it tasted like a fruit drink, alcohol was still alcohol. Just one sip quickly brought on tipsiness. The black fox smiled slightly as he looked at Eun-hwi’s flushed cheeks, then emptied his own glass.
“Mr. Fox.”
Besides Gabi, no spirit had ever been willing to listen to him. Pleased to meet someone who treated him as an equal spirit, no matter how frightening they might be, Eun-hwi unconsciously opened up about his inner feelings.
“He didn’t borrow it. He deceived me and took it away.”
“What did he take?”
“The dokkaebi hat.”
After answering the black fox, who asked again with a face that seemed to have completely forgotten what he had just asked, Eun-hwi gulped down his drink until the liquid in the glass disappeared.
“I hate Yeo Moon-beom. He said he would help me become human… He asked me to date him, so I broke my promise with my father and gave him everything… How could he do that to me? It’s really too much.”
“Date?”
Whether due to the alcohol or because tears blurred his vision, the black fox’s upturned lips appeared hazy. Before he could feel any suspicion, the fox, who had erased his smile, reached around Eun-hwi’s neck and put his arm around his shoulders.
“I understand that feeling. I’ve also been betrayed by a human before. I almost gave away my fox bead believing the words that they would help me become human if I did, even though they hadn’t done me any favors.”
The black fox poured another glass of alcohol and asked:
“What was your name again?”
“Eun-hwi. Kim Eun-hwi.”
“May I ask you for one favor, Eun-hwi?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
