Chapter 63
Until now, Eun-hwi had never had proper conversations with anyone except Gabi, so he hadn’t learned how to communicate in a way that would attract others’ favor.
Moreover, even if he somehow managed to read the other person’s emotions, his clumsy way of expressing himself often led to mistakes that made others dislike him.
The more he tried to make a good impression, the more he felt like he was flailing in a bottomless swamp.
Always being called a clueless mongrel, Eun-hwi desperately needed Dr. Hong’s help to avoid repeating past failures.
‘That Hong-salgwi, despite looking careless, is quite meticulous and can provide quite reliable information.’
Eun-hwi looked at the small eye inside the round kaihōgyō with expectant eyes, ears perked up so as not to miss any answer.
“To put on a show, huh…”
Dr. Hong stroked his grizzled, bushy beard with his thumb and forefinger, deep in thought. After a long silence, he slowly began to speak.
“There’s a crab called a mud crab, which is rare on Wolhwa Island in the South East Sea, but common in Korea’s tidal flats.”
“Mud crab?”
Before settling on Wolhwa Island, Eun-hwi had visited the tidal flats on the west coast with Gabi. He vividly remembered how amusing the squelching sound was every time he stepped on the mud exposed by the receding tide. He had run around tirelessly until a crab pinched his toe with its claw, making him cry loudly.
“Yes, Dokkaebi-nim. The mud crab, a crustacean belonging to the family Varunidae of the order Decapoda, performs a courtship dance when it encounters an attractive female. It raises and lowers its claws while following the female around. That’s truly putting on a show to make a good impression.”
“Ah…”
Come to think of it, the crab that had pinched his foot was also hurriedly chasing after another crab ahead of it. He thought perhaps the male crab, needing to impress the female, had angrily bitten his toe when the clueless dokkaebi got in the way.
As Eun-hwi nodded in understanding, Dr. Hong continued his explanation.
“Also, the guppy, a tropical fish of the Poeciliidae family widely bred as an ornamental fish, performs a dance by wiggling its body when a female appears, showing off its colorful tail patterns. It’s displaying its unique appearance to the plain-looking female to express its interest.”
Such confidence. The guppy must be a very attractive fish indeed.
Amusingly enough, while he had longed for an ordinary human life, he now wanted to be an irresistibly beautiful being like a flower on a cliff, captivating Yeo Moon-beom’s heart.
Just like his mother, who had stolen his father Gabi’s heart in an instant while performing a Buddhist dance inside the walls of Manwolsa Temple, where only monks were allowed.
“So, I should dress up nicely and dance?”
Since he couldn’t immediately grow his horns to show the dignity of a dokkaebi, he thought about dancing in the firefly-filled forest wearing the clothes Yeo Moon-beom had gifted him.
With a satisfied smile at the scene playing in his mind, he waited for an answer. But Dr. Hong, who had been speaking fluently until now, hesitated uncharacteristically.
“Well… I agree with improving your appearance to show your interest, but I’m not sure if dancing would be appropriate…”
The half-dokkaebi, who had been full of thoughts about kissing Yeo Moon-beom after putting on a good show, looked at the uncomfortable Dr. Hong with puzzled eyes and asked:
“Does Moon-beom dislike dancing? Does he prefer singing?”
“Actually, Dokkaebi-nim, I’m what the kids these days call a ‘love-dummy’ who’s never managed to date successfully. I’m not sure if I can give you suitable advice.”
“…What do you mean?”
“I mean, I know well how fish put on a show, but I don’t really know how humans do it for each other.”
Unlike Siri, who had unhesitatingly described himself as a knowledgeable but lacking friend, even Dr. Hong, whose abilities Yeo Moon-beom had acknowledged, had things he didn’t know.
Both Siri and Dr. Hong seemed to deliberately withhold the information he was most curious about.
Even though he understood intellectually that it wasn’t intentional, he felt upset as similar situations kept repeating.
“You told me to talk about my worries… said you’d discuss them with me…”
Eun-hwi’s voice trailed off as he lowered his head. His fingers, clutching the nearly empty bowl and the patch wrapper together, tightened with a crinkling sound.
Seeing Eun-hwi looking at the bottom of the bowl with drooping shoulders and a pitiful face like a rain-soaked puppy, Dr. Hong hurriedly spoke up.
“Even if I don’t know how to put on a show that would work on someone, I do know that Manager Yeo likes sexy and mature types!”
“Sexy and mature people…?”
“Yes, Dokkaebi-nim. This is reliable information I heard from the guys managing the panels. You can trust this.”
At the confident tone, the gloom on the half-dokkaebi’s face lifted, soon replaced by a bright light.
“That’s right! Moon-beom told me I was sexy!”
“…Pardon? Manager Yeo said that to you?”
For a moment, Dr. Hong’s mouth gaped so wide that a flying insect could have entered, as if he thought he had misheard.
“Yes. He said I was sexy and it excited him.”
“Ex-excited?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Still wearing an expression of disbelief and doubting his own ears, Dr. Hong narrowed his already small eyes and looked Eun-hwi up and down. Then he muttered to himself.
“Saying such things to this adorably cute Dokkaebi-nim… He really is a terrible thief after all. I knew it from the moment he vehemently denied it, tch.”
After continually grumbling incomprehensibly under his breath, Dr. Hong suddenly clapped his hands as if he had a good idea.
“Dokkaebi-nim!”
“…Yes?”
“Sexiness, traditionally, goes beyond the physical. It’s an emotion felt when a certain precarious psychological stimulation is applied. So rather than explicitly emphasizing sexiness, it might be much more effective to subtly show a disheveled appearance and put on a show discreetly.”
“A disheveled appearance?”
Although he didn’t quite understand what ‘sexy’ meant, shouldn’t he dress neatly and tidily to gain favor with an impressive appearance like the guppy?
His small head tilted to one side. As he blinked, long lush eyelashes cast shadows on his white cheeks. Watching this, Dr. Hong asked with a smile:
“You want to win Manager Yeo’s heart, don’t you?”
Although Yeo Moon-beom seemed unaware of the change in Eun-hwi’s feelings, Dr. Hong had quickly noticed how the intensity of those emotions was deepening day by day.
Eun-hwi’s cheeks turned pink as he smiled shyly, fidgeting unnecessarily with the bowl in his hands. Just yesterday, talking about his feelings for Yeo Moon-beom had felt natural, but now it was unbearably embarrassing.
Perhaps falling for someone meant first confronting shyness.
“…Yes. I want to win Moon-beom’s heart and stay with him always. That’s why I’m trying to put on a show.”
As Eun-hwi honestly revealed his true feelings, Dr. Hong met his gaze with a more serious expression and spoke as if giving advice:
“Since you’re not feeling well today, don’t try too hard out of impatience. Just show a slightly disheveled appearance. If you do that, Manager Yeo will surely react, becoming eager himself, Dokkaebi-nim.”
In truth, Eun-hwi had planned to plead for sex play while putting on a show when Yeo Moon-beom returned, saying he had fully recovered and they could play again.
But after hearing Dr. Hong’s words and thinking it over, he felt it might be better to just subtly seduce him today, rather than acting on his own desires.
The Yeo Moon-beom that Eun-hwi knew was perceptive, quick to understand others’ feelings, and extremely patient.
If he showed his impatience clumsily, he might incur dislike rather than endearment. Hadn’t he already experienced enough of growing distant the more he tried to get close out of a desire for friendship?
Showing a disheveled appearance might mean not just in appearance, but also in approaching the other person with a relaxed mindset.
“Mm-hmm. I understand. I’ll do that.”
“You’ve thought well, Dokkaebi-nim. In the meantime, this Dr. Hong-salgwi will find out as much as possible about effective seduction techniques, so don’t worry too much! I also hope that Manager Yeo continues to stay with you, Dokkaebi-nim.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. I’m saying this sincerely.”
“Thank you, Dr. Hong-salgwi.”
Grateful for Dr. Hong’s support rather than finding it strange that he had fallen for a human, Eun-hwi smiled more brightly than ever.
“Then I’ll be going now. Please go in and rest, Dokkaebi-nim.”
“You be careful on your way home too, Dr. Hong-salgwi.”
“Yes, Dokkaebi-nim!”
After exchanging farewells, the half-dokkaebi pondered as he opened the front door and stepped inside. What kind of disheveled appearance should he show to get a reaction from Yeo Moon-beom?
‘Have you ever done something you weren’t particularly interested in for someone else’s sake, and even enjoyed doing it?’
It felt like solving a mysterious riddle, but the thought that Yeo Moon-beom’s heart would be the reward made it entirely enjoyable.
The intensity of his heartbeat was completely different from when he had blindly imitated human behavior out of a desire to become human.
“It feels like dokkaebi fire is flickering in my chest…”
Just looking at him made Eun-hwi feel ecstatic, his lower abdomen warming up, his mouth going dry, and his head feeling dizzy. It felt as if dokkaebi fire was blazing around his heart.
Does everyone feel this way when they fall for someone?
Just then, a good idea struck Eun-hwi, and he opened the wardrobe door of the three-tiered closet where he kept the gifted clothes.
It was an afternoon that made him look forward to the night.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
