Chapter 85
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Under the moonlight quietly illuminating the world, a small fishing boat swayed back and forth with the leisurely lapping waves.
Eun-hwi, wearing the dokkaebi hat, watched the foam of the waves hitting the side of the boat while smelling the salty sea breeze.
He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen the white bubbles that swelled up and disappeared in an instant, and the waves that constantly rushed in creating sprays, this close.
However, Eun-hwi had no time to indulge in the leisure and romance offered by the night sea. Worried about being discovered, he hunched his neck and focused on the human presence he could feel on his skin.
He had managed to board the boat without being noticed by any of the Mr. Kims. Though he had fulfilled his promise and deserved a reward, it was still too early to relax.
It was because of the thug Mr. Kim lingering around the dock and Oh Seok-gu inside the cabin.
“Dokkaebi-nim, are you still beside me?” Dr. Hong whispered to Eun-hwi in a barely audible voice. Instead of answering, Eun-hwi poked Dr. Hong’s arm with his finger, causing him to let out a long sigh of relief and adjust his sitting position.
Even Dr. Hong, who usually loved to chatter about incomprehensible topics, kept his mouth tightly shut and waited impatiently for Yeo Moon-beom.
Clearly worried about Yeo Moon-beom’s trip to the village, he pushed up his sliding glasses several times and stared intently at the dock entrance.
‘Moon, please let Yeo Moon-beom return safely.’
He hoped Yeo Moon-beom would come here with a light heart, leaving behind any distressing emotions, without incidents like being pelted with eggs.
He wanted to fully enjoy the excitement of the trip with him.
Soon, he would be able to see the giant glass buildings, iron carriages, and the busy Seoul Mr. Kims hurrying about that he had only seen on TV.
Eun-hwi gently placed both hands on his chest, afraid that the sound of his pounding heart might leak out. Then he imagined his first trip with Yeo Moon-beom.
‘…’
Strangely, he found it difficult to picture the streets of Seoul he had seen on screen and himself wandering there.
Would he really be able to blend into that scenery?
Me, who has lived deep in the mountains all my life, ignorant of the human world?
‘A half-baked dokkaebi reeking of nasty human smell.’
‘An idiot who can’t read the room.’
‘A clueless mongrel.’
Suddenly, these stinging words, like thorns embedded deep in his heart, came to mind. The half-dokkaebi looked down at his clothes and shoes.
Though he looked no different from humans, he felt people would avoid him, sensing the inexplicable smell of difference. Perhaps they would even curse at him like the residents of Wolhwa Village.
In that case, wouldn’t it be better to keep wearing the dokkaebi hat like now?
All sorts of negative thoughts swirled in his head. As Eun-hwi waited anxiously for Yeo Moon-beom with an insecure face, he suddenly raised his head, catching the scent of mint mixed in the incoming breeze. A man standing at the end of the long walkway came into the half-dokkaebi’s view.
It’s Yeo Moon-beom!
His appearance as he approached with steady steps was not much different from when they left home.
The only difference was that he had rolled down his sleeves, which had been rolled up to his elbows, probably due to the strong sea breeze.
“Brother! You’re here?”
As soon as he spotted Yeo Moon-beom, the thug Mr. Kim quickly ran over and bowed in greeting. Watching the two of them standing side by side talking, Eun-hwi felt nauseous as if seasick, and his mood plummeted.
Why am I feeling like this…
The half-dokkaebi pressed his palm firmly against his chest, which was now beating even faster than before. He felt frustrated as it didn’t seem to help much.
“Seok-gu! Come out and greet the boss!”
At the thug Mr. Kim’s call, Oh Seok-gu, who had woken up, came out of the cabin. With his skinny build and dark, sun-tanned face, Oh Seok-gu was wearing pants with strings as usual to prevent them from slipping down.
“Ah. Hello! Yeo Moon-beom? Boss!”
“Hey, I told you earlier to call him Manager.”
“But me mother said to call all strangers ‘Boss’?”
“Alright, just make sure you escort him well to the port.”
“I’ll escort him well to the port!”
Oh Seok-gu bowed deeply to Yeo Moon-beom, his knees almost touching his nose.
Though his naive behavior might have seemed quite amusing, the thug Mr. Kim didn’t hit Oh Seok-gu’s head like the village Mr. Kims would. Instead, he patted his shoulder and stuffed four 50,000 won bills into his pocket, telling him to work hard.
That Mr. Kim must like Yeo Moon-beom too.
Eun-hwi could sense how hard he was trying to impress Yeo Moon-beom. Forgetting to be careful about not being discovered, Eun-hwi glared disapprovingly at the back of the head of this competitor who was wagging his tail next to Yeo Moon-beom.
“The item.”
“Here it is.”
The thug Mr. Kim took out a small box from his pocket and handed it to Yeo Moon-beom.
“You see, brother, it needs to be applied at least four hours in advance to be effective. That’s why I put it on my ears as soon as I wake up, but I’m not sure if it’s okay to put it on now. Ah, but it might be fine since it’ll take five or six hours to get to Seoul?”
The thug Mr. Kim, who had been chattering away, suddenly asked Yeo Moon-beom as if he had just thought of something good.
“Shall I apply it for you, brother?”
“No need. It’s not for me.”
“What? Don’t tell me it’s for that professor or whatever…”
Yeo Moon-beom looked at Dr. Hong and showed him the box. The thug Mr. Kim’s expression stiffened slightly upon realizing he had helped the wrong person.
“Let’s depart.”
At Yeo Moon-beom’s word, Oh Seok-gu went back into the cabin to prepare for launching the boat. A loud mechanical sound resonated. It was noisy enough to drown out most voices from outside.
“I’ll be waiting for your call! Take care on your trip, brother!”
Yeo Moon-beom boarded the fishing boat, leaving behind the thug Mr. Kim who was shouting at the top of his lungs with his hands cupped around his mouth.
Indeed, it seemed that he was the only friend who enjoyed night outings together. Judging by how Yeo Moon-beom didn’t even return a farewell greeting.
‘Serves him right. Hehe.’
Eun-hwi, who was secretly pleased seeing Yeo Moon-beom turn away without even a glance, grabbed his arm to make his presence known as soon as he entered the bow.
“Yeo Moon-beom, it’s me, Eun-hwi!”
“I was wondering where you were, so you were here?”
Yeo Moon-beom stroked the back of Eun-hwi’s hand with a gentle voice incomparable to how he had addressed the thug Mr. Kim.
There were no traces of being hit by eggs, but Eun-hwi could smell the scent of blood, incense-like fragrance you might encounter at a mountain god shrine, and the smell of oil-burnt fire coming from him.
It seemed that things hadn’t gone entirely smoothly after all, and the half-dokkaebi pondered what to ask him first.
“Stay like that for a moment.”
“…Huh?”
Yeo Moon-beom moved his hand carefully and grasped Eun-hwi’s nape with one hand, then applied a round patch about the size of a thumbnail below his ear.
“I don’t have any injuries though? Why are you putting a bandage there?”
“It’s not a bandage, it’s to prevent motion sickness.”
“How did you know I get seasick?”
“I just had a feeling you might.”
“As expected, there’s nothing Yeo Moon-beom doesn’t know… Thank you for being thoughtful.”
So it wasn’t for Dr. Hong, but for me that he asked the thug Mr. Kim.
The dark clouds that had settled in his heart vanished in an instant. A sense of superiority and confidence at being special to him filled the half-dokkaebi’s chest.
With someone as wonderful and kind as him by his side, it felt like no one would bully him. He felt foolish for thinking he’d need to wear the dokkaebi hat in Seoul.
“It’s dangerous to keep standing, let’s sit down for now.”
“Okay.”
Yeo Moon-beom put down his magic bag and found a suitable spot to sit. Then he pulled on the wrist he was holding and sat Eun-hwi on his lap.
“Sit here.”
“Am I not too heavy?”
“You’re not heavy. But it’s cold with the wind.”
“You’re cold? Then shall I warm you up?”
Eun-hwi wrapped his arms around Yeo Moon-beom’s waist, hugging him tightly without any gaps. Though he couldn’t give him motion sickness patches, he wanted to comfort him with his warmth after his long, tiring day.
“It’s warm.”
“Tell me if you get cold again. Then I’ll take off my clothes for you.”
Though it was too small to put his arms through the sleeves, it could at least be draped over his shoulders to block the wind.
“You’re manly, our Eun-hwi.”
“Of course. Naturally. I’m a fully grown adult man just like Yeo Moon-beom.”
As Eun-hwi puffed out his chest as if to say ‘just trust me’ and embraced him, Yeo Moon-beom chuckled and rested his chin on Eun-hwi’s shoulder.
“Hey, Manager Yeo. Feeling good hogging Dokkaebi-nim all to yourself? It’s sickening to watch, hmph!”
It seemed Dr. Hong could guess the situation just from the conversation he could hear. Displeased that the two were huddling together to avoid the cold, Dr. Hong pouted and showed signs of sulking.
“You can’t even see us, so what’s bothering you so much? If it’s because your eyes are blurry, why don’t you just go to sleep?”
Yeo Moon-beom dismissed Dr. Hong’s words lightly and took a deep breath, relaxing his body as if he too was about to go to sleep.
The half-dokkaebi slowly closed his eyes, listening to the grumbling sounds buried under the mechanical noise.
The sea breeze brushing against his cheeks felt cool. And the embrace holding him tightly was indescribably warm.
Wolhwa Island was gradually getting farther away.
The quietest and loneliest time in Eun-hwi’s life was swept away with the waves, disappearing behind the darkness.
“…”
Only Yeo Moon-beom, returning to reality after a long vacation, quietly ruminated on the past. From the day he lost his mother until he started his bet with the Jangseung dokkaebi.
The three lines of scars on his face, slightly twitching as he clenched his molars, shone brightly in the fishing boat’s light. The time had finally come to return the despair and pain etched along with those scars.
A blue dokkaebi fire that the villagers could never witness blazed in his dark eyes.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
