Chapter 86
“Boss. We’ve arrived.”
The boat that had been cutting through the dark waters without rest finally reached land. Eun-hwi, who had just woken up to the sound of Oh Seok-gu bustling about preparing to dock, stared blankly at the harbor bathed in the unripe dawn light.
The southern coast harbor, the final destination of the Wolhwa Island migration journey he had visited long ago, had changed noticeably, unrecognizable from its former appearance.
Where old sailboats once docked, there were now large ships loaded with huge square containers big enough for people to live in. At the end of the embankment built at the port stood a massive lighthouse shining its light. Eun-hwi’s mouth gaped open at the strange and wondrous sight before him.
“Wow…”
The grandeur of the human world, beyond what he had vaguely imagined, struck his heart. Eun-hwi blinked several times to confirm that this surreal scenery wasn’t an illusion.
“It’s too early to be amazed.”
Yeo Moon-beom spoke with an amused voice. His expression was indifferent, as if there was no need to be impressed at all.
“Please wait a bit longer before getting off, Boss.”
Oh Seok-gu, who had dropped anchor, jumped onto the embankment and laid down a plank to create a gangway. Eun-hwi gathered his belongings and stood up, sticking close to Yeo Moon-beom as they disembarked from the fishing boat together.
Perhaps it was due to the excitement brought by the world just beginning to unveil itself?
Despite the fatigue accumulated from dozing throughout the journey, his steps felt light. The rough gray pier felt like a path full of blooming flowers.
“You can go in now.”
“Yes, Boss!”
Oh Seok-gu, having successfully completed his task, bowed deeply to Yeo Moon-beom once again, bending so low his crown was visible. Dr. Hong, who had disembarked from the boat half-asleep, waved at Oh Seok-gu with drowsy eyes.
“Can I take off the dokkaebi hat now?”
The harbor was quite empty due to the fishing boats that had gone out. Eun-hwi, who wanted to quickly remove the hat he had pressed firmly on his head to prevent it from coming off while sleeping, asked Yeo Moon-beom as soon as they passed the pier.
“Not yet. There are CCTVs, so you can’t. Take it off when we get in the car.”
“Car?”
“That thing over there.”
He pointed at a large iron carriage passing by, rattling with luggage loaded on its carrier. While Eun-hwi was marveling at its appearance, completely different from what he had seen on TV, Yeo Moon-beom spoke to Dr. Hong in a cold tone.
“Why are you still here instead of leaving?”
“Me? You mean me?”
“Who else would I be talking about?”
“Huh? Weren’t we going to Seoul together?”
“When did I say I’d give you a ride? Go on your own, take a taxi or a bus. Don’t you have a lecture today?”
Dr. Hong, shaking off his drowsiness at Yeo Moon-beom’s attitude clearly drawing the line that their companionship ended here, raised his small button-like eyes.
“A person should have limits to their coldness. How can you be so stingy? I don’t have a single penny! I’m the poorest of the poor!”
Dr. Hong pulled out his wallet with an extremely wronged expression and opened it wide. Originally, there should have been three green bills neatly tucked inside, but they had long since disappeared into Eun-hwi’s pocket, so nothing came out.
“Tsk.”
Yeo Moon-beom clicked his tongue as if exasperated by the wallet situation that didn’t produce even a speck of dust, let alone a single coin. He took out a wad of cash from his magic bag.
“Is this enough? Your methods of extorting money are quite varied.”
“Manager Yeo. I’m not doing this to ask for money! Don’t you understand?”
“You said you were dead broke and didn’t even have transportation fees. I’m offering to give you enough for round-trip transportation, a week’s worth of accommodation, and living expenses. What more do you want?”
“That’s…!”
Unable to finish his sentence, Dr. Hong felt around in the air for Eun-hwi wearing the dokkaebi hat. Reading the desperation in his gaze filled with unspoken language, the half-dokkaebi grabbed Yeo Moon-beom’s clothes and asked cautiously.
“Can’t we go with Dr. Hong-salgwi until we reach Hanyang? He’s been helping me all this time, so wouldn’t it be nice if we helped him too?”
“…”
“Let’s go together since we’re going anyway, okay?”
As Eun-hwi kept pulling on his clothes and whining, Yeo Moon-beom shook his head as if he couldn’t take it anymore. The yellow wad of cash in his hand went back into the magic bag.
“Just try to be annoying by using the kid again. I’ll throw you onto the middle of the highway.”
After making this stern threat, Yeo Moon-beom turned his back abruptly and headed towards the area marked “Parking Lot.” Dr. Hong, who had been standing blankly before hurriedly following, whispered softly into the air.
“Thank you, Dokkaebi-nim.”
“It’s nothing, Dr. Hong-salgwi. I should be thanking you for helping me not get caught by other Mr. Kims. By the way, what’s a highway?”
“Ah. You see, Dokkaebi-nim. A highway is a road exclusively for automobiles and construction machinery, built for fast travel. Except for privately invested routes, all routes are operated by the country…”
As Dr. Hong began his explanation, walking slowly, Yeo Moon-beom, who was walking ahead, turned back with a fierce look in his eyes.
“I’ll explain later, Dokkaebi-nim. Let’s see it for yourself when we get there. Ahem.”
Dr. Hong cleared his throat unnecessarily and widened his stride, quickly overtaking the two. Soon, the entrance to the parking lot appeared.
“Wow…”
The parking lot was filled with dozens of iron carriages. Eun-hwi, utterly amazed by the various shapes, colors, and sizes, kept exclaiming in wonder as he looked at the metal machines lined up neatly.
Beep beep—
Suddenly, an ear-piercing sound accompanied by intense light swept over Eun-hwi. He reflexively closed his eyes tightly, and when he opened them, he saw Yeo Moon-beom walking into that light.
“Didn’t you want to take off the hat? Hurry up and get in.”
He opened the door of a car noticeably larger than the others.
Unlike the angular and glossy cars, Yeo Moon-beom’s car had a streamlined body with a unique color and texture, like darkness absorbing light. It was such a luxurious vehicle that even Eun-hwi, seeing a car in person for the first time, could tell at a glance.
As expected, Yeo Moon-beom was a wealthy man who could live comfortably without working as a constable.
Much more so than himself and Gabi, whose only possessions were things like celadon vases and white porcelain bowls.
“Whoa…”
Eun-hwi climbed awkwardly into the passenger seat and took off the dokkaebi hat, revealing himself to Yeo Moon-beom and Dr. Hong. Dark eyes with a hint of blue-gray focused accurately on the half-dokkaebi’s eyes and smiled gently.
“Eun-hwi.”
“Yes?”
“Are you hungry?”
“I think I might be hungry, but maybe not?”
Eun-hwi answered while messing up his flattened bangs with his hand. Thanks to diligently observing the human world through TV, he was able to adapt quickly, but he was still in a daze. There was no room to feel hunger.
Yeo Moon-beom pressed a round control button to start the car. Then he pulled a strap about half a span wide with his outstretched arm and secured it to the edge of the seat.
“Let’s stop by a rest area first. We still have a few hours to go, so it’s better to eat something.”
“It’s still early, the food court will be closed.”
Dr. Hong, sitting in the back seat, poked his head out to join the conversation.
“The convenience store should be open.”
“…Convenience store? What’s that?”
“There’s a place Eun-hwi will like.”
“A place I’ll like?”
The small head with two horns about half a thumb joint long attached to it tilted to one side. Long eyelashes under the round forehead fluttered busily, filled with curiosity.
* * *
“Wooooow!”
It was exactly as Yeo Moon-beom had predicted he would like. Eun-hwi couldn’t close his widely opened mouth and kept turning his head around frantically like a startled rabbit.
The convenience store was a place on a different level from Young-ok’s General Store, which only had alcohol, cigarettes, and mosquito repellents. Several of the mysterious wonder drug Choco Yuyu and plum-flavored candies were displayed on the shelves.
“Gaya, choco, milk, 1,500 won… Drinking strawberry yogurt, 2,000 won… So cheap!”
He remembered buying a peach at several times the price of a pair of straw shoes at a market he once visited with Gabi. Eun-hwi, who had been anxiously checking the price tags, was now gaping for a different reason, surprised at the prices far below his reference point of a million-won pair of shoes.
“If there’s anything you want to eat, put it in here.”
Yeo Moon-beom handed him a square basket. Eun-hwi, firmly grasping the basket handle with both hands as if someone might snatch it away, asked in a voice trying hard to hide his excitement.
“How many should I choose?”
“It doesn’t matter how many. You can put in everything you want to eat or have.”
“Everything? Can I put in ten?”
“You can put in a hundred.”
As soon as he got permission, Eun-hwi filled the basket with products from the shelves faster than a squirrel looking for acorns to eat in winter. The delicious-looking foods drawn on the packaging surfaces awakened his appetite that he had completely forgotten about.
“Won’t the basket be too small? Use mine, Dokkaebi-nim.”
“No, I’ll just buy this much.”
Eun-hwi was contemplating whether to put in something called My Cha jelly into the basket that couldn’t fit anymore, but he managed to squeeze it into a narrow gap.
“Did you get everything?”
“Yes, here.”
He deliberately didn’t include candy. He planned to look around more places in Seoul and give Yeo Moon-beom the candy he liked best as a gift.
“Please ring these up.”
Yeo Moon-beom placed Eun-hwi’s basket on the counter. The seemingly unmotivated employee began checking each item with surprisingly quick hands.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
The endless loud machine sounds finally stopped. The employee looked at the screen and said,
“The total comes to 257,500 won.”
Gasp!
He thought it would cost at most one yellow bill, but it required more than five. At the amount far exceeding his expectations, Eun-hwi’s legs wobbled without him realizing it.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
