The Dokkaebi Waiting for the Moon

Chapter 19

Despite Bang Ki-bong’s desperate pleas, all the photos were overexposed, appearing completely white. It was impossible to distinguish whether the subjects were human, dokkaebi, or ghosts.

It was a result that made his threats about the otherworld seem futile.

“What’s wrong? Did anything show up?”

“Yes, something was captured.”

“What is it? Don’t tell me it’s dokkaebi fire?”

“No. Just my face looking terrible in every shot.”

“…”

“I’ll have to delete them all. I don’t like them.”

As he deliberately smiled and deleted all the photos, Bang Ki-bong’s face fell into an expression of utter despair.

Moon-beom, who had been watching the dramatic change of emotions with a sidelong glance, put the camera in his pants pocket.

“You deleted the photos, so why are you taking the camera!”

“I have to take something for disappointing me.”

“…You dirty, petty human.”

“Have you ever seen someone who runs a gambling den being ethical? Thank you for the compliment, Professor. I’ll strive to be even dirtier and pettier in the future.”

Moon-beom laughed heartily and finally got to the main point.

“Now then, will you give me what I was supposed to receive? The real item.”

His chest bubbled with excitement at the thought of confirming Eun-hwi’s true abilities. Moon-beom habitually rubbed the scar on his chin with his thumb as he slowly curled up the corners of his mouth.

“Ugh…”

Eun-hwi paced anxiously around the room before stopping abruptly and messing up his hair. He couldn’t get the image of making eye contact with the outsider Mr. Kim out of his mind.

What should I do? What should I do?

He had broken the rule of the hide-and-seek game by letting a human see him.

He had considered Moon-beom an exception since he was a human who passed through the barrier with Gabi’s permission. That was also why he had accepted the man who had nowhere else to go.

But this time, he had shown himself to a strange outsider Mr. Kim who couldn’t pass through the barrier and wasn’t even a villager. It happened because he was absentminded, and he felt he would be severely scolded by Gabi rather than receiving star candies.

The dejected half-dokkaebi sat down lifelessly with slumped shoulders. Although Moon-beom gave him candy every day, it was just part of the lodging fee. It didn’t have the same meaning as receiving them from Gabi.

Nothing gave him as much satisfaction as the reward given after successfully finishing the game. He had lost the only joy he could experience in his long, monotonous life.

“Well, well! If it isn’t Yeo Moon-beom, the gambling den manager!”

Just as he was sighing deeply in disappointment, the voice of the outsider Mr. Kim pierced his ears. The tips of his pointed ears perked up involuntarily.

…Huh?

Judging by how happily he called Moon-beom’s name, they seemed to know each other well. It appeared that the outsider Mr. Kim had come here to meet Moon-beom, not for the land documents.

“…”

Once again, an inexplicable feeling of disappointment seeped into Eun-hwi’s heart. Since it was an older Mr. Kim, he didn’t feel as disappointed as with Siri, but he couldn’t help feeling upset nonetheless.

But what’s a gambling den manager?

Moon-beom is a police officer…

As he listened to their conversation, Eun-hwi looked down at the moon rabbit bandage he was clutching and recalled what Moon-beom had said.

‘I carried these around to treat my coworkers who often got beaten up. I didn’t expect to use them on you, Eun-hwi.’

If he worked somewhere fights broke out frequently, he probably wasn’t a doctor. Perhaps it was the police station. In the TV show “Mungchi and Ppokki,” Mungchi’s dad also personally applied bandages to treat his fellow officers whenever they were hurt by bad criminals.

‘What? I guess they’re not that close. He doesn’t even know he’s a police officer.’

Considering that he knew nothing about what Moon-beom did before coming to Wolhwa Island, they didn’t seem to be very close. It seemed more like they were just acquaintances rather than close friends.

“…That’s a relief.”

Although they hadn’t known each other for long, he was the one who knew Moon-beom better. Thinking this way made his chest feel considerably lighter, as if a huge boulder had been lifted off it.

He no longer needed to worry about Moon-beom quitting his job as a police officer and leaving for the mainland with the outsider Mr. Kim to become a wanderer.

He didn’t want to part with him so quickly.

“What are you doing here, Mr. Bang Ki-bong?”

…Bang Gui-bong?

As he was listening intently to Moon-beom’s voice, full of wariness, an even stranger name than Siri came out of his mouth. Eun-hwi burst out laughing involuntarily.

“Oh my, his name is Bang Gui-bong.”

He tried his best to cover his mouth to prevent the sound from leaking out. As he rolled around clutching his aching stomach from laughter, he could no longer hear the conversation between the two men.

“It’s even weirder than Maengkkong-i.”

Before he turned twenty for the fifth time, there was a person called Maengkkong-i living on Wolhwa Island. His original name was Lee Maeng-gon, but according to Gabi, a government official doing a census had mistakenly recorded ‘gon’ as ‘kkong,’ turning him into Lee Maeng-kkong.

Who would have thought there could be an even weirder name than Maengkkong-i, who died as a bachelor and became a ghost without even getting a wife.

He wanted to secretly peek at Bang Gui-bong’s face wearing the dokkaebi hat, but remembering Moon-beom’s words not to come out, the half-dokkaebi suppressed his urge.

If he disobeyed again after promising to trust him, Moon-beom would surely get angry.

Eun-hwi spread out the folded bedding and lay down with his head on the pillow. Having finished cleaning, he planned to laze around until Moon-beom returned after sending away the outsider Mr. Kim.

“Weird name. Hehe.”

Moon-beom, who had received permission from Gabi to enter Hwichukdang, and Bang Gui-bong, who came to see Moon-beom.

The fact that two humans had seen him was due to Gabi’s permission. Then suddenly the thought struck him that he hadn’t willfully broken the rules of the hide-and-seek game.

“Oh? Then Father won’t scold me either?”

Even as he kept laughing while holding his stomach, he couldn’t shake off the anxiety that had settled in his heart like sediment.

Regardless of winning or losing the hide-and-seek game, he didn’t want to disappoint Gabi when he returned from his arduous task.

But if all this was according to Gabi’s intention, then it was a different story.

The accumulated worries and concerns floated away like paper boats on a river. He felt proud of himself for being able to think quite logically, perhaps because he had lived through twenty fifteen times. His chest swelled with pride.

“What a relief. I won’t get scolded.”

Eun-hwi, grinning with relaxed lips, gently placed the moon rabbit bandage he had been holding on the floor. Perhaps because his mind was at ease, drowsiness washed over him as a reaction.

He had started sleeping at night and waking up during the day like Moon-beom, and he had been diligently cleaning the house since early morning, so fatigue had piled up.

As he buried himself in the soft cotton blanket, his eyelids, which had been fluttering like dragonfly wings, closed heavily. His sulfur-yellow eyes, which had been shimmering brightly, disappeared like the moon hidden behind clouds.

The continued sound of the two men’s conversation hummed in his ears. Eun-hwi drifted off to dreamland, using the faintly audible baritone voice as a lullaby.

Phew— Phew—

As he breathed softly, his white cheeks puffed up and deflated repeatedly, following the movement of his smacking lips.

A small peace that settled in place of the vanished fear.

The half-dokkaebi, having completely shed his tension, enjoyed a sweet afternoon nap as delightful as plum-flavored candy.

* * *

After passing through a dense oak forest, Eun-hwi discovered a huge lake of buckwheat jelly and was about to jump onto the firmly set jelly.

“…Eun-hwi.”

At the low voice calling his name, his small feet hesitated and stopped. He had been planning to swim gleefully in the lake and eat buckwheat jelly to his heart’s content, but he felt slightly annoyed at the sudden appearance of an intruder.

“What?”

“Wake up and have dinner.”

“My dinner is right here. Giant buckwheat jelly…”

Eun-hwi shrugged off the hand on his shoulder and turned to the opposite side. Just one more step and he could plunge into the soft, smooth buckwheat jelly lake. He didn’t want to waste any more time because of the meddling Mr. Kim.

But just as he was about to stretch his legs towards the lake, a playful question came from behind him.

“Are you a bloodhound? How did you know I made buckwheat jelly salad?”

…Huh? Buckwheat jelly salad?

“Your nose is better than mine, and I’m the dog. You even said I smelled like mint. I can’t really tell.”

A low laugh tickled his ear.

Feeling the reality through his skin, Eun-hwi, who had been wavering between dream and reality, took a deep breath. The strong scent of mint overlaying the savory smell of buckwheat jelly permeated his nostrils.

A fresh and cool yet somehow bitter scent of leaves.

It was Moon-beom’s scent.

“Mmm… Moon-beom.”

He barely lifted the heavily lowered layer of skin and looked at the face of the man who suited that scent so well.

Languidly curved eyes and a high, arrogant nose bridge. Lips curled up at the ends and scars clearly showing traces of a beast. Eun-hwi’s eyes took in the face with strong contrasts that gave a deep impression.