The Dokkaebi Waiting for the Moon

Chapter 1

Prologue: Dokkaebi

“There is no monster more cruel than humans.”

On a winter night when the full moon shone brightly, these were the words spoken by an otherworldly being to a child whose gaze was captivated by the red flames burning the moon house.

However, in the child’s golden eyes that reflected the moon, the humans appeared only as innocents laughing and spinning flaming ropes. They didn’t look like fierce and cruel monsters at all.

“But I still like humans. I want to become human and live like one.”

The child, belonging to neither the realm of spirits nor humans, reached out with their tiny hand and grasped the hand of the jangseung dokkaebi who had lived for fifteen hundred years.

Unlike the warmth of their own hand, the child felt the rough, cold texture of wood grain against their palm.

“If you want to become human, stay away from humans. Don’t get close to anyone, don’t give your heart to anyone. That’s the only way for you to survive.”

Staying away from humans as the only way to become human – what a puzzling statement. The child’s small head tilted in confusion.

“Is it a riddle?”

“Does it sound like one?”

“Yes. It’s too difficult.”

The child, eager to become human and escape their lonely existence without friends, groaned as they tried to solve the riddle.

“Let’s kill that dokkaebi monster spreading plague in our village before it’s too late!”

It was now the middle of the night, and the date had changed. The moon house had become torches, and bloodstained undergarments hung on long poles. The ear-piercing sound of the shaman’s bells shook the gloomy island.

The New Year’s full moon festival in the mountain village had turned into a dokkaebi exorcism ritual.

“Hwi, shall we play a game of hide-and-seek?”

“Hide-and-seek?”

“You can hide anywhere on Wolhwa Island. But you must never let humans see you. Understood?”

“Yes!”

No matter how difficult the hiding place, the jangseung dokkaebi always found the child. When the child pouted in disappointment, he would comfort them with handfuls of tiny star-shaped candies, as numerous as the stars in the night sky.

It was a game enjoyable whether won or lost.

Eager to eat the candy as soon as possible, instead of going far away, the child opened the gate of the house situated halfway up the mountain.

“Eun-hwi, I’m sorry for leaving you alone. It’s the only way to save you. Please understand this foolish father.”

Confirming with his spiritual power that the child had entered the usual hiding place in the storage room’s yellow elm chest, the jangseung dokkaebi stood in front of the tightly locked gate and swung his magic club.

To protect his child from the impending doom.

Soon, a blue flame made of soul fragments enveloped the entire house, creating a barrier. It was a magical shield that would prevent anyone without a spiritual artifact imbued with dokkaebi’s will from entering the mansion.

“Hide well, hide well. Don’t let your hair show. Hide well, hide well. General Tiger is coming out. Hide well…”

With this, the child would continue to believe that the game of hide-and-seek would go on forever, living alone on this small, isolated island.

Until a human arrived to take over his role.

The jangseung dokkaebi closed his eyes, suppressing the desire to see the child’s face one more time.

This was a child born by breaking heaven’s laws and taboos. There was one last bet he had to make for the child he would give everything for without regret.

A once-in-a-lifetime bet on the child’s fate.

Whoosh—

A blue soul-fire as cold as a winter lake engulfed the jangseung dokkaebi’s body. Burning brightly as if doused in oil, he soon became a great fireball cutting through the vast sky over the sea.

A generation had passed since then.

The jangseung dokkaebi, wandering throughout the Korean peninsula in search of an opponent for his bet, found a young man on the verge of death, collapsed halfway up a mountain.

White fox fur was stuck to various parts of his badly torn body, and bright red blood seeped from three scratches across his left cheek and chin, as if deeply clawed.

How did he, with a human body, dare to fight against a spirit?

It was no ordinary matter. It seemed he had managed to escape without losing his liver. Though lacking spiritual power, he was a human with exceptionally strong willpower.

His soul was purer than any other the dokkaebi had seen before. It was the first time since leaving Wolhwa Island that he had met an opponent who seemed likely to defeat him and win the bet. A smile spread across the jangseung dokkaebi’s face.

“Hey there, Mr. Kim. I am Kim Gabi from Wolhwa Island. Would you like to make a bet with this old man? If you win, I’ll give you what you desire most.”

What he desired most.

A spark of intrigue flashed in the young man’s eyes, clouded with despair.

It was the beginning of the bet.

One. General Tiger

A cool evening breeze blew through the deserted forest path and into the tree tunnel formed by deep green vegetation.

Eun-hwi paused his cleaning and stretched his back as a gust of wind cooled the day’s heat. The sun had already begun to set, dyeing the western sky in twilight hues.

It was sunset, signaling the start of night. Soon the sun would set, and the moon would rise.

The time of the dokkaebi had arrived.

It had been ten years since Eun-hwi had secluded himself on Wolhwa Island, waiting for the jangseung dokkaebi Gabi to return after leaving home. For Eun-hwi, who could only count to twenty, half his life had passed.

Spirits often shunned him, a half-dokkaebi, saying he smelled of worldly troubles, while humans tried to block his approach to inhabited areas by pasting talismans drawn with rooster blood around the dokkaebi’s territory.

Unable to belong to either side, his days continued in terrible loneliness. He was always alone, but Eun-hwi was fine with it.

When the game of hide-and-seek ended, Gabi would return and embrace him tightly.

He drew water from the well to wash the now-dirty rag. Grunting as he set down the heavy bucket full of water, Eun-hwi let out a sigh, expelling the accumulated fatigue.

“I hope they don’t come today.”

Long ago, a resident of Wolhwa Island had spotted dokkaebi fire near the mansion of a wealthy recluse who had no interaction with the village. They finally discovered the true identity of the father and son who never aged despite the years and lived in luxury without working.

The villagers, blaming the dokkaebi for the cause of the money plague in the village, have since plastered talismans around the dokkaebi’s territory and never ventured near.

However, the newly elected youth chairman was different from them. Claiming he wasn’t afraid of any dokkaebi nonsense, he frequently came around shouting for them to show themselves, and at some point, he started bringing rough-looking men instead of fishermen lackeys.

They spouted incomprehensible things about developing the island into a resort and offering a good price for relocation expenses.

At first, they brought buckwheat jelly and beef, offering to exchange them for land documents. The irresistibly delicious smell made Eun-hwi’s nose twitch and mouth water.

‘What on earth are land documents? I need to know what they are to give them.’

He had searched the house and found papers labeled “registration of rights,” but Eun-hwi, who had barely learned to read, didn’t know if these were the land documents the youth chairman meant.

Moreover, he couldn’t reveal himself to humans while playing hide-and-seek with Gabi. Unable to do anything, he swallowed his tears and gave up on the food. When their persuasion failed, the men started hurling harsh insults.

One day they threw dozens of eggs, another day they sprinkled animal dung, and a few days ago, they terrified him by splashing horse blood around the house.

“It’s not that I’m refusing on purpose…”

The dejected words escaped his lips. He wanted to let them come find him directly, but due to the barrier Gabi had created, no living beings or spirits could enter the mansion.

Caw! Caw!

As Eun-hwi wrung out the washed rag, crows that loved shiny things circled above his head, flapping their wings.

Unlike human hair, dokkaebi hair shimmered like silk in sunlight even in darkness. The crows, coveting his hair that resembled black jewels, repeatedly dove towards him but were immediately blocked by the barrier.

“Fools.”

As if mere hair was worth anything.

If it meant he could become human, he would have gladly cut it off and thrown it to them.

Clicking his tongue at the crows that had finally given up and left, Eun-hwi stood up. His stomach growled, having run out of the wild strawberries he had picked a few days ago. He couldn’t dig up and eat unripe potatoes, so he had to go out to find food.

“I want to eat my father’s cooking…”

When would Gabi return and end this game of hide-and-seek? When could he become human and venture into the outside world?

He had spent ten years alone, showing himself to no one, believing the words that he must stay away from humans to become human. But his shimmering hair, sulfur-yellow eyes, and two horns the size of half a thumb remained unchanged.

Please come back soon and tell me when I can become human, Father.

As he was preparing to go out with a basket, hoping for Gabi’s safe return, he heard it.

Thump, thump.

The sound of someone’s footsteps in the distance. Eun-hwi’s pointed ears perked up.

Humans!