The Dokkaebi Waiting for the Moon

Chapter 2

The old tiled house where Eun-hwi lived was a no-entry zone with a barrier that prevented anyone from entering, but it couldn’t hide what was inside.

There was no time to find the Dokkaebi hat. Eun-hwi threw down the basket and quickly turned to run into the storehouse. Then, he opened the chest where he used to hide and silently cry whenever he was tormented by ghosts, and crouched inside.

As he buried his head between his drawn-up knees, the loud beating of his heart echoed in his head.

Thump, thump.

Thump, thump.

Eun-hwi listened to the sound in his chest and prayed desperately.

As always, for Gabi to open the chest and take him out. To wipe his tear-soaked eyes with her fingertips and comfort his sorrow.

“Hey, monster! We know you’re in there, so open the door while I’m asking nicely. Stop being such a pain, okay?”

However, the youth group leader’s shouts while violently banging on the gate couldn’t be drowned out by his heartbeat. Eun-hwi covered his ears tightly and sang a song in his mind, like during hide-and-seek.

Hide, hide well. Don’t let your hair show.

“Do you know what I’m holding in my hand? It’s a sword that catches dokkaebis. If you keep hiding, I’ll rip your belly open!”

Hide, hide well. The tiger general is coming…

“Damn it, you’re not opening? Open it right now!”

Judging by the ear-splitting curses, it seemed he intended to torment Eun-hwi until he was exhausted before leaving, as usual.

Today, he felt especially miserable about his life, where he was not only pointed at for being different but also faced hostility. Tears welled up. His cheeks, once a delicate pink, turned pale white. Teardrops flowed, dampening them.

“… *sob*”

How much time had passed? By the time his tears had dried up, the harsh curses that made his heart pound just from hearing them had disappeared.

The trembling half-dokkaebi hugged his hunger-protesting body tightly inside the box as big as himself.

Unaware of the unfamiliar footsteps, or the strange scent mixing with the tense air.

Growl.

As his stomach growled, the approaching footsteps grew closer.

Is father back?

Startled, Eun-hwi lifted his head from between his knees and blinked his wet eyes. The heavy footsteps stopped abruptly in front of the chest’s single door.

Creeeak—

With a spine-chilling noise from the large hinge, the top door slowly opened.

The moonlight seeping through the gap and the sharp scent of mint made him momentarily dizzy. Eun-hwi watched as if observing the first intrusion.

“…Ah.”

The intruder was not the seeker jangseung dokkaebi, but a human.

A human tiger general.

“The price of a life-risking bet.”

A low, deep voice rang out clearly. Eun-hwi held his breath and confirmed the man’s face.

“Just this little brat?”

The half-dokkaebi’s eyes took in the three long scars on his left cheek and jaw as if clawed by a beast, and his enormous, mountain-like physique.

He was human, but a monster-like, chilling man.

His black eyes, which could only be described as ‘cruel’, shone deep and secretively in the shadows. The vivid bloodstains on his clothes induced extreme fear.

“I’ve been fooled. By that damn dokkaebi old man.”

The man sighed deeply as he brushed back the hair falling over his forehead, then grabbed Eun-hwi’s chin and examined him closely.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with this?”

His sigh, sounding utterly perplexed, disturbed the quiet silence. A deep frown creased his prominent brow.

He seemed displeased with the appearance of someone wearing traditional Korean clothes, uncommon these days, with small horns on each side of the head.

“…Ugh.”

The thick silver ring on the man’s middle finger pressed down hard on Eun-hwi’s chin. Tears welled up again in his gently curved eyes, both from the fear of being discovered by a human and the physical pain inflicted.

“Tsk.”

The sound of an irritated tongue click was heard.

“Stop crying.”

“…*sob*”

“Come on, stop it.”

“…*sniff*”

“I said stop crying.”

The strange intruder who had broken through the barrier suddenly wiped Eun-hwi’s eyes with his thumb. The dewdrop-like tears were swept away by the thick, rough finger, leaving only moisture behind.

Feeling the warmth distinctly different from Gabi’s touch, Eun-hwi forgot his crying and looked up at him.

“Name.”

“…”

“What’s your name?”

“Eun… hwi…”

“Eun-hwi?”

For some reason, the corners of the man’s mouth deepened into a smile. It was a gentle smile that didn’t match his rough appearance.

“Pretty. Just like your face.”

Looking into the golden eyes that held the full moon, the man continued.

“Too precious to sell.”

…Sell?

Where?

As Eun-hwi stared blankly at him, unable to comprehend these words, the man wiped the moisture from his thumb on his clothes and extended his hand as if to help him up.

“Come out.”

Eun-hwi sensed it.

That the moment he took his hand, he would be one step closer to the human world he so longed for.

‘If you want to become human, stay away from humans.’

However, the half-dokkaebi, barely suppressing his curiosity, used all his strength to turn into a ball of fire.

Into a dokkaebi fire that chilled the hearts of those who saw it.

The bluish afterimage of the soul traced a path as it slipped through the cracks of the storehouse door. The trajectory, resembling the fluttering wings of a dancing butterfly, was breathtakingly beautiful.

The eyes within the narrowed gaze, tinged with amusement, flashed intensely for a moment. Strong desire filled and surged in the low, wave-like undulating eyes.

Looking at the fading ghost fire, the man muttered.

“Really. It’s too precious to sell.”

* * *

“Phew… I thought I was going to die.”

Only after hiding in the grass far from the dokkaebi site could Eun-hwi finally catch his breath.

The half-dokkaebi, who had collapsed onto the weed-covered ground, wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. After running for his life, his limbs were trembling and his vision was spinning.

Eun-hwi, lacking in divine power, could only maintain his dokkaebi fire form for about three minutes.

It was a very short time, but since he rarely had to use magic, even those three minutes felt burdensome.

It was fortunate that the youth group leader and his men had left; otherwise, he might have been discovered by even more humans.

…He had spoken with a human for the first time.

Until now, Eun-hwi’s only conversation partners had been Gabi, ghosts, and animals.

However, the ghosts thoroughly ignored him, and Eun-hwi only spoke one-sidedly to animals, so it would be more accurate to say he had no one to talk to except Gabi.

“Who was that Mr. Kim?”

The first rule of hide-and-seek: Hide within Wolhwa Island.

The second rule: Don’t let humans see you.

Eun-hwi mostly stayed within Wolhwa Mountain, where it was difficult to encounter humans, in order to follow these two rules set by Gabi.

Of course, this didn’t mean he was completely secluded in the mountain. Since the entire Wolhwa Island was the domain of the hide-and-seek game, he would occasionally go down to the village wearing the dokkaebi hat when he got bored, to observe the humans.

Mr. Kim of the blue-tiled house, Mr. Kim of the green-doored house, Village Chief Mr. Kim, Mr. Kim of Younbok Store, Pretty Mr. Kim, Bald Mr. Kim, Glasses-wearing Mr. Kim, Big-nosed Mr. Kim…

There was no one on this island Eun-hwi didn’t know. The man was clearly an outsider who had come from the mainland, like the youth group leader’s companions.

‘Stop crying now.’

The image of the intruder, with fierce tiger-like eyes, yet soothing him with a gentle tone and caring touch, lingered in his mind.

He was terrifying enough to make every hair on his body stand on end, yet strangely, not entirely frightening – this Mr. Kim.

How on earth did he get into the house?

When Eun-hwi fled the house, he saw a swarm of fruit flies unable to cross the wall, circling in front of the gate. This meant that Gabi’s barrier, which prevented the entry of all beings with souls, had not been destroyed.

He didn’t break through the barrier with spiritual power. Nor did he enter with the permission of the house’s owner, the jangseung dokkaebi.

By what method, then?

“Aaargh, I don’t know!”

His head felt like it was about to explode from this inexplicable phenomenon. Eun-hwi gave up thinking and ruffled his hair vigorously.

His hair, sparkling like scattered star fragments, tangled with his slender, white fingers, then slipped away repeatedly. A squirrel that had been eating wild strawberries until its cheeks were bursting stopped moving and stared at Eun-hwi in the flickering light.

“…Huh?”

Just as he was feeling confused and unable to make sense of things, he suddenly remembered what the man had said.

‘I’ve been fooled. By that damn dokkaebi old man.’

“But I’m not an old man… Did his eyes deceive him?”

After grumbling to himself, he soon realized that the dokkaebi the man referred to was a different one. It seemed he had some connection with his father, Gabi.

But why did he think he had been fooled?

Although dokkaebis are known as mischievous spirits, Eun-hwi had never seen Gabi deceive anyone. He only helped by bringing good fishing harvests every year or preventing natural disasters, never doing anything malicious.

The reason Eun-hwi secretly tried to find lost items for villagers, despite being treated as an evil spirit, was partly because he liked humans, but also because he had grown up watching his father, Gabi.

The man must have misunderstood. There was no way the kindest and most considerate Gabi would have deceived him.

Therefore, there was a need to clear up this misunderstanding.