The Dokkaebi Waiting for the Moon

Chapter 4

“…What are you touching?”

When Eun-hwi asked with a puzzled look, he pointed to the small horn about the size of a thumb joint with his index finger.

“This.”

“The horn?”

“Yes. The horn.”

“…”

“I’m curious and want to touch it. Is that okay?”

Eun-hwi had always been embarrassed by his horns, which couldn’t even compare to Gabi’s thick, long, and threatening horns that looked like ornaments on a hat. He had wished countless times for them to disappear whenever he was teased for having small horns because he was only half-dokkaebi.

Horns that seemed insignificant to ghosts apparently looked different to human eyes. Like crows coveting shiny hair.

Still, it was a strange request. Thinking this, Eun-hwi bowed his head deeply. While doing so, he hoped that his horns would be pulled out and disappear by the human’s hand.

“They’re really small. Are they still growing?”

The man lightly tapped the horn with his fingertip. Eun-hwi, who had been clenching his molars expecting a forceful pull, blinked with his head still bowed.

As if truly intending only to touch the horn, the man ran his thick, long finger along its length.

“…Ah!”

A tingling sensation suddenly ran up his spine, making his hair stand on end. Eun-hwi, shuddering from a stimulus he had never felt before, quickly raised his head to look at the man. As their eyes met, the man’s deep, profound gaze curved gently.

“You’re cute.”

Cute?

Was he cute because his horns were small? Or cute because he looked insignificant?

For some reason, it felt like the latter. Although he shouldn’t feel upset anymore after being teased so much since childhood, he somehow felt deflated.

Because it seemed that this man, too, was no different from those who enjoyed tormenting others.

Feeling glum, Eun-hwi reached out to cover his horns. It meant he had indulged the man enough and didn’t want to be touched anymore. But the man said with a smile as if Eun-hwi was doing well:

“Yes. Keep covering them well like that. Don’t let anyone but me touch them.”

“…Huh?”

“Promise. Come on.”

“Huh? …Okay.”

Even when ghosts tormented him, they never deliberately touched his horns. When Eun-hwi inadvertently agreed, the man greeted him with a satisfied expression.

“Well then, I’ll be going. Goodbye.”

Just as Eun-hwi was feeling relieved that the man was finally leaving after saying such incomprehensible things, a strong scent of mint wafted through the air. It was a smell imbued with the breath of a cool breeze.

Realizing that this scent, which even overpowered the sweetness of candy, was the man’s body odor, Eun-hwi stared blankly at the man who continued speaking with a languid smile.

“See you tomorrow.”

Keep covering them well. Don’t let anyone but me touch them.

I’ll come to check tomorrow.

Only after the man had left through the gate did the half-dokkaebi finally understand the meaning of the promise.

* * *

It was an eerie night with only the mournful cries of mountain birds echoing. The man, enveloped in a strong scent of mint, slowly walked along the forest path bathed in blue moonlight.

Click, tap.

Click, tap.

The sharp metallic sound of clashing metal broke the mountain’s silence. Each time the zippo lighter’s lid opened and closed, the smile on the man’s face faded.

Gradually, the warm light in his expression disappeared, revealing a perfectly colorless face devoid of any emotion.

His face, showing not even a hint of weakness like an impenetrable fortress, seemed as though it wouldn’t crease even if a fierce beast appeared before him.

The man appeared utterly indifferent to everything, emanating an intensely cold aura. Only the long, gash-like scar in the shape of the character “川” (stream) filled the void of his empty emotions.

The red scar, which didn’t look too old, seemed deep enough that it wouldn’t fade even with the passage of time. However, the man didn’t seem the least bit ashamed of this mark, like a crack on a smooth sculpture.

Rather, he welcomed this trace that allowed him to recall the memory of despair from the day the wound was inflicted at any time.

Click, tap.

Lost in thought, the man opened and closed the lighter’s lid once more. The expensive lighter, densely studded with diamonds at the bottom, had a diagonal scratch that seemed to connect with the scar on his chin.

The man habitually rubbed the groove on the surface with his fingertip, recalling the old man with an unusual gaze and mysterious abilities.

‘How about a bet with this old man? If you win, I’ll give you what you desire most.’

On a cold winter day when even the blood dripping from his chin was freezing, a large old man proposed a bet to the man who was dying from a white fox’s attack.

Although his spiritual eyes weren’t open, he could immediately tell that the old man was a ghost. He had seen the black fox, disguised as human, serving as the loyal servant of Jang Gitae, the chairman of Gang-il Group, for far too long.

No matter how naturally they disguised themselves as humans, they couldn’t hide the negative energy residing in their eyes. There was a distinctly different, cold energy within them compared to humans with positive energy.

‘Go to the storehouse of our house and check inside the chest. The prize for the bet will be there.’

He entered the bet prepared to die in order to stab Chairman Jang in the back. It was a bet to find the jangseung dokkaebi transformed into people or objects in ten places reminiscent of the Ten Kings of Hell.

Although he nearly lost his life repeatedly due to lack of spiritual power, the man faithfully engaged in the competition for six long months.

Responding with wisdom and strategy rather than physical strength. Attempting counterattacks whenever the opportunity arose.

And finally, having grasped victory, the man came to Wolhwa Island today to find the dokkaebi site in order to obtain what he had so desperately wanted.

“…Ha.”

He opened his left hand, which he had been clenching all along, and looked at the terribly crumpled candy wrapper. The small boy with eyes holding the full moon, whom he had obtained as the prize for the bet, flickered before his eyes.

His name was Eun-hwi, wasn’t it?

He was just a kid who couldn’t even properly read English written in Hangul, knowing nothing of the world. His pale face showed no trace of dirt, making one wonder how he had grown up.

Was it a dokkaebi’s trick?

Or was it truly the prize for the bet?

At first glance, he had only thought he’d been fooled and should sell the boy in the black market. Although his appearance was indeed too precious to sell.

What the man had wanted was not a pure being like freshly fallen snow, but a powerful weapon that could annihilate the souls of Chairman Jang and the ghost, the black fox, who protected him.

Click.

He opened the lighter’s lid and rolled the friction wheel to create a spark. Then he held the edge of the wrapper to the yellow flame and began to burn the trash.

The plastic, blackened and distorted into an amorphous shape by the flames, soon turned into a handful of ash. Although it disappeared without a trace as if it had never existed, the man brushed off the ash on his hand as if it displeased him.

“Interesting.”

If he hadn’t witnessed the blue-burning soul fire, he would have turned back without a moment’s hesitation.

The man turned his head to look at the mountain path he had come from. His sunken eyes reflected the dark and distant forest, as black as the night sky.

Two months remaining until breaking ground for the resort construction.

It was more than enough time to determine whether the boy with ghost powers could be of use to him.

For two months, the man intended to do his best to confirm the boy’s abilities. Only then could he judge whether he could be used for revenge.

Nevertheless, if he found nothing in the boy by the deadline, he could simply sell him off and bulldoze the entire Wolhwa Mountain. There was nothing to lose.

“Live up to my expectations, Mr. Dokkaebi. I’ll play along as much as you like.”

A sense of excitement boiled up from deep in his chest. He became intensely curious about what would be at the end of this bet that seemed not yet over. As long as he could grasp what he wanted, he was willing to be played with by dokkaebi tricks.

After all, he would be the final victor.

His languidly stretched eye corners trembled finely with bubbling excitement and killing intent. The man, tucking the lighter bearing the white fox’s trace into his breast pocket, took a step forward with the moonlight at his back.

“You’ve arrived, sir!”

Two members of the demolition crew, who had been guarding the village entrance connected to the mountain foot like sentries, bowed at a 90-degree angle to greet the man.

With thick chain gold necklaces around their necks and rough appearances, they looked quite different from the man in his neat suit. Anyone could see they were of a notably lower class.

“What are you doing, Jeon Sunam? Hurry up and greet Chairman Jang Gitae’s son.”

Yang Jincheol, who had earlier mistaken the man for a member of a rival construction company’s demolition crew at the dokkaebi site and picked a fight, only to be thoroughly beaten, hit the back of the youth group leader Jeon Sunam’s head.

“Ah, why do you always mess with me, hyung? I’m going to get brain damage at this rate, damn it. I’m the leader of the Wolhwa Village Youth Group. If you keep disrespecting me like this, I won’t cooperate.”

The man immediately grasped the personalities and relationships of the three men: the youth group leader who immediately glared and talked back, the chubby one desperately trying to please the chairman’s son regardless of their squabble, and another member cautiously observing from the middle.

As well as how to use them as tools.

“You said your name was Yang Jincheol?”

“Yes.”

Before the “that’s right” response could fully ring out, a fist with a thick ring on the middle finger flew into Yang Jincheol’s face with a whooshing sound.

Thwack!

A sound like bones cracking echoed. Everyone froze at the man’s unexpected action.

“Don’t show off your strength carelessly in front of me.”

Brushing the blood off his hand, the man continued with a nonchalant expression.

“It’s irritating.”

“I-I’m sorry, sir! I’ll stay still from now on!”

Yang Jincheol, who had heard rumors about the chairman’s son being incredibly cruel despite his constant smile, nodded frantically. The cold glint in the eyes between the arched brows instilled fear.

“And your name?”

“Ah, yes. I’m Park Jeongbae, sir!”

The member wearing a flashy paisley shirt answered nervously. As if even having the man’s gaze on him was burdensome, Park Jeongbae was drenched in cold sweat.

“Starting tomorrow, you’ll stay at the dokkaebi house. I’ll give you a list, so go and get the necessary items first.”

Footnote:

1) Ten Kings of Hell (十王地獄): The ten hells in Buddhism