The Dokkaebi Waiting for the Moon

Chapter 6

The young dokkaebi named Eun-hwi was more suspicious than he appeared. The man realized he needed to immediately change his strategy from persuasion and threats, the methods typically used by the demolition team, to an appeal that would evoke sympathy.

Soon, a voice filled with indelible disappointment flowed from his mouth.

“I went all the way to the mainland to buy meat. Are you going to cruelly drive me out in the middle of the night? I have nowhere else to go. Let me stay with you.”

From Wolhwa Island, a solitary island rising in the vast sea, it takes an hour and a half one-way by speedboat, or at least three hours by a small boat to reach the nearest mainland.

Since the hole-in-the-wall shop that could barely be called a supermarket only had alcohol, cigarettes, butane gas, and mosquito coils, he had sent Park Jeongbae on the boat of Jeon Sunam’s fisherman underling to do the shopping.

In the meantime, the man had only reread the materials about dokkaebis obtained from the monster expert at the inn.

“You… you went to the mainland?”

As expected, the naive dokkaebi took the bait.

“For six hours round trip, on a boat. I thought I was going to die from seasickness.”

The man pretended to cover his nausea, swallowing the words “my underling did.”

Confusion flashed across the innocent-looking, clear face. He shuddered with an expression of utter disgust, as if he had experienced seasickness before.

“Ugh…”

The young dokkaebi hesitated for a long time, stepping in and out from behind the pillar, unsure of what to do.

His red lips, looking moist as if something had been applied to them, moved slightly. However, the words only mumbled inside his mouth, unable to come out as sound. The guilt of causing seasickness had made it impossible for him to express any further refusal.

He’s falling for it.

This was exactly the type of being that dokkaebis were said to be – unable to use petty tricks, naive, and always falling for human schemes. The crooked line at the corner of the man’s mouth changed into a gentle curve.

“So, you’re allowing it?”

The man, who had made the decision on his own, relaxed his intense gaze and smiled nonchalantly.

“Umm… Hmm…”

Faced with the now bright and shiny expression, Eun-hwi couldn’t bring himself to say no. He seriously considered whether he should make a bet with the man to send him out.

“Mr. Kim, let’s play gonggi…”

“Do you have rice at home?”

Eun-hwi was about to ask, “Want to bet with a game of gonggi?” as he wasn’t confident in wrestling at all. The man cut him off and asked an unexpected question.

“…Huh?”

“I asked if you have rice.”

Not knowing how to cook, Eun-hwi had been living on potatoes, wild vegetables, and mushrooms grown in the backyard garden. There was no way he would have rice in a mountain without rice paddies.

When Eun-hwi shook his head instead of answering, the man pulled out a sack with a large Chinese character for “rice” written on it from his bag.

“What about wrap vegetables?”

“Wrap vegetables? What kind of wrap vegetables?”

“Things like lettuce or perilla leaves.”

“No, I don’t have those.”

Although they were easily available in every garden in the village, Eun-hwi couldn’t grow them because it was difficult to obtain seeds and seedlings. When he shook his head again, the man produced a transparent bag of wrap vegetables, as if he had expected this.

“What about sauces?”

“Sauces?”

“Gochujang or doenjang.”

“Uh… I think I only have soy sauce?”

The doenjang and gochujang made by Gabi had long been used up for dipping wild vegetables, but there was some soy sauce left in the jangdokdae.

A few years ago, after seeing some Mr. Kims dipping raw fish in soy sauce, he had tried sprinkling it on dried fish, but the taste was so salty, saltier than seawater, that he never opened the lid again.

“Here you go. Doenjang and gochujang.”

The man took out two smooth boxes labeled “Traditional Doenjang” and “Sun-dried Gochujang” respectively, followed by mushrooms, kimchi, vegetable side dishes, and stew ingredients.

“Is that… a magic bag?”

A bag that produces things at will without even wielding a dokkaebi’s magic mallet. These humans nowadays create all sorts of things.

Once, he had learned about something called a “TV” that showed the human world in a square box. Curious, he had secretly snuck into the bald Mr. Kim’s house, which was often empty, and watched it day and night, freely observing the outside world.

He held a grand dream in his heart to visit the capital, Hanyang, once the hide-and-seek game ended.

But one day, when the bald Mr. Kim returned home and saw the TV turning on by itself even when unplugged, he caused a commotion, saying it was possessed by a ghost. He sprinkled salt on the perfectly fine TV and beat it with a peach branch until it broke, forcing Eun-hwi to reluctantly move his residence to the next house.

Perhaps it was a mistake to go to the village chief’s house.

When the same thing happened again, the village chief’s son, Jeon Sunam, realized it was dokkaebi mischief and went on a rampage, threatening to set fire to Wolhwa Mountain. Eun-hwi could no longer go to watch TV. Regrettably.

“Does this look like a magic bag to you?”

“Things keep coming out as you say.”

“You’re right. They do keep coming out.”

“Can I look inside?”

The boy, who hadn’t been swayed by the Two Plus Hanwoo beef, approached with eyes full of curiosity. The man knelt beside the bag and gazed at the youthful face looking up at him intently.

His plump cheeks, still retaining baby fat, were slightly flushed on the upper part, reminiscent of a plum. His round eyes and gracefully curved eye corners made him look as gentle as a lamb.

His golden jewel-like eyes, transparent skin that seemed to have never seen sunlight, and hair that sparkled even in the darkness gave a mysterious impression while also proving that he wasn’t human.

Should one say he possessed a beauty that was very alluring but, like the monster Sirens from Greek and Roman mythology who lured sailors to their deaths, absolutely must not be fallen for?

However, the man was not foolish enough to be deceived by such clever illusions and fail to grasp the hidden essence. He knew better than anyone how detestable and sinful these ghosts with the power to attract people were.

“Curious?”

“Yes!”

The funny thing was, unlike the Sirens who meticulously calculated to take human lives, this dokkaebi was quite dull-witted.

One moment he’s frantically running away like a mountain hare facing a human, the next he’s fearlessly approaching and asking to see inside the bag. He was like a herbivore showing curiosity towards bait, not realizing it was a trap.

Makes one want to bite him to pieces.

He consciously suppressed the rising impulse. The boy was merely a tool and means to achieve his goal, not his plaything. He needed the power of a god that humans couldn’t possess, so for now, he had to win the young dokkaebi’s favor.

The man spoke in a low voice.

“You can’t.”

“Why?”

“It’s a company secret.”

“Tch…”

Eun-hwi’s shoulders drooped dejectedly at the firm refusal. His gesture, openly expressing his emotions, naturally brought a smile, but the man spoke without showing any reaction.

“Instead, I’ll show you something interesting. Think of something you want to eat.”

“Something I want to eat?”

“Something other than beef or buckwheat jelly.”

“Okay. Plu-“

“Shh. In your mind.”

The man put his index finger to Eun-hwi’s lips and reached into the half-zipped bag. As he rummaged inside with movements as if performing magic, the half-dokkaebi’s eyes sparkled with expectation.

Please let plum-flavored candy come out.

Please let plum-flavored candy come out.

Eun-hwi earnestly wished for candy to appear in the bag, repeating the words in his mind over and over.

“I wonder what’s in here?”

The man, speaking with feigned innocence, finally pulled out his hand. The half-dokkaebi, his long eyelashes fluttering with tension, unconsciously swallowed dry saliva.

“Ta-da.”

The large hand that had been clenched opened, revealing a handful of individually wrapped plum-flavored candies. It truly was an amazing magic trick that could surprise even a dokkaebi.

“Wow!”

As Eun-hwi exclaimed in admiration and reached out his hand, the man quickly curled his fingers inward and clenched his fist again. Eun-hwi’s hand waved pitifully in the air. In an instant, he had become like a dog chasing after chickens.

“If you eat these first, you’ll spoil your appetite. Let’s have these for dessert after the meal.”

“Oh? Okay…”

“Which room can I use? Let’s put down the luggage first.”

The man stuffed the candies into his pants pocket, picked up the magic bag, and strode into the main hall. Even though the house was built taller than ordinary hanok to accommodate Gabi, the jangseung dokkaebi’s height, the man was so tall that it seemed he could touch the ceiling beams if he stretched his hand.

“Ah, right! We need to turn on the lights!”

Unlike outside where the moonlight shone brightly, the inside of the house was dark. Realizing that humans didn’t have the bright eyes of dokkaebis, Eun-hwi floated a small dokkaebi fire to prevent the man from bumping into walls.

A pure blue flame flickered as if alive, hovering above Eun-hwi’s palm.

The man stared intently at the ball of fire, which looked fragile at first glance but seemed to have life force welling up from deep within, and spoke in a low voice.

“This is the dokkaebi fire I saw yesterday.”

“What do you think, isn’t it amazing?”

“Rather than amazing… it’s impressive. Can I touch it?”