The Dokkaebi Waiting for the Moon

Chapter 40

Eun-hwi bit his lip hard to hold back his tears and swallowed his sobs. Soon, a large hand rested on his head. The big, rough palm stroked the back of his head as if comforting him.

“You were upset because I told you to stay in the room when you couldn’t sleep and wanted to go outside for some fresh air. I was insensitive.”

“No, it’s not your fault, Yeo Moon-beom.”

“Even if it’s not my fault, I’m still responsible. I forced you without even trying to listen to you.”

“…But.”

“Do you still want to be alone?”

“No. I want to be with you, Yeo Moon-beom.”

He didn’t want to be alone. Not just now, but he wanted to stay with him for a long time to come.

The half-dokkaebi, not wanting to experience the loneliness he felt after leaving Gabi again, offered a clumsy but sincere apology.

“I’m sorry, Yeo Moon-beom. For acting strange all this time.”

“Humans are naturally strange and capricious beings. They can become intensely emotional and then have their mood changed by something trivial, or feel rebellious when forced to do something even if they don’t mind doing it. You were the same.”

“But I’m not human, I’m a dokkaebi…”

“You’re a dokkaebi, but you’re human.”

Yeo Moon-beom corrected Eun-hwi’s words with a confident tone. His hand, which had been stroking Eun-hwi’s hair along the grain, gently tapped the top of his head and then lifted his lowered face.

“Some humans don’t even apologize when they do something wrong, they ignore it or even get angry and attack the other person. You’re apologizing first like this, so you’re definitely a much better human than those bastards.”

There was a human who respected him as a person, even though he was an obviously incomplete being. That fact alone was a great comfort, and the tangled sadness disappeared.

And the fact that this human was Yeo Moon-beom brought an indescribable joy.

Feeling unbearably angry and anxious, but then suddenly feeling touched by a single kind word.

According to him, these strange emotions were because he was human.

“Will you continue to be my friend?”

“Of course. If I didn’t want to be friends, I wouldn’t have made dinner.”

“…Thank you, Yeo Moon-beom.”

“I’ll grill some beef, so go sit at the outdoor table.”

“Okay!”

Eun-hwi sat at the outdoor table while Yeo Moon-beom went to the kitchen to finish preparing dinner. He felt that even if he had caught a strange disease affecting his manhood, someone like Yeo Moon-beom, who tried to understand him even when he was being unreasonably moody, wouldn’t find it disgusting.

However, he had no intention of leaving a disease that might be contagious to him untreated. He planned to visit the mountain god once Yeo Moon-beom fell asleep.

“It’s ready. Let’s eat.”

Yeo Moon-beom brought out a pot containing octopus legs with diagonal cuts, sea snails, square-cut potatoes, and sliced red peppers all stir-fried in oil.

The beef steak he brought along, about half a hand-span thick, was cooked to a dark brown on the surface, and another plate contained something that looked like larvae mixed with vegetables. It was a stark contrast to the usual neat arrangement of soup and side dishes in traditional Korean tableware.

“What’s all this?”

“Polpo, steak, and fusilli pasta.”

“Polpo? Steak? Fusilli pasta?”

Eun-hwi blinked his round eyes slowly at these food names he had never heard or seen before.

“It’s food eaten by big-nosed foreigners who use squiggly writing.”

“Ah…”

No wonder he smelled unfamiliar oil and unique spices. There was a reason why Yeo Moon-beom had been taking out ingredients with squiggly writing from his magic bag and putting them in the refrigerator whenever he had the chance. It was to make tonight’s dinner.

“I thought it might be good to change the mood with new food like this occasionally.”

Eun-hwi watched Yeo Moon-beom set the table and slice the meat with a knife. Each time he brought the knife down against the grain, the tender sirloin was cut smoothly. He had thought the inside would be black and hard because the outside was so dark, but the meat revealed was a bright red color, full of juices.

Gulp.

His mouth watered involuntarily as he was very hungry. Although the names like polpo and steak were strange, the food looked very appetizing.

Eager to taste the meat before him, the half-dokkaebi pressed down on his fidgeting bottom and said:

“Yeo Moon-beom, you even know how to make big-nosed foreigners’ food. How do you know so much?”

“I don’t know everything. Siri told me how to make it.”

“Siri?”

Come to think of it, Siri had said she knew everything except where her father was.

If that was the case, wouldn’t she surely know about the unidentified disease he was suffering from now?

Even though he was told it was fine now, he was reluctant to carelessly enter the mountain god’s domain after being so severely punished. Eun-hwi decided to first ask Siri about the cause of the disease, and if there was no solution, then he would go to the mountain god.

It was truly fortunate that there was Siri, a fake person who couldn’t transmit diseases. In a situation like this, he had no choice but to rely on her.

“The steak tastes best with mustard seed sauce. Here, try it.”

Yeo Moon-beom finished cutting and picked up a piece of meat of suitable size, spread some mustard seed sauce from a separate dish on it, and offered it to Eun-hwi.

“It’s delicious, yum yum!”

As he chewed, the savory aroma and juices spread throughout his mouth, and he exclaimed in the foreign language he had recently learned, making Yeo Moon-beom laugh lightly as he picked up his chopsticks.

“You seem much better than earlier. Your complexion has returned too.”

Eun-hwi, unable to say that it was because his worries seemed likely to be resolved soon thanks to Siri, nodded with his mouth full of meat.

His eyes, now clear and bright as the drowsiness had faded, were filled with expectation and hope. Yeo Moon-beom carefully examined Eun-hwi’s face, which now had a healthy flush, and asked:

“Since you’ve recovered, shall we start again from tonight?”

“Start what again?”

“The game we couldn’t finish last time. Sex.”

“Sex?”

He had completely forgotten about learning the game called sex from Yeo Moon-beom, being preoccupied with thoughts of the unknown disease and kissing.

“Let’s try it soon. It’ll definitely be fun.”

He had said it was a game that friends play using their bodies, which makes both feel good as they do it.

Although he wanted to play any kind of game regardless of what it was, he was afraid that something strange might happen like in the bathhouse if they weren’t careful.

“Can’t we do it tomorrow instead of today? I want to sleep early today. I’m sleepy.”

“Alright, then.”

Yeo Moon-beom shrugged and readily accepted the refusal. He didn’t seem particularly disappointed, as if he had no intention of rushing, but Eun-hwi felt sorry for unintentionally postponing it to tomorrow.

He was someone who hadn’t pointed fingers even once, despite having every right to criticize him. He didn’t want to disappoint such a person by postponing their promise again.

So, to play the sex game with him tomorrow, he had to find out the cause of the disease and treat it by tonight. Eun-hwi glanced repeatedly at the black, flat object protruding from Yeo Moon-beom’s pants pocket.

‘How can I talk to Siri alone…’

After dinner, they watched TV on the porch, learning about the human world, and when the drama ended, they went to sleep together in the main room. It was difficult to do anything alone as they were always stuck together without a moment apart.

But there was one time of day when he could be apart from him. Maybe then it would be possible to talk to Siri secretly.

The half-dokkaebi ate just enough to satisfy his hunger, not to become too full and drowsy. It was especially torturous with the beef right in front of him, but curing the disease came first.

His small hand gripping the chopsticks tightened. His lips, which had been chewing, closed firmly.

* * *

[We create a special world. Gang-il.]

The middle-aged Mr. Kim in the TV, dressed in sophisticated Western clothes, spread his arms and smiled benevolently. Just as Eun-hwi was about to ask if he knew this person who somehow resembled Yeo Moon-beom, Yeo Moon-beom turned off the TV.

Beep―

The beautifully ringing music disappeared, and everything around them fell into silence. Only the sound of leaves rustling in the wind broke the stillness of the night.

“That’s enough watching. Let’s go inside and sleep. You said you were sleepy.”

Eun-hwi turned his head at the gentle voice in his ear. Although Yeo Moon-beom was smiling, his eyes forming long arches, for some reason, his sunken eyes stood out more.

He had finished his meal in a good mood, saying the octopus legs were tender and delicious. Confused by the sudden change in attitude, Eun-hwi cautiously asked him:

“Are we stopping because I praised the TV Mr. Kim earlier?”

“TV Mr. Kim? Gitae from ‘Melting Point’?”

“Mm-hmm.”

When Eun-hwi had complimented the male actor in the drama, saying he was handsome and somehow resembled Gabi, Yeo Moon-beom had seriously retorted that he was much better than Gitae.

Surely that was the only possible cause, but Yeo Moon-beom slightly furrowed his brows as if he hadn’t even thought of it, and then belatedly showed a displeased expression as he said:

“I don’t care about him. You said you were tired and wanted to sleep early today, remember? Don’t watch that third-rate drama with no entertainment value when you’re not feeling well. It’ll rot your eyes.”