Little Pink Starfish

Ibi. In human names: Ibiwon.

Ibiwon is currently one of the most popular actors in Korea.
Not only is he beautiful and handsome, but his acting skills are excellent, earning love from people of all ages.

But his true identity is not human—he’s a goblin.
As a goblin, Ibi really liked the job of being a celebrity.
Because goblins by nature love to hang out and play with people.
So acting was, for Ibi, a perfect kind of job where he could mix with people and have fun.
And since he could even receive people’s love through acting, it was perfect.
Ibi was sure that if other goblins could walk around during the day like he could, they’d also love being actors.

“Ibiwon! Ibiwon! Over here! Please look this way!”

“I love you, Ibiwon!”

“Ibiyaaa! I flew from Jeju Island just to see you!”

Today was Ibiwon’s fan meeting and autograph event.

Cheers and camera flashes exploded from all directions.
Fans were packed tightly, bouncing and waving their hands, desperate to make eye contact or get a response.
When Ibi smiled with his eyes and waved back, the cheers got even louder.

In the end, he had to stop walking.
He felt sorry for the bodyguards who were sweating while holding back the crowd,
but he couldn’t ignore those lovely and pitiful hands reaching out, hoping to shake his hand or get an autograph.

He signed as many as he could, and only then was he able to go inside.
Once the door closed, the cheers quieted.
As he spoke to the bodyguards, thanking them for their hard work, a very happy voice called out to him.

“Ibiwon! It’s been a while!”

He turned toward the voice and saw a familiar person pacing nervously.
Ibi greeted them with a friendly smile.

“Hello, reporter Kang Jinseo.
It’s the first time we’re meeting since the premium screening of Snowfall last year, right?”

“You remembered!”

“Of course. I really enjoyed that interview. How could I forget?”

Ibi smiled brightly and sincerely.
Kang Jinseo, who had been eagerly waiting, went blank in the head at that smile.

Usually, actors as successful as Ibiwon were incredibly expensive to deal with.
They were picky and hard to handle.
Even getting an interview often involved endless reschedules and cancellations.
It cost a lot, and sometimes you even had to endure rude behavior.

But Ibiwon was always a joy to meet and worth the wait.
His good looks went without saying, and his way of speaking was always kind and gentle, full of manners.
It didn’t feel fake.
Each word and gesture was soaked with real affection and warmth, making it impossible not to love him.

“I’m sorry. I’m a bit late. You waited a long time, didn’t you?”

“Oh, please. Everyone knows how devoted you are to your fans.
It’s the ideal attitude for a celebrity! Let’s do a quick interview before the fan meeting. Is that okay?”

Even as a veteran reporter used to seeing beautiful faces, Kang Jinseo’s heart always fluttered when meeting Ibiwon.
He had a strange charm that pulled people in the more you looked at him.
Kang Jinseo muttered like a chant in his head: “I’m a man,” “Ibiwon is a man too,” “He’s a man!”
Then he took out his notepad and recorder.

Just like Jinseo said, the interview wasn’t very long.
But during the talk, when Jinseo’s hands trembled, Ibi gently held them in comfort.
Because of that, Jinseo got flustered and couldn’t find his next question for quite a while.

When he returned to the waiting room after the interview, someone was already there.
They were muttering lines while looking at a script.
When they saw Ibi, they quickly stood up and bowed deeply.

“Senior! Nice to meet you. I’m Im Sooyoung, the MC for today’s fan meeting.”

“Nice to meet you, Sooyoung.”

When Ibi reached out for a handshake, Sooyoung opened her eyes wide in surprise and quickly grabbed his hand, her face turning bright red.
Ibi smiled gently because she looked so adorable.
Sooyoung’s face turned even redder.
She puffed her cheeks and stared at the script, trying to calm down, and even that looked cute to Ibi.

Time passed, and the fan meeting was getting close.
Sooyoung glanced at the clock, then suddenly stood up.

“Senior, I’ll head out now.”

“Okay, Sooyoung. I’m counting on you for today’s fan meeting.”

“Of course! Leave it to me, senior! I’ll do my absolute best!”

Sooyoung spoke overly cheerfully and left awkwardly, the door creaking as she went out.
Ibi smiled and waved, then turned to look at Dongjitdal and Sowol standing nearby.

“Dongji, do we have any red bean jelly left? Could I have one?”

“Yeah.”
Dongjitdal pulled one out of his pocket.
Ibi loved all kinds of sweets, but among them, red bean jelly was his favorite.
He took a bite and looked into the mirror.
Sowol was next to him, pretending to brush on makeup while laying out tools from the kit.

“Should the eyebrows be a bit darker?”

“Yeah. And I think you should add more volume to the curls too.”

When Ibi brushed his eyebrows with his finger, they became darker.
When he touched his hair lightly, it shaped as he wanted.
This was a light form of transformation magic, useful for acting.

As Sowol looked proudly at Ibi’s appearance, admiring it, he suddenly tilted his head.

“I’ve been wondering… why do you work so hard at acting?
It’s not like you need money.”

Dongjitdal and Sowol, in name, worked as Ibiwon’s manager and stylist.
So they saw firsthand how seriously he took his entertainment work.
To Sowol, it was hard to understand why Ibi, who didn’t need human fame or money, was working so hard as a famous actor.

“Well, first of all…”

As he touched his lips and checked the color, Ibi smiled with his eyes.

“…because humans are lovely.”

“Ohh,” Sowol murmured in understanding.
Goblins had always loved playing with humans.
Not just goblins—non-human beings in general were instinctively drawn to human yang energy.
But goblins could only act at night, and their dark energy often scared humans unconscious.

“What’s the second reason?”

“More than anything… because I want to meet the Scholar.”

Even though Sowol had been with Ibi for quite a while, this was the first time hearing about the Scholar.
He blinked.

“The Scholar?”

“When I was just born, there was a kind man who took care of me.
I need to meet him again.
And for that, I thought… if I become famous, maybe the Scholar will recognize me.”

Hearing this, Dongjitdal, who had been quietly listening, let out a snort.
It sounded like he didn’t like the idea.
Sowol frowned, puzzled, and asked:

“Which time period is this Scholar from?”

“Hmm… about 500 years ago, I think.”

“Ibi, humans don’t live that long.
He would’ve passed away a long time ago.”

Because non-humans often didn’t understand how short human lives were, Sowol gently explained.
Ibi recalled the distant past and gave a bitter smile.

“That’s right… he died a long time ago.
But the Scholar is different.
He promised he’d come back to find me someday.”

“But Ibi, humans…”

Sowol started to say something, then shook his head.
Ibi just smiled quietly.
He knew what kind of beings humans were.
It was simply a wish he’d held onto for a very, very long time.

Once he was mostly ready, Ibi got the signal that the fan meeting was about to start and headed out.
He waited briefly behind the stage.
As soon as Sooyoung called out his name, he stepped out, and the long-waiting fans exploded into cheers.
Sweet and soft yang energy poured out from all around.

To Ibi, all of this was familiar and ordinary.
Even before becoming an actor, whenever he mingled with humans, Ibi was always a goblin who received love.