Little Pink Starfish

After walking for a long time again, the place they arrived at was the abandoned house. Saan tossed his sling bag carelessly onto the dust-covered wooden floor — just looking at it made you want to sneeze — and lay down, using it as a pillow. Ebi wandered around the floor for a while, then grabbed a handful of bamboo leaves, brushed away the dust, and gently sat on the edge.

He took out his phone and saw a message from Dongjitdal.

[Ebi when u coming ???]

He texted back saying it’d take a few more days, then glanced over at Saan. No matter how much of a hunter he is, how could he lie there so defenseless with a goblin — or at least a maybe-goblin — right in front of him?

Ebi plugged his phone into the battery pack and scrolled through SNS for a while, then glanced at Saan again. His eyes were peacefully closed over his straight nose. He looked so relaxed that faint snoring leaked softly between his slightly parted lips. His chin, tilted slightly back, looked sharp.

Maybe he’s just pretending to be defenseless…

Ebi had a sort of admiration for hunters. Humans were absurdly weak compared to yokai, and yet it was humans who hunted the fiercest great yokai. Among yokai who had lived for centuries, the most talked-about beings were always humans — and especially the hunters were everyone’s favorite story subject.

Ebi picked up a small pebble from nearby. After glancing around, he threw it at Saan. He imagined Saan would spring awake, whip out a dagger, and deflect the rock — but nothing like that happened.

Thunk! The pebble smacked Saan square on the forehead. Ebi froze — he hadn’t expected it to hit that hard. Without even opening his eyes, Saan let out a dull “ah” and rubbed the spot where a mark was forming… then went back to resting. Ebi, who had been waiting nervously for a reaction, felt oddly disappointed.

Saan, who had been sleeping with even breathing, finally sat up when the sun began to set. Ebi, in the middle of texting Dongjitdal “my battery’s dying soon,” perked up. Just in time — he was starting to get bored.

Groggily rising, Saan slouched on the floor and rummaged through his sling bag. Ebi peeked to see what he was doing and heard rustling — Saan took out a portable gas burner, set it in the yard, and lit a fire. Then he placed a pot on top and started cooking ramen.

The smell of ramen was so delicious that Ebi, still sitting politely on the porch, could only gulp down saliva. Saan gestured him over. Ebi rushed over and squatted nearby, and was granted the pot lid to eat from. Ebi smiled and gratefully received it.

“Thanks. I’ll eat well.”

He blew on it and slurped a bite, and Saan watched him curiously — like someone feeding an animal for the first time and wondering if it would eat.

“Do goblins eat ramen too?”

“Of course. We eat stuff like ramen too.”

“You’re not eating ramen because you’re not a goblin?”

“No! Wait — I’ll show you proof that I’m a goblin.”

Now that the sun had set, he could finally show the goblin flame he hadn’t been able to last time. After slurping up every last drop of broth, Ebi shot up. He was about to transform into the goblin flame — and then paused. His gaze dropped to his ankle, still bound with a talisman and snare.

“I can’t show you unless you untie this first…”

He lifted his ankle slightly and wiggled the snare with his fingers. Saan got up. Ebi froze, thinking maybe Saan was mad he’d asked to be untied.

But surprisingly, Saan sat down right at Ebi’s feet. He leaned over and fiddled with the snare. When it wouldn’t come undone easily, he pulled Ebi’s ankle, which made Ebi let out a shocked gasp — his shoe landed right on Saan’s thigh. A clear shoe mark printed itself on Saan’s black pants, but he didn’t seem to care at all.

Still gripping Ebi’s ankle, Saan peeled off the talisman and undid the snare. Then he took something out of his pocket — a thin, red silk thread. He wrapped it around Ebi’s ankle like a bracelet.

“What’s this?”

“I just thought red suits you too.”

Saan dodged the question and gave a vague answer. The odd bracelet-like thread around his ankle was suspicious, but Ebi decided to play along for now.

A blue spirit glow shimmered in his black eyes — and fwoosh, his whole body turned into a flickering blue flame. A moment later, a dancing goblin fire flickered in the spot where Ebi had been. He floated in front of Saan, practically saying See?.

Suddenly, Saan snatched him up at lightning speed and started squishing him like a rice cake. Ebi didn’t even realize what was happening until he was soft and flattened between Saan’s palms.

“…Fascinating. A day-goblin, huh.”

Saan stretched Ebi’s flame body left and right as he spoke. It was the first time in his 500 years that Ebi realized his goblin fire form could be stretched like this. After being squished, flattened, and finally crammed into Saan’s pocket, Ebi snapped out of it and returned to his human form.

He gasped for breath. For some reason, he felt like he’d just been violated.

“You’re not supposed to do that kind of rude thing to a goblin.”

“You usually can’t touch goblin fire, right? What’s with you? Is it because you’re a day-goblin?”

“I don’t know either, but… anyway! You’re not supposed to do rude things to a day-goblin!”

Ebi sternly scolded him while fixing his messy hair. For some reason, the tips of his ears felt hot.

Only after finishing the leftover ramen did Ebi finally calm down. While he plopped onto the ground and tried to cut the thin red thread around his ankle, Saan turned off the burner and gathered leaves and branches to make a small campfire.

“So why did you become a hunter?”

Ebi gave up trying to cut the thread and stared blankly at the flickering fire before asking. Saan poked the fire with a long stick and replied casually,

“Because it’s fun.”

“Because it’s… fun? Like, you make good money or something…?”

Saan, resting his chin on the back of his hand, glanced sideways at Ebi. The flames flickered in his unreadable black eyes. Ah, now that I look closely, he has a mole under his left eye… And he’s got pretty deep eyelids, too…

“Not because your family was harmed or anything like that?”

Dealing with yokai was extremely dangerous. Every year, many people, driven by revenge or greed, became hunters — and just as many died. Some yokai even made a sport of hunting down hunters.

“When I’m hunting—”

“…Yeah?”

Ebi stared at Saan’s face, examining it closely. He’d seen better-looking people before, but for some reason, he couldn’t look away.

“I enjoy killing with my own hands.”

Ebi snapped out of it. He swallowed dryly — that tone of voice had sounded dead serious. Once again, Saan gave off the strong vibe of… a psycho.

“And killing monsters is more fun than killing animals.”

“G-goblins aren’t that fun to kill, probably!”

After tossing a dry leaf into the fire and thinking for a bit, Saan nodded.

“That’s true. You don’t get much out of it, and it’s not very hard.”

It is hard to kill a day-goblin! Ebi almost said that, but held back. He had a bad feeling that if Saan ever found goblin-hunting fun, he’d stop at nothing. Still, he had to ask:

“Then why did you try to kill me last time? If it’s not fun?”

“When did I?”

Saan blinked, looking genuinely confused. His expression barely changed, but to Ebi, he looked… oddly innocent. Ebi stammered.

“Last time, with the knife… You stabbed me right here.”

“I didn’t mean to kill you with that.”

For the first time, Saan furrowed his brow. Then what was that? If not trying to kill me, were you trying to harvest my organs? If Ebi were human, he’d be long dead. Saan suddenly reached out and poked the spot he had stabbed.

“Did it hurt?”

“No, well… it did sting a bit…”

As his fingers traced his sternum and side, Ebi shivered all over. Was it pain? Or was it ticklish? Maybe I’m just a little scared of him… right now.

“I see.”

Saan removed his hand. Ebi stared at his fingers. Under the firelight, pale scars shimmered on the back of Saan’s hand. Then he pulled out some baby potatoes from his sling bag and tossed them into the fire.

“That knife isn’t for killing. It’s for peeling.”

Peeling skin, you mean? Ebi didn’t know much about human ritual tools, so everything Saan said sounded ominous. Still, it seemed like Saan had at least tried not to hurt him, and that made Ebi feel a little better. Though… it didn’t change the fact that he’d been stabbed.

“I totally misunderstood, then. Next time, give me a heads-up.”

“Okay.”

Saan replied blankly. Then he asked, “Want a potato?” Ebi shyly nodded. While waiting for the potatoes to roast, a thought crossed his mind.

This is the first time I’ve been alone with a human since Seonbi passed away…

In the old days, day or night, either Igok or Dongjitdal always protected him. And since 200 years ago, Sowol had been by his side too. Maybe that’s why… just having a campfire going made him feel oddly excited. His chest tingled, and he fidgeted awkwardly with his fingers.