Little Pink Starfish

Suddenly, the King of Mangryang flicked the red thread tied around the leg. Ebi worried, “What if he asks what this is?” But Igok seemed to think it was just an accessory Ebi had attached and let it pass. That was a relief.

Ebi sat in Igok’s palm, settled like a melted sorghum rice cake, chattering about how hard it was to catch the silver fire. Ebi said it looked like silver fire during the day, but at night it all ran away. Listening silently, Igok brushed off the lotus pipe. Blue sparks spilled down onto the floor.

“It really was tough. But I brought back a portrait like this. Apparently, this is what the hunters who took our kids look like.”

Ebi rummaged through the soft inner feathers of their chest and took out a scroll about the thickness of a toothpick. Though it was that small, as soon as it landed in Igok’s hand, it returned to its original size and unfurled with a rustle. Igok glanced over the hunters’ faces briefly and folded the scroll again.

“So, how exactly did you catch that silver fire?”

“Um, I just tried really hard, and… well…”

“I’m asking how, exactly, did you catch it. The method.”

Ebi was momentarily at a loss for words. Quietly, Ebi stood up from Igok’s palm. Pretending to be busy, Ebi preened some feathers, but Igok just stared and waited for an answer. With a flutter, Ebi flew from Igok’s palm and landed near the window. After a flash of blue flame, a young man with a beautiful face sat there with a bashful smile.

“Luckily, someone I met in the forest helped me… by chance.”

Igok returned the scroll to Ebi. As Ebi looked sheepishly, he tucked the lotus pipe into his sleeve and said,

“Was it a human?”

Ebi smiled a bit brighter, but it was no use — Igok’s tone turned cold.

“I’ve always told you not to trust humans or keep them close, yet you never listen. You’re in no position to say anything about them.”

Igok gestured with his chin toward the goblins clinging to the human staff, eagerly eating snacks. One goblin, transformed into a strange three-eyed puppy, barked for another red bean jelly treat, tail wagging wildly. Seeing that, Ebi recalled how the staff had doted on them earlier and felt awkward. The only difference was probably that Ebi’s disguise was a bit more convincingly cute…

Watching Ebi and the goblins the whole time, Igok clicked his tongue.

“Those ones would act like that to any human, even outside.”

“…That’s true.”

“Oh, is it? Don’t act like you’re any different from them.”

What Igok said was painfully true, so Ebi had nothing to say. The difference between Ebi and the goblins was merely that Ebi, wearing the face of the actor Ebiwon, knew better how to receive affection like a human.

Igok sighed as he pulled the lotus pipe back out and lit it. The sigh was about as deep as the one Ebi had let out earlier. Quietly moving away, Ebi headed toward the elevator, thinking,

‘Didn’t Igok-nim once like humans, too?’

But looking back, even before the incident where humans kidnapped goblins, Igok hadn’t been particularly fond of them. Maybe the being known as the King of Mangryang was inherently different from goblins.

Ebi arrived at the top floor and approached their glass jar. Even in the dark, the candy inside glowed faintly but noticeably — and it was quite empty. In the past few days, while hiding from Sa-eon in the bamboo forest, Ebi had transformed quite a bit.

‘Stupid human…’

Rather than anger at Sa-eon, Ebi now felt a sort of sad emptiness. They poured candy into the jar with a clatter.

‘From a human’s perspective, goblins are monsters, and by that logic, I guess I really am a rare kind of monster.’

Maybe they found Ebi fascinating because they were sweet, too. With a bit of self-mockery, Ebi filled the jar with candy, turned into a goblin flame with a whoosh, and entered. But even then, they couldn’t fall asleep for a long while, rattling softly.

🍬

“Today is the script reading for Flowing Water. The schedule’s pretty packed, so you’ll be quite busy for a while.”

The newly assigned manager told Ebi the schedule with a bright smile. The previous manager, who had been thoroughly charmed by Ebi, was given indefinite paid leave to recover.

“Really packed.”

Ebi frowned while looking at the manager’s schedule planner. After a moment of thought, Ebi said,

“I think I need to reduce my workload.”

“Huh? Really? You, Ebiwon?”

The manager asked with wide eyes. Ebiwon’s fame had grown precisely because Ebi had worked day and night. It was all because of the hope that the reincarnated scholar might recognize and come find them.

But now, having met the scholar, there was no need to work so relentlessly. Of course, playing among humans was still fun, so Ebi had no plans to quit acting entirely.

“Yes, for a while, I’m only going to do commercials. I’ll still film this historical drama, but after that, I’ll take a break from movies and TV. Even variety shows.”

“Ah… understood. Still, just in case, I’ll keep accepting scripts that come in.”

Since Ebiwon’s popularity wouldn’t suddenly drop even after a long break, the manager nodded, accepting it easily. With a well-managed image and no major scandals, their value would only go up. Not that it mattered much to Ebi whether it went up or down.

“Ebi, you’re really cutting back on work?”

Dongjitdal asked with a suddenly brightened face. Pretending to be Ebi’s manager, he had tagged along, but really, he disliked being among humans. Sowol also looked up from their phone in surprise. Lately, Ebi had been worried about Sowol’s gaming addiction — they did nothing but play games except when eating.

“Really? What happened, Ebi? Was your trip to Gangwon-do tough?”

“No, not really tough…”

As Ebi started answering and looked over, Dongjitdal wore a puzzled expression.

The script reading for Flowing Water, a historical drama, was scheduled for today — and of course, Kim Eun-jun, who was co-starring, would be there. Dongjitdal had known the scholar even longer than Ebi. If fate existed, perhaps Dongjitdal had more claim to it than Ebi. Ebi had deliberately not mentioned Kim Eun-jun until the script reading day.

“Ahem. Dongji, listen carefully, and don’t be too surprised.”

“What is it?”

Dongjitdal looked up, annoyed that Sowol’s game ranking had overtaken theirs in the past few days. If it was something surprising, it had to be about Ebi — so concern quickly spread across their face. Ebi reached out and gently pressed down Dongjitdal’s furrowed brow.

“Do you remember Kim Eun-jun?”

“Who?”

“You know, that handsome, polite, well-spoken guy.”

“I don’t remember human names. I don’t care about them.”

Dongjitdal answered coldly, disappointed it was just about a human. Ebi quickly pulled up a photo on their phone and showed it, but Dongjitdal still couldn’t recall him. To their eyes, all humans looked the same anyway.

“Is he someone I need to remember? Did he do something to you?”

“No!”

Ebi jumped in surprise as Dongjitdal’s eyes turned sharp, glaring at the photo.

“I mean… Kim Eun-jun is… the reincarnation of the scholar.”

Ebi’s heart pounded as they waited for the reaction. Dongjitdal flinched and looked back at the photo. Sowol, too, stopped gaming and leaned in in surprise. As Sowol’s hair fluttered in front of them, Dongjitdal cringed and pulled away.

“This guy is the reincarnation of the scholar? How do you know?”

“Arang said he was.”

“This guy, this guy is the scholar’s reincarnation?”

Sowol also tried hard to recall old memories, but like Dongjitdal, they weren’t very interested in the human world, so they gave up quickly. Dongjitdal, trying to avoid touching Sowol, stared at the screen — and turned it off. For a moment, Sowol seemed more interested in Kim Eun-jun than Dongjitdal was.

Their reactions were just “Oh, okay,” and Ebi was flustered. They remembered how Dongjitdal used to follow the scholar around everywhere. How could they be this indifferent? What Ebi had hoped for was for Dongjitdal to be happy, just like them, to be reunited with the scholar.

‘Maybe it just hasn’t hit them yet.’

Just then, it was time to head to the script reading. Ebi stood up hesitantly, thinking Dongjitdal might feel differently after seeing Kim Eun-jun in person. Following the manager, Ebi moved toward the reading.