Little Pink Starfish

Ebi narrowed his eyes and glared at Saeon, having recalled the grudge he had forgotten. It was because he couldn’t believe for even a second that Saeon had come purely as a fan. The smile on his face also slightly stiffened. Surprisingly, the fans gathered closely to get autographs started defending Saeon. Maybe they thought Ebi was being suspicious of Saeon…

“This handsome guy is a fan too! Look at this!”

“He’s been waiting with us since earlier!”

…Or maybe they were letting their guard down just because Saeon was good-looking. But he looked so shady—why? And he clearly wasn’t here before! While Ebi was still hesitating, one fan went “Geez,” and turned Saeon around for him.

“I’m telling you, he’s really a fan!”

As they said this, they pointed somewhere on his sling bag, and Ebi doubted his own eyes. Dangling from the bag was a black strap keyring, printed in holographic foil with “LeeBeeOne♥OneHoneybee.” It was a keyring made by the fan café. “Honeybee” was what fans of EbiOne called themselves—a play on reversing EbiOne’s name.

“It’s so cute that he carries it around!”

For some reason, a few students were smacking each other excitedly. Even if someone is good-looking, shouldn’t they be more cautious of a shady guy like that? And aren’t you all wearing the same keyring too…?

After a brief inner conflict, Ebi signed the photo that Saeon handed over. He even neatly wrote the three syllables: “Yoo Saeon.” He just wanted to finish signing and get Saeon out of the way. But Saeon wasn’t finished.

“Finger heart.”

…What? Ebi looked at him, doubting his ears as he was handing the photo back. But Saeon calmly continued, “Please do a finger heart.” His request was so shameless that Ebi’s eyebrow twitched. But behind Saeon, countless sparkly eyes were looking at Ebi.

“Oh, a finger heart is like this.”

Maybe thinking Ebi didn’t know what a finger heart was, Saeon casually raised one hand and crossed his thumb and index finger. The students burst into delighted giggles. I know what a finger heart is, okay! Ebi gave a bright smile and made the gesture, full of bitter resentment.

Incredibly, Saeon had another request. He handed Ebi his phone and asked, “Could we take a selfie too?” Since Ebi had already signed and taken photos with other fans, he reluctantly picked up the phone. He found it incredibly annoying how Saeon was using polite speech—something never heard in the bamboo forest.

Before he knew it, Ebi had given Saeon two finger hearts, one hand heart, two autographs, one shoulder-to-shoulder pose, and even three selfies. The fans, swept up in the extra service, were jumping with joy.

“That’s enough. Bee-One has a schedule. Everyone, leave.”

Dongjitdal, who had been glaring disapprovingly at Ebi surrounded by humans, couldn’t take it anymore and stepped forward. A fairly large man came over with a threatening frown, and the fans instinctively recoiled in fear.

“I said leave, didn’t I?”

With a glare that clearly said “Get lost,” Dongjitdal growled, and the fans let out a gasp and scattered. In the fan café, Dongjitdal was already infamous as EbiOne’s scary manager. To humans, his vibe felt intimidating, and rumors abounded that he was an ex-gangster or thug.

But one person—Saeon—stood firm. Dongjitdal furrowed his thick brows. And when he approached Saeon, Ebi was a little surprised. Saeon’s size wasn’t that much smaller than Dongjitdal’s.

“What the hell are you? Not going to get lost?”

Saeon silently stared at Dongjitdal, looking blank. Sowol watched like he was seeing some incredible human. Most humans either backed off or ran just by seeing Dongjitdal. It wasn’t just his aura that caused fear—he was also not exactly friendly to humans. But this hunter didn’t seem scared at all.

“Ebi.”

Rather than caring about Dongjitdal standing right in front of him, Saeon called out to Ebi. Ebi turned his head away, pretending not to hear, hoping Dongjitdal would drive him off. Sowol stared fixedly at Ebi.

Dongjitdal stared at Saeon, wondering if this was a new kind of stalker. Then he suddenly realized—Saeon had called Ebi by his real name, not his idol name. He leaned in with fierce eyes, causing Saeon’s hat to get knocked off and fall to the ground.

“Are you… a hunter?”

A strange cracking sound came from Dongjitdal’s body. Ebi, who had been pretending not to care, flinched and ran to Dongjitdal. Sowol, who had been watching with amusement, quickly moved to Dongjitdal’s side.

Ebi didn’t want Dongjitdal to find out Saeon was a hunter. Dongjitdal already hated anyone who threatened Ebi. Not just hated—he went completely berserk. If he found out Saeon was a hunter, there would definitely be chaos. And there were too many people nearby, and Ebi didn’t have enough power left to control them. He couldn’t just send Dongjitdal to heaven’s prison either, so he tried to soothe the fuming Dongjitdal.

“No, he’s someone I know.”

“He’s really not a hunter?”

Dongjitdal asked suspiciously and pulled out his phone. He compared the photo he had of the hunter’s portrait Ebi got from Arang to Saeon’s face, and only then did he lower his guard. But he didn’t stop pressing.

“Then what’s this about?”

“He’s a new human friend. A friend.”

Ebi slipped between them. Dongjitdal looked uncomfortably at Sowol clinging close behind him, then at Ebi, and grumbled:

“You have too many human friends.”

“It’s good to get along with all species.”

As he said this, Ebi gave Sowol a signal. Catching on quickly, Sowol started dragging Dongjitdal away. Even though he was half Dongjitdal’s size, and the latter resisted, Sowol managed to drag and occasionally even lift him.

“Come on, comrade Dongji. Calm down now.”

“Let go!”

“Tsk tsk. Ebi said he wants to talk with his friend, you wild colt.”

“Who’s a wild colt!”

Only once Sowol had dragged Dongjitdal far away did Ebi cross his arms defensively and look at Saeon. He had a face Ebi couldn’t read. His indifferent gaze toward Dongjitdal now turned to Ebi. Ebi tried not to look at the swinging strap keyring on the sling bag and asked coldly:

“Why did you come here? Don’t tell me it was really just for an autograph.”

Saeon glanced at the photo in his hand. It was covered in messages like:
“Yoo Saeon-ssi, fighting always! ^.^ – EbiOne –”
“Thank you for your support! – BeeOne –”
“Always thankful and love you. 🙂 – EbiOne –”

He opened his sling bag, slid the photo into a notebook, and carefully put it away. Then he asked:

“Are you mad?”

“No? Why would I be mad?”

Of course, Saeon had the face of someone convinced Ebi was angry. And in truth, Ebi was angry. He thought the feeling had faded over the past few days, but seeing Saeon’s face brought it back.

“If you really came as a fan… fine, whatever.”

Ebi almost said “never come near me again,” but changed his mind. After all, fans were precious to him—even among humans.

“But if you came to hunt me… then let’s end it today.”

Though Ebi made a decision, Saeon looked conflicted. Looking puzzled, he asked:

“Why are you mad?”

“I told you I’m not mad. We’re done, that’s all. I gave you a request, you got paid for it.”

Trying to calm his pounding heart, Ebi coldly summarized the situation. While he was at it, he pointed at his ankle. The red thread Saeon had tied was still dangling.

“While you’re here, untie this!”

“Why are you mad though…”

Ebi went on and on, but Saeon was fixated on the one question, tilting his head. Ebi, frustrated by the lack of communication, waved his hand in front of Saeon’s face.

“You are listening, right?”

“Was the kiss bad?”

At that, Ebi’s eyes widened, and he quickly looked around. Thankfully, no one was around. He grabbed Saeon’s wrist and dragged him to a more secluded spot. Saeon followed calmly, looking at his arm being held.

Once Ebi confirmed no one was around, he let go. Saeon’s eyes followed his hand, then returned to Ebi’s face.

“Are you mad because the kiss was bad? Was I bad at using my tongue?”

“No!”

Ebi jumped, flustered by the shameless question. He wanted to argue why this even counted as a kiss, but Saeon didn’t seem to hear and muttered his own conclusion:

“Even if it was bad, it can’t be helped. It was my first kiss.”

“I said I’m not mad because the kiss was bad!”

“First kisses are usually clumsy. I’ll suck better next time.”

Ebi screamed inside. What the hell did this hunter watch to say things like that!? His whole face burned. And yet the words “first kiss” stuck clearly in his ears.