Little Pink Starfish

“I hope you won’t get annoyed no matter what I ask…”

Ebi sat near Igok’s feet, smiling sheepishly and laying on the charm. Igok twitched an eyebrow and looked down at him.

“Speak.”

“Well, um… the Seonbi-nim. Do you, by any chance, know what his name was?”

Ebi asked nervously, worried that Igok might get angry since Seonbi-nim was someone he especially disliked. Fortunately, Igok didn’t get angry. He indifferently stamped the documents—thunk, thunk, thunk—and answered.

“I don’t know that person’s name.”

“Oh… I see…”

“It’s not like I’m pretending not to know. I never exchanged a single word with him while he was alive.”

Looking bored after only glancing at the documents, Igok pushed them away as far as he could and said so. Ebi had asked just in case, but he hadn’t really expected Igok to know. After all, Ebi had first met Igok well after Seonbi-nim had died. The Mangnyang King had probably just picked up a discarded glass bottle—not interested in the name of a mere human like Seonbi.

Why can’t I remember his name? Feeling gloomy, Ebi lowered his head. Igok, displeased with the sight, lifted Ebi’s chin with a fingertip. Ebi lifted his head in surprise and started to smile at the king’s unexpected kindness—then froze.

Wait… come to think of it, there’s someone else who might know Seonbi-nim’s name.

Dongjitdal. He had known Seonbi even longer than Ebi had. As if summoned by the thought—speak of the tiger and it appears—Dongjitdal returned, dragging his feet after finishing work. Ebi immediately ran over. The jingle of bells must’ve caught Sowol’s attention, as she glanced at Ebi’s ankle as she came in with him.

“Dongji, I’ve got something to ask…”

“What is it?”

Despite being tired, Dongjitdal quickly responded to Ebi’s call. Ebi sat him on the sofa and brought him a vegetable juice. After sneaking a glance at Igok, he whispered softly.

“What’s Seonbi-nim’s name?”

“That person’s name?”

Ebi had no doubt that Dongjitdal would know. But after chugging the whole bottle of vegetable juice, Dongjitdal responded with a completely disinterested tone.

“No idea. Was it Lee? Kim? Maybe it was Jeong something?”

“W-Wait… you don’t remember?”

“That was forever ago.”

Ebi sat blankly, mouth agape. Normally, Dongjitdal barely remembered human names or faces. And clearly, Seonbi had become one of those distant humans to him long ago. Seeing Ebi’s face, Dongjitdal reluctantly added:

“You met his reincarnation, right? Isn’t that what matters now?”

“Well… that’s true, but…”

Still, it felt strangely important to Ebi to know Seonbi’s name. As if it were a memory that could never be recovered, now gone for good…

He suddenly had a thought: it must’ve been something very precious and irreplaceable.

Ebi, lost in that bittersweet thought, was snapped out of it by the sound of a text message. He checked his phone to see a reply from Sa-eon. Ebi, who had been slumped against Dongjitdal, immediately straightened up.

[imfine]

[nexttimeiwillyouredbeancakes]

He hadn’t expected a reply, so Sa-eon’s message made him incredibly happy. Ebi quickly typed back. He had to respond while Sa-eon was still looking at his phone.

[yesredbeanricecakesaresogood]
[they’resoreallygood]

As he wondered what else to say, hesitating over what kind of message to send, another message from Sa-eon arrived—surprisingly fast.

[ok]
[whatselseyoulike]

Even just getting a reply filled Ebi with joy. Imagining Sa-eon texting him brought a smile blooming to his face. Warm, soft brown eyes shimmered with light, and the tips of his ears flushed pink.

As Ebi concentrated on writing a reply, his earlier guilt and confusion about Seonbi’s name faded away—until it disappeared completely.

🍬

“Dongji, have you tried red bean rice cakes? They’re really good.”

In the middle of a game, Dongji gave him a weird look. Meanwhile, his character on the screen died. But Dongji didn’t care in the slightest. That was understandable—Ebi had talked about nothing but red bean rice cakes all day.

Dongji, for once, initiated a conversation with Sowol and asked:

“What’s wrong with Ebi?”

“Well, you see, Ebi is currently in a fling.”

While dodging a boss’s laser attacks, Sowol answered. The two gaming addicts had grown closer lately thanks to playing the same game. Their conversations were full of talk about gear upgrades, intelligence builds, skills, and other alien-sounding words—but it was good to see their friendship improving.

“What’s a fling? Is that something you ride?”

“Being in a fling means Ebi is about to start dating someone.”

Ebi’s eyes wobbled wildly, wondering how Sowol knew. She finally defeated the boss, looked at Ebi, and smiled as if she knew everything.

Ebi reflected. He had been smiling way too much lately. Constantly checking his phone for messages… frequently stepping out of the office. He nervously watched Sowol, wondering if she even knew it was Sa-eon he was seeing.

“Ebi’s getting married?”

“No! Married? We’re not even dating yet.”

Forget marriage—he wasn’t even sure they could become a couple. Sa-eon still seemed to view Ebi as a tricky hunting target, and it was highly likely this was all one-sided. Still, Ebi decided to value the fact that he and Sa-eon had formed a somewhat friendly connection. Unexpectedly, Dongjitdal showed excitement at the idea Ebi might get married.

“Then I’ll have two masters.”

While Ebi was busy wondering how to meet Sa-eon without Igok or Sowol finding out, Dongjitdal said something strange. Ebi tilted his head.

“Two masters?”

“If you get married, that person becomes my master too. Of course, you’re first.”

“Uh… I mean… is there really any need to have two masters?”

Ebi, flustered, tried to stop him. And besides, he might not even be a wife… Ebi mumbled, but Dongjitdal was already off in his own world.

“Can goblins have children? It’d be nice if you had a child. Then there’d be one little master, then two, maybe even three…”

While Ebi was still unsure if he could even date Sa-eon, Dongjitdal was imagining them with three kids and even asked if he could name one of them. Realistically, even if Ebi were human, if the other person was Sa-eon, they’d probably never have kids anyway. If he did end up dating Sa-eon, Ebi swore Dongjitdal would never find out.

[whatareyoudoing]

The message alert pinged. Ebi quickly checked—it was from Sa-eon. His face lit up. Lately, Sa-eon had been texting first and bringing treats whenever he visited, and Ebi’s happiness levels were rising rapidly.

[ImfilmingattheHaedalParktoday^^]

Ebi glanced around, looking for a spot with a nice background. He snapped a selfie from the most handsome angle he could find, attached it to a message, and sent it. Even to his own eyes, he looked like a magazine cover model. He grinned. He was doing everything he could to completely enchant Sa-eon.

[imnearby]

[nearby? where? illcometoyou]

[backgateofthepark]

Ebi jumped to his feet, then cleared his throat awkwardly as he felt eyes on him. When Dongji asked where he was going, he gave a clumsy excuse.

“I ran out of cigarettes—gonna hit the convenience store real quick.”

He ignored Sowol’s knowing smile. As he left quickly, he transformed his appearance. A simple change of hairstyle, clothes, and mask was enough to make most humans unable to recognize Ebiwon’s face.

At the park’s back gate, Sa-eon was standing under a tree. Ebi couldn’t help but quicken his pace toward him.

The weather had warmed up quite a bit, and Sa-eon was in a thin short-sleeved shirt. Sunlight streamed through the leaves and danced on the bridge of his straight nose. The fitted T-shirt outlined his well-toned muscles. Ebi stole glances at his thick forearms and firm chest and smiled brightly. Sa-eon, who had been casually watching a mantis crawl on the ground, looked up.

“Hi!”

“…Hey.”

Ebi greeted him cheerfully, and Sa-eon replied in a sleepy, dazed tone. His slow blinking made his face look a bit drowsy. While Ebi looked around for a more secluded spot, Sa-eon nudged the dead mantis away with his foot.

“Didn’t sleep last night? You look tired.”

“I don’t sleep at night. I have to hunt.”

Gasp… Ebi placed a hand gently over his chest. Sa-eon’s words sounded as if he was deliberately staying up all night just to see him. Ebi smiled sweetly, and Sa-eon, without thinking, took a step closer.

“I’m really happy we’ve been seeing each other so often lately. But… make sure you sleep too.”

Ebi patted Sa-eon’s shoulder as he spoke, his voice full of affection. His sweet smile made it clear he was deeply fond of the person in front of him. Bathed in sunlight that shattered like glimmering fragments, his pale and fair face gleamed like a pearl. Sa-eon took it all in—eyes wide open, without blinking.