Little Pink Starfish

“Ah!”

Thankfully for Soil, Ebi’s attention quickly shifted. The moment his phone buzzed, Ebi snatched it up like lightning. It was a reply from Saeon, who he thought would be asleep.

[What’s SNS?]

Why would such a young human not know about SNS…? Just as Ebi thought he’d better meet up and explain, another message came in—with a photo. It was a picture of Saeon, his hair tousled as if he’d just woken up. His messy hair was so endearing that Ebi excitedly thumped the sofa. Dongjitdal mumbled and stirred in response.

[Date today?]

Ebi let out a silent scream and sprang up from his seat. He threw his arms in the air, then demurely lowered them. Since Sowol and Dongjitdal were both sound asleep for once, it felt like the perfect day for a first date with Saeon. Everything was perfect.

Ebi quickly decided on a place to meet, then rushed around busily. After agonizing over what to wear, he caught a just-arrived stylist and asked for advice on clothes and hair. Before long, Ebi looked radiant enough to emit a halo and drove off in excitement.

The meeting spot was near the mountain where Saeon’s house was. After parking, Ebi pushed up his sunglasses and looked up at the mountain… It looked even more barren than he remembered. The terrain wasn’t particularly rugged, but the energy was heavy and dark. With this much negative energy, there must be a lot of fog, and the people living nearby probably suffer from frequent sleep paralysis.

“Ebi.”

While he was surveying the mountain, Saeon appeared on his own. Dressed in his usual all-black attire, it looked like today’s date would be at home. That was fine—home dates were nice. The house was a bit… dusty, but that could be cleaned.

Still, did Saeon really only own black clothes? After spending time among humans, Ebi had developed a good fashion sense, and to him, Saeon had a handsome face, tall height, and a great figure—he would look good in anything.

Saeon came close and naturally pulled Ebi into a kiss. His warm hand gently cupped the back of Ebi’s neck. As they exchanged a few light kisses, a soft smile appeared on Saeon’s lips and eyes. His gaze lingered on Ebi’s neatly styled hair, making Ebi feel quietly proud. Saeon lightly squeezed and released Ebi’s arm and said,

“Let’s go up.”

Ebi followed Saeon’s lead. If Saeon was okay with it, remodeling that house someday wouldn’t be a bad idea. They’d probably be visiting often, and maybe even living together one day.

But unexpectedly, Saeon didn’t head toward his house. As he climbed higher up the mountain, Ebi followed in confusion. After about 20 minutes, they reached a hut halfway up. Saeon pulled out a large bag from the hut and slung it over his shoulder.

“What’s that?”

“Various tools.”

“What kind of tools?”

Ebi was too curious since he had no idea what they were doing today. Hearing clinking metal sounds from inside, he craned his neck to peek in. Were they going camping?

But then Saeon said,

“Today, we’re going monster hunting.”

“Monster… hunting…?”

Ebi stared at his own outfit in disbelief: black slacks, a pale beige dress shirt, and dress shoes—completely unsuited for any kind of hunting. And not just any hunt—monster hunting?!

Suggesting that to a goblin, of all things…!

Ebi could more or less guess how Saeon thought. Hunting was his favorite thing, so he probably wanted to share it with Ebi. But monster hunting… It was a shockingly brutal hobby he had never considered.

“You’ll have fun too.”

Can I really enjoy monster hunting? Ebi’s eyes trembled with doubt. But since Saeon started walking again, he had no choice but to follow, trudging behind.

After some walking, Saeon suddenly stopped and scanned the ground. Ebi looked where his gaze was fixed and saw a clump of dried leaves rolled up like a dumpling.

“Wait.”

Saeon pulled out a white talisman and stuck it on the back of Ebi’s neck. Ebi fiddled with it, curious.

“It hides your presence.”

Saeon’s brief explanation amazed Ebi. He took a few steps—just like that, he made no sound at all. Not a single crunch from leaves or rustle from his clothes. He even jumped in place and asked,

“Aren’t you using one?”

“I don’t need something like that.”

As they continued walking, it became clear why he didn’t need it. Saeon moved silently even while walking quickly. Even his breathing was so quiet it was barely audible. A faint thrill sparkled in his dark eyes, as if chasing something unseen. Ebi, now tense as well, clenched his fists.

Saeon stopped at a spot Ebi couldn’t understand. He gently touched Ebi’s shoulder, and Ebi crouched down behind a rock. The act of chasing something was more exciting than he’d expected, and his heart pounded. Ebi was comforted by the thought that Saeon would probably take care not to let any blood show, knowing he was a goblin. Maybe this hunting thing wasn’t so bad.

Peeking past the rock, Ebi saw a yokai with limbs like dry twigs. Its round torso contrasted with its abnormally long limbs. It was smaller than a human and was crouched, letting out sobbing sounds.

“That’s a small oni. Judging by its appearance, it was probably abandoned by a great oni.”

“What’s a small oni?”

Ebi whispered, and Saeon answered quietly without looking away from the creature.

“A monster that makes humans sick.”

He didn’t know what a great oni was, but the idea of being abandoned made Ebi feel a bit sorry for it. The hunched yokai swept the ground with its long arms and picked something up to eat. At first, Ebi thought it was an acorn, but on closer look, it was a squirming insect. After eating it, the yokai sucked on its dirt-covered fingers. Ebi furrowed his brows without realizing.

Though Ebi was a seasoned supernatural being, he had never seen such a barbaric creature. Even other yokai like Igok and Arang could transform into humans and enjoyed a certain level of civilization. Ever since taking human form, Ebi had rarely eaten without tableware.

“Want to try catching it?”

“Me?”

Saeon opened his large bag full of tools: a crossbow wrapped in talismans, knives, saws, snares, traps, bundles of talismans—even a gun.

Ebi hesitated, then picked up a rope with stones tied at both ends. He remembered seeing this kind of weapon in movies—used to trip runners by entangling their legs.

Creeping out from behind the rock, Ebi awkwardly threw one end of the rope. It was so clumsy that the other end swung back and almost hit his own shoulder—until Saeon calmly reached out and caught it.

“This is how you throw it.”

Saeon expertly threw the rope. The yokai finally noticed them, jumped up, but was immediately caught by the rope around its legs and fell hard. Saeon walked toward it without hesitation. The yokai thrashed wildly, flailing its long arms. It was desperate.

As soon as he approached, Saeon kicked it. It sounded like kicking a log. Then he stepped on its writhing leg, tapped it a few times—then crack, the bone snapped and twisted backward.

The yokai let out a piercing scream. Saeon turned to Ebi, who was staring wide-eyed.

“See? You could easily catch one too.”

Saeon pulled out a knife and cut the rope from its leg. The yokai whimpered in pain and hobbled away. There wasn’t a trace of sympathy in the hunter’s eyes. Ebi hesitantly asked,

“If you just want to weaken it, can’t you stick a talisman or something?”

“That kind of talisman is too valuable for this thing.”

As Ebi watched the panting yokai stumble away, his stomach churned and saliva pooled sourly in his mouth. He gulped and forced a smile.

“I’m not gonna catch one. Uh, hunting doesn’t seem like my thing. I might see blood, after all.”

“Really?”

Saeon tilted his head, as if he didn’t understand. Watching the yokai retreat, he pulled out a snare and threw it. The moment it caught its neck, he yanked hard. The yokai’s neck snapped, and it died on the spot.

“I thought you’d like it.”

“Goblin, remember? We’re peace-loving. Hunting’s kinda… not really our thing.”

“I just thought you…”

Saeon trailed off and silently looked into Ebi’s face, then shrugged and stopped speaking. As he placed an unknown-use talisman on the dead yokai’s head, Ebi thought to himself,

Saeon really doesn’t know what a date is, does he?

Not only had he never dated—he seemed to lack any real experience interacting with people. Well, now that Ebi thought about it, Saeon had said he didn’t have any friends back in that bamboo grove…