Little Pink Starfish

A few minutes later, they arrived at a small café. The café sign, written in the trendy minimalist style, simply said “Tea House.”

Thinking they came for a drink, Ebi also got out of the car. As he and Saeon opened the café door and stepped inside, the bell hanging on the door rang with a clear sound. The café owner was busily mopping the floor.

“Car.”

Striding in, Saeon spoke in a tone almost completely void of human warmth. But far from being offended, the café owner threw the mop into a corner, smiled broadly, and bowed politely.

“Welcome, customer! You’re looking for a car, right? What would you like? First, please have a seat here.”

Moments later, the café owner brought over what seemed to be a menu. Or rather, something that looked like a menu. Ebi had assumed they were talking about tea (차), but what the owner brought was a catalog filled with pictures of cars (차). As Ebi stared in confusion at the catalog, both the café owner and Saeon acted completely nonchalant.

Saen’s eyes scanned the catalog. As the pages turned, the car designs became sleeker and more refined, and the price tags climbed. Flipping through indifferently, Saeon eventually picked a well-known foreign luxury car near the end.

“This one.”

His words were extremely short, but the owner’s smile grew even brighter. As if it were a real order, he briefly stepped away, then returned with an actual tea (차) on the table. The aroma was rich and pleasant.

“How would you like the paint job?”

At that, Saeon looked toward Ebi and opened his mouth to speak. The owner’s beaming smile also turned to Ebi.

“What color do you like?”

Still not understanding why they were buying a foreign car in a café, Ebi simply answered.

“Um… red?”

“Aha! Red is great. Looks good on the outside, and it makes the customization process easier, so it reduces the final cost too. Are there any main options you’d like to add?”

The café owner brought out yet another catalog. Ebi peeked over curiously but then froze. These weren’t typical car options.

---

• Stealth: Shaman Im Sugon’s incantation engraving (1–12 months, in 3-month increments)
• Protection: Lifetime free after-service
• Enhancement: Zodiac Signs, Eight Trigrams (one-time)
• Exorcism: Evil spirits, wandering ghosts, demons

• Acceleration: Collision avoidance while accelerating
• Physical protection during driving: Up to 2 engravings allowed
• Mental protection during driving: Possession prevention, hallucination prevention, sleep paralysis prevention

…

For options involving dragon-slaying or Grim Reaper-grade cases, please inquire separately for custom orders.

---

Only then did Ebi realize what kind of place this café was. It was a dealership that sold hunter-exclusive, custom-tuned vehicles.

After roughly choosing the brand and color, Saeon’s eyes sharpened as he examined the options catalog. While he was reading, the café owner smoothly tried to make a sales pitch.

“Since it’s an imported car, how about a Vatican-blessed customization? The Lamborghini Huracán blessed by the Pope got top ratings! It’s even a major source of revenue for the Vatican recently. Ten percent of proceeds are donated to help children, so it also helps you earn virtue!”

“That doesn’t suit my methods.”

Saen replied flatly while checking off the desired main options. As the list of main features grew, the café owner’s smile only widened.

“Ah, of course! If it doesn’t match your methods, you should avoid it. Hunting is such a delicate craft, after all!”

Once Saeon finished checking all the main options, a new catalog was placed in front of him. This time, it was the type you’d see at a regular car dealership—an ordinary vehicle options book. Opening it politely, the café owner asked:

“Then, for the sub-options…?”

“Just something appropriate.”

“Ah! Understood. Let’s see… your final estimate comes to this.”

Ebi had never once in his life lacked money when buying something—well, commissions to Arang were paid in gold, so that was a separate matter. Ever since becoming Ebiwon, even more so. But when he saw the final quote, he flinched. The amount far exceeded the average cost of a foreign car. Wouldn’t most people hit their card limit at this point?

After looking at the final price, Saeon stepped outside and returned with a black cloth bag from his dusty car’s trunk. It looked like a bag a typical P.E. student might carry.

And from that ordinary bag, came out dozens of bundles of 50,000-won bills. Ebi’s eyes grew wide. What the—? Why is he carrying so much cash in his trunk…? But the only one surprised was Ebi. The café owner and Saeon completed the transaction calmly. After splitting a copy of the contract, the café owner walked them to the door with a deep bow.

“Take care! I’ll call you as soon as the modifications are done!”

Getting back into the dusty car, still dazed, Ebi heard Saeon speak as if all he did was stop for a drink.

“Next time, I’ll come in a red car you like.”

“…Okay, thanks…”

From that, Ebi could confirm several things. Saeon had clearly watched the romance shows he recommended very diligently. He was definitely gentler to Ebi than he was to others. He had enough money to casually buy a luxury car. And the reason his house was such a mess was simply because he didn’t care about his surroundings.

“Should we eat first?”

“Hmm, no… I’m not that hungry right now.”

As he answered, Ebi couldn’t help feeling a little anticipation about what Saeon might do—now that he’d studied romance dramas. Saeon nodded lightly and then headed to their next destination: a department store.

Thanks to PPL, department stores were a staple location in dramas. And once inside, Saeon moved exactly like a male lead straight out of a show. He strode through the luxury section, sweeping up shoes, clothes, watches—everything.

If it looked like it would suit Ebi, he’d swipe his card without hesitation. Of course, everything would look good on Ebi anyway—but even so, this was going too far.

“Wait, Saeon—stop buying stuff now.”

Finally laughing, Ebi tugged on Saeon’s arm. The card-swinging hunter looked a little confused.

“I’ve received way too many gifts today… So, um, I want to give you something too. Is that okay?”

When Ebi took the card from him, Saeon handed it over without a fuss. Ebi started browsing with him, picking out things that would actually suit Saeon. As he had thought before, there were a lot of styles that matched him well.

While dressing Saeon in this and that, Ebi’s gaze wandered toward the formalwear section. He didn’t want to see that plain, black hunting outfit anymore. Wanting to see him in a suit, he picked one carefully and sent Saeon into the fitting room.

When Saeon came out wearing the suit, Ebi’s eyes sparkled. With his tall frame and broad shoulders, the way the lines of the fabric fell from shoulder to waist, from waist to thighs, looked amazing.

Saen looked down at the sleeve of the outfit he wore expressionlessly. Slightly annoyed from changing clothes so many times, his frown made him look exactly like a young executive from a chaebol family in a drama.

Unable to resist the surging desire inside him, Ebi waited until Saeon went back into the fitting room. Just then, a staff member nearby was busy helping another customer with a bright smile.

Ebi quietly pushed the fitting room door—it creaked open. Wait, he didn’t even lock it while changing? Peeking through the slightly opened door, Ebi gulped dryly without realizing it.

A properly fitted suit looked nice—but a half-unbuttoned one was on a whole different level. Just as Saeon was unfastening his pants buckle and undoing his dress shirt buttons, he turned at the sound of the door. The moment Ebi’s eyes met the exposed chest muscles between the shirt’s folds, he grabbed his collar and kissed him a little too eagerly—stumbling slightly from the rush, but Saeon caught him firmly and responded with a soft kiss.

After that rather romantic shopping trip, they drove along the Han River and headed to a fancy hotel restaurant. It was like a textbook-perfect date. Saeon was truly a sincere boyfriend.

While enjoying the meal and pleasant conversation, Ebi finally brought up the topic he’d been curious about.

“So, that place where you can see both yokai and mysterious objects—where is it?”

“Jusa-yamong (晝思夜夢).”

Saen said a four-character idiom Ebi had never heard before. Being weak in Chinese characters, Ebi tilted his head in confusion.

“Jusa-yamong?”

“It’s like a kind of department store… A place where all sorts of powerful and weak things, objects and living beings, are bought and sold.”

Ebi learned for the first time that such a place even existed. If items possessed by goblins were being sold, there was a high chance they would show up at Jusa-yamong. After a brief pause, Saeon added,

“I have a membership card, so I can go without a problem—but you’ll need to prepare a bit beforehand.”

“What kind of prep?”

After hearing the explanation, Ebi smiled slyly with sparkling eyes. The preparation wasn’t even hard—in fact, it sounded kind of fun. Excitement welled up in him, wondering what kind of place this Jusa-yamong could be.

“Alright. So, when are we going?”

“Next Monday.”

Luckily, next Monday was a completely free day for him. After hearing a list of things not to do inside Jusa-yamong and settling the meeting time and place, it was suddenly the middle of the night. Ebi figured it was about time to say goodbye—but unexpectedly, the date wasn’t over yet. There was still one more stop to make.

A hotel suite.