Honbul: Flame of the Soul

Jongno on the way home from work was bustling as usual. Buses lined up along the main road in front of the stop. Everyone who came to the stop was either waiting or headed somewhere.

But the boy sitting at the edge of the bus-stop bench looked devastated, as though he had nowhere to go.

One by one, the dark signboards switched on their lights, and passersby hurried their steps. Jaegyeom quietly watched the city sink into darkness. It had already been an hour, and countless buses had stopped in front of him. Many of them were bound for home, but Jaegyeom sat there without moving, as if he had been nailed in place.

I’m sorry. I didn’t want this.

After freezing for a moment at Yoon Taehee’s apology, Jaegyeom had flung the door open and stormed out of the chief’s office. He left the team room just like that, without even slowing down. Several team members called after him in confusion.

“Where are you going? The monthly meeting starts soon!”

Panicked voices followed him, but Yoon Taehee did not stop him.

Jaegyeom had run out of the main building in a fury, but he had nowhere to go.

He watched a bus pull away with sunken eyes. If he took that bus, he could return home to Jeongju and Mesan. When he opened the front door, Jeongju and Mesan would be there to greet him as usual. They would welcome him warmly and ask if he had had a good day.

They would wag their tails, just as Yoon Taehee had said.

Pitifully...

That was why, in his current state, he could not possibly face Jeongju and Mesan. A storm was raging inside Jaegyeom’s head.

He could not understand Yoon Taehee.

As Yoon Taehee had wanted, he had become a Naja. He had moved into the house Taehee prepared, and he wore the clothes Taehee bought him. When Taehee asked him to eat with him, he had obediently gone along. Looking back, he had done everything Taehee asked. From Jaegyeom’s point of view, he thought he had done enough.

Yoon Taehee had said that if Jaegyeom stayed on his side, he would stay on Jaegyeom’s side too.

Since Jaegyeom became a Naja, Yoon Taehee had not only taken care of the lives of the family of three, but had also openly circled around Jaegyeom, claiming to have his back. Jaegyeom had not disliked that at all. The air between them had never been so peaceful since they joined hands, and Jaegyeom had secretly been satisfied with it.

It did not make the past disappear, but at least they seemed to be getting along just fine. Maybe, just maybe, he had even occasionally thought that Yoon Taehee might be a better person than he had believed.

Then he had been struck squarely in the face.

If this had been before, Jaegyeom would have beaten Taehee until he felt better, or cut him off and turned his back on him, saying he would never see someone like him again. But now things were different, and he could not do that. Who knew what might have happened if they had never joined hands in the first place, but once they were in the same boat, they had no choice but to go together until they reached their destination.

On this vast sea, there was only Yoon Taehee.

I’m sorry. I didn’t want this.

You didn’t want this?

Then what the hell do you want from me?

Jaegyeom’s mind would not calm down. At first, his guilt toward Jeongju and Mesan had surged over him like a wave, but once that wave receded, what remained was disappointment in Yoon Taehee. It felt similar to when he had first ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ learned that Yoon Taehee was a Naja.

Before he knew it, the tiny sprout that had grown in Jaegyeom’s heart was trembling dangerously in the swirling storm. It was still young and delicate, with no strength in its roots.

Unexpected hardship.

Bad weather.

*****

At six o’clock, the conference room where the monthly report was held was filled with people from the Exorcism Unit. Although a considerable number of people had gathered, the hall was extremely quiet. With Seok Juryeon, the head of the Exorcism Unit, also in attendance, the atmosphere was solemn.

“Then we will now begin the monthly trend report for May.”

A presentation appeared on the screen. The person in charge of the presentation was Chief Choi of Team 2 of the Covert Division. News from the past month poured from Chief Choi’s mouth. While the report continued, the attendees took notes on the printed materials they had been given and typed into their personal laptops, organizing any information worth noting.

The slide changed. Everyone in the room turned the page along with it. Without exception, even Seok Juryeon, who sat at the head of the table, lifted her hand and turned the page.

But the chief of Team 1 of the Exorcism Unit sat with his chin propped on his hand and did not move at all.

His eyes remained fixed on the screen, and at first glance, he seemed to be concentrating on the report. However, the handout in front of Chief Yoon was still on the first page. It was clean, without a single trace of note-taking.

“...”

“...”

The Team 1 members who were also present secretly exchanged glances.

Their superior seemed different from usual, and it was both unfamiliar and unsettling. Yoon Taehee had been sitting there blankly, lost in thought, and in an extremely foul mood. To be precise, it had been like this ever since the youngest member ran out of his office.

Their youngest had gone into the chief’s office to submit the completed report, and the door to the chief’s office had closed shortly afterward. Then, when the door opened again, the youngest had come out with an expression they had never seen on him before. On top of that, his aura had been so fierce and vicious that the team members were momentarily stunned.

Pyo Jiho, who had frozen for a moment, soon came to his senses and was about to go after the youngest, who had run out.

“Just leave him be.”

Yoon Taehee, who emerged belatedly from the chief’s office, murmured quietly. For some reason, the atmosphere was anything but ordinary. Yoon Taehee stood there for a long time without saying anything while the office filled with a cold silence.

“Well! Si-since he’s still in his probationary period, it doesn’t really matter if he misses the monthly meeting.”

Go Junhyung, who had been watching the whole situation, timidly offered a lighthearted comment. After standing there for a long time, Yoon Taehee seemed to finally come back to himself and said, “Go back to work,” before turning around and reentering the chief’s office.

What on earth had happened between those two in the chief’s office?

It was obvious there had been some kind of problem, but because they could not grasp the situation, the team members could only watch. They wanted to ask what had happened, but their superior’s mood was so ominous that they did not dare say anything.

You ask.

Why am I the one who has to ask...

As the team members exchanged signals with their eyes, another slide passed, and the topic changed.

“Next is information that Master Yeohye is employing intelligent ghosts.”

At Chief Choi’s next words, the team members who had been busy exchanging glances turned their heads toward him. The hall suddenly grew noisy. Yoon Taehee, who had been sitting like a statue with his chin propped on his hand, also showed a clear reaction for the first time. His eyes, which had been sunken the entire time, changed sharply.

“What? Master Yeohye?”

Seok Juryeon’s eyes widened, and her brows drew together.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Master Yeohye was one of the famous shamans known for possessing exceptional spiritual power. His character was considered upright, and his nature generous, earning him deep trust from many people. Even now, at the advanced age of over seventy, he had many disciples under him. Not only the gifted but even ordinary people honored him with the title of Master and revered him as a teacher.

Among the ordinary people who served him were a politician considered a future presidential candidate and the chairman of a major corporation. He had a history of predicting the future several times before major national events. Because of that, during election season, influential figures from every circle came and went until the doors of his shrine nearly wore out. Anyone in the know knew that much.

“A nobleman of such great virtue is working ghosts?”

Someone raised the question. At first glance, there was a hint of ridicule in the tone, as if mocking Master Yeohye. Chief Choi opened his mouth in the most businesslike manner possible.

“It appears the ghosts are handling matters for the shrine’s clients. If the work is done through ghosts, no physical evidence is left behind, and there is little risk to the person himself. It seems he is entrusting work to them on his behalf, almost like subcontracting.”

It was not just any shaman, but a renowned shaman admired by many, employing strange ghosts. And not stray ghosts or vengeful ghosts, but intelligent ghosts.

The hall buzzed. Intelligent ghosts were the rarest and most difficult ghosts to deal with, and there was very little information about them.

It was an unbelievable story in more ways than one.

“A shaman who serves a spirit joining hands with mere ghosts? If that’s true, Master Yeohye must really have gone senile.”

Although Seok Juryeon sounded skeptical, she could not hide her contempt.

“He must have lost his power.”

“Maybe he ran out of money.”

Cold ridicule broke out here and there.

Most Naja did not like shamans very much. They worked in the same general field, but Naja and shamans had fundamentally different starting points.

Because shamans attuned themselves to the order of nature and served spirits, there was a certain humility to them. That led to an immense difference in their attitudes and methods when dealing with ghosts. Shamans who served spirits basically saw ghosts as harsh and unpleasant beings, which was why they sometimes scolded them, coaxed them, and appeased them.

But that approach was unacceptable to Naja. Naja took an aggressive stance toward ghosts. Their entire way of thinking was different from the start. There was no mercy for Naja. Ghosts were pests to be annihilated and driven off.

So, naturally, there was no way Naja would respond well to the idea of entrusting work to ghosts.

Amid the chaotic atmosphere, Chief Choi continued.

“According to the information we received, there are not merely one or two ghosts assisting Master Yeohye’s work. They are moving as a group, and their name is ‘Byeoksadan.’”