Honbul: Flame of the Soul

“Don’t worry. I’m very good at keeping secrets.”

Murmuring casually, Taehee opened a small lacquered box sitting on the table.

Inside, nestled against intricate patterns, were thick needles about the length of a thumb packed tightly together. Taehee picked out two of them and casually dropped one into Chairman Jang’s teacup and the other into Chief Kim’s.

The two men exchanged bewildered looks.

“But I’m not the only one who has to keep secrets.”

Still dazed, Chief Kim stared down into his teacup.

“...What?”

Then his eyes widened.

The metal needle dissolved into the tea as though it had never been solid to begin with.

Even watching it happen directly in front of him, he could barely believe it.

Taehee casually tilted his chin toward the cups.

“Drink.”

At the sudden order, Chief Kim looked up blankly.

“...Excuse me?”

“I thought you’d understand without explanation, but apparently not.”

Taehee remained perfectly calm while urging them to drink the tea containing the melted needles.

“If... if you could at least tell us what kind of tea this is first...”

Chief Kim gathered the courage to ask.

“It’s fine. It won’t kill you.”

Taehee waved one hand dismissively with a quiet laugh.

Chief Kim immediately glanced toward Chairman Jang for guidance, only to find the chairman ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) looking just as unsettled. How were they supposed to drink something without even knowing what it was? The thought alone filled them with instinctive dread.

Sweat dripped down Chief Kim’s temple.

“Don’t tremble over something this minor.”

Resting his chin lazily against one hand, Taehee smiled as though teasing frightened children.

But neither man moved.

They simply sat there staring at their teacups like paused figures on a screen.

“...”

“....”

Finally, Taehee’s lips curled upward.

“Fine. Then I’ll drink it first.”

Without warning, he snatched Chief Kim’s cup off the table and swallowed the tea in a single gulp.

Chief Kim nearly jumped out of his seat.

The sheer recklessness of it startled him more than anything else.

“See? I’m perfectly fine.”

Taehee tilted the empty cup upside down and even gave it a little shake for emphasis.

Chairman Jang and Chief Kim exchanged another pale look.

Then Taehee calmly refilled the empty cup with tea, dropped in another needle, and pushed it back toward Chief Kim.

The relaxed confidence in his attitude made refusing feel almost impossible.

In the end, Chairman Jang picked up his teacup first.

Seeing that, Chief Kim reluctantly followed.

The two men drank at the same time.

“See? Nothing serious.”

Taehee smiled brightly after confirming both cups were empty.

“There’s no need to be afraid.”

Then his smile sharpened slightly.

“As long as you keep the secret.”

Chief Kim stiffened.

“S-Secret? What secret?”

“Everything you see and hear here.”

Taehee raised a finger leisurely.

“Just remember one thing. The moment you speak about anything that happened on this mountain...”

He lightly tapped the center of his own chest.

“...that needle will pierce your heart.”

Both men visibly flinched.

Taehee poked at his chest again with exaggerated playfulness.

“And what do you think happens when a needle stabs straight through your heart?”

He grimaced dramatically.

“You’re not imagining a tiny little prick, are you? It’ll hurt quite a bit more than that.”

That was how they maintained secrecy here.

“If you’re curious how painful it is, though, feel free to test it.”

Chairman Jang unconsciously pressed a hand against his chest.

The idea of a vanished needle suddenly piercing his heart was absurd.

But then again... was it any more absurd than a metal needle melting into tea?

He had seen that happen with his own eyes.

Come to think of it, almost everything he had experienced since arriving here defied common sense. Reality itself felt strangely unstable.

At that moment, Chief Kim forced himself to speak calmly.

“So... does that mean you’ll take the job?”

Taehee nodded immediately.

“Of course. I don’t turn down work if the payment’s sufficient.”

Carefully, Chief Kim broached the next subject.

“How much will it cost?”

“One clean bill.”

Chairman Jang finally spoke.

“Will one hundred million won be enough?”

Taehee raised a brow in amusement.

“I thought you were a chairman.”

He tapped the business card lying on the table.

“But your sense of scale is surprisingly modest.”

Then he smiled.

“It’s one billion won per bill.”

Silence fell instantly.

“...”

“...”

The number was far beyond what they had expected.

Chief Kim looked toward Chairman Jang uneasily. It was not an impossible amount to gather, but discreetly preparing that much cash without attracting attention would be difficult.

“Think of it as a generous donation for the unfortunate younger generation.”

Watching their hesitation, Taehee pulled out the bills they had handed him earlier on the mountainside.

“Or consider it pocket money. Like before.”

There was a faint mockery in the way he said it.

Resting his chin lazily against one hand again, he examined the bills from different angles as if they amused him.

Chief Kim hesitated before speaking carefully.

“That amount of mon—”

“So?”

Taehee cut him off immediately.

“This isn’t a marketplace. Are you bargaining with me right now?”

He chuckled softly, idly swinging one crossed leg.

“If you think of it as the price of your son’s life, it’s actually quite cheap.”

“W-Well... it’ll take time to liquidate that much cash...”

“Chief Kim.”

Taehee knocked lightly on the table, cutting him off again.

“With all due respect...”

His eyes turned cold.

“...why would that be my problem?”

Chief Kim instinctively lowered his gaze.

Taehee slowly turned toward Chairman Jang instead.

“What do you think, Chairman Jang? Should I be worrying about things like that for you?”

Chairman Jang remained silent, his face grim.

“Empty your slush funds. Sell your stock. Launder the money. Figure it out yourselves.”

His tone carried clear irritation now.

Only then did Chairman Jang finally speak.

“...Understood. Cure my son, and I’ll give you what you asked for.”

“Good.”

The moment the agreement was settled, Taehee pulled a notebook closer from beside the lacquered box.

He flipped through several pages before finding a blank one, then rotated the notebook toward them so it would be easier to read.

“First, there are four important locations.”

Click.

He clicked his pen and began writing as he spoke.

“Oh, and payment is in advance.”

His tone remained bizarrely polite.

“Prepare everything in fifty-thousand-won bills.”

As he neatly wrote down instructions, he continued explaining kindly,

“If you pack the cash in fifty-thousand-won notes, one apple box holds about three hundred million won. Put three hundred million into each box and bury them ten meters underground at these four locations.”

His pen moved smoothly across the page.

“If the money is gone on the appointed day, you’ll know the deal went through.”

As Chief Kim listened, something finally occurred to him.

“Um... excuse me...”

He raised his head hesitantly.

“If it’s three hundred million in four separate places... wouldn’t that make one point two billion total?”

“Yes.”

“But earlier you said one billion...”

“Oh, that.”

Taehee casually wrote ‘12’ on the page, circled it, then tossed the pen aside.

“I added another two hundred million because the negotiation annoyed me.”

His answer was so matter-of-fact that the two men could only stare.

“If you have complaints, now’s the time.”

Resting his chin on his hand again, Taehee lazily traced a finger around the rim of his teacup.

“If I think the complaint is reasonable, maybe I’ll lower the price.”

Then he smiled faintly.

“Although if you annoy me again, I might add another two hundred million instead.”

Chairman Jang bit down hard on the inside of his cheek while Chief Kim silently watched him.

“...”

“....”

Taehee’s whims were impossible to predict.

That made him even harder to deal with.

But they had no alternative.

Finally, Chairman Jang nodded stiffly.

“...Fine.”

Taehee widened his eyes in apparent delight.

“Oh? I like that attitude.”

He picked the pen back up.

“That one just now was good.”

He drew two rough lines through the ‘12’ and wrote a large ‘11’ above it instead.

“I’ll only take 1.1 billion.”

As though generously doing them a favor, Taehee smiled sweetly enough to wrinkle his nose.

This insolent little bastard...

Chairman Jang’s face flushed red.

The humiliation burned.