Honbul: Flame of the Soul

Time passed, and before he knew it, winter had reached its deepest point.

“Who the hell do you think you are, trying to drag me to a hospital? I’m fine! I said I’m fine!”

Heavy snow poured down in thick curtains that day.

From early morning onward, Elder Yoon stood at the front gate shouting at the welfare workers until, in the end, they once again left empty-handed.

After coming down with a terrible fever, Seonoh had recovered surprisingly fast. A few days after taking the medicine Elder Yoon brought him, he was already back to normal.

But Elder Yoon himself only seemed to grow worse.

The sickness was written all over his face.

Because of that, Seonoh had tried to stop him from going out with the handcart. He told him to stay home and rest for at least one day, or at least go to a hospital.

Elder Yoon ignored every word.

Instead, he lost his temper, locked Seonoh inside the shrine room, and left the house.

“...”

Locked up once again, Seonoh sat with his knees drawn to his chest, biting absently at his lip.

As he stared out at the snow falling beyond the window, anger suddenly surged through him without warning.

“Sisi.”

Seonoh rolled up his sleeve and woke the snake sleeping around his wrist.

“Is there a way to get rid of the talismans?”

“Yes. There is.”

“Tell me.”

Sisi’s eyes gleamed brightly as it looked at him.

“I told you before, didn’t I? Kekeke.”

The method, Sisi explained, was the same as last time.

But unlike before, he didn’t need blood to break the talismans. He only needed to gather power into his hand.

Seonoh grabbed the doorknob and closed his eyes.

Inside his mind, he traced the strokes of the character for break.

Then—

Click.

The door opened effortlessly.

It opened so easily that Seonoh almost felt absurd for having obediently stayed trapped all this time.

The moment he stepped outside, the talismans pasted across the door burst into flame and crumbled into ash.

Seonoh immediately ran into the yard and headed straight for the gate. The talismans attached there disintegrated beneath his hand as well.

Meanwhile, the ghosts crowded at the windows, whispering among themselves.

For the very first time, Seonoh pushed open the gate and ran outside.

He ran and ran along the mountain ridge beneath the falling snow.

The sky was overcast, pale and heavy, and snowflakes poured endlessly from above.

Even after escaping the house, [N O V E L I G H T] Seonoh had nowhere to go. So he wandered aimlessly through the mountains.

His breath came raggedly. Sweat gathered on his forehead despite the cold. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

And somewhere deep inside him, exhilaration bloomed.

Freedom.

“Ugh, it’s freezing. Freezing. Let’s go back already.”

At some point, Sisi started grumbling.

“At this rate we’re going to freeze to death! Freeze to death!”

Seonoh pulled his sleeve farther down to cover his wrist.

“That’s a little better,” Sisi muttered.

By then Seonoh’s body was already numb with cold.

The sweat from running had warmed him briefly, but now the chill was seeping back into his bones.

Slowly, he began wondering whether he should just return home.

“I think there’s somewhere we can warm up if we go that way. Kekeke.”

At Sisi’s words, Seonoh looked up.

Sure enough, something resembling a house stood in the distance.

As he drew closer, he realized it was an old hut that looked ready to collapse at any moment. Off to one side sat a soot-blackened hearth piled with ash.

Apparently the place had once used matches to light fires, but now there was nothing left to burn.

Seonoh crouched down to peer into the hearth.

Then he froze.

“Huh...?”

Deep inside the pitch-black hearth, a pair of glowing eyes stared back at him.

“You’re... an earthbound ghost, aren’t you?”

The earthbound ghost belonged to the kind that lingered around fire. Sometimes they settled in piles of firewood or abandoned hearths. One had even wandered into their house a few times before.

“It’s cold. Can you light a fire?”

Seonoh asked bluntly.

The ghost mumbled quietly to itself.

It sounded like it wanted something to burn first.

Seonoh looked around.

But no matter how carefully he searched, there was nothing usable as firewood.

And outside, snow continued pouring down.

After hesitating for a moment, Seonoh reached for his clothes.

“Hey, hey, Seonoh. Don’t do that. Listen to me.”

Sisi abruptly snapped awake on his wrist, eyes wide.

“Your clothes are too valuable. Wouldn’t it be better to cut off some hair instead?”

“My hair?”

Seonoh touched the long hair tied behind his back.

That did sound better than sacrificing his clothes.

As he searched around the hearth, he spotted something half-buried beneath the ashes.

Scissors.

He pulled them free.

The blades were dull, but after struggling for a while, he managed to cut off a handful of hair.

Just as Seonoh moved to toss it into the hearth—

“Hahahaha! Hahahaha!”

The earthbound ghost suddenly burst into wild laughter.

“It’s been so long! So long!”

BOOM—!!!

An enormous force exploded outward.

Startled by the sudden blast of flame, Seonoh was thrown backward. Groaning, he scrambled upright—then his eyes widened.

Blue fire.

Towering blue flames surged violently upward.

“What... what is this...?”

The blue flames looked ready to swallow Seonoh whole.

Terrified, he immediately bolted outside.

It was an overwhelming fire.

The blue blaze devoured the abandoned hut in an instant.

Not even ash remained in its wake.

The blue flames consumed even the ashes themselves.

“What just happened?”

Seonoh stared down at his wrist.

“I-I don’t know either.”

For once, even Sisi sounded bewildered.

Seonoh fled deeper into the mountains.

***

The blue fire did not die out until an entire day had passed.

Ordinary people couldn’t even see the strange blue flames. They simply burned through everything in silence until nothing remained.

When the fire finally disappeared, the entire area looked as though a piece of the mountain itself had been carved away.

Nothing remained except scorched emptiness.

It took Seonoh nearly two full days to find his way back home.

He had gotten lost wandering through the mountains, and by the time he finally returned, he was filthy from head to toe.

But as he trudged toward the house, a strange feeling crept over him.

An ominous premonition.

The closed gate stood utterly silent.

Too silent.

Like the stillness before a storm.

The moment Seonoh stepped inside the yard, that uneasy feeling became certainty.

The house, usually indistinguishable from a garbage heap, was spotless.

Everything had been cleaned and neatly arranged.

Most unsettling of all, every window and door stood wide open.

“Our Seonoh is back.”

Elder Yoon sat cross-legged in the middle of the room.

“Grandpa.”

Elder Yoon smiled warmly.

“Our Seonoh finally caused some real trouble.”

He had seen the blue fire that tore through the mountains.

Seonoh said nothing.

And Elder Yoon already seemed to know it had been Seonoh’s doing.

“No matter how hard you hide it, you can’t conceal what you are. That’s Seonoh for you.”

“...”

“So? Did you enjoy being outside?”

“...”

Unease crawled over Seonoh’s skin.

He couldn’t bring himself to step closer.

Instead, he stood frozen in the doorway, looking around.

Then Elder Yoon silently beckoned him over.

After hesitating, Seonoh approached. Elder Yoon reached out with his wrinkled hands and brushed the dirt from his clothes.

“Follow the mountain ridge northeast. There’s a small temple there called Nakseonam.”

“...”

“It’ll be better there than here. The head monk’s a bit eccentric, but he’s an old friend of your grandfather’s.”

“...”

Seonoh thought Elder Yoon was finally throwing him out.

He had disobeyed him, left the house, and even set part of the mountain ablaze. It only made sense that Elder Yoon would be furious.

Silently, Seonoh looked at him.

But the old man’s eyes were calm and strangely clear.

“...Where did everyone go?”

Only then did Seonoh finally realize what felt so wrong.

The irritating stray ghosts that always crowded around the house were gone.

Not one remained.

“I sent them away.”

“Sent them... where?”

“So they wouldn’t suffer when they left, I sent them off myself.”

Elder Yoon brushed Seonoh’s cheek with his rough, weathered hand.

“From now on, don’t look back. Just run. Understand?”

Seonoh couldn’t fully grasp what he meant.

“Go through the side gate instead of the front. Now go.”

“Huh? O-Okay...”

Elder Yoon was smiling.

But beneath the smile was an unmistakable resolve.

As though pushed along by something invisible, Seonoh finally left the room.

Slowly, he headed toward the side gate.

“...”

He had climbed the mountain path for barely ten minutes before his feet stopped.

After hesitating for a long while, Seonoh turned around.

And went back.

When he entered the room again, Elder Yoon was no longer sitting upright.

He was lying flat on the floor.

“Grandpa... am I really leaving?”

At that moment, Elder Yoon suddenly burst into silent laughter.

His shoulders shook violently.

Seeing that, Seonoh almost smiled too, thinking it had all been a joke.

He hurried over and grabbed Elder Yoon by the shoulders.

“Grandpa! You were joking—”

Then Seonoh froze.

Elder Yoon was crying.

Silently.

Painfully.

“You fool... Why did you come back, Seonoh?”

“G-Grandpa... why...?”

Elder Yoon dragged Seonoh into a fierce embrace.

Then, in frantic haste, he pulled him behind the folding screen with the shamanic painting.

Behind it sat a large wooden chest.

Elder Yoon threw the lid open, shoved Seonoh inside, and pulled a blanket over his head.

“No matter what happens, don’t come out. This is the last time. My final request. Do you understand?”

Before Seonoh could answer, the lid slammed shut.

Darkness swallowed everything.

Seonoh had no idea what was happening.

Anxiously, he looked down toward his wrist, but it was too dark to see Sisi beneath his skin.

Then—

An unfamiliar voice rang out from outside.

“Yoon Wonjoong. You are charged with developing forbidden techniques and fleeing...”

“Yes. I know.”

“However, if you cooperate fully today, the disciplinary committee may—”

Seonoh strained to listen through the narrow crack in the lid.

But wrapped beneath the blanket, he could barely hear clearly.

He knew they were talking.

He just couldn’t make out the details.

After hesitating, Seonoh carefully lifted the lid the slightest amount.

And at that exact moment, the other person shouted sharply,

“Yoon Wonjoong! Who started the fire?!”