Honbul: Flame of the Soul

Yoon Taehee was gradually becoming the center of attention.

At first, people had only glanced his way or whispered things like, Do you know who that is? But as time passed, more and more people started approaching him directly to strike up conversations.

It was irritating.

He had entered the party under a false identity. Talking to people gained him nothing and only increased the risk of drawing suspicion. On top of that, this was a private gathering accessible by invitation only.

Still, he couldn’t simply ignore everyone outright.

To blend naturally into the crowd, he had no choice but to exchange a little meaningless small talk now and then.

Honestly, he would rather deal with ghosts. Humans were far more exhausting.

This time was no different.

After finally shaking off someone who had cornered him into conversation, Taehee escaped under the excuse of getting another drink.

Somehow, he had already finished three glasses.

The alcohol was starting to hit him. If this kept up, things would get annoying.

Adjusting the loosened collar of his shirt, Taehee touched the tiepin radio.

“Where are you right now? I got held up for a bit.”

It took a moment before a reply came back.

[I’m doing fine, so mind your own business.]

“...”

At the cold response, Taehee let out a quiet sigh and rubbed his forehead.

There was still lingering heat in his body. Maybe because of the alcohol, his head felt slightly dizzy too.

He walked over to the bar and grabbed a glass of ice water, taking a long swallow. As he rolled a piece of ice around in his mouth and scanned the room, his gaze suddenly met someone else’s.

A woman sitting alone on a sofa was staring at him openly.

There was no ring on her hand.

Not her—

But then his eyes caught something else.

“Oh.”

Around her neck hung a necklace. Threaded onto the chain was a silver ring set with a large green gemstone.

The unmistakable green glimmer flashed beneath the lights.

Found it.

A slow smile spread across Taehee’s face.

The woman quickly looked away as if pretending indifference, only to glance back at him again a second later.

Still chewing the ice lazily, Taehee stared at her for a moment before walking over without hesitation and sitting beside her.

“Hello.”

He spoke with the ice tucked into one cheek.

“You’ve been watching me.”

“Yes.”

“Why do you keep staring at me?”

“Then why were you staring at me?”

At the question tossed back at him, Taehee lowered his head with a soft laugh.

“Well...”

The ice shifted in his cheek as he leaned back against the sofa and looked at her.

Then he smiled slowly.

“I think you already know why.”

The woman smirked and leaned back as well.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. They simply held each other’s gaze.

At some point, Taehee slowly leaned closer.

As though entranced, the woman closed her eyes.

Their noses nearly brushed.

Taehee’s hand slid lightly along the back of her neck.

Just before their lips touched, he suddenly stopped.

“Oh, right.”

Confused, the woman opened her eyes.

Still close enough to feel each other’s breath, Taehee asked politely,

“Do you happen to have cavities?”

“...What?” 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

“Cavities.”

“...”

The woman stared at him blankly.

“I don’t kiss people with cavities.”

Taehee smiled brightly.

“What the hell did you just say?”

The woman burst out laughing in disbelief.

Apparently deciding it had to be some kind of joke, she laughed for a while before shaking her head.

“No. I don’t.”

“That’s a relief.”

Taehee laughed softly in return.

The woman was just about to close her eyes again when—

“Then open your mouth for a second.”

“...What?”

“Say ‘ah.’ I want to check.”

He said it with a completely serious face.

“...”

For a second, she was too stunned to respond.

“Are you serious right now?”

“Yes.”

Now she looked at him as though he were genuinely insane.

“...”

The woman shoved Taehee hard in the shoulder before abruptly fixing her hair.

“Jesus Christ...”

Half laughing in disbelief, she downed half her drink in one go. Then she planted a hand on her hip and let out an exasperated sigh.

“What kind of fucking lunatic are you?”

A moment later, she splashed the rest of her drink straight into Taehee’s face.

“That’s the problem with handsome bastards like you.”

Without another glance, she turned and walked away.

“That was refreshing.”

Alcohol dripped down Taehee’s face.

Wiping it away with the back of his hand, he shook out his damp hair lightly and watched her leave.

The woman still hadn’t realized that the necklace hanging around her neck only moments ago was gone.

***

[Found it. Retrieval complete.]

While weaving through the crowd, Jaegyeom suddenly heard Taehee’s voice through the tiepin.

“You found it? Where?”

[Yeah. It wasn’t on their hand. They were wearing it as a necklace.]

“A necklace? Then how’d you take it?”

[I’ll explain later. I’m contacting the situation room now to request backup from the Purification Unit. Once they arrive, we’ll hand it over and leave. They said it’ll take about thirty minutes.]

Taehee’s voice crackled faintly through the radio.

[I’ll wait near the pillar by the entrance.]

“Got it. I’m stopping by the restroom first.”

Honestly, hearing the ring had been hanging around someone’s neck after he had spent all night staring at people’s hands was a little deflating.

Still, at least they had recovered it.

After hours inside the loud, overcrowded hall, Jaegyeom felt completely drained.

Remembering where the restroom was, he headed down the hallway leading toward /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ it.

Then—

“Where’re you going?”

Someone suddenly grabbed his arm from behind.

Startled, Jaegyeom spun around.

It was the tattooed man from earlier.

“What the hell? Let go.”

“Nice seeing you again. Looking for somebody?”

The man grinned lazily as Jaegyeom frowned and tried to yank his arm free.

Then the tattooed man suddenly leaned close and whispered beside his ear.

“Hey. You’re one of us too, right?”

One of us?

Jaegyeom frowned.

Then it clicked.

Was he talking about being gifted?

“...How’d you know?”

The moment Jaegyeom asked, the man grinned as though he had been waiting for that reaction.

“Hm? Just intuition, I guess. My gaydar’s pretty good.”

What?

Confusion spread plainly across Jaegyeom’s face.

Laughing, the tattooed man leaned even closer.

“But seriously... you look kinda young. How old are you?”

Jaegyeom stayed silent for a second before sharply shaking off the hand gripping him.

“None of your business. Think whatever you want.”

He brushed past him.

But the tattooed man blocked his path with an arm, still smiling.

The heavy smell of cologne made Jaegyeom nauseous.

“Move.”

Jaegyeom’s voice turned irritated.

“Meeting like this has to be fate. How about grabbing a drink with me?”

“No.”

Suddenly, the man snatched Jaegyeom’s hat right off his head.

The tiepin radio attached to it ended up in the man’s hand as well.

“...”

For the first time, Jaegyeom’s expression went completely cold.

“Give it back.”

“Come on. Just one drink.”

“I said give it back, you fucking bastard.”

The tattooed man widened his eyes briefly, then burst out laughing.

“Wow. You’ve got a temper.”

For a moment, Jaegyeom seriously considered beating him unconscious.

Still grinning, the man tilted his head.

“Be honest. You’re underage, aren’t you?”

Underage? What the hell was he talking about?

Even so, Jaegyeom instinctively denied it.

“No.”

“Sure. Then show me your ID.”

“Why should I?”

“To prove you’re not underage.”

“I already told you I’m not.”

“Then show me.”

“You first.”

The conversation went nowhere until finally the tattooed man gave an exaggerated sigh.

“Fine, forget the ID. Give me your number instead.”

“What?”

“Your number. Then I’ll let you go.”

Jaegyeom snapped back immediately.

“I don’t remember it.”

“Wow. Really committing to the act, huh?”

The tattooed man laughed again.

“Fine. Then hand me your phone. I’ll put it in myself.”

“No.”

Jaegyeom refused instantly.

Clicking his tongue, the man looked irritated now.

“Playing hard to get isn’t cute anymore. Honestly, I was gonna let you off easy, but now I’m curious. Who invited you here? Show me your invitation.”

Jaegyeom’s eyebrow twitched.

The invitation was with Taehee.

“I don’t have it right now.”

“Oh really? Then who invited you?”

“...”

“Come on. Tell me.”

When Jaegyeom hesitated, the tattooed man smirked.

“You snuck in, didn’t you?”

“...”

“Oh, there’s security right there. I’ll just ask them myself. Hey—!”

Startled, Jaegyeom immediately grabbed the man’s raised arm and pulled it down.

“Fine! I’ll give you my number, so give me my hat back.”

Scowling, Jaegyeom shoved a hand into his pocket.

Seriously, what was the big deal about giving out a number—

Just as he pulled out his phone, ready to end this already, someone slammed heavily into the tattooed man’s shoulder.

“Fuck—watch where you’re going!”

The man stumbled sideways into the wall.

“Oh. Sorry...”

Jaegyeom’s eyes widened.

The person who had bumped into him was Yoon Taehee.

And for some reason, he smelled overwhelmingly of alcohol.

“Oh. So you were here.”

Swaying slightly, Taehee leaned against Jaegyeom’s shoulder.

“I’ve been looking for you.”

Too caught off guard to answer, Jaegyeom just stared.

The tattooed man narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“You know him?”

“Huh? Ah... yeah.”

Jaegyeom nodded awkwardly while glancing at Taehee.

“What’s your relationship?”

“Huh? W-we’re just friends...”

“Friends? He looks way older than you.”

The tattooed man looked Taehee over suspiciously.

Meanwhile, Taehee slung an arm lazily around Jaegyeom’s shoulders and smiled.

“That’s right. We’re not friends.”

Both Jaegyeom and the tattooed man froze.

“Friends don’t usually have a deep and intimate relationship.”

Jaegyeom stared at Taehee in complete shock.

What... intimate?

“Let’s go.”

Without warning, Taehee grabbed Jaegyeom’s wrist and started walking away.

Still bewildered, Jaegyeom got dragged after him.

Then—

“Wait a second!”

The tattooed man snapped out of it and grabbed Jaegyeom’s other arm.

Taehee stopped.

Slowly, he frowned.

Then he grabbed the tattooed man’s wrist.

“Or what? You want to come too?”

“...What?”

Taehee smirked faintly as he looked him up and down.

“I don’t particularly care. Your face is disgusting, but I guess there are people into that.”

“...”

“I do have some dirty tastes sometimes. Keep that in mind.”

Still swaying drunkenly, Taehee suddenly yanked hard on the man’s wrist.

The tattooed man went pale and instinctively tried to pull free.

“W-what the fuck are you talking about? I’m a top.”

“Is that supposed to matter?”

“It matters to me! Let go!”

“Why? Not interested?”

The tattooed man finally realized he had picked a fight with an actual lunatic.

This unbelievably handsome drunk was completely insane.

Chuckling, Taehee dragged him closer with terrifying strength.

Then he bent down and whispered directly into his ear.

“If you’re not interested, stop fucking meddling and get lost, you asshole.”