Honbul: Flame of the Soul

A month had already passed since he’d joined the Office.

Another workday had begun.

Over the course of that month, Jaegyeom had changed quite a bit. Back when he first joined Team 1 of the Exorcism Unit, even exchanging greetings with the others had been awkward. Now, it came naturally.

“Jaegyeom, you’re here?”

“Morning, youngest.”

“Hello.”

After greeting them, Jaegyeom walked confidently to his seat. Like any ordinary office worker, the first thing he did every morning was turn on his computer.

As the saying goes, even a dog that spends three years at a temple learns to chant sutras. Jaegyeom, who had never touched a computer before, was slowly starting to look like a proper office worker himself.

That was entirely thanks to Kang Ibin.

Every spare moment she got, she dragged Jaegyeom over and taught him personally. She started with the absolute basics: turning the computer on and off, moving the mouse, opening the internet browser.

Now they’d advanced to typing practice.

Recently, Jaegyeom had finally cleared the beginner “home position” stage in the typing program. After memorizing the keyboard layout, he’d started practicing words and short sentences simultaneously. His typing speed had risen to around twenty characters per minute.

Compared to before, it was remarkable progress.

Still, after sitting there typing for too long, his shoulders and neck would start aching. Constantly shifting his eyes between the keyboard and monitor made the stiffness even worse.

Even so, Jaegyeom diligently practiced every day.

“Oh, you’ve gotten much better.”

Kang Ibin watched from behind and praised him warmly. A small sense of pride rose in Jaegyeom’s chest.

It wasn’t that he particularly enjoyed studying or had any academic ambition. But because his body no longer aged, his ability to absorb new things was unusually fast. Once he started learning something, he improved quickly.

“Then today, let’s try writing an email.”

Today’s lesson was business email writing.

Jaegyeom had written incident reports a few times already, but this would be his first actual email. Before entering the Office of Narye, he’d never once had a reason to send one.

The assignment itself was simple: request medical supplies.

Since Team 1 of the Exorcism Unit handled dangerous fieldwork, injuries were common. They kept basic supplies stocked for minor wounds and low physical condition rather than going to the infirmary every time someone got hurt.

Recently, they’d used up most of their stock, so they needed to send a request to the Purification Unit’s manufacturing lab in advance.

“Jaegyeom, come sit here for a second.”

Kang Ibin called him over to her desk.

After logging into the Office intranet with his employee ID, she opened the team’s shared email account and patiently walked him through the process.

“For the recipient, open the address book. See ‘Purification Unit Manufacturing Lab’? Click that to add it. Then write a greeting, explain what you need and why. Got it?”

Jaegyeom nodded.

“You’ve already written reports before, so this’ll be easy. Don’t get nervous. And if you’re not sure, just copy this format.”

She printed one of her old emails and left it beside the keyboard as reference material.

“When you’re done, call me over. I’ll check it and attach the supply list before sending it.”

“Yes.”

Once she’d finished explaining everything, Kang Ibin headed for the break room to grab a drink.

It was only a short email, after all. She didn’t think anything could really go wrong.

Jaegyeom straightened his posture.

Then he placed both hands solemnly above the keyboard.

Tap. Tap tap.

“Hello... This is Kim Jaegyeom from Team 1 of the Exorcism Unit...”

He quietly read the sentences aloud while typing.

Beginner typists all tended to share the same habit: focusing only on the next letter while barely checking what they’d already written. Jaegyeom was no exception.

Still, he was trying his best.

His eyes darted back and forth between Kang Ibin’s printed sample and the monitor. There were plenty of spacing mistakes and typos, but he wasn’t particularly worried. Kang Ibin was going to review it anyway.

Doing your best with what you had mattered more.

Jaegyeom continued typing earnestly.

Honestly, pressing the large keyboard keys was pretty fun. Compared to the tiny smartphone buttons, this was much easier to use.

After thinking it over carefully, he even added a few extra details of his own before finally finishing the email.

Done.

The tension finally drained from his shoulders.

Jaegyeom stretched deeply while waiting for Kang Ibin to come back and check it. But as he stretched his legs beneath the desk, the tip of his shoe snagged on the monitor cable.

The screen instantly went black.

“Huh?”

Startled, Jaegyeom clicked the mouse repeatedly and smacked several keys on the keyboard.

Nothing happened.

Had the computer broken right after he finally finished?

Momentarily stunned, Jaegyeom turned toward Go Junhyung, who sat across from him.

“Manager Go. The computer suddenly turned off.”

“Huh? Suddenly?”

Go Junhyung leaned over to look.

“The power’s still on... Maybe the cable got loose?”

He asked Jaegyeom to move aside for a second, reached behind the monitor, and fiddled with the wires.

The screen immediately lit back up.

“There. Fixed.”

Jaegyeom let out a relieved breath, like ten years of his lifespan had just been returned to him.

After thanking Go Junhyung, he turned back toward the monitor to check whether the email was still there.

— Your email has been sent successfully.

“......”

Jaegyeom narrowed his eyes and leaned closer to the screen.

The email...

had already been sent?

Apparently, while randomly clicking things in panic, he’d accidentally pressed send.

Jaegyeom scratched his cheek blankly.

Outwardly, he looked calm enough. Internally, though, he was deeply flustered.

At that exact moment, the automatic door slid open and Kang Ibin returned, humming cheerfully with a canned drink in hand.

Jaegyeom awkwardly stood up.

“Um... Manager Kang.”

“Hm?”

“About the email...”

“Oh? Ah, right. You finished it? Let me see.”

“It... seems like it sent itself.”

“......”

Kang Ibin blinked several times.

Then her face went rigid.

“What?!”

A chill shot down her spine.

She rushed over, gently shoved Jaegyeom aside, and grabbed the mouse. The rolling chair slid backward with him still sitting in it.

Kang Ibin immediately opened the sent folder.

The email had truly been sent.

Despair washed over her.

If she’d known this would happen, she would’ve left the recipient field blank.

The head of the Purification Unit manufacturing lab was a notoriously strict man in his fifties, obsessed with etiquette and formal procedure. He was infamous throughout headquarters for viciously tearing apart subordinates over the tiniest mistakes.

The moment Kang Ibin remembered him, her mind went blank.

She still vividly remembered the scolding she’d received as a rookie after messing up an email once herself.

Kang Ibin collapsed face-first onto the desk and pounded it with her fist.

“No way!”

The other Team 1 members wandered over in confusion.

“What happened?”

“What’s wrong?”

They crowded around the monitor.

Subject: [Exorcism Unit] Team 1 Medical Supply Request

Everyone froze.

“......”

“......”

Pyo Jiho slowly read the subject line aloud in disbelief.

“Exorcism Unit...? Exorcism Unit??”

Then he turned to stare at Jaegyeom, as if confirming this disaster was real.

Meanwhile, Kang Ibin groaned with her face buried in the desk.

Not only had they forgotten to attach the actual supply request file, but considering the subject line alone already looked catastrophic, the contents were probably even worse.

Go Junhyung cautiously spoke.

“Can’t we... cancel sent mail somehow?”

Before he even finished speaking, Pyo Jiho answered flatly.

“It’s internal mail. You can’t.”

“Right. Of course.”

Go Junhyung, who’d attempted a pointless joke to lighten the mood, quickly nodded with a grave expression instead.

At that moment, the automatic door opened again.

Yoon Taehee had returned after stepping out briefly.

Seeing everyone gathered around Kang Ibin’s desk, he raised an eyebrow.

“What are you all doing?”

Pyo Jiho lowered his voice.

“Jaegyeom accidentally sent an email.”

Once he heard the situation, Yoon Taehee glanced briefly at Jaegyeom.

“Let me see.”

Loosening his tie slightly with one hand, he took the mouse.

The others hurriedly moved aside as he bent over the monitor and opened the message.

Subject: [Exorcism Unit] Team 1 Medical Supply Request

Hello. This is Kim Jaegyeom from Team 1 of the Exorcism Unit.

From Kim Jaegyeommdskfnjkn;

“......”

For a long moment, Yoon Taehee silently stared at the monitor.

So did everyone else.

Finally, Yoon Taehee pointed at the final line.

“What’s this colon-zero thing after ‘Thank you’?”

“Oh, Ibin always puts smiley faces at the end of her emails,” Pyo Jiho explained analytically. ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) “Looks like Jaegyeom tried copying her, but couldn’t find the letter D, so he substituted something similar.”

“Ah.”

Yoon Taehee nodded as though he understood perfectly.

Silence fell over the room again.

After a while, Yoon Taehee turned toward Go Junhyung.

“Manager Go. Is your injury healed?”

“Yes... sir...”

Go Junhyung awkwardly lowered his head, face faintly red from humiliation.

He had never been this embarrassed in his life.

At that moment, Kang Ibin slowly raised her head from the desk.

“Jaegyeom.”

“Yes?”

“Why did you include the corn dog story?”

“Well... you said I needed to explain the reason for the request.”

“Then what were the parentheses for?”

Jaegyeom hesitated briefly before answering with a slightly wronged look.

“...So they wouldn’t confuse the store name with the food name.”

Why would that matter right now?

The team members collectively covered their faces.

“You’re very considerate.”

Yoon Taehee smiled faintly as he slipped both hands into his pockets.

“Well, it’s not quite as catastrophic as I expected.”

The others stared at him.

Just how bad had he expected it to be?

In truth, Yoon Taehee was simply relieved the email hadn’t contained profanity.

He folded his arms and nodded at the screen.

“At least you tried to follow the proper format. For a first attempt, it’s not bad.”

The team members looked at him with fresh admiration.

What a generous supervisor. Instead of scolding him, he was encouraging him.

As expected of Chief Yoon.

But then Yoon Taehee’s smile slowly disappeared. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Turning serious, he looked around at the others.

“Does anyone here know how to hack a server?”