Honbul: Flame of the Soul

“Sorry... my night vision’s bad.”

That had been a test.

Watching Yoon Taehee act cold and distant, like they were complete strangers while openly flirting with someone else, the first thought that had crossed Jaegyeom’s mind was:

Is he possessed?

A perfectly natural conclusion for a gifted.

Taehee had supposedly taken time off, so Jaegyeom doubted he was undercover or working a case. And even if there had been some unavoidable reason they needed to pretend not to know each other, Taehee could have easily excused himself to the bathroom or something and followed Jaegyeom out afterward to explain.

But he hadn’t.

That was why Jaegyeom had tested him.

He’d deliberately thrown the dart.

And the person standing there really was Yoon Taehee.

Which meant one thing.

Yoon Taehee was intentionally pretending not to know him.

Ignoring him on purpose.

The last traces of uncertainty hardened into certainty.

Taehee must’ve decided he doesn’t like me anymore.

That was why he was treating him like a stranger, blatantly ignoring him while shamelessly flirting with somebody else right in front of him.

The realization made Jaegyeom feel like he’d been shoved headfirst into a ditch.

His irritation kept growing.

It’s not like I ever asked you to like me in the first place.

Apparently Yoon Taehee’s feelings were shallow enough to change overnight.

And Jaegyeom suddenly felt pathetic for having been so shaken by something that flimsy. Pathetic for agonizing over it for days.

“Sweetheart, are you okay?”

Shin Jihye cupped Taehee’s face with a worried expression and carefully checked him over.

Taehee leaned obediently into her hands and let her fuss over him.

The sight made Jaegyeom’s mood sink even lower.

What do you know?

Do you think I threw that trying to hurt him?

I threw it because I knew Yoon Taehee could dodge it.

I even mixed a little spiritual force into it so he’d notice faster.

How well do you even know him to look that worried?

You don’t know anything about Yoon Taehee.

“Hey, I seriously doubt he did it on purpose. Relax a little.”

As the mood turned awkward, the short-haired woman hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.

“He just got nervous because everyone was praising him.”

She clapped her hands brightly, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

Fortunately, Taehee was completely fine. Not even a scratch.

“Sorry. I got startled for a second.”

Shin Jihye finally relaxed as well.

“Come on, why’s everyone so gloomy now? Let’s drink.”

The short-haired woman handed Jaegyeom a glass.

“You probably got scared too, kid. Don’t worry about it.”

She kindly poured him alcohol.

Jaegyeom stared silently down at the glass for a moment before knocking it back out of spite.

The instant it hit his tongue, his face twisted.

It tasted like rotten wood.

“Pft—”

The disgusted sound he made sent the people around him bursting into laughter.

“You didn’t like that one? Want something sweeter?”

The woman poured him another drink.

This one went down much easier.

Once everyone raised their glasses together, the atmosphere gradually loosened again. With over fifteen people crammed into the room and already drunk, the noise quickly swelled back up.

Sitting stiffly at the edge of the sofa, Jaegyeom sipped from his glass while glaring at Yoon Taehee.

Taehee and Shin Jihye sat pressed close together on the sofa talking quietly.

“My hair’s getting damaged. Look at these split ends.”

Shin Jihye frowned while gathering her hair in one hand.

Taehee laughed softly, touched the ends of her hair, and murmured something beside her ear.

“Haha—what? That’s ridiculous.”

Yeah, keep acting cute together. Fucking ridiculous.

The sight made him sick.

The same man who claimed he enjoyed being around Jaegyeom looked perfectly happy sitting beside someone else.

The worst part was that they genuinely looked good together.

Ever since the dart incident, Taehee hadn’t spared Jaegyeom a single glance.

His mood deteriorated further and further.

While everyone else laughed and drank happily, Jaegyeom suddenly wanted to expose everything.

You people have no clue, do you?

That bastard’s actually a complete pervert.

He gets turned on by men.

He forced himself on me more than once and kept saying he liked being with me.

And yet—

Fuming, Jaegyeom emptied another glass.

The truth was, it shouldn’t matter who Yoon Taehee spent time with.

Jaegyeom had been trying to distance himself too.

So why did it make him feel this awful?

Why did seeing Taehee ignore his calls, pretend not to know him, and flirt openly with someone else make his stomach churn like this?

He couldn’t understand it.

Whatever Taehee’s intentions were, though, Jaegyeom had no intention of ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) letting things end like this.

Even if Taehee kept ignoring him, he could always flip this entire party upside down, grab him by the collar, and drag him outside himself.

With an increasingly dangerous look in his eyes, Jaegyeom sat there seriously contemplating causing a scene while unconsciously throwing back drink after drink.

The unidentified liquor was absurdly strong, but he drank it like water anyway.

Heat flooded his body. His head started spinning.

At one point, Taehee’s gaze swept briefly over him.

Naturally, Jaegyeom never noticed.

“Oh. You can really drink, huh?”

A man dropped down onto the sofa beside him.

“Want another?”

Holding his glass, Jaegyeom slowly looked up.

His eyelids felt heavy enough to keep falling shut, so he forced them open to look at the stranger. The man had a neat two-block haircut and a bottle in hand.

“...”

Still sulking, Jaegyeom silently held out his glass.

“I’m Park Sangjun.”

Jaegyeom didn’t answer.

Park Sangjun awkwardly cleared his throat before trying again. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The music and chatter around them were loud enough that their conversation stayed private.

“Where do you live?”

“Gugi-dong.”

“Oh, really? I live in Itaewon.”

“So? I didn’t ask.”

Park Sangjun laughed under his breath and turned his head slightly.

“You seem pretty drunk. Want to step outside for some air?”

“No. I’m gonna finish this and...”

Jaegyeom blinked slowly.

“No. I’m going home.”

“Why’re you talking down to me?”

Irritated, Jaegyeom flicked absently at his ear.

“If you don’t like it, talk down to me too.”

Park Sangjun looked thoroughly amused now.

“Should I?”

Jaegyeom sighed and raised his glass again.

Park Sangjun obediently tipped the bottle toward him.

“You’re drinking way too fast. Slow down.”

Ignoring him completely, Jaegyeom emptied the glass again.

“How long have those two known each other?”

He gestured vaguely toward Shin Jihye and Taehee.

Park Sangjun glanced over before answering.

“No idea. Not long.”

Then he narrowed his eyes slightly at Jaegyeom.

“What? You jealous?”

Jaegyeom’s hand paused for a split second around the glass.

“Knew it. You’ve got a thing for Jihye.”

Park Sangjun nodded knowingly and leaned closer.

“You should just give up.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re not her type.”

“And what exactly is her type?”

Park Sangjun lowered his voice conspiratorially.

“Let’s just say you’re the exact opposite.”

Then he added:

“Besides, Jihye’s fickle. If you get attached, you’ll only end up hurt. She dates somebody for exactly one week, then dumps them.”

He jerked his chin toward Taehee.

“Today’s their third day, so he doesn’t have much time left.”

According to Sangjun, Shin Jihye went clubbing every weekend, picked whichever man caught her eye, played around with him for a week, then ruthlessly blocked his number afterward.

“Jihye likes men, but she hates them too. So she never gets serious.”

He shrugged.

“He probably doesn’t know any of that. But I’m her friend, so I do. Jihye’s only sincere for one week.”

Apparently Taehee was another guy she’d picked up at a club.

Park Sangjun and the others were all part of her regular social circle. Since they were used to this kind of thing, they naturally hung out with whoever she brought along, even if the person was a complete stranger.

Nobody there cared about forming real connections anyway.

They were just drinking and having fun.

“Ah. I probably shouldn’t have said all that to one of Jihye’s fans.”

Sangjun laughed awkwardly.

“Pretend you didn’t hear it.”

After listening quietly the entire time, Jaegyeom let out a faint scoff.

For a brief moment, imagining Yoon Taehee getting dumped by Shin Jihye in a few days felt oddly satisfying.

But the feeling disappeared almost immediately.

His mood sank all over again.

You said you loved me.