Honbul: Flame of the Soul

On a bright morning, Jaegyeom woke groggily with a pillow hugged against his chest.

It smells nice.

Still half-asleep, he rubbed his face against it before suddenly going still.

The pillow and blanket were soft—far softer than what he usually slept on—but unfamiliar. Blinking rapidly, Jaegyeom jerked upright.

“W-What...?”

He was fully awake now.

This was not his room.

Nothing around him looked familiar. The gray bedding wasn’t his. There were pillows everywhere, and the bed itself was absurdly large.

Where am I...? Why am I somewhere like this...?

The spacious bedroom contained almost nothing besides the enormous bed. After staring blankly for a moment, Jaegyeom climbed out from under the covers and headed for the door. For some reason, he felt nervous as he wrapped his hand around the handle.

He opened the door cautiously and peeked outside.

A wide living room stretched beyond it.

Stepping out slowly, Jaegyeom looked around.

The first thing he noticed was the bookshelf taking up an entire wall. It was crammed with books from top to bottom, so densely packed it almost felt oppressive.

Then he spotted the black leather sofa.

One entire side of the room was made of glass windows. Jaegyeom wandered over and pressed his forehead lightly against the cool surface. Beyond the glass, the sky shone brilliantly blue. The buildings below looked strangely small. He must have been somewhere high up.

That was when he noticed the suit jacket tossed carelessly across one side of the sofa.

“...”

Jaegyeom picked it up.

Then, without thinking, he buried his nose in it and inhaled.

Yoon Taehee.

Only then did recognition finally dawn on him.

This was Taehee’s house.

Fragments of last night returned to him little by little. He remembered going to meet Taehee at the bar, but after that everything became hazy. He must have gotten drunk on the strong alcohol and blacked out halfway through.

So Taehee had brought him here.

But where was Taehee now?

As Jaegyeom stood there blankly clutching the jacket, he heard the sound of running water.

He lifted his head.

The bathroom?

Taehee must be showering.

Deciding he would ask what happened once the owner of the house came out, Jaegyeom wandered toward the kitchen instead. He was thirsty.

Without permission, he opened the massive refrigerator.

The moment he looked inside, his brows furrowed.

There was almost nothing there. A pack of shriveled cherry tomatoes, a square pizza box, and several bottles of soju.

When he opened the pizza box, he found a completely untouched pizza hardened into something pitiful.

How the hell does this guy even survive?

Failing to find water, Jaegyeom turned on the faucet and drank straight from his cupped hands. Only after quenching his thirst did he realize how hungry he was.

He decided to wait for Taehee.

But no matter how long he sat there, the sound of water never stopped.

Why is he showering this long?

By now it was late morning. Normally, breakfast would have been long over. Hunger gnawed steadily at him, and eventually he gave up waiting.

He searched through the kitchen again.

The refrigerator was hopeless, so this time he opened the cabinets instead. Those weren’t much better. A few individually wrapped nuts rolled around inside one cabinet, along with protein powder, jelly, and candy.

Jaegyeom grabbed the nuts without permission.

Carrying them back to the living room, he sprawled awkwardly across the sofa and started nibbling on them one by one.

Then the sound of running water abruptly stopped.

A moment later, the bathroom door opened.

Someone stepped out wearing a bathrobe, long hair wrapped up in a towel.

“Sweetheart, could you get me something to wear—”

The nuts slipped from Jaegyeom’s hand and scattered across the floor.

“...”

“...”

Their eyes met.

Steam drifted out behind Shin Jihye as she stared at him in surprise.

Jaegyeom’s mind blanked.

Why was Shin Jihye in Yoon Taehee’s house?

“Where’s he?”

“...Pardon?”

Shin Jihye slowly looked him up and down before narrowing her eyes.

“Where did sweetheart go?”

Jaegyeom glanced around in confusion.

“I... don’t know either...”

“Hah. You’re still pretending?”

“...What?”

Crossing her arms, Shin Jihye sneered.

“It stopped being funny a while ago, so cut it out already. I know the two of you planned this together and pretended not to know each other while you approached me. You think I’m dumb enough to believe you now?”

The accusations poured out rapidly.

Meanwhile, Jaegyeom—who genuinely had no idea what she was talking about—could only stare at her in bewilderment.

Seeing his expression, Shin Jihye looked exhausted instead.

Apparently too tired to keep arguing, she flopped down onto the sofa.

As she sat beside him, Jaegyeom awkwardly rose to his feet.

“...”

Yesterday, Shin Jihye and Taehee had looked extremely close.

When Jaegyeom first woke up in Taehee’s house, he had assumed Taehee must have broken up with her and brought only him here.

But she was still here.

So what exactly was going on?

As Jaegyeom stood there glancing at her uneasily—

“...Huh?”

Shin Jihye had crossed her legs while sitting, and only then did Jaegyeom notice them properly.

Scales covered her legs all the way up to her shins.

They shimmered beautifully, changing color every time the light touched them.

Just as Shin Jihye looked up at him as if asking what he was staring at, Jaegyeom blurted out:

“Y-Your legs... why are they...”

Shin Jihye frowned.

“Why are you asking when you already know? The gallbladder’s wearing off.”

“...Gallbladder?”

“Yeah. We have to eat human gallbladders for our legs to grow.”

What?

Human gallbladders?

Jaegyeom stiffened.

“Anyway, bring me some clothes.”

She waved him off impatiently.

This isn’t even my house...

Still, Jaegyeom moved obediently.

After wandering around for a while, he managed to find what looked like a dressing room. He opened drawers at random and found neatly folded clothes inside.

After thoroughly messing up the room, he finally found a T-shirt and shorts.

Only then did he return awkwardly to the living room.

“H-Here...”

Shin Jihye, still towel-drying her hair on the sofa, accepted the clothes haughtily.

Having completed his errand, Jaegyeom gave a small awkward bow. Then he crouched down and began clumsily gathering the nuts scattered across the floor.

“Is there no hair dryer?”

“...Huh?”

“A hair dryer.”

“Oh. I-I don’t know...”

Once again, Jaegyeom set off searching through the house.

He eventually found one sitting on the vanity in the bedroom. But when he brought it back—

Shin Jihye suddenly untied her bathrobe.

Jaegyeom froze.

“H-Hey—!”

Startled out of his mind, he clapped both hands over his eyes.

“I-In front of someone else...! Y-You can’t just take your clothes off like that...!”

His legs nearly gave out from shock.

As Jaegyeom trembled there with his eyes covered, Shin Jihye stared at him in disgust.

“This is why I can’t stand human men.”

Unbelievable.

Now dressed in the T-shirt, Shin Jihye stood and jabbed a finger against Jaegyeom’s chest.

“Hey. Don’t you people walk around shirtless all the time? We normally leave our tops exposed too. So why are you freaking out over somebody else’s chest?”

She pressed him relentlessly as she spoke, backing him into a corner.

Jaegyeom panicked completely.

“This is all because your way of thinking is messed up.”

“...”

“Your whole ideology is rotten from the start.”

“...”

“Well? Am I wrong?”

“...I-I’m sorry...”

As Jaegyeom shrank back helplessly, his speech became more and more polite.

“B-But men and women should stay separate...”

“What?”

Shin Jihye looked genuinely horrified.

“Are you from the Joseon era or something?”

“Y-Yes...”

“We’re in the twenty-first century now—”

She abruptly stopped talking.

“...”

“...”

“...Wait. What did you just say?”

Frowning, Shin Jihye leaned closer.

Startled, Jaegyeom instinctively stepped back.

“What kind of act is this supposed to be now?”

“...”

“You really came from the Joseon era?”

Jaegyeom hesitated.

Shin Jihye narrowed her eyes.

“Hold on. Let me dry my hair first. Then we’re talking.”

She picked up the dryer and switched it on.

Jaegyeom stood nearby with his hands neatly clasped while the loud whir filled the room.

“Is there no comb?”

“...What?”

“A hairbrush.”

“I-I don’t know...”

So Jaegyeom searched the entire house again.

Eventually he returned with a comb.

“H-Here...”

“Oh. Hold this for a second.”

Obediently, Jaegyeom stood there holding the comb.

At that exact moment, the entrance door beeped open.

Taehee walked inside wearing a baseball cap pulled low over his face and an oversized black T-shirt. A large paper bag hung from one hand.

Their eyes met.

“...”

“...”

The hair dryer continued roaring in the background.

Taehee’s gaze moved slowly between Shin Jihye, drying her hair, and Jaegyeom, standing beside her politely while holding a comb.

Then he looked at Jaegyeom.

“What are you doing?”

Jaegyeom immediately avoided his eyes.

“Oh? Sweetheart, where’d you go?”

Shin Jihye had finished drying her hair. She switched off the dryer and turned toward Taehee.

Lifting the bag slightly, Taehee answered calmly.

“There wasn’t anything to eat at home.”

“You actually eat breakfast?”

“Not really. I just wanted to buy something.”

At Taehee’s completely ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) unchanged attitude from yesterday, Jaegyeom’s expression stiffened.

“Me? I don’t usually eat breakfast.”

“No,” Taehee replied lightly as he set the bag on the table. “Not you.”

Then he walked straight over to Jaegyeom.

He removed the baseball cap from his own head and settled it onto Jaegyeom instead.

“It looks good on you.”

Cupping Jaegyeom’s cheeks with both hands, Taehee smiled lazily.

“My darling is the kind of person who needs three proper meals a day.”

Jaegyeom hesitated, staring up at him.

Taehee lowered his head onto Jaegyeom’s shoulder and rubbed his forehead lightly against him.

“Did you sleep well...?”