Honbul: Flame of the Soul

The Leader remained silent for a long time after hearing the cat spirit’s story.

Then, after sitting quietly for a while, Taehee slowly glanced down at his left wrist. His fingers brushed absently over his watch as he murmured under his breath.

“Sisi... you were right. Hometown really is on my side.”

Yoon Taehee knew this feeling well.

It was the sensation of a favorable wind rising the instant the sails were raised.

Several times in his life, fate had aligned with him so perfectly it bordered on the grotesque. Whenever it happened, a chill always crept down his spine.

If the key to immortality truly lay with the mermaid, then the method of breaking immortality might also lie with the mermaid.

Perhaps she knew how to undo the curse.

Right now, she was the only lead they had.

Taehee immediately left the pavilion and headed for headquarters.

The moment he arrived at the Office of Narye, he began searching Shin Jihye’s personal records. It did not take long before he found her social media account.

If she maintained social media publicly, tracking her movements would be easy.

Originally, Taehee had assumed mermaids—if they truly existed—would hide near the sea or somewhere isolated from modern civilization.

He had been completely wrong.

The legendary mermaid’s primary territory was Gangnam.

The center of Seoul itself.

Shin Jihye’s social media was full of smiling photos, expensive restaurants, and crowds of people. Bright. Sociable. Confident.

Nothing outwardly strange.

He quickly learned that she had worked as a model until her early twenties before suddenly quitting several years earlier.

After gathering the basics of her background, Taehee took leave from work and began following her directly.

Since the cat spirit had said she seduced a new target every week, Taehee expected that once he got close to her, the rest would not be difficult.

And his prediction proved correct almost immediately.

“Want to hang out with me? You’re pretty handsome.”

Shin Jihye took the bait at once.

Yoon Taehee willingly became prey.

Disguising himself as a target and stepping directly into the web, Taehee patiently waited for an opportunity. If he stayed close to her for a week, evidence would inevitably appear.

So he endured it.

For days, Taehee observed Shin Jihye carefully while suppressing the urge to tear his own insides apart.

Every second spent eating with her, driving around with her, drinking tea with her, escorting her home—

every second felt intolerable.

It drove him insane.

Still, Taehee severed all other contact and focused entirely on Shin Jihye.

Because these fleeting moments now existed for the sake of every future moment he intended to spend with Jaegyeom.

Then, on the third day, Shin Jihye appeared wearing a long skirt.

Until then, she had consistently worn clothes exposing her legs.

The moment Taehee saw the skirt, certainty settled in.

They need to consume gallbladders regularly to maintain human legs. Otherwise scales gradually spread upward.

Something had changed.

He wanted to confirm it immediately.

The evidence was practically right in front of him.

But Taehee restrained himself.

If he exposed her too early, she might escape. It was entirely possible she had simply covered herself in advance, anticipating the scales before they became visible.

One more day, he thought. Just one more day.

And then—

Jaegyeom appeared.

The moment Taehee saw him enter the bar, his heart lurched violently.

Why are you here...?

But Taehee was currently pretending to be bewitched by Shin Jihye.

More accurately, he was pretending not to notice the enchantment.

It was not a situation where he could openly acknowledge Jaegyeom or explain anything. If he acted carelessly and aroused Shin Jihye’s suspicion, everything could collapse right there.

He might lose the mermaid entirely.

No. I’ve never seen him before.

So Taehee pretended not to know him.

Not because he wanted to.

Because he had no choice.

He prayed Jaegyeom would simply leave before things became worse.

Instead, Jaegyeom sat down among the others and started drinking.

From that point onward, Taehee found himself pushed repeatedly to the edge.

Every time Jaegyeom unexpectedly interfered with the situation, Taehee barely managed to steady himself again.

But in the end, as always, Jaegyeom became the variable that shattered everything apart.

And Taehee was helplessly swept along with him.

“A legendary mermaid hiding behind a cat spirit.” Taehee smiled faintly. “I’ve been looking for you quite desperately.”

Fortunately, by then, scales had already begun appearing on Shin Jihye’s legs.

The game was over.

Realizing she had been deceived from the beginning, Shin Jihye ground her teeth together.

“What exactly are you trying to do with me?”

“Talk.”

“...What?”

“I want to speak with you. Not as a mermaid and a human. As Shin Jihye and Yoon Taehee.”

Shin Jihye glared at him.

“And what exactly do you want to hear?”

“Everything you know about mermaids.”

Taehee glanced calmly around the chaotic bar.

“This isn’t the best place for a conversation, though. If you don’t mind, I’d prefer moving somewhere private.”

His smile remained perfectly composed.

“It would be inconvenient for both of us if anyone overheard.”

“And why should I go with you?” Shin Jihye snapped. “What if I don’t want to talk?”

“Unfortunately,” Taehee replied softly, “that isn’t really an option.”

The corners of his mouth lifted slowly.

“You currently have two choices.”

He slammed his folded fan lightly against the floor.

“You can go to gwijae Yoon Taehee’s house...”

His gaze sharpened.

“...or exorcist Yoon Taehee’s house.”

Shin Jihye’s expression froze.

“...Exorcist?”

“Information about mermaids is extremely rare, even within the Office of Narye,” Taehee said calmly. “If I were exorcist Yoon Taehee, I would return to headquarters and report this.”

His voice remained almost pleasant.

I was tracking a cat spirit responsible for harvesting human organs. But when I finally caught it, it turned out to be a legendary mermaid.

“But,” Taehee continued lightly, “if I’m gwijae Yoon Taehee—the person who approached you from the start knowing perfectly well that a cat spirit was merely your cover—then naturally I wouldn’t report that.”

Yoon Taehee had always been the sort of person who would use any method necessary to achieve his goal.

If needed, he could become vile, calculating, and shameless without hesitation.

And he was exceptionally good at placing himself in advantageous positions.

Shin Jihye’s face hardened.

“Wow. You fucking trash.”

She laughed bitterly.

“So this is blackmail now?”

“Well,” Taehee replied mildly, “technically you threatened someone first.”

“What are you talking about?”

Taehee calmly recounted Kim Jjangdol’s story.

“Kim Jjangdol?!”

Only then did Shin Jihye fully understand what had happened.

Her face twisted with fury.

“That little bastard— just because he’s cute, he thinks he can get away with anything?! Do you know how much I spoiled him?!”

After raging for a moment, she bit down hard on her lip and glared at Taehee.

“So what now? You’re planning to use this against me?”

“No,” Taehee replied evenly. “I’m saying you’re fortunate.”

“...What?”

“You should be grateful you ran into me. If it had been another exorcist, you’d already be locked inside the Office of Narye or dissected as a research specimen.”

He folded the fan neatly.

“I have no intention of doing either.”

Shin Jihye stared at him in disbelief.

“You deliberately approached me to trap me, and now you’re telling me to feel grateful?”

“Yes,” Taehee admitted immediately. “I absolutely approached you deliberately.”

Then he tilted his head slightly.

“But you also did something worth catching.”

His smile vanished.

“You consumed human gallbladders.”

“The gallbladder’s basically useless anyway,” Shin Jihye shot back instantly. “People live perfectly fine without it. Hospitals remove them all the time.”

“Well,” Taehee replied casually, “honestly, I agree. It’s not exactly an essential organ.”

Then he added calmly:

“But it still harms people. So if we’re discussing right and wrong, you’re obviously in the wrong.”

Shin Jihye glared at him furiously.

Meanwhile, Taehee continued in the same even tone.

“More importantly, disguising everything as the work of a cat spirit was sloppy. The Office would’ve caught up to you eventually even if I hadn’t.”

Shin Jihye pressed her lips tightly together.

“If you truly needed gallbladders regularly to maintain your disguise,” Taehee continued, “you should have buried yourself properly inside civilization instead of relying on a cat spirit.”

His expression remained perfectly serious.

“You could’ve hired an organ broker. Or found an illegal surgeon willing to supply them quietly.”

He tilted his head thoughtfully.

“That would’ve been much more efficient.”

“...”

“If you’d like, I can even introduce you to people.”

Shin Jihye looked utterly speechless.

The alternatives Taehee proposed were horrifyingly realistic.

He was not condemning her actions morally.

He was criticizing her methods.

“You’re seriously insane,” Shin Jihye muttered.

“No,” Taehee replied calmly. “You were simply careless.”

Finally, Shin Jihye dropped her head and shouted in frustration:

“So what the hell do you want from me?!”

“I already told you.”

Taehee smiled faintly.

“Come somewhere private and have a calm conversation with me.”

“...”

“If you can’t decide immediately, I’ll generously give you time to think.”

Then Taehee turned toward the sofa.

Jaegyeom had fallen asleep sideways across it, completely drunk.

“Jaegyeom.”

Taehee tried lightly shaking him awake, but Jaegyeom did not respond at all.

After staring at him briefly, Taehee lowered his head and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

Then he bit him gently.

Just once.

A light nip against the skin, more playful than painful.

Afterward, Taehee lifted Jaegyeom into his arms with ease, as though carrying a child.

Then he rolled back his sleeve slightly to check the time on his watch before looking down at Shin Jihye expressionlessly.

“So,” he asked quietly, “have you decided?”

The “time” Taehee gave her amounted to barely a minute.

“....”

And that was how Shin Jihye ended up in Highfellis Building B, Unit 1402.