Honbul: Flame of the Soul

“So... have you ever eaten something strange in the past?”

Jaegyeom frowned slightly at the sudden question as he quietly listened to Shin Jihye’s story.

He searched through the dusty remnants of his memories, but nothing immediately came to mind. Besides, his years with Myojeong had been so long ago that many details had already blurred together.

“For one thing, I’ve never met a mermaid before.”

He had heard stories about mermaids existing, but Shin Jihye was the first one he had ever actually seen.

Which meant he had never knowingly consumed a mermaid’s flesh or blood.

More importantly, according to Shin Jihye, immortality through mermaid flesh only worked if the mermaid loved the human involved.

But Jaegyeom had no memory of ever loving anyone in his life.

“When I was little, I got sick pretty often. Back then I used to drink medicinal decoctions all the time...”

As Jaegyeom muttered while digging through old memories, Yoon Taehee suddenly paused.

“...You were sick often as a child?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

Jaegyeom frowned faintly.

“When I was young, I’d suddenly collapse for no reason. My chest would feel like it was burning, and then everything would go dark. Whenever that happened, Myojeong would make medicine for me, and I’d recover after drinking it.”

He tilted his head slightly.

“But they were mostly herbal decoctions. I barely ever took pills.”

Yoon Taehee quietly stared at him for a moment.

Then, without warning, he lifted a hand and gently stroked the back of Jaegyeom’s head.

The simple touch was strangely affectionate.

Jaegyeom froze briefly before quickly tilting away to escape his hand.

At that moment, Shin Jihye tilted her head thoughtfully.

“If you’ve never even met a mermaid before, then your immortality probably isn’t directly connected to mermaids themselves.”

She rested her chin on one hand.

“Which means the immortality pill is more likely. Maybe you consumed it without realizing it. Or maybe your immortality comes from something completely different.”

Then she shrugged lightly.

“I don’t know much about the immortality pill either, so I can’t say for sure. But if it’s called an immortality pill, that doesn’t necessarily mean it was literally shaped like a pill, right? It could’ve been dissolved into water, melted into medicine, mixed into food...”

She looked between them.

“Don’t you think?”

As Shin Jihye raised the possibility, Yoon Taehee asked calmly,

“If someone becomes immortal after consuming mermaid flesh and blood, is there a way to reverse it?”

“As far as I know, it’s the same principle for mermaids.”

Shin Jihye answered without much hesitation.

“They have to consume the gallbladder of the person they love.”

A mermaid who ate the gallbladder of their loved one gained human legs, began aging like a human, and eventually died like one too.

“Then what about someone who became immortal through the immortality pill?”

“Hm...”

Shin Jihye frowned slightly.

“I don’t know much about the immortality pill itself, so I’m not certain. But I’d assume the method would still be the same? Since immortality originally comes from inheriting a mermaid’s traits.”

“Is that so.”

Yoon Taehee slowly rose from his seat and walked toward the sink.

Then he opened a drawer and took out a blade.

Holding the blade loosely in one hand, he turned toward Jaegyeom.

“In that case, if you eat my gallbladder right now, we’ll find out immediately.”

At the calm statement, both Jaegyeom and Shin Jihye blanked out.

“...”

“...”

Yoon Taehee looked down at his own side and casually pressed a hand near his ribs as if estimating the exact location of his gallbladder.

“...Is this guy completely insane?”

Shin Jihye muttered in disbelief.

Jaegyeom, who had frozen for several seconds, finally snapped back to himself and strode over.

Grabbing Yoon Taehee’s wrist tightly, he glared at him.

“You fucking lunatic. What the hell are you talking about?”

Yoon Taehee looked down at him steadily.

“Because I love you.”

His voice remained calm.

“So there’s a chance my gallbladder will work.”

At the absurdly casual confession in the middle of this situation, Jaegyeom went speechless.

What the hell is wrong with ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) this bastard?

Nearby, Shin Jihye’s eyes widened as she covered her mouth.

“Wait... you’re seriously planning to cut yourself open right here?” 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“I don’t particularly mind getting hurt.”

Yoon Taehee answered indifferently.

“I can just have the ginseng child heal me afterward.”

“Are you out of your fucking mind? At least say something that makes sense.”

It was completely insane.

Unlike Jaegyeom, Yoon Taehee wasn’t immortal. His body was weak enough already, yet he was calmly talking about carving himself open with a knife.

The more Jaegyeom listened, the angrier he became.

“There’s nothing to lose from trying once.”

“How the fuck is cutting out your own gallbladder ‘nothing to lose’?”

As the two argued, Shin Jihye crossed her arms and interrupted.

“Or you could just ask my mother directly back home.”

Both men turned toward her.

“If you want to know whether his immortality came from mermaids or from an immortality pill made using mermaids, then you’ll have to ask actual mermaids in person anyway.”

Shin Jihye continued,

“My mother said mermaids can identify people who’ve consumed mermaid flesh just by smelling them. I can’t tell because I’m only half-mermaid.”

Then she added quietly,

“And my mother definitely knows far more about the immortality pill than I do.”

Yoon Taehee listened silently before asking,

“You mean Geomun Island?”

Shin Jihye shook her head.

“They used to live near Geomun Island. But humans kept harassing them, so they relocated a long time ago.”

Twisting a strand of hair around her finger, she continued,

“The place they live now is called Geoyeo Island. It’s much farther out.”

Then she added matter-of-factly,

“But the two of you won’t be able to get there without me. The island’s deep out in the ocean. You’d never find it on your own.”

Her scaled legs shifted slightly beneath the table.

“So I’ll go into the sea myself and bring my mother back.”

At this point, scales already covered more than half her legs. In another day or two, they would completely fuse into a mermaid’s tail.

Her body was already prepared to return to the sea.

“But I have conditions.”

Shin Jihye looked directly at Yoon Taehee.

“Yesterday you said you’d introduce me to some broker or quack doctor or whatever, right? Do it.”

Then her gaze sharpened.

“And protect me from now on. Make sure Naryecheong never learns I exist.”

After a brief pause, she added,

“If you agree, I’ll personally guide you both to the island.”

“Fine.”

Yoon Taehee nodded immediately.

“I’ll do it.”

“Geoyeo Island is far from the mainland, so boats rarely go there. It’ll probably take at least a day or two for me to bring my mother back.”

Shin Jihye glanced between them.

“You’ll have to wait on the island while I’m gone. And you absolutely can’t let the other mermaids see you. They hate humans enough that they might attack on sight.”

Then she pointed at herself.

“So I’ll sneak down alone and bring my mother back personally.”

“Understood.”

Yoon Taehee accepted the proposal without hesitation.

“...”

Jaegyeom’s expression gradually hardened.

The decision had been made far too quickly.

Everything was moving entirely according to Yoon Taehee’s will again, without even asking what Jaegyeom thought.

Finally, Jaegyeom grabbed Yoon Taehee by the wrist and yanked him away.

“Hey. Come talk to me for a second.”

***

The moment he dragged Yoon Taehee into the room and shut the door, Jaegyeom exploded.

“Why do you keep deciding everything by yourself?”

He glared coldly at Yoon Taehee.

“We don’t even know yet whether my curse actually has anything to do with mermaids. This could take days. And now you’re suddenly saying we should abandon everything and run off to meet mermaids?”

Even as Jaegyeom snapped furiously,

“That’s exactly why we should ask them directly.”

Yoon Taehee answered with a perfectly calm face.

“We’re supposed to steal the wooden tag soon. What if something goes wrong while we’re gone?”

Jaegyeom’s voice sharpened.

“And I still haven’t decided whether I’m even going to follow your plan.”

“As I told you before, your opinion doesn’t matter.”

Jaegyeom’s expression darkened instantly.

“Nothing’s changing.”

Yoon Taehee stared straight at him.

“You’ll retrieve my wooden tag and return my name to me. I’ll destroy Naryecheong and take Bangsangsi’s mask.”

Then he added quietly,

“And someday, without fail, you’ll die.”

“...”

“But it won’t happen two months from now.”

“...”

Once again, the conversation circled endlessly without resolution.

The reason Jaegyeom had gone looking for Yoon Taehee the previous night was because he felt they couldn’t continue like this anymore.

They had only been wasting time avoiding each other.

He had wanted them to sit down and speak properly.

What they would do if they really found a way to break the curse.

What kind of promise they would make afterward.

What their plans would be from now on.

What would happen if they couldn’t find a way.

The Yoon Taehee Jaegyeom knew always looked relaxed on the surface, but in reality he was obsessively patient and meticulous. He was the kind of person who could wait ten entire years for revenge while planning several steps ahead.

So Jaegyeom had never imagined that someone like him would suddenly start acting this recklessly, putting knives against his own body and forcing everything forward like this.

“Why do you keep doing whatever you want?”

Biting down hard on his lip, Jaegyeom glared at him.

“When did I ever ask you to break the curse?”

“No.”

Yoon Taehee looked at him expressionlessly.

“This has nothing to do with what you want.”

Then, without hesitation, he said,

“It’s because I, the person who loves you, want it.”

At those shamelessly straightforward words, the sharp hostility in Jaegyeom’s expression faltered.

Yoon Taehee was selfish to the core.

Boldly selfish.

Brazenly self-centered.

And he spoke about love without the slightest restraint.

“...”

It felt strangely familiar somehow.

I’m not doing this because I’m worried about you.

It’s because it hurts me whenever you get hurt.

As Jaegyeom struggled to respond, Yoon Taehee suddenly cupped both of his cheeks.

Startled, Jaegyeom instinctively tried to pull away.

But Yoon Taehee abruptly asked,

“Why did you come looking for me yesterday?”

“...”

Jaegyeom hesitated.

His lips trembled faintly before he forced out an awkward answer.

“I... I thought we needed to talk. But you kept ignoring my calls.”

Still holding his face, Yoon Taehee slowly leaned closer.

The scent surrounding him was dizzyingly close.

Lowering his eyes, he asked quietly,

“Was that really all?”

“...”

Jaegyeom’s eyelashes fluttered frantically.

“That was the only reason?”

“...”

With their noses almost touching now, Yoon Taehee asked softly,

“Then why did you ask me to kiss you yesterday?”

At that moment, Jaegyeom’s heart dropped violently.

I asked him to kiss me?

His memory from the previous night had been cut off halfway through. But hearing those words suddenly made fragments return all at once.

This closeness.

Their noses brushing like this.

It all felt disturbingly familiar.

Which meant he really had kissed Yoon Taehee last night.

Flustered, Jaegyeom hurriedly stammered,

“Th-That was just because I was drunk. I wasn’t in my right mind.”

Yoon Taehee stared down at him through half-lidded eyes.

“...”

After silently watching him for several moments, Yoon Taehee slowly lowered his head.

His forehead slid down until it rested against Jaegyeom’s neck.

Then, in a voice quiet enough to sound almost like a murmur to himself, he whispered,

“Right. I don’t mind even if it was because you were drunk...”

Still leaning against his neck, Yoon Taehee slowly lifted his head again.

“So this time too...”

His gaze lingered heavily on Jaegyeom.

“Pretend you’re not in your right mind and come with me.”

Like the two of them were taking one final short trip together.

To that distant island.