Honbul: Flame of the Soul

“We’ll take the whole house, please.”

Yoon Taehee made the decision without even asking for Jaegyeom’s opinion, but Jaegyeom didn’t object. Honestly, he had secretly been worrying about what to do if Taehee suggested they share a room.

A separate house with two rooms was obviously better than staying together in one. Having their own rooms would be more comfortable, and they could live without constantly worrying about each other.

Saying she would show them the way, the old woman gestured for them to follow.

Jaegyeom and Taehee climbed the sloped alley behind the elderly landlady, watching her bent back as she led them onward. After walking along the stone-wall path for a while, a small earthen house came into view beyond the wall.

They entered through a tin gate with peeling paint.

“It’s old, but it should still be comfortable enough to stay in,” the old woman said as she handed them the key.

The modest countryside house, built from wood and packed earth, had an old-fashioned charm at first glance. Though worn with age and marked by time, it had clearly been maintained and repaired regularly. Nothing looked crumbled or neglected.

A shoulder-high stone wall enclosed the yard. In the center stood a wide wooden porch platform, while earthenware jars sat clustered together in one sunny corner. Beside them was a small vegetable garden filled with various plants.

It had been a long time since Jaegyeom had seen a house like this.

A strange sense of nostalgia washed over him.

The old woman told them to let her know if they needed anything or ran into any inconveniences before heading back down. They agreed to come to the main house at mealtimes. After she left, Jaegyeom and Taehee set their bags down on the porch and looked around the inside of the house.

Behind the paper sliding door was a small living space with a kitchen and bathroom attached. Across from each other beyond the living area were the main room and a smaller side room.

“There’s even a washing machine,” Taehee remarked as he peeked into the bathroom.

“And a TV,” Jaegyeom added from the main room.

“It has everything we need.”

After finishing their inspection of the house, the two sat down heavily on the outer porch.

Because the house sat high on a sloping hill, they could see the dock and the sea at a glance even while sitting there. The scenery felt quiet and sleepy. The two of them simply stared out in silence.

It was a rare moment of peace.

Neither of them knew quite how to spend the time while waiting for Shin Jihye. Taehee rarely had the chance to rest this comfortably, and for Jaegyeom, whose only usual pastimes were watching TV and playing games, this kind of stillness felt strangely unfamiliar.

Eventually, Taehee suggested taking a walk around the island.

Since they had nothing else to do anyway, Jaegyeom agreed easily. The two of them followed the path winding uphill behind the house.

After walking for a while, they came across a surprisingly impressive forest.

As they moved along the dense woodland trail, Jaegyeom walked leisurely ahead. But strolling side by side with Taehee like this made him realize something new.

Yoon Taehee walked incredibly slowly.

Whenever they walked naturally at their own pace, Jaegyeom inevitably ended up far ahead.

Growing irritated, he turned back toward Taehee, who was several steps behind him.

“Hey. Why are you so slow? Walk faster.”

Taehee, who had been following with his hands clasped behind his back, replied calmly,

“In situations like this, the faster person should wait for the slower one.”

Like you should be talking.

Jaegyeom shot him a dissatisfied glance.

Still... it was true.

Now that he thought about it, Myojeong had always matched Jaegyeom’s pace whenever they walked together, despite being much faster himself. And whenever the distance between them widened, Myojeong would always stop and wait for him.

Jaegyeom took a deep breath.

The fresh scent of the forest filled his lungs.

“It’s a cypress forest.”

Taehee spoke quietly as he looked around at the thick greenery.

Jaegyeom glanced at him in surprise.

“You know a lot, huh?”

“I grew up in a temple when I was young.”

Right.

Taehee had mentioned before that he grew up in a temple. Since temples were usually tucked away in the mountains, it made sense he would know trees and flowers well.

Suddenly, Jaegyeom found himself curious about what kind of life Taehee had lived all this time.

“So did you shave your head back then too?”

At the unexpected question, Taehee burst out laughing.

“I didn’t become a monk, so no, I didn’t shave my head.”

He explained that he had lived alongside the monks as a layman.

“I see.”

Jaegyeom nodded indifferently.

Maybe because they were so far south, the weather was much warmer than Seoul and felt almost hot. Jaegyeom fanned at his shirt collar before taking off the overshirt he wore over his T-shirt.

“Give it to me.”

Though Jaegyeom thought it was strange that Taehee wanted to carry something like that for him, he handed the shirt over anyway.

Instead of holding it, Taehee grabbed the sleeves and wrapped them around Jaegyeom’s waist.

Startled, Jaegyeom reflexively leaned back.

Taehee tied the sleeves neatly around his waist so it would not be inconvenient to carry.

Seeing Jaegyeom stiffen slightly, Taehee smiled.

“Did I surprise you?”

“...”

Jaegyeom said nothing.

***

After passing through the thick forest path, they reached a ridge overlooking the open sea.

Ah.

At some point, awe had filled Jaegyeom’s eyes.

At the top of the hill, a vast colony of bright yellow evening primroses covered the gentle slope before them.

It was breathtaking.

Wildflowers bloomed in endless clusters across the field. When he turned his head, he could see the horizon stretching over the sea and the entire island spread out below. Sunset light spilled softly across the calm water.

Saa—

A gust of wind swept through.

The flowers bent together in one direction beneath the breeze.

Jaegyeom inhaled deeply. His chest swelled so full it almost hurt.

Suddenly, an indescribable emotion surged up inside him.

This vast stretch of nature.

This moment of standing here on his own two feet.

Everything felt strangely miraculous.

Jaegyeom, who had long grown sick of seeing the same scenery over and over again, felt something overflowing from deep inside his heart at the sight of this magnificent landscape.

It was the vitality of being alive.

Even happy times end, and maybe you’ll become unhappy again someday. But even if that happens, I think I can endure it now. Because I’ve experienced once that good days really do come while you’re alive, I think I can keep going. If you wait for the right time, good days will definitely come someday.

Suddenly, he remembered something Yoo Namsaeng had once told him.

That good days came while living.

Jaegyeom thought, all at once—

Maybe that day was today.

Quietly, he turned his head toward Yoon Taehee.

Amid the blooming field of flowers, Taehee stood with his eyes closed.

Facing the setting sun, he stood alone against the horizon in silence.

Jaegyeom stared at him as though bewitched.

It felt like he had never seen an expression like that on Taehee’s face before.

The wind lifted his bangs, revealing his forehead. His profile looked almost sculpted, and his long eyelashes cast faint shadows.

For some reason, Jaegyeom felt as though he understood exactly what Taehee was thinking in that moment. What he was feeling.

It felt as though the vast world held only the two of them.

“...”

Suddenly, Jaegyeom found himself wishing time would stop right here.

At that moment, perhaps sensing his gaze, Taehee slowly opened his eyes and looked toward him.

The two stared at each other silently.

Then Taehee bent slightly and plucked a wildflower from near his feet.

Holding out the evening primrose to Jaegyeom, he said quietly,

“Whenever I look at you, I think I’m glad I stayed alive.”

At those words, Jaegyeom felt his chest tighten.

He had heard that sentence before.

It had been one of the lines Taehee gave him during dictation practice. Back then, Jaegyeom had thought something about it felt strange.

And now he realized why.

It hadn’t been a sentence from a book at all.

It was something Taehee had written himself.

Yoon Taehee, slow at walking, was somehow always faster than Jaegyeom at everything else.

Quietly twirling the flower stem between his fingers, Taehee murmured,

“Hello. I like you...”

The single wildflower linking Taehee and Jaegyeom swayed softly in the breeze.

Jaegyeom’s heart pounded.

Yoon Taehee always made up his own questions.

Always moved ahead on his own.

And always waited for Jaegyeom’s answer.

You know how Taehee feels, but you still won’t accept it.

Taehee’s afraid you’ll leave him.

Yoon Taehee had said that the faster person should wait for the slower one.

From the beginning, their paces had never matched.

Taehee usually stayed silent, only speaking at the most crucial moments, while Jaegyeom tended to say whatever was on his mind yet kept quiet whenever it truly mattered.

The two of them stood at opposite extremes like that.

Someday, there’ll definitely come a moment when you stop being confused.

Shin Jihye had said that.

But Jaegyeom was still confused.

Suddenly, he thought he shouldn’t accept the flower.

And yet, as though bewitched, he reached out and took it anyway.

There was no helping it.

It was too beautiful to refuse.

“...It’s pretty.”

Jaegyeom stared at the flower in his hand ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) before suddenly reaching toward Taehee instead.

He tucked the bright yellow evening primrose behind Taehee’s ear.

Taehee froze.

Then he looked at Jaegyeom with slightly widened eyes.

After staring blankly for a moment, Taehee slowly took the flower from behind his ear—

and put it into his mouth.

Then he started chewing it.

“Are you insane? Why are you suddenly eating that?”

Startled by the completely unexpected action, Jaegyeom shouted with wide eyes.

“Because I like you.”

The answer was absurd.

Sometimes Yoon Taehee genuinely seemed insane.

“So you eat flowers when you like someone?”

“No. It’s bitter and astringent.”

Taehee frowned slightly as he rubbed at his jaw.

“You’re seriously weird.”

This bizarre man who chewed flowers just because Jaegyeom had touched them.

“You really are a fucking idiot...”

And in that moment, Jaegyeom thought he finally understood what love was.

Giving up your gallbladder for the person you loved.

Chewing a flower without hesitation because it had passed through the hand of the person you loved.

Something beautiful and fragrant—

yet also bitter and astringent.

That was Yoon Taehee’s love.