Honbul: Flame of the Soul

“Do you understand now? This is the ‘fate’ between you and Myojeong.”

The boy stood frozen, as though he had been struck across the back of the head.

“Myojeong hated your parents deeply. You are the seed of that hatred.”

His parents, whom he had never even seen, were sinners.

Myojeong had killed them.

He was the child of sinners, and Myojeong had brought him here to kill him too.

“......”

It was impossible to believe.

No.

It was something he could not believe.

His head spun, and he could not breathe. It felt as though someone had wrapped their hands around his throat.

“D-don’t talk bullshit...”

The boy stammered as he roughly shoved Suhyang’s hand away.

“T-that can’t be true... Myojeong wouldn’t do that...”

He barely managed to force the words out.

His voice trembled thinly.

“Myojeong brought me here to kill me? If that were true, there’s no way he would’ve left me alive until now. I... I lived with Myojeong for years...”

Before the boy could finish, Suhyang laughed softly and rose to their feet.

“That’s true. Perhaps he meant to raise you as ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ a sacrifice. After all, according to Myojeong, ‘Naja are wicked, depraved beings who would sacrifice even their own children.’”

Standing over him, Suhyang looked down at the boy with contempt.

“In the end, Myojeong was still an unavoidable Naja himself, wasn’t he?”

The smooth, flowing voice mocked Myojeong and the boy both at once.

The boy’s face went deathly pale.

Nausea rose in him all at once. He curled in on himself and covered his ears.

“No. It isn’t true... It’s a lie. It’s a lie. It’s a lie...”

“It seems you don’t want to believe me. If you truly can’t believe my words, why not go ask Myojeong yourself? You trust him so much, don’t you? I’m curious too. I wonder what he’ll say to you.”

Suhyang slung the knapsack they had taken from the boy over their shoulder and said,

“In exchange for one meager truth, I’ve gained something magnificent, thanks to you. I’ll be sure to repay this favor someday. Until we meet again, then. One day, you will certainly need me...”

Leaving behind that cruel truth, Suhyang gave him a friendly farewell.

“Stay well until the day we meet again.”

***

Under the full moon, the boy stumbled back along the dark mountain path and lay down in the freezing room.

He could not remember how he had made it home.

In the room where not a single lamp had been lit, the boy lay still and stared blankly at the shadows of trees cast across the wall.

Suddenly, he remembered a day he had gone down to the village with Myojeong.

As they walked together, the boy had seen a man and woman who seemed to be husband and wife, walking side by side while holding a child’s hand.

At a glance, they looked like a harmonious family.

Even after they passed, the boy stopped walking and turned his head, silently watching the three of them grow distant.

Gyeom-ah, what’s wrong?

Why did my parents abandon me?

At the sudden question, Myojeong stopped and looked down at him.

Did they not want to raise me after I was born?

The boy lowered his gaze and muttered as though thinking aloud.

......

Myojeong glanced toward the place where the family had disappeared, then carefully opened his mouth.

Do you miss your parents?

The boy shook his head slightly.

No. It’s not that I miss them.

The boy had never seen his parents since the day he was born.

Because he had no memories of them, there was no longing in him. No yearning either. He was simply curious about who they had been.

Even if they had abandoned him, the boy did not resent them.

Because he had Myojeong.

Of course, there had been times when he wished he had parents.

Or, more precisely, he wished Myojeong were his parent.

If not a parent, then family bound to him by blood. He had wished there were some kind of tie between Myojeong and himself.

He had thought such things before.

The boy lifted his head and looked at Myojeong.

When he was very young, he had held Myojeong’s hand whenever they walked together. But after growing a little older, it had somehow begun to feel awkward, and at some point he had stopped taking his hand.

I just thought I wasn’t blessed with parents.

The boy spoke nonchalantly, in an indifferent voice.

I guess they regretted having me after I was born.

After adding that, the boy began walking again.

But Myojeong did not follow him. He remained standing where he was.

Finding it strange, the boy turned back to look at him.

Your parents must have loved you.

After a long silence, Myojeong finally spoke.

From the time you were still in the womb, they must have stroked their bellies and said, “Hurry and be born.” They must have waited eagerly for the day you would come into the world. How could anyone not love a child like you?

At the quiet voice, the boy’s eyes widened faintly.

They wouldn’t have abandoned you. Everyone has their own story.

The boy stared blankly at Myojeong.

Gyeom-ah, you were born well. You were born wonderfully.

Myojeong lowered himself to the boy’s eye level and met his gaze.

......

Suddenly, heat gathered behind the boy’s eyes.

I see.

I was born wonderfully.

Then Myojeong smiled brightly, lifted his face toward the sky, and added,

Life is full of ups and downs. Thanks to our Gyeom-i having no luck with parents, I gained such a troublesome disciple. So your bad luck is my good fortune.

...That was what he had said.

He kept you beside him because he planned to kill you once the time came.

But he had brought him here to kill him.

When I grow old and my back bends, you’ll have to carry me around.

Before he knew it, Suhyang’s voice and Myojeong’s voice were tangled together, swirling chaotically through his head.

The boy squeezed his eyes shut.

He pulled the blanket over his head and curled up beneath it.

He did not know how much time had passed after that.

“Gyeom-ah, are you asleep?”

At some point, he sensed a presence in the yard.

Then a voice cut through the darkness.

The boy slowly opened his eyes.

Soon after, he heard the paper door slide open.

It was still dark outside. A round full moon shone brightly in the night sky.

Myojeong had returned a night early.

Even though he had come back early, for some reason, the boy was not happy at all.

After six days away, Myojeong saw the boy lying there with the blanket pulled over him.

The room fell silent again.

Thinking the boy was asleep, Myojeong moved as quietly as he could.

In the darkness, the boy suddenly felt sad at that familiar consideration. He could tell Myojeong was being careful with every movement, worried he might wake him.

Myojeong was quietly lighting the lamp when the boy finally spoke from beneath the blanket.

“Myojeong, you’re back?”

“Did I wake you?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry. But you didn’t even lay out a mat, and the room is freezing...”

Myojeong seemed to feel the floor.

Then, in a playful voice, he said,

“That’s it. Our Gyeom must be trying to catch a cold. He wants his master to take care of him, does he? Are you acting up because I was away from home for a few days?”

“......”

After a moment of silence, the boy asked,

“Why did you come back a day early?”

“Hmm?”

“You were supposed to come tomorrow.”

“That’s true. I was going to sleep early and set out as soon as dawn broke, but I kept picturing my sulky disciple waiting eagerly for this master, so I couldn’t sleep. When I looked outside, the moonlight was bright enough, thankfully, so I hurried along the night road.”

The boy bit his lip hard.

“......”

Something hot rose in his throat.

If he had heard those words a few days ago, he would have thought, He’s making excuses, but he came back because he missed me.

After all the years they had spent together, he had believed he could easily understand Myojeong’s true feelings.

But now, he could not be sure of anything.

“Liar.”

No.

Now, he had no confidence at all.

At the boy’s gloomy mutter, Myojeong silently looked at the boy’s back beneath the blanket.

For some reason, the atmosphere felt different from usual. The boy seemed listless tonight.

Seeing him so dejected, Myojeong wondered if something had happened while he was away.

“Gyeom-ah. Let me see your face.”

Myojeong reached out and pulled the blanket down to the boy’s shoulders.

But the boy did not move. He remained lying with his back turned to Myojeong.

When he still refused to show his face, Myojeong sensed that something must have happened and placed a hand on his shoulder.

The moment he turned the boy toward him—

“......”

Myojeong’s expression hardened.

The boy, illuminated by the dim lamplight, was a mess.

His clothes were covered in dirt, and dried blood stained his face and body.

Myojeong’s eyes sharpened as he seized the boy’s shoulders.

“Gyeom-ah, what happened to your face?”

The boy raised himself listlessly without answering.

“Who did this to you?”

“......”

“What happened?”

“......”

When the boy remained silent, Myojeong finally raised his voice.

“Gyeom-ah!”

The boy swallowed the lump rising in his throat and lowered his head.

For some reason, it was difficult to look Myojeong in the face.

His vision blurred.

His chest burned like a furnace.

After a long while, the boy moved his lips.

“Myojeong, you were a Naja.”

At the sudden words, Myojeong froze.

“...What?”

“And you have someone you love.”

“......”

“And... and...”

The boy slowly lifted his gaze and looked straight at Myojeong.

“You killed my parents.”

The moment their eyes met, Myojeong’s eyes twitched faintly.

“Is it true?”

Myojeong stared blankly at the boy, holding his breath.

“......”

At last, tears began welling in the boy’s eyes.

Because Myojeong was making a face he had never seen before.

The boy felt shattered.

He had wanted all of this to be a misunderstanding.

He had wanted it to be Suhyang’s trick.

But Suhyang’s words had been true.

He could tell from Myojeong’s expression.

It was real.

This was what came from trusting him while desperately trying to ignore the truth he did not want to believe.

The boy clenched his teeth and held back his tears.

“I met Suhyang.”

Suhyang.

At the name that left the boy’s mouth, Myojeong’s eyes slowly widened.

Silence passed between them.

Then Myojeong, who had been frozen blankly in place, suddenly sprang to his feet as if struck by lightning.

Or as if he had sensed disaster coming.

He shoved aside the wardrobe built against the wall, revealing a small door hidden behind it.

Inside the storage space concealed within the wall sat a chest.

As though possessed, Myojeong opened it and began rummaging through it wildly. He did not even spare the boy a glance.

The boy, boiling inside, grabbed Myojeong roughly by the collar.

“Answer me! Did you really kill my parents and bring me here so you could kill me too?”

The boy clung to him and demanded the truth with desperate force.

Myojeong flung his hand away violently.

With a crash, the boy slammed into the wall.

“Ugh...”

Then Myojeong strode over and seized him by the collar.

“The mother-of-pearl box... Where... where did it go?”

Once again, Myojeong wore a face the boy had never seen before.

A face stripped of reason.

His eyes were wide enough to show the whites. Murderous rage filled his spiritual force.

The hand gripping the boy’s collar was so tight the bones stood out. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

But the boy was not afraid.

Far from afraid—

he was sad.

Ah.

I lost the bet after all.

Suhyang had said he knew nothing about Myojeong.

Those words had been true.

Myojeong, who never got angry no matter what happened, was angry at him now.

So this was the face Myojeong made when he was angry.

Maybe he had worn this same expression when he killed the boy’s parents.

Then, on the day he had found him and first held out his hand, had the face hidden in the dark looked like this too?

“Ah... that?”

Held by the collar in Myojeong’s grip, the boy let out a faint laugh.

“I threw it away.”