Honbul: Flame of the Soul

“It’s been a long time, hehe.”

Sisi flicked its tongue as it looked up at the fully grown Seonoh.

“You...”

Seonoh stared at the snake with widened eyes.

The black snake coiled around his wrist like a thin thread bracelet shifted slightly, making his skin prickle. Sisi gazed back at him with eyes as red as pomegranate seeds.

“You’ve grown a lot, Seonoh.”

The boy who had once been small and skeletal had grown into the body of a fully matured man.

As Sisi stared at him intently, it suddenly pushed its head outward. The flat tattoo-like mark engraved on Seonoh’s wrist became three-dimensional, the snake’s head emerging vividly from his skin.

Sisi lifted its head and looked around.

Far away, the black sea roared violently in the storm.

After watching the ocean for a moment, Sisi narrowed its eyes and slipped back into Seonoh’s wrist again.

Seonoh glanced toward the closed sliding door before lowering his voice.

“Sisi. How is this possible?”

It had been years since he last heard Sisi speak.

More than a decade ago, the snake that had suddenly appeared inside the painting became Seonoh’s only companion. His only friend. Sisi taught the young Seonoh — who hadn’t even known how to break a talisman — how to escape, and whenever the deranged Yoon Wonjung became violent, it stayed beside him.

Sisi was the one who led Seonoh out into the world.

And because of that, Seonoh’s entire world collapsed.

It had been both disaster and salvation.

Sisi gave freedom to Seonoh, who had lived trapped inside a house no better than a garbage heap.

And—

If only you hadn’t taught me how to break the talismans...

At the same time, it was also the thing that awakened emotions like hatred and vengeance inside him.

Are you blaming me?

On that day beneath the raging snowstorm, Seonoh learned hatred for the first time as he mercilessly slashed at Sisi engraved into his wrist with a knife.

Sisi.

And the scar.

Sisi itself had become the scar carried by the name “Seonoh.”

It’s all because of you.

After mocking the young Seonoh that day, Sisi never opened its eyes again.

No matter how many times he called for it, there was never any response.

For more than ten years, Sisi remained silent, leaving behind nothing but its shell.

“You were still inside me?”

“Yes. I was always here.”

“I thought you’d left...”

Seonoh had believed Sisi abandoned him, leaving behind only the empty mark on his wrist.

“Then why didn’t you say anything until now?”

“Hey, Seonoh. There’s no time for this right now.”

Sisi looked at him steadily with its red eyes.

“Run away, Seonoh.”

Seonoh faltered at the sudden words.

“Hurry. You have to leave this island immediately.”

Sisi writhed urgently around his wrist. The black thread bracelet twisted and shifted shape. Every movement left the skin around Seonoh’s wrist itching faintly. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Seonoh asked calmly,

“What do you mean, leave the island? Why all of a sudden?”

“You always get hurt around water. Didn’t Yoon Wonjung tell you that once? It happened before too. When you entered the cave, you were bewitched by the water ghost living in the lake and nearly drowned!”

Seonoh’s eyes widened slightly.

“How do you know about that...?”

“You stupid idiot!”

Sisi narrowed its eyes sharply.

“You... you were watching everything.”

“Yes. I saw everything.”

Sisi flicked its tongue slowly.

“I know everything you see. Everything you hear.”

Once it settled inside Seonoh’s body, Sisi gradually became intertwined with him, almost like a parasite feeding off him. It could sense Seonoh’s emotions and thoughts with ease.

Because Seonoh had returned to his younger self, he failed to realize this world was a fantasy.

But the moment Sisi intervened, cracks appeared in the illusion.

Come to think of it, they had never actually spoken like that before.

Seonoh. Like you said, maybe he really did come. Yes. Whatever’s standing outside that door might become your fate. Your misfortune. Your ruin. Are you afraid something bad will happen?

So back then, the voice he heard had been the real Sisi all along.

“Why are you telling me to leave the island?”

“If things continue like this, your life will definitely be in danger.”

A strange look crossed Seonoh’s face.

Over the past ten years as a Naja, he had faced mortal danger countless times.

And yet Sisi had never once tried to warn him about the future until now.

“What do you mean dangerous? Why?”

“Because that child is beside you.”

At the mention of “that child,” Seonoh turned to look at the closed sliding door.

“What exactly do you mean by that?”

At last, Seonoh looked down at Sisi coldly.

“I warned you clearly. I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Then explain it properly. What exactly is dangerous? And even if we wanted to leave, there are no boats running right now. If you know everything, then you should know why I came here in the first place.”

Sisi flicked its tongue silently before finally letting out a sigh.

“Yes, Seonoh. I know you love that child.”

Seonoh hesitated slightly, narrowing his eyes.

“But Seonoh, think carefully about what matters more. You’re smart, aren’t you? There’s something you have to do. Something only you can do. Something you absolutely must do.”

“...”

Seonoh looked down at Sisi in silence before speaking in a coldly composed voice.

“You watched everything all this time without interfering. So why now?”

“I am your guide.”

“What?”

“This path is the wrong one.”

Sisi flicked its tongue again.

“If you keep going like this, you’ll lose everything you’ve built until now.”

But Seonoh’s gaze never wavered.

“I already lost everything that day.”

At last, Sisi raised its voice in frustration.

“Don’t you understand? It means you can’t have that child, you ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) fool!”

...You can’t have that child?

For the first time, Seonoh’s face hardened sharply.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I warned you clearly.”

“Sisi.”

“If you ignore me, you’ll regret it forever.”

Sisi’s pomegranate-red eyes gleamed ominously.

“Regret...”

Seonoh repeated the word to himself quietly.

Then he looked down at Sisi with cold eyes.

“That’s exactly what regret is.”

At the mocking answer, Sisi narrowed its eyes.

“You might spend your entire life regretting opening that door. Thinking you never should’ve opened it. But the opposite is true too. You might regret not opening it for the rest of your life. Unless you open the door and step outside, you’ll never know what was waiting there. Understand? That’s what regret is.”

The no-longer-young Seonoh returned Sisi’s advice directly back to it.

“...”

At last, Sisi sighed and lowered its head.

Humans really were stubborn creatures who refused to listen.

Why did they always insist on fighting against fate?

They were foolish.

And unbearably lovable.

“Tch. If I’d known things would turn out like this, I never would’ve sent you there back then...”

Sisi muttered regretfully, blinking its red eyes.

“What do you mean by that?”

As Seonoh narrowed his eyes at the incomprehensible words, Sisi’s glowing eyes suddenly turned pitch-black.

The sliding door behind him slid open.

“Yoon Taehee.”

Taehee flinched and turned his head.

“What are you doing out here?”

Taehee immediately lowered his wrist.

For some reason, his heartbeat lurched violently, like he’d been caught hiding a secret. It wasn’t that he had consciously tried to conceal Sisi’s existence, but he had never intended to reveal it either.

“Who were you talking to?”

“What?”

Taehee asked calmly.

“I thought I heard someone talking. Guess I was wrong.”

After a brief silence, Taehee smoothly changed the subject while fastening his watch strap again.

“You could’ve slept longer. Why’d you wake up?”

Instead of answering, Jaegyeom stepped out onto the porch and looked into the distance.

The rain had weakened somewhat, but the sea still roared darkly beyond the storm.

Jaegyeom took a slow breath.

His expression looked as though he were calming himself down.

Or making up his mind about something.

Finally, he lowered his gaze toward Taehee and held something out.

Taehee’s phone.

The moment Taehee saw the name glowing on the screen, his expression slowly stiffened.

[Shin Jihye]

The message he had desperately waited for.

And wished would never come.