Honbul: Flame of the Soul

“Not a single day went by that I didn’t regret it.”

The corner of Yoon Taehee’s eye twitched.

If anyone knew better than anyone that going to Geoyeo Island had ultimately been a mistake, it was Yoon Taehee. He did not regret going to the island.

But Jaegyeom did.

“I shouldn’t have gone to that island with you...”

It was a statement that denied everything they had spent together there.

“...”

Yoon Taehee silently fixed his gaze on one point of the hospital room wall.

He waited for the emotion surging up inside him to settle. For some reason, his eyes stung. The corner of one eye kept twitching.

In truth, there was nothing wrong with what Jaegyeom had said.

The immortality pill never existed in the first place, and my curse had nothing to do with the mermaid. But you nearly died going all the way to that distant island. Doesn’t that mean it was a mistake?

As if trying to shake the ugly thoughts out of his head, Yoon Taehee shut his eyes. Then he took a deep breath, gripping his bangs as though he meant to mess them up, and suddenly nodded.

“Well, I get it. We were both pretty shocked.”

At the sound of his voice breaking the long silence, Jaegyeom lifted his head and looked at him.

Then Yoon Taehee abruptly said something completely unrelated.

“Ah. The medication’s making me dizzy.”

Yoon Taehee fiddled with the IV drip inserted into his wrist and lowered his head. He sat there silently, head drooping as if he were dozing off, then glanced at Jaegyeom.

“You should go. Jeongju must be waiting downstairs.”

He looked calm, as though nothing had happened.

As though he had no idea how difficult it had been for Jaegyeom to ask him to kill him.

As though he could brush that decision aside like it meant nothing.

“...”

After a moment of silence, Jaegyeom opened his mouth.

“Yoon Taehee.”

“Thanks for the medicinal water. Tell the child I said thank you too.”

Jaegyeom glared at Yoon Taehee, who was acting as nonchalant as ever.

“I told you clearly. Keep the promise we made before.”

Yoon Taehee merely stared out the window, barely listening.

“If you don’t keep that promise, then I have no reason to stay with you anymore.”

At that moment, Yoon Taehee suddenly grabbed the IV line attached to his wrist and ripped it out. After tearing away the needle secured beneath the tape, he yanked hard on the connected tube.

The IV bag hanging beside the bed crashed to the floor and shattered in an instant.

“W-what are you doing!”

Jaegyeom instinctively grabbed his bleeding wrist.

“Can’t you understand what I’m saying?”

Yoon Taehee shook off Jaegyeom’s hand and clutched his forehead.

“I said I don’t want to hear it.”

He raised his bleeding hand to his brow and muttered softly.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that, so just go.”

Yoon Taehee sat there holding his forehead with both hands, then slowly turned his head to look at Jaegyeom.

A faint glimmer of madness shone in his widened eyes.

But Jaegyeom had no intention of backing down.

“Then say you’ll keep your promise.”

“Fine. Fuck it. Keep talking.”

Yoon Taehee gave [N O V E L I G H T] a crooked smile and shook his head.

“Nothing has changed. We’re just back where we started.”

“Go on. Keep at it until I lose my mind.”

“You and I were both distracted enough. So let’s stop now.”

At that moment, Yoon Taehee reached out and grabbed Jaegyeom by the collar.

“...Stop?”

Jaegyeom’s upper body lurched forward as Taehee dragged him in roughly. He nearly fell onto the hospital bed, barely managing to catch himself. As Jaegyeom gritted his teeth and grabbed Yoon Taehee’s wrist, Taehee thrust his face close and asked with wide eyes,

“Stop? Stop what? What exactly am I supposed to stop?”

Jaegyeom tried to shake off the hand gripping his collar.

It was useless.

“Let go of me!”

Yoon Taehee yanked on his collar.

Their noses collided.

“Jaegyeom, say something that actually makes fucking sense...”

Jaegyeom glared at him, breathing hard.

Taehee went on.

“We haven’t even started yet, so what? What am I supposed to stop?”

Yoon Taehee’s face twisted.

A moment ago, his expression had been savage. Now, all of a sudden, he was laughing, shoulders shaking.

His bleeding hand was deathly pale, the bones standing out sharply.

“Forget everything and focus on your revenge!”

Jaegyeom spat the words out as though tearing them from his throat.

“Forget it?”

Yoon Taehee let out a hollow laugh and suddenly released Jaegyeom’s collar.

“How?”

Then he turned his head toward the window.

“Should I open that window and jump out right now?”

Jaegyeom’s face hardened ominously.

“That would work. Everything would be forgotten then.”

Right?

Just as he was about to continue—

SLAP.

His head snapped violently to the side.

“...”

A beat later, Yoon Taehee lifted his hand. Slowly, he touched his cheek.

“You fucking bastard...”

Jaegyeom clenched his teeth and seized Yoon Taehee by the collar.

“All because of me...”

His hospital gown rode up, exposing his thin stomach. As the grip tightened around his throat, Taehee’s brow furrowed deeply.

“...”

Yoon Taehee held his breath.

Tears had welled in Jaegyeom’s eyes.

“You said...”

Jaegyeom’s voice trembled.

“You said you waited ten years...”

Yoon Taehee stared blankly at Jaegyeom in front of him.

“You said you lost everything right in front of you.”

At that moment, Yoon Taehee’s eyes shook violently.

“Then you shouldn’t be doing this.”

Jaegyeom panted harshly, eyes brimming with tears.

“Have you forgotten why we joined hands?”

Anxiety, fear, terror.

All those emotions tangled together as Yoon Taehee fell apart.

And in that moment, Jaegyeom realized it.

He had become Yoon Taehee’s weakness.

Just as Yoon Taehee had become his.

They could not become each other’s weakness.

“Get a grip. This isn’t the time for this!”

Then Yoon Taehee’s eye twitched faintly as he remained frozen in shock.

“Something’s strange about Seok Juryeon.”

At those abrupt words, Taehee asked without thinking,

“...What?”

“She cleaned up the aftermath without asking anything.”

Before the tears could fall, Jaegyeom roughly wiped his eyes with his sleeve.

“She didn’t ask me anything.”

On the day they escaped the island, Jaegyeom had been left alone at the hospital, sitting blankly in front of the operating room.

Nearly an hour later, Team 1 arrived after hearing the news.

When they learned that Yoon Taehee was in surgery, fighting for his life, their faces hardened. They grabbed Jaegyeom and demanded to know where they had been and what had happened.

It was around then that Seok Juryeon appeared.

Juryeon, who had just arrived, raised a hand to stop the team members and told Jaegyeom to come with her for a moment.

The place she took him was outside the hospital building, to a secluded spot where no one else was around.

Juryeon told Jaegyeom to wait, then went somewhere and came back with a bottle of water.

“Are you afraid Chief Yoon might die?”

That was what Juryeon said as she handed the water to Jaegyeom.

Until then, Jaegyeom had been staring down at his own feet with his head bowed. He lifted his head blankly.

As he stared at the bottle held out in front of him, Juryeon said,

“That guy won’t die, so don’t worry.”

At those words, Jaegyeom came back to himself for the first time.

Seok Juryeon crouched down in front of him as though matching his eye level. Then she placed the water bottle in his hand.

Just as Jaegyeom moved his lips to ask how she knew that, she said,

“I’ll make sure he survives, no matter what.”

Jaegyeom recognized the weight behind those words.

It was not empty optimism meant to comfort him.

It was a promise she was making to herself.

“...”

Only then did reality begin to return to Jaegyeom.

The cool night air against his cheek.

The cold condensation on the water bottle.

The feeling of his bare feet touching the dirty ground without slippers.

One by one, everything became vivid again.

Seok Juryeon waited without saying a word until Jaegyeom regained some measure of composure.

“All right. Have you come to your senses a little?”

After some time passed, Jaegyeom silently gave a small nod.

“Then...”

Seok Juryeon looked at him.

“What happened on the island?”

At Juryeon’s question, Jaegyeom squeezed his eyes shut.

Even with his mind blank, he knew he had to keep quiet about the mermaid and the immortality pill. But he did not have the capacity to invent a suitable excuse.

What would Yoon Taehee have said in this situation?

He tried to think, but his mind remained empty.

“I don’t remember.”

That was the best Jaegyeom could manage.

“Well done.”

Seok Juryeon immediately saw through his poor attempt at saving face.

“You’re nowhere near as good a liar as someone we both know.”

She shook her head and sneered, but Jaegyeom could not respond.

A brief silence passed.

Seok Juryeon, who had been crouching in front of Jaegyeom, suddenly stood and grabbed his chin.

Startled by the abrupt movement, Jaegyeom looked up at her.

He thought she was going to let it pass without asking further.

But instead, she said coldly,

“I already know you did it.”

At the unexpected words, Jaegyeom’s eyes widened.

“But unfortunately, the person involved doesn’t remember.”

Seok Juryeon studied Jaegyeom’s shocked face closely before continuing.

“Try to remember carefully. Everyone knows that guy is especially attached to you. Chief Yoon secretly took you, a low-ranking team member, to the island to personally help train you.”

“...”

“While teaching you how to imbue weapons with spiritual force, you accidentally stabbed him.”

“...”

Jaegyeom stared blankly at Seok Juryeon, unable even to breathe.

“How about it? Are your memories coming back now?”

Seok Juryeon asked with an expressionless gaze.

“...”

Anyone who was not a fool would understand.

Right now, Seok Juryeon was openly lying for him.

She was handing Jaegyeom, who had no plan at all, a plausible excuse.

...But why?

For what reason?

And in that moment, Jaegyeom realized.

She had some piece of the truth in her hands.