Honbul: Flame of the Soul

That day, Seok Juryeon was overcome by an unbearable exhaustion.

It was the day Yoon Taehee became trapped inside Yeum Art Center.

Taehee had infiltrated the art center in Kang Ibin’s place during an operation and fallen directly into a trap. While trying to assess the situation afterward, Seok Juryeon learned something shocking: the director of the Office of Narye had secretly ordered Chief Choi Wonyoung of the Covert Division to offer up a member of the Exorcism Unit as a sacrifice.

At first, she thought Chief Choi had acted independently.

The possibility that the director himself had given the order had never even crossed her mind. The revelation shook Seok Juryeon deeply.

If it was truly the director’s will, then she should have accepted it.

At least, rationally, she knew that.

But before she fully understood what she was doing, she had already gotten behind the wheel and started driving. By the time she came to her senses, she was already on her way to Taehee.

The sacrifice was Yoon Taehee.

She knew perfectly well how irrational this was. She also understood that she was going against the will of the man who had taken her in. But once she knew the truth, she could no longer stand still pretending ignorance.

That day, for the first time in her life, Seok Juryeon defied the will of the director of the Office of Narye.

And so she drove there alone in a frenzy.

By the time she arrived, the inside of the art center — half-destroyed by the silver battery — had already descended into chaos. As she followed the traces deeper inside, Seok Juryeon witnessed something astonishing.

Red spiritual force.

It swirled violently around Jaegyeom’s body.

For the first time, Seok Juryeon realized that the probationary Naja Taehee had personally brought into the Office had been hiding his true identity all along.

That child isn’t an ordinary gifted.

The moment the thought crossed her mind, Seok Juryeon instinctively concealed herself.

Truthfully, she had already harbored vague suspicions about Jaegyeom.

Chief Yoon maintained smooth relationships with everyone in Team 1. He fulfilled his responsibilities flawlessly and carried himself as the perfect Naja. But as a person, Yoon Taehee had always possessed an invisible wall around him. He was polite and gentle, yet fundamentally uninterested in others.

Which was why it had been strange from the beginning.

Taehee had taken two full months off personally to bring in a new recruit. Not only that, he openly protected Jaegyeom, cared for him, and treated him with unmistakable affection.

Seok Juryeon knew better than anyone that this was unlike Yoon Taehee.

Because of that, she had been observing Jaegyeom closely for quite some time.

Of course, she had already known the boy possessed extraordinary talent. There was no doubting that. He had passed the entrance examination with the highest score.

But that red spiritual force was beyond the realm of mere “talent.”

What exactly is that...?

Even Seok Juryeon, who had encountered countless gifted throughout her life, had never once seen spiritual force that color.

She was deeply unsettled.

She could not identify what the red spiritual force truly was, but one thing became painfully clear:

Yoon Taehee had intentionally hidden all of this.

Including Jaegyeom’s real identity.

And once she reached that conclusion, another question naturally followed.

Why bring someone like that into the Office while concealing who he truly was?

As Seok Juryeon stood there frozen in thought, it happened.

“Paehyeon.”

At Taehee’s quiet call, something rose from the darkness like black smoke and knelt before him.

“Let the Sword God drink blood.”

Seok Juryeon’s eyes widened slowly.

The ghost Taehee summoned transformed into a sword.

An intelligent ghost.

There was no mistaking it.

Without realizing it herself, Seok Juryeon staggered backward and fled the scene.

A Naja of the Office of Narye employing ghosts.

Not stray ghosts. Not vengeful ghosts.

An intelligent ghost.

Impossible.

And yet she had seen it with her own eyes. Worse still, the intelligent ghost had clearly treated Taehee as its superior.

He concealed the recruit’s identity and brought him into the Office... and behind the scenes he commands intelligent ghosts.

As the fragments she had witnessed fitted together one by one, a single name surfaced in her mind.

Byeoksadan.

For some time now, Byeoksadan had openly provoked the Office of Narye, trying to shake its foundations.

She wanted to dismiss it as paranoia.

But the instincts she had sharpened over decades screamed at her with brutal certainty.

If all of this was orchestrated by that child...

Then why?

From that day onward, Seok Juryeon lived as though a massive stone had been tied to her chest.

Everything she had witnessed that day was impossible to believe, even after seeing it herself.

No — more than that, she did not want to believe it.

The recruit of unknown identity.

Yoon Taehee commanding intelligent ghosts.

Chief Yoon concealing everything.

What exactly were you trying to do?

All the questions pointed toward only one conclusion.

You are plotting rebellion.

Just as Seok Juryeon slowly opened her eyes—

“Are you asleep?”

The bedroom door opened quietly, and Taehee returned.

Seok Juryeon, who had been staring blankly at the ceiling, shut her eyes again without answering. Taehee was holding a dry towel in one hand. Apparently, instead of leaving immediately, he had gone to replace the wet cloth.

She felt his gaze rest on her briefly, but she still did not open her eyes.

Without saying anything, Taehee sat down on the edge of the bed again and dipped the clean towel into the basin of cold water.

“Taehee.”

At some point, Seok Juryeon spoke quietly.

“Yes.”

As though he had known she was awake the entire time, Taehee answered calmly without the slightest surprise.

But even after calling his name, Seok Juryeon hesitated.

She did not know since when he had begun planning this. Nor why. Nor how far his plans extended.

But one thing was certain.

The sharp blade she had once seen hidden inside Yoon Taehee’s eyes was now pointed inward, toward the Office of Narye itself.

Seok Juryeon wanted to ask him.

Whether he truly intended to build Byeoksadan and commit rebellion.

But she could not bring herself to say the words.

At present, Seok Juryeon alone knew that the Naja named Yoon Taehee was connected to Byeoksadan. The moment she exposed what he was hiding, suspicion would become certainty.

And once that line was crossed, there would be no turning back.

If that happened, Seok Juryeon would have no choice but to stand against him.

After a long silence, her lips finally moved.

“Stop.”

The hand holding the wet towel paused slightly.

“...”

Stop.

It was a vague statement with no clear subject.

Perhaps it was a delayed response to Taehee talking about quitting the Office earlier. Or perhaps it referred to something entirely different.

How to interpret it was entirely up to him.

Taehee lowered his eyes silently toward the basin.

“We’ll see.”

He did not ask, Stop what?

Breaking the silence casually, Taehee wrung out the towel and laid the cool cloth carefully across her forehead.

Seok Juryeon still kept her eyes shut.

Taehee watched her eyelashes tremble faintly.

“...”

In truth, Taehee already knew.

Inside the kitchen cabinet of this house were countless empty pill bottles.

Because Seok Juryeon had suffered from chronic headaches for many years.

She had never once been able to sleep deeply.

And Taehee understood that the dull pain gnawing endlessly at Seok Juryeon was, in truth, guilt.

Seok Juryeon was someone who lived carrying shadows.

Taehee could see the immense guilt weighing down her shoulders.

Because he was [N O V E L I G H T] the same kind of person.

“Don’t think about anything tonight. Just sleep.”

After speaking quietly, Taehee rose to his feet.

He turned and walked toward the bedroom door.

But just as his hand reached for the doorknob, his long fingers twitched once.

A sudden thought crossed his mind.

If I strangled her here right now... would she die by my hands?

“Department Head.”

Standing before the door, Taehee suddenly spoke.

“I don’t regret it.”

And with those words, he left the room without lingering.

By the time Taehee left Seok Juryeon’s house, it was already late at night.

Rain had begun falling from the cloudy sky by the time he reached the parking lot and started the car. At first the raindrops were small, but before long they thickened into a downpour.

Taehee drove through the rain with an indifferent expression, the radio humming softly in the background.

Rain hammered violently against the windshield. The wipers swept frantically left and right, struggling to keep up.

When he finally reached his apartment building, Taehee parked the car and turned off the engine.

Resting one arm on the steering wheel, he stared silently through the rain-streaked windshield.

Once he switched off the radio, the furious sound of rain battering the car filled the silence completely.

“...”

After listening to it for a while, Taehee slowly took out his phone.

When he unlocked the screen, messages flooded the display from various people.

But among them, there was no message from the one person he had unconsciously been waiting for.

A heavy sense of depression settled over him.

There was no one he should have been waiting for.

And yet he kept waiting anyway.

No more messages came from Jaegyeom now.

No game invitations. No calls. No texts.

Taehee knew he needed to get used to that reality.

Still—

He wanted to hear his voice.

Jaegyeom remained cold toward him.

Ever since the day they fought, the two only spoke when necessary for work. Even today, they had exchanged only a few brief words inside the car.

Taehee tapped the steering wheel absently with his fingertips before finally pressing the call button and lifting the phone to his ear.

Ring.

Ring.

After several rings, Jaegyeom answered.

If there was any consolation at all, it was that he no longer rejected Taehee’s calls outright.

But even when he answered, Jaegyeom never spoke first.

No What is it?

No Why did you call?

Since Taehee had been the one to call, it was his responsibility to speak first.

But he said nothing.

Because the only reason he had called was to hear Jaegyeom’s voice.

That alone was enough.

“...”

“...”

And so the two remained silent on opposite ends of the line.

Holding the phone loosely in one hand, Taehee wrapped his other arm around the steering wheel and leaned forward slightly.

He wanted to keep listening like this forever.

Even hearing nothing but breathing would have been enough.

But the rain was too loud for even that.

Still, simply knowing Jaegyeom was alive somewhere on the other end of the line, breathing quietly, made him want this moment to continue forever.

Eventually, after waiting long enough, Jaegyeom hung up without saying a single word.

Taehee slowly lowered the hand holding the phone.

“...”

After remaining inside the rain-soaked car for a long time, Taehee finally headed home.

He parked underground and took the elevator upstairs.

After pressing the button for the fourteenth floor, he slipped both hands into his pockets and lowered his head.

Soon, the elevator doors opened.

But the moment he rounded the corner after stepping out—

Taehee stopped abruptly.

Someone was crouched in front of his apartment door.

For an instant, his heart slammed violently against his ribs.

The figure wore an oversized hoodie pulled low, face buried against their knees, making them impossible to identify.

Even though he knew it could not possibly be—

For one fleeting moment, Taehee hoped.

Then the figure slowly raised their head, sensing his presence.

“You...”

The instant Taehee recognized the face, his eyes widened.

“Shin Jihye?”