Honbul: Flame of the Soul

When he opened his eyes, he saw a pure white ceiling.

Jaegyeom had woken up in a hospital. His vision still blurred, he looked around, then blinked and stared up at the white ceiling. A voice came from beside him.

“Seventy-Seven!”

At the sound, Jaegyeom turned his head.

“You’re finally awake?”

Im Hyomun was lying in the bed next to his, one arm in a cast. Jaegyeom remembered crossing swords with the Leader, but nothing after that. For some reason, his head ached. He grabbed his throbbing head and asked,

“What happened?”

Jaegyeom and Im Hyomun had been admitted to a hospital affiliated with headquarters.

According to Im Hyomun, Byeoksadan’s attack had ended the previous night with the Gongju branch and the surrounding forest burned almost completely to the ground, leaving dozens injured. The only silver lining was that no one had died. The fire damage was so severe that extinguishing it had been difficult, and Naja had been dispatched to the site to speed up cleanup.

Because Byeoksadan had announced in advance that they would destroy the Gongju branch, the Office of Narye had made thorough preparations for the attack. Fortunately—or perhaps not—the damage was not as catastrophic as expected. The prevailing view was that they had staged the incident to demonstrate their influence and make an example of the branch. The injured Naja had been transferred either to the hospital affiliated with the Purification Unit or to headquarters treatment rooms, depending on the severity of their injuries.

Jaegyeom and Im Hyomun had been found a few hours later, during a search of the area by Naja. They were discovered not far from the branch site. The Naja who found two unconscious probationary Naja who were not on the deployment roster immediately transported them to the hospital.

Im Hyomun had apparently been carrying the unconscious Jaegyeom on his back to escape when he inhaled smoke from the fire and soon lost consciousness himself. When he collapsed, he tumbled down a slope and was injured. Jaegyeom had escaped with only minor bruises, but Im Hyomun had unfortunately fractured his right arm.

Because both of them had inhaled smoke from the fire, they were supposed to remain hospitalized for a day or two to rest and stabilize.

Jaegyeom listened to Im Hyomun’s story in silence. In truth, there was something else he wanted to know more than anything. He had wanted to ask from the moment he opened his eyes.

He wanted to know whether Yoon Taehee was safe.

Just then, as if reading his mind, Im Hyomun said brightly,

“Your team is all safe too.”

The tension drained from Jaegyeom the moment he heard that. Thankfully, it seemed Yoon Taehee was safe as well.

Still, it bothered him that there had been no word from Yoon Taehee, even though Taehee must already know that Jaegyeom had disobeyed him, secretly followed him to Gongju, and ended up in a treatment room. Jaegyeom was looking around for his phone when—

“Oh? They’re talking about us on the news.”

Im Hyomun, who had settled onto Jaegyeom’s bed and was fiddling with the TV remote as if he owned the room, suddenly brightened. He sprang up, then immediately winced.

“Ugh!”

He bent over, apparently hit by a stab of pain in his arm.

[...And now, our next story. A fire of unknown origin broke out on a mountain in Gongju early this morning, burning fifteen hundred square meters of forest before being extinguished two hours later. Police and fire authorities believe the blaze began with flammable materials discarded by a hiker and are investigating the exact cause. Fortunately, there have been no reported casualties or property damage...]

While fiddling with his phone, Jaegyeom discreetly studied Im Hyomun’s expression.

Im Hyomun looked calm, as though nothing had happened.

But for some reason, Jaegyeom felt uneasy.

He had no memory of anything after crossing swords with the Leader. The calamity god’s energy had already been unstable under the influence of the Buddhist power. He was worried he might have done something suspicious.

“Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“You... have anything to say to me?”

Jaegyeom forced himself to sound casual.

Im Hyomun, who had been watching TV, slowly turned his head and stared at him. After a long moment, he opened his mouth.

“There was actually something I wanted to ask.”

Jaegyeom swallowed dryly without realizing it.

“Wh-what?”

Im Hyomun spoke with a serious expression.

“Did you learn swordsmanship too?”

“......”

Jaegyeom, who had been tense for a moment, dropped his head.

“Tell me. Did you or didn’t you?”

“Fine. Let’s say I did.”

“Really? No wonder. Was it Haidong Gumdo? Daehan Gumdo?” 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

To Jaegyeom’s immense relief, Im Hyomun did not seem to suspect anything else.

The calamity god’s seal was undone, and his condition yesterday had been especially unstable. Anything could have happened at any moment. But judging from Im Hyomun’s reaction, nothing suspicious seemed to have occurred. For now, Jaegyeom decided he could breathe a little easier.

Still, there were a few more things he wanted to ask, just in case.

But he never got the chance to keep talking with Im Hyomun. As soon as Jaegyeom regained consciousness, word must have been sent out, because the Naja in charge of the field investigation came to his hospital room and began questioning him about everything that had happened the previous day.

After that, everything became a blur.

It seemed they had come after hearing that he had not only faced Byeoksadan head-on, but had even crossed swords with their Leader.

“I was so surprised. No, seriously, listen to this.”

Before Jaegyeom could say a word, Im Hyomun launched into his own grand tale of the previous day’s heroics.

“This guy was so carsick he could barely think straight, but the second he grabbed a sword, his eyes completely changed!”

This was exactly why Jaegyeom had not wanted him involved.

Im Hyomun was as noisy as ever today. Still, it was a relief that he was safe and had not been seriously injured.

After the Naja who had come for the investigation left, a nurse came by. Im Hyomun, who had been sitting beside Jaegyeom and chattering nonstop, was called away by the nurse for a moment.

The next visitors arrived in the meantime.

They were the members of Team 1.

They had rushed over as soon as they heard Jaegyeom had woken up. Surrounded by his teammates, Jaegyeom had to endure a long scolding.

“What on earth were you thinking, going all the way there?”

Kang Ibin, in particular, scolded him fiercely. She had been furious ever since she heard that Jaegyeom had secretly followed them. Jaegyeom could not say anything back and only fidgeted.

“What would you have done if something had happened to you?”

Aside from Pyo Jiho suffering minor burns at the scene, every member of the team was safe. After taking turns scolding Jaegyeom until he was almost in tears, the team finally left.

Alone in the hospital room, Jaegyeom collapsed back onto the bed.

His mind was a mess.

In any case, it was a relief that Yoon Taehee had not been hurt. He did think he had been a little reckless, but it could not be helped.

When Jaegyeom had thrust at the Leader’s side, he had been certain.

He was not concluding that it was Hwirim. But the question of why the Leader could wield Hwirim’s sword energy had arisen, and for the first time, Jaegyeom had become intensely interested in the Leader.

Yesterday, Jaegyeom had seized the opening. He could have aimed for a more decisive, fatal strike.

But there were two reasons he had not.

In that moment, he had hesitated.

Should he act for Yoon Taehee’s revenge, or for his own death?

In the matter of Yoon Taehee’s revenge, Byeoksadan was an obvious and unwelcome intruder. Yoon Taehee had dismissed the possibility, saying it would never happen, but Jaegyeom thought differently. If Byeoksadan and Yoon Taehee ultimately shared the same goal, they would eventually become an obstacle. To prepare for any possible outcome, it would be better to nip a dangerous bud before it could grow.

That meant it would have been best to finish off the Leader then and there.

But Jaegyeom could not do it.

No.

He did not do it.

Because while Byeoksadan was an unwelcome intruder obstructing Yoon Taehee’s revenge, they were also Jaegyeom’s final fallback. If Yoon Taehee failed to keep his promise and dying became impossible, Jaegyeom would have no choice but to go to them and ask to be sealed. For the sake of that possible future, it would be troublesome to show unnecessary hostility or inflict too much harm.

The fact that, in the final moment of his confrontation with the Leader, he had not stabbed properly but only let the tip of his sword graze the Leader’s side could be called the product of that conflict.

It was the result of a moment’s hesitation.

But what had happened to the Leader he saw yesterday...?

He remained lost in thought for a long time.

“Jaegyeom? Are you in there?”

Then, at some point, there was a knock on the door.

“It’s Han Juyoung.”

Jaegyeom flinched and sat up. He tensed at Han Juyoung’s unexpected visit. He °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° could not figure out why she had come.

Had he been caught for something?

His expression hardened as he stared at the hospital room door and answered. The door opened, and Han Juyoung appeared.

When their eyes met, Han Juyoung gave him a gentle smile.

“Are you feeling a little better?”

Jaegyeom lowered his gaze and nodded.

“Is walking difficult? Any trouble moving?”

“No. I’m fine.”

“That’s a relief.”

Han Juyoung nodded, then added, as if she had been waiting for that answer.

“A summons came from above.”

“...What?”

A summons?

Jaegyeom lifted his head and looked at Han Juyoung.

“The director wishes to see you, Jaegyeom.”