Honbul: Flame of the Soul

“...Suhyang?”

Jaegyeom stared blankly at the Commissioner, his eyes widening.

No, that made no sense. Why was Suhyang sitting in the director of the Office of Narye’s seat? Before that, how could Suhyang still be alive? Nothing about this situation made sense from beginning to end.

“So, you did recognize me.”

The Commissioner’s eyes curved gently.

The moment Jaegyeom saw the familiar smile crinkling the corners of her eyes, certainty struck him. Those eyes always looked as though they could see through everything. He had definitely seen that gaze before somewhere. A strange mixture of dissonance and déjà vu swirled together, throwing his thoughts into chaos.

Jaegyeom hurriedly searched through his memories of Suhyang.

The Suhyang he remembered had been a man. In those distant memories, Suhyang had worn a horsehair hat and traditional robes.

But the person before him now was unmistakably an old woman.

Disbelief filled Jaegyeom’s eyes.

As though she had read his thoughts, Suhyang smiled softly.

“Haha. Yes, that’s right. You must have thought I was a man.”

She raised the porcelain teacup to her lips and let out a quiet laugh.

“Yes, back then, I disguised myself as a man. It was a very long time ago, of course. Those were the kinds of times we lived in. Unless someone was particularly familiar with women, it was difficult to tell. It wasn’t even especially unusual in those days. There were many women who lived disguised as men. It was a difficult world for women to survive in. I never expected you to recognize me, but you have a sharp eye.”

For a moment, Jaegyeom couldn’t say a word.

Was this really Suhyang?

He had thought Suhyang seemed somewhat thin and delicate for a grown man, but never once had he imagined she might actually be a woman.

Jaegyeom abruptly rose to his feet.

“You... how... h-how...”

His mind felt completely blank.

It wasn’t merely the shock of having mistaken Suhyang’s gender all this time.

Before coming here, he had agonized over what expression he should wear and what he should say when facing the director of the Office of Narye. The director was Yoon Taehee’s enemy. Meeting such a person alone was deeply uncomfortable for Jaegyeom as well. He had resolved not to reveal his anger or hostility carelessly.

But the director turned out to be Suhyang, someone he had believed dead long ago.

That was why, before entering this room, Jaegyeom had repeatedly told himself to stay calm no matter what happened.

But now, he could not keep himself from wavering.

The shock of Suhyang’s unimaginable identity left him at a complete loss.

Was this truly reality?

It felt almost like a dream.

Why had Suhyang been waiting for him? How had she survived all these years? How had she become the director of the Office of Narye?

Everything was a mystery.

“Thinking back on those days really makes one realize how much the world has changed. It is the same land, yet it has transformed beyond recognition. It has become incomparably better than it once was...”

Unlike Jaegyeom, who could not conceal his confusion, Suhyang remained perfectly calm.

“I love this land very much as it is now. But in those days, I despised it. Every day felt suffocating simply because I had to set foot upon such land.”

Suhyang had been born into a prestigious noble family.

Had she lived an ordinary life in that era, she would likely have married, borne children, and lived quietly as a woman. But that was not the life Suhyang wanted.

Suhyang possessed ambition.

Yet it was an age that placed endless restraints upon women. A world where women were forbidden from harboring ambition at all.

And so, in pursuit of that ambition, Suhyang stepped into the harshness of the world herself.

“You look as though you have many questions.”

Suhyang smiled gently as she spoke.

“Well, I suppose this must be quite shocking for you.”

At that moment, something unfamiliar emerged from behind the folding screen at Suhyang’s back.

Jaegyeom, who had been standing stiffly frozen, flinched and turned his gaze toward it.

A cat with jet-black fur stepped out from behind the screen.

“It seems happy to have a guest after so long.”

Suhyang reached out naturally and stroked the cat’s head.

From the way she treated it, it was clearly a cat she had raised for a long time.

The cat studied Jaegyeom for a moment with sharp, assessing eyes before padding over and brushing its cheek against his knee as it passed by. Its tail trembled faintly as it yawned.

Amber eyes stared intently up at him.

The cat glanced back toward Suhyang and let out a soft meow.

“It seems to like you.”

Suhyang smiled as she met the cat’s gaze.

“The entire universe exists within these eyes.”

Her hand continued gently stroking the cat before her gaze drifted toward the window.

“This child has lived a very long life as well. By all rights, it should have died more than a century ago. But selfish though it may have been, I could not bear to let it go. I used loneliness as my excuse.”

A nostalgic shadow settled across Suhyang’s face.

“You, too, must understand the loneliness of remaining behind after everyone around you has disappeared. Sometimes it feels as though I alone remain in this world.”

Her voice softened slightly.

“The one thing I regret is that there is not a single person before whom I can truly lower my guard and be accepted exactly as I am.”

After lingering in those emotions for a moment, Suhyang lifted her gaze back to Jaegyeom.

“That is why I am so happy to meet you ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) again like this.”

She was genuinely welcoming him.

“Though I always knew we would meet again someday.”

Jaegyeom’s eyes widened slowly.

He could not believe Suhyang’s words.

How could she have known they would meet again?

But Suhyang truly had known.

She simply had not expected it to take this long.

She had assumed Jaegyeom would come searching for her not long after Myojeong left this world. Instead, far more time had passed than she anticipated.

Jaegyeom, wounded so deeply that his entire life had been overturned, had shut the doors of his heart and hidden himself away from the world for many years.

Unaware of this, Suhyang had once tried making inquiries here and there in search of the boy’s whereabouts. But he had concealed himself so thoroughly that not even a trace of him could be found.

Eventually, Suhyang stopped searching for Jaegyeom.

She was never anxious.

The boy who could not die had to still be alive somewhere. And as long as he remained alive, they would inevitably meet again someday.

Whether by his own will or by another’s, Jaegyeom would eventually come searching for her.

And in the end, Suhyang’s prediction had been correct.

“H-how have you... survived until now?”

Jaegyeom finally managed to ask, unable to hide his bewilderment.

“Yes. Naturally, that would be what you are most curious about.”

Suhyang smiled faintly.

“Though the same could be said of you. To be honest, I am curious as well. Curious how you managed to survive all this time without aging.”

She seemed to be genuinely enjoying this reunion with Jaegyeom.

“But there is no need to rush. Now that this long-awaited meeting has finally come to pass, tonight will be an especially meaningful night for us.”

Her smile deepened softly.

“The night is long, and there is no one here except the two of us. So let us slowly untangle all the things that have piled up over the years.”

As she spoke, Suhyang turned her gaze toward the window.

“Meeting you again like this brings back old memories.”

Beyond the wooden lattice window stretched a vast, clear night sky.

Looking out at it with eyes steeped in reminiscence, Suhyang spoke quietly.

“I have been counting the days until this meeting. I always knew such a day would eventually come.”

Her gaze slowly returned to Jaegyeom.

“To some, a body that cannot die is punishment. To others, it is a blessing. Once the will to live disappears, life itself becomes unbearably tedious. Even more so when one’s youth never fades.”

She paused briefly.

“Still, I never imagined you would stand before me as a Naja.”

“......”

“So tell me. What exactly brought you here?”

“...What?”

“The child’s name was Taehee, wasn’t it?”

The moment those words left her mouth, Jaegyeom felt his heart plunge.

“Was he the one who dragged you back into the world after you had hidden yourself away so thoroughly?”

Jaegyeom’s pupils trembled violently.

Unbothered by his reaction, Suhyang rested her elbow against the table and smiled with open interest.

“So?”

Her eyes curved faintly.

“Did he tell you he would steal the Bangsangsi’s mask and kill you?”