Honbul: Flame of the Soul

“Yes. That he would steal the Bangsangsi’s mask and grant you death.”

At that moment, Jaegyeom forgot to breathe.

“......”

His heart seemed to plummet straight down.

A dizzying chill swept through him, as though the ground beneath his feet had suddenly collapsed and he were falling endlessly into darkness. Time itself seemed to freeze.

Still standing after having abruptly risen from his seat, Jaegyeom stared down at Suhyang like someone who had just been struck across the back of the head.

How could you possibly know that?

“Haha, why are you so surprised?”

Suhyang let out a soft laugh and set down her teacup.

“Let us simply call it the sharpness that comes from living for such a long time. Though even so...”

Her keen eyes slowly swept over Jaegyeom from head to toe.

“You used to run wild like an untamed colt. But it seems you no longer do.”

Suhyang looked steadily at Jaegyeom and smiled faintly.

“Then again, it has lived inside you for a very long time now. I suppose it has stabilized considerably.”

At first glance, her words were too vague to understand.

But Jaegyeom immediately realized what she meant.

She was referring to what lived inside him.

Without question, she meant the days when the god of calamity’s red spiritual force would leak out whenever his emotions surged or his agitation grew too intense.

At last, Jaegyeom’s fingertips began trembling.

What did Suhyang know?

And just how much did she know?

The realization that Suhyang knew the truth overwhelmed him. Jaegyeom stood frozen like a statue, fists tightly clenched to hide the trembling in his hands.

Until now, he had merely been confused.

He had wondered how Suhyang, once Myojeong’s companion, had become the director of the Office of Narye. He had wondered how she had survived for so long without dying.

But at some point, confusion transformed into fear.

Because Jaegyeom had no idea what Suhyang knew, nor how far her knowledge extended.

It seemed she had long known not only that Jaegyeom neither aged nor died, but also that the god of calamity resided within him.

“Didn’t I tell you? I have been waiting for you for a very long time.”

Suhyang smiled brightly as she looked up at him.

“No matter how many people I sent, I could never find a trace of you. I imagine the reason you secluded yourself so completely was because you had already turned your back on the world.”

Her smile remained gentle.

“I personally receive the records of every person who enters the Office of Narye. I still vividly remember the shock I felt while turning through that thick file and suddenly seeing your face.”

A trace of laughter colored her voice.

“I was certain you would despise Naja. After all, you trusted and followed Myojeong.”

Her eyes curved faintly.

“And after what happened with Myojeong, it would hardly be strange if you came to resent humans, the gifted, and by extension, Naja as well.”

“......”

“And yet you came here and became a Naja yourself. So naturally, I wondered why. I thought about it for a very long time.”

Suhyang let out a quiet laugh.

“Surely you did not become a Naja merely because eternal life had grown dull and you wanted a brief diversion. There had to be a reason.”

“......”

“Until recently, I believed perhaps you had entered the Office intending to destroy it yourself out of resentment.”

Her smile deepened.

“But it seems I was looking in the wrong direction entirely.”

“......”

“You cannot imagine how hard I laughed when I discovered that the one harboring thoughts of destroying the Office of Narye was not you, but ‘Taehee,’ the very person who brought you here.”

Suhyang shook her head slightly, amused.

“I thought to myself then that perhaps I truly have grown old.”

At last, Jaegyeom’s eyes twitched sharply.

Now he was certain.

Suhyang knew everything.

She knew Yoon Taehee had offered to steal the Bangsangsi’s mask and kill Jaegyeom in exchange for bringing him into the Office of Narye. She knew Taehee was planning a rebellion against the Office.

She knew all of it.

But how?

“Oh, there is something I would like to show you.”

At that moment, Suhyang opened the drawer beneath the table and took something out.

“Do you know what this is?”

In her hand was a small transparent glass vial.

Inside it, sealed beneath a stopper, writhed a black insect. Its long dark body resembled a leech at first glance.

“This is called a gochung.”

Jaegyeom’s eyes widened as he stared at the insect.

He knew what a gochung was.

It belonged to one of the infamous methods of false accusation rampant during the Joseon era: poisoning or cursing someone through venomous insects and creatures.

During those times, it had been treated as black magic severe enough to warrant execution.

“The process of creating a gochung is rather troublesome.”

Suhyang lightly rolled the vial between her fingers.

“You gather countless insects into a single jar, seal it completely so no light enters, and leave them without food. Several days later, when the jar is opened, they will have devoured one another. In the end, only the strongest creature survives.”

Her eyes settled on the insect.

“That survivor becomes the gochung.”

A go was, in essence, an artificially created monster.

Most were used as poison, but depending on their type and method of use, they could also cast spells capable of manipulating or controlling people.

“This little creature serves as my eyes, ears, hands, and feet.”

Suhyang smiled faintly.

“The go I create return to me carrying everything they have seen and heard within their own bodies. They are extremely useful creatures. I have learned many things through them.”

Jaegyeom stared speechlessly at the gochung inside the vial.

He had only ever heard stories that such things existed. This was his first time seeing one in person.

The sight of the eyeless, mouthless creature twisting silently inside the glass was grotesque somehow.

Through the go, Suhyang had learned many things.

That was how she uncovered the truth behind the incident at Yekwon’s art center not long ago.

At the time, Yoon Taehee had infiltrated the art center to rescue a Naja from the Covert Division, only to fall into Yekwon’s trap and be taken hostage.

Yekwon had been one of Suhyang’s subordinates operating outside the Office of Narye.

An insect had already been planted inside his body.

Yekwon died that day, but the insect inside him survived and eventually returned to Suhyang. Through the memories embedded within the creature’s body, she learned everything Yekwon had seen and experienced.

That day, Jaegyeom had come to save Yoon Taehee.

At the time, Jaegyeom had lost a great deal of blood and rampaged while engulfed in red spiritual force.

Yoon Taehee never questioned that rampage.

And since Suhyang already knew Taehee had personally brought Jaegyeom into the Office as his sponsor, there was only one possible conclusion:

Yoon Taehee had known Jaegyeom’s identity and power from the very beginning.

He had hidden that truth from the Office while keeping Jaegyeom beside him.

Which meant he had an ulterior motive.

That was the moment Suhyang clearly realized that Jaegyeom and Yoon Taehee were connected by something far deeper than simple sponsorship.

But that was not all she learned.

That day, Suhyang also learned that Yoon Taehee commanded an intelligent ghost.

For a Naja to be working together with a ghost was already unimaginable. But this was not an ordinary ghost. It was an intelligent ghost.

And the intelligent ghost treated Yoon Taehee with the reverence of a servant before its master.

Just as Seok Juryeon had linked Taehee to the Byeoksadan after witnessing him command the intelligent ghost, Suhyang arrived at the same conclusion without difficulty.

Yoon Taehee was the true master of the Byeoksadan.

Rebellion.

A faint smile appeared on Suhyang’s lips as the word crossed her mind.

“That child, Taehee, seems to hold quite a grudge against the Office of Narye.”

She raised the teacup to her lips once more.

“He likely wanted his wooden tag returned. After all, someone whose name is bound by a curse faces many limitations when attempting to destroy the Office.”

After taking a sip, she continued calmly.

“But retrieving it personally would have been difficult. So perhaps he intended to borrow your hand to recover the wooden tag first, then begin his rebellion afterward.”

Suhyang tilted her head slightly.

“It is merely speculation, of course. But what do you think? Does it not sound rather plausible?”

It was exactly correct.

The instant Jaegyeom realized Suhyang understood everything, his vision seemed to warp.

And despite knowing that Yoon Taehee was /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ plotting rebellion against the Office, Suhyang remained astonishingly calm.

She had seen through Taehee’s entire plan.

At that moment, only a single thought filled Jaegyeom’s mind.

Yoon Taehee’s plan had failed.

If Suhyang already knew everything, then bringing down the Office of Narye was impossible.

“I understand you.”

Suhyang’s voice turned strangely gentle.

“You likely wished to turn your back on the world long ago. But you did not know how.”

Her gaze settled quietly on Jaegyeom.

“The reason you, who despises Naja, became one yourself... was it not because that child showed you a way?”

There had to be a reason.

Jaegyeom, who had hidden himself from the world while loathing Naja, had willingly entered the Office.

There must have been some sort of exchange between them. Some sort of agreement.

“I know what it is you desire.”

Suhyang slowly set down her teacup.

“Death.”

Her eyes met Jaegyeom’s directly.

“Or eternal rest.”

Then Suhyang slowly lifted her head.

“I will grant you what you desire.”