Honbul: Flame of the Soul

“I will grant you what you wish.”

At that moment, Jaegyeom’s eyes shook violently.

“......”

Yoon Taehee’s lifelong plan had been exposed in its entirety.

Before Jaegyeom could even fully process that fact, the offer came.

At some point, the smile had vanished from Suhyang’s lips. She looked utterly serious now. Her sharp eyes, hidden within benevolent wrinkles, stared straight at Jaegyeom.

“W-what do you mean by that...”

“Exactly what I said. I will give you rest in that child’s stead.”

The moment he heard those words, the strength drained from Jaegyeom’s legs.

A sudden, bone-deep exhaustion washed over him.

Was it because he now knew Yoon Taehee’s plan had come to nothing? Or was it because he felt as though everything was already over?

Death.

The thing he had wished for, yearned for, and longed for so desperately—Suhyang had spoken of it with astonishing ease.

“I know you are weary of life. Even the greatest elixir can be poison to someone. Would an undying life not be the same? If you truly entered the Office of Narye in order to obtain death, then I will use the Bangsangsi mask in my possession to end your life.”

Jaegyeom, who had been standing frozen in place, forgetting even to breathe, finally exhaled roughly and lowered his head.

He stood there blankly for a moment before his body suddenly gave way.

He sank to the floor.

“......”

Countless emotions washed over him at once.

He had no idea how to describe what he was feeling. Shock and confusion kept coming one after another. The mere fact that their plan had been seen through was already a crushing burden on Jaegyeom’s mind.

“...Why?”

Still with his head bowed, Jaegyeom barely managed to catch his breath and forced his lips to move.

“Why, you ask?”

“Leaving everything else aside, you already knew I had become a Naja. You’ve been watching all this time without saying a word. So why call me here out of nowhere and suddenly say this to me now?”

If she had seen through their plan to destroy the Office of Narye, she could have captured and imprisoned him and Yoon Taehee at once, or at the very least stopped them.

Instead, Suhyang was making the bizarre offer to grant Jaegyeom’s wish herself.

He wanted to know what Suhyang was plotting. What her true intention was.

Suhyang was impossible to read. Jaegyeom knew from old experience that she was as cunning as a snake.

Of course, Suhyang had been the one to reveal the truth about Myojeong that Jaegyeom had never known. Thanks to her, he had learned what had really happened.

But Jaegyeom did not consider that a good thing.

Because that truth had become the trigger that completely ruined his life.

Jaegyeom had lost everything.

“It seems you still resent me.”

At that moment, Suhyang spoke in a low voice.

“Yes. No matter how long ago it may have been, scars remain. I know you must have been deeply wounded. In the end, I hurt you unintentionally, so I will apologize for what happened back then.”

“Shut your mouth. That’s not why I brought it up.”

Jaegyeom slowly raised his gaze.

“Just answer the question. What do you want from me?”

Suhyang’s eyes curved into a gentle smile as she looked at him.

Though countless years had passed, the boy’s gaze was unmistakably the same.

Suhyang saw the hostility and distrust shimmering in his eyes.

She let out a small, bitter laugh.

For a moment, she considered giving him the plausible excuse that she was merely offering him kindness, but she knew it would be useless.

“Yes. What is there to be coy about at this point?”

After murmuring that to herself, Suhyang nodded as though she had reached a decision.

“Give me your body.”

Surprisingly, Suhyang stated her objective plainly.

“You will make an excellent offering.”

An offering?

Just as Jaegyeom’s eyes narrowed slightly, Suhyang continued.

“This vessel was made with a fairly decent offering, but even it seems unable to withstand the passage of time. Parts of the body have begun causing trouble here and there. Still, it has lasted considerably longer than the previous one.”

As she spoke, Suhyang raised a hand and rubbed her own shoulder.

“This body is not mine. It is a vessel I have already changed six times.”

The reason Suhyang had survived all this time was the forbidden arts.

At the heart of those forbidden arts was the theft of another’s qualities in their entirety. She had lived for a very long time by relying on the life force she obtained that way.

But even she could not ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) defy the passage of time completely.

A body aged to its limit was no different from a living corpse. It merely breathed. As time passed, even walking became difficult, and eventually she would lose physical function to the point that she could no longer see properly.

That was why Jaegyeom’s ageless body was such a coveted offering to Suhyang.

If she used the forbidden arts to melt down the qualities of her target and create a new vessel from an immortal body, she would be able to prevent aging itself.

“......”

Jaegyeom’s face hardened.

What Suhyang meant was that she would use the Bangsangsi mask to send his soul heavenward, then use the empty shell left behind—his body—as an offering to obtain true immortality. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

“But why is it that you do not age?”

“I don’t know.”

At Jaegyeom’s immediate answer, Suhyang narrowed her eyes.

Myojeong must have done something.

Suhyang was inwardly disappointed.

But if she did not know the reason, she simply had to discover it.

If she obtained that body, she could study it before using it as an offering. She merely had to uncover why he did not age.

Come to think of it, the boy had never been very good at lying.

There was an oddly upright side to him.

The proof was in his silence. Until now, whenever she had offered speculations or asked questions, he had neither denied nor confirmed them.

If he had known the reason, she believed he would have stayed silent this time as well.

The boy truly seemed not to know why he did not age.

“But...”

At that moment, a question flashed through Suhyang’s mind.

“Wait. Now that I think about it, was using the Byeoksadan’s intelligent ghosts part of your scheme as well?”

Suhyang tossed out the question casually, as though it had only just occurred to her.

She had already received word that Jaegyeom had crossed swords with the leader of the Byeoksadan at the Gongju branch site.

Suddenly, she wondered whether Jaegyeom knew that Yoon Taehee was the one moving the Byeoksadan.

It was also possible that the two of them had staged a confrontation to deceive others.

She needed to know for certain.

After mulling it over briefly, Suhyang decided to test Jaegyeom.

“I don’t know anything about that.”

At the answer, which came just as immediately, Suhyang’s eyes curved into gentle crescents.

“......”

With her sharp instincts, Suhyang had skillfully obtained the information she wanted.

It seemed Yoon Taehee had not revealed the entirety of his plan to the boy. It also seemed certain that the boy did not know Yoon Taehee was the master of the Byeoksadan.

They do not trust each other completely.

It was quite an interesting situation.

Suhyang found it amusing.

They had joined hands for mutual benefit, yet one of them was hiding something from the other. If the boy found out, he would surely feel betrayed.

However, Suhyang had no intention of revealing that fact right away.

Information withheld from one side was best used to one’s advantage.

And Suhyang knew very well what the most effective method was in situations like this.

Just then, she suddenly coughed.

“It is about time I discarded this body as well.”

In truth, Suhyang was very weary.

As the vessel began to wear out, problems kept arising throughout the body. On top of that, the side effects of the forbidden arts had been making her cough up blood more and more severely.

Suhyang covered her lips with a gauze handkerchief and coughed several times.

“Child, bring me the medicine.”

Suhyang lifted her chin slightly and cast the words vaguely into the room.

A presence stirred outside.

Soon, the sliding door opened, and someone appeared.

An attendant carrying a bowl of medicinal tea on a tray entered with his head deeply bowed, passed by Jaegyeom, and knelt beside Suhyang.

“Elder, I have brought the medicine.”

Jaegyeom’s gaze naturally turned toward the attendant.

“......”

The moment he saw the face of the person who had entered, Jaegyeom froze.

But the attendant paid Jaegyeom no attention whatsoever.

He placed the tray on the table, then drew a small dagger from inside his robes.

With frighteningly practiced movements, the attendant cut his own wrist and began letting fresh blood drip into the bowl of medicinal tea.

After a moment, he bowed his head.

“Elder, it is ready.”

Only then did Jaegyeom, who had been standing frozen in blank shock, speak.

“Jo Youngwoo?”

At that, the attendant slowly raised his head and looked at Jaegyeom.

“Y-you... why are you here...”

The person who had come to attend the director was none other than Jo Youngwoo.

But Jo Youngwoo’s eyes were cloudy and unfocused.

No matter how Jaegyeom looked at him, it was undoubtedly Jo Youngwoo. But he could not understand how this could be happening.

Seeing Jo Youngwoo in front of headquarters back then had not been a mistake.

A tremendous shock crashed over Jaegyeom.

Why on earth was he in a place like this?

“......”

Still kneeling, Jo Youngwoo silently stared at Jaegyeom for a moment before turning his dazed gaze away.

He did not seem to remember Jaegyeom.

He felt like a doll without a self.

Jo Youngwoo ignored Jaegyeom and rose to his feet.

“J-Jo Youngwoo!”

Jaegyeom’s lips moved urgently.

But Youngwoo showed no particular reaction to Jaegyeom’s call and left the room.

After Jo Youngwoo departed, Jaegyeom stared blankly at the closed door.

Then, at a certain moment—

his gaze suddenly caught on the black insect inside the glass vial.

Don’t tell me.

At that moment, Suhyang spoke while drinking the medicinal tea mixed with Jo Youngwoo’s blood.

“When I heard his story, it was quite a tragic one.”

“...What?”

“He had a friend to whom he had given his whole heart. But one day, that friend suddenly disappeared without a word.”

“......”

“Then, by chance, he learned of the existence of this world and wondered whether the friend who had left without a word might have become a Naja. So he went searching himself and came to the Office of Narye on his own two feet.”

“......”

“But his aptitude was far too lacking to even make him an apprentice, so I was about to send him back. Yet he begged me to take him in, saying he would be useful in any way at all.”

Suhyang smiled gently.

“A truly pitiful story, is it not?”

“......”

“I felt so sorry for him after hearing it. So I told him to stay here, watch, and learn until his power properly settled. In exchange, he would help replenish my energy. That way, it would be mutually beneficial.”

Her eyes curved softly.

“Though his aptitude may be weak, a gifted is still a gifted. And because he is young, his vitality is quite good.”

At last, Jaegyeom’s face turned deathly pale.