Honbul: Flame of the Soul

The moment he got back to the waiting seats, the nurse called Lee Juyeol’s name.

His mother, already wound tight from the endless waiting, hurriedly shoved him toward Radiology.

And now Jeongju sat outside the exam room, his face drawn with tension.

Not long after the facial and chest X-rays were taken, mother and son were called straight into the doctor’s office. A proper diagnosis would be made based on the results.

The hospital was no place for Mesan.

There were too many humans.

So Jeongju had already warned him in advance that, once the job was done, he was to wait in the van in the parking lot. While he sat there waiting for the pair to come out, Jeongju pulled out the phone in his pocket.

When are you getting here? Everyone’s waiting for you right now...

Taking a deep breath, he checked the messages that had come in one after another from his manager and the agency.

Then he shot to his feet.

“Juyeol. Ma’am.”

The exam-room door opened and mother and son emerged.

Jeongju strode toward them at once. Since acting was his trade, the expression on his face, at least on the surface, looked drenched in concern.

“When did you schedule the surgery?”

“......”

“......”

At Jeongju’s careful question, Juyeol subtly looked away.

When Jeongju turned to look at the mother instead, she too seemed oddly evasive, as if answering would be awkward.

After taking in their reaction, Jeongju slowly lowered his head.

Outwardly, he looked like a man overcome with shame.

Behind the mask, however, a smile was gradually blooming at the corners of his mouth.

In a voice as grave as that smile was not, Jeongju said,

“I think it would still be best for Juyeol to stay admitted until the surgery date, just in case. As I said before, I’ll cover all the hospital expenses in full—”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Unlike before, Juyeol’s mother answered in a calm voice.

At the same time, what was actually running through her mind was what had just happened inside.

“Huh? That’s strange. His face and chest are both completely fine.”

The doctor, staring at the X-rays, had put on and taken off his glasses with open confusion. Mother and son, who had braced themselves and sat waiting for the declaration of a fracture, had widened their eyes at the completely unexpected result.

“This is really strange. Just a little while ago his nose was definitely bent to one side like this.”

The doctor had looked back and forth between the screen and Juyeol’s face, wearing an expression of disbelief. Then he dragged a chair over, sat down in front of Juyeol, and reached out a hand. He pressed repeatedly at the bridge of his nose, where the swelling had suddenly gone down, and then at his side, asking, “Does this hurt? What about here?”

Juyeol, dazed, had shaken his head.

Up until just a short while ago, every inch of him had been hurting.

Now, no matter how much the doctor prodded him, he did not feel so much as a mild ache.

“Well, well. I must not have fully woken up earlier. This has never happened before...”

The doctor added that awkwardly.

“Other than a few minor bruises.”

“They say there’s nothing wrong.”

Juyeol’s mother delivered the diagnosis with a dissatisfied expression.

“...They said that on the X-rays, there isn’t a single crack in his nose or ribs, so we can relax.”

At those words, Jeongju opened his eyes wide.

Or rather, pretended to.

“What? What do you mean? The doctor said earlier that it was a fracture.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Is he some kind of quack? First he says the nose is broken just by looking at it, and now suddenly everything’s perfectly fine...”

The mother let out a breath of disbelief.

Until moments ago, she had been pouring every ounce of her temper onto Jeongju.

Now the fire had shifted neatly onto the doctor instead.

And so Jeongju understood.

Mother and son were in a very uncomfortable position now.

In a situation where the balance could flip against them at any moment, they were trying very hard to act unbothered. It was a huge relief that Juyeol was not actually hurt, of course, but it looked like apologizing and bowing their heads after all that was the one thing they absolutely did not want to do.

But now that the conclusion had come down that both Jaegyeom and Juyeol had escaped with nothing more than light bruising, Jeongju had no intention of continuing to soothe their pride.

They had traded blows back and forth nice and evenly.

Which meant the situation was now, at last, even.

Jeongju smiled and nodded.

“That’s really a relief. I was very worried Juyeol might have been seriously hurt.”

“Well, we came all the way to a general hospital, and the doctor’s clearly...”

“Doctors are human too. Of course they can make mistakes. And boys fight as they grow up. I just hope both our Jaegyeom and Juyeol will take today as a lesson, so nothing like this happens again.”

When he finished speaking, Jeongju ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ cast a glance toward Juyeol.

The moment their eyes met, Juyeol flinched and looked away.

He did not seem especially skilled at managing his expression.

“Well then. If there’s really a best doctor in the world... I suppose any ordinary physician would look like a quack standing in front of one. Which is only natural.”

“...What? What best doctor?”

“Haha, it’s nothing, Juyeol.”

Jeongju pulled out his wallet from his back pocket.

Then he took out four fifty-thousand-won bills, folded them exactly in half, and held them out toward Juyeol.

“This should cover the medical bill, right? Since it’s only a few minor bruises.”

Mother and son stiffened in confusion.

While holding the bills out and looking steadily at Juyeol, Jeongju suddenly seemed to remember something.

“Oh, right.”

He changed the mood in an instant.

“Come to think of it, you must be the dramatic type, Juyeol. If you were hurting that much over a simple bruise, doesn’t that mean you’re rather good at making a fuss? You really had everyone fooled. I think you might have some talent for acting... If you ever want to get into it later, give me a call.”

Juyeol’s face hardened.

“...Wh-what?”

“If you want, I can introduce you to an audition. Just my personal opinion, of course, but I think you’d be very well suited to roles like gangsters or thugs. Since you’re so good at pretending to be hurt when you aren’t actually hurt... You’d be perfect for punching roles too. You’ve got an aggressive, fearless temperament.”

“E-excuse me? What exactly are you saying right now—”

Mother and son were staring at Jeongju in blank disbelief.

Ignoring them, Jeongju folded the bills once more.

Then he slipped the neatly folded money into one pocket of Juyeol’s uniform jacket.

“Ah, don’t misunderstand. It’s a compliment. A compliment. Strictly speaking... from someone in the same profession.”

Beaming with exaggerated sweetness, Jeongju pulled the mask down from his lower face to his chin and removed his cap.

The features that had been hidden until then were revealed in full.

Only then did both their eyes grow so wide they looked ready to pop out.

Judging by their expressions, they had not heard yet.

“Well then, I’ll be going.”

Jeongju dipped his head lightly in farewell, then pulled the cap back down the way it had been.

He turned on his heel and broke into a run for the hospital lobby.

Heh.

Being famous really was the most fun thing in the world.

What a pair of obnoxious people.

Inside the mask came the happy yipping sound of a fox.

His steps, springing lightly as he ran, looked full of release—so light they almost seemed to be dancing.

*****

Bursting happily out into the parking lot, Jeongju flew toward the place where he had left the van.

Up until the moment they entered the hospital, Mesan—who was afraid of humans—had been trembling and sniffling in terror.

But when Jeongju had encouraged him by saying, This is for your lord, Mesan had clenched his mouth shut and nodded.

And just as expected, Mesan had done beautifully.

What Jeongju had asked of him in advance was simple: leave the visible injuries alone, but heal all the internal damage.

It would have been easier if he had used his power openly, but there was too much risk of being noticed by human eyes, so it had to be done carefully.

After thinking it over, Mesan had asked Jeongju for some kind of container.

When Jeongju handed him a paper cup he normally kept in the car, Mesan took it and fell into meditation for a while.

Then, after a few minutes had passed—

“Bleh.”

Mesan opened his eyes and immediately threw up into the paper cup.

“......”

The sight had been so sudden that Jeongju had nearly died of shock.

Startled out of his mind, he had even had a pair of fox ears pop right out on top of his head. Thanks to that, he had needed a long moment to calm himself down enough to make them disappear again.

“Luckily, I drank an absurd amount of dew this morning. Hehe. This is cleansing water made from the dew that had gathered inside me. Even without using any power, if he drinks this, the internal injuries will clear up like they were washed away.”

And, just as Mesan had said, that was exactly what had happened.

At some point while Juyeol had been off by himself, he must have come into contact with Mesan.

If they had been delayed even a little longer, the results would have come out exactly the way they had first feared.

Just thinking about the ridiculous expressions on those two people’s faces made him want to laugh himself sick.

It was a shame that, burdened as he was with social standing, he had not been able to fire even more barbs at them.

Yipping under his breath, Jeongju cheerfully yanked open the heavily tinted passenger door.

“Well, well, our brave little sprout. You really did amaz—” 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Jeongju doubted his own eyes and pulled his mask down in one quick motion.

“...Huh?”

The inside of the van was empty.