Honbul: Flame of the Soul

Jaegyeom, who had been standing there in a daze, immediately strode toward the door. First, he needed to get out of this place.

But no matter how hard he pulled on the handle, the door refused to open.

“......”

Still gripping the doorknob, Jaegyeom’s expression slowly hardened.

He didn’t know why he had been brought here, but he could already tell he was trapped inside this room. Most likely, Yoon Taehee had arranged it.

Just then, he felt an unfamiliar presence behind him.

Standing before the door, Jaegyeom immediately turned his head and looked toward the dark corner of the room. Once his eyes adjusted, he noticed a figure leaning against the wall like a shadow. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

It was Paehyeon.

Recognizing him as the intelligent ghost he had seen in the library before, Jaegyeom regarded him warily. Hidden in the darkness with his arms folded, Paehyeon had apparently been standing there the entire time, silently watching him like a guard. Jaegyeom simply hadn’t noticed him earlier because he had been too flustered.

“Who are you?”

Jaegyeom asked, looking him over from head to toe.

“I was ordered to remain by your side.”

The polite answer made Jaegyeom narrow his eyes.

So it really was Yoon Taehee’s doing.

Once again, Jaegyeom found it bizarre that Taehee was using intelligent ghosts. He could not understand why proud beings like them—ghosts capable of doing nearly anything if they wished—would follow a human’s orders. Not just one, either. Several.

No matter how strong Taehee was, he was still only human, yet he commanded intelligent ghosts as though he were their master. The whole thing was absurd.

He would be lying if he said he was not curious about the story behind it, but that was hardly the most important issue right now.

“Open the door.”

Jaegyeom spoke flatly.

Paehyeon did not move.

“I said open it.”

At the repeated command, Paehyeon finally answered.

“He instructed me not to let you leave this mountain.”

Jaegyeom took a slow breath and shut his eyes.

It was an effort to suppress the emotions rising inside him.

For a moment, he had thought Taehee was actually listening when he told him not to follow him.

Apparently not.

Yoon Taehee could be unbelievably childish sometimes.

He always acted like some composed adult who already understood everything in the world, but at times like this, he was no different from a stubborn child. Immature. Clumsy. Convinced that his own feelings mattered more than anything else.

“I don’t want to fight, so open the door.”

It was already deep into the night.

Jaegyeom was exhausted, mentally and physically alike. More than anything, he needed peace and quiet right now. He had no energy left to deal with an intelligent ghost.

He just wanted to go home and rest.

“I cannot do that. Please step away from the door.”

Paehyeon shook his head without the slightest hesitation.

“I hate repeating myself.”

Jaegyeom’s eyes narrowed.

“Open it before I smash this entire place apart.”

Still, Paehyeon remained silent.

“......”

In the end, Jaegyeom’s expression darkened.

“The only person I go easy on is Taehee.”

His voice dropped low.

“I only obey Taehee-nim.”

The intelligent ghost before him truly was an excellent subordinate.

“......”

After a brief silence, a crooked smile spread across Jaegyeom’s lips.

“What if I break the door down and leave anyway?”

“He instructed me to stop you even if I have to cut off your ankles.”

At those words, something sharp slowly surfaced in Jaegyeom’s unfocused eyes.

“Cut off my ankles?”

A quiet laugh escaped him.

The situation was so absurd he could only laugh.

Still, he knew it was no empty threat.

A sword hung at Paehyeon’s waist.

Which meant Yoon Taehee had given the order seriously.

And Paehyeon intended to carry it out.

“I see.”

A cold gleam, sharp as a blade, settled into Jaegyeom’s eyes.

After staring at Paehyeon for a moment, he suddenly turned and crossed the room. He stopped beside the folding screen and grabbed the sword hanging there.

“Then go ahead.”

The instant Jaegyeom wrapped his hand around the sword, Paehyeon’s expression stiffened.

“No. You should.”

Jaegyeom’s voice was cold enough to send chills crawling down the spine.

“Because if you fail to cut them off, you die instead.”

Tilting his head slightly, Jaegyeom stared straight at him.

Sword in hand, he slowly approached. Paehyeon stood motionless, watching him without retreating.

Jaegyeom stopped three steps away.

“Either you cut off my ankles...”

His hand drew the blade with a clean metallic hiss.

“...or I cut off your head.”

The polished edge slid free.

“......”

Paehyeon’s expression visibly darkened.

He did not want to show it, but he was genuinely troubled.

Truthfully, he had no desire to fight Jaegyeom.

He wanted to treat him with as much respect as possible.

Paehyeon had lived a very long time, and he knew immediately that Jaegyeom was no ordinary human.

But that was not the only reason.

Jaegyeom was someone his Leader cherished.

Because of that, Paehyeon wanted to avoid hurting him if possible.

Of course, he had never expected Jaegyeom to obediently comply. Still, he had hoped the boy would calm down and remain here quietly.

Instead, it seemed he had accidentally provoked him.

Now there was no room left to retreat.

Jaegyeom leveled the tip of his sword toward him.

Paehyeon rested a hand against his scabbard and slowly stepped back.

His Leader had ordered him to keep Jaegyeom here even if it meant severing his ankles, but taking those words literally was impossible. His Leader was far more emotional than usual at the moment.

If possible, it would be best to subdue Jaegyeom without seriously injuring him.

In the end, Paehyeon reluctantly drew his sword.

The moment he did, Jaegyeom attacked.

CLANG!

The two blades collided, and a heavy shock traveled straight into Paehyeon’s grip, numbing his hand.

Twisting his body aside, Paehyeon blocked the strike and immediately thrust toward the opening left behind.

If he let even the slightest gap appear, it genuinely felt as though Jaegyeom would cut his head off.

Of course, an ordinary blade could not truly kill a ghost unless it was a sword capable of cutting down spirits, but the boy’s spiritual force was extraordinary enough that prolonging the fight felt genuinely dangerous.

Until now, Paehyeon had fought defensively.

Now his attacks grew noticeably sharper.

As the pressure shifted, Jaegyeom tightened his grip on the sword.

Paehyeon’s movements were restrained yet agile. Smooth. Fluid. His footwork was mysterious, almost impossible to follow.

And the more their swords crossed—

—the more familiar it felt.

This is...

Jaegyeom’s eyes widened.

“...Hwirim?”

The instant the name left his mouth, Paehyeon faltered.

His sword halted mid-motion as he stared at Jaegyeom in surprise.

Seeing that reaction, Jaegyeom’s eyes widened as well.

The two stared at each other suspiciously for a moment before speaking at the exact same time.

“You know Hwirim?”

“You know someone named Hwirim?”

“Short hair. Extraordinary with a sword...”

“The greatest swordsman under heaven.”

The moment they compared descriptions, shock spread across both their faces.

Almost simultaneously, Paehyeon and Jaegyeom lowered their swords and slid them back into their scabbards.

Everything matched perfectly.

Jaegyeom was stunned that this intelligent ghost knew Hwirim.

Paehyeon was equally surprised.

Neither of °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° them had imagined they would be connected through someone like that.

“How do you know Hwirim?”

“I once crossed swords with that human.”

Paehyeon was a sword ghost born from a soul that had clung to an abandoned blade. Long ago, he had wandered across the eight provinces cutting down everything in his path.

That was when he first met Hwirim.

“Seriously?”

Jaegyeom could not hide his surprise.

Just moments earlier they had been trying to kill each other, yet now the conversation had taken an utterly unexpected turn.

The tension between them vanished almost instantly.

Jaegyeom casually tossed aside the sword in his hand. Paehyeon also returned his blade to its scabbard.

Once the weapons disappeared, the conversation continued naturally.

“Then did you teach Taehee swordsmanship?”

“Yes.”

That explained it.

Back when he had encountered Taehee at the Gongju branch, Jaegyeom had found it strange that Taehee used Hwirim’s swordsmanship.

So Paehyeon had learned directly from Hwirim, then passed it on to Yoon Taehee.

“She was a truly remarkable human.”

He really was.

Myojeong occasionally visited Hwirim, but Jaegyeom himself had only met him once and never saw him again afterward. He had merely heard occasional stories from Myojeong, who continued meeting Hwirim from time to time.

Then Jaegyeom severed ties with Myojeong as well.

After that, even those stories disappeared.

Still, despite meeting him only once, Hwirim had left an unforgettable impression on him.

(*Jaegyeom had always believed Hwirim was a man.)

“Is Hwirim dead?”

Paehyeon nodded quietly.

Enough time had passed that he had naturally assumed she was dead by now, yet hearing it spoken aloud still felt strange.

Hwirim had been as strong as Myojeong. Paehyeon had once wondered whether she might have become an intelligent ghost after death.

Apparently not.

“I thought that person might’ve become a ghost.”

“So did I.”

Paehyeon generally disliked humans and avoided attachments whenever possible.

But he had liked Hwirim quite a bit.

So when he learned she had died, he had genuinely felt regret.

“It was a waste in many ways. Such a powerful human dying so young.”

Hwirim had been straightforward, unpretentious, and strong.

“She left this world only months before giving birth, without ever getting to hold her child in her arms. I thought she might remain behind as a ghost because of that, so I looked into what became of her. But in the end, it seems she departed this land without regrets.”

It was while Paehyeon spoke with distant eyes that—

“What?”

Jaegyeom abruptly froze.

Something in those words caught sharply in his ears.

He stared at Paehyeon with wide eyes. Paehyeon, meanwhile, looked back at him in confusion.

“Hwirim had a wife?”

Jaegyeom asked blankly.

“......”

Paehyeon’s expression turned strange.

“You didn’t know?”

Looking genuinely bewildered, Paehyeon answered:

“Hwirim was a woman.”