Honbul: Flame of the Soul

Myojeong wrote a letter to Hwirim.

It was an apology for not telling him the truth back then, and for being sorry that he had not been able to hold on to him. As he wrote, Myojeong hesitated for a moment before adding one more line. It was a request, asking whether they might meet again. Of course, Hwirim had never once replied to any of his letters, so he did not expect much. Surprisingly, however, Hwirim sent an answer with ease. It arrived only a few days after Myojeong had sent his own.

If you want to see me, come yourself.

That was the gist of it.

Myojeong packed at once and set out on the road. As time had passed since the double seal, the child had entered a stable period and was no different from an ordinary human. Myojeong was worried about leaving him alone, but he decided it would be safer to let the child stay home than to drag him along on a long journey.

Hwirim lived in a distant province.

After traveling for several full days, Myojeong reached the village where Hwirim was said to be staying and let out a sigh. The atmosphere in the area was not good. According to what he heard, the people had risen up not far from there.

Indeed, government soldiers stood guard at the fortress gate like sentries, conducting thorough inspections. Myojeong grew worried over how Hwirim had ended up staying in such a grim place, and whether he might be in danger.

Myojeong went to the address written in Hwirim’s letter. Fortunately, he was able to find him without much difficulty. Hwirim was living in a small detached house he had secured for himself.

“Well, well. Look who it is.”

Hwirim, who had been leaning against a pillar on the wooden porch, spoke sarcastically the moment he saw Myojeong.

“I didn’t know you would come running the moment I told you to.”

Although he had replied so readily, Hwirim still seemed to hold a grudge. His attitude was cold and sharp. Myojeong took off the bamboo hat he had been wearing and smiled quietly.

“Have you been well?” 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

“I have.”

After that brief exchange of greetings, Hwirim asked sulkily,

“Why did you come?”

“Because I missed you.”

A short silence fell.

“Why didn’t Gyeom come with you?”

After being quiet for a while, Hwirim finally spoke again. His voice had softened considerably.

“I will bring him with me next time, if I have the chance.”

“By the way, what happened with the seal you mentioned back then?”

Myojeong’s lips closed.

“......”

He did not have the confidence to tell even Hwirim the truth. If the only standard were whether he had put distance between the child and death, then the seal could be called a success. But since the result had warped the child’s entire life, to Myojeong, it was an irredeemably bitter failure.

With a calm face, Myojeong answered that it had “gone well.”

“That is truly for the best. Then did you tell Gyeom the truth?”

Myojeong, who had fallen silent, shook his head.

“It will be all right as long as it is not too late.”

Hwirim did not press him further. He knew it was not an easy story to tell, even once one had made up one’s mind. Myojeong sat on the edge of the wooden porch and looked around the detached house where Hwirim was staying. The furnishings were modest, but it was a suitable house for one person to live in. With no neighboring houses nearby, it felt somewhat desolate. The place where Hwirim lived stood in a rather secluded corner of the village.

“I heard there was a peasant uprising nearby...”

“Yes. Not in this village, but just over one mountain.”

“Isn’t it dangerous, being so close?”

“Dangerous? It is livable enough.”

“Still, what do you think about moving somewhere else, just in case?”

At that, Hwirim tilted his head, as if asking where that had come from all of a sudden.

“You might get swept up in the uprising, and something could happen...”

“It will be fine. They and I are comrades.”

At Hwirim’s unexpected words, Myojeong’s eyes widened.

“Comrades, you say...”

In a quiet voice, Hwirim confessed that he, too, was participating in the uprising. When Myojeong had asked how he had been, Hwirim had merely mumbled that he had been wandering the eight provinces. Myojeong’s expression darkened.

“Why are you trying to do such a thing?”

“Well, I suppose it is the same old story.”

Hwirim shrugged, then continued in a casual tone.

“It seems my father’s blood runs true.”

“One wrong step and your life could be in danger.”

“Do not worry. How hard can it be to keep this one body alive?”

Of course, Hwirim was the greatest swordsman under heaven. Myojeong knew better than anyone that Hwirim was strong, not someone who could be defeated easily. Even so, Myojeong wanted to stop him somehow.

Although Hwirim spoke as if it were nothing, the path he intended to walk was a very dangerous one. Not only was it not something he should be doing as a gifted person, it was also a matter of a world completely unrelated to Myojeong.

“There is no guarantee it will turn out the way you want. Why take such a difficult path...”

“But what can one do? That is what it means to be human.”

Myojeong suddenly felt his chest tighten. Hwirim was a free human being. He always lived according to his heart and was honest with himself. Myojeong had no intention of standing in the way of that freedom.

It was only that, because he loved Hwirim’s freedom, he was afraid of losing him.

“Do you want to change the world?”

When Myojeong asked with downcast eyes, Hwirim immediately shook his head.

“No. I do not want to change the world.”

Hwirim’s ambition was not so grand.

“It is just...”

Hwirim paused for a moment and looked at Myojeong.

“I simply want to change my own life.”

This world existed within a great current, as though someone had made it so.

It was nature itself, and yet at times, it was also very far removed from nature. There were limits that a mere human could not overcome. Birth and death. Growth and aging. Being born a woman. The status one was born with. But Hwirim did not believe that was all there was to life.

“In the end, it is only my life, is it not?”

What to see. What to hear. What to do. It was only the life of one small human being, so no matter what grand words were attached to it—providence, fate—what use were they?

“Myojeong. Do you remember how we often went to the stream at the charity house?”

“I remember.”

“Back then, we used to go into the water and play together. But once we grew a little older, we could no longer do that because of the distinction between men and women. Since then, I have never once jumped into the river the way I used to.”

A faint smile touched Hwirim’s lips as he recalled the past.

“It made me so sad then. If I wanted to go into the river, I had to go at night, when no eyes were watching, or I had to go with other women. Otherwise I would become a spectacle. You have no idea how furious I was that I could no longer jump into the river whenever I pleased. I thought I could no longer go into the river to catch fish, and that I could no longer cross the river with my bare body.”

Hwirim, who had been gazing into the distance, suddenly turned to Myojeong with clear eyes.

“But now that I think about it, I do not know why I was so sad about it. If I cannot jump into the river with my bare body to cross it, I can get a ferryboat. If I cannot jump into the river with my bare body to catch fish, I can use a fishing rod from the bank. Is that not right?”

There were things one could do because one was born human. Humans who could not catch fish with their bare hands took up fishing rods, and humans who could not cross a river with their bare bodies floated small boats on the water.

“It only means a few inconvenient restrictions have appeared. Sometimes it may feel unfair, but that is all.”

If one looked into a flowing river, countless schools of fish could be seen swimming there. If that river was the world, then fate was like a great net. Like an invisible, formless shackle, it tried again and again to capture a human life. But Hwirim was a human who slipped out of that net.

“What do you think, Myojeong?”

“What do I think about what?”

“You said my lifespan was fixed because of the Bangsangsi’s curse. So I am asking whether you intend to go on believing in the fate that says you will die at thirty-three, and live the rest of your life that way.”

At the question, which flew at him in a sharp tone, Myojeong flinched and looked at Hwirim.

“......”

Unable to find a suitable answer, Myojeong silently lowered his gaze.

“Actually, I have been searching for a way for some time now.”

“A way for what?”

Hwirim lowered his eyes halfway and answered quietly.

“A way to save you from your fate.”

At that low voice, Myojeong slowly raised his head.

“By any chance, Myojeong, have you ever heard of mermaids?”