Honbul: Flame of the Soul

Mesan, who had cried himself to sleep from exhaustion, looked for Jaegyeom the moment he opened his eyes.

Sadly, the room was empty.

For one awful moment, fear seized him. Had his lord already left for somewhere else? But when he looked more closely around the room, the school uniform and bag that had been hanging on one wall were gone. After turning the whole house upside down the night before, his lord had gone to school as usual.

Mesan opened the door, stepped out into the yard, and perched himself on the edge of the wooden porch. The mountain birds that had been waiting for him immediately began chirping their greetings over one another. Normally he would have smiled softly at them, but today he was in no mood for that. His face was swollen like a steamed bun from all the crying he had done the night before. Looking troubled, ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) Mesan lifted his eyes toward the quiet slope of the mountain.

“Did you sleep well? Did you sleep well? Did you sleep well?”

“N-No... I didn’t sleep well...”

Mesan drew up his knees and wrapped both arms around them.

Jeongju had left for Seoul last night. He had abruptly stopped filming and been away from the set for far too long. He had said he would be right back, but when night came and he still had not appeared, calls had started pouring in every three minutes. He could not delay any longer.

“Mesan. We’ve been with Jaegyeom for how many years now? He just said it in the heat of the moment.”

“R-Right? He didn’t mean it, did he?”

“That’s right. So don’t worry. There’s still time left, so let’s soothe him little by little until then.”

Jeongju had handed Mesan the spare cell phone he usually carried around. Then he asked him to keep an eye on Jaegyeom and report back once a day. If they used the house phone, there was too much risk of Jaegyeom overhearing, so he was supposed to call secretly on the cell phone when Jaegyeom was not around.

Mesan lowered his hand and touched the heavy phone in his pocket.

“My lord can’t manage without me.”

He buried his face against his knees, muttering in a miserable little voice.

*****

The hallway was always noisy in the morning, but today it was worse than usual.

A crowd of onlookers had gathered in front of Class 2-3 like a school of fish. Faces were pressed up against the front door, the back door, even the window frames as they peered into the classroom. The middle of the hall was so clogged that students trying to pass by had no choice but to shove their way through the sightseers with mounting irritation.

“He’s not here. I don’t see him.”

“Guess he’s not here yet.”

“Move, you assholes.”

“Hey, stop shoving.”

The students of Class 2-3 themselves were just as stunned. All this was because people wanted to get a good look at the fascinating classmate who had a real working celebrity for an uncle. In the space of a single day, Jaegyeom had become a school celebrity. The name Kim Jaegyeom had spread through the whole school like the reputation of the top-ranked student.

“Hey, hey, you guys in Class 3. When’s Kim Jaegyeom coming?”

“Seriously, tell him to hurry up.”

“Does anybody know Kim Jaegyeom’s number?”

A few students, already tired of waiting, had just started throwing out questions when—

“I don’t have a phone.”

In the middle of all the marketplace-level noise, one indifferent voice popped up from behind them. It had been murmured almost like a remark to himself and might have vanished into the uproar, but a few of the students nearby heard it and turned their heads. The instant they checked the name on the tag, their eyes went round.

“Hey, hey! Behind you—”

“He’s here!”

At once, the gathered students split apart to both sides. It was like the Red Sea parting. A path opened in an instant. The students from Class 2-3 who had been stuck outside, unable to get into their own room because of the crush, finally managed to slip into the classroom through the gap. The students who had stepped aside whispered to one another and openly stared at Jaegyeom.

He ignored them all. With a bored face, Jaegyeom walked right past the crowd.

“What do you brats think you’re doing right now?! Get to your classrooms, now!”

At that moment, Ms. Seo came down the stairs shouting at the top of her lungs. Scolded from the far end of the hall, the students reluctantly turned away. Even as they left, some of them still leaned their heads into the classroom and pleaded shamelessly.

“Hey, later can’t you just video call Jeongju for us once?”

“I just need one autograph. My sister told me to get one.”

After homeroom, Ms. Seo called Lee Juyeol and Jaegyeom out into the hallway. The two of them came out without protest and stood well apart from each other. Fortunately or unfortunately, since yesterday they had each been acting as though the other did not exist. Ms. Seo informed them that both of them would be assigned five days of after-school campus service.

In truth, it was only campus service in name. The school was not issuing any official disciplinary action. Since both sides had taken roughly similar damage, they had decided not to let the matter grow any bigger and to settle it at the homeroom level. That was the conclusion after discussing it with the dean of discipline. In that sense, Jeongju’s race to the hospital with Mesan in tow had not been for nothing.

Out of the main building, the annex, and all the many places on campus, Jaegyeom was assigned to clean the library.

The moment Ms. Seo told him to report there, his face stopped cooperating. Juyeol was sent to the auditorium equipment room, packed full of heavy gear. Jaegyeom briefly considered asking to switch, but talking to Lee Juyeol sounded even worse than that.

After school, Jaegyeom stood in front of the library door and fiddled pointlessly with the strap of his bag. He stared at the door as if having a contest of wills with it, then let his shoulders sag. After hesitating for a long while, he finally grabbed the handle and turned it.

“Oh.”

His eyes met those of the young man bent over in front of the shelves.

He had not thought he would ever come here again.

They had never been particularly close to begin with, but ever since the day he returned the tie, there had been a strange distance between them.

“Hello.”

Even though it was the first time he had seen that face in a while, Jaegyeom felt no pleasure at all. After pretending not to know him before, now the young man smiled broadly and greeted him warmly. Irritated for no good reason, Jaegyeom only gave a stiff little nod.

The young man stared at him for a moment, then remarked casually,

“You’re rather mottled.”

Seeing the blank look in Jaegyeom’s eyes, he tapped his own cheek with a fingertip.

“Your face, I mean.”

“Oh. Well...”

Jaegyeom trailed off and rubbed his cheek for no reason. There was not much he could say to that. Judging by the fact that the young man did not ask how it had happened, he already seemed to know why Jaegyeom had been sent here. At least that was one thing Jaegyeom liked. Unlike before, he was not asking unnecessary questions.

The young man drifted away from the shelves and started walking slowly. Jaegyeom stiffened without meaning to, assuming he was coming toward him. But the young man passed right by and headed for the desk instead. As he did, a familiar fragrance brushed past at close range.

That cologne.

He had smelled it several times before. Sensual and unmistakable.

After furtively gauging the mood for a moment, Jaegyeom set his bag down in one corner. He swept a quick glance around the library. Beside the desk stood a table he had not seen before, along with several chairs. Two or three students were seated at the long table, reading intently.

“So what am I supposed to do?”

Jaegyeom asked, looking around.

“Pick any book you like and read it.”

“I was told to do campus service. I came here to clean.”

“Oh dear. I already finished all the cleaning earlier.”

The young man sat down with one leg crossed over the other and answered in a level tone. He was looking at Jaegyeom with a smile full of mischief. Jaegyeom stared back at him in confusion.

“Then what am I supposed to do?”

“I told you. Read a book.”

“......”

The conversation had somehow looped back to the beginning.

Rendered speechless for a moment, Jaegyeom shut his mouth. The disbelief was plain in his eyes. The young man tapped the desk lightly with his fingers. For a moment he seemed to think about something, then he pushed back his chair and stood.

“Do you really need a task that badly?”

He slid open a drawer and took something out. In his hand were a thin spiral notebook and a Monami ballpoint pen. He laid both neatly on the empty spot at the table.

“Then read a book and write a response.”

“What?”

Jaegyeom frowned instantly.

“I already finished the cleaning, I just finished organizing the books, so there’s nothing left for you to do, but you need something to do, so read a book and write a response.”

“What does writing a response have to do with campus service?”

“You were sent to the library as punishment for fighting, so what I make you do is up to the librarian.”

Leaning crookedly against the table, Yoon Taehee smiled wickedly.

“The format and length are up to you. Just don’t forget your class, number, and name.”