Honbul: Flame of the Soul

“You do not have to finish the whole book. Just read as much as you can. If you come across a sentence that really moves you, you can quote it and write your response under it, or you can just write down your own thoughts about what you read.”

The young man added that kindly.

Jaegyeom stared at him in disbelief. He had come here to use his body, and instead he was being told to use his head. He had already spent the entire day staring at textbooks, and now he had to read another book? He should just make him clean instead. Wearing a thoroughly displeased look, Jaegyeom scratched irritably at the back of his neck.

After assigning him homework out of nowhere, the young man went back to the desk. He sat down with one leg crossed over the other, lifted his ribbon-covered mug, and silently drank the now-cold instant coffee. Then, as if to make a point of it, he fixed his gaze on the monitor connected to the computer.

The library fell quiet. The only sounds were the soft clicks of the mouse under the young man’s hand and, every now and then, the faint rustle of students turning pages.

“......”

Jaegyeom, who had been standing blankly by the door, finally moved.

Just as the young man had said, the library was spotless. Every book had been shelved exactly where it belonged, and not so much as a scrap of tissue was rolling across the polished floor. Even to Jaegyeom’s eye, there did not seem to be a single thing that needed doing.

First, he had to choose a book.

Standing in front of the shelves, he stared blankly over the titles, then reached out. There was no way Jaegyeom, who had not the slightest interest in reading, would have any such thing as a book he actually wanted to read. White was paper. Black was print. That was all. He pulled out the first book his hand landed on.

Choosing the thinnest one he could find, Jaegyeom headed for the reading table. He went to the seat with the notebook and ballpoint pen on it and quietly pulled out the chair. The instant he sat down, a sigh escaped him on its own.

That sigh, full of deep regret, made the students who were reading glance over at him. Yoon Taehee, pretending to prop his chin on one hand, laughed soundlessly.

Jaegyeom straightened his back and opened the book at a perfect right angle. If nothing else, his posture would have put any scholar to shame. With a clear, steady gaze, he began turning pages.

“Hm...”

Ten minutes later, Jaegyeom laid the book flat. His posture was still perfectly upright.

Twenty minutes later, he rested his chin on his hand. When one read a book, after all, it was better to be comfortable.

Thirty minutes later, he lowered his face onto the desk. One cheek squashed sideways. To understand the contents more deeply, naturally, it helped to bring one’s eyes to the same level as the book.

An hour later, Jaegyeom fell asleep just like that, pillowing his head on one arm.

*****

One by one, the students who had been reading at the tables got up and left the library.

At some point, even the last student still there rose from their seat. The chair dragged backward with a shrill scrape.

At that sound, Jaegyeom—who had been sleeping with his mouth open—snapped his eyes wide.

“Oh—uh... s-sorry. Did I wake you?”

Jaegyeom glared at the student, who was shouldering a backpack. Faced with that icy stare, sharp enough to seem openly hostile, the student flinched and whispered an apology without even meaning to.

The student looked bewildered the moment the words were out.

Wait. Did I do something wrong? Why would I apologize for waking up someone who was sleeping in the library? But his expression had been so fierce the apology had come out automatically.

Still staring at the student, Jaegyeom abruptly sat upright.

Then, in a very small voice, as if worried someone might overhear, he said,

“I wasn’t asleep.”

“What?”

“I said I wasn’t asleep.”

“Ah... right...”

“I wasn’t asleep.”

The student nodded blankly.

What a weird guy...

Grabbing the rest of the bag in a hurry, the student rushed out of the library.

Jaegyeom stared blankly at the closing door, then cast a furtive sidelong glance toward the desk. The young man was still in exactly the same posture, staring at the monitor. He looked completely absorbed in whatever he was doing, as if in the middle of work.

Watching him carefully, Jaegyeom cleared his throat without making a sound. Only then did he open the spiral notebook. Taking up the pen, he began to write across the empty page.

Every so often, he flicked a glance at the book and scribbled seriously for a while. Then, at some point, he set the pen down. He closed the notebook cover, shut the book, carried it back to the shelf he had taken it from, and slid it into its original spot. Once he had finished putting everything away, he picked up the notebook and walked over to the desk where the young man was sitting.

“I’m done.”

The young man, who had been looking at the monitor, flicked a glance up at him.

“One moment.”

He murmured it quietly, then turned his eyes back to the screen. At the same time, he stretched one arm out toward Jaegyeom.

Jaegyeom only stood there blankly. The young man wiggled his fingers. Apparently he wanted the notebook.

Jaegyeom handed it over.

Only after taking the notebook did the young man finally take his eyes off the monitor. Sitting close to the desk, he rolled his wheeled chair back a little and leaned comfortably against the backrest. He looked far lazier than he had a moment ago, when his posture had still been so neat and upright.

“Do not tell me you read an entire book.”

His eyes relaxed.

“No. I didn’t finish it.”

“Then why did it take you so long?”

Jaegyeom fidgeted with his fingers and answered in a flat tone.

“I read slowly.”

“Do you?”

The young man laughed under his breath and sank deeper into the chair.

“Then let’s see how well you wrote.”

The moment he boldly opened the notebook, his eyes narrowed.

He stared at the handwriting on the page for a moment, then flipped to the next. After checking the back ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) page, he quickly turned back again. A crooked smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Lowering the notebook from where he had held it at face level, he looked at Jaegyeom.

“......”

The expression on the young man’s face as he silently stared at him was strange beyond words.

“This is your response?”

“You said I could write whatever I wanted.”

As if he genuinely did not see the problem, Jaegyeom nodded once.

Yoon Taehee, now wearing a grave expression, lifted the notebook back up toward his face and looked at it again.

To begin with, the boy had atrocious handwriting. It really did look as though he had simply scrawled it down in a rush. It was a complete mess.

But the biggest problem was not the penmanship.

It was the content.

Class 2-3, No. 34

Kim Jaegyeom

Potato rice cake is a traditional rice cake from Gangwon Province, prized for its uniquely chewy texture.

It is made by shaping dough around sweet bean paste or boiled beans.

Response: I like honey rice cake better than potato rice cake.

Without hesitation, Yoon Taehee closed the notebook.

“......”

“......”

Their gazes collided in the air between them.

He had said the length and format were free, yes, but was this not a little too free? This was practically sabotage. He had told him to quote a line that moved him, but he had never imagined the boy would copy a passage introducing potato rice cake.

After a moment of silence, Yoon Taehee asked in a very serious tone,

“This is really from the book?”

“Yes.”

“What was the title?”

In Search of the Flavors of the Eight Provinces.

“Who’s the author?”

“Someone I don’t know.” 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

“No, what I meant was...”

Well, of course. Yoon Taehee could not even finish the sentence. He lowered his head and rubbed at one eyebrow. Propping his chin on the armrest, he stared at Jaegyeom.

“......”

The boy’s somewhat youthful face made it look as though he had never written even the most ordinary response paper in his life.

But the response had only been an excuse to begin with.

A book report was not what Yoon Taehee truly wanted.

“All right.”

After a brief moment of thought, the young man’s eyes softened.

“So the section about potato rice cake made a deep impression on you.”

“Yes.”

“And you prefer honey rice cake to potato rice cake.”

“Yes.”

The young man nodded.

“You have very clear opinions. It is good to see.”

“Hm. Yes.”

“A candid and concise response. Very impressive.”

Without saying anything, Jaegyeom scratched at one cheek.

The truth was, he had barely read it at all. He had wanted to go home quickly, so he had opened it to a random page and copied down whatever was in front of him. But apparently, from the librarian’s point of view, it was not all that bad.

Just moments ago he had been starting to feel inwardly annoyed, because it looked as though the man might start picking at him again like before.

Instead, the librarian gave him simple, unadorned praise.

At first, Jaegyeom had been furious that he had been ordered to write a response out of nowhere. But being praised for it like this made him feel a little awkward. Was it really worth praising? He lowered his eyes, suddenly embarrassed.

“Have you ever had potato rice cake?”

The young man asked it quietly.

“Yes.”

“I never have. What is it like?”

After thinking for a moment, Jaegyeom answered.

“The ones filled with sweet bean paste taste better than the ones with beans.”

“Really? Do you dislike beans?”

“No. Not exactly.”

“I hate beans.”

The young man frowned faintly.

Without thinking, Jaegyeom asked,

“Why?”

“They taste bad.”

Jaegyeom nodded and muttered,

“That is because you have never really been hungry.”

The young man, still sitting there with one leg crossed, only swung the tip of his foot in silence.

“......”

A moment later, he rose from his seat. Then, just as he had when he took out the bandage and the notebook earlier, he pulled open the desk drawer with a rattling slide. Once again he took something out, then walked over to Jaegyeom, who was still standing there blankly.

Stopping close to him, the young man looked down.

“Let me see your hand for a second.”

Jaegyeom’s eyes sharpened at the corners, and suspicion flashed across his face.

What was he trying to do this time?

Seeing that expression, the young man gave a small laugh. What he had taken out of the drawer turned out to be a sheet covered in round stickers. He peeled off one blue sticker and pressed it onto the back of Jaegyeom’s hand.

Only then did Jaegyeom draw back and inspect the back of his hand.

“What is this?”

“A praise sticker.”

For a moment, Jaegyeom only stared at it. Just as a faint frown touched his face—

“Very well done.”

The young man said it teasingly.

Jaegyeom asked uncertainly,

“The response?”

“You did well on the response too.”

Too?

Too, meaning there was something besides the response he was praising?

Wearing a bewildered expression, Jaegyeom looked up at him. He was about to ask what he meant, but the young man was faster. He gave a light little wave of his hand first.

“All right, then. Get home safe. See you tomorrow.”

Jaegyeom’s hand twitched for an instant. He had almost, without thinking, waved back.

Instead, he nodded awkwardly, picked up the bag he had set on the floor, turned around slowly, and opened the library door.

Behind him, the door shut with a click.

Jaegyeom stood there for a long time with his back to it.

The hallway, long past dismissal, was as quiet as the library had been. Beyond the corridor windows, the sunset was sinking low. Fading orange light poured down over the tops of his feet.

Something felt strange.

If someone asked him what exactly felt strange, he would not have been able to put his finger on it. But something, somehow, definitely felt strange.

Whenever it seemed like the man was starting to come at him in an irritating way, he would suddenly turn distant. And whenever it seemed like he was pretending not to know him and keeping away, he would speak to him just enough. The questions that had kept leaving Jaegyeom uneasy had vanished too. All they had really done was exchange a few useless, silly words.

And yet that had felt surprisingly comfortable.

To be honest, he had assumed the man had gotten offended when he said he did not want to be friends.

Maybe that was not it.

“Tomorrow...”

Jaegyeom turned the word over with a puzzled look on his face.

Then he lowered his eyes and stared quietly at the blue praise sticker on the back of his hand.

The way it clung to his skin left his mind strangely unsettled.