Honbul: Flame of the Soul

Before coming here, the three members of the household had made one promise.

When Jaegyeom opened his eyes in Yoon Taehee’s house, the first thing he saw was a mysterious blue fire soaking the mountain ridge like an aurora. The moment he saw it, Jaegyeom ran madly through the dark night streets toward home. When he arrived, the front gate was firmly locked, and every light in the house was out.

He could not sense a single presence inside.

But a faint light was leaking through the cracks around the door. His heart thudded. Something was there. His hand trembled as he gripped the doorknob. After hesitating for a moment, Jaegyeom swallowed hard and flung the door open.

A fox that had been sitting curled up lifted its head.

“You...”

Jaegyeom’s lips parted blankly.

Inside the room sat a large silver fox, curled into a ball. It was Jeongju, transformed into a fox. The light spilling through the cracks of the door had been the radiance flowing from Jeongju’s fur. Even with none of the lights turned on, his silver coat filled the room with a soft glow.

Cradled within the curve of his curled body, Mesan was nodding off.

‘It may become very dangerous from now on. But once today passes, it will all be over. Still, just in case, if there is somewhere you can hide, please take refuge there.’

Despite Yoon Taehee’s warning, Mesan and Jeongju had not left the house. They had waited for Jaegyeom.

His family was safe.

The moment he confirmed that everyone was unharmed, relief surged up from deep inside him, and all the tension drained out at once. Jaegyeom slumped down, pressing himself against Jeongju’s flank in his fox form. The fur against his skin was soft.

When the Jaegyeom they had been waiting for finally appeared, Jeongju and Mesan spoke at the same time.

“My lord!”

“Jaegyeom!”

Yoo Namsaeng also poked his head out of Mesan’s pocket.

“Master, are you all right?”

Jaegyeom was about to ask what had happened, but Jeongju spoke first.

“We couldn’t reach you for days! Where have you been until now?”

Yoon Taehee had told Jeongju to take refuge. But when there was no way to contact Jaegyeom, Jeongju could not bring himself to leave simply by trusting Yoon Taehee’s words blindly. Yet staying behind to guard the house without any news had left him anxious. He could not sit peacefully and wait when intruders or some unknown danger might be approaching. So, in order to be ready for anything and respond at once, Jeongju had transformed into his true fox form and waited for Jaegyeom.

Jeongju held on to Jaegyeom and demanded the whole story.

But there was no time to explain right now. Now that he knew his family was safe, he could at least breathe again. He had to get to Yoon Taehee as quickly as possible.

“I... I have somewhere I have to go. You two, get inside the Fox Gate right now.”

Jaegyeom grabbed the copper horse tally to summon Bima and rushed out into the yard.

“What? Where are you going?”

“Taehee is in danger.”

“Jaegyeom, calm down for a second.”

Jeongju grabbed Jaegyeom’s arm just as he was about to climb onto Bima’s back.

“We’re going with you.”

“What are you talking about? Let go.”

“What if Taehee comes into the Fox Gate with us too?”

Jaegyeom stopped and looked at Mesan.

It was a suggestion made in a flash of wit solely so they could go with Jaegyeom, but Jeongju saw at once that his tactic had worked. After a moment of deliberation, Jaegyeom allowed them to come only after making them promise that, the moment they arrived, they would take Yoon Taehee and flee into the Fox Gate together.

“Then after we enter the Fox Gate, what are you going to do by yourself?”

“I don’t know.”

What could he do there alone? Jaegyeom did not know what he would do, or how he would do it. But one thing was certain. He was the only one who could face Suhyang.

On Bima’s back, Mesan’s eyes went wide as he looked down at the world that had grown tiny and distant below. Yoo Namsaeng, who had been hiding in the pocket, also peeked his head out.

If not for Bima, reaching the director’s fortress would have taken quite some time. Because Bima raced through the sky, they were able to arrive before it was too late.

Looking down from far above, Jaegyeom could tell at once that Yoon Taehee was not in his normal state.

The moment he realized Yoon Taehee was injured, Jaegyeom’s body moved first.

Just as he was about to descend to the ground immediately, Jeongju caught his arm.

“Jaegyeom, wait... look over there!”

Jaegyeom paused and looked in the direction Jeongju was pointing.

Just then, the members of Team 1 were rushing in. He did not know how it had happened, but the team members were taking Yoon Taehee’s side. It was unexpected.

After assessing the situation for a moment, Jaegyeom decided to move separately. Bima dropped Jaegyeom off on top of a tree, then circled through the sky with Jeongju and Mesan on his back. Jeongju’s role was to open the Fox Gate and safely evacuate the team members and Yoon Taehee.

But now, Jeongju had broken his promise.

He closed the Fox Gate.

All that remained were Jaegyeom, Yoon Taehee, Jeongju, Mesan, Yoo Namsaeng, and Bima watching the scene from high in the sky as if it were a spectacle.

“The... the Fox Gate can only be opened once every fifteen days...”

Jaegyeom glared at Jeongju with a terrifying look.

“You promised.”

Jaegyeom was furious to the core.

“If you’re not going to help, what do you think you’re doing right now?”

At that moment, Jeongju, who had avoided Jaegyeom’s gaze under the pressure pouring from him, flinched. Then his expression hardened.

“...”

After a brief silence, Jeongju’s face turned serious.

“Do we always have to do exactly what you say?”

“...What?”

“Do you ever think about the position of the people waiting for you?”

Though he was usually fussy and meddlesome, Jeongju was fundamentally quick-witted and knew exactly when to push and when to back off. But today, Jeongju did not back down.

It was rare for Jeongju to be this serious, and this angry, toward Jaegyeom.

“Why do you keep treating us like baggage?”

Jeongju knew. He had jokingly told the team members that, from the position of someone who needed protection, staying out of the way was more helpful. The same was probably true for Jaegyeom.

But even knowing that, Jeongju was hurt.

“Fine. I’m sorry. Sorry for hanging around when we’re no help.”

When Jeongju turned it around like that, Jaegyeom’s expression grew even more frightening.

“You bastard...”

Jaegyeom’s eyes widened, and he took a long stride toward Jeongju. The atmosphere turned hostile in an instant. Startled, Mesan hovered anxiously between the two of them.

“My lord, Jeongju... please don’t fight...”

Sensing the mood, Yoo Namsaeng also poked his head out of the pocket.

“Hey, this really isn’t the time...”

Just then, Jeongju burst out with a face full of emotion.

“You never explain anything. You always get hurt without saying a word, then come back collapsed—why do I always have to just sit there worrying? Do you know how anxious I get every time I can’t reach you? Even when I ask what happened, it’s always ‘later, later’! So when exactly is that ‘later’ supposed to be?”

At that outburst, full of resentment, Jaegyeom stopped and looked at Jeongju.

“Do you never think about the person waiting? Is it fine because you won’t die no matter how badly you’re hurt? Yeah, maybe for you it is! But Jaegyeom, if you really care about us, you shouldn’t do this. Do you even understand what it feels like to hope you’ll come back without being hurt?”

Jeongju stopped for a moment, forcing down the emotion surging up inside him.

“You even wrote a will.”

“...”

“I thought that might be the end.”

“...”

He had written those letters because he thought it might be the end.

But he had not wanted this. He had not meant for them to fight like this, faces flushed red. Both Jaegyeom and Jeongju knew they cherished each other. Back then, he had simply wanted to leave behind a final goodbye with his heart prepared for parting.

But now, Jaegyeom’s heart was different from then.

“You two...”

Jaegyeom’s lips trembled.

“You two are my family.”

Jeongju and Mesan went still and looked at Jaegyeom.

“I’ve never thought of you as baggage.”

Jaegyeom, who had been looking down, clenched and unclenched his fists as he continued.

“It’s because I care about you that much.”

If Jeongju and Mesan had not been there, he would never have been able to endure this bleak life. Jeongju and Mesan had taught him what affection was, and he had wanted to say goodbye to them properly.

Until now, he had always been the one receiving. Because they were precious to him, he had only wanted to protect them. He had thought he had fought through everything alone, but looking back, Jaegyeom had never truly been alone.

“I’m sorry. I was too anxious.”

Jaegyeom lowered his head and rubbed at his eyes.

“I was just so anxious...”

The truth was, something had been weighing on his mind from the moment he arrived here.

When he drew out spiritual force, it was not his usual spiritual force that flowed out. It was the spiritual force of the calamity god.

As if it had been his own original power all along.

‘We will soon become one.’

The fact that he could use that power so freely only felt ominous.

‘I shall shatter your fate.’

What had those words he heard just before waking meant?

It was strange that he could use the calamity god’s power at will even though he was not rampaging. It felt as if he were cradling a time bomb that could explode at any moment.

However, the current situation did not allow him to dig any deeper into it.

“You can stay here without leaving.”

Besides, now that the Fox Gate was closed, there was nothing they could do about it anyway.

Jaegyeom trusted Jeongju.

“Instead, I need to ask you for one favor.”

That was why he decided to entrust Jeongju with what mattered most to him right now.

“Protect Taehee.”

Yoon Taehee was not in good condition. The flow of his force was unstable, his body had been greatly weakened by the backlash, and it would take time before Mesan could heal him completely.

But if Jeongju stayed by his side, things would be all right even if an unexpected situation arose.

“Until I come back.”

If he could, he intended to end it before then.