Honbul: Flame of the Soul

“You should live for yourself, too.” 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Tears spilled from Yoon Taehee’s eyes again.

“All right. I will.”

Yoon Taehee lowered his head and laughed. He laughed quietly for a long while, then covered the lower half of his face with his large hand and wiped the wetness away.

“If we meet again, shall we have a meal together?”

Yoon Taehee whispered, his voice still damp with tears.

“I’d like that.”

“Will you drink tea with me, too?”

When Jaegyeom nodded, Yoon Taehee asked again.

“Every day?”

“Yes, every day.”

Yoon Taehee smiled with his head half-bowed.

“Then... do you want to just live with me?”

At the words thrown out as if in passing, Jaegyeom blinked a few times.

“.......”

After a moment of silence, a smile slowly bloomed on Jaegyeom’s lips.

“Okay.”

Let’s go somewhere no one recognizes us. We’ll live a simple, ordinary life. When it’s time to eat, we’ll cook and eat; on sunny days, we’ll lie on the porch and nap with our heads together. When we wake from that deep sleep, the sky outside the window will be stained with sunset, and some trivial story will be playing on the television we forgot to turn off. Then, if one of us makes a silly joke, let’s just chuckle.

And if that routine starts to feel boring, we can go to the sea. An island like last time would be nice, and though mountains are a little tiresome, nothing has a better atmosphere than autumn leaves falling or fresh green growth thickening, so it would be nice to go on an outing once each season. We’ll live an unremarkable life like that.

Yes, that would be enough.

Imagining “tomorrow,” Jaegyeom took a deep breath and turned away.

A few steps away, he saw Suhyang shriveling like a mummified corpse.

Bound by the calamity god’s power, Suhyang was stuck to the ground, unable to move even a finger. The image of an elegantly aged old woman was nowhere to be found. Her body looked like a dead tree.

Jaegyeom approached Suhyang.

There was a wooden tag in Suhyang’s hand. It was the wooden tag with Yoon Taehee’s name written on it. Jaegyeom tried to pull the wooden tag out of Suhyang’s hand. Suhyang was struggling with all her might to keep it from being taken.

At that, Jaegyeom looked straight into Suhyang’s eyes.

She had aged to her true years in an instant, and her appearance was wretched, but her eyes alone were clear and deep. From Suhyang, who tried to meet Jaegyeom’s eyes head-on, he sensed something like a last desperate effort. He felt strength in her grip. Even so, Jaegyeom pulled the wooden tag away with ease.

Jaegyeom held the wooden tag out to Yoon Taehee.

“Here. It’s your name.”

“Thank you.”

Jaegyeom spoke as he wiped away the bloody tears that had run down his cheeks.

“With this, the first promise we made is kept.”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’m going now.”

“.......”

Looking down at the wooden tag he had received, Yoon Taehee parted his lips.

“...Before you go, will you hug me just once?”

Jaegyeom opened his arms and wrapped them around Yoon Taehee’s neck.

“Taehee.”

“Yeah.”

“You know, I liked that time the most, too...”

Jaegyeom whispered in a small voice.

“When you were the librarian and I was the mysterious transfer student, that was when I liked it best.”

As Jaegyeom murmured, Yoon Taehee closed his eyes and pulled him into his arms.

“Me too.”

Yoon Taehee smiled quietly and thought.

Why are the days that have already passed so dazzling?

Yoon Taehee wished time would stop at this very moment.

“I really have to go now.”

But Jaegyeom pushed Yoon Taehee away without fail. Once the calamity god’s power completely seized the territory, it would become difficult for Jaegyeom to maintain control. Already, every living thing nearby had withered, and the power had reached the distant forest, drying the earth. This was the last chance.

“There’s something you need to do for me after I leave.”

“What is it?”

Without a word, Jaegyeom took Yoon Taehee’s hand and looked down at his broad palm. Only then did Yoon Taehee raise his head and look at Jaegyeom.

Jaegyeom folded Yoon Taehee’s fingers into a fist and placed the bow in his hand.

“Taehee.”

The instant he held the bow, an unfamiliar shiver seemed to pierce the back of his head like a javelin.

“Myojeong loved me very much.”

Jaegyeom stopped for a moment and looked down at Myojeong’s bow.

It would be a lie to say he felt no debt. However, Jaegyeom did not want to return the love he had received from Myojeong to Yoon Taehee. This was not passing it down or paying it back. He simply loved Yoon Taehee. Because he had learned by being loved, he could do this without calculation.

“I’m sorry.”

Jaegyeom continued, suppressing his emotions and trying to stay composed.

“For taking your father away...”

Yoon Taehee frowned. He did not know how to answer. Jaegyeom’s apology was that unexpected. Yoon Taehee let out a small laugh, then shook his head. As if to say there was no need for words like that. But because he knew what kind of heart Jaegyeom had offered them with, he could not bring himself to say it was all right. He could not add anything at all. Shaking his head was all Yoon Taehee could do.

“When I become one with Suhyang, that’s when you shoot with this bow.”

“I’ve never shot a bow before.”

“It’s okay. You’ll do great.”

Jaegyeom grinned. It was a boyish smile.

“Because you’re Myojeong’s son.”

After saying that, Jaegyeom turned away without lingering. He approached Suhyang and picked up a sword that had fallen on the ground. Judging by the characters engraved on the hilt, it was undoubtedly a Tiger-Time Sword.

“We’ve lived far too long and far too tediously.”

A Tiger-Time Sword was a sword forged in the Year of the Tiger, the Month of the Tiger, the Day of the Tiger, and the Hour of the Tiger among the twelve earthly branches. If someone was stabbed and killed by a Tiger-Time Sword, they could not become a ghost even if lingering attachment or grudge remained. They would simply vanish.

After drawing a circle around Suhyang, Jaegyeom smeared blood on his fingertips and wrote a spell on her forehead. It was an extremely powerful ritual that activated a spell through blood and the Tiger-Time Sword.

“Let’s go together.”

Jaegyeom said this and drove the Tiger-Time Sword deep into the ground at Suhyang’s feet.

“I’ll be your companion on the road.”

Suhyang’s mouth moved as if she wanted to say something. But for Suhyang, who had been stripped of every last bit of energy by the earth, not even the strength to leave a final word remained. The syllables that flowed from her mouth scattered before they could become speech. She looked less like a human body than a shriveled piece of wood.

Once he had finished preparing, Jaegyeom looked back.

A few steps away stood Yoon Taehee. Beyond him, Jeongju and Mesan were watching. Taking them in one by one, Jaegyeom waved farewell, as if telling Jeongju and Mesan to stay far back, or perhaps to go home first.

“My lord!”

Mesan shouted from a distance.

“You can’t. You can’t...”

Sensing that something was wrong, Mesan struggled to break free from Jeongju’s arms. He wanted to run to Jaegyeom immediately. But Jeongju, as if he had a premonition, did not loosen his hold on Mesan.

“Waaah, my lord! My lord...!”

Mesan, struggling as if throwing a tantrum, finally burst into loud sobs.

“It’s okay, Mesani. It’s okay.”

Jeongju hugged the crying Mesan tightly.

It’s okay. It’s okay, Mesani...

Jeongju repeated the words again and again in a trembling voice, unclear who they were meant for.

“If it is a shell, it shall break.”

Jaegyeom, who had been standing outside the circle drawn with the Tiger-Time Sword, spoke as he stepped inside.

“If it is an illusion, it shall vanish.”

The spell written in blood on Suhyang’s forehead began to flash with light.

“If it is something wicked, it shall withdraw.”

It was the moment Jaegyeom, reciting the incantation, fully entered the circle.

In an instant, a tremendous radiance flashed. Yoon Taehee, as well as Jeongju and Mesan watching from afar, squeezed their eyes shut. A great light burst out as if painting the entire world white. After the light subsided, only two people lay collapsed on the ground. Yoon Taehee saw a light rising into the black night sky.

It was the blue flame that leaves the body before a person dies—soulfire. The first and last light born from a human being facing death. All the light of a lifetime gathered to burn once, then fade. Seeing that light return to the sky from the distant firmament, Yoon Taehee staggered to his feet.

“.......”

With eyes stained red, Yoon Taehee drew the bowstring. Tears gathered at the corners of both eyes and fell, drop after drop. The bowstring, drawn so taut it seemed about to snap, bit into his fingers.

The moment he released the string, an arrow clad in blue spiritual force pierced the sky and struck the void.