Honbul: Flame of the Soul

“The reason he didn’t stand out until you pointed him out is probably that he became part of nature in this mountain. Try singling out one stone or one tree here. You wouldn’t recognize it at a glance.”

The only reason Lee Youngshin had been able to point to the ginseng child so easily was probably because he had been watching him from the beginning. Yoon Taehee went on in an offhand tone.

“No way... how do you know that?”

“Look closely at the feet touching the ground.”

Lee Youngshin and the Naja from the Ritual Implements Department immediately began inspecting the little master’s feet like obedient children. Taehee stepped back a few paces, both hands in his pockets, and stared fixedly at the little master. A moment later, admiration flashed across the Naja’s faces.

“It’s true. He’s not standing on the ground. He’s connected to it like roots.”

Lee Youngshin’s eyes flew wide. He had been sure the child had simply gone stiff and impossibly heavy, but become part of nature? How was that even possible? Then again, this was a ginseng child. A being born with mysterious powers, meant from the beginning to guard the mountain and attend the mountain god. If it was him, maybe it was possible.

“Unless you uproot the entire mountain, you won’t be able to move him.”

At Taehee’s words, the Naja exchanged grave looks.

“Right. We even put ghostly force into it, and it still didn’t budge.”

“Does that even make sense? Even for us, how are we supposed to move a mountain?”

Lee Youngshin let out a hollow laugh. So if he understood the situation correctly, they had been wrestling all this time with something no different from a boulder the size of a house, or a tree with roots running endlessly through the earth. Worse, they had apparently been trying to move the whole mountain.

“But why did he suddenly put down roots in the mountain?”

“Exactly. He was heading to Seoul just fine.”

The Naja turned on Lee Youngshin with questions. He had no answer either. His brows drooped in distress as he shook his head. He had only brought the little master here because the mountain’s spiritual force had run low and he needed to replenish himself, so why would he...

“Why else?”

At that, Taehee gave a short, dry laugh. It sounded as though he were asking whether they seriously did not know. Lee Youngshin looked at him blankly, waiting for an explanation. The answer drifted from behind the mask instead.

“He figured it out. That the one dragging him away was a son of a bitch.”

Every gaze snapped toward Yoon Taehee.

“......”

“......”

“......”

“......”

Lee Youngshin parted his lips with a wounded expression.

“A, a son of a bitch? Hey, you can’t just say things like—”

But there was no time to be offended. If, like Taehee said, the little master had realized something, then when, where, and how had he figured it out? They had sung Ponyo together at the top of their lungs. They had been getting along great all the way up until the rest stop, hadn’t they?

“Then what do we do now? We have to take him to the Office of Narye...”

One of the Naja spoke with a near-tearful face. By now Lee Youngshin and the rest of Team 1 from the Ritual Implements Department had reached the point of staring only at Taehee. They had no doubt at all that the chief of the Spirit Suppression Unit would pull something out.

“We have to make him move on his own.”

But Taehee gave them that easygoing answer. The Naja’s faces fell. To them, it sounded no different from telling them to give up on the ginseng child. And right now the little master looked as though he could neither see nor hear anything at all.

“If he knows we’re sons of bitches, there’s no way he’d—”

“Hey, Lead Naja Park, why exactly are we sons of bitches?”

“From the little master’s point of view, it’s not wrong.”

“Chief Lee, what do we do? We’re screwed.”

The despairing Lead Naja Shin clutched at his hair.

“Chief, should we just report it to the situation room?”

“Instead of striking out like this, maybe we should hand it over to headquarters.”

“Headquarters will figure something out.”

“Guys, what are you talking about? Absolutely not.”

Lee Youngshin practically foamed at the mouth in protest.

“It’s over, it’s over. We’re finished now!”

“Let’s not fight. Let’s do the slogan once.”

“At a time like this? You do it by yourself.”

“How can love change? We said our love would last forever!”

Team 1 of the Ritual Implements Department, famous for sticking together no matter what, had run headfirst into a ridiculous crisis. Watching the ugly scene in silence, Taehee stood with one leg cocked, both hands still in his pockets.

“......”

Quietly, he glanced sideways at the child. The little master’s face was perfectly peaceful. But for some reason, Taehee had an instinctive certainty that right now the little master was hearing every word. He was still studying him with that stubborn gaze when—

“Ah, ah! Wait a second!”

Lead Naja Park shot a hand into the air. The barking chaos cut ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) off instantly. Everyone turned to look at Park. Everyone except Taehee, whose eyes still had not left the little master.

“If he’s put down roots, that means he’s basically no different from a tree, right?”

Lead Naja Park cried, face brightening.

“Then couldn’t we just chop through the base with an axe?”

Behind the mask, Taehee’s face went cold. As if in slow motion, he turned his head very slowly to stare at Lead Naja Park. The twisted expression of the mask looked grotesque.

“If we can’t move him roots and all, then we just cut him loose—!”

Lead Naja Park added, eyes shining.

“So what you’re saying is... we cut off his ankles?”

Lee Youngshin cut in, looking appalled.

“Yes, exactly. Isn’t he basically the same as a tree?”

“When you put it that way, it makes sense. A ginseng child is a plant, if you think about it.”

“Oh! I’ve got an axe in my bag. Want me to grab it?”

The Naja began murmuring among themselves, falling in behind Park’s suggestion. One of them dragged over a gear bag. Lee Youngshin, still standing there with an unsettled face, objected in a hesitant voice.

“Hey... come on, even so. He’s so small, and he looks so young...”

“Oh, Chief. What’s this? Don’t tell me you got attached already.”

“He only looks like a kid. He’s probably older than any of us.”

What was with him? This was not like him at all. The Naja traded looks and shrugged. Under normal circumstances, Lee Youngshin would have been the first to grab the axe. Seeing him go soft and emotional instead only made them more impatient.

Then Lead Naja Shin abruptly spoke up.

“Chief Yoon, what do you think?”

Every Naja turned to Yoon Taehee with questioning eyes. Taehee, who had been standing there in silence with that slanted posture the whole time, finally took one hand out of his pocket and adjusted his mask. With the mask over his face, there was no telling what expression he wore.

“...Well.”

After a long pause, Taehee spoke at last.

“It is an extremely Naja way of thinking.”

His voice was flat, almost careless. The vague answer brightened the Naja immediately. Taehee had neither approved nor opposed it outright, but they nodded as if to say, See? and started pressing Lee Youngshin again.

“You heard him, Chief. Let’s be proper Naja and do it.”

“If there’s even the slightest chance, we have to try.”

Lee Youngshin looked at Taehee with a drooping face. Part of him had secretly been hoping Taehee would stop them. To step in himself felt a little shameless; to let them go through with it felt worse, because he kept remembering the time he and the little master had belted out Ponyo together.

Lead Naja Shin began digging through the bag. The huge gear bag they had hauled all the way up from the foot of the mountain was packed to the brim with ritual implements. Lee Youngshin had only brought the bare minimum in his hip pack, but the Naja’s gear bag had everything. Lead Naja Shin picked out an axe and walked toward the little master.

“Ugh, I can’t watch...”

Lee Youngshin squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in his arm. He knew the child only looked young, but he still could not bring himself to watch. Led by Lead Naja Shin with the axe in hand, the Naja closed in around the little master. Whether he understood what was happening or not, the little master remained utterly motionless, his face as peaceful as ever.

Lead Naja Shin planted his feet and raised the axe.

“Wait.”

From some distance away, Taehee spoke at last. Lead Naja Shin froze with the axe still lifted. Taehee stood there in silence for a moment, then let out a small sigh and rubbed the rim of his ear.

“Chief Yoon, what is it?”

The Naja stared at the mask with round eyes.

“I’ll do it. Hand me the axe.”

“...What?”

Taehee strolled over and held out a hand. This was not the sort of thing the chief needed to do himself. Startled that Taehee was volunteering for such a bothersome task, Lead Naja Shin tried to stop him.

“Chief Yoon, we can just—”

But Taehee did not repeat himself. He only crooked his empty hand once. Under that wordless pressure, Lead Naja Shin finally surrendered the axe to him with both hands. Lee Youngshin, who had still had his face buried in his arm, blinked.

“Youngshin.”

“Uh—yeah.”

“Step aside for a moment.”

Glancing over the keenly honed edge of the axe, Taehee muttered in an offhand tone. What kind of situation was this all of a sudden? Lee Youngshin looked at the team with a puzzled face when—

“All of you.”

Taehee added shortly.

“Chief Yoon, why are you—”

“You called me here to help, so I’d appreciate it if you kept your mouth shut and did as you were told. Right now, helping means stepping aside.”

At the abrupt order to clear out, Lee Youngshin’s gaze turned sharply serious. Their eyes met through the mask. After staring at Taehee for a while, Lee Youngshin finally turned toward the other Naja with a blank face and nodded. Follow Taehee’s lead.

Lee Youngshin herded the Naja from the Ritual Implements Department back behind a stand of densely packed trees. Once Taehee had confirmed their presence had retreated, he walked toward the little master. Silence settled over the clearing. Letting the axe hang loosely in one hand, Taehee bent at the waist.

“Hello, little master.”

He rested both hands on the axe where it touched the ground and leaned on it comfortably. He studied the little master up close. There was no response to the greeting.

“I know you’re listening to all of this.”

Behind the mask, Yoon Taehee smiled.