Honbul: Flame of the Soul

Two days passed after Yoon Taehee left for Seoul. When the nineteenth day of the lunar month arrived, the workers who had come to help with the move showed up at the two-story house at the foot of the mountain. Several large moving trucks were lined up along the mountain path leading to the gate. Yoon Taehee had sent them.

The move went smoothly.

Yoon Taehee had not only found them a house, he had taken care of the move from beginning to end. Jaegyeom was privately surprised. Taehee was more meticulous than he had expected. He had even sent a sedan for the three of them to ride in, along with a driver, so they could make the trip to Seoul in comfort.

He must have warned the workers in advance, because even when they saw Jeongju—who was a celebrity—not one of them acted familiar or showed any particular reaction. They carried the boxes, arranged the furniture, even finished the cleaning perfectly before they left.

It had also been Yoon Taehee’s suggestion to wait two full days and move on the nineteenth day of the lunar month. It was an auspicious day, one when evil ghosts were said not to roam and blessed energy was believed to descend.

Until a few decades ago, it had been customary to schedule major family affairs such as marriages or moves on days like that, but in the modern era those old date-choosing customs had largely faded.

Not so among gifted people well versed in this world. They still paid close attention to lucky and unlucky days, and they always observed such auspicious dates. Yoon Taehee was no exception. Unlike ordinary people, they had seen too much and experienced too much not to be careful.

Seeing Taehee’s hand reach even into details none of them had thought of, Jaegyeom felt strangely unsettled. It was newly startling, the way Taehee acted with this much thoroughness and precision.

It felt as though the outline of what sort of person Yoon Taehee was had come faintly into view. What kind of life had he lived, to turn out like that? That persistence without a crack in it, that meticulousness. Jaegyeom found himself thinking that it was a good thing Taehee had become an ally. If he had remained an enemy forever, he would have been a truly troublesome opponent. In any case, thanks to Taehee, the three of them had no need to lift a finger. Part of Jaegyeom wondered whether any of this had really been necessary, but honestly, it was convenient. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

The house where they made their new nest was exactly what the three of them had wanted. The moment he stepped into the yard behind the driver, Jeongju had no choice but to stare with wide eyes. It was a detached house that looked luxurious at a glance.

The new house, tucked against the foothills of Mount Bukhan, stood at the very top of a quiet wealthy neighborhood in Jongno District. Compared to the place they had lived before, everything was much bigger and broader. There was a front lawn spread with grass, and beyond it a rich, carefully tended garden.

“Jeongju! My lord! Over here! There are flowers and trees everywhere!”

Mesan’s awkwardness in the unfamiliar house lasted only a moment. Before long he was running all over the place, through the house and around the yard, exploring every corner. “Wow,” “Ohhh,” “Aah,” he exclaimed over and over. There was even a wooden swing in one corner of the yard. The floors were smooth marble, one entire wall of the living room was glass, and upstairs there was a broad terrace.

The place looked newly built, and everything visible—the bricks, the doorknobs, every last part of it—was made of expensive materials. Yoon Taehee had paid every cost of the move out of his own pocket. Naturally, the same was true of this house.

Jeongju, whose own finances were quite comfortable, had protested over and over that it was too much, but Taehee had dismissed it in an offhand tone, saying that because the offer had been his, it was only right that he cover the expense, so they should think nothing of it.

At the time, Jeongju really had thought nothing of it.

Well, he had figured that if it came to that, he could always pay it back later. But now that he was seeing the house in person, a wave of dizziness hit him. If he had to compare it to something, it was like expecting a simple gold ring and being handed a diamond instead... and it was obvious that paying him back in kind would hurt far more than he had imagined. Still gazing blankly around the house, Jeongju spoke, the corners of his eyes twitching.

“Jaegyeom. This Taehee guy... is he insanely rich or something?”

Standing there idly, Jaegyeom tapped at the wall with his fingers and answered flatly,

“Yeah. He’s rich. Last time he said he makes two hundred million a year.”

“That’s ridiculous! How does someone making two hundred million have a house like this?!”

Jeongju practically jumped. Mesan was already out in the garden, busy greeting all his new flower and tree friends. The only one thinking in practical terms was Jeongju, the fully ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) socialized adult.

“Why? Is two hundred million not enough to buy a house like this?”

Jaegyeom, whose sense of money was far weaker than most people’s, genuinely did not know much about this sort of thing.

“Sometimes on TV they talk about people making hundreds of millions selling soup...”

When Jaegyeom muttered that in a placid voice, Jeongju pressed a hand to his forehead.

“Jaegyeom. Stop watching stuff like Hometown at Six O’Clock and watch the news once in a while, will you? Houses like this are the kind conglomerate families and politicians live in. How is somebody making two hundred million supposed to afford this? At least say something that makes sense. Besides, housing prices these days—”

Worked up now, Jeongju earnestly began explaining everything one by one to Jaegyeom, who was hopelessly ignorant about such matters. “‘Two hundred million a year is high income, yes, but not high enough for a place like this. As far as I know, property in this neighborhood sells for this much per pyeong—’” Jeongju had adapted to capitalist society perfectly. Jaegyeom, of course, only listened with his eyes half-lidded, barely listening at all.

“D-does he invest or something?”

Jeongju clearly felt burdened by generosity this extravagant, but Jaegyeom had no particular thoughts about it. He felt neither gratitude nor debt. Whenever Yoon Taehee gave something, there was always a reason. The same had been true when he helped Jeongju’s return. On the surface it might have looked like he was doing it for someone else, but in truth, he was surely doing it for himself. In the end, they were only using each other because they needed each other.

*****

A few days after the move, Yoon Taehee contacted him.

Jaegyeom had stepped outside into the yard for a moment, and when he came back in, he saw two missed calls on his phone. The cell phone Jeongju had originally handed him temporarily had by now become Jaegyeom’s by natural progression. He had not saved the number, so the caller’s name did not appear, but he recognized at once that it was Yoon Taehee.

“Hi~ it’s Taehee...”

“What’re you doing?”

“Call me when you see this.”

That was what the messages said. After hesitating a moment, Jaegyeom pressed the call button. The dial tone rang a few times, and then a familiar voice came through at once.

“Hello.”

For a second Jaegyeom toyed with his lips without saying anything.

“My lord.”

“...What.”

A gentle voice flowed into his ear.

“What were you doing?”

“Nothing.”

“Did the move go well?”

“Yeah.”

When Jaegyeom answered so readily, the voice on the other end went quiet for a moment. Ever since the day he had accepted Taehee’s proposal that he become a Naja, Jaegyeom—who used to be cold and prickly every single time he dealt with him—had been noticeably softer in his manner. Jaegyeom himself was not aware of it, but Taehee had sensed the subtle change.

Breaking the short silence, Yoon Taehee spoke.

“How’s the house?”

“What about it?”

“Do you like it?”

After turning his eyes in thought for a moment, Jaegyeom answered indifferently.

“It’s too big. It’s annoying having to walk so far just to get water.”

At that, he heard Yoon Taehee laugh softly.

“That is a serious problem.”

The easy sympathy made Jaegyeom scratch his cheek for no reason. Just then, he heard Taehee’s voice in the distance, saying something to someone else. There was a sense of bustle on the other end, like he was talking while in the middle of work.

“Tomorrow, you’ll enter the Office.”

Yoon Taehee’s voice came close again.

“Around lunchtime I’ll send someone to the house. I was going to come get you myself, but I don’t think I can manage it with all the work piled up. They’ll take you to the Office of Narye in my place.”

Originally, they should have met once before he entered the Office. Taehee had intended to explain the plan in detail and tell him carefully what lay ahead. But from the day he returned, Yoon Taehee had been so busy he barely had time to breathe. Even this call was one he had only just managed to squeeze in. Still, if he put it off until he had more time, the date Jaegyeom entered the Office would surely be delayed too much.

“Once you get there, the first thing will be a simple test... uh, an exam. It’s just a formality, so you don’t need to worry about it. After that, there’ll be orientation... no, introductory training. You’ll go through that. There’ll probably be a few other new people besides you, but it’ll be over in three or four hours, so all you have to do is sit there and listen.”

As he hurriedly summarized tomorrow’s schedule, Yoon Taehee kept correcting the foreign-sounding words that came naturally to him into plainer terms that Jaegyeom would understand more easily.

“Got it.”

Listening closely, Jaegyeom nodded.

“When you’re there, just act naturally. Like you did at school.”

“Okay.”

Yoon Taehee added in a gentle voice,

“Ah. One thing, though. It’s your first day, so don’t stand out too much.”

To Jaegyeom, who was somewhat lacking in social instinct, the advice meant very little. It needed more explanation.

“What do you mean, stand out?”

“Don’t get into fights. And don’t hit people.”

Without realizing it, Jaegyeom frowned.

“Hey. What am I, a kid?”

What did he take him for? That was so basic it was almost insulting. At that point, Wash your hands before you eat would have been more useful advice. Do you think I go around hitting just anybody? It has to be someone like you or Lee Juyeol before I hit them, he almost said, but stopped himself. Besides, he was not stupid enough to confuse fighting with classmates at an ordinary school with fighting someone inside the Office of Narye.

“Our my lord has violent hands. I’m a little worried.”

Yoon Taehee murmured it evenly.

“If it looks like a fight really might happen, then.”

“What.”

“Try to let them throw the first punch.”

“What?”

“It’s easier to clean up afterward that way.”

“.......”

Jaegyeom was so dumbfounded he went speechless.

“You never know with people.”

Yoon Taehee truly was meticulous to the point of absurdity.