Honbul: Flame of the Soul

The fitting room was fairly spacious. There was a large mirror at the front and a small sofa off to one side. Only after carefully hanging the clothes on the wall hooks did the employee leave. It was a set: a navy suit jacket, a shirt, and trousers.

Left alone, Jaegyeom looked in the mirror and scratched his head.

Then the fitting room door suddenly opened, and Yoon Taehee came in.

“What?”

Yoon Taehee waved what he was holding: a pair of black shoes and a polka-dot tie. The corners of his mouth curved upward.

“Since you’re trying it on, you might as well do it properly.”

“Leave them there and get out.”

Without hesitation, Jaegyeom pulled off the sweatshirt he was wearing. Yoon Taehee, who had been about to set the shoes and tie down on the sofa, stopped. His gaze fell on Jaegyeom’s bare upper body.

“Do you work out?”

Yoon Taehee, who had gone quiet, suddenly spoke. Although Jaegyeom always wore a lethargic, gloomy expression, his body had fine muscle built steadily over it. At first glance, his frame looked slender. He seemed moderately thin, but there was strength in him.

“No, I don’t.”

Jaegyeom picked up the shirt hanging on the wall and began undoing the buttons. Before he knew it, Yoon Taehee had sat down on the sofa with his legs crossed. He held the tie and shoes in one hand, and with the other, propped his chin at an angle. As Jaegyeom slipped his arms into the shirt, he glanced at Yoon Taehee as if to ask why he was not leaving.

“You don’t even work out, but you’re in good shape...”

With no intention of leaving, Yoon Taehee murmured to himself.

Jaegyeom finished putting on the shirt, then unbuckled his jeans. When he pushed down the loose pants, black underwear came into view. Yoon Taehee asked again.

“Does he choose your underwear too?”

“Jeongju? Yeah.”

Jaegyeom nodded as he put on the suit trousers. It was not that different from wearing a school uniform, so even though it was his first time wearing a suit, putting it on went smoothly enough.

“There’s a big scar on your side.”

Jaegyeom, who had been zipping up his trousers, looked into the huge mirror in front of him. His eyes met Yoon Taehee’s in the reflection. Yoon Taehee was looking at him expressionlessly.

“The ginseng child can’t erase your scars?”

“He can. This one just won’t go away.”

Mesan could heal all his scars, even fresh ones, so despite how roughly Jaegyeom treated his body, his skin was clean. The only scar left on him was the one on his side. He had no idea why this one would not disappear.

“How did you get hurt?”

“I was stabbed with a knife before.”

“...By whom?”

“My teacher.”

He asked even though he knew.

Ah.

Yoon Taehee realized it a beat late and recalled that he had glimpsed this scar before, in a fragment of the past Saero had created. Hadn’t Jaegyeom been bleeding and lying there? Yoon Taehee had already known he had been stabbed in the side, but seeing the mark in person felt strange.

“...”

Yoon Taehee was silent for a while.

“It must have hurt a lot.”

At the words that finally came out after a long pause, Jaegyeom’s hand, reaching for the suit jacket, briefly stopped.

Of course it had hurt. It had hurt so much he had thought he might as well be dead.

“Huh? Oh...”

As they exchanged those few words, Jaegyeom finished putting on the suit. Though it was ready-made, it fit him perfectly, as if tailored to his body. He looked far more mature than he had in the yellow sweatshirt. Yoon Taehee stood as if he had been waiting and neatly placed the new shoes at Jaegyeom’s feet.

“Stand still. Your suit will wrinkle, so I’ll put them on for you.”

Yoon Taehee bent down on one knee and untied the laces of the glossy black shoes. After hesitating for a moment, Jaegyeom slipped his foot into one.

The mushroom character printed on his sock caught Yoon Taehee’s eye, and a dimple formed in his cheek at the one tiny flaw in the otherwise flawless picture.

“I should’ve picked out socks for you too. I forgot.”

Yoon Taehee slipped a finger in to check whether there was enough room.

Jaegyeom clenched his teeth as the finger near his heel tickled him. The same went for Yoon Taehee’s hand whenever it brushed his ankle. Jaegyeom lowered his head slightly. He could see the crown of Yoon Taehee’s head as he knelt at his feet. He ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) lowered his gaze a little more. Above the taut black shirt, the muscles of Yoon Taehee’s back were clearly outlined. The curves shifted.

After carefully tying the shoelaces, Yoon Taehee helped him stand.

“Now, lastly, the tie.”

He reached out and straightened the collar of Jaegyeom’s shirt. Jaegyeom flinched at the sudden touch and clenched his jaw.

“You need to lift your chin.”

Yoon Taehee smiled and looped the tie around Jaegyeom’s neck.

“Does it tickle? It didn’t seem to last time.”

It was just as Yoon Taehee said. That day, when he had tied his tie behind the tree, he had been fine. But today, for some reason, it felt strangely itchy. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

“Wrap it around, lift the narrow end, make a loop...”

Just like that time, Yoon Taehee lightly tapped Jaegyeom’s chest. Jaegyeom looked down at the neatly tied tie while Yoon Taehee tugged at the hem of the suit and straightened his clothes.

“Are we done?”

Jaegyeom checked his clothes indifferently while Yoon Taehee took a step or two back.

“Mm. Done.”

Yoon Taehee examined Jaegyeom carefully, as if appreciating a well-made work. He looked the boy standing before him over from head to toe.

At last, an odd sense of satisfaction rose in him.

He felt strangely full.

Everything in sight was something he had chosen.

You, even you...

The moment he thought that, his fingertips tingled.

He thought it could not possibly be more perfect than this. An uncontrollable chill ran down his spine. It was a feeling he had never experienced in his life. He could hardly believe the sight before his eyes.

The boy was in front of him.

An immortal boy was standing there.

Standing there, looking at him.

Wearing the clothes he had chosen, from head to toe...

Yoon Taehee slowly stretched out his arm. He raised his index finger and carefully brushed Jaegyeom’s forehead. His fingertip moved in a straight line along Jaegyeom’s crooked bangs, making Jaegyeom grimace and try to pull his head away.

“Do you know that feeling?”

Yoon Taehee spoke in a low voice.

“The feeling that the world is being kind to you.”

Every unexpected moment had been followed by an accidental opportunity. Even when he stumbled and fell, even when the process was far from smooth, the conclusion he wanted was always waiting for him at the end. Of course, it might simply have been because his personality was more stubborn and persistent than most.

Perhaps that was why Yoon Taehee never missed the opportunities he received. They were, without question, within the bounds of his control. But what preoccupied him lay on a more fundamental level.

Where had those opportunities come from?

“I opened the library door like usual, and you were standing there. Without thinking, I looked out the window, and there you were, running around the schoolyard in gym clothes. I brought a tie just in case, and by chance, you didn’t have one. I thought I should make time to be around you, and then you happened to be doing campus service.”

Yoon Taehee quietly looked at Jaegyeom’s face.

“It felt like the world was giving me a hint.”

Jaegyeom stared back at Yoon Taehee with still eyes.

“That it was you. That I should follow you...”

Yoon Taehee had felt that way sometimes. As if every milestone in the world were pointing in Jaegyeom’s direction. That strange, unsettling feeling, as though some force were pushing at his back. Like a favorable wind that had to blow the moment he unfurled his sail.

“That’s why I sometimes doubt it.”

Yoon Taehee’s eyes darkened.

“Maybe I’m being deceived. No matter how different things become, in the end, everything turns out the way I want. That’s strange. Maybe all of this is a trap, and the world is luring me toward destruction...”

At that moment, Jaegyeom, who had been silent, opened his mouth.

“That doesn’t seem strange at all.”

Jaegyeom spoke as he lightly pushed away the hand hovering over his forehead.

“To me, the world has always been malicious for no reason.”

Yoon Taehee had asked whether he knew what it felt like to be shown kindness by the world.

The answer was no. He did not.

No matter how much Yoon Taehee explained it, Jaegyeom would never be able to understand. The two of them stood at opposite ends of the spectrum.

“Then, on the other hand, it could be kind to someone for no reason too.”

Jaegyeom scratched his forehead and added indifferently.

“Even if something goes wrong, you won’t be destroyed.”

At those decisive words, Yoon Taehee asked slowly,

“...Why do you think that?”

“Because you have me.”

At the simple answer, Yoon Taehee stopped.

“I’m betting my life on this. But no matter what I do, I won’t die. Even if the world falls apart, I’ll still be alive. I’ll stake my eternal life to make you win.”

A thud sounded from somewhere.

But it rang only in Yoon Taehee’s ears.

It was like life and death on an entirely different level. Jaegyeom was not saying it lightly. He was sincere. His clear, unwavering eyes were fixed on Yoon Taehee.

Suddenly, Yoon Taehee’s vision seemed to distort, and his heart began to pound wildly.

Without realizing it, Yoon Taehee squeezed his eyes shut.

Ah.

It was a terrible dizziness, one that made him feel as though he had no choice but to fall.