Soul fire

Jaegyeom opened the familiar painted gate and entered the yard. He passed through a well-kept wide yard and reached the front door. Brushing off his feet, he roughly threw off his shoes. Returning home after half a day, it was quiet as usual. A beige Converse rolled around the shoe rack. On one side, a pair of cute shoes that fit in the palm of one's hand was neatly placed.

-"Mesani."

Despite Jaegyeom's call, there was no sign of Mesani in the house. Where did he go? After putting down his bag, Jaegyeom opened the front door and looked out into the yard. 

-"Mesani."

When Jaegyeom called again, a small child about the height of Jaegyeom's waist from outside hurriedly ran into the front door. As soon as Mesani saw Jaegyeom, he smiled broadly, then ran to Jaegyeom and hugged his legs.

-"My lord—!"

-"What is this. Where have you been?"

-"Oh, in the backyard! My lord, did you have a good trip?"

Mesani rubbed his face against Jaegyeom's waist with a bright face. He was playing in the dirt, and his face, hands, and everything were grubby. He looked down at Mesani, who greeted him with a big smile, and then Jaegyeom made a stern expression.

-"Did you go around barefoot again?"

-"Oops! Th- that."

-"How many times have I told you to wear shoes?"

The pleasure was short-lived, and when Jaegyeom scolded him, Mesani made a sullen face. 

-"One hundred and twenty-one times..."

No, did he count it? Jaegyeom was dumbfounded at Mesani's honest answer. As Jaegyeom playfully pulled Mesani by the nose, Mesani squeezed his eyes shut and let out a yelp, "Ah-ya-ya." It did not even hurt but it stung. The corners of Jaegyeom's lips went up slightly. He gently stroked the back of Mesani's head.

-"Did you play well?"

At Jaegyeom's question, Mesani quickly blurted out.

-"Yes! A raccoon came to play."

-"Raccoon? Who is this now?"

-"He's a friend I met a few days ago when I went to play in the mountainside."

-"Oh wow. You have many friends."

As soon as Jaegyeom entered the house, he headed straight for the bathroom. Mesani chased after him. Jaegyeom turned on the water in the sink and started washing his hands thoroughly after pumping some hand wash. The cold pouring water felt good. Mesani stood next to him like a leech and watched the scene on tiptoes.

Jaegyeom hesitated while washing his hands. The yellow bandage on his index finger rattled. Oh right. This... Jaegyeom recalled the black inchworm he had seen in the library. Would he ever need to use the talismans again? Jaegyeom, lost in thought for a moment, turned off the faucet, shaking the water off his hands.

-"Mesan-ah. Go to the attic and bring a mother-of-pearl box."

-"Yes? My lord, why suddenly?"

-"Get it first, I'll tell you later."

Mesani nodded his head with a puzzled expression. While he went up to the attic, Jaegyeom left the bathroom and headed to the storage room in the corner of the house.

There was one more door in the warehouse full of clutter. Jaegyeom shut it on his own, so it was a difficult door to open without Jaegyeom's spiritual energy. An old rope was wrapped around the doorknob. He closed his eyes for a moment and focused his spiritual energy on his fingertips. Then, the rope that had been bound tightly untied and fell to the floor. The door opened only after the rope was completely untied.

The room, which had been neglected for a long time, was empty and bleak. In the centre of the room, there was only one rusty silver cabinet that had been intact for a long time. Jaegyeom sat down on the floor and pulled out the sheath of the silver sword. A sharp blade emerged from the rusty scabbard. Jaegyeom raised his hand and removed the wet bandage.

-"My lord, I brought a box of mother-of-pearl..."

Mesani's eyes widened like a lantern as he entered the room holding a mother-of-pearl box in his arms.

-"Give the mother-of-pearl box here, and you go out for a while."

-"My lord, don't tell me..."

Jaegyeom's silver sword was driven into the middle of his hand without hesitation.

-"I need to write down some talismans."​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

***

Jaegyeom dozed off on the bus and almost missed his stop. He had a regular schedule for his boring daily life, where he went to sleep when he was sleepy and woke up when he felt like waking up. At a time that would normally have been in the middle of the night, Jaegyeom wore a school uniform he didn't even know he had and packed his bag. It would take him a few days to adjust.

When he got off the bus, there were only a few students on the street. It was a bit early for school start time. Jaegyeom, who slept a lot in the morning, was not fully awake. Jaegyeom moved his steps with a gruff face as he passed by the convenience store in front of school.

The glass door opened with a jingle of a bell, and the calm and sensual scent of musk hit his nose.

-"Oh? Hi."

The person who greeted him was the young librarian he had seen yesterday. He must have been shopping at a convenience store.

-"We see each other again."


-"Yes."


-"Do you usually come at this time, friend?"


-"Yes, well…"

Jaegyeom replied briefly

.
-"Really? But why am I seeing you for the first time today?"

Jaegyeom made a sour face thinking that if he said he had transferred schools, they would ask where from and how school life was going.

-"I came to this school for the first time yesterday."

Jaegyeom reluctantly opened his mouth.

-"Oh, so you're a transfer student?"

-"Yes."

The surprised young man nodded his head.

-"I see. Somehow I thought it was unfamiliar."

As they walked without saying much

-""Friend by any chance… are you going in like that?"

Jaegyeom looked puzzled at not understanding what it meant.

-"What?"

-"Aren't you wearing your tie? Shouldn't you put it on soon?"

Only then did Jaegyeom notice that there wasn't one on him.

-"Ah… Necktie…"

He remembered handing over his tie to someone else yesterday.

-"Did you leave it behind?"

The young man asked while staring at bewildered Jaegyeom.

-"Come on before someone sees."

He quickly loosened his own tie.

-"It just so happens I'm wearing navy blue today; same color as yours."

-"Hurry up; put it on or else someone will tell them about me lending my tie."

When Yoon Taehee whispered playfully:

-"…There go to that corner and tie it up."

Yoon Taehee seemed happy about something unexpected happening sooner than expected.

-"Then I'll be going first."

Yoon Taehee whispered into Jaegyeom's ear trying to move away but got grabbed instead:

-"Hey."

Yoon Taehee moved closer looking puzzled:

-"What?"

Finally realizing what needed asking:

-"How do I tie this…?"