Saving Lives in the Raging Fire
By this point, Park Su-hwan was no longer surprised when he was suddenly dragged into the world of the ledger.
Is it that man from just now?
Su-hwan examined the ledger. Thankfully, the writing was not blood-red like Kwon Ha-seong's had been. That at least meant the man was no wicked soul.
"Name: Jung Jin-hyuk. Thirty-four-year-old male…"
At that moment, scarlet flames erupted from beneath his feet, and the scene transformed into the interior of an ordinary home.
…!
Startled, Park Su-hwan leaped back on pure instinct. Fortunately, even amid the enormous blaze, he felt no searing heat.
That really got me. A fire scene?
The flames swallowed everything so completely that he wondered if this was what hell looked like.
"Mommy… Mommy…"
A child crouched in a corner, tiny hands clamped over their mouth, sobbing. The fire looked ready to devour the terror-stricken little one at any second.
CRASH! BOOM!
Ceiling beams came thundering down.
Ugh…!
The fire was so vivid that Su-hwan shuddered without meaning to. Watching Kwon Ha-seong's destruction had at least carried a thrill of vindication. Now an innocent child was dying.
Then a voice rang out from outside.
"Ha-hyeon! Ju Ha-hyeon!"
So the child's name was Ju Ha-hyeon.
And the only people who would walk into this hell of their own free will were of one kind.
Firefighters.
Ah. So Jung Jin-hyuk was a firefighter.
Su-hwan checked the cause of death written in the ledger.
Destined to perish while rescuing someone from the flames.
"Where are you! Ju Ha-hyeon!!"
Jung Jin-hyuk's urgent voice cut through the roar. The child, however, seemed not to hear him and only kept crying for their mother.
The ledger said nothing about how the fire had started, so Su-hwan had no way to prevent it from the beginning.
That left only one option.
When Jung Jin-hyuk reached the scene, he had to be guided so that he found the child in the shortest possible time without wandering.
"Ju Ha-hyeon!"
Jung Jin-hyuk was searching all the wrong places.
Su-hwan's eyes darted everywhere. He had to gather as much information as possible before he was forced back to reality.
He left the crying child behind and stepped outside.
Fire, fire, fire.
Everywhere was a wall of pure scarlet flame. Even Su-hwan could barely see a hand's breadth in front of his face.
First I have to pin down exactly where the child is hiding.
He studied the area around the door he had just come through. A half-burned calendar hung on the door, and on the wall beside it was a giraffe-shaped height chart sticker.
Good. I'll tell him the child is right here.
"Ju Ha-hyeon!!"
Jung Jin-hyuk appeared through the flames, breathing hard, constantly scanning his surroundings.
Even Su-hwan, completely untouched by the heat, could hardly see. How much worse must it be for a man taking the full blast of heat and smoke?
Jin-hyuk yanked open the nearest door. Beyond it lay only an empty bathroom. No child.
"Damn it. Where the hell is he!"
He turned to head for another room.
W-watch out…!!
Su-hwan shouted on instinct, but of course no sound could reach anyone inside the vision.
CRASH! BOOM!!
A section of ceiling that could no longer bear the heat came down with a thunderous roar. Yet Su-hwan was not returned to reality.
"Haa… ah. Almost died just now."
Jung Jin-hyuk pushed himself up from the burning wreckage. His leg was covered in blood, and his ankle was twisted at a grotesque angle. Clearly broken.
"Haa…"
He muttered a low curse, then shouted again.
"Ju Ha-hyeon!!"
Limping, he scanned the area and finally fixed his gaze on one spot—the place where the child was trapped.
"I think he's over there…"
He hobbled across the living room.
CRASH! BOOM!!
Burned pillars, unable to hold their own weight, toppled one after another. Jin-hyuk barely avoided them.
"Mommy, Mommy…!!"
"Uncle's here—Uncle's going to get you out!"
At last he found the child huddled in the corner, weeping. Forgetting the pain of his broken ankle, he rushed forward and scooped the child into his arms.
"Huff, huff. Cover your nose. Keep your head down."
"Mommy…"
"It's okay. We're going to Mommy."
The child clung to Jin-hyuk's neck as if begging to be saved. Supporting the child's weight, he turned and headed for the exit.
That was when it happened.
CRACK, BOOM!!
With an ominous crack a ceiling beam gave way and smashed into Jung Jin-hyuk's back.
"Gaaahhh!!"
Pain as if his spine had snapped. His vision flashed white and he nearly collapsed on the spot.
But he clenched his teeth and held on. He had to keep the child in his arms alive no matter what.
"Son of a…"
"Jung Jin-hyuk! You bastard!! Who the hell said you could go in alone!!"
Disobeying orders, then.
Su-hwan understood the situation at once. Jung Jin-hyuk had charged into the flames alone, taking full responsibility onto himself.
To save the child. Completely on his own initiative.
"You crazy son of a bitch!! I told you it's too dangerous!!"
"Huff… huff. There's a kid in here—how am I supposed to ignore that?"
"Then what about your life!! Who's going to save you!!"
"I've got the kid. I'm coming out right now."
"Get the hell out! You bastard!"
Flashlight beams pierced the flames at the front door. His colleagues were there.
"Found him. You son of a bitch! Today you really almost—"
CRACK!
BOOM! RUMBLE-RUMBLE-RUMBLE!!
The already weakened ceiling and pillars finally gave way in a chain reaction. Massive wreckage poured down onto Jung Jin-hyuk.
In that instant he knew.
He was not going to make it. So…
"Take him!!"
With the last of his strength he shoved the child toward his colleagues.
CRASH! BOOOOM!!
The collapsing debris buried Jung Jin-hyuk.
Park Su-hwan's eyes flew open as he gasped for air. Jung Jin-hyuk's exhausted face filled his vision.
"Are you all right? I've already called for help—an ambulance should be here soon."
Su-hwan looked around. The scarlet flames had vanished without a trace; only the dark alley remained.
That was a real shock.
The image of Jung Jin-hyuk crushed beneath the concrete would not leave him.
"Huu…"
Su-hwan scrubbed his face with both hands and shook his head hard, trying to dislodge the afterimage.
"You shouldn't shake your head like that."
Still, the impact was not as bad as it used to be.
Am I starting to get used to this too?
"An ambulance?"
"Yes."
"No, the ambulance is…"
Forget it. He already called one; too late to stop it now. In that case I should say what I need to say before it gets here.
Call it Operation Save Jung Jin-hyuk.
"Mr. Jung Jin-hyuk."
"Yes?"
Jin-hyuk frowned.
"How do you know my name…? Do you know me?"
"I am a shaman. I will be direct."
"…?"
"The day after tomorrow. Sixteen forty-seven. That is when you die at a fire scene, Mr. Jung."
Jung Jin-hyuk looked as if he could not understand a word. A man who had just collapsed in convulsions had suddenly sat up and started spouting nonsense—of course he looked that way.
"You're a firefighter, aren't you?"
"…Yes."
Jin-hyuk rolled the words around in his mind. His parents had told him that a genuine shaman could recite a person's entire personal details just by looking at their face.
But still…
If he had been an ordinary office worker it might have been different, yet he was a firefighter. The idea that a firefighter might die at a fire scene was almost too obvious to say.
Even so… how does he know my name?
In the distance the wail of a siren grew louder. Su-hwan, growing urgent, spoke again.
"Whether you believe me or not is your choice, but I truly want to save your life, Mr. Jung."
Su-hwan's eyes shone without a single flicker of doubt.
"Would it hurt to believe me just once, even if you think you're being fooled? You have nothing to lose. In fact you only stand to gain."
Just as he had with Professor Kim Jun-young, Su-hwan genuinely wanted to save this man, and the reason was simple.
If he saved this man, the man would go on to save countless others.
"You said the day after tomorrow at sixteen forty-seven?"
In the end Jung Jin-hyuk was won over by Su-hwan's earnest plea.
"Yes. And remember this carefully. The child is not in the bathroom, and not in the room right by the front door either. Turn left—look for the door with a calendar hanging on it."
Su-hwan recited everything he had carefully noted from the ledger.
WEEEEEE-OOOOO!
The siren drew close. Moments later an ambulance screeched to a halt in front of them.
"Who called this in! Where's the patient?"
The paramedics jumped out, hauled a stretcher free, and hurried toward Jung Jin-hyuk, who raised his hand.
"Over here. He suddenly rolled his eyes back, collapsed, and went into full-body convulsions. I was about to secure his airway when he recovered consciousness on his own."
Jin-hyuk delivered a crisp, professional report of Su-hwan's symptoms.
"Ah, no need for the hospital. I can get up just fine. See?"
Su-hwan brushed the dust off his clothes and stood.
"No. Another seizure could hit at any time. You should go to the hospital and get checked."
Jin-hyuk's tone left no room for argument. The paramedic nodded in agreement.
"He's right. Better to go to the hospital. It's dangerous."
"Haa…"
Looking at them, Su-hwan realized he was not going home anytime soon.
"All right. So I just lie down here?"
Following the paramedic's guidance he settled onto the stretcher. Then he locked eyes with Jung Jin-hyuk and spoke again.
"Next to the door of the child's room you'll see a giraffe sticker. It won't be hard to find. And watch the living-room ceiling."
Even as he was loaded into the ambulance, Su-hwan kept his gaze fixed on Jin-hyuk. Every second counted.
"When you go in, you have to enter through the kitchen. The living-room ceiling comes down first. That's the only way you'll find the child safely!"
Once he was inside the ambulance his words came faster.
"The day after tomorrow. Sixteen forty-seven! Don't forget!"
SLAM!!
The rear doors shut and the ambulance sped away, siren wailing. Left alone in the alley, Jung Jin-hyuk stared after it and muttered under his breath.
"Calendar… giraffe sticker… kitchen…"
"Yes, this is 119. How can we help you?"
"Here! There's a fire in this villa! Help us!! Ahhh!!"
"Can you give us your location?"
Sensing how serious the situation was, the dispatcher's speech quickened.
"It's Seongnam, Taepyeong-dong… the third floor of the villa is on fire!"
"Understood, report received. Is anyone still inside who hasn't evacuated? Can you see the flames from outside?"
While gathering more information, the moment the exact location of the fire appeared on the monitor the dispatcher issued the call-out without a second's delay.
WEEEEEE-OOOOO!!
Jung Jin-hyuk had been eating at a restaurant. The instant the broadcast came over the speakers he sprang to his feet and sprinted for the garage.
"Hurry! Hurry!!"
"They say the fire's bigger than expected!!"