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# Chapter 1. Prologue
“119! Can you hear me!”
Bang, bang, bang!
I slammed my shoulder against the inner door with all my strength.
The smoke caused by the fire completely obscured my vision.
It was so dark that I instinctively thought that even the dead of night would not be this dark.
“If there’s anyone inside, please answer!”
I threw my whole body against the door with every ounce of strength I had.
The entrance door, warped from the heat, finally gave way with a loud crack!
Just as I was about to enter and begin searching, Captain Kim, who had just come up the stairs, saw me and immediately shouted.
“Hey, Lee Bit-chan! Are you crazy? Fuck, if I call you on the radio, you’re supposed to answer! Huh?”
I hadn’t even realized that Captain Kim had been trying to reach me on the radio.
That was how desperately I had been focused on opening the door somehow.
“I thought I heard someone’s voice from inside here, so I need to check!”
“What? There’s someone inside? Are you sure?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. But if there’s even the slightest chance someone is still alive, shouldn’t we check before leaving?”
Hearing me say there might be someone inside, Captain Kim quickly moved into the house as well.
“You take that side. I’ll search the living room.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Fuck, why does this damn fire spread so fast!”
Cursing under his breath, Captain Kim began a full-scale search for survivors.
I also searched every corner, desperately looking for any sign of a survivor.
But there was still nothing.
There’s still one room left.
Just as I was about to move toward the small room,
Crash!
The kitchen collapsed.
“Lee Bit-chan! Did you find a survivor?”
“Not yet!”
“Then there’s nobody here! Let’s get out before we’re fucked! Come on!”
“But…”
I hadn’t searched the small room yet.
I tried turning the doorknob, but just like the entrance door, it seemed to have melted from the heat and refused to turn properly.
Just as I was about to put my strength into breaking down the door again,
“Get out of here, you bastard!”
Captain Kim grabbed my arm and forcibly pulled me away.
Captain Kim glared at me with a stern expression and said,
“We’re pulling out. That’s an order.”
“……”
“Lee Bit-chan, I don’t want to lose another one of my men. If we’ve searched this much and found nothing, then there’s no one there. Got it?”
I had no choice but to nod reluctantly.
I knew Captain Kim was right.
Even so, I couldn’t help feeling reluctant to leave.
Forcing my unwilling legs to move, I hurried down the villa stairs.
The moment we made it outside,
Boom!
An explosion occurred in the very place I had pointed to, saying that I thought I had sensed a survivor there.
A cold sweat ran down my back.
If it hadn’t been for Captain Kim, I might still have been wandering around inside looking for a survivor whose existence I wasn’t even sure about, only to get caught in that explosion.
I was always aware that being a firefighter was an extremely dangerous job where one constantly stood at the boundary between life and death.
Even so, I still couldn’t easily control my fear of death.
Was there really no survivor inside?
For some reason, everything tasted bitter today.
* * *
Just as I was about to leave work, Captain Kim called out to me.
“Don’t go anywhere today. Go straight home and get some proper rest. Got it?”
“Well… I already have plans today. I think I have to stop by there before going home.”
“Where?”
“Grandfather Choi Seong-chun’s house.”
Captain Kim let out a deep sigh.
“After going through all that mess at dawn. You can take just one day off. That old man… No, that grandfather will understand.”
“I can’t. The roasted chicken he likes is only sold on Fridays. If I don’t buy it for him, he’ll sulk for two weeks.”
“He’s not even your biological grandfather. Why have you been taking care of some old man you happened to meet while volunteering for three whole years? Jeez!”
This was simply how I was by nature, so there was nothing I could do about it.
Seeing Captain Kim sigh, a senior firefighter from my team defended me in my place.
“Don’t you think our society becomes a more beautiful place when there are kind people like Bit-chan around?”
“I know that too. But he should at least take care of himself while he’s at it. What are you going to do if you collapse one day, Bit-chan?”
To ease Captain Kim’s worries, I deliberately showed off the muscles covering my arms.
“I’m fine. That’s why I’ve been exercising even harder.”
The firefighter calendar featuring me as the representative of our fire station was still prominently displayed on one side of the wall.
“Yeah. Your forearms are thick. Well, I suppose that’s why you were able to force open that warped entrance door by ramming into it with your body.”
“Exactly. If it had been me or Captain Kim instead of Bit-chan, we definitely would have used equipment to open it.”
“Exactly.”
Captain Kim let out another deep sigh and waved his hand at me.
“Fine. I’ll stop holding you up, so hurry up and go.”
“Since I’m going to Grandfather’s anyway, should I give him your regards?”
“Forget it. I’ll just get cursed at even more by that old man.”
I couldn’t help laughing at Captain Kim’s words.
I picked up my bag and got on the bicycle parked in front of the fire station.
The weather is starting to get cold.
It seemed the season when riding a bicycle around was becoming difficult was approaching.
I turned toward the intersection on my way home.
There was a roasted chicken truck nearby that came around once a week.
“Hello!”
As soon as the owner saw me cheerfully greeting him, he asked with a pleased expression,
“The usual today?”
“No. Just one chicken today, please.”
“Why?”
“I don’t have much of an appetite.”
Maybe it was because of everything that had happened since dawn, but I didn’t feel like putting anything in my mouth.
On top of that, I couldn’t stop thinking about whether there had actually been a survivor in that room.
The investigation at the scene isn’t finished yet, either.
I had heard that they wouldn’t be able to confirm anything immediately.
The scene was so serious that they said the investigation would take several days.
I felt like what had happened today would remain on my mind for quite some time.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“And I’m sorry to say this, but I’ve decided to stop selling from today.”
“What? Why?”
The owner pointed toward the chickens still slowly rotating inside the machine as though they were waiting for customers.
“Business hasn’t been good lately. So I’m thinking about finding another job.”
“If that’s the reason… I guess it can’t be helped. Grandfather Choi will be really disappointed.”
“Tell me about it. He was one of my regulars. Anyway, please tell the old man I’m sorry for him in my place.”
“Yes, I will.”
“And thank you for everything too, Bit-chan. I had a lot of fun thanks to you. You go around doing so many good deeds, so I’m sure you’ll be rewarded for it.”
“Thank you, sir.”
If I’d known this would happen, maybe I should have ordered another chicken for myself.
Then I could have helped him sell at least one more.
I suddenly felt bad for the owner.
* * *
Before the roasted chicken could get any colder, I quickly pedaled my bicycle toward the place where Grandfather Choi Seong-chun lived.
After climbing up a long flight of stairs, I arrived at a small, shabby detached house.
An elderly white-haired man was puffing away at a cigarette in the yard. The moment he saw me, he began nagging.
“Well, well? Why did you only buy one today? Don’t tell me you’re planning to eat it all by yourself without giving me any?”
“Come on. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have come to your house. But how did you know there was only one?”
The chicken was wrapped in a black plastic bag, so there was no way he could tell whether there was one chicken or two inside.
It was impossible to distinguish them just by looking, yet Grandfather pointed at his own head and said,
“I’ve got a bit of divine insight, you know.”
“That’s right.”
Of course, I took it as half a joke.
At first, I hadn’t believed him at all.
But lately, I had started wondering if Grandfather really did possess some kind of special ability.
As proof,
“You went through quite a lot this morning.”
Grandfather said this as he tore into one of the chicken legs I had handed him.
He was talking about the fire that had occurred that morning.
It hadn’t even made the news yet.
Yet Grandfather knew about this too.
“The gas line supposedly exploded. Of course, we won’t know for sure until the investigation is finished…”
I unconsciously trailed off.
Talking about the fire that had happened that morning reminded me of whether there had been a survivor.
Grandfather Choi Seong-chun quickly finished one chicken leg and, while eyeing his next target, suddenly said,
“There wasn’t.”
“What? What wasn’t there?”
I wondered if I had forgotten the pickled radish or perhaps the salt for dipping.
But that wasn’t what Grandfather meant.
“I said there wasn’t one. The survivor in the room you were trying to search for. There was no one there, so stop stressing over it.”
“……You knew after all.”
“I told you earlier.”
Grandfather pointed at himself once again.
As if he wanted to say, This is who I am.
Still, hearing him say that put my mind at ease.
There was something I had always been curious about whenever Grandfather showed off his supposed divine insight.
“If you’re as capable as you say, couldn’t you just predict the winning lottery numbers?”
“I enjoy my life as it is.”
“You’re on basic livelihood assistance. You’re always complaining that you don’t have any money.”
“If not now, when else would I get to experience this kind of poverty?”
I prided myself on having known Grandfather for quite a long time, but he was still a man I could never completely figure out.
There was one thing I knew for certain, though.
He loved the roasted chicken sold at the intersection nearby.
But today was the last time.
“The roasted chicken owner said he’s closing his business starting today.”
“Hmm, I see.”
“You’re not surprised? Did you know that too?”
“Well, roughly. I figured he’d be closing up soon. Nothing we can do about it.”
Suddenly, Grandfather pointed a chicken bone at me.
“You’ve taken care of me for three years. So before we part ways, I’ll tell you one secret from heaven as a reward.”
“What? Part ways?”
“I won’t be able to eat this roasted chicken anymore.”
He was probably just joking around and teasing me like usual.
That was what I thought, so I decided to play along.
“Do you think you’ve been lucky up until now?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“If I were lucky…”
A memory from the past briefly flashed through my mind.
“My father and mother wouldn’t have abandoned me and run away.”
Grandfather clicked his tongue.
Since that day, I had always thought of myself as an unlucky person.
Nevertheless, Grandfather said this to me.
“Things will be different now.”
“Really?”
“Soon, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will come your way. It will be an opportunity that can completely change your fate, so remember what I just told you.”
Grandfather tore off a piece of chicken breast and tossed it into his mouth before smiling at me for the first time.
“Thank you for staying close to this foul-tempered old man all this time.”
At first, I had thought everything he said was nothing more than a joke.
But for some reason, Grandfather’s words wouldn’t leave my mind.
* * *
Firefighters have no weekdays or weekends.
Accidents can happen at any time.
It was Sunday morning. I was on my way out with my bicycle to go to work.
There are a lot of people.
Maybe because it was the weekend.
The streets were unusually crowded today.
But the atmosphere was very different from usual.
“Oh my goodness, what are we going to do about that child!”
“Shouldn’t we call 119?”
The moment I heard the words 119, my body moved before I even had time to think.
People were milling about in confusion as a small boy hung from the railing of a five-story commercial building.
“Excuse me! Just a moment! Please let me through!”
Strange.
Grandfather had definitely told me that my luck would soon open up and everything would go smoothly for me.
Judging by how I had encountered an accident first thing in the morning, it seemed Grandfather’s prophecy had been wrong this time.