You'll Have to Take More
Clap, clap, clap.
Applause erupted from all sides in sync with the sound echoing from the speakers.
This is so awkward.
Having received nothing but a diploma in his entire life, Dojin found this kind of setting inherently burdensome.
If not for Do-hee, Seung-wan, and the Sekki House staff sitting in the audience and clapping enthusiastically, he would have wanted to run away immediately.
Tsk, I knew this would happen. I should have turned it down.
Knowing his own personality all too well, Dojin had originally intended to decline the invitation.
However, he ultimately had to yield due to the persuasion of two people.
"Huh? Why would you reject it? It's not like you did something bad, Oppa. They're giving it to you because you did a good job saving people... Can't you just accept it?"
"She's right, Dojin. Besides, trolls have been stirring up trouble in the comments lately, so this is a great opportunity."
"..."
His girlfriend's admiration and the justification of helping his channel—neither temptation was easy to ignore.
On top of that,
"Well, if the CEO isn't accepting it, I will decline as well. All I did was drive, after all."
The deciding factor was the words of Team Leader Hong Eun-seop, who was also scheduled to receive the certificate alongside Dojin.
From Team Leader Hong's perspective, it was only natural, but to Dojin, it felt as if Eun-seop was giving up the award solely because of him.
In the end, Dojin quietly agreed to accept the certificate of appreciation from the Paju Fire Station.
At least the ceremony is short, thank goodness.
It was an ultra-fast ceremony, taking less than an hour from the opening remarks to the closing address.
Naturally, the reason the ceremony was kept so brief was due to Dojin's insistence.
Originally, it had been scheduled to last over two hours.
Why are there so many people trying to show their faces just because they saw an opportunity?
From members of the National Assembly to the provincial governor, the mayor, and even city council members lined up—there was no shortage of politicians trying to boost their public image.
They even ignored the opinions of Dojin, the guest of honor, wishing only to put themselves in the spotlight.
If it had been just Dojin and the Sekki House staff, Dojin and Eun-seop would have ended up as mere props for the politicians' photo ops, just as they wanted.
"Heul-heul, is it finally over? Now that I'm old, these events are terribly exhausting."
Dojin turned his head at the voice from behind.
The acquaintance who had personally come upon hearing he was receiving a certificate, and the benefactor who had exerted her influence to ensure the ceremony ended quickly as Dojin wished—
Director Wang was smiling at Dojin.
"Ah, Director! Thank you for coming all this way when you must be so busy."
Hye-seok waved her hand dismissively at Dojin's greeting.
Without exaggeration, she had heard Dojin say those exact words more than ten times already.
She was tired of responding to them.
"Keul-keul, I told you it is fine. If others saw us, they would think I only came to congratulate you, Dojin. Congratulations to you as well, Team Leader Hong."
"Thank you, Chairman," Eun-seop replied, bowing his head.
He was naturally polite, but he was exceptionally respectful toward Hye-seok, his employer.
"Heul-heul-heul. I do not have much to give you right now, but you can look forward to this month's bonus. Doing good deeds for others deserves a proper reward."
"...Thank you."
Eun-seop bowed once more at the director's words.
But Dojin noticed it.
Eun-seop had looked like he wanted to say something in response to Hye-seok's offer, but after making eye contact with Yeong-jin standing behind her, he quietly nodded instead.
Team Leader Hong is the same type as me.
The type who couldn't just blindly accept what others gave him.
Others might call it frustrating or say he was living a losing life, but Dojin believed this was the right way.
Only parents could offer goodwill without expecting anything in return.
Though my thoughts on that changed quite a bit after seeing Do-hee.
Family could sometimes be more demonic than strangers.
Having witnessed that firsthand, he found it even harder to easily accept things from others.
That was why, before his regression, Dojin had always declined receiving things from the director and Yeong-jin.
He knew they wouldn't harm him, but they still weren't his real family.
But what about now?
It'll be hard to repay them as much as I've received while they're still alive.
He had received far too much support for that.
Leaving everything else aside, the cash found in the principal's office alone was a support he couldn't repay in a lifetime.
In reality, the only thing Dojin had accomplished solely through his own power was winning the bid for the school site.
Everything else—the cash, the various equipment, and even the people working at Sekki House—had Hye-seok's help woven into it.
I planned to repay her once I became a YouTuber with a million subscribers, but it feels like my debt is only piling up.
Thanks to the videos on his channel receiving a lot of attention, his subscriber count had already surpassed one million and was nearing 1.2 million.
Thanks to that, he could now be introduced as a major YouTuber, but it was still a trivial level in front of the director.
Hye-seok's wealth was said to be so vast that even she didn't know the exact amount.
It can't be helped. I'll just have to care for her even more while she's still with us.
Having made up his mind, Dojin quietly approached and linked his arm with Hye-seok's.
"Hmm?"
"Dojin, what are you doing?"
At Dojin's sudden action, not only the director but also Yeong-jin, who was standing behind her, asked in surprise.
Except for when he was a child, Dojin had never initiated physical contact with Hye-seok, so both of them were quite shocked.
Dojin also found his own behavior awkward.
However, to act on his resolution, he needed to be a bit shameless.
"Didn't you say you were tired? I'm supporting you."
"...Heul-heul-heul. Dojin, you are treating me like a sick old woman."
"If you don't like that, then get healthy quickly. Don't go catching colds and dragging them out for weeks."
"Heul-heul-heul, yes. You are right."
The director laughed heartily, finding Dojin's words incredibly amusing.
Seeing this, Yeong-jin, who had been about to stop Dojin, stepped back again.
"What did you say your next schedule was?"
"We have to go to the Wollong-myeon 119 Safety Center. The chief there invited us."
"Wollong-myeon? Wait, if it is Wollong... Chief Jo, isn't the chief there Park Hong-sik?"
Tilting her head at Dojin's answer, the director turned to Yeong-jin and asked.
As if expecting the question, Yeong-jin answered immediately.
"Yes, that is correct. He is from Boseok-ri and was a graduate of the fourth class of Jeong-a Elementary School."
"Heul-heul, indeed."
Hearing their conversation, Dojin was startled.
He had planned to reveal later that the chief was from the same village as Sekki House and was a graduate from when the director was principal.
It was Dojin's mistake for not expecting her to remember someone from over thirty years ago.
Since it had come to this, Dojin revealed the rest.
"Wow, both you and Uncle remember that. I purposely didn't say anything because I wanted to tell you later. The chief is actually the nephew of Grandma Sun-ja, whom we rescued this time."
"My, what a coincidence."
This time, even Hye-seok was surprised.
She hadn't expected their fates to be intertwined like this.
But soon, a clicking sound came from her tongue.
"Tsk, tsk. Hong-sik has lived his life in vain. To think that a man who is supposedly the chief of a safety center did not even know his own family's house was burning down."
A safety center was similar to a police precinct.
To use an analogy, it was like a precinct chief catching other robbers while completely unaware that his own relative's house was being robbed—even though the victims had desperately called for help.
Looking at it this way, the chief deserves to be criticized, but...
The chief had his own reasons for why it had happened.
"He couldn't help it. A forest fire had broken out on Mount Wollong. Since a fire occurred right in their own jurisdiction, they wouldn't have had the luxury to worry about other places."
The safety center they were heading to was located in Wollong-myeon, so Mount Wollong naturally fell under their jurisdiction.
Comparing it to the police, it was like all officers mobilizing because a violent criminal appeared in their district. In such a situation, there was no way to respond to other calls.
"Tsk, when will this country ever escape this chronic staff shortage? You would think things would improve a little as time goes by."
Understanding Dojin's point, the director sighed.
She realized that the situation had just turned out poorly, and it was no one's fault.
After lamenting a few times, the director suddenly remembered and asked, "But is it alright for me to go with you? It seems only you and Team Leader Hong were invited."
"I actually asked about that, and they were more than happy to welcome you. They said they really wanted to see you and Uncle Yeong-jin as well."
"Heul-heul."
The director's expression softened slightly at Dojin's words.
She felt relieved to know that she wasn't the only one glad to reconnect with the past.
"Alright, shall we go see our little graduate then?"
"Well... to call him a kid, he's already in his mid-forties."
"Heul-heul-heul, are you talking about age in front of me? No matter how old he gets, in my memory, he is still a thirteen-year-old kid."
Dojin shrugged at the director's words.
Coming from Hye-seok of all people, such a statement didn't feel out of place.
With that, the group left the Paju Fire Station and headed toward Wollong-myeon.
What's the problem?
Inside the safety center's staff cafeteria.
Even while eating the special meal prepared specifically for Dojin's group, Dojin could not put his mind at ease.
The face of the director sitting right next to him had stiffened at some point.
Uncle, do you know anything?
Even when he asked Yeong-jin with a look,
I don't know either. I have absolutely no idea this time.
The response he got back was utterly hopeless.
Dojin racked his brain as much as possible to deduce why she was reacting this way.
That's strange. She clearly seemed in a good mood when we first arrived.
Until they arrived at the safety center—no, even when they arrived and greeted the chief—the director had seemed to be in high spirits.
"Heul-heul-heul, why would someone who has become a chief want to see an old woman who is so aged she can barely remember anything?"
"Oh, please don't say that. If you hadn't helped me during the spring famine, Principal, I would have starved to death back then."
"People do not die that easily. I merely lent a little strength."
"Isn't it that 'little' that brings a person back from death to life? I became a paramedic so I would never forget your grace back then."
Recalling it now, it had been an incredibly warm conversation. Not only Hye-seok but even Yeong-jin hadn't lost their smiles while talking with the chief.
The director's expression had begun to stiffen the moment they stepped inside the center.
It seemed like something displeased her.
It wasn't an issue with the building's facilities or hygiene. Dojin had never seen Director Wang Hye-seok care about such things in his life.
If she were that kind of person, she wouldn't have visited Sekki House, which had been unmaintained for a long time.
Then what was the problem? Her mood soured right after she saw the returning paramedics and firefighters.
Her face, which had begun to stiffen, turned into its current state right after they passed through the center's interior and arrived at the cafeteria. Before, it was only noticeable to those who knew her well, but now, anyone could tell she was in a bad mood.
"..."
"..."
Even Park Hong-sik, the chief of this center, was walking on eggshells around Hye-seok, so the surrounding atmosphere was tense, to say the least.
Just then, Hye-seok, who had been eating silently, set her spoon down on the tray.
Clack.
It was a very quiet sound, but to the people in the cafeteria, it resounded like thunder as Hye-seok spoke.
"Hong-sik. No, Chief Park."
"Yes? Yes, ma'am."
Hong-sik answered hastily, overwhelmed by an undeniable pressure. Her current demeanor was exactly like the principal he had known in his childhood.
However, upon hearing her next words, Hong-sik could only bow his head.
"Looking around as I walked in, I noticed the crew's equipment is very worn out."
"..."
"Do not misunderstand. I do not think you did anything wrong, Chief. The reason this happened is obvious. You are short on budget, correct?"
"...Yes," Hong-sik forced his mouth open to answer, his voice barely carrying.
Although the department had been promoted to the National Fire Agency in 2017, the annual budget allocation hadn't increased much. On top of that, manpower was decreasing, and aging equipment needed replacement. With the budget falling short, firefighters nationwide were screaming in distress.
"If the public equipment is in that state, there is no need to even look at the personal gear. And the cafeteria facilities over there seem to have many issues as well."
"Mmm..."
Dojin turned his head at the director's gesture and let out an involuntary groan at the sight.
Two out of the four burners on the gas stove were broken and unusable, and the ventilation hood didn't seem to work properly, leaving the cafeteria filled with smoke. Looking closely, many of the food trays were chipped and cracked here and there.
Didn't they say the Wollong-myeon Safety Center was built relatively recently?
Some other safety centers were decades old, only receiving minor repairs to keep them running. If this place is in this state, those other places must be beyond hope.
Only then did Dojin understand why the director had made such a face. She wasn't offended; she felt pity for the firefighters who risked their lives to go out on calls in such poor conditions.
And in these situations, the words that followed were usually predictable.
"Chief Jo, investigate all the safety centers and local stations in Paju City and compile a list of items we need to support."
"Yes, Chairman."
"Chief Park, this is a gesture of my goodwill, but it is also the goodwill of the citizens. So, I hope you will not refuse it. We will be supporting other places as well anyway. We will keep clear records, so there will be no issues later."
"...Thank you."
After hesitating for a moment at the director's words, Hong-sik bowed deeply to her.
It was a task he should have handled, but as someone with neither connections nor money, it was beyond his capacity. Since his former teacher was offering to resolve it, he couldn't bring himself to refuse.
Finally showing a satisfied smile at the sight, the director turned her head to look at Dojin.
"Why?"
Dojin asked in surprise as she suddenly looked at him while talking to the chief.
However, the director's next words were far more shocking.
"Dojin, you will have to take a bit more land."
"...Pardon?"