Trial by Fire

We didn’t hesitate for a moment and ran up the stairs.
As I looked up the stairs, I could see the flames growing and gradually descending. The smoke was also getting thicker.

‘We can’t delay even for a little.’

And so, we arrived at the 3rd floor in an instant and quickly found the piano academy.

Chime!

“Hajin! Hajin, are you here!”

I remembered the name of the child the woman on the 1st floor was shouting and called out.

“Here! I’m here! Help, help me!”

A cry close to a sob was heard from inside the academy.
Choi Suhyeok and I rushed over.

“Yeeun, Yeeun…”

A child who seemed to be Hajin and another child were shaking their unconscious friend with terrified faces.
We cautiously approached them.

“Hajin, I’m a police officer. Your mom asked me to come. Are there any other friends in the academy?”
“I-I don’t know… there were, there were four of us earlier…”

Choi Suhyeok and I exchanged a glance as if we had rehearsed it.
While Choi Suhyeok was asking the children and checking the condition of the unconscious child, I opened and checked each of the practice rooms.

“First, there are no more children left in the rooms.”
“That’s a relief.”
“And this.”

Thump.

I brought the water cooler bottle I had found in the director’s office and poured it on us, whose clothes had dried a little, and on the children.

“Hajin, right. What’s your friend’s name?”
“Ha-Hayoung.”
“Hajin, Hayoung. Let’s hold hands tightly.”

I took off my wet shirt and put it over the children. Fortunately, one shirt was enough to cover both of them since they were still young.

“You have to cover your nose with this sleeve. Okay? Don’t let go of each other’s hands.”
“Yes…”

The children, while shedding tears, followed my and Choi Suhyeok’s words.

“Police officer, what about Yeeun?”

Hajin looked at me with her mouth covered by the hem of the shirt.

“I’ll carry her. I’m not a police officer, I’m a friend of the police officer. Do you know where your other friend went?”

Hayoung, who had calmed down a little at our calm appearance, stopped crying and spoke in a small voice.

“Hyesung might have gone to the bathroom…”
“The bathroom?”
“Yes, the 3rd-floor bathroom is broken, so probably upstairs…”

‘This was an unexpected situation.’

Even now, sweat was pouring down like rain with even the slightest movement.
The heat was getting stronger and stronger.
Instead of showing it to the children, we exchanged a glance.
And so, after making eye contact for a few seconds, we nodded as if we had made a decision.

“First, Detective Choi, you go down with the children. I’ll go up.”
“If anyone’s going, it’s me. Go down with the children.”
“If we’re going to argue like this,”

Chime!

“Lawyer! Detective Choi!”

This voice is…

“Mr. Lee Ilwoo? We’re here!”

At my shout, Lee Ilwoo rushed towards us in an instant.
He seemed to have grasped the situation as soon as he approached us.

“What happened? What about the 1st floor?”
“Are you two okay? The fire truck will be here soon. They said it would take at least ten minutes because of the traffic. So I ran here first.”
“Ten minutes… there might be another child upstairs. Please take care of the children, Mr. Lee Ilwoo.”

Choi Suhyeok poured out those words and then immediately ran out of the piano academy.

“Hajin, Hayoung. Go down carefully with this man. You can do that, right? We’ll go and save Hyesung.”
“…Yes, mister.”
“Please, Mr. Lee Ilwoo.”
“You have to be careful, lawyer.”
“I will.”

As soon as I opened the door, the thick smoke that had gathered engulfed me.

‘The stairs were on the left. Lee Ilwoo is amazing for finding us in this situation.’

No matter how much I covered my nose and mouth with the wet cloth, the acrid smoke seeped in.
My eyes, which were directly exposed to the smoke, were also stinging.
My breathing became rougher with every step I took.

[This is not good. I think you need to catch your breath for a moment.]

‘No. Then I’ll lose him completely. That’s even more dangerous.’

I somehow pushed through the smoke and moved on. While lowering my body to the floor to catch my breath.

‘For now, it’s clear that this situation is a trap.’

That means the other party also knew that I would come here.

‘Both Im Suho and the NIS were played by him.’

The place that had been set up as if they knew in advance that I was coming, and the fire.

‘Could it be…’

Just as I have assistants like Lee Ilwoo and Im Suho, K could also have them.
The more the front was blurred by the smoke, the clearer my thoughts became.

‘Still, I need to talk to Im Suho.’

I had to find out whether this was wrong information, or too accurate information.
He would probably get angry, saying there was no problem when he had found out.
Just as I let out a smirk, I found a well-worn leather notebook at the end of the stairs.

‘This is… I think I saw Choi Suhyeok looking at it earlier.’

To be precise, it was the notebook that Choi Suhyeok had shown an uncharacteristic reaction to as soon as he saw it.
I picked up the notebook and put it deep into my pocket so it wouldn’t fall out.

“Detective Choi!”
“……”

Instead of Choi Suhyeok, Gram answered.

[Follow the sign I’m showing you.]

Suddenly, blue, transparent lines appeared before my eyes. I followed them as if I were bewitched.

“Detective Choi!”

A familiar nagging flew in from the gray smoke.

“Why did you follow me all the way here!”

The sign was cut off where that voice was heard. When I hurriedly turned around, it was all gone.

“It’s a given.”

Choi Suhyeok had now become a figure covered in ash.
But his soot-stained hair and blackened face made him look more like a detective than ever before.
It was just as Choi Suhyeok, who was carrying a child on his back, was about to leave the bathroom, that I ran into him.
I pushed him back into the bathroom.

“What are you doing, Lawyer Cha! We have to get out of here!”

Instead of answering Choi Suhyeok, who couldn’t hide his urgency and anxiety, I turned on the water in the sink.

“Fortunately, the water is still running. Though it’s gotten a little warm.”

I then poured water on Choi Suhyeok. Of course, on the child who was presumed to be Hyesung as well.
Since the child was unconscious, instead of covering his mouth and nose, I thoroughly soaked Choi Suhyeok’s back, where the child’s face was touching.
And finally, on myself.

“I realized you have to look around even when you’re in a hurry. Let’s go now. If you’re out of breath, you have to hand Hyesung over to me right away. Because it could be dangerous.”
“But my stamina is probably better than yours, Lawyer Cha.”

Choi Suhyeok then left the bathroom.
We went straight to the stairs. Choi Suhyeok moved his legs without getting lost once.
As we passed the 3rd floor, I was relieved that there were no other voices.
In fact, the sound of the siren that we had been waiting for from outside seemed to be getting closer.

‘…It’s even thicker than before.’

I stuck close behind Choi Suhyeok and lit the way with my phone’s flashlight.
Though that wasn’t very effective either.
By the time we came down from the 4th floor to the 2nd floor, Choi Suhyeok’s breathing had become noticeably faster.
The clothes wrapped around his face to cover his respiratory system were also obstructing his vision, and he hadn’t been able to relax for a single moment since he had entered this building.

“Oh, Detective Choi!”

Thud!

I caught Choi Suhyeok, who had missed his footing and was staggering, and fell backwards with him.

“Ugh…”
“Lawyer Cha! Are you okay?”
“Yes, well… I don’t think anything is broken. Hyesung is fine too.”

My back, which had hit the corner of the stairs, was excessively sore.
The child who had been on Choi Suhyeok’s back was now safely in my arms.
Holding Hyesung, I quickly checked if my arms could move and if my back could bend.

“I’ll carry him from now on. We’re exactly halfway there.”

Before Choi Suhyeok could answer, I put Hyesung on my sore back.
Instead of showing it, I handed Choi Suhyeok the phone with the flashlight on.

“Let’s hurry. The longer we’re in the smoke, the more fatal it is for the child.”

The child is in more danger than we are.
At those words, Choi Suhyeok bit his lip and nodded.
And so, we arrived at the 1st floor.
As if he had been listening to our footsteps with all his senses, Lee Ilwoo immediately ran over.

“Lawyer, are you okay?”
“First, take the child. By any chance, the parents of this child,”
“Here, it’s me! I’m Hyesung’s mom! Hyesung!”

When I turned my head, a woman with a face drained of all blood was reaching out her arms desperately.
She was a woman with an even paler face than Hajin’s mother, who must have come running after hearing the news of the fire.
She was waving her hands desperately and urgently to us from beyond the arms of the police officers who were controlling the situation.
Behind her, a few reporters with cameras were visible.

“She’s been waiting there since a while ago. I’ve explained the situation.”
“Thank you. What happened to those three kids?”
“I’ve handed the kids over to their parents. They’re probably being treated in an ambulance by now, or have gone to the hospital.”
“Thank you so much, Mr. Lee Ilwoo. You’ve worked hard.”

Choi Suhyeok held out his official ID to the police officer who was controlling the entrance of the building.

“This is Police Lieutenant Choi Suhyeok of Songpa Police Station. Let her in.”

Thanks to that, she came over to the lobby, almost falling several times even in that short moment.
Every time she stepped on the puddle of water that had poured from the sprinkler, a splashing sound was heard.
I immediately and carefully handed the child over to the mother.
After wiping the soot from his face as much as possible.

“Ah… thank you so much, thank you…”
“The child seems to have inhaled some smoke. I think he needs to be treated quickly.”

Instead of wiping her own tears, she gently stroked the child.

“Hey, Suhyeok! What’s with your appearance! I’m really going crazy because of you!”

At a good time, Choi Suhyeok’s partner, Han Seungmin, appeared.

“You told me to come if you didn’t contact me for over an hour, but you weren’t here, and the building was on fire! What’s with your appearance!”
“Hyung, I’m fine, so please take this child and his mother to an ambulance.”
“Hey! You’re not in a good state either! I thought a corpse was walking over, you bastard!”
“But the child comes first. Please, hyung. And make sure to give them a blanket.”

Han Seungmin let out a big sigh at Choi Suhyeok and answered Hyesung and his mother very gently, extending his arm towards the entrance.

“Aish… this way, please.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much, detective…”

As we listened to the sirens of the ambulance and the fire truck, Choi Suhyeok and I collapsed to the floor.

“Let’s take a break now…”
“Haa… anyway, it’s not easy to give a variety show gift like this on every holiday.”

Instead of answering Choi Suhyeok, I smiled slightly in affirmation.
And so, the heavy breath of the late winter spread before my eyes.
My vision, which was much lower than usual, showed the feet of Hyesung’s mother, who was running out between people’s legs.
She was running, holding her child, without a coat, and in slippers on her bare feet.