Han Jin-gu, who stood on the 7th floor while looking out the window, brought his phone to his mouth when he felt the building move once again.
“Yes, even now. It's noisy inside because of the music, but this feels different. You know what I mean Dad. A building only shakes when there's an earthquake or some other similarly serious disaster.”
Han Jin-gu coughed due to the dark smoke that entered through the slightly open window.
-That's strange, that place is a bit far from the reported area. I got it. You come out first. I'll go check it out.
Putting down his phone, Han Jin-gu returned to the middle of the concert hall taking up the 6th-8th floors.
Squeezing through the crowd of people fully focused on the stage where a dis-rap battle was happening, he tapped on the shoulder of his friend, Lim Seon-ah.
“Seon-ah.”
“You didn’t see how rapper Jay-G stuttered just now did you? He did so badly that the whole judge crew gave him a thumbs down.”
“Let's go out.”
“Huh? Whhyy?”
“There's a big fire across the street.In situations like this, it's best to escape first.”
Lim Seon-ah laughed slightly.
“If there was something like that,someone would have mentioned it by now. There's so many people here. There are people from the broadcasting stations, too.”
“An accident happens when it's not expected.”
“Who said that?”
“My dad.”
At Han Jin-gu's serious expression, Lim seon-ah lifted one finger.
“It's almost the Jin-Q crew's turn, let's just watch that before we go. You know how much I've been looking forward to their performance.”
Han Jin-gu looked back and forth between Lim Seon-ah and his phone. He was slightly tempted by the thought that one more song wouldn't change much, but he resisted with a shake of his head.
A period of a few seconds. He had seen his dad have too many nightmares over not being able to save someone due to a lapse of a few seconds.
He could whine at his dad for more allowance, but as a son, he couldn't make his dad worry about him about something like this.
Grab.
Han Jin-gu forcefully grabbed Lim Seon-ah's wrist.
“Come out. I'm not joking.”
“Jin-gu…….”
Passing through the stairs leading to the seats, he opened the door to the 7th floor. Lim Seon-ah, who was practically dragged out by her wrist, looked and pouted at Han Jin-gu.
“There's nothing outsi…….”
Bang!
This time the building floor shook so much that more people felt it.
The people on the stage. Those watching the stage. Everyone looked around, wondering what was happening.
“Doctor. I'm going to check on the opposite building for a moment. If there's a message from HQ, please contact me through the radio.”
Dowook nodded his head. Then he watched as Han Min-gyu got out of the driver's seat and went in the opposite direction of the reported area.
‘I guess he's worried since it's related to his son.’
The divider opened and Lee Ji-seok asked Dowook.
“Where is the Team Leader going?”
“His son is in the concert hall across the street, he went for a safety check over there.”
“Aha. You haven't seen Jin-gu yet, have you doctor? He looks exactly like the team leader. I don't know how much first aid training he's received but he can wrap a bandage better than me.”
“Better than someone who received 4 years of training?”
Although it was a question said jokingly, Lee Ji-seok laughed a bit awkwardly.
“I know. I wasn't this clumsy back at school. The next time you come for an event, I'll also show a skilled appearance.”
He didn't think that he would participate in an event like this, but Dowook internally cheered him on.
“Oh, right. Does your phone work? Mine strangely hasn't been getting a signal since a while ago.”
At those words, Dowook took out his phone. He had a signal like usual.
“Mine's fine, though?”
“Look. Mine keeps showing me a warning that I'm not in a registered area.”
Lee Ji-seok pushed his phone through the divider.
“It seems that way. The hospital's call phone was the same. That building belongs to LT Communications so maybe phones using their services aren't working right now.”
[T/N: In the raws, the hospital staff seem to use a phone exclusively to communicate among staff, separate from their personal phone. The author calls it a ‘call phone’ so I’m going to just use the same term to differentiate between the phones.]
Dowook’s gaze headed to the six-story building. The smoke was not decreasing at all.
If the call phone was not available, the emergency reporting system in the hospital would also be confused. It was nothing for an intern to call the chief. Just managing patients in the wards would be a problem instantly. This would be the same for other hospitals.
It was a time when he thought that the fire in that building might not be just a matter.
Ba-ba-ba-bang!
Suddenly, there was a loud explosion.
It was a roar loud enough to make his eardrums ring, so Dowook closed his eyes for a moment and turned his head to find the epicenter of the sound.
And he saw it.
A tremendous flame stretched out toward the entrance of the building with 17 floors. Han Min-gyu just went out for a safety inspection there.
Dowook picked up the walkie-talkie urgently.
"Team leader! Can you hear me?"
Bzzzt…
Dowook rushed out toward the building where it was further away from the heat and pressed the radio transmission button.
"Reply, team leader!"
The flames rising toward the building seemed like a torch that was intensively burning in one place.
Since it was huge enough to swallow up the surroundings, the flame quickly spread throughout the 1st floor’s ceiling and walls.
Even though the sprinkler was operating above the fire, its momentum was not dampened at all.
"What is that…"
"Oh, it's hot. Doctor. What about the team leader?”
When asked by Lee Ji-seok, who followed, Dowook shook his head. Once again, he sent a radio, but there was no answer.
As soon as he had an ominous hunch that he might have been engulfed in a fire that was hard to even approach.
Bzzzt.
– Here… Shopping mall…… I’m on the right side of the shopping mall.
Han Min-gyu's voice was heard.
1st floor of Ahyeon Building shopping district, 10:55 p.m.
In front of the shopping district, where all the doors and windows were broken due to the shock of the fire explosion, Dowook approached with the emergency bag on his shoulder.
"Team leader!"
"I’m here…"
Inside the cafe with a twisted sign, Han Min-gyu sat against the wall and raised his hand.
As soon as he saw Dowook, he realized that Han Min-gyu's left arm had a fracture. He immediately spoke into the walkie-talkie on his shoulder.
"Lee Ji-seok. I need an arm splint here."
Bzzzt..
-Understood.
There was blood flowing from Han Min-gyu's forehead, so Dowook knelt down and looked at his head. There were signs that he had slid on the floor.
"Are you dizzy?"
"It's okay. I didn't lose my mind due to a concussion, but it took time to find this walkie-talkie."
Dowook, who opened the emergency bag, took out a tweezer and a sterilizing pad, sterilized Han Min-gyu's wound, and put a band-aid on his head.
Han Min-gyu, who swallowed his groans, asked.
"Have you contacted the HQ?"
"Lee Ji-seok is going to do it."
"Fortunately, I avoided the explosion. I was checking that."
Han Min-gyu pointed to the corner of the cafe with his right hand. Dowook turned his head and his eyes widened.
The lid of the manhole.
It was stuck in the wall. It didn't go well with the atmosphere of a European-style cafe to argue that it was an interior decoration.
"Why is that here?"
"I didn't know at first, but I knew when I saw the explosion. The epicenter of this fire is not the LT building."
Perhaps because of the pain, Han Min-gyu groaned before continuing.
"The explosion just now is a flashover. Gas from decaying products condenses and then erupts at once. Can you stand me up for a second?"
He helped Han Min-gyu and walked out of the mall. The flames covered the entire first floor of the building.
"There's a combustion point in the basement where this manhole lid flew in, which could cause a super-large flashover of that size. Do you understand me?"
It was a sudden question, but Dowook nodded.
"I've got a splint!”
Lee Ji-seok ran with an emergency bag. Dowook took the splint and tried to put it on Han Min-gyu's left arm.
"No, splints disrupt movement. Just wrap it with a compression bandage."
"What? You have to go to the hospital."
"I can't do that".
Han Min-gyu's gaze was on the flames. He headed to the center of the building.
"We have to evacuate the people in there. If they come down the building recklessly, they will be suffocated by the thick smoke. We have to guide them through the evacuation route to the shopping district where the flames haven’t reached yet. Evacuation is a fight against time. Doctor, you tell the headquarters about the fire lines that I explained…….”
Han Min-gyu was ignoring the pain of a broken bone. Dowook reached out to Lee Ji-seok.
"Please give me a splint."
"Doctor…"
Lee Ji-seok looked like he didn't know what to do with Dowook’s instructions that conflicted with Han Min-gyu’s.
"If you put pressure on broken bones, you can't use your hand properly for the rest of your life. Even your nerves are damaged right now."
Dowook declared as he took the splint from Lee Ji-seok and fixed it properly to his left arm with a bandage.
"I'll go."
Lee Ji-seok, who was helping next to him, paused.
Han Min-gyu shook his head.
"The doctor is a volunteer. You have no obligation to take risks."
"Unfortunately, I have a duty. I took the Hippocratic Oath."
Dowook, who completed splint treatment, hung an emergency bag on his shoulder.
"Call phones, cell phones, and the Internet are all dead. Most hospitals will not be able to accommodate emergency patients properly. You have to block it in advance."
Han Min-gyu bit his lips tightly. He would never have allowed other volunteers to do it. But that doctor saved several lives faithfully all day long.
His son, who he could not contact, was up there, so he wanted to run right away, but Han Min-gyu made up his mind and opened his mouth.
"Please, sir. Ji-seok, you can accompany and help him with the refugees."
"Yes, team leader."
Dowook asked, looking through the shopping district on the fifth floor.
"If it's a fight against time, do you mean before that fire spreads to the fifth floor connected to the shopping district?"
"The flames will continue to be delayed when the sprinkler system on each floor is activated. But the smoke is another story. It must be before toxic smoke invades the fifth floor to ensure safe outdoor escape. Keep the radio going. I'll keep in touch with the headquarters and keep you posted."
"I will."
Dowook and Lee Ji-seok ran towards the main gate of the broken shopping district.
Han Min-gyu, who quietly watched Dowook’s back jumping in without looking back, hurriedly returned to the ambulance with his left arm wrapped in a splint.
The road leading to Ahyeon-gu was tightly blocked.
Reporter Yoon Jin-hyo, who got off the taxi, could not close his mouth as he saw a fire soaring from both sides.
"Oh my god…"
One had no choice but to pray to the heavens that there would not be any damage while looking at this disaster.
This was not the scale that a third-class newspaper company that made a living from solicitation s could cover.
Yoon Jin-hyo's gaze swept through a space full of fire trucks.
The scoop about Park Dowook must be up to here. He would just have to pray in the face of such a massive disaster.
"Heuk…. heuk…."
Dowook jumped up the steep emergency stairs at once and opened the door on the fifth floor. He looked into the hallway, calming his heart with deep breaths.
A notice board on the wall.
There was an arrow in the direction of the concert hall next to the information on the convenience facilities.
"It's over there."
He was moving towards the pointed direction and ran again, but suddenly a loud crash sounded from outside the building. There was a vibration. It was an explosion that made one lean against the wall and crouch down.
"Are you okay, doctor?"
When asked by Lee Ji-seok, Dowook looked at him saying that he was okay.
Bzzzt.
-The flames are spreading by layers. The flames are soaring at the moment due to excessive air. The flames are still on the first floor of the main building.
"Okay."
-I radioed the headquarters, but the communication network burned down and the number of reports soared, so I couldn't reach the people in the building. Additional rescue teams have been dispatched, but it is difficult for them to arrive before the evacuation golden time.
While running while listening to the radio, a door leading to the main 17th-story building appeared at the end of the corridor of the 5th floor.
"I'm about to enter the main building."
-The headquarters classified people as rescue work first. Currently, the doctor is in charge of rescue, not first aid.
"It means I’m a volunteer firefighter."
-No, you're the person in charge of the rescue mission. I'm a volunteer fire captain. Other members will also call the doctor as the captain for convenience as of this time. If you have any instructions or requirements, please let me know right away.
The news that evacuation was the only countermeasure left.
In front of the dead end, Dowook felt a heavy sense of responsibility weighing on his shoulders. Fortunately, Han Min-gyu's sense as a paramedic was clearly flowing in his neural circuit since he had been using it all day.
“Did you understand, Captain Park Dowook?”
"Understood. Let’s go!”
