# Chapter 50
It was the smell of something burning. When I hurriedly went back to the hallway, a faint haze of smoke hung in the air.
Following the smoke, I found a large fire in a small storage room next to the bathroom. My rapidly beating heart felt like it would go numb from the strain.
A sudden fire? That didn’t make sense. It could be an accident like an electrical short, but in the current situation, it was hard to believe this fire was just an unfortunate coincidence.
Someone might have deliberately set the fire after putting everyone in the orphanage to sleep and cutting off all means of communication with the outside. Besides, even though it was a small orphanage, there was no way they wouldn’t have fire safety measures in place. It was also strange that neither the sprinklers nor the fire alarm had activated despite the fire.
“Cough, cough.”
The smoke that had started from the storage room had already filled the entire building. I kept fanning with my hand against the acrid smoke that brought tears to my eyes, but it was no use. I remembered hearing that during fires, more people die from smoke inhalation than from the flames themselves.
I covered my nose and mouth with the back of my hand as best I could, then moved the children who had collapsed in the hallway into a room that wasn’t yet filled with smoke. I tried to open the windows, but of course, they wouldn’t budge. This was definitely deliberate arson.
“I think it’s a serial arson. Among all those buildings, there’s no way orphanages would accidentally catch fire.”
I recalled the conversation between teachers that I had inadvertently overheard during my last visit to Somang Orphanage. The youngest teacher had mentioned something suspicious at that time… but in my current panic, I couldn’t remember the details.
“Fire extinguisher, there should be a fire extinguisher.”
Holding back tears, I searched for a fire extinguisher that had to be somewhere. Fortunately, it was mounted in the middle of the hallway. Without hesitation, I grabbed it and rushed to the burning storage room.
“Gasp!”
The flames that had been contained to just the storage room had now spread to the building walls and were climbing up to the ceiling. At this rate and intensity, it seemed the fire would consume the entire building in no time.
The massive amount of black smoke made it difficult to breathe properly. I took a deep breath, pulled the safety pin from the extinguisher, and sprayed the fire-suppressing powder toward the flames.
The fire at my feet seemed to subside as it was covered with white powder, but one fire extinguisher was insufficient to subdue flames that were already consuming the walls. I realized this wasn’t a situation I could handle alone.
There was nothing I could do right now.
“Teacher! Director! Wake up! Hey! Kids! Wake up! Please! Hic…!”
I shook the bodies of the people who were sleeping like the dead, even slapping their faces with my palms, but no one woke up.
“Hic. Ugh.”
The tears I had been holding back finally burst forth. More than the fear of death, I cried because of my helplessness. It was painful knowing that despite being awake, I couldn’t save anyone. I almost wished I had remained asleep too.
BOOM!
“Ahh!”
I heard a loud explosion from the end of the hallway. As something exploded, black smoke and flames poured into the corridor.
I lowered my body to the floor as much as possible to avoid inhaling the smoke and covered my head with my hands. I couldn’t tell how far the flames had spread, but I could feel the scorching heat nearby.
“Hic. Ugh. Jaeyeon… hic. sniff.”
I just kept crying, thinking about Jaeyeon who would be left alone in the world. Although smart and capable Jaeyeon would manage everything well even without me, I was sorry that she would lose her only blood relative at such a young age.
And Heerim.
I had just started to like someone for the first time, only for it to end so futilely. If I had known this would happen, I would have recognized my feelings earlier. I had wasted time drawing useless boundaries out of pride. Tears flowed endlessly as I realized how foolish I’d been. What was I so afraid of that made me push Heerim away when I had nothing to lose?
Claiming I wanted an ordinary, stable life. Why was I so afraid of dating, something everyone else does?
“Hic. Ugh.”
I missed Heerim. I wanted to convey my feelings to him properly. If only I could survive this, I wanted to properly experience ordinary romance and love like everyone else.
BOOM!
As if mocking my thoughts, another explosion sounded. Why do people only regret things when they reach the point of no return?
“Hic…”
Wanting to escape this situation even slightly, I closed my eyes and covered my ears with my hands. But cruelly, blocking my sight and hearing only brought a wretched emptiness.
BANG!
The sound that had been distant was now right beside me. It was so loud that my eardrums felt like they would burst even though I was covering them.
“Jaeo hyung!”
I was curled up, blankly awaiting the moment of death. Heerim’s voice echoed faintly in my mind.
I’d heard that people see their life flash before their eyes just before death, but it seemed I was hearing hallucinations instead.
I pressed my palms harder against my ears to hear the hallucination more clearly.
“Hic, can’t hear…”
Even though I covered my ears so hard that my earlobes were squished, Heerim’s voice was no longer audible. I sobbed like a child in sorrow. Just then, someone grabbed my curled-up body with strong force and pulled me up.
“Hyung!”
Unless I was seeing a hallucination after hearing one, the person standing before me was definitely Heerim. He was panting heavily.
“Hee, Heerim? Is it really you?”
“Yes. It’s me.”
“Hic. Waaah.”
As soon as I confirmed it wasn’t a hallucination, I embraced him and wept in his arms. Beyond any embarrassment, all I could think was how fortunate I was to see Heerim one last time.
“It’s okay. I’m here now. You’ll be okay.”
Heerim comforted me as I sobbed. Though he spoke maturely, his face was as pale as mine. When our eyes met, Heerim forced a gentle smile.
“Let’s get out of here quickly.”
Heerim supported my back and the backs of my knees with his large hands, then lifted me up. Surprised by the floating sensation, I wrapped my arms around his neck.
The crimson flames had already engulfed the entire corridor with frightening intensity. The path to the exit was nothing but a pit of fire.
“Hold on tight.”
His low voice resonated in my head. As I tightened my grip around Heerim’s neck, he leaped into the flames.
“Ahhh!”
I screamed at the unexpected action and squeezed my eyes shut. But soon I realized I didn’t feel any heat. When I cautiously opened my eyes, I noticed a faint protective barrier around Heerim and me. The color of Heerim’s hair had changed as he held me. Without any hesitation, Heerim ran through the flames, allowing us to escape from the orphanage in an instant.
Despite the massive fire, it was strangely quiet outside the building. I remained in Heerim’s arms in a daze for a moment before coming to my senses. It wasn’t time to feel relieved yet.
“There are still people inside!”
At my cry, Heerim carefully set me down on a nearby bench.
“Wait here for a moment.”
“What?”
Heerim patted my shoulder reassuringly and turned toward the building. Although it made sense that he would leave me behind since I had no special abilities, my heart inexplicably ached with anxiety. It felt wrong to just let him go like this.
“Hee, Heerim!”
I grabbed Heerim’s arm as he turned away from me. He looked back with a puzzled expression.
“Hyung?”
My heart swelled just from having his gaze upon me. I exhaled deeply, my chest full of emotion, and met Heerim’s eyes. Like he always did with me, I focused my gaze solely on him. For some reason, I felt like crying and bit my lip hard.
“Are you hurt somewhere?!”
Perhaps finding my behavior strange, Heerim knelt on one knee and urgently examined my body. I interlocked his wandering hands with mine and placed them on my thigh. I didn’t want to act like a coward anymore.
“Heerim…”
I uttered his name like a chant. A gentle tension hung between us. Heerim didn’t rush, quietly waiting for what I would say next.
After taking a breath that matched my heartbeat.
“I like you.”
I finally said what I wanted to say. For such a big decision, it felt like a casual confession, but I was more nervous than ever before.
Heerim froze with a somewhat dumbfounded expression and stared at me for a long time. It felt as though time had stopped for a moment.
I tried to act natural despite the belated embarrassment washing over me as I waited for Heerim’s response. But Heerim didn’t say anything. Perhaps confessing in this kind of situation wasn’t appropriate after all.
“Ah! We should quickly get the others out…”
As I hurriedly tried to change the subject, I noticed something was off about Heerim.
“Heerim?”
It was too dark to see clearly, but it seemed like the corners of Heerim’s eyes had turned red.
“Are you crying?”
At my question, Heerim abruptly stood up.
“I-I’ll go rescue the others and be right back.”
Before I could stop him, Heerim disappeared into the building where flames were billowing.
“Huh.”
Having received no answer to my confession, I let out a hollow laugh and stared blankly at my palm where Heerim’s warmth had just been.
Though my confession was impulsive, I didn’t regret it. Rather, I felt relieved after revealing all my feelings.
I waited for Heerim, thinking I would give him a proper Guiding when he safely returned with everyone. I had faith that the people inside would be safe since Heerim had gone to rescue them.
“Jaeo hyung.”
I was sitting quietly on the bench, just waiting for Heerim to come out. Just as I was thinking that the flames engulfing the building seemed to be weakening, I suddenly heard Heerim’s voice in my head.
“Me too.”
…So he was crying after all.
“I like you. A lot.”
Hearing Heerim’s voice, unmistakably tearful to anyone listening, my heart felt more full than ever before.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
