These had to be the worst rains since Typhoon Bolaven or even Maemi. Ever since Yeomna hit Jeju-do five days back, entire nation had descended into a state of panic. People remained holed up in their rooms, stocking up their pantries for the indefinite lockdown while the government agencies were up on their toes 24x7, prepared to face any emergency that had already started to arise in the peripheral areas.

Taehyung resented every bit of it……. In his young life of 23 years, he had seen many typhoons come and go, but this really had to be the worst. Even if he was stationed in the safe confines of Gwacheon, nothing was really calm and happy in a firefighter’s life when a disaster was lurking in the air, just ready to strike. And to top it all, he couldn’t even complete his personal goal of binge watching his favorite anime which he had been craving for since almost six months now.

Yeah. Life totally for him at the moment.

He sulked as he remained seated on the passenger’s seat of his fire truck with arms crossed, his ears trained on the news radio broadcast that was giving out technical details about the weather onset and the damage caused till now. At one point, he totally lost his interest and threw his head back on the seat with an exaggerated huff.

“Tired?” Chanyeol asked him from the other seat.

“Frustrated” he mumbled without opening his eyes, “Why did this freaking storm land up at this time when I was just going to catch up with my long time love “Anohana”?”

“Tell me about it” his senior grumbled, a lopsided smirk formed on his face, “I was supposed to be back at home, spending a quiet day with my wife and kid …. and here I am, fulfilling national duty. So much for being the hero…..”

“Yeah. It’s a thankless job” Taehyung now opened to see his senior from the corner of his eyes, “At least you have something to look forward to when you go home. And they let you loose for it so often now. I, on the other hand, has been put on so many overnight shifts that I am bloody exhausted….. I think I should rebel now.”

“Well” Chanyeol said thoughtfully, as he bent forward to change the news broadcast which was now becoming annoying, “You can’t help it kiddo. You are still a junior, and there’s a big storm right outside with thousands of frantic people in need of help. You’ve got to be ever ready to put up with it……..”

His senior’s lecture suddenly got interrupted when another broadcast hit them, “Anyone on Gwacheon unit 2? Please respond ASAP…….. I repeat, anyone On Gwacheon unit”

Chanyeol immediately picked up his receiver unit, “This is Captain Park Chanyeol from Gwacheon unit 2.” Taehyung perked up at the sudden call, preparing himself for the impending action as Chanyeol gave his coordinates to the caller.

“Captain Park” the robotic female voice addressed him from the other side, “There is a married couple stranded in YeonJuDae area, 5 km away from your current location. Their car met with an accident and they are in immediate need of EMS. Please check on them and report on the situation ASAP as we send for backup.”

“Aye. Moving forwards” Chanyeol replied stiffly as he put the receiver down. He then smirked to look at his junior, “Buckle up your belt kiddo. Looks like we are on the job”.

Taehyung gave him his boxy grin, sending him a salute, “At your service, sir.” They started off almost immediately in the dense rains, going towards the designated area as they were directed to. Five minutes later, a car wreck became visible in the headlights of the speeding truck when their eyes suddenly fell on a rain drenched, injured man standing in the center of the street, waving frantically at them to stop. Chanyeol immediately hit the brakes, thanking his quick reflexes, as they managed to prevent an inevitable accident. He immediately stepped out of the truck wearing his insignia helmet and jacket with Taehyung coming in his tow.

“Sir” Chanyeol lightly scolded the hysterical man who was almost on the verge of tears, “You can’t stand in the middle of the street when it’s raining cats and dogs. What if you get injured?” “P…Please help me….” the man cried now holding on to Chanyeol’s jacket, “My… my wife is in the car. She is due to deliver anytime soon. I was t…. taking her to the hospital when this happened…. P...Please…” Chanyeol motioned to Taehyung to check on the car as he tried to console the frantic man, assuring him as best as he could.

Taehyung ran towards the car- its front crushed against a tall tree, with his walkie-talkie and flashlight in hand, ready to deal with the situation. This wasn’t his first time dealing with such a situation but still he could feel the adrenaline pumping through him. It was as if every single time felt like the first time. And that’s what made him love his job. Luckily enough, the car hadn’t slipped off the cliff. He saw the shattered glass windows, probably done by the passengers in a desperate attempt to escape when the car must have crashed.

He walked towards the back seats, bending down to open the doors, flashing his flashlight inside. A heavily pregnant lady was lying, crying miserably, holding her stomach and writhing in pain with her legs towards Taehyung. On seeing him, he saw a hint of relief wash through her as she extended a hand towards him, “Please help me…..” before she could even complete her sentence, another wave of pain rocked her as she doubled up on her seat, this time shouting out to relieve some of the pain.

“I will get you out ma’am” Taehyung her back as he spoke to her in calm, deep voice, trying to dissipate some of her stress, “You will be out of this. And so will your baby…… Just hold on for some more time. Take deep breaths.” He quickly examined her body, looking for any injuries or fractures. Luckily, she didn’t have any, save for a bruise on her forehead and some scratches on hands. He switched on his walkie-talkie, “Lieutenant Kim Taehyung calling from Gwacheon unit 2. Please respond ASAP.”

He heard the same robotic voice respond after some seconds, “Lieutenant Kim pass on your coordinates and your message.” “We are at YeonJuDae area, near the temple site on the national highway. I have a pregnant lady here in a wrecked car, who is ready to deliver at any minute. Requesting for an ambulance with a doctor immediately….” He stood patiently in the rain as he waited for the reply to his emergency call. And then he heard it, “Ambulance will be sent your way from the nearest place in five minutes. Meanwhile, please give the necessary medical measures as per the EMS protocol” and the call got disconnected. Taehyung then sprang into action, checking around the car for an emergency kit or anything else that could help him in the current situation.

“What you got kiddo?” Chanyeol came from behind as Taehyung searched through the dashboard. “Nothing much thankfully” he said nonchalantly as his hands scurried through a pouch of medicines and bandages, “Just a bruised head and some scratches. I called for an ambulance and right now, am looking for something that can delay the bun from coming out sooner, which……. I highly doubt an emergency kit of a car will have” he now looked up to stare blankly at his senior.

Chanyeol chuckled, “Well at least you are thinking of something.” He then went towards the lady who was now visibly calmed for a bit, “Ma’am. We will get you out of here. Don’t panic all right? Now, I want you to take a deep breath….. Good. You are doing good….. Here, have some water. We don’t want you to get dehydrated now, do we?” he calmly talked to her as he passed an opened water bottle to her with one hand, his other hand carefully lifting her up from the seat. He held her up as she gulped down little sips of the drink.

Taehyung came up from behind Chanyeol with a neck cushion, an ointment and some bandages that he had found in the pouch. He put the cushion on the seat as Chanyeol carefully laid her back when she again doubled up in pain, this time her scream louder than before. When the spasm was gone, she cried holding on to Chanyeol’s arm, “P… Please help…… My husband… where….” “He is okay” Chanyeol assured her, holding her hand tightly in his, “He is totally fine. Don’t worry, okay? He is right here. We will just patch him up and he will be here, all right? Now tell me, what’s your name?” “L…lee Chaerin” she whispered, trying to control herself from shouting out again. “Chaerin-ssi” Chanyeol squeezed her hand, “You will be out. Don’t worry…..”

He then looked towards Taehyung, motioning him to pass the medicines to him. “Go to her husband Taetae…..” Chanyeol addressed him, “Patch him up quickly and ask the police to drag their asses here ASAP.” Taehyung nodded his head silently and then ran towards the man, who was standing calmly beside the truck in the rain, looking towards the car with a worried expression.

“Everything alright?” Taehyung smiled at him a bit, trying to cheer up the gloomy mood. “Kind of” the man whispered back, “At least we are alive” and he smiled a bit at him. Taehyung motioned him to sit on the pedestal leading up to the inside of the truck, which was relatively dry than the outside. He saw the man limping as he somehow sat up on the designated seat. Taehyung then examined him, finding multiple bruises and a couple of fractures including his right leg. “Well obviously” Taehyung sighed deeply, “You need medical help too, sir. I can just stabilize you for now. But we will have to check you for rib fractures and such….. You really are a lucky man” he smiled a bit at him and ran back towards the opposite side of the truck. Suddenly, his gaze fell on the group of trees on the other side of the road. Rather on the bundle that was lying on their feet.

He switched on his flashlight as he went nearer to the suspicious site, his heart rate increasing with each step. And suddenly he came to a stop, his eyes widening.

He dashed towards the area, immediately coming to a stop before the clear figure. Taehyung bent down to confirm his fears, turning around the fallen figure. He immediately switched on the walkie-talkie again, wasting no time, ““Lieutenant Kim Taehyung calling from Gwacheon unit 2. Please respond ASAP…….. I repeat myself- Lieutenant Kim Taehyung calling from Gwacheon unit 2………. Please respond ASAP.”

“Pass on your message Lieutenant Kim”, the voice replied on the other side.

“We are at YeonJuDae area, near the temple site on the national highway where a car crash took place half an hour ago. There are two injured victims…… and a dead body unrelated to the accident by the highway. I repeat, there’s a dead body, unrelated to the accident at the site. Requesting immediate police action……”

The line went dead for a few seconds as Taehyung waited with bated breath for a response. “The nearest police unit has been dispatched towards you. The ambulance you called for is already on its way with two paramedics and a doctor. They should be there within some time. Please await them while we monitor your coordinates and inform the needed authorities”.  The line went silent again.

Taehyung put the walkie-talkie down as his eyes once again fell on the body before him. As it turned out, there lay the stiff body of a middle aged man, with a bullet hole gaping through his broad chest.

His eyes had never fooled him before. Nor had his brain been dull so as to not be able to comprehend the situation before him. But little did he know that this would be the start of something much deeper, something he wished he never had been a part of in the first place…….