Don't let the chapter image shock you. It's not going to be that bad (I just couldn't find a more less burning picture so used this). Anyway, Enjoy!

Words: 51xx

BOOM!

Siwon and Kyuhyun open their eyes at the sound. “What was that? That was so loud!” said Kyuhyun “Was it fireworks?”

“Fireworks can’t be that loud. Let’s go and check.” They go out of the house and the scene in front of them shocks them.

A part of Zhou Mansion was… on fire!

“The mansion is on fire! Ma, Baba and Nainai must be inside. They didn’t plan to go out today. What do we do?!” Kyuhyun panicked.

“They’re inside!?” Siwon looked at the burning mansion shocked “We need to save them. Kyuhyun, call the fire department and report the fire. I’ll call the ambulance.”

Kyuhyun fumbles as he dials the number but successfully reports the fire and gives the address. Just then, they see someone come out. The person comes out and falls on the ground. Kyuhyun and Siwon rush over “Victoria!?”

Victoria was lying on the ground, her face black with soot “*cough* There was *cough* a blast inside the kitchen *cough* save Ma, Baba *cough* and Nainai.”

“Where are they?” asked Siwon.

“*cough* Baba and Nainai *cough* are in Nainai’s room *cough* Ma was in the *cough* study…” Victoria faints.

Kyuhyun looks at the fire “Siwon, the fire is getting worse. What do we do? We just can’t keep waiting for the fire truck to come.”

Just then, the ambulance arrives “Thank god.” Kyuhyun sighed. The people took Victoria in the ambulance. “There are more people trapped in there so please come back again.” Siwon requested.

After the ambulance left, Siwon looked at the mansion “I need to save them. I’m going in.”

Siwon was about to go in but Kyuhyun held his hand “If you’re going, I’m going with you.”

Siwon shook his head “No, I can’t let you risk your life.”

“Oh come on, Siwon! They’re my family too now. I have as much rights as you do. I’m going to save them no matter what.” Kyuhyun held Siwon's hand “We need to save them as soon as possible.”

Kyuhyun goes back to the house and comes back with two blankets. He gives one to Siwon and drapes the other around him. They get inside and see fire and smoke in the left wing of the house. The fire was bad. Kyuhyun looked at Siwon “Let’s split up. You go to Nainai’s room and I’ll go to the study.”

“But the study is near to the kitchen. The fire must be bad there.” Said Siwon, worried.

“I can’t help two people escape. You can. Just go and save Nainai and Baba. I’ll save Ma.”

Siwon looked at Kyuhyun worried. Kyuhyun smiled “Just go and save them. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

Siwon nods and ruffles Kyuhyun’s hair “Take care of yourself.”

“I will.” Siwon rushed towards Nainai’s room and Kyuhyun rushes to the study.

Kyuhyun sees the door open but the fire was a bit strong. Thankfully, the blanket was think enough and he knew it wouldn’t catch fire easily. He covers his face and goes inside. He shouts “Ma? Are you in there? Ma?” Why is she not responding?

Kyuhyun wasn’t able to see properly due to smoke. Did she escape? Thinking so, Kyuhyun was about to go out when he heard a whimper. He turned around “Ma?”

“*cough* Kyu *cough* hyun?” came Ma’s voice.

“Ma! Where are you?” Kyuhyun asked as loud as he could.

“Near *cough* the table *cough* Help…” her voice sounded weak.

Kyuhyun went to where the table was burning fiercely. He saw around and found Ma lying on the ground with a bookshelf fallen beside.

“Ma!” Kyuhyun rushed towards her “Ma, are you okay?”

“My leg... *cough* can’t walk *cough* save me” said Ma feebly.

Kyuhyun saw that the bookshelf had fallen on Ma’s right leg. He pushed the bookshelf as hard as he could. When he was successful, he helped Ma stand up. He draped the blanket on him around her and gave her support to walk. He carefully started to walk towards the door. Soon, they were able to exit the room. As they came out of the room, the burning ceiling fell behind them, making them fall forward. Kyuhyun groaned as his head hit something on the ground but he couldn’t care less about it. He found Ma lying beside him, half- conscious.

“Ma, don’t close your eyes! *cough* they’ll be here soon to save us”

“Why?”

Kyuhyun looked at her confused. He didn’t expect a why at that moment.

Ma asked again “Why are *cough* you saving *cough* me?”

“Because you are my family.” Kyuhyun smiled.

Ma looked at Kyuhyun, guilt in her eyes. She was being bad to such an angel. “But *cough* I was *cough* bad”

“You were doing *cough* what you felt was *cough* right for the family *cough* I didn’t mind it *cough* Ma, please don’t give up.” Kyuhyun was having trouble breathing now due to all the smoke around.

Ma looked at Kyuhyun, tears in her eyes. She was so wrong all this time. She was mistreating a good person. “I am *cough* sorry”

“We can *cough* talk about it *cough* later. First we need to *cough* get out of here.” Kyuhyun helped Ma back to her feet. Walking as fast as they could, they reached the hall. The whole hall was on fire now, unlike the time when Kyuhyun had come. They started walking a bit faster and were about to reach the door when something fell in front of them. On the other side of the fire and smoke, Kyuhyun was able to see a silhouette. “ Siwon?”

Kyuhyun was right. It was Siwon. Siwon was able to help Nainai and Baba in the nick of time and to be honest; it wasn’t that hard since the fire had spread less there. The fire near the study was bigger. After safely sending Nainai and Baba in the ambulance, Siwon was coming back inside to rescue Kyuhyun and Ma. He had spotted them and was about to go in when something fell. Siwon rushed and found Ma and Kyuhyun on the other side. “ Kyuhyun, are you okay?”

“We are okay *cough* Help us!” Kyuhyun said as loud as he could. Siwon looked around if he could find a fire extinguisher but before he could spot one, he heard a rumble.

“What *cough* was that?” Ma asked. The three looked up and found a chandelier above.

“Get away!” Siwon shouted. The chandelier looked as if it could fall at any second. Standing below it was dangerous and right now, Kyuhyun and Ma were right below it. Siwon panicked and looked around trying to find a way to extinguish the fire in front. Where are the damn extinguishers!? He spotted one nearby. He rushed and brought it, and started extinguishing the fire.

The fire had nearly extinguished when the rumble got louder. Kyuhyun looked up and saw that the chandelier was shaking vigorously. Just when the fire died in front of him, he heard a snap. Without thinking for a moment, he pushed Ma towards Siwon.

As Siwon was done, he heard a snap and then he saw someone dashing into him. He saw that Ma was pushed onto him. Just then, he heard a crashing sound. He looked above Ma and saw a body lying beside the now-broken chandelier “ Kyuhyun!”

~~~

It was the 1st of January. The first day of a brand New Year and people usually expect it to be happy but it wasn’t the case for the Zhous.

Siwon had called all the family members to the hospital and narrated the whole incident. So, right now, Zhou Mi was sitting in the waiting hall, praying. Sungmin was consoling the crying Saeun. Donghae and Hyukjae looked equally shocked and were crossing their fingers, hoping everyone was fine. But none of them compared to Siwon’s state.

Siwon looked devastated. Literally. Nainai had fainted due to excess smoke inhalation. Baba had a few injuries on his hand and was also unconscious. Ma had a bad wound on her right leg which was stitched. But Kyuhyun’s condition was the worst. That’s why he was still in the operating theater. Kyuhyun was suspected of having a fracture in his left hand, 2 of his ribs broken and a concussion. Small pieces of glass from the chandelier had pierced his arms and back. It had been 4 hours already and there was no news about Kyuhyun’s condition.

After another hour of torturous wait, the doctor came out of the operating theater. Siwon rushed to the doctor “How is Kyuhyun? Is he alright?”

The doctor smiled “Don’t worry, Mr Choi is alright. The operation was successful. But he still hasn’t gained consciousness. We’ll keep him under observation for the next 48 hours in the ICU. I hope he gains his consciousness soon.”

“Doctor, can I meet him?”

“No, you can’t. But you can see him from outside. No one is allowed to go in to meet him until I say so.” The doctor patted Siwon’s shoulder “Don’t worry, he’s a strong man.”

Siwon stood outside the ICU, looking at the unconscious boy from outside. Thank god, you are safe. He kept looking at Kyuhyun when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and found Donghae, looking at Kyuhyun. Then, he looked at Siwon “Our Kyu is a strong man. Nothing is going to happen to him.”

Siwon hugged Donghae “Thanks man.” Donghae smiled and patted Siwon’s back. Siwon sighed “I need to check–“

“Done.” Hyukjae said as he walked towards them “Me, Zhou Mi and Sungmin hyung have checked on the others. All of them have gained consciousness but are resting again right now, except Victoria. Victoria was the least affected so she gained consciousness pretty soon. Look, there she comes”

Siwon turned around and found Victoria coming towards them with Zhou Mi supporting her. Zhou Mi made her sit on one of the chairs and then walked towards them “How is Kyuhyun?”

“Safe but unconscious” replied Siwon. “By the way, how is Victoria?”

“She wasn’t affected much. She gained consciousness pretty soon. So, she came to see others.”

“Hmm… is she able to talk properly?”

Zhou Mi frowned “Yes… but what kind of question is that?”

“You’ll get to know.” Siwon went to Victoria and sat right beside her. Victoria looked at him, expressionless “Victoria, tell me what happened.”

“Huh?”

“Explain how this incident happened.”

“How would she know?” Zhou Mi questioned.

“She is the only one who would know. She told us where the others were.” Siwon turns to Victoria “Tell me. How did it happen?”

Victoria took a deep breath “It might have been a firework.”

“A firework?”

Victoria nodded as she continued “The transformer blasted and short-circuited the kitchen. The fire started and in blink of an eye, the fire grew monstrous.” Victoria shuddered.

“How do you know that?”

“I was near the kitchen when the blast happened and the fire caught the kitchen. As soon as I saw the fire growing big, I escaped. The fire was spreading faster than expected.” Victoria shuddered at the thought “It was just so dangerous…”

Zhou Mi sighed “So, this was an accident”

“No.” Victoria cut in, making everyone look at her in confusion “I don't think this was an accident. It must have been planned.”

“But you said…”

Victoria sighed “I said it might have been a firework. I was going to the kitchen because we got the smell of gas so I went to check if the gas was on. When I was about to reach, I heard a blast and right in front of my eyes, the fire started and burnt the kitchen in seconds. You might say that someone might have forgotten to off the gas but no one used the kitchen for the whole day. I had bought food from our restaurant so the stove wasn’t used. There was no way one of us could have left it open.”

“Hmm…” Siwon thought for a while “… did you just use we? And you were near the kitchen?”

Victoria looked at him, confused “Huh?”

“You used we instead of I when you said about smelling gas. Who were you with?”

“I was with Ma in the study…” Victoria stopped as she saw Siwon looking furious “Why… are you like this?”

“You’re saying that you escaped when you saw the fire and didn’t care about saving Ma?” Siwon sounded very