“We’ve got someone down! Jo and Nam, bring this man back out through the window on the second floor. Choi has a ladder waiting and the paramedics are prepared. Hurry! The floor won’t hold everyone for long! Go! Go!”

Listening to their lieutenant’s orders, the two firefighters grabbed the unconscious man’s arms and legs, being careful of any possible injuries he may have. Fire flared out of all the windows on the ground floor of a three-story apartment. Smoke filled every room and the visibility level was practically zero.

Breathing heavily, Lieutenant Kim Jongin began to search the ground floor for any more survivors. Smoke clouded his vision as he walked through flames that appeared from below him. He kicked through another door and found no one in the next room. Turning back around, he faced another lieutenant, Kim Sunggyu. Jongin shook his head and the two began to quickly move up to the second floor.

“Are there any more victims?” Sunggyu heard his Battalion Chief’s voice blare through his walkie-talkie.

“No sir! Jongin and I are on our way out.”

Nodding over to his fellow lieutenant, Sunggyu helped Jongin onto the ladder that was waiting for them on the second floor. After taking one more look around the room, Sunggyu climbed down the ladder.

“Moon, increase the water pressure and Yang, start to douse the fires starting from the bottom. Make sure the flames do not spread to the building next to this.”

Taking off his mask and hat, Jongin ran over to the ambulance and watched as the female paramedic checked over the victim’s wounds.

“Seungyeon, how is he? Will he make it?”

“He’s lost some blood from a fall and has inhaled a lot of smoke. But he’ll be fine if we bring him into the hospital now. Kyungsoo! Let’s go. We can’t waste any time.”

The paramedic and her partner strapped the victim onto the gurney and lifted it onto their ambulance. Running over to the driver’s side, Seungyeon quickly jumped in and sped off in the direction of the nearest hospital.

“Jongin! Are you alright? You didn’t get injured, right?” Turning his head, Jongin faced the smiling face of his Battalion Chief, Kim Hyun Joong.

“No sir, I believe Lieutenant Sunggyu and I escaped without injuries.”

Jongin turned his head back towards the building that was previously on fire and watched as another firefighter, Moon Junyoung, ran inside to check for what started the fire. A few moments later, the firefighter remerged from the building, holding a strange contraption.

“Lieutenant… You might want to take a look at this.”

Taking a step closer Junyoung, Jongin glanced down at the contraption with curiosity. It seemed to be a basket-like container for a liquid and after smelling it, both firefighers were able to distinguish what liquid was held in the device.

Fire accelerant.

“Bring this over to Lieutenant Sunggyu, he might be able to figure out what specific accelerant this was.”

“Yes sir, but did you take a look at the inside of the container? …It says your name on it…”

Jongin took the contraption from Junyoung’s hand and looked at it carefully. It looked like a simple basket made out of metal, but there was a burning smell that came from the inside of it and the residue of a string was left on the handle of the basket. Looking inside of the basket more closely, Jongin could see his name inscribed on the bottom of the basket.

“What in the world is going on?”

xxx

“Good work today, everyone! We stopped the fire before it spread to another building and the only victim survived and is expected to be released in a few days. Firehouse 07 has done another great job.”

A round of applause was heard in Firehouse 07. It was a typical firehouse located in Seoul, South Korea and everyone assigned to the firehouse seemed to get along perfectly.  With a high success rate of search and rescue, Firehouse 07 was deemed to be the best firehouse in all of Seoul.

The team was back at their firehouse after saving one man from a burning building. Instead of wearing their firefighter suits, everyone was wearing their dark blue sweatpants along with a plain grey t-shirt. Each person had their rank and name printed on the back of their shirt.

“Chief! When do you think the city will let us install new ladders onto our trucks? We’ve been using the same ladder for the last two years and I think we deserve a replacement.”

Hyun Joong chuckled and shook his head, “I doubt we’ll get a replacement soon because of all of the recent budget cuts the Fire Department has had.”

A loud groan came from the firefighter who first spoke up, Choi Junhong.

“Sir, if you don’t mind me asking… Why have there been so many budget cuts lately?” This time is was the assistant paramedic, Do Kyungsoo that asked. 

“Ah, what a wonderful question Kyungsoo! Unfortunately, I have no idea why there have been budget cuts, but I’m sure we will be told about it soon. Now I want everyone to relax. Hopefully we won’t get another call today.”

Hyun Joong nodded at his head towards his firefighters and walked away, heading towards his office.

“Seungyeon Noona, was everything alright when going to the hospital?” Junyoung approached his childhood friend and took a seat across from her. He noticed that Kyungsoo was once again staying by Seungyeon’s side.

“Everything was fine because I managed to drive there quickly. Kyungsoo did a good job of watching over the man.” With a grin, Seungyeon reached over to ruffle her partner’s hair and she laughed when she saw him blush slightly.

“I was just doing my job!” Kyungsoo leaned away from Seungyeon, trying to stop her hands from ruffling his hair.

Junyoung smiled at the two paramedics before he noticed Jongin sitting by himself. Usually, Jongin hated sitting alone and would always start a conversation with another firefighter, but after what happened earlier, Junyoung could only assume that Jongin needed some time alone.

“Anybody want to cook for us? I forgot whose turn it was for today.” Jo Youngmin, another firefighter, asked out loud.

“I think it was my turn, wasn’t it? Sunggyu Hyung cooked yesterday and I’m always after him.” Was the reply of Nam Woohyun as he walked over to the stove that was installed in the kitchen of the firehouse.

“Please don’t cook the pasta you made last week. I still can’t get that taste out of my mouth.” Lieutenant Yang Seungho cringed at the memory of having to eat the strange orange pasta that Woohyun had previously made.

“Hyung, if you can’t get that taste out of your mouth that means it was delicious and your mouth wants to remember it!”

“That’s twisted logic, Woohyun.”

Woohyun chuckled hearing his best friend, Sunggyu, reply to him. He started humming and began to search the refrigerator for ingredients.

This was the daily routine of Firehouse 07. When on a rescue mission or when on call, everyone decided to just call each other by their given name, regardless of age. However, when inside of their firehouse, they revert back to using formalities for respect. Occasionally, they would call each other by their ranks.  They were one big family, both in and outside of the firehouse.

“Hyung~ Can you make some eggs?”

Junhong, the youngest firefighter, snuck up behind Woohyun and hugged his arm. Since he was the youngest, he tended to act like a baby to get what he wanted. It usually worked on everyone in the firehouse.

“Okay, okay. You’ll get some scrambled eggs in a few minutes. Go play with Seungyeon Noona while I’m cooking.” Woohyun shook Junhong off his arm and began cooking. While he walked over to Seungyeon, Junhong accidentally bumped into Jongin and almost threw the lieutenant off balance.

“Woah, you okay Hyung? You seem to be in a daze…” The young firefighter waved his hand in front of Jongin’s face and did not get a response.

“Jongin, are you alright? Did you hit your head inside of the building from earlier?”

Immediately, Seungyeon stood up and began to check on Jongin’s head. She inspected his body for any missed wounds and tilted her head when she decided that he did not have any visual injuries.

“You look tired, you should rest.”

Gripping his shoulders, Seungyeon began to push Jongin towards the recreational area of the firehouse where a couch was located. She led him over to the couch and forced him to sit down before taking a small flashlight out of her pocket. She waved the light in front of his eyes and did not notice any abnormalities.

“Noona, I’m physically fine. Don’t worry.” Jongin finally spoke up and kept his head down.

“I want you to take a nap and rest for a bit, okay? You don’t look too good.” Seungyeon crossed her arms and looked down at the lieutenant with worry. She sighed in relief as she watched Jongin lay back on the couch.

“Wake me up if we get a call.”

“Of course, we’ll need you.”

The paramedic walked away from the recreational area and back over to the kitchen, which was right across the hall. When she stepped in, she noticed everyone staring at her.

“What?”

“You know, the device that caused the fire had Jongin’s name on it.” Junyoung’s voice rang throughout the kitchen and he knew he had caught everyone’s attention.

“So, this is an arsonist then, correct? That fire definitely wasn’t an accident and we all know that.” Seungho said, looking up from his newspaper. He took a glance over at Sunggyu who also nodded his head.

“That weird basket device had trace amounts of butane in it. Butane is a common fire accelerant but it is common knowledge that butane should never be left out in the open like that. Also, there seemed to be residue of a match in the basket as well. This fire was deliberately set by someone.”

“Do you think it was the man that was caught in the fire? He was the only one in the area.” Woohyun asked, still cooking eggs for everyone.

“That’s impossible. If he personally put the match or fire into the butane, he would have burned his own body. Out victim didn’t have any burns but he merely lost blood from falling after inhaling too much smoke. He was innocent.” Kyungsoo replied quietly, looking back over at the two lieutenants in the room.

“I doubt Jongin Hyung is involved in any way. He’s not the kind of person to set fires himself and he’s been with us all morning.” Youngmin said, leaning his head back as he spoke.

“Someone is calling his attention though. He may be the target of an arsonist then.” Junhong added as he leaned onto the kitchen counter, waiting for his eggs.

“If this happens again, then we’ll definitely have to have an investigation done. This endangers the lives of innocent civilians.” Sunggyu decided and everyone nodded their head.

“This might be a bad time to announce this, but food is ready. Eat while it’s hot!” Woohyun said as he got the plates out. He served eggs and toast to everyone and smiled when he noticed Seungyeon getting food as well.

“Hope you like it, Noona~” He winked playfully at her and she laughed.

“Woohyun, you’re flirting with her again.” Junyoung chuckled as he grabbed his water bottle out of the refrigerator and he nudged his friend’s side teasingly. He thought Woohyun’s small crush on Seungyeon was somewhat funny.

“Men are just strange.” Seungyeon sighed and sat next to Kyungsoo, like always. The two paramedics had a very good relationship and they treated each other like siblings.

“Excuse me?”

Everyone looked up when they head an unfamiliar voice and they were surprised when they saw a woman, probably in her 20s, holding a plastic bag in her hand. She smiled nervously before bowing her head and introducing herself.

“Ah, sorry! I am Dr. Park Gyuri and I am assigned to Seoul Hospital down the road. I’m looking for Jo Youngmin?” She looked around curiously, before a look of sudden realization came across her face.

“You’re Youngmin, correct?” She pointed over to Youngmin, who currently had a piece of toast in his mouth. He chewed quickly and nodded his head.

The woman smiled and approached him, searching through the plastic bag as she walked closer to him. She took out a bottle and handed it to Youngmin.

“I work with your brother Kwangmin and he asked me to deliver this to you. These are some pills for the cold you have right now, but I’m sure you won’t need them. Kwangmin seemed to be really worried about you.”

She smiled once again and bowed towards everyone before stepping out of the kitchen quickly.

“Woah, your brother works with some pretty good looking doctors, doesn’t he?” Seungho said as he sat next to Youngmin who was reading over the label that was on the bottle of pills.

“He’s surrounded by beautiful women and he still thinks of me. That’s a true brother.” Youngmin chuckled and took out one pill, swallowing it with some water.

A sudden announcement over the intercom broke the peace in the kitchen.

“Emergency on Highway 21… Multiple vehicle crash with live flames… Rescue is needed.”

Seungyeon stood up quickly and ran over to the recreational area to wake up Jongin, but noticed he was already up and walking towards the truck garage. She nodded over to Kyungsoo who began to put on his blue paramedic vest. Everyone else abandoned their food and ran over to the truck garage, suiting up for their call. They split up and went to their own trucks as the two paramedics got into their ambulance.

“We can always eat later. Let’s go everyone, get your jackets on and hurry to Highway 21.” Jongin said as he prepared himself. He zipped up his jacket and followed the suited-up Sunggyu to their assigned truck.

“Firehouse 07!  Let’s go!”

;;

Dun dun duuuuuuuuuun.