"Mrs. Kwon. Mom. We have to save her." he answered her.
 

Her heart sank the moment she heard his words. So many questions filled her head in an instant that she just stared at him in disbelieve. Did she hear it right? How did he know about Mrs. Kwon? Since when did he find out about their relation in life? How much did he know?

But the biggest question was: Was Mrs. Kwon really in the building like he said?

"Wha.. How did you.." she can only managed to whisper an unfinished question. He looked at her, looking apologetic. But he grabbed her shoulder and shook his head. "I know you have a lot of questions, but we don't have time right now. I'm not sure if Mom is really in the building or not, if she survived, or if she's even anywhere near this place at all right now. All I know is that she planned to visit a jewelry shop in this building today, around this time of hour. I hope i was wrong and right now she's safe at home, probably watching this incident from the TV. But we just need to make sure that she is fine. Ok? When this is all over, once we're sure that she's fine, I promise i'll answer all your questions."

She saw the desperation mixed with sadness and panic in his eyes, and she quickly nod her head. No time for questions now.

"Ok. What do you want me to do?" she said.

He glanced around, searching through the crowd that was watching the incident. The building was still on fire, flames can still be seen through the windows. A group of firemen were still trying to put out the fire. The fire seem to be engulfing the top floor of the building, while the other floor looked fairly untouched by fire, though heavy smoke already started to come out from the windows too. Several people were seen coming out from the lobby of the other side of the building, escorted by some firemen.

"Ok. You remember that time with the train crash? We gathered the spirits we picked up in one spot, along with other spirits that were found on the scene. Reapers usually do that so it would be easier to manage the spirits. I need you to find that gathering place and check if Mom's there. I hope you won't find her there though, cause that would mean we're too late."

A massive lump felt like choking as Aerri tried to hold back her tears. But she just nod and ask, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going in to see if she's in the building. We'll meet here again later." he said before he left her as he ran as quickly as he can towards the building's door.

She took a deep breath, willing herself not to cry. She wasn't even sure if Seunghyun could just ran into a burning building like that. Would he be in danger too? Hopefully not. But there was no use standing there, just worrying and crying. She better do what he told him to.

So she wandered through the crowd around the building. She tried to get rid all the 'what if' and 'how come' that swirl in her mind, and just focus on trying to find the Reaper's gathering place. She didn't know what to feel, if she want to see her mother's face amongst the crowd or not. But if she finally found the gathering place, she definitely don't want to find her mother there.

Soon, she could see a small group a bit further away from the crowd in front of the building. This particular group seem a bit odd, cause some of the people there are standing still, as if staring at nothing.

Aerri approached the group quickly, a bit unsure of what to do if a Reaper asked her what she was doing there. But the 2 Reapers that was guarding them seem to be watching the building, probably waiting for more spirits to be led out by the other Reapers.

Once she was near the group of spirits, Aerri carefully but quickly checked to see if Mrs. Kwon was among the 9 spirits that gathered there. She sighed, slightly in relief when she saw that Mrs. Kwon was not one of them.

"Hey, Aerri!" Suddenly she heard someone calling her name. She turned around and see Jay, the Reaper that she met not long ago at the dorm. Apparently he was one of the Reapers that was guarding the spirits.

"Oh.. Hi, Jay. Working?" she said, faking a small smile.

"Yeah. It's a mess, huh?" he said, glancing at the burning building.

"Yeah. You guys are still here, so does that mean there's going to be more victims?" she asked, looking at the spirits once more. Probably somehow she could find out where Mrs. Kwon is from the Reaper?

"Just them, so far. They're the planned casualties, so hopefully there won't be any more victims." Jay said, turning his head to the group of spirits.

"What happened anyway?"

"There was a pretty big gas explosion from the kitchen of one of the restaurants at the top floor. Most of the victims are people that were in the restaurant when it happened. It's actually a good thing that there are not even more victims cause people on the lower floors still had time to get out of the building."

"Is there a lot of Reapers still inside searching for the spirits?"

"I think all of us are out of the building and follow the injured people to the hospital."

Oh, right! There's a chance that Mrs. Kwon was one of the victims that was taken to the hospital! If she was, then how are they going to find her? How can they find out which hospital she got sent to? But then again, if she was really taken to a hospital, there was nothing that both Seunghyun and she could do, cause that means she's already saved and found, though injured. They could only wish that somehow the doctors would save her.

"Any unplanned victims?" she asked Jay carefully, hoping that she didn't sound suspicious.

"None so far. But you'll never know. Things happens sometimes."

Aerri hated how the words made her stomach churn. She just simply nod at Jay's words as she tried to calm herself down. There was no confirmation that Mrs. Kwon was in the building, so she just wished that Seunghyun was wrong and Mrs. Kwon was safe and sound, away from the chaos that Aerri was staring at that moment.

Standing there doing nothing made her feel even more anxious. So she waved goodbye to Jay and set off to circle around the building again as she decided to try and search for Mrs. Kwon again. She searched and searched, taking a good look at each one of the people standing in the crowd. But she found no one familiar, even among the survivors that were treated in the ambulance. What was taking Seunghyun so long? Why hasn't he out of the building yet?

Suddenly, she heard a voice from someone behind her.

"What are you doing, Aerri?"

Aerri turned around to see Seungri staring at her in curiousity and her guard was up immediately. As much as she knew Seungri, he's still a Rogue that had to do his job, whether he likes it or not. And she knew exactly what he was doing there: looking for a lost spirit.

"Working, Ri?" she asked, cautiously.

"Sort of. Why are you looking at me like that? And what are you doing? You've been acting weird."

"So you were following me?"

"I'm not in the mood for working, so when I wander around i thought at least i could have a chat with you."

"Not in the mood? So you haven't caught yourself a lost spirit today?" Aerri asked, hoping that the Rogue didn't trick her mom.

"No. Reapers are doing their job well. Security's pretty tight during these kind of incidences anyway. I usually got more lost spirits from the streets."

Aerri sighed in relief. So even if Mrs. Kwon was there, she was not captured by a Rogue.

"You haven't answer my question. What are you doing here?" he asked her again.

"Nothing." she answered. She was never really sure how to differ between Ri's good intention and his careful planning and trickeries to do his duties as a Rogue. She was still slightly unsure if she can trust him. But after she gave him a lie as her answer, she could clearly a mix of hurt and slight anger on his face.

"Ok, if you still feel like you need to lie to me. Sure, you're not doing anything here." he said, crossing his arms.

Aerri sighed, feeling slightly guilty for being cautious. But there's a big chance that her and Seunghyun are breaking some rules by trying to save a living. But probably she was being too cautious?

"Are you the only Rogue around here right now?" she asked. She just need to make sure that she only need to look out for Seungri.

"As far as i know, yes i'm the only Rogue around here right now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Don't harm me or my friends, please."

"Damn it, Aerri." he said, agitated at her words.

"Ri, please. Just say it."

"Yes! I promise I'm not planning to harm you or any of your friends or any Reapers or any Cupids." he said quickly with an irritated tone. "I haven't done any work in a while anyway." he added so softly that Aerri wasn't sure if she heard him right.

"What? What do you mean by that?" she asked him.

"Just tell me, Aerri. It's obvious that you're up to something." he ignored her question and pushed her to answer his question once more.

She hesitated for a few seconds, but she eventually gave him the answer.

"My mother. She's probably in the building."

He sighed knowingly. No explanation was needed, as he finally understand what she was doing.

"I'll go search for her inside, ok. You stay here, so you won't break any rule or anything. I promise i won't harm her."

"Seunghyun's already in there."

Seungri seemed a bit surprised to hear that fact. But he continued talking.

"If I help, we could find her easier."

"But you don't know how she looks like."

His words stopped when he realized the truth in her words.

"I'll go with you inside." she said, starting to pull his hands towards the building.

"Aerri, no. You're gonna get in trouble. You're not allowed to do this." Ri said, pulling her back.

Aerri was just about to pull him back towards the building, asking him to help her look for her mom. But then suddenly a fireman came bustling through the lobby door, carrying a young girl on his back. The girl was coughing furiously to the point that she can't seem to take a breath. There was also something that seem to be a mild burn on her right forearm.

The firemen quickly put her on the gurney and the EMT wheeled her away towards the waiting ambulance. Then the firemen approached another firemen that was observing thw building.

"Found her on my last sweep, Captain. We've checked the building. I think there's no one else there." the fireman said.

"Good. We should focus on putting off the fire now." the Captain said before shouting more instructions to the other firemen.

For a moment, Aerri sighed in relief hearing the firemen conversation. But then she could hear the thoughts of the girl that was being wheeled to the ambulance. The girl couldn't talk due to her injury. But she was grabbing the EMT's hand softly, looking as if she wanted to say something. The EMT ignored her, thinking that her gesture was just a plea to save her life. However, Aerri and Seungri can hear exactly what her lips can't utter due to smoke inhalation.

"A woman...she's trapped.. in the music store.." Her mind seem to be in a haze, as if she struggled so hard just to think of her words. And as her consciousness faded when she lost to the pain of the burn on her arm, her words stopped, even in her mind.

But her few words were all it took for Aerri to run to the building. The girl could have been talking about someone else and not Mrs. Kwon. But Aerri just didn't care. She can't just stand there and do nothing any longer.

She ran through the entrance door with Seungri following close behind, calling her and trying to stop her. But she just kept running, even passing by Seunghyun who was heading out the building.

"Aerri, what are you doing? I told you to wait outside." Seunghyun shouted at her. But Aerri ignored him as she ran past him, going further into the open lobby while looking around, searching for something.

"Aerri, don't worry. I've looked for her. Mom's not here." Seunghyun said again, following her. But again, she gave no reaction to his words, as if she didn't hear it. Instead, she ran to a corner of the lobby, approaching a directory of the building.

"Mom?" Seungri said from beside Seunghyun, surprising him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Seunghyun asked him coldly.

"I'm trying to help her, ok. Not trying to harm her." Seungri said to Seunghyun. "I don't care if you trust me or not. But Aerri does. And I'm helping her, whether you like it or not." He added before Seunghyun got a chance to counter his words. He ran to where Aerri was standing. She was still frantically searching for something in the directory of the building while trying to ignore the billowing smoke that disturb her vision. It was weird how she can still slightly feel how the smoke affect .

"She said music store, right?" she asked Seungri.

"Yes." Ri answered, quickly scanning the directory of the building to search for the music store.

"But I can't find it." Aerri said, starting to panic even more.

Seungri said nothing before pointing at a corner on the highest floor on thenmap. "Maybe she meant music school?"

"She said music store."

"But it's the only music related place in the building. Just give it a try."

"The place is not a music store. I've checked there. There was no one there. I think the firemen already sweep the highest floor since it was where the fire started." Seunghyun explained, standing beside them.

"You heard the girl, Aerri. She said music store. But there's no other place that could be music store in the building." Seungri said.

"And I'm telling you that there's no one there. Trust me, Aerri. Besides, she was planning to go to the jewelry shop on the ground floor. I've checked and she's not there too." Seunghyun said, irritated.

Aerri looked up the stairs. She can see that the fire was still burning on the highest floor. Heck, she can hear the fire, crackling and roaring. The rest of the floors were still engulfed in thick smoke, but the fire could quickly spread to other floors. No one else was there. She did hear one of the firemen instruct his men to focus on putting off the fire cause everyone has been evacuated. But the girl earlier.. The girl said someone was probably still in here.

It was as if her feet had their own mind, cause the next second, Aerri was running towards the stopped escalators. Her mind was still battling, a part of it was shouting for her to stop and get out of the building. But somehow she felt like she should check the music school first. Just to make sure.

Seunghyun and Seungri followed her. One was following her steps in silence, while the other tried his best to stop her.

"Damn it, Aerri. Stop!" Seunghyun shout.

"Just let me do this, Seunghyun. I just need to check." she said, still on her way, not wanting to waste even a second to see for herself that the woman that raised her was alive and safe. She can hear silence from Seunghyun for a few seconds even though his footsteps were still following her. Then she can finally hear him again.

"Fine. But be careful. The fire won't hurt you but you can still feel the pain and the burn." he said. He ran beside her, glancing quickly at Seungri that was following them close behind.

They quickly ran up the stairs to the 4th floor, the top floor of the building. And that was when Aerri understood Seunghyun's warning. The 4th floor was definitely the part that got affected by the fire the most. On the lower floors, there were only smoke and the fire that came from some collapsing 4th floor. But on the 4th floor, fire has reached most part of the floor. She can still talk easily, but still felt hurt cause of the thick smoke. Her skin was not harmed by the blazing fire, but she definitely feel the heat and burn. But she tried to ignore it. She just want to check the music school and get out of there as soon as possible after knowing for sure that Mrs. Kwon was not there.

They can already see the entrance door of the music school. But before they reached it, something stopped them in a halt.

There was a gaping hole on the floor. A part of the floor has collapsed to the third floor.

"." Seungri cursed softly. "Maybe we can find another way. We can go back down a floor and try the emergency stairs." he added.

"The emergency stairs is thick with smoke. I was there earlier. But we can try go through there if you want." Seunghyun said.

Aerri took a few steps back, looking as if she wanted to turn around and find another way. But then she mumbled, "There's no time." before she ran quickly and jump to the third floor. Once her feet touched the ruins on the third floor, she tried to push back and jump back up. It's a bit difficult, cause the ruins on the third floor made it harder for her to find the right place to land her feet before she jumped back up. But thankfully she managed to reach the other side of the hole on the floor safely. "Thank God Seunghyun taught me this." she thought in her mind. Once she landed, she quickly ran to the  entrance of the music school.

"Smart girl." Seungri chuckled before taking a few steps back, preparing to jump and follow her.

"Damn it, Aerri. Wait for us!" Seunghyun shouted at the girl before jumping.

The boys landed safely, even though the floor starting to collapse again. Soon, they followed Aerri in the music school. The place was not that big, as it only has around 7 small rooms, each of them was only big enough to fit a piano and some extra space for a student and a teacher.

When the boys reached the reception area where they saw Aerri was entering, she was nowhere to be found. But soon they notice her getting in and out of the small class rooms one by one, checking if there was anyone in there. But no one was in any of the rooms.

"I told you. I've checked. No one was here." Seunghyun said.

Aerri glanced around the reception area, squinting her eyes cause the thick smoke not only hurt her eyes but also made it difficult to see anything. Suddenly, the smoke cleared a bit, showing her a small hallway at the corner of the room. She could see a glass window at the end of the hallway, showing the dark skies outside. At first, there was no door visible on the side of the hallway. But on the second glance from afar, Aerri could see a small door knob. The door was a seamless door, as the color and material of the door blended perfectly with the color and material of the walls around it. It was a fortune that she even saw the door.

"Have you checked in there?" Aerri asked Seunghyun.

"In where?" Seunghyun asked. He looked to where Aerri was pointing. Aerri's heart sank when she heard his next words.

", I didn't see that door earlier." Seunghyun said, rushing to the door. Aerri and Seungri followed him quickly. And as they walked through the door, they entered a pretty big room, filled with music instruments. Guitars were on the displays on the wall, and two grand pianos were standing at the further corner of the room. That place was really a music store.

They searched the room quickly, between the rows of congas and xylophones, behind the piano, everywhere. Until Seungri finally checked behind the counter and shout at them.

"Over here, guys." he said, calling out to Aerri and Seunghyun. Aerri ran to him and look behind the counter to find a woman lying unconscious on the floor.

"Mom." Aerri said as she kneeled beside the woman.

"She's still alive, but we need to hurry and get her out of the building as soon as we can." Seungri said.

Seunghyun just stood there, shocked and cursed himself for not noticing the door