It was always like this inside the huge firefighter’s truck. Chaos.

Chanyeol held on a metal tube of oxygen and slung it on his back as he watched his friends moved in hurry. Jongin was getting the water pipes ready, Hoya was helping Leo to wear his bunker gear, Kris was checking his handheld radio if it was functioning well or not, and Siwon was behind him, driving the truck.

It was usually only six people in the truck. Sometimes seven if Kangta came along too. But today, they had eight.

“Baek, do you have the endotracheal tube?” Luhan asked hurriedly while his hands were busy checking the content of his first aid bag.

“In my bag,” Baekhyun answered briefly. “, how do I wear this thing?”

Chanyeol saw Baekhyun was struggling with his helmet and he could clearly see that Baekhyun was panicking. Chanyeol knew the feeling. He also had a panic attack the first time he was on duty.

The truck shook a lot. So it was a hard task even for Chanyeol to move around the truck. It took some time for him to approach his best friend in the corner to help him wear the big helmet.

“Here. Let me,” Chanyeol his dry lips as he tucked the yellow helmet on Baekhyun’s head and connected it to the fog nozzle. His hands were trembling, and when he took a look on his best friend’s petite figure, Chanyeol felt like puking.

Firefighters were trained to be fast, skillful, clever, selfless, and courageous. Their job wasn’t extinguishing fire. Their job was to rescue.

They were trained to put the others life first and foremost. And it always became Chanyeol’s principle on this job, but he was afraid that today he couldn’t do it because his mind would be preoccupied with a certain doctor.

“Thanks, Chanyeollie,” Baekhyun smiled to him and immediately wanted to turn around, but Chanyeol pulled him fast. Baekhyun blinked in confusion, “What’s wrong?”

Chanyeol felt his heartbeat quickened as he already could see the fire from a far. It was definitely a big fire.

He stared down at Baekhyun who was standing still in front of him, “You don’t have to come inside the site if you weren’t told. You know that, right?”

Baekhyun chuckled and rolled his eyes, “Of course I know that. I told you I’m not that stupid, Yeol.”

Chanyeol sighed frustratedly as he felt the metal tube on his back become heavier by seconds. “Just...please, stay away from fire as much as possible,” he begged. He just wished he could send Baekhyun away from this place right now. “Stay away from danger. Can you do it for me?”

It wasn’t that Chanyeol underestimate Baekhyun’s abilities to do this job.  He knew that Baekhyun was already an adult and could take care of himself. He was sure that his best friend was a professional on this field, and he shouldn’t have doubted that ever. He also knew that it was a rare occasion that a paramedic came along with the firefighters to go inside the burning site. They usually just stayed outside, got busy taking care of injured people.

But Chanyeol was paranoid, and terrifying scenes of possibilities of what could have happened to Baekhyun kept playing in his head, and Chanyeol just couldn’t stand it.

“Chanyeol, there are people trapped in that building and possibly many of them get injured. You shouldn’t be worried about me,” Baekhyun replied with a soft tone, a complete opposite of Chanyeol’s urgent and panic one.

“I know that. But, still—“

“You do realize that you’re the one who will get inside the building, right?” Baekhyun cut him off. He smiled reassuringly, and Chanyeol immediately felt a little calmer. “You should worry about yourself,” Baekhyun continued. “We will do our job well. You have fire that you need to blow out, and I have people that need to be treated.”

Chanyeol barely remembered the time in his childhood when Baekhyun truly acted as the older one. Baekhyun was usually known as the babyish, spoiled, cry-baby, naughty, and annoying one. Meanwhile, Chanyeol was the one who acted more like he was older. He always took care of Baekhyun, babying him, and advised him the do’s or don’ts.

But of course there were times when Baekhyun really behaved as he should. He would protect Chanyeol from people who were mocking him. He would be the one who volunteered if the both of them were asked to play as a frog, and Chanyeol would get the prince role. He would give his own ice cream if Chanyeol’s one fell to the ground. Baekhyun basically would do anything to prevent Chanyeol from being sad and crying.

It was probably not big, but Baekhyun’s little gesture was the one which was valuable the most to Chanyeol.

And that was what he was doing just now, Chanyeol thought. Baekhyun only needed to smile and gave him reassuring words to calm Chanyeol down.

“We’re here,” Chanyeol heard Siwon shouted from the front of truck, and he realized that the truck had stopped. Siwon came to the back and faced his team while he put on his helmet. “Get ready everyone. You guys already put your alert safety device on?”

All members nodded, including Baekhyun and Luhan. All of them already had their complete equipment. The firefighters equipped with full structural firefighting kit, like their orange jacket and pants, breathing apparatus, helmet, face mask, boots, and gloves. They also have their hydraulic rescue tools, such as spreaders, cutters, rams, and pike pole. Electronic devices, as communication devices, personal alert safety system, camera, and gas meter also attached on their body. Whereas, Baekhyun and Luhan only had the basic protective clothes, helmet and breathing apparatus, and their first aid bag.

They were good to go.

“Alright, let’s go! Move!” Siwon ordered, and everyone quickened their step off the truck.

The eight of them got out of the truck and witnessed the big and wild fire in front of them. Yeojin tower was a big building where a few companies worked at. The fire was seen throughout the building, except the five highest floors. So it was ten burning floors in total.

Big fire on the first day Baekhyun worked. God must be testing him, Chanyeol cursed mentally. He just hoped that people already saved themselves and there wasn’t any victim inside.

He could see the area was filled with people. There were citizens, watching the amazing scene in awe. There were hundreds of employees standing and sitting on the ground, watching in fear. And there were police, firefighters like him, and paramedics.

The radio in his ears was actively noisy. He could hear that team B and C already made a move on their job as the exterior crews. They were in charge for directing the water into windows or any openings. As for team A, Chanyeol’s team, was in charge inside the building, finding the the fire and cool it with water, and also finding any possibility of victims.

Chanyeol made a cross sign with his hand as he prayed; a ritual he always did every time he was on duty. He quickly looked around for his teammates and saw them already approaching the building.

Chanyeol also decided to take his move as his eyes caught a sight of Baekhyun ran toward the ambulance car from the hospital nearby the area, and started to get to work as he approached an injured old man with blood dripping on his head.

Watching the scene for a second, Chanyeol smiled. His best friend was definitely doing well on his job. So Chanyeol absent-mindedly reached out to his telecommunicator and pressed the call button, and said, “Baekhyun-ah.”

The said man who was pretty far from him stopped his movement and instantly turned his head around, searching for someone who called him through the radio. And his eyes finally met Chanyeol’s.

Chanyeol smiled to him as he pressed the call button again and muttered, “Be safe,” before he finally turned around and ran into the burning building, letting the fire welcomed him.

~

“Hyung! Chanyeol Hyung, where are you?”

Chanyeol stopped his work on streaming the water on a burning pile of paperwork when he heard the sound of Jongin’s voice through his radio. He immediately pushed the call button, “I’m on the second floor. What’s wrong?”

He heard nothing for a while except the sound of the other voices using the devices to communicate. “Nothing,” Jongin answered then laughed. “Have you finished? I’m done already.”

Chanyeol took a deep breath and blinked his eyes a few times when he felt a prick of sweat was threatening to enter his eye. “I’ll finish in a sec. See you outside, Jongin-ah.”

“Okay. Careful, Hyung,” Chanyeol heard Jongin said. “This is Jongin from team A. Reporting from fourth floor. It’s clear.” Then Chanyeol heard a faint sound of ‘okay’ from Kangta.

Chanyeol sighed before he continued his work. He thanked God that he almost finished. The fire inside the building was big, but it wasn’t too wild to be tamed. Although the damage had been done, at least there was no victim inside the tower.

The last fire had been extinguished. Chanyeol put down his pipes and wiped out his blurry mask with his other free hand in order to have a better sight of the location. He scanned the floor diligently, indicating if there was any sprinkle of fire.

The place was completely burned. All windows were broken, all sides were covered with black dusts, and Chanyeol always felt bad every time he witnessed this kind of scene. He hated it when he lost from fire.

Chanyeol pressed the call button, “This is Chanyeol, team A. Second floor is clear.”

He turned around and walked slowly, feeling dejected and drained. He put away some fallen roofs and kept scanning the room for the last second checking before Kangta and other team captains will re-check it later.

When he was sure it was really clear, Chanyeol left then walked down the stairs. He opened his mask and immediately breathed in a bit fresh air, because the first floor of the building wasn’t too bad. Only some areas got touched by the red devil.

He quickened his pace when he saw the broken main entrance and the bright light from outside. He uttered gratitude when he completely stepped out of the building, and he was quickly welcomed by a hug from his teams who was waiting for him outside the entrance.

“Yo, man,” Hoya greeted him as he put his arm around Chanyeol’s neck. “You’re the last to come out today.”

“Yeay! Chanyeol Hyung will treat us to dinner tonight,” Jongin joined, also slung his arm around the elder’s shoulder.

Still feeling suffocated from the heat and fog, and now their friends surrounded and hugged him, Chanyeol felt like 10 years had decreased from his life.

“Seriously, kids, let him breath for a second,” Siwon appeared from beside him, smiling proudly to his team. “You all did great again today.”

“Of course,” Kris spoke with his flat tone. His thick eyebrows proudly flick, “we’re not in team A for nothing, Captain.”

“No doubt in that, Sir,” Jongin nodded firmly.

“Leo Hyung?” Hoya turned to the calmest person on their team. The real calm man, not pretending to be calm, cool, and cold like Kris. “Do you want to say something?”

Leo turned his head toward Hoya, then stared at his team members one by one with the most flat expression someone ever had. He blinked uninterestedly before he spoke, “We wouldn’t be able to do it without team B and C,” he said flatly.

The others were silent and pursing their lips tightly after they heard Leo’s comment. His comment was always so truthful. Therefore, it was also painful to hear.

Siwon cleared his throat, “Yeah, good point, Leo.” The said person probably didn’t realize that he just ruined the party.

Chanyeol could only snicker watching the idiotic action of his teammates. They might look big, scary, and powerful. But, they were just still a group of dumb, and dumber, and dumbest people. And Chanyeol really loved every one of them.

Siwon tapped their shoulders one by one before he left, approaching the other teams’ captains to finish their job today. After the captain went and others left, Jongin still hadn’t let his hand off Chanyeol’s shoulder, and just stared at him with his mischievous smile.

“What?” Chanyeol asked. “Why are you smiling like that?”

Jongin snorted, “You said Baekhyun is not your boyfriend.”

“He’s older than you. Call him ‘Hyung’,” Chanyeol protested. “And I’m not lying. He’s not my boyfriend.”

Jongin rolled his eyes as he started to walk away to their truck, bringing Chanyeol along with him. “So, what did I hear earlier then? Baekhyun-ah, be safe. Aww, I don’t know that you’re so caring, Hyung.”

“Stop it, Jongin,” Chanyeol sighed. The both of them walked slowly, and Chanyeol’s eyes landed on a group of emergency paramedic who was still busy treating injured people. Two of them were wearing the signature orange uniform. And Chanyeol’s attention was absorbed by the shorter one. “How many time should I tell you that he’s my best friend,” Chanyeol said faintly while his eyes still trained on that certain figure.

Chanyeol let Jongin’s hand off him and walked toward Baekhyun, leaving Jongin behind shaking his head in amusement. “That’s not how you look at your best friend, Hyung,” Jongin yelled from behind him, and Chanyeol tried to ignore him.

The site was still in chaos. Although the fire had been extinguished, people still stayed there getting treatment, and some of them who got badly injured were sent to the hospital. The firefighters were only need to recheck one last time and told the police the cause of the fire before they went home. It was same for the paramedic. Baekhyun and Luhan was only first aid squad, so they could go home right after the firefighters finished, and left the injured people to the rescue squad.

Before this, Chanyeol never put his attention to any paramedic. He would just go straight into the truck waiting for the others. It was usually Jongin or Hoya who will call the doctors to come back with them.

Chanyeol took off his helmet and held it at the side of his torso as he was getting near the petite doctor. He could see that Baekhyun was trying to check on a woman, using a small flashlight directed to the patient’s eyes. His index finger in front of the patient’s eyes too, trying to make his patient to focus on his finger.

It was such an endearing sight for Chanyeol to see. It was like his best friend became a different person when he was doing his job. He got really serious, responsible, smart, and cool, Chanyeol needed to admit.

As Chanyeol getting closer, he could hear Baekhyun talked to the woman, “There’s no sign of shock. But if later you have trouble sleeping, please do visit the hospital for further examination. Okay, Ma’am?”

The woman nodded and uttered a thank you to him before she finally stood up and walk away. Chanyeol could see Baekhyun exhaled tiredly and finally turned around to face him.

“Hey, Chanyeollie,” Baekhyun waved his hand excitedly. He was back with his ordinary self, the cheerful and bubbly Baekhyun. “You’re back. And your face is black,” he chuckled.

Chanyeol stood tall in front of him and embarrassedly trying to wipe the ash off his face. But it was only getting worse as he still wore his gloves which unfortunately also covered with ash.

Baekhyun laughed, “You idiot.” He turned around to get the towel, and face the taller again to help him cleaning the dirt. “You look cool like this, you know?” Baekhyun commented. “My fatty kid Chanyeol already grew up into a cool man saving people’s life. A true hero.”

Chanyeol was kind of grateful that his face was currently planted with dirt, or else Baekhyun would see his face getting red just because a simple compliment from him. Chanyeol often heard people thanked him for saving their life, but hearing the compliment from Baekhyun felt different, and Chanyeol felt proud of himself.

Chanyeol cleared his throat to wash away his nervousness. “Everything good? We’re going back in a minute.”

Baekhyun nodded, “Yeah, I’m finished.” Then he turned to his partner, Luhan, behind him. “Lu, are you done?”

Chanyeol saw Luhan was wrapping a bandage around a man’s head. And Chanyeol just realized that Jongin was already there, standing beside Luhan.

“I’m done in a sec,” Luhan said, still focusing on his bandage. “And what are you doing here, kid?” Luhan asked Jongin although he didn’t spare any glance to him

“I’m waiting for my boyfriend to finish his job,” Jongin answered mischievously.

Luhan’s eyes flickered, “When did I agree to become your boyfriend?”

“They’re so cute, aren’t they?” Baekhyun giggled watching his partner and Jongin. He started to put the equipment back to his first aid bag, and when everything was clean, he turned to face Chanyeol again. “Seems like I chose the right place for this internship, right? I got to meet you, and Luhan also got a boy.”

Chanyeol gaped his mouth open upon hearing Baekhyun’s comment. The right place? Baekhyun, you—

“Ah, this job is so exciting,” Baekhyun shouted as he walked away merrily from a bewildered Chanyeol.

A/N:

This chapter took a lot of research gdi my eyes hurt from keep on reading wikipedia

I hope I didn't make any wrong information here