Chapter 8: Ashes and Appetite

Flames scattered like rain in the wind.

The fire, which had clearly been invisible just moments ago, now rippled and surged as if rushing right before their eyes.

The jet of water that had been cooling the heat right next to them was shot toward that spot.

“Keep spraying!”

Sergeant Park pulled out handcuffs.

“Sir, evacuate.

If you continue to obstruct firefighting activities at the scene, I will arrest you.”

“What?”

The man shouted loudly, as if he had forgotten the situation he was in.

His flushed, reddening face showed stubbornness, a refusal to admit fault.

“What’s the big deal!

It’s not like this is the first or second wildfire here?

f*ck, this happened because you bastards couldn’t put it out fast enough, so why would I be arrested!”

Senior Patrol Officer Kim nodded as if she couldn’t listen to any more.

Mu-yun opened his tightly shut mouth.

“I am arresting you as a flagrant offender for obstruction of justice.”

He rattled off the rights he could use, then grabbed the man’s shoulder to prevent him from fleeing.

Even amidst this, the wind blew fiercely.

Mu-yun saw the backs of the firefighters who appeared to be waiting for the flames on the mountainside, then moved again.

***

The wind changed direction and traveled along the mountain path several times.

It was only after five hours that word came of initial containment.

Four hours after that, when even the remaining embers were completely extinguished, Mu-yun finally arrived at the police box, his body covered in soot.

He had come to work when the sun was overhead, and now it was a night thick with darkness.

“You all worked hard.”

The police box chief pulled out vitamin drinks and handed one to each person.

Everyone, looking dazed, opened their drinks and downed them in one go.

The smell of smoke permeated the air, so instead of going inside, they all stood in the parking lot to the right of the police box, busy brushing themselves off.

“Looks like they’ve finished withdrawing over there too.”

As Sergeant Lee muttered in his characteristic slow, rhythmic tone, everyone’s gaze shifted to one side.

Fire trucks were pulling one by one into the empty garage, filling the vacant spots.

They were quiet, no sirens.

They seemed to be returning with weary, shuffling steps, barely able to move their legs.

Watching the firefighters get out of their trucks, it seemed everyone felt something similar, if not the same.

Sighs escaping from tight chests spoke for them.

“Hey—!”

The police box chief stepped out to the roadside, shouted loudly, and waved his arm.

“Chief!”

As if answering his call, the safety center chief stepped out from across the street.

“What!”

“Hyung!

Let’s eat!”

The police box people snorted with familiar faces.

Mu-yun followed his seniors as they got up one by one.

“We’ll check our equipment and come over!”

“Got it!”

The police box chief turned around.

“Let’s wash up roughly and go eat.”

At that, everyone lined up, moved their heavy legs, and staggered up to the second floor of the police box.

After waiting their turn, they washed up roughly in five minutes, dried off with towels, and came outside.

Those who had come in early even though it wasn’t their scheduled workday had finished patrol and returned to greet them.

Mu-yun greeted a senior who was coming in, arms linked to keep a drunk from falling, and blinked his sleepy eyes.

Excluding those who had been called in on their day off and those not on duty, everyone stood in front of the crosswalk, then crossed the road in a group.

It wasn’t far.

Their destination was a shabby, single-story restaurant right next to the fire station.

As they opened the door to the baekban (rice with side dishes) restaurant called ‘Wang Sikdang’, the firefighters who had entered a step ahead turned their heads to welcome them.

“You all worked hard.”

The police box chief waved his hand as if to say ‘don’t get up,’ and found an empty seat.

The police box team, which had relatively fewer members, had barely settled into their seats at the end when the restaurant owner brought out side dishes.

“If it’s not enough, help yourselves from over there.”

Mu-yun lifted his tray slightly, supporting it with one knee, and nodded.

Perhaps because he had been smelling smoke all day, he hadn’t even realized he was hungry except for a bit of thirst, but seeing the appetizing side dishes, his stomach growled.

“Here.”

He placed the tray on the table and turned his head.

Tae-i, sitting in a spot so tight there was no gap, held out a bowl of rice to him.

Taken aback, he accepted it and passed it around.

Soon, stew and stir-fried pork came out as well.

At the scene, they had been constantly inserted and pulled out without a moment’s rest, barely staving off hunger with the easiest foods to eat, so everyone was famished.

“Eat up.”

“Thank you for the meal.”

As soon as the 119 Safety Center Chief finished speaking, the firefighters’ vigorous shouts erupted.

The police box chief chuckled, then raised and lowered both palms as if telling them to eat quietly, and the police box staff also picked up their spoons.

Mu-yun also grasped his spoon with difficulty and stuck it into his rice bowl.

He scooped up a spoonful of rice and swallowed it.

Only then did his hunger register in his brain, and his sense of taste returned.

Come to think of it, he had chugged one energy drink on an empty stomach in the morning, and before going up the mountain to clear the remaining embers, he had eaten one small cup noodle.

After several spoonfuls of rice neatly piled into his mouth, his rice bowl was empty.

As he was debating whether to have another bowl, a new bowl of rice in a large hand swapped places with his empty one.

“Want another?”

Startled by Tae-i’s presence, whom he had completely forgotten was sitting next to him, Mu-yun opened his mouth, then closed it.

“This is enough.”

Thanking Tae-i, Mu-yun continued eating.

Sensing a gaze on his crown, he looked up.

Senior Patrol Officer Kim and Sergeant Park were staring with eyes sparkling with intense curiosity.

Still, busy eating, they didn’t say anything.

Only after his stomach was somewhat full did the speed of his spoon slow down.

“Arson?”

He finally heard the police box chief’s voice.

“Just that it’s a possibility.

Nothing certain.”

At the news that it wasn’t a naturally occurring fire, both firefighters and police officers frowned.

“Still, the fire investigation team’s analysis says they can’t completely rule out that possibility.”

“Looks like we’ll be seeing a lot of each other for a while.”

At the casual exchange, Mu-yun asked Sergeant Park sitting next to him.

“They seem really close, don’t they?”

“Huh?

Ah, them?

Yeah.

Back in the day, the fire station and police station were combined, you know.

They worked together back then.”

It was something he had heard in passing during theory lectures before the exam.

Mu-yun understood why they acted like they had spent decades together even though they were from different organizations.

Having no more questions, he diligently emptied his rice bowl again.

“Youngest.”

“Yes?”

“Yes!”

Mu-yun and Tae-i, eating side by side, looked up simultaneously.

The senior firefighter who had called Tae-i smiled and waved from across the table.

“The police box youngest, keep eating.

Our youngest, go bring some more side dishes.”

Tae-i chuckled and stood up.

“Do you need anything else?”

Mu-yun looked up at Tae-i and shook his head.

“No.”

“I think I’m short on seasoned bean sprouts.”

Sergeant Park giggled and poked Mu-yun in the side.

Mu-yun looked at the empty plate and stood up.

“A lot!”

“Got it.”

Answering Senior Patrol Officer Kim’s order, he went with Tae-i to the place where the side dishes were kept.

“I’ll hold the tray, you serve.”

Thinking it would be better than the two of them bumping into each other with tongs, Mu-yun decided on the division of labor.

Tae-i nodded silently.

They took out plates, piled them high with side dishes, and distributed them to each table.

Then they filled their own portions and returned to their seats, sitting down.

“Rookie officer.”

“Yes?”

Mu-yun immediately answered the firefighter sitting across from Tae-i.

The person, with a short bob tied at the nape of her neck—even with black soot on the bridge of her nose, it suited her remarkably well—looked at him with wide eyes.

“Do you like jelly?”

It was an abrupt question, but Mu-yun answered kindly.

“No.

I don’t like it.”

“Then how did you end up becoming friends with a jelly addict?

Our Won Tae-i got sulky when his colleague Byeong-jo said he didn’t like jelly and didn’t talk to him for three months…”

“See?

He said he didn’t want to be friends with me…”

The firefighter who had been burying his face in his rice bowl looked up and protested.

“Hyung, you don’t live in the front house.”

At Tae-i’s quiet pout, Mu-yun smiled awkwardly.

“You two are neighbors?”

At Senior Patrol Officer Kim’s words, as she busily scraped the bottom of the stew pot, he eventually nodded.

“Yes.”

Anyone watching would think they had become friends right after he moved in.

“So that’s how you got close.”

Just like this.

He wanted to correct Hye-shin, saying that wasn’t it, but Mu-yun chose silence instead.

Whether the two were close or not, the people who had been eating with gusto, as if to fill their throats, quickly turned their attention back to their own bowls.

After eating for a long while longer, they finally all finished and stood up.

It was time for those who had to go home to leave, and those who had to get ready to clock out to return.

“Take care.”

Tae-i saw him off as if he were embarking on a long journey, even though he was just going to the tenement house visible right behind the fire station.

Mu-yun narrowed his eyes.

“You’re doing this because you think it’s funny, aren’t you?”

His gaze flickered across the street.

The seniors who had returned to the police box were watching him with great interest.

According to the senior firefighter who had spoken to him at the restaurant, there weren’t many people who became friends with Won Tae-i, who hated jelly haters, this quickly.

They were apparently curious about how they had become so close.

Even though he himself had been radiating a strong ‘I don’t want to be friends’ vibe until this morning and had only just agreed to it.

“It’s a sincere farewell from the bottom of my heart.

You’re too harsh.”

Tae-i, his dry, cold face nowhere to be seen and instead wearing a mischievous grin, shook his shoulders.

“…Do good work.”

Having nothing else to say to Tae-i, who wouldn’t get off work until tomorrow morning, Mu-yun grumpily flicked his wrist and turned his steps toward the alley leading home.

His body was sore.

Perhaps the tension was finally releasing, because exhaustion rushed in instantly, filling him to the top of his head.

Still, it was a night where sleep didn’t seem to come easily.

His heart was still pounding roughly.

Before he could take even a few steps, Mu-yun looked back.

Tae-i was walking under the bright light illuminating the garage.

He looked completely fine, just like any other firefighter they had seen at the restaurant.

Even he, standing on the outskirts of the scene, had been staggering, barely able to keep his wits together for half a day.

But Won Tae-i, who had been running around inside, looked perfectly fine.

Mu-yun walked down the alley again and pulled out his phone.

Then he changed the name stored as ‘Jerk’ in his contacts back to ‘Firefighter Won Tae-i’.

He could always change it back to ‘Jerk’ if things went sour again, but for today, this seemed appropriate.

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