Broken Cause [Book 1]

Chapter 1 (Part 8)

"Trust me, you don't want to see me drunk," Seungwan said as they stepped out of the car.

"Why? Are you an angry drunk or a crying drunk?" Chaeyoung asked with a smile.

They went up the stairs to the second floor.

"I was told that I tend to get loud and outspoken when I'm drunk," Seungwan answered diplomatically.

"Ah..." Chaeyoung chuckled. "Angry drunk it is."

"No comment, Miss Park." Seungwan grinned.

They reached the door.

"I had fun though. Your friends are fun." Seungwan smiled.

Chaeyoung unlocked the door. "Yeah they are good people. Your friends are okay too with the exception of moody Inspector Manoban." She pushed the door open.

"What's wrong with Lisa?" Seungwan followed Chaeyoung inside but had to stop a second later to prevent herself from bumping into Chaeyoung. "Why did yo-..." She sniffed.

"This is a weird smell." Chaeyoung frowned. She then quickly took another step with one hand reaching out for the light switch to illuminate the dark apartment.

"CHAE! NO!"

Seungwan grabbed Chaeyoung just as the latter pressed the small switch. She turned them around to make sure that her body covered Chaeyoung before pushing her out of the apartment and jumping down the stairs.

A loud explosion came, instantly engulfing the small apartment in flames.

Chaeyoung didn't even have time to scream. She felt the force of the explosion throwing her against the ground, hitting the stone staircase painfully a few times before landing on the pavement with the weight of Seungwan's body on top of her.

"Ohmygod, UNNIE!" Chaeyoung quickly wiggled her way out from under the unconscious Seungwan. She took off her jacket and used it to douse the flames on Seungwan's back and legs. "FIRE!" She shouted so that other people in the building could quickly escape. "SOMEBODY CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT!"

She then searched for her phone after she had put out the flames on Seungwan. Her hands shook and trembled as she dialed 112.

--

Lisa parked her car haphazardly behind the police cars. She jumped out and ran through the crowd, flashing her badge and shouting her name at every officer standing in her way before she slipped under the police line.

"SEUNGWAN UNNIE!"

Everyone there turned their heads to see Lisa in her sweatpants and jacket running towards the ambulance.

Lisa grabbed the gurney, pushing Jisoo aside unintentionally. She saw Seungwan lying helplessly with her torso and legs wrapped in bandages. "Unnie..." She swallowed her tears.

Seungwan didn't react.

"Please let go, Ma'am. We need to take her to the hospital as soon as possible," the medic said.

Lisa quickly let go. "Will she be okay?" She shouted at the men hoisting Seungwan up into the vehicle.

"We'll confirm later, Ma'am." The medic was in too much of a hurry to answer Lisa's question properly.

"She'll be fine, Lis." Jisoo put an arm around Lisa's shoulder. "They said it's luckily just a second degree burn. Chaeyoung managed to put out the fire quickly."

Lisa watched the ambulance noisily driving away for a second before she ran towards the other ambulance - leaving Jisoo behind. She saw Chaeyoung wincing with tear streaks on the sides of her messy face while a medic was stitching up a wound in her forehead.