firefly | zhong chenle

CH19

"his cold expression eclipsing the worry in his heart"

-

Arin, with everything in her, dragged both her and Jisung out, escaping the flames that were about to eat them alive. She felt her mind becoming dizzier and dizzier by the second, her vision blurring. She felt Jisung's body leave her and her body similarly begin to fall. For a moment, she closed her eyes, appreciating the warmth that was surrounding her. A hand caressed her shoulder, like shielding her away from the traumatic experience of just then.

"Thank god" Those two words were muttered so quietly she barely even caught them. Fluttering her eyes open, she was attacked with light, her body finally reacting, allowing her to stand up straight. Chenle still had his hand on her shoulder, travelling to her back as his expression was so cold and his eyes seemed darker than usual.

Wordlessly, he took off his jacket and pulled it over her shoulders, leaving him in one navy blue tshirt. She turned her head to see whether the fire was still roaring, but a gentle touch moved her head back into position. Her eyes fell on him again, his cold expression eclipsing the worry in his heart.

"It's better not to look" Chenle said monotonously "Haechan and Jeno have got it". Arin nodded, eyes now falling to the ground as she clutched onto Chenles jacket.

"Ah yeah" Arin's gazed searched for Jisung, who was already escorted back into the truck "Make sure you give Jisung a break. I'll check up on him when we get back"

"Worry about yourself" Chenle scoffed

"I didn't suffer as much. I can treat myself easily. But Jisung...I might need to have a proper look" The conversation kind of just died off there, Chenle not wanting to utter another word to her.

"Everyone, back on the truck. We're heading back to the station for a debrief" Chenle yelled, as everyone packed up and went on the truck. As him and Arin were about to enter the truck, Chenle noticed something from the corner of his eye. A boy, the one that talking to Arin before the fire started, had ashes on his face and an annoyed expression painted on his lips. Chenle chose to ignore it, but something didn't seem right.

"Let's go" Arin pulled Chenle on the truck, and set off back home

;

"He's about to go off..." Haechan shuddered "I can feel it". All the firefighters were sat in a room, waiting for the debriefing to start. Chenle has yet to come and everyone already knew the nightmare that was about to fall upon them.

As soon as Chenle entered, they all stood up and saluted, greeting their captain. However, Chenle did not greet back, instead, slamming his notebook against his table in fury.

"Can someone tell me what happened just then" Chenle's fists clenched, eyes scanning the room of the firefighters who were too afraid to speak up.

"That was a checkup round. A checkup round. The most basic mission and we still all managed to fuck it up" Chenle's volume grew "Renjun, did you not check the equipment before you drove the truck?!"

"It was a checkup round so I didn't think we would need to..." Renjun's words died on his tongue.

"Because it was a checkup round, you didn't think that a fire would start?! You've been here for years, Huang Renjun. We can't afford to make mistakes. By that electric saw not working, that could've cost us two lives, Renjun. And one of them is your teammates" Chenle pointed a finger at Renjun, shoving him against the shoulder "Don't do it again. Do you hear me"

"Yes Captain" Renjun exclaimed, guilt settling in his stomach.

"Jeno, Haechan. Why did it take both of you 20 whole fucking minutes to realise that the electric saw wasn't working?" Chenle yelled, now turning to the tow "Use your brains. If it weren't for Renjun, both of you would still be trying to turn on a broke electric saw"

"We were scared that it would be considered damage to property because we never got their consent" Haechan regretted rebutting the moment that sentence came out of his mouth

"Will you ask the owner kindly whether you can bash down their door everytime there's a fire and two people are stuck in there?! Will you!?" Chenle shouted "It seems like to me you care more about the door than lives. We all could've lost a best friend and our doctor because you're were worried about consent!"

"Where's Park Jisung" Chenle growled

"In the nurses office" Someone responded quietly

"That asshole" Chenle turned around back to face all the firefighters "Do not ever do what Park Jisung did. He brought 0 equipment with him in a highly flammable area, and didn't think twice to pre-check before entering. That's a rookie mistake, but one that can cost us so much. If I see any one of you risk the lives of yourselves or people around you, I won't hesitate to kick you out of this station. Don't play superheroes with me. We're firefighters. Live up to your responsibilities" Chenle words were harsh, but they were the hard truth they all had to swallow "15km. Right now. Don't come back until you've done it"

As they all scurried out, Haechan pulled Jaemin towards him, whispering "I think there's something going on between him and Arin"

"Oh be quiet. You just got yelled at and now you're here gossiping" Jaemin pulled Haechan along with him to start their run

"No but I'm serious. Think about it. When was the last time he got this mad. Three years ago when our old leader died" Haechan exclaimed as if he's found a new discovery "He's this pissed because the girl he likes almost got killed because we didn't do our jobs properly. Doesn't that make so much sense?"

"I think you need to stop thinking and start running or else you'll finish by tomorrow morning" Jaemin sighed, running ahead of him

"But you get what I mean don't you!"

"Jaemin, Haechan. Hurry it along!"