firefly | zhong chenle

CH43

"maybe you thought wrong"

-

Arin walked towards Taeyong's office with a heavy heart. She didn't want to say anything to him, or rather, thought she might breakdown if she did. Knocking on the door, Taeyong invited her in shortly after. It seemed as if he knew what she was here for.

He intertwined his fingers together, placing it against the table "You should rethink this"

Arin only pursed her lips, sliding the letter of resignation to him

"I've watched plenty of doctors come and go, each one of them left because they were scared. I've seen the stuff you've done for this station, and you're not one to back out. The unit loves you. I thought you could become one of our long-term doctors" Taeyong tried to persuade her, but she just couldn't lift up her chin.

"Maybe you thought wrong" Arin uttered softly. She bowed her head low, clutching her box, and left without another word. Her chin was trembling as she pushed open the door, because she knew, the moment she left, really marked the end of this all.

;

She didn't think she'd walk down these halls ever again.

The dusty white walls, the smell of medicine, the distant crying, it was all once such a familiar place to walk into. However, today, she knew she would never get to experience all this again. After resigning from the fire station, she had to pack up the remains of the things she left at her original hospital as originally she was going to transfer back to the hospital after a month or two at the fire station. That never happened. Because she grew some sort of dependence towards the station, like she's been with these people and that place for all her life.

Pushing open the door to her old office, she seemed to shock everyone. A new doctor were now in her seat, the old ones were still in the same place they've always been. Arin had to take a moment to herself to prevent her from remembering every single little detail that she enjoyed about being a doctor.

"Arin?" One of her colleagues said, putting down the pen in her hand.

"Don't worry about me. I'm here to collect something and that's it" Arin shuffled in shortly after she said that to grab her old name tag and coat she left here.

"How is it at the fire station?" Her ex colleague asked. Arin stopped in position, tensing at the question.

"Didn't work out in the end" Arin straightened her back, but kept her head down, awkwardly trying to fold her coat.

"Are you coming back then? We do already have a new doctor if you are..."

Arin chuckled wryly "No, you don't need to worry about that. I'm not coming back"

The room fell into an even heavier silent after that. Arin couldn't bare it anymore. Without even bidding a goodbye, she left down the corridor towards the storage room to collect the last of her belongings. As she flicked the lights on, she first noticed it was broken, then proceeded to notice that the emergency fire extinguisher has been removed, replaced with a "Under construction" sign there instead.

"Since when did fire extinguishers need construction?" She asked herself, navigating in the dark. However, she didn't think much of it, her mind plagued with everything else in her life to even worry about small things. Thus, she opened her torch light to scavenge through the place, looking for her resume and personal information files that she once stored here.

"Hwa Arin..." She read the labels on the shelves, slowly searching for her name. When she did reach what should have been her name, she noticed that all her documents had disappeared. No one should touch this besides herself, so it was extremely strange to her how these documents have been misplaced.

Just as she was about to call someone to ask about this, a torch light pierced her eyes as a slip of yellow light sliced against her eyeballs. She rose her hand to shield her vision, but the moment her gaze focussed on who this light belonged to, her heart sunk.

A teenage boy, still sporting his school uniform, held a torch in one hand and a lighter in another. He was flicking the lighter on and off, on and off, like it was a mere toy in his hands.

Arin back up against the wall, her breathing heavier and faster "What do you want"

"What a stupid question to ask" Hajoon chuckled, slowly approaching her. Suddenly, things began clicking. How he knew about her favourite flowers, and her phone number and every little detail about her. Because he was the one who took her personal information documents. Instantly, she became more fearful. He was just a kid, but he was capable of things no adult could even muster.

"I've come to a conclusion" Hajoon flicked the lighter on, the flames taunting her "That this shouldn't be as hard as it is. We love each other. All we need to do is get rid of him"

"What are you trying to say Hajoon"

Hajoon flicked it off "All it takes is for one person to die and all will be well. Luckily for me, he loves you, so if he loves you enough, he'll save you. And then, he'll die in the pits of fire that he's known to extinguish"

As Arin was backing out, her feet stepped into some sort of thick liquid. Then it hit her. Oil. He came prepared.

"We can't be together anyway. Give up. I won't love someone like you" Arin spat, aware that she is currently surrounded by a trail of oil.

"You don't need to love me" Hajoon smirked "You just need to be with me" And he dropped the lit lighter on the ground. Instantly, the room flew up in flames, every wall and every corner began alit with a burning yellow hue. Hajoon, as if he's lost it all, came at her, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her towards him.

"Now we just wait" Hajoon laughed hysterically.

"Fuck off" Arin struggled against his grip, but he held her so firmly his nails were digging into her skin. The room was filling up with smoke, the shelves slowly burning down. It was obvious Hajoon disabled the emergency sprinkler too, as obviously, the room was very quickly burning down.

On the other side, the emergency bell signalling a mission rung in the station. The firefighters were beginning to suit up and file onto the truck.

"Mark, where to?" Renjun asked, firing up the engine

"Seoul Hospital. Two nurses passing by the storage room said it was locked and saw smoke was coming out of it. " Mark's voice came statically. Chenle didn't react, still consumed by anger and sadness from his fight with Arin.

"Didnt Arin go back to her hospital today?" Jeno asked, remembering her briefly mentioning it.

"What?" Chenle whipped his head up, eyes widening "She's where?"

"I think she went back to her old hospital to collect her things..." Jeno's words died on his lips

Chenle furrowed his eyebrow, pulling out his phone and frantically dialling her number. To no avail did she pick up after multiple rings.

"Fuck" Chenle cursed, panic suffocating him "I'm coming, Arin. Hang in there"