Phoenix - Chanbaek

2. What happened after

(Time skip - 3 days)

I heard something. I didn't know what at first, I was really thirsty and that was all I could think about really.

I opened my eyes slightly. How long had I been here?

Suddely I heard a voice shout something, but I couldn't get my mind to register who or what they were saying. I think it was a man's voice.

Suddenly I saw light from above me.

And then suddenly there were many voices.

Something had caused a commotion to build up up there, since people started shouting and shining their lights down... at me?

Wait how far down had I fallen?

I tried to take in my surroundings, but all I could think of was the pure pressure on my entire body.

And I was so thirsty.

I caughed. Was it still from the smoke? Probably.

After a while a couple of people got down to me. A woman and three men, I think.

They tried to lift something... I think it was some part of the roof that had fallen down.

The people succeeded, and I now felt the pressure ease from my body. Three of them brought me up while the last one was trying to put out the fire that was still burning down in the big hole that I had fallen with.

I took in my surroundings; I was now in what used to be our guestroom, except there was nothing left. A part of the wall had burned down too.

"Hanmnnstiha~" someone said. Or well that was all I could hear. The person repeated again and this time I could hear the words. "How in the world are you still alive?" They wondered. Just like I did.

------

I was brought to the hospital.

When I had gotten water and a clear head, they asked me a lot of questions.

"What is your name?" Park Chanyeol.

"How are you feeling?" Oh I'm fine, I mean, my family died in a fire four days ago and I fell through two floors, but I mean, life plays with you sometimes, am I right?

"Do you have any other family that we can contact?" Do Kyungsoo... he's not biologically my brother, but he could be. We were close as if we were real siblings, except we almost never fought.

"Uh, yeah, actually. The Do family on Sarang street 14c... I'm their son Kyungsoo's cousin" I lied. The Man wrote everything down and then put down the notebook.

"Okay so because of the system I had to ask these questions before I told you the news... it's about your siblings."

I tried to sit up in bed, but the pain in my spine pushed me back onto the uncomfortable pillows. I was still listening with my whole mind.

"You managed to get your siblings out on the roof, we took them in right before the roof fell in" he told me.

"Wait what? But I was holding Eunmin right before I fell!" I shouted a bit too loudly.

"Well you managed to push her out the window, but she got a lot of wounds, and-" he cut himself off. "And what?" I asked. "Well, she inhaled a lot if smoke, her brain took a break. She is in a... in a coma right now" he told me. 

At this point i didn't know if I should be angry or happy.

Angry because she was in a coma

or happy because she was alive?

I think I was both.

I didn't do anything but look down in my hands.

And that's when I noticed something strange.

My hand should be burnt. From touching the doorhandle of the twins' bedroom. But when I looked at it, it was all okay. No marks or anything different from how it always looked.

"Your brother on the other hand..." he started.

We took him into the hospital, but... he sadly, passed away right before getting here. He had been breathing that smoke for too long, his brain gave up completely".

I was shocked.

"Seo-Seokmin is... dead?" I stuttered out. I was watching the man's face for some kind of confirmation.

My eyes started to tear up.

My Seokmin. "But- but he was so young! No! Nononononono this can't be happening, THIS ISN'T HAPPENING!" I breathed out.

Then I started crying. One lone tear at first, as if it was signalling for the other tears that the coast was clear, and then they all flowed down.

I buried my face into my hands, I cried quietly.

Why did I have to survive? I wanted to take my little brother's place instead of being the one that made it out.

He shoud have made it, not me... why?

On the outside I looked upset, my motions were calm even when I cried. But in my mind nothing was right. 8-year olds shouldn't die. No one should die. Especially not Seokmin...

After calming me down, the man, or the doctor, got called outside by a female doctor. She looked western.

I don't think they meant to do it, but they didn't close the door properly and I could hear the conversation.

"Joosung there's something really wrong here. He should be dead" the female told the doctor, Joosung, and pointed into my room. "Yeah I know, it's a miracle, right?" The female doctor sighed.

"Listen, I was there when they searched the house out, and the first time we came there, the roof had fallen through all the way down to those people's basement, and there was still raging fire down there in that hole, consuming anything near it. The flames were almost blue" she said. "But then two days later, when we went back there with the team, he was down there! And he was alive, and thirsty too for that matter. He didn't shut up about his damn water - ehm, sorry, I got a bit off topic" she apologized when she saw the other's face change.

"Yeah I think so too, dr Köttbulle. Just let me handle this patient, okay?" Joosung asked her and then headed left, further away through the corridor. The western doctor looked through the glass door at me, and I felt very uncomfortable.

Suddenly she came in to the room. "Hello, mr. Park. My name is doctor Äsilpagl Köttbulle. Call me Bora if you think it's easier. I just have to tell you, I am very sorry about your loss" She said and bowed. "Thanks...What did you mean?" I asked her.

She was taken aback a bit when I asked her that. "I should be dead?" I asked confused. "Don't get me the wrong way, mr Park, I never meant it as if it was something I was wishing upon you, but you technically should not be alive, you should've been burned to ashes in that hole... I'm sorry, but logically you should. And you have no burns anywhere, nothing to indicate that you were even near fire, only a couple of broken bones that can easily heal" she explained. "Yet we found you in a hole that had been engulfed in bluish flames for almost 3 days..."

A couple of hours later, when I was supposed to eat, I suddenly remembered something from when I was down in that hole;

I died down there