NEFARIOUS

26 / 이십 육

Jung-Hee had slept for only a few hours. But something loud and chaotic made him flack his eyes open wide.

A series of screams rang into the air, and the clouding smoke writhing against his wooden wall. He immediately jolted forward, grabbing the sword near his hip in alarm.

Jung-Hee was glad he never slept in laying position.

The pounding of his door echoed throughout the room. A faint yell came from the other side. Jung-Hee ran to the side door, opened it abruptly. He held his sword high to strike the visitor.

But it was only Dong Geun.

The boy stumbled forward clumsily in his black jeogori and jaggy pants. His bald head visible between smokes. Jung-Hee realized that the boy rarely wore a gat to cover his head. It seemed Dong Geun cared less about that.

He glared at Jung-Hee before saying, "Thanks to me, your life will be saved again."

Jung-Hee raised an eyebrow. He slid his gaze to the ceiling of the corridor outside, hazing with writhing smoke and sparking fire. He lifted his hand to cover his nose. "What happened?"

"Questions later, saving lives now."
Dong Geun nodded at the outside, leading Jung-Hee to the outer corridor of Moobird.

In his deepest thinking, Jung-Hee stole glances to the twins' rooms, but found the doors opened with no person inside.

He followed Dong Geun into the corridor of Goryeo paintings, closer to the receptionist.

Jung-Hee found himself coughing uncontrollably at the smokes, bringing his hand to cover his nose, while his other hand gripped the sword tight. His skin burned at the strong heat. He noticed a flaming fire slowly burning the building down on the main room.

Dong Geun seemed to not bother when the fire touched his skin, for he had firebound power running through his veins.

The angry shouts cleared as the boys came nearer to the receptionist table. They hid themselves behind the smokes and table. Jung-Hee glanced at the closed tea rooms on his side.

Most doors were slowly burned to ash. The flaming fire swallowed a painting of hazing mountains on nearest wall, leaving half of it burnt to ashes.

A few soulless bodies of Masulsa lay on the floor. They lost their ribs from the fire, skin rotted to the bone. Most part of their face was eaten by flaming fire, eyes open wide of horror.

Jung-Hee was glad he did not see any familiarty of them.

"This is a filthy house of Masulsa!" A shout thundered from the outside. "They have been practicing sinful acts against the crown. And we shall not let any of them live continue on!"

It was greeted by another cheering of agreement. Jung-Hee brought himself upward to see clearly the scene before him.

A countless row of men and women glowered over the entrance, they held glowing laterns in their hand and some daggers in the other one.

But a man whose back on Jung-Hee lifted a firewood, sparking it with fire, and threw it onto the building once again.

The man pivoted to watch the fire slowly burning the building down, and raised his hand up in the air.

"What a hell," murmured Dong Geung. Despite the chaos surrounding them, the boy was too calm for his own good. "Those people weren't there when I got inside to bring you."

Ducking his head down, Jung-Hee glanced to his side. The flaming fire whipped its way toward them, ready to swallow them whole. "We don't have time."