PSY CH 131

The building’s first four floors were used for commercial businesses, while the fifth floor was a residential space. And the only person living there was Dohyun.

Jooyoung instinctively looked around. Dohyun should’ve been at the adult arcade at this time. If so, he should be among the gathered crowd. Jooyoung wove through the people, but Dohyun was nowhere to be seen.

“Dohyun! Hwang Dohyun!”

He called out loudly, but only received confused stares from strangers. He regretted not bringing his phone with him.

Then, he spotted Mr. Kim from the hardware store making a call on his phone in the crowd. Jooyoung immediately went to him.

“Sir.”

“Oh? Young-ah.”

Mr. Kim’s eyes widened upon seeing Jooyoung.

“Where’s Dohyun? Is he here?”

“He went out earlier, said he was going to the bank, and hasn’t come back yet.”

Mr. Kim shook his head and looked up at the fifth floor.

“But I don’t think he’s home. That kid rarely goes home during the day.”

As far as Jooyoung knew, that was true. Dohyun usually spent most of the day manning the counter at the adult arcade. Was he really at the bank like Mr. Kim said? Had something delayed him from coming back?

Jooyoung asked Mr. Kim to try calling Dohyun’s phone and looked up at the window where gray smoke was rising. The smoke seemed relatively light and confined for something that should’ve required immediate evacuation. He looked for any other signs of fire but found none. The smoke was coming only from the fifth-floor window.

“Is he not picking up?”

Mr. Kim shook his head.

“…”

Jooyoung bit his lip and suddenly turned around. He walked toward the building entrance without hesitation.

“Hey, hey!”

Startled, Mr. Kim ran after him and grabbed his arm.

“I’ll just check and come back.”

“Don’t say such reckless things! If you open the door and the fire flares up, what’ll you do?”

“What if Dohyun is inside?”

“He’s not! He said he went to the bank, so why would he be home?”

The commotion in front of the building drew more people, and they began trying to stop Jooyoung. They warned that even if the fire hadn’t spread, the smoke alone could be dangerous.

And then—

WEEEE-OOOHHH!

A piercing siren rang out. A fire truck appeared at the end of the road, followed by several more pulling up in front of the building. Seeing this, Mr. Kim took the opportunity to drag Jooyoung away.

Firefighters quickly disembarked and began moving in a practiced flurry. One of them began receiving information from someone who appeared to be the initial caller.

“The smoke just started a few minutes ago. But no one responded no matter how much we called from outside… so we thought maybe no one was home…”

After finishing preparations, the firefighters began entering the building. A long hose snaked its way inside. Jooyoung watched them move with blank eyes.

By now, more people had gathered around the building. Some approached the firefighters to ask what had happened.

“How did the fire start?”

“We don’t know yet.”

One firefighter brushed the person off, waving them away and warning not to come any closer. The small crowd began backing up. Only Jooyoung remained standing in place, unmoving.

“It probably won’t be a big deal.”

Mr. Kim patted Jooyoung’s shoulder in comfort, but the words didn’t reach him. Jooyoung had been trying Dohyun’s number nonstop, but there was no answer.

“…”

Jooyoung bit down on his lower lip, eyes fixed on the building entrance. A strange sense of dread filled his chest.

“Oh my god, look!”

A woman, craning her neck, suddenly shouted.

“There was someone inside!”

“That must be the person who lives on the fifth floor!”

Everyone’s gaze turned toward the building. Murmurs and low gasps rippled through the crowd. Someone was exiting the building with the firefighters. Jooyoung’s eyes widened in shock. It was Dohyun.

“Hwang Dohyun!”

Dohyun turned in his direction, looking a little dazed, as if still shaken. Jooyoung hurried over to him.

“Are you okay?”

Even though he was walking on his own, there was no telling if he’d inhaled too much smoke.

“Just a moment.”

A firefighter stopped Jooyoung and began checking on Dohyun, asking him a few questions. Jooyoung stood a little distance away, anxiously waiting.

Before long, the firefighter walked away. Jooyoung rushed over.

“Are you okay? You’re not hurt anywhere, right?”

Dohyun hung his head and stayed silent.

“You didn’t inhale too much smoke, right?”

“…It’s not that.”

His voice was raspier than usual—maybe from shock or the smoke.

“We should go to the hospital. At least get checked.”

“There’s no need.”

“No, you have to get checked. If you inhaled smoke—”

“I said I don’t need it!”

Dohyun’s sudden shout made both of them freeze.

“…”

After a brief silence, Dohyun muttered a curse under his breath with a deep sigh. His furrowed brow revealed a mix of emotions.

“Just stay out of it. This has nothing to do with you.

He added in a low voice without even looking at Jooyoung. His nose crinkled, his left cheek puffed. It looked like he was trying to suppress his rising emotions.

It was different from before, when he would simply push Jooyoung away. Now, there was a sense of shame, like he was humiliated by the situation.

“…”

Jooyoung couldn’t say anything more. He stood quietly in front of Dohyun, not knowing the reason for his reaction.

Meanwhile, a van pulled up, and a man who looked like a police officer got out. After speaking with the firefighters, he approached Dohyun, who stood up and went over. The distance and noise made it impossible to hear their conversation. 

“They sent way too many fire trucks for something this minor.”

“Exactly. Scared the whole neighborhood for nothing.”

Nearby people gossiped as they observed.

“Didn’t the police come here once before, too?”

“No, that was because of the lodging house! Someone stole something.”

“Did they catch the thief?”

A woman waved her hand dismissively.

“Nope. The CCTV was broken—what could they do?”

“Why was the CCTV broken?”

“Who knows?”

“Maybe the thief broke it themselves.”

“Hey, don’t say that. Someone might hear you.”

They joked about calling a shaman to cleanse the bad luck hovering over the area. 

“He must’ve been really scared,”

Mr. Kim suddenly came up and pointed at Dohyun with a jerk of his chin as he spoke. He relayed to Jooyoung exactly what he had heard from chatting with the neighborhood folks.

“He left a pot on the stove. Luckily, it didn’t catch fire—just smoke.”

The black smoke came from a burned pot.

“If he was home, how did he not notice?”

Mr. Kim tilted his head in confusion.

“Maybe he was in the shower. But the fire alarm should’ve gone off.”

Jooyoung suddenly recalled something from the past.

“…I made a mistake.”

“I forgot that I left the burner on.”

Dohyun had once burned himself by accidentally touching a pot left on the lit stove. He had completely forgotten the fire was on.

Jooyoung began to wonder if this really was the first time something like this had happened. The countless scars on Dohyun’s arm came to mind. Hangyeol had once brushed it off as clumsiness, but Jooyoung never believed that. The variety and number of scars were too much.

But if what Hangyeol said was all true?

“Young-ah, are you okay?”

Someone tapped his back. Mr. Kim studied Jooyoung’s face.

“You must’ve been really scared. It might take time for things to settle down—why don’t you go rest somewhere?”

Clicking his tongue, he began rambling about how it was a shame—he had thought something big was finally going to happen after such a long time, even though no one had asked.

“…Has this ever happened before?”

“Before? You mean a fire?”

“No.”

Jooyoung hesitated, then asked if Dohyun had ever made similar mistakes before. Mr. Kim answered without much thought. 

“Nope. That kid is super meticulous.”

It was an unexpected answer.

“He can’t rest until he checks everything one by one.”

“…”

“Those punks who underestimated him just because he’s young? None of them could do a damn thing in front of him.”

Someone called Mr. Kim from behind. He raised a hand in acknowledgment and turned to leave. 

“It’s cold. Go inside or you’ll catch a cold.” 

He patted Jooyoung on the shoulder and walked away. The curious crowd, now having learned the cause, also began to disperse.

“Yeah, he used to be really clumsy. He got a bit better after he turned twenty, but before that—ugh, don’t even ask. He always got hurt.”

The Dohyun that Hangyeol’s mom and Hangyeol described felt like a completely different person from the one Mr. Kim just talked about.

Jooyoung thought about the medication Dohyun was taking. One small mistake could easily turn into a major accident. And Dohyun, more than most, seemed prone to that danger.

“…”

The outer wall under the window was blackened by soot—evidence of the smoke that had once curled toward the sky. 

It was just smoke this time, but next time might be different. It could be much worse.

A chilling sensation crept down the back of his neck.