Chapter 024: Limit (3)
Captain Gu's eyes immediately lit up at Min-ah's suggestion.
"Yeah."
"You're at least somewhat close with Hee-soo."
"Go ask him."
"Who says we're close?"
"I'm just naturally friendly with everyone."
"Hahaha."
"Friendly with everyone, huh?"
"Anyway, please ask him."
"I'm dying of curiosity."
"Yes!"
Min-ah answered energetically and hurried outside.
She walked over to Hee-soo, who was looking at his phone.
"I heard something really interesting inside."
"What?"
"I heard an angel tells you where the victims are."
"Is that true?"
"Hmm."
"I somehow know where the victims are."
"But logically, there isn't any normal way to explain how I know."
"There has to be some reason, right?"
"So I've decided to think of it as an angel telling me."
Min-ah smiled.
"Hmm."
"So that's what you meant."
"By the way, what you said at the national audit today was really moving."
"Well."
"Being able to move people is a basic quality for a leader."
"You said that by saving others, you save yourself."
"How am I supposed to interpret that?"
Hee-soo answered as though he had no interest.
"Interpretation belongs to the listener."
"Not me."
"Then can I tell you what I think?"
Hee-soo didn't answer.
Min-ah studied his face and continued anyway.
"I thought that when you said you were saving yourself, you meant that you're gradually moving farther away from being Suseong's successor."
"And you're trying to save your own position by presenting yourself this way."
Hee-soo laughed.
"That's creative."
"Did you attend some gifted-child creativity program when you were little?"
"I did attend a gifted academy."
"I don't know what program you're talking about, though."
"Think whatever you like."
"I can't give your interpretation a hundred points."
"But I'd say it's worth around eighty."
"It's not completely different."
"I don't know what you're thinking about, but it's still cold outside."
"Come inside."
"Yes."
When Min-ah returned to the office, Captain Gu immediately asked,
"What did he say?"
"He says it's an angel."
"Seriously?"
"He said he somehow knows where the victims are."
"And since there's no logical way to explain it, he thinks an angel must be telling him."
Only then did Captain Gu nod as though it finally made sense.
"Well."
"That could happen."
"Yeah."
"Sure."
Hee-soo entered the office shortly afterward.
Captain Gu asked,
"When you identify a victim's location at an accident scene, what's your accuracy rate?"
"One hundred percent."
The other rescue team members couldn't help laughing.
Captain Gu remained serious.
"Then you're saying we can deploy people based entirely on your information?"
"If it's one hundred percent, isn't that obvious?"
The question about deploying people had originally been sarcastic.
Hee-soo's response basically meant, Why ask when you're not going to trust me anyway?
However, Captain Gu made an unexpected proposal.
"From now on, when we enter a rescue scene, one team will follow Hee-soo."
"The deputy captain and selected personnel will go with him."
"The rest will follow me and conduct a standard search."
Hee-soo frowned.
"All of a sudden?"
"Yeah."
"All of a sudden."
"You said you've got an angel attached to you."
"Instead of forcing your behavior into our existing rescue doctrine, wouldn't it be more efficient to create a doctrine that includes the way you operate?"
"The same goes for that angel."
Hee-soo's head began to hurt.
"Ah."
"Fine."
"But you're really going to believe everything I say?"
"You said it's one hundred percent."
"And so far, it has been one hundred percent."
"So I don't see any reason not to trust it."
"Do you disagree?"
The deputy captain spoke from beside them.
"I'm Buddhist."
"Is that okay?"
"My mother is a shaman too."
Captain Gu looked at Hee-soo.
"He wants to know if that's a problem."
"Does your supernatural friend hate people like that?"
Hee-soo became annoyed.
"Of course not."
"See?"
"He says it's fine."
"Angels aren't narrow-minded like that."
Captain Gu continued.
"Anyway, from now on, one team moves around Hee-soo."
"The other team moves around me."
"Understood?"
Hee-soo reluctantly nodded.
"Ah."
"Fine."
"I understand."
"You don't like that either?"
"There are going to be situations like last time where you can't rescue everyone alone."
"We have no choice but to form a team."
He was right.
Captain Gu continued.
"No matter where we enter, at least two people go in together."
"That's the rule."
"If you go alone, nobody knows what kind of danger might happen."
"So you are absolutely forbidden from entering alone."
Hee-soo couldn't really argue with that.
"Fine."
"If you're going that far, I'll accept it."
"Just don't get in my way."
Suddenly, noise came from outside.
A large truck had arrived.
Hee-soo looked outside.
The moment he saw the Suseong logo on the truck, he stood.
"Looks like the delivery finally arrived."
Captain Gu assumed it was Hee-soo's personal luggage and didn't pay much attention.
However, huge boxes continued being carried into the first floor.
Hee-soo quickly went downstairs.
"Please take the boxes to the second floor."
"You can't leave them here."
"Yes, Director!"
The workers picked up the boxes again and carried them upstairs.
Yoon-hee had been reporting from the garage.
Seeing the enormous amount of equipment, she came over.
"What is all this?"
"Protective equipment for Rescue Team 3."
"Suseong Safety made it."
"Oh."
"Are you conducting field tests?"
"I've already handled the field testing."
"For Rescue Team 3, it's more like verifying the mass-production version."
"So they're all your test subjects?"
"I was the test subject."
The commotion became large enough that even the fire chief came out.
"What is all this?"
Seeing Hee-soo directing the delivery, he approached him.
"Hee-soo."
"What exactly is all this?"
"I prepared equipment for the rescue team."
"Equipment?"
"What about the gear already issued to you?"
"The current firefighting suits aren't ideal for rescue work."
"So I've developed suits that should improve both firefighter safety and rescue success rates."
"Are you saying the firefighters paid for this themselves?"
"No."
"Suseong Safety is covering the entire cost."
"Have they passed official testing and certification?"
"Of course not."
"The government has never offered that kind of testing."
"Then how are we supposed to trust them?"
"I reviewed every standard used by the government."
"Then we tested these products under stricter standards."
"Suseong conducted those tests."
"Furthermore, this is the equipment I've personally been using."
"I tested it with my own body, then incorporated feedback from my teammates."
"If someone doesn't trust it, they simply don't have to use it."
"The same as any other privately purchased equipment."
"Are you planning to make the firefighters wear this based only on your personal judgment?"
"Of course not."
"Do you know how expensive this is?"
"I asked everyone first."
"It's only being provided to people who want it."
"How many people want it?"
"All of Rescue Team 3."
The fire chief stared at Hee-soo for a moment.
Then his expression became serious.
"Tell everyone in Rescue Team 3 to gather."
"Yes."
Hee-soo immediately passed along the order.
The firefighters gathered in the meeting room, looking confused.
"Why did he call us?"
"Did anyone hear anything?"
"Maybe he's telling us about the commendation recommendation from the last rescue."
"Could be."
"We'll find out."
While they were talking, the fire chief entered.
He didn't even sit down.
He stood in front of the board.
"Did all of you really ask to use that equipment?"
At that exact moment, Yoon-hee and Photographer Jang opened the meeting room door.
Sensing the cold atmosphere, Jang asked carefully,
"Can we come in?"
Before the fire chief could answer, Hee-soo spoke.
"Come in."
Then Hee-soo looked at the fire chief.
"That's fine, right?"
"You're not hiding anything, are you?"
The fire chief stared at him in disbelief for a moment.
"Do whatever you want."
Hee-soo gestured toward them.
The two quickly moved to the back row and sat down.
Captain Gu stood in response to the chief's question.
"Yes."
"It's the equipment Hee-soo is currently using."
"It looked good, so we said we wanted to try it."
"Then he prepared all of this for us."
"If an accident happens while using this equipment, some responsibility could fall on you too."
Captain Gu shrugged.
"What kind of responsibility?"
"The government might refuse to recognize an injury as work-related."
Captain Gu answered indifferently.
"Do they recognize them properly now?"
"They already refuse to recognize plenty of injuries."
"That's exactly why we buy private equipment and use it."
The fire chief looked shocked.
"What?"
"Isn't it true?"
"Senior Jeon never used any private gear at all."
"But the government still refused to recognize his injury."
"He eventually had to retire."
"Then he died from the aftereffects two years later."
"Don't you remember?"
It had happened more than ten years ago.
Senior Jeon had inhaled smoke during a rescue operation and suffered severe lung damage.
He applied for recognition as an injury suffered in the line of duty.
The application was rejected.
Because of his injuries, he could no longer continue rescue work and was eventually forced to leave the fire service.
Less than two years later, they heard that he had died during treatment.
His family even requested that his death be recognized as a death in the line of duty.
However, officials refused to recognize a direct connection between the original workplace accident and his death.
Since he had died after retirement, that request was rejected as well.
His family was still struggling financially.
At the time, Captain Gu and Deputy Captain Park had been junior firefighters.
Because of their relationship with Senior Jeon, they still occasionally visited his family.
They also quietly provided small amounts of financial support.
The newer firefighters didn't know the story.
It was one of the reasons the fire chief hated sending his men into extremely dangerous places.
The chief's expression darkened rapidly.
"Why are you bringing that up now?"
"Isn't that exactly why we buy our own equipment?"
"Because the government won't protect us."
"And now you're trying to stop us from doing even that?"
"Do you seriously think that makes sense?"
The man who had been the rescue captain during that old incident was now standing at the front of the meeting room as the fire chief.
He couldn't answer Captain Gu.
Captain Gu gave him a bitter smile.
"Wow."
"Our old captain really became a senior official."
"That crazy probationary firefighter who behaves like a complete lunatic is taking better care of our bodies than you are."
"Chief."
"Get yourself together."
Captain Gu abruptly stood and walked out.
After watching him leave, Hee-soo also stood and followed him.
The deputy captain couldn't hide his nervous expression.
He kept shifting uncomfortably.
The fire chief stared toward the door through which Captain Gu had left.
Then he waved his hand.
Only then did the deputy captain and the remaining team members leave the room.
Yoon-hee stayed seated.
The chief had assumed everyone had left.
When he stood and noticed Yoon-hee and Jang still there, he asked,
"Why haven't you two left?"
"Ah."
"There's something I'm curious about."
Yoon-hee wanted to ask about Senior Jeon's story.
However, the chief immediately realized what she wanted and stopped the question before it came.
"I'm tired right now."
"Let's talk another time."
