(English ver) A Winter Story

A Winter Story Part 25

Yoonsung woke up when he smelled a smell which made him choke and cough hard. When he opened his eyes, he saw faint smoke entering his room. While rubbing his eyes, he slowly got out of bed.

"Dad? Eomma? Where's the smoke coming from?"

His little hands opened the door to his room when he couldn't see where his father and mother were. Instantly he was startled by an extremely loud sound and water sprayed out from the ceiling around him. When the apartment door opened, his father immediately picked up a stunned little Yoonsung while staring at the ceiling. He led little Yoonsung out of their apartment door. There were screams and loud alarms sounding from all over the apartment. When Yoonsung was put outside the door, he could see his father was still wearing his suit, it must be that he just came home from work that night.

"Yoonsung, run to the emergency exit at the far right. Just keep going down those stairs, okay?"

"But, where are you going? Where is eomma?"

More water sprayed out of the corridor ceiling and made Yoonsung wet. Yoonsung tried to peek through the slit of his father's leg and caught a glimpse of the flames licking through the large window in the living room. Yoonsung's eyes widen in fear.

"Appa will get eomma and we will run after you. Run and wait downstairs, okay?"

"But daddy..."

"Appa has promised. Be a good boy and wait for us below. Understand?"

Yoonsung's handsome dad shook Yoonsung's body as he knelt down to talk to Yoonsung. Terrified, Yoonsung nodded his head.

"Run!"

Yoonsung's father pushed Yoonsung out and waited for him. Yoonsung knew he should listen and obey his father's wishes, so he ran down the hall as fast as his little legs could carry him. Stumbling by the wet floor and the fact that he was running right now wearing only his house slippers, and before opening the door at the end of the hall, he turned his head towards his apartment and the figure of his father was gone. For a moment he wanted to come back again, but his father would be disappointed if he didn't obey his father's orders, so he finally opened the door. It turned out that Yoonsung's vision was also not clear when he started to descend the stairs, it seemed that there was only smoke around him and his breath became even more tight. There were screams in the distance, but Yoonsung couldn't understand what the shouts meant. Yoonsung continued to rush down the stairs, trying to heed his eyes, which were watery from the pain of the surrounding smoke.

"Son, are you all right? Ahjussi will take you out, okay?"

Yoonsung could only surrender when a pair of strong hands carried him into the owner's arms. Yoonsung recognized his uniform: this ahjussi must be a firefighter. This Ahjussi moved much faster than Yoonsung's run earlier, and in an instant the two of them had already left the apartment building. Yoonsung was put in front of a crowd of people who seemed to be watching their apartment. Yoonsung lifted his head and saw flames engulfing the apartment building and a large amount of smoke rising from the apartment windows.

"Wait here, kid, there will be health workers who will meet you."

"Ahjussi, ahjussi."

Yoonsung grabbed the hem of the firefighter's shirt before he ran away. The friendly uncle squatted in front of Yoonsung, smiling.

"Ahjussi, eomma and appa are still inside. Please help them out and say Yoonsung is waiting for them."

"Fine, ahjussi will do it. Yoonsung, wait here."

After tapping Yoonsung's head lightly, the uncle had run back into the building. Yoonsung is now alone, staring at the building that continues to catch fire, and which continues to be doused with water from several fire engines. He looked around and was terrified: he was never in a crowded place alone. He only hoped that the uncle would come back soon with his parents.