[2] Solo Leveling

Chapter 270 | Recollections / After Stories

Part 6: Goodbye

[The sibling conmen duo of Hwang Dong-Seok and his younger brother Hwang Dong-Su that caused an uproar in the country have been arrested earlier today....]

Beep.

The TV located inside the Violent Crimes Unit that spat out the news was turned off. Jin-Woo put the remote down and picked up his coat while standing up, prompting Seh-Hwan next to him to stop the administrative work and ask a question.

"Uh? Hyung-nim, you're leaving already?"

"Yeah, I've got a prior arrangement to attend to, so I'll be going home early today."

"Yessir."

Jin-Woo replied with a smile towards his partner performing a playful salute and escaped from the office. Seh-Hwan watched his boss's back disappear from view and chuckled slightly while crossing his arms.

"It's so strange. Hyung-nim always goes home early on this day every single year...."

....Hang on a minute.

He shifted his gaze over to the calendar stuck on one of the walls and a certain thought popped up in his head.

"Ahh, so that's what it was. Today is...."

***

Baek Yun-Ho spat out a low sigh, his face a mess of black soot and dirt.

"Fuu...."

Not too long ago, he and his crew managed to put out a massive wildfire raging near a residential area. This victory came about after over 50 fire engines and firefighting helicopters, as well as 800 or so brave firefighters had been mobilised.

Baek Yun-Ho took a look around him. He could see his fatigued colleagues lying or squatting on the ground here and there. However, not one of them carried gloomy expressions. Some of them grinned brightly or raised their thumbs up real high when their gazes met.

Whenever that happened, Baek Yun-Ho also raised his thumb up as his reply.

No one died or got injured while they successfully reined in the fire. That should be seen as a real miracle in the scene of such a large-scale blaze.

Even though they were deeply fatigued and left with no energy whatsoever after battling the flames for the whole night, they used their expressions to cheer each other up and celebrate their success.

Baek Yun-Ho also felt deeply pleased about this outcome.

It was then.

"Ouch, that's cold."

He got startled by the sudden coldness touching his neck skin and took a look to his side to find Captain Seong Il-Hwan holding a bottle of ice-cold water.

"Thank you, sir."

Baek Yun-Ho bowed his head slightly and took over the water bottle. Seong Il-Hwan settled down next to him and wetted his throat with a different bottle.

The veteran of a hundred battles.

Or, the greatest captain in history.

Didn't matter what you called him, it didn't sound ill-fitting with Captain Seong. And as his nickname had alluded to, he had displayed unparalleled brilliance in today's event, too.

Baek Yun-Ho was proud to be in the same crew as Seong Il-Hwan. Heck, all these bits of soot stuck on his face felt like medals of honour to him, even.

'One day, I....'

He sneaked a glance at his respected senior from the corners of his eyes, before pouring down the remaining cold water over his head.

"Pu-haah."