Lisa was pulled up by her teammates. She was covered in soot and sweat, hugging the child as she shouted, "Doctor Kim!"
Jennie had already hurried downstairs, rushing over, "Give me the child."
Lisa handed the unconscious child to her, then took the water bottle from Jungkook, gulping a few mouthfuls of water.
Jennie quickly did a check up on the child, and concluded that he did not suffocate and was still breathing weakly, but passed out from the smoke. She loosened the child's shirt, wet a towel and wiped his cheeks and chest, then quickly picked up the child and walked towards the exit. When she got to the door, she turned around and asked, "Is the elevator working?"
Jungkook nodded, "It's safe."
"Okay." Jennie picked up the child and went downstairs.
An ambulance was parked downstairs, it had arrived at the scene together with the fire department.
Jennie handed over the child to a colleague, and the ambulance left the scene quickly.
When Jennie returned to her unit, the firefighters were walking out one after another. Some of them were hunched over on the ground and rolling up the water hoses.
Jisoo passed by her and smiled, "Thanks, Doctor Kim."
"All good?" Jennie asked.
"The fire is extinguished, and the door downstairs has been opened now. We'll go downstairs and check everything again."
Lucas also thanked her, "Good thing we borrowed your balcony, otherwise it wouldn't have been so fast."
As he talked, he wiped the sweat from his face.
Seeing that his palms were red, Jennie said, "If anyone is injured, I can take a look. I have a first aid kit here."
Lucas was taken aback for a moment, looked at his hands, and waved them, "It's alright, Doc. We'll go finish our work first."
Jennie didn't try to force him. Afterwards, a group of firefighters swarmed out. Lisa came out of the living room and passed Jennie at the entrance.
"Thank you."
Jennie just nodded her head at Lisa in response.
The whole team quickly evacuated.
The room that was bustling and extremely tense a moment ago became empty again in an instant. Jennie stood at the entrance and glanced at the huge living room. All the people had left, leaving a room full of water stains, black ash and blotches, in complete disorder.
The sun shone on the water-drenched and dirty floor, reflecting a dazzling black light.
•••
Lisa and the others went downstairs to check the scene of the extinguished fire, found the origin point, and contacted the property manager and the owner.
The owner was still rushing to get back.
Lisa left two team members to deal with the aftermath, and the rest retreated.
Everyone packed up their things and prepared to withdraw. When they got to the elevator, Lisa ordered, "Chu, accompany the instructor to inspect the equipment, and Lucas will write a report after returning." After giving the instructions, she said, "I will stay here and leave later."
Jisoo didn't react in time, "It's enough to leave Mark and Jaehyun here, Capt. Go back early and get some rest."
"I'll go upstairs."
Jisoo wondered, "2701? To do what?"
"If you mess up someone's house, you need to help clean it up."
Jisoo nodded, "That's true. Okay, I'll go with you, I'll help you clean up."
"No need, Chu. One person is enough, more will be trouble."
"How will it be more trouble, Capt? You know I get things done quickly--"
Seulgi stretched out a hand from the elevator, grabbed Jisoo by the collar and dragged her in, pressing the door close button with her other hand, and raised her chin to Lisa with a sly smile, "Go, Capt." she then winked.
Lisa turned and ran into the stairwell, taking a few strides up the stairs. When she arrived at Jennie's unit, the door was open, and the sound of running water came from inside.
She walked into the entrance hall and looked around. The living room was in a mess and there was no one there.
Jennie came out of the bathroom with a towel in her hand. Seeing Lisa, she was a little surprised, "Did you lose or forgot something?"
"No." Lisa looked at the floor, "I borrowed your balcony, I'll clean up your apartment before leaving."
Jennie did not refuse.
Lisa took off her thick protective clothing and put it at the entrance, then took off her shoes and walked in, heading straight for the bathroom. She glanced around, "Where is the mop?"
"Don't have one."
"You don't have one?" Lisa looked back at her, and her eyes fell at Jennie's hand, "You'd use only that?"
Jennie weighed the towel in her hand and coughed, "This is the only thing I have."
Lisa stared at her speechlessly for a while, then shook her head, so speechless that it was almost funny, "That is useless. Wait here." After she finished speaking, she walked out.
"Where are you going?"
Lisa was bending over to put on her shoes, turned to look at her, "Downstairs. To buy someone a mop." she straightened herself up, "Is there anything else your apartment is missing? I'll buy it all together for you. Broom, detergent, rags..." Halfway through, she stopped to observe Jennie's expression for a moment, then continued, "Don't tell me you don't have anything I've mentioned?"
Jennie clenched one hand into a fist, put it next to her mouth and coughed, "I won't tell you then."
Lisa blinked and stared blankly at her. And without saying another word, she turned and left.
DING*, the sound of the elevator going down came from the corridor.
Jennie walked to the entrance way, peeked outside, and went down. She stepped back to look at the firefighter jacket on the ground. It was huge and very thick. The clothes were dirty on the outside and reeked of sweat inside.
Jennie went to the balcony and looked down. After waiting for a while, she saw Lisa running out of the corridor, and quickly disappearing around the corner.
It was the first day of November, the ginkgo leaves downstairs were a sheet of golden yellow.
Autumn was bleak, and the cold wind blew across the balcony.
Jennie retreated into the house.
Not long after, Lisa came back with a mop in one hand and a large plastic bag in the other.
"This much?" Jennie looked over and saw that there were several colorful absorbent rags, as well as ordinary rags, as well as detergents, scouring balls, brushes, etc.; Lisa also bought several rolls of garbage bags.
Jennie frowned slightly, "Why buy so much?"
Lisa was rolling up her sleeves, "You're not embarrassed to ask?"
Jennie did not respond.
Lisa snorted, "This looks more homey now." After speaking, she took the mop into the bathroom, and turned on the tap to rinse.
The sound of water burst forth.
Jennie stood still for a while, then took out a large rag from the plastic bag, and followed Lisa into the bathroom.
Lisa turned on the faucet, repeatedly swiped the mop, wetting the cloth strips; Jennie went to the sink and scrubbed the dry rag.
Two sources of water sounded.
Lisa lowered her head and twisted the mop, without looking sideways, as if she didn't care, she started asking, "What's wrong with your throat?"
"I have a cold." Jennie replied.
"Ah."
There were sounds of rushing water, after a long while, Lisa asked again, "Are you ready?"
Jennie nodded, "Ready."
Lisa turned off the tap, drained the water from the mop, and went out.
Jennie wrung out the rag and followed her out.
Lisa was mopping the floor on the balcony. She had long limbs and lots of strength. After pushing back and forth twice, she had wiped the huge balcony floor clean.
If it was a cleaning lady, Jennie would have to tidy up and down for a long time. Instead, she took the rag and walked over to wipe the balcony railing.
Lisa had just turned around and pushed the mop out to wipe the corner, and was about to pull back when Jennie bumped into her head-on, tripped on the mop cloth, and slipped.
Sharp-sighted and deft, Lisa grabbed Jennie's arm vigorously and pulled her back.
Jennie hurriedly stood still, her heart pounding.
Lisa let go of her, "Be careful." she then continued to mop the floor.
"Oh." Jennie released a breath, and walked to the railing to wipe off the water stains and black ash.
There was a strong gust of wind on the tall building, which made her shiver.
Lisa suddenly reached out, grabbed the rag from her hand, and confiscated it. "Just go inside. It's windy here." she was expressionless when she said this.
"I can--"
"I'm not responsible if your cold gets worse, Kim."
Jennie then went back indoors. Behind her, Lisa closed the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Originally, the air was circulating and the north wind was blowing through. Now that the door was closed, there was a sudden warmth in the room.
Lisa was cleaning the railing outside, it was dirty from being stepped on by firefighters.
Seeing that Lisa's rag was dirty, Jennie took a new one out of the plastic bag. She wet it under the faucet, returned to the door, and opened a sliver to change the rag for her.
Lisa handed back the dirty ones and took away the clean ones. Jennie then took the dirty ones to rinse out.
Lisa was very nimble in her work, very focused on cleaning. After quite some time, she quickly finished cleaning up the balcony.
Lisa returned indoors, closed the door, went to the bathroom to rinse out the mop, and returned to continue cleaning the living room full of footprints and water stains. When sweeping next to the sofa, the mop accidentally hit the coffee table, and a small card fell off. She picked it up, it was Jennie's ID card. She lingered on it for a second, then put it back where it was.
Jennie was hesitant to sit still, and boiled a pot of water with the new kettle.
Time passed slowly, everything felt natural. Neither of the two talked to each other, the room was quiet, there was only the sound of the mop sliding across the floor, mixed with the gurgle of the kettle.
When Jennie was in the open kitchen and turned her head, the mop just happened to clean a path among the water stains in the living room, and the sunlight reflected on it, shining brightly. She narrowed her eyes inadvertently, and saw Lisa's figure blending into the golden autumn sun.
Jennie stood there making tea while Lisa continued mopping the floor.
At that moment, the memory seemed to freeze. Looking back, this was a very quiet autumn afternoon, a very ordinary day, like every day in the past.
When the water boiled, Lisa had already finished cleaning the living room, washed all the mops and rags, and placed them neatly in the bathroom.
"Have a cup of tea first before leaving." Jennie poured boiling water into a glass, the tea leaves rolled up and down, and a faint green color emerged from the tea. She looked up at Lisa, "You sweat a lot, need to replenish water."
She filled three glasses of water one by one and placed them in a row on the counter.
The water dispenser was on the side, useless.
"The water is a bit hot, please sit first."
Lisa shook her head, "I'm dirty, so I won't sit."
Jennie felt a little awkward, but Lisa was unusually open-minded.
Lisa's trousers were full of stains. She had been rolling in the fire, so no part of her was clean. Standing in the gleaming shiny room that had just been cleaned, it was particularly noticeable.
Jennie moved her eyes away and pointed to the high stool by the bar, "Sit on this, I'll just wipe them clean later."
Lisa thought for a second, then went over and sat down.
The three cups of water were full of steam, and wouldn't turn into lukewarm water within only a second.
The two waited in silence.
"Are you injured? Let me take care of it for you."
Lisa glanced at her own hands, "No, I don't think so."
"How about your wrist? The skin may have been rubbed raw."
Lisa paused for a second and looked up at Jennie. She, herself, didn't even notice that the skin on her wrist was broken-- it was caused by wrapping it around the safety rope.
With a calm expression, Jennie went to fetch the medicine box.
Lisa stretched out her hand on the table, and Jennie cleaned her up briefly, applied medicine, and suddenly asked, "Are you busy with work?"
"It's alright." Lisa replied, "There are things every day, big and small." After a pause, she continued, "I'm not as busy as you."
"It was my turn to come to the emergency department on a shift, otherwise I wouldn't be so busy. Plus..." Jennie glanced at her, "...our job is not as dangerous as yours."
Lisa snorted faintly, "I think your work is dangerous enough."
Jennie understood that Lisa was referring to the needle. She then wrapped gauze around her wrist, "Done."
The vapor in the three glasses of water was less, and dense water droplets condensed on the mouth of the glass.
Lisa picked it up and drank it down in one gulp. After drinking all three glasses, she wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand and said, "Thanks."
Without much delay, she got up to leave, and Jennie followed to see her off.
Lisa walked to the entrance way and picked up the firefighting suit off the floor. There was a small spot of stains on the ground, "Can you clean it yourself?"
"Yes. I can manage."
"Good."
Lisa then went out. Jennie stood by the door, watching her leave, a voice suddenly sounded in the bottom of her heart.
Let's be together, okay?
The elevator dinged and the door opened. Lisa walked into the elevator, turned around and pressed the floor, and then looked directly at her.
Jennie also looked at her...
Lisa, let's be together...please?
But ultimately, she didn't say anything, and the elevator door closed, blocking their sight.
The corridor was quiet again, and the fire hydrant was whole and brand new, as if nothing had happened.
•••
Jennie closed the door, looked at the small puddle of stains at the entrance, and then at the shiny and clean living room, suddenly feeling that her apartment was so quiet she couldn't breathe.
She clenched her hands tightly, walked to the sofa, and sat down. She sat upright and squeezed her hands tighter and tighter.
Suddenly, she stood up abruptly, and ran to pull open the French windows, a strong wind rushed in.
She threw herself on the window sill railing, and shouted towards the people downstairs, "Manoban!"
A string of birds were startled in the golden ginkgo forest.
On the bleak autumn path, the woman in the fire suit stopped and looked up.
Jennie couldn't see Lisa's expression clearly, and was about to open her mouth to shout something at her, but the cold wind came, like a big hand strangling her throat.
She stopped and took a deep breath, "You are on vacation tomorrow, aren't you?"
One second...
Two seconds...
...the world was silent.
And in the next second, Lisa turned and left.