By Zephyria 
Grayson looked as if he would grab Dane by the collar, but of course, it didn’t happen. It was at that exact moment that one side of the stairs collapsed with a loud crash. Standing precariously on the half-remaining stairs and looking down, a dark, gaping space came into view. Taking advantage of Grayson’s hesitation, Dane ran down the hallway. Grayson cursed briefly and had no choice but to chase after him again.
Just as they had searched almost the entire second floor, a voice suddenly came from the radio. It was Wilkins’ voice.
“Dane, Dane! Are you okay? Haven’t you found him yet?”
“We’re searching. Second floor.”
“Wait a minute! Charles might be in the attic!”
Suddenly, a man’s voice cut in. Seeing Dane stop in his tracks, Grayson thought, Damn it, that’s what he must be thinking right now.
Just as he was about to turn back, judging that it was time to leave, Dane suddenly asked, “Where’s the attic?”
What the hell is he saying?
Grayson frowned and looked at him. He couldn’t see his expression because his back was turned, but he could definitely feel that Dane had no intention of backing down.
“The ceiling in the back room… you just have to press the button… Did Charles go up there often?”
“Yes, yes, we trained him to go straight up there if things got scary. In case a burglar came in and killed Charles. And so we wouldn’t lose him if he got scared and ran outside…”
The man asked urgently, his voice choked with sobs.
“Y-you can find him, right? Charles is still alive…”
He kept talking, but Dane cut off the radio call mercilessly. Grayson couldn’t tell if it was because he didn’t want to hear the whining or because he was short on time, or both, but he was sure of what Dane would do next.
He can’t do that.
“Hey, just stop…”
“Miller.”
Just as he was about to say he wouldn’t go any further, Dane suddenly called his name. He, who had been running forward until now, turned to look at Grayson for the first time and said,
“You get out of here. There’s no need for you to stay here. You’re just getting in the way.”
Of course, that was what he was planning to do. Coming this far was more than enough, and Grayson had done his part. But when he heard those words coming from Dane first, he didn’t feel good at all. Of course, that was probably because of his consistently unpleasant tone.
“What about you?”
He was about to say, Are you going to jump into those flames to save a dog that’s definitely dead? but there was no time. Without even answering, Dane disappeared into the smoke in an instant.
Left alone, Grayson blinked in disbelief and came to his senses at the loud ‘crack’ sound. Somewhere in the house had collapsed again.
It was already impossible to chase after Dane. Of course, he had no intention of doing so. Staying in this dangerous situation was suicide. Dane couldn’t possibly be unaware of what Grayson, who was practically a complete novice, knew.
He’ll do enough and come out.
That’s what Grayson thought, and he immediately retreated. Humans fundamentally have a fear of death. The fear of pain is the same. With flames rising from all directions, Grayson didn’t hesitate any longer and ran out without regret.
Desire Me if you can
Wilkins stood in the same spot, anxiously watching the blazing house. It felt like a long time had passed since Dane had gone inside, but he had no idea what was going on. He had even turned off the radio. What was he thinking?
“Charles, Charles…”
The man kept calling the dog’s name and crying. Wilkins was just as anxious, but he couldn’t scold him. He silently patted the man’s shoulder, but then, he saw a human figure silhouetted against the flames.
“Dane?”
As soon as Wilkins spoke his name, the man also looked in the same direction, startled. Each of them waited for the person they were longing for to come out of the fire, but the man who took off his mask was someone they didn’t expect at all.
“Miller!”
“Where’s Charles?”
At the almost simultaneous shouts, Grayson took off his helmet, swept back his hair, and replied.
“That guy went inside to find the dog.”
“What?”
Wilkins shouted in shock. Immediately, the man fired off questions like bullets.
“So you haven’t found Charles yet? Where did you get separated? You heard everything I said, right? I told you Charles might be hiding in the attic, but the radio cut off…”
“Stop! Just be quiet!”
Unable to bear his continuous stream of words, Wilkins shouted. The man, who had been wailing and crying until then, stopped crying for a moment and widened his eyes. Wilkins left him alone and turned back to Grayson, asking urgently.
“Dane went inside? To find the dog?”
Following the shocked tone, Wilkins scanned Grayson up and down, then fixed his eyes on his face.
“But why did you come out alone? I specifically told you two to stay together! How could you leave your partner behind and come out alone? How? Did your feet even move? Huh?”
He seemed genuinely unable to understand. A firefighter abandoning his colleague and escaping alone in this situation was impossible. To Wilkins, who was waiting for an answer, Grayson gave the same smile as before and replied cheerfully.
“He told me to leave because I was just getting in the way, so I left. I can’t refuse other people’s requests.”
“…What?”
Wilkins seemed quite flustered and reacted after a pause. His face, pale and wide-eyed as he looked up at Grayson, was a mixture of confusion, embarrassment, contempt, and other negative emotions.
“What happened? Dane is in there alone?”
Ezra, who had heard the story late, shouted in horror. Support had arrived from other fire stations, and firefighters who had some spare time, as the fire on the other side seemed to be mostly extinguished, were gathering in front of the house. Wilkins, as if belatedly overcome with anger, clenched his fists tightly and glared at Grayson. Then he screamed.
“How dare you say that! Even if Dane said that, you should have stayed there, or at least radioed us! You abandoned your colleague in those flames and came out? And you call yourself a firefighter? How dare you come here and say you’ll be a firefighter, you bastard!”
He was furious, like a madman. It wasn’t just Wilkins. Other colleagues, including Ezra, also shouted and criticized Grayson.
“You son of a bitch, you’re not even human! Even if you’re not a firefighter, you can’t leave your colleague alone in that danger!”
“It was ridiculous from the start that someone like you showed up saying you’d be a firefighter! Get out of here, you piece of trash!”
“You were a lost cause from the start. We should never have accepted someone like you! I was against it from the beginning! We all knew you were no good!Despite the pouring uproar, Grayson was still smiling. His unchanging expression, like a mask, even seemed as if he was mocking others. At that face, the firefighters, even more enraged, screamed at him, and Dane shrugged his shoulders and asked.
“I know you all have tremendous camaraderie, but if you’re so worried, shouldn’t you gather together and bring that guy out instead of criticizing me?”
“We were going to do that even if you didn’t say so, you son of a bitch!”