By Zephyria 
The report that a cat someone was raising couldn’t get down from a tree came in about an hour ago. Grayson followed Dane into the car, seeing him, who usually checked the equipment with a lazy yawn and a clearly annoyed face, unusually get straight into the car. He still didn’t understand why he did that. He acted ‘without even realizing it,’ and when he came to his senses, the car was already running.
No one said anything about Grayson joining the Deployment. They clearly had an attitude of not wanting to get involved in whatever ulterior motive he had, but Grayson was more comfortable with that. That was because there was only one thing bothering him right now.
That man, Dane Striker, was sitting with his arms crossed and one leg shaking. Seeing him looking more anxious than usual, as if he was quite concerned about the cat, made him feel strange as well. Dane Striker, who always looked annoyed or bored even when there was a big Fire, always showed a different attitude towards animals. He once rescued a squirrel, and another time he picked up a bird that had fallen from its nest and put it back. He was now used to the fact that his eyes were always serious and sparkling when dealing with animals, but every time, without fail, they lost their light and became dim after the job was done.
What he wasn’t used to was his own changed attitude. For some reason, after that day, Grayson began to be bothered by every single one of Dane’s actions. He couldn’t understand himself.
Above all, he didn’t like the current situation. This wasn’t the time to be wasting time here. He had to leave right away after the job was done, just like he always had. Because life was too short to find his one and only love.
But it had already been almost a month, and Grayson was still staying here. Even though he couldn’t understand himself, he was still going on every Deployment like this. To be exact, it was closer to following Dane around.
Wait a minute, following that guy around? Me?
As he frowned at the newly realized fact, the car arrived at the scene. The first person to get out of the car was, of course, Dane. He put on his jacket and immediately headed for the tree where the cat was. While his colleagues were setting up the ladder, a woman who seemed to be the cat’s owner and her neighbors were pacing anxiously at a distance from him as he put on his helmet and prepared to climb.
“I can’t do it, I can’t lean the ladder against it.”
After several attempts, DeAndre gave up and stepped back, and Ezra immediately took out his radio.
“Let’s call a ladder truck. Let’s wait in the meantime.”
In the meantime, the firefighters who came to support were wandering around and joking with the residents. Even so, they didn’t forget to check the tree in case something happened to the cat. Meanwhile, a group of women gathered and made a small fuss at the sight of Dane standing in a circle with the other guys and chatting.
“That’s him, right? That…”
At the expectant voice, another woman nodded.
“Calendar.”
Following that, suppressed screams erupted here and there. They were finding God everywhere, jumping in place, covering their mouths, and waving their fists. Even while frantically taking pictures with their cell phones, they didn’t stop.
“Oh my, I’ve never seen such a handsome man.”
“And what about that body? I wish I could go on a date with him just once.”
“He’s so tall. Is he 2 meters?”
“Oh my god, I’m seeing the man of my dreams in real life. I think I’m going to cry.”
“Cherry is such a good kid. This is how she repays us for feeding her plenty of snacks.”
“I knew this day would come. Cherry is a cat who knows how to be grateful.”
There was no way these cheers from the women wouldn’t be heard by them. Ezra glanced at them, nudged Dane with his elbow, and gestured slightly with his chin.
“Those women keep talking about you, don’t they? Why don’t you acknowledge them?”
Dane smiled without saying a word and slightly raised and lowered his hand. At the same time, the women’s cheers tripled. But the other colleagues didn’t react much, as if this was a common occurrence. While chatting about baseball with a kid who came to watch, the ladder truck arrived. As if it was natural, they watched from below as Dane climbed onto the ladder and skillfully went up.
“Good girl, good girl.”
Dane said in a gentle voice that he could never have imagined before. His appearance, approaching slowly as if worried that the cat might be surprised, was extremely cautious. Everyone held their breath and watched as he slowly and carefully approached the cat. As Dane, with his long arms as tall as he was, slowly reached out, he quickly grabbed the cat’s neck. And as soon as he lifted the cat up as if snatching it, the people who were watching anxiously from below cheered and applauded loudly.
“Wow!”
“He did it, he did it!”
“Thank goodness, thank you!”
“Ah, I’m relieved now… I was so scared.”
With relief, people began to talk with bright faces. Dane, who came down the ladder with the cat, found the owner. Everyone was moved by the sight of the woman with tears welling up in her eyes receiving the cat and giving thanks, and they put their hands on their chests and exclaimed. Soon after, one or two private conversations began to flow out from among those who had been watching.
“Hey, can I say hello?”
“What? Are you going to ask if he’s the calendar guy?”
“No, you can’t say it like that! Be less obvious!”
“The hot guy of the year?”
“That’s even worse!”
Among them, flustered and at a loss, a woman who had disappeared and reappeared stepped forward. She was holding several calendars in her hand. They were all firefighter calendars with Dane on the cover. She handed Dane the calendar and a pen and asked.
“Um, um… can you sign this?”
The women who had been making a fuss behind her were all surprised and widened their eyes at the tremendous courage she had barely mustered, as she was usually quiet and almost never spoke. But it didn’t end there. When she took out her cell phone and asked for a picture, Dane even called a colleague and handed him the phone, giving her the honor of taking a picture with him. Of course, they couldn’t just let this tremendous luck pass them by.
“Me too! I have one too!”
“Here, I’ve been buying it every year! Look at this!”
“I was first!”
“I was first!”
Everyone who had run all the way home had the same calendar. Some of them had only torn off the cover and kept it, and they were waving several fluttering pieces of paper. In the end, the time it took to sign everyone’s calendars and take pictures was much longer than the time it took to rescue the cat.
Seriously, this is ridiculous.
Grayson watched the scene with his arms crossed and a frown on his face. Seeing the guys acting mechanically as if this was a common occurrence, he couldn’t even laugh because it was so absurd. What the hell are those guys doing?
Tsk, he clicked his tongue in annoyance. Suddenly, he seemed to hear a faint human voice from somewhere. It was drowned out by the noisy voices of the people and seemed like a hallucination.