By Zephyria 
Kugung, the floor rumbled again. This time, the vibration felt closer. Dane keenly analyzed the explosion points, which shifted with each blast. Half in doubt, hoping his prediction was wrong, he waited for the next moment, but this time, explosions occurred in rapid succession.
“Damn it!”
Dane cursed under his breath. “These crazy sons of bitches, claiming to believe in God while doing this?”
His insides churned, but getting those guys out was the priority.
“Shit,” Dane spat, firing his gun at a man who appeared far away. Grayson rushed past him without hesitation as he instantly collapsed. Like a racehorse with its path set, unwavering. ‘Good,’ Dane thought, watching the back of the honey-blond man running ahead.
Did Joshua realize the situation too?
When they both had the same thought earlier, Joshua might have predicted the situation up to this point, just like Dane. But the reason he didn’t say it out loud was probably because he dismissed it as excessive worry. Dane had done the same.
Damn it, who knew they were this crazy?
If the explosions continued, even a sturdy mountain would crack. Maybe the cracks had already started. If three more explosions like this happened, then…
“Josh!”
He shouted, and the man running ahead glanced back. It was just a brief movement of his eyes, but Dane didn’t care and kept yelling.
“What’s going on? What about those ex-DMV guys? Where are they?”
Joshua tried to check the watch on his wrist as he ran. At that moment, just as the ground seemed to shake again, Grayson’s body faltered as he ran in the very front.
“Grayson!”
Dane shouted urgently, seeing the man disappear from his sight in an instant. Racing neck and neck with Joshua, he reached the spot where Grayson was collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.
“The bleeding is too severe.”
“He has too many wounds.”
Dane responded briefly to Joshua’s words. While Joshua manipulated his watch to connect with ‘Team,’ Dane bent down and helped Grayson sit up. Heaving rough breaths, his shoulders shaking, Grayson looked at Dane and smiled faintly.
“I tripped.”
“I know.”
Dane said nonchalantly, as usual.
“Rest for a bit, Ashley Miller’s guys will be here soon.”
Unexpectedly, Grayson didn’t spout nonsense but just smiled weakly. It would have been better if he had just talked nonsense. Dane felt himself getting anxious and stood up abruptly.
“The situation isn’t good.”
Joshua spoke as soon as Dane stood in front of him.
“Want to hear the good news first? Or the bad news?”
“Just tell me anything, quickly.”
At the hasty urging, Joshua took a short breath and spoke as quickly as Dane.
“First, the good news. The guys who were running away apparently ran into the team coming up. They took care of them all, and most are dead, but they kept two alive.”
“What’s the bad news?”
“The landslide blocked the road, so the team can’t come up. We have to take that guy down.”
“Shit!”
Dane spat out a curse without hesitation and kicked the ground. Joshua silently watched him run a hand through his nervously disheveled hair.
“What about the bombs?”
Dane asked abruptly, one hand on his forehead.
“What happened to the bombs? Did those guys know?”
“They know.”
As expected, Joshua answered without any surprise.
“They must have pressed the captured guys and found out. They called the dismantling team and they’re heading there. That’s why the team can’t come this way, they have to clear the path so the bomb disposal team can get to that point.”
They’re leaving it to us to take Grayson down. It can’t be helped, the injuries are severe, but he should be able to hold on until we get down the mountain.
“The ambulance is waiting below, right?”
“Of course.”
Dane nodded at Joshua’s ready answer and muttered to himself.
“The bomb disposal team needs to get there in time…”
Dane paused as he spoke. Something was wrong.
“They told you the location of the last bomb? Willingly?”
Too fast. He anxiously recalled his thoughts. Considering the determination of the guys who tried to stop Dane’s group at the risk of their lives, it was hard to believe that they would give up and spill everything just because they were caught trying to escape.
“Where’s the bomb located? Ask, quickly!”
At Dane’s urgent shout, Joshua panicked and hurriedly contacted the team again. Dane, who had drawn the coordinates they said in his head, immediately lost all color in his face.
“…No.”
He spat out in a rough voice.
“That’s not it, you idiots! It’s the opposite!”
He shouted at the top of his lungs, but soon a crackling sound followed. The watch was broken or there was interference. Joshua, realizing that communication was no longer possible, looked at him, equally pale.
“It’s not? So those bastards deliberately screwed us over?”
“Yeah, it’s completely wrong. Damn it, goddamn it!”
Dane clutched his head and poured out curses. This was bad. What should he do? There wasn’t much time left. Joshua repeated blankly, as if in a daze.
“A landslide will happen.”
“I know, I know.”
Dane muttered, and Joshua added urgently.
“The entire village below will be buried. We have to stop it.”
“I said I know.”
Dane said again. Joshua was right. If that last bomb went off, the ground wouldn’t hold any longer. Remembering the village that would be buried under the pouring rocks and dirt, there was no time to hesitate.
“You go down with that guy.”
“What? What about you?”
Joshua asked in surprise. Dane answered without hesitation.
“I’m staying here.”
When a surprised Joshua tried to say something, Dane spoke first.
“I have to defuse the remaining bomb. You take care of Grayson, I’ll take care of the bomb.”
“Don’t talk nonsense, how can you do it alone…”
Joshua immediately objected, but Dane didn’t change his mind.
“I can do it. You know it too, my skills.”
There was no denying that. Joshua had seen Dane’s performance several times while they were in the military together. Nevertheless, Dane coldly rebuked him when he hesitated.
“Think about what you would have done if this was the military, Joshua Bailey.”
Joshua paused and froze. Then the answer was already decided. But, still.
“Is that the only way?”
At Joshua’s squeezed question, Dane asked back.
“Then should I let them die, those people?”
Joshua rubbed his eyes with one hand as if he had a headache. Dane softened his tone and added to Joshua.
“There’s a chance I’m wrong. If those bastards accidentally became nice and told the truth, they’ll remove the bomb over there, and there’ll be nothing where I think it is. The odds are 50/50.”
Dane tapped Joshua’s arm. But there was still a problem.
“What about that guy? He won’t listen to me.”
When Joshua pointed behind him with his thumb, Dane answered immediately.
“I’ll take care of it.”
As soon as the words were spoken, Grayson walked over and stood in front of them.
“What’s wrong? What are you guys talking about?”
“It’s nothing.”
Dane brushed off his words indifferently and scanned him.
“You look fine.”
“I’ll be fine if I rest a bit.”
Grayson smiled brightly as if nothing had happened. His whole body was soaked in blood, Dane clicked his tongue inwardly, but silently turned to Joshua.
“Okay, let’s go.”
At the light gesture, Grayson blinked, bewildered.
“Uh… what? Why?”
When Grayson looked back and forth between the two, Dane said.
“Go down with Josh first.”
“What about you?”
At the immediate question, Dane answered nonchalantly.
“The firefighter is last, right? Listen, quickly.”
“What are you thinking?”
A sharp voice immediately returned. He was dead tired from the bleeding and injuries, but his senses were more sensitive than usual.
Dane was hiding something.
He could tell instinctively. He shouldn’t trust Dane right now.
“You go first, then Josh, then me last.”
Grayson was serious. At his unwavering stance, Dane frowned and narrowed his eyes. This puppy…
He took a short breath and opened his mouth as if annoyed.
“If you don’t go now…”
At that moment, Joshua interjected.
“I’m telling you in advance, even if this guy dies, I’m not having sex with you, absolutely not.”
This bastard.
Dane glared fiercely, but Joshua didn’t bat an eye. When he felt a headache coming on in front of the two idiots who wouldn’t listen to him, Grayson opened his mouth.
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’m not going alone, absolutely not.”
Then he added strongly.
“I told you, if you die, I die too.”
At those words, Dane paused. For a moment, only the fierce night wind settled between them.
Don’t be stubborn.
He was clearly trying to say that. Did he know how serious the situation was, how many lives might be lost because of him, what did he know and why was he doing this, and so on.
Numerous words came and went in his head, but none of them came out of his mouth. Dane just moved his lips and eventually looked at Grayson silently. In a very short moment, a lot of memories seemed to flash before his eyes.
…So many memories.
“Ha…”
Dane, who had let out a short sigh, gave a bitter smile.
“I know,
you idiot
.”
Suddenly, his eyes seemed to be moist. Grayson looked at him with a surprised face. Dane reached out. The hand that wrapped around the back of Grayson’s head pulled him closer. Grayson obediently tilted his head as if possessed. As Dane’s lips touched his, he naturally closed his eyes. He felt pleasant goosebumps at the soft and cool sensation.
Ah, this scent. He vaguely recalled as he felt his heart flutter.
Dane’s Pheromone…
Right then, his mind suddenly went blank. His vision blurred in an instant and his consciousness became hazy. He had the same experience once before. This was the third time. Dane had released Pheromone all at once and knocked him out.