By Zephyria 
“No, I didn’t see it. What I saw wasn’t that….”
He stopped short as he was about to speak. A corner of his chest ached as the mother he’d seen in his dream resurfaced in his mind. Just as he had sensed then, he never saw her again after that. And probably never would.
But even thinking that, Dane’s heart didn’t ache or feel sad. The guilt, hatred, and pain he always felt whenever he thought of his mother were gone now. He simply accepted the past he had with her. Thinking that perhaps he, too, could live like other people, accepting and loving others normally.
Even my own child.
The sudden thought jolted him awake. What was that all of a sudden? A child, that made no sense.
“Dane?”
Called by the voice, Dane returned to reality. When he lifted his head, the other guys were looking at him with puzzled expressions. Dane quickly smiled as if nothing was wrong and changed the subject.
“I didn’t see anything special. More importantly, I’m curious, can you guys give me some advice?”
“Advice?”
“From us?”
The guys were surprised and focused their attention on him. Feeling a sense of pressure, Dane opened his mouth.
“Actually, I have something to give as a gift to someone, and I was wondering what you guys usually do when you give gifts.”
“A gift?”
“What do we usually do?”
The guys, who repeated Dane’s words, stroked their chins and seemed to ponder for a moment before offering ideas one by one.
“I gave my brother a book last time. A new book from his favorite series came out.”
“I went through the trouble of getting a tumbler my daughter had been wanting. She loved it so much.”
“There was some snack that was hard to get these days. I broke into fifteen stores for it. But after all that trouble, she said it tasted like dog pee and threw away half of it without eating it. I’m still annoyed thinking about it!”
“What do you mean, dog pee taste? How would you know that?”
“It’d probably be similar to human pee.”
“And how do you know what human pee tastes like?”
As expected, the conversation started to drift in a bizarre direction. Dane silently watched his former colleagues start rambling about pointless topics, feeling regret that he had chosen the wrong people to ask.
“So, who is it for?”
As he was just sighing, someone suddenly threw out a question. At the sudden question, he reflexively looked up, and by then, everyone’s attention was on him.
“Right, the gift changes depending on who it’s for.”
“Come to think of it, Dane giving someone a gift, isn’t this the first time?”
“Well, he did bring things for our kids’ birthday parties, but if it’s not for something like that, then yes, it’s the first time.”
The guys, who had been exchanging words, turned to Dane with curious gazes simultaneously. Their eyes were shining more than ever. Faced with their intimidating stares, as if they knew everything and demanded honesty, Dane quickly raised his hands and denied it.
“No, it’s not like that.”
“You say it’s not?”
“Not?”
The guys grinned, their eyes gleaming with a suggestive look. Dane, with a serious expression, emphasized again.
“I’m telling you, it’s not. Really, it’s not.”
“He says it’s not.”
“What do you mean it’s not?”
“What is it that’s not? What, what?”
They were determined to hear the inside story from Dane. I shouldn’t have come here. Dane gritted his teeth, regretting his decision.
“You guys, I’m never coming back.”
“That’s that, but tell us now.”
“What’s going on? Who’s the gift for?”
“Didn’t Dane only spend money on condoms and alcohol? But a gift? This is no ordinary matter.”
“Of course, this is a huge event. A massive scoop!”
Seeing the guys high-fiving and cheering, Dane had nowhere left to retreat. DeAndre and a few others were already blocking the door. He was trapped.
“Haaah.”
Finally, Dane sighed and declared his surrender.
“You guys are right.”
“We’re right?”
“What is it?”
These guys.
With their persistent attitude to get an answer from Dane, he finally spat out through gritted teeth.
“I have someone I’m dating. Happy now? Huh?”
“Wooooooooh!”
“Aaaaaaaah!”
“Yeehaw, yeehaw! Giddy up!”
In an instant, the guys let out cheers and ran wildly around the room. One of them climbed onto a bench and pretended to ride a horse, swinging one arm above his head like a cowboy. After a chaotic scene, they finally calmed their excitement and crowded around Dane.
“How did you meet? What kind of person are they?”
“How long have you been dating? You sly dog, you’ve been deceiving us all this time!”
“So, that’s why you seemed so down and didn’t even have one-night stands all this time?”
At someone’s question, everyone seemed to realize it and snapped their fingers.
“That’s it! Right, you were really strange back then, weren’t you?”
“To think it started back then, I never imagined it.”
“You scoundrel, after all this time, you’re quitting your job without telling us a word?”
“Amazing. For someone as promiscuous as you to suddenly change like this. What kind of person could it be?”
They all had the same thought. And their curiosity was directed towards the same thing. What kind of person had captured this rake?
Dane was dumbfounded by the sight of grown men gathered around like pubescent girls, their eyes shining, wanting to hear his love story, but he had no way out. He finally let out a frustrated breath and opened his mouth.
“We just met somehow.”
“Somehow? What do you mean, somehow?”
“Did you meet at a club? A one-night stand?”
“Is it a woman? A man? Is she pretty? Curvy? Sexy?”
“So what happened? Why are you buying a gift? Why were you depressed back then?”
He had only said one sentence, but the follow-up questions were several times more numerous. Dane frantically racked his brain, wondering how to escape this crisis.
“First, everyone calm down, calm down.”
Raising his hands to buy time, he soothed them with a “whoa, whoa,” and waited for them to quiet down a bit before speaking.
“I really met them by chance. We met while passing by, something like that.”
“Does that make sense?”
“Dane does, let’s hear him out first.”
“You be quiet. Dane, so?”
Someone objected, but was immediately overruled. As the surroundings quieted down again, Dane continued.
“We met a few times by chance, and they asked me to date them… and after that, it’s similar to you guys. We fought, broke up, got back together, and that’s how it is.”
It was an excessive omission. The hungry hyenas wouldn’t be satisfied with this.
“That’s all?”
“It’s too short, tell us more details!”
An outcry immediately followed, but Dane had already stood up.
“That’s enough for now, the rest will be next time.”
His former colleagues had expressions full of dissatisfaction, but his stance was firm. Then another question flew.
“How did you end up dating that person? You’ve only ever slept around, you’ve never dated anyone before.”
“Right, right,” they nodded in agreement. It was an undeniable fact. Everyone knew how promiscuous Dane was. He, who was of the principle that he liked sex but never formed deep relationships, was dating someone? And even preparing a gift?
How did he even come to have such feelings?
Faced with their curious gazes, Dane paused as if contemplating, then opened his mouth.
“It’s just… how should I put it.”
He spoke with pauses, as if choosing the right words.
“Before I knew it, I realized I liked them. I thought, ‘This person wouldn’t be bad to be with in the future,’ something like that.”