By Zephyria 
“No, I mean. Like, well.”
Dane, who had spoken without thinking, suddenly wondered. Wait, why am I going this far? It’s true that this guy is sticking to me like glue.
He was the type who wouldn’t understand unless you spoke harshly. Plus, he needed to realize there was no hope during these three months so he would let go easily. If I’m wishy-washy, worse things could happen later…
The conflict started again, but the answer was already clear. Dane was already aware that his heart was weakening. No choice. He let out a short breath and opened his mouth.
“Pretty boy, even the prettiest face gets tiring if you look at it all day. And I’m not used to spending this much time with someone. It doesn’t suit my personality. It’s annoying.”
He pointed out the root of the problem honestly and as easy to understand as possible.
“Even lovers have different forms, depending on the person. You like to cling, but I hate it. Shouldn’t we adjust to each other, pretty boy? Forcing something that only one person likes isn’t a healthy relationship.”
He should understand this much.
Thinking he had given a cold, realistic assessment, Dane waited for Grayson’s reaction. But for some reason, he was just tilting his head and making an incomprehensible expression.
“Did you understand what I said?”
Dane, unable to wait any longer, pressed him, and Grayson suddenly smiled brightly. That face again… As Dane frowned, Grayson replied.
“Not at all.”
“Haaa.”
Of course. Dane covered his face with one hand and sighed deeply before suddenly remembering something.
“Have you ever dated anyone before? What were they like? Did they like it when you chased them around like this?”
No matter how much they were lovers, no one would like being clung to this much. Confident, he asked, and Grayson scratched the back of his head before laughing insincerely again.
“I didn’t chase them around like this back then.”
This bastard! Dane was furious, and a vein popped out on his temple.
“Then why are you doing this to me? Why are you clinging to me so annoyingly!”
“Because you’re my true love.”
At the brazen answer, Dane couldn’t even shout and just raised his clenched fists, trembling slightly. He had too much to say to even speak. After all sorts of curses passed through his mind, he sighed in exhaustion and slumped his shoulders.
“You’re too controlling.”
Dane continued in a tired voice.
“I hate being obsessed over and clung to. That’s why I didn’t want to date anyone. If you were moderate, I’d be willing to put up with you to some extent.”
Offering another compromise, Grayson stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“How much is moderate?”
At the dubious question, Dane readily replied.
“Don’t contact me until I contact you, and don’t show up in front of me without permission.”
Grayson still didn’t let go of his suspicion and asked.
“Then when will you contact me and show up?”
Dane answered whatever came to mind.
“Whenever I feel like it.”
He wondered if that would be enough, but Grayson didn’t give in easily.
“I think about you all day long, but what about you?”
At the sudden question, Dane paused, and Grayson lowered his eyes and looked down at Dane as if he expected it.
“If you’re the same, I can endure it.”
Dane stared at him without a word before rubbing his face roughly with one hand. And he mumbled, covering his face with his palm.
“…I’ll try.”
“Good.”
Thinking it was finally over, he lowered his hand and saw Grayson standing with one hand outstretched towards him.
“…What?”
“Cell phone.”
Grayson, urging him with another wave of his hand, said.
“You don’t know my phone number, so give me your cell phone.”
Dane, not taking his eyes off Grayson, took out his cell phone from his back pocket and placed it on his palm with a thud. Grayson opened his cell phone and frowned.
“What, there’s no lock setting?”
The answer was predetermined.
“Annoying.”
Grayson shrugged and skillfully pressed the buttons to save his cell phone number. Dane waited, thinking it would be over soon. But unexpectedly, it took him quite a while before he finally returned the cell phone.
“What took you so long…”
Dane, who had checked the phone, paused. ‘Love, Grayson’ was at the top of the address book. Dane silently stared at it before deleting ‘Love’. Grayson made a dissatisfied expression, but he ignored it, of course.
“Do I have to tell you my number too?”
Dane asked, putting his cell phone back in his back pocket. He thought he was going to call himself when he took the cell phone, but it turned out he was just saving the number, which was unexpected. At Dane’s curiosity, Grayson replied nonchalantly.
“It’s okay, I know it.”
“Huh…”
Dane only let out a tired sigh. Of course, Dane had never directly taught him, but he didn’t bother to argue. He already knew it was a waste of time from experience. Grayson then demanded of Dane.
“Now that you know my number, send me a message whenever you think of me. Even just a dot is fine. It’d be even better if you called. Then I’ll accept your way too.”
“What…”
He was about to say it was nonsense, but Grayson asked suspiciously before that.
“You told me not to lie to you, so you’re not going to lie like that, are you?”
Dane was momentarily flustered, but there was no room to refute. Because of that, he paused for a moment before replying nonchalantly.
“Of course not. Then is the conversation over now? I’m leaving first.”
Dane didn’t waste any more time, turned around, and strode away. He could feel Grayson following behind him, but there was nothing he could do. They worked at the same company.
It’s lucky enough that we’re not riding in the same car.
He thought, getting into his old car and starting the engine. If he kept listening to that damn ‘boobs boobs’ even during his commute, he might strangle Grayson someday.
But Dane himself knew very well that he had only postponed the moment of crisis and that nothing had actually been resolved.
“What are you doing, Dane? Since a while ago.”
DeAndre asked, seeing Dane sitting on a makeshift chair, shaking one leg, and sending cell phone messages. As the end of work got closer, he became more anxious. He had never thought about one person so intently in his life. If this was Grayson Miller’s scheme, it had worked well enough. From the time lunch was over and it became afternoon, he had gradually started to feel impatient and repeatedly took out and put away his cell phone. All to send a text to Grayson right away.
DeAndre, who had been wondering, glanced at Dane’s cell phone and was startled.
“What, why are there so many dots?”
He looked back and forth between Dane’s face and cell phone and asked, but Dane had no intention of answering. Eventually, DeAndre left, curious. Dane didn’t care about him and only stared at the cell phone screen. As DeAndre said, only a row of dots that Dane had sent were floating in a line in the message window.
Conversely, the messages sent from the other side were endlessly long.
[Grayson]
My beloved Dane. Did you see the cloud that just passed by? It looked exactly like a hot dog! Isn’t it amazing that a hot dog is floating in such a blue sky? That guy was as majestic as my Virginia. Haha!
.
My beloved Dane, I think inspecting a chainsaw is a life-threatening job. Shouldn’t we receive additional life insurance every time we inspect a chainsaw? What do you think? Shall we file a lawsuit together? If we hire Miller’s law firm, we could get $1 million. I’d like us two to file the lawsuit alone. Then we can each get $500,000. Of course, I can give my share to your two lovely Venus. Instead, you have to let me bury my face in them and kiss them to my heart’s content!
.
My beloved Dane, did you know that there are working ants and playing ants? Is the ant passing under my feet right now a working ant or a playing ant? Seeing them going together, maybe they’re going to play together. Shall we go play like those ants this weekend?
.
My beloved Dane.
.
My beloved Dane.
.
My beloved Dane.
.
…….
.
At the endless messages, Dane’s complexion turned pale.