By Zephyria 
Dane paused, halfway to bringing the half-empty beer can to his lips. He must have taken the reaction he’d shown last time quite to heart. But he couldn’t lie. So, Dane just drank his beer without a word. Grayson, seeing his reaction, lowered his eyes. He looked genuinely depressed. Dane, who had been quietly watching his face, opened his mouth.
“Are you feeling disappointed, or sad?”
Grayson blinked. Dane waited without pressing him for an answer. After looking at Dane for a moment, Grayson raised the corners of his lips and smiled.
He still doesn’t know.
Dane concluded. Of course. There was no way that man could distinguish the difference. No, he probably didn’t even feel anything. He was just putting on an expression as a matter of habit.
Dane, who had been thinking for a while, turned his head. Outside the window of the snack room where they were sitting, a bright sky stretched out. It was still sunny even after he had come home from work because of daylight saving time.
Dane put the empty beer can on the table and turned his gaze to Grayson. His eyes narrowed slightly. Dane, slowly raising the corners of his lips, asked in a low voice, subtly.
“Hey, have you ever had your Nipple played with?”
Grayson froze with his lips raised, only blinking twice. …What did I just hear?
“What?”
To the single word he managed to utter, Dane gave a strange smile, as if he had expected it. Feeling a strange chill, Dane got up and said.
“Get up, let’s go.”
“Where to?”
To Grayson, who asked in bewilderment, Dane replied simply.
“You’re driving.”
He frowned at the absurd words, but Dane seemed to have no intention of saying more, turning around and leaving the snack room. In the end, Grayson couldn’t ask any more questions and followed him outside. Suddenly, he heard a sound. Grayson, realizing that Dane, who was walking ahead, was whistling, widened his eyes in surprise.
Something’s up.
Even after getting behind the wheel, Grayson glanced at Dane in the passenger seat. Dane was reclining with his hands clasped behind his head. He looked like he was asleep, comfortably closing his eyes, but Grayson knew very well that he wasn’t.
As they drove along the route that Dane had directly entered into the car’s navigation system, Grayson became increasingly anxious. Eventually, he couldn’t hold back and cautiously broached the subject.
“You’re not going to sleep with someone, are you?”
He asked lightly, hiding his true feelings, but Dane answered casually.
“Who knows? I’ll have to see when I get there.”
This time, he turned his head completely to look at his face. To Dane, who was still pretending not to know anything with his eyes closed, Grayson asked with a smile. Of course, without tilting his eyes at all.
“You don’t think I’m just going to stand by and watch, do you?”
Then Dane smirked, twisting the corners of his mouth. The moment Grayson paused, he said as if he was annoyed.
“Who cares.”
In that instant, Grayson wanted to just crash his supercar into the wall. But just as he was about to turn the steering wheel, a mechanical voice suddenly rang out.
Driving straight. Switching to autonomous driving.
Frustratingly, the car snatched the steering wheel away from Grayson. Grayson was dumbfounded, but Dane only chuckled with his eyes closed.
In the end, he was forcibly accompanying Dane on his way to find a sex partner against his will.
“This is unfair.”
As soon as he got out of the car, Grayson burst out with his dissatisfaction. Dane, who had closed the passenger seat door, looked at him indifferently with half-open eyes. His attitude only fueled Grayson’s anger.
“We agreed not to do this kind of thing for a while, didn’t we? What is this? You’re really untrustworthy. How can you bring someone you’re dating to cheat on them? Hey, are you listening to me? Where are you going! Hey! Dane Striker!”
Grayson finally lost it at the sight of Dane’s back as he slowly walked towards the shopping district, scratching one ear with his pinky finger.
“Untrustworthy and promiscuous bastard. Horny dog. Sex addict. Worn-out dick…”
“Welcome!”
A high-pitched voice cut through Grayson’s endless stream of curses and condemnations. Grayson, who had been following Dane into the store, only looking at the back of his head, belatedly stopped and turned his head. The owner, who was standing at the checkout counter at the entrance of the store, greeted Dane, who had entered first, cheerfully.
“Oh my, who is this? Welcome, Dane. It’s been so long! How have you been? Why haven’t you come? You didn’t move to another store, did you? Huh?”
Dane smiled at the owner’s noticeably flirtatious behavior. Grayson’s face turned grim in an instant, but he continued without paying attention.
“No way, I’ve just been a little busy. I’ve been good. You’re still pretty…”
“Oh, you’re even saying sweet things now.”
The owner lightly chided Dane, but seemed pleased. Of course, Grayson’s insides were completely twisted at the sight.
What? Pretty? Does that bastard say that to just anyone?
He called Grayson pretty and flirted with him to his heart’s content, but now it turned out he said it to just anyone. That fact alone was shocking, but surprisingly, Dane was even joking with the owner with a smile. It was unbelievable that Dane, who was never sociable, but rather full of complaints and even curt, would say and act like that.
Could the target be that man?
Grayson’s head turned cold for a moment. It was clear. Otherwise, there was no reason to come all the way here and say such cheesy things.
With me standing right in front of him.
Grayson’s eyes turned golden with anger. Just then, the owner, who had been smiling at Dane, paused.
“Oh my, what’s this smell? It’s a scent I’ve never smelled before… Did you put on perfume?”
The owner suddenly sniffed and brought his nose to Dane’s body. Of course, it was the scent of Pheromone that Grayson had released. But to use such an obvious tactic, how hypocritical!
“That’s…”
Just as he was about to say, “It’s my Pheromone,” Dane smiled and said.
“No way, I don’t wear things like perfume. See, I don’t, right?”
He deliberately opened his jacket and leaned forward. It was as if he was trying to make it easier to smell, but to Grayson, it just looked like they were flirting. Of course, that was actually Dane’s intention. The owner, who had inhaled as close as if his nose would touch Dane’s chest, blushed and looked up at him.
“Uh-huh, you really don’t. That’s strange.”
“Right?”
Dane gave a soft smile and pointed to the window next to the checkout counter.
“Why don’t you ventilate if it bothers you?”
“Should I?”
Only then did the owner reluctantly move away from Dane and head to the window. Seeing him pull up the blinds covering the window, Dane finally turned to the inside of the store. Naturally taking one of the baskets placed next to the checkout counter, he glanced back. To Grayson, who was still glaring at him with terrifying eyes, he said nonchalantly.
“What are you doing? You pick something too.”
What is that bastard saying?
Grayson frowned even more in disbelief. But Dane was just looking around the display case, picking up items one by one and dropping them into the basket.
What on earth…?
Unable to understand the situation, Grayson strode towards Dane with a deeply furrowed brow. Come to think of it, what kind of store is this? He belatedly wondered. He had been too busy following Dane to properly look at the sign. After coming in, he had been too distracted by Dane flirting with the owner to have time to look around the store.
He really came to sleep with the owner…?
Thinking that, Grayson turned his head, and something came into his view. Just then, Dane picked up an item from the display case and put it in the basket. At that moment, Grayson saw the words and picture written on the box.
Nipple clips.
Grayson stopped moving completely, staring intently at the box.