By Zephyria 
“Phew.”
Grayson surfaced, gasping for air as he checked the digital clock outside the pool. 3 minutes and 2 seconds. He floated in the water for a while, catching his breath. Once he calmed down, he planned to challenge the record again. It was his fourth attempt already, and the time was getting shorter and shorter.
But before he could even catch his breath, he plunged his head back into the water. It was a reflexive action the moment Dane came to mind. When he held his breath, he could avoid other thoughts. He could focus all his attention on simply staying alive. But unfortunately, this method was also slowly reaching its limit.
“Hwah.”
Feeling the pain of his lungs about to burst, he came out of the water again, panting as he looked for the clock. Realizing that only a minute or so had passed, he had no choice but to admit it. He had to stop diving.
Exhausted, he climbed out of the pool, and Alex, who always roamed around him, approached. He gently stroked the dog, who was panting and showing affection, and headed for the sunbed. As if it were natural, the dog followed him and lay down where his hand could reach. It was a familiar act that he had been doing for a long time. When Grayson lay down on the sunbed, Alex always lay down within reach. And he enjoyed the leisurely rest, enjoying his master’s constant head scratches.
As always, when he scratched his head, the dog closed his eyes comfortably and curled up on the floor. As he got older, Alex spent more time sleeping. He often dozed off, but even in the midst of that, he always greeted Grayson with joy, circling around him and trying to stay by his side.
If only Dane were as simple as this guy.
Seeing him wag his tail at Dane for just a can of food, he was suddenly dumbfounded. The guy who ate my Diana. He frowned, feeling resentful for no reason, but seeing him wag his tail slowly from side to side and close his eyes, he just didn’t care anymore.
What is Dane doing?
Of course, his thoughts flowed in one direction. Now tired of forcing himself into a corner and forcibly diverting his thoughts, he simply let them flow as they came to mind. At this hour, he would have finished work. Would he be at that cheap hotel, drinking bad beer? After work, he would take care of the cat, then take a shower, drink beer, and go to sleep.
The days when they went home together, drank beer, talked about this and that, and fell asleep seemed like a dream. Come to think of it, Dane had promised a lot of things, but what would happen to all of that?
Liar, it was all a lie.
Grayson cursed him inwardly. He must have been planning this from the start. He never intended to keep his promises, made people expect things, dragged things out for nothing, and then planned to overturn everything at the last minute.
To scam an innocent me.
As always, he saw himself as a pure victim. He did his best, but instead of appreciating it, he used it and left. What a bad person. Son of a bitch, trash, used condom…
…….
Would he be looking for someone new to spend the night with now?
Relieved to have escaped from me.
Suddenly, he paused at the sensation on his hand. He looked down and saw Alex licking Grayson’s fingers. He stared at the dog for a moment, then turned his gaze to the pool. His gaze returned and lingered on the dog for a little longer.
“Alex, what do you think Dane would do if he came to your funeral?”
At the soft voice, Alex raised his head. He had only reacted because he heard his name, but he probably didn’t understand the content. Grayson smiled as he stared at him, tilting his head to one side and blinking his eyes.
Yeah, that wouldn’t work.
In the past, he would have done it without hesitation. Only to see Dane again. But it’s different now. Because he now knows what kind of reaction Dane would have if he found out the truth. For the same reason he rescued his ugly cat from the fire, he dismissed the thought that had come to his mind. Even though there was almost no chance that Dane would know the truth.
“Good boy, Alex.”
Grayson lightly rubbed his nose against the dog’s nose, stroked his head, and headed into the house. Alex groaned, but couldn’t follow. The dog had been trained not to enter the house.
Instead, Alex, who had been standing there until Grayson disappeared, turned and headed to his own house. He entered the building that Grayson had built for the dog, which was probably bigger and more luxurious than the house he lived in, and Alex lay down on the clean bed and yawned widely. And without knowing what had just happened, he fell into a comfortable sleep as usual.
Desire Me if you can
“Damn Dominant Alpha.”
Grayson spat out curses with a very angry face. He had already emptied half a bottle of whiskey straight, but he wasn’t drunk at all. Even if he were a strong drinker, he would be tipsy by now, but his mind was only clear. It’s all because of his damn Trait. He can’t get drunk no matter how much he takes drugs or drinks alcohol. There are drugs and drinks developed for them, but to get them, he has to go to Steward’s lab. And he will be excited and ask all sorts of questions. Why do you need this, what are you going to use it for, tell me what the effect is, Grayson Miller never thought he would be taking this drug, and so on, he would be noisy.
“Fuck, it’s like being a beggar.”
He spat out curses again and poured himself a drink. He knew it was meaningless, but he kept pouring it in, perhaps hoping that he would get drunk someday. It was a long time ago, but he heard that Keith did that when Yeon-woo left. There was even talk that he might become the first Dominant Alpha to die of alcoholism.
If I die, will Dane come to my funeral?
It was a much more efficient idea than Alex dying. Dane will definitely come. And he will regret it. He will never forget me for the rest of his life. Just like his mother.
Dane’s mother, that damn woman.
Anger filled his mind as he excitedly imagined Dane crying and regretting at his funeral. If that woman hadn’t died like that. No, if she hadn’t hit and abused Dane, he wouldn’t have rejected me like that.
He was so frustrated that she was already dead. Fuck, he cursed again and emptied the remaining glass of alcohol in one go. He was about to pour himself another drink when suddenly his cell phone rang. He, who had been pathetically drinking alone at the snack bar where he had eaten and drank with Dane, froze for a moment.
Could it be?
With a mixture of expectation, excitement, and anxiety, he quickly checked the caller ID, but soon frowned. Grayson looked at his cell phone for a moment with a face full of disappointment and annoyance, and finally pressed the answer button.
“What?”
The other person said something to the word he threw out. Grayson, who was pouring himself a drink while listening quietly, paused.
“…What did you say?”
He quietly put the bottle on the bar table and stopped moving. The man continued to talk to Grayson, who remained silent. Grayson only listened silently. After the man’s urgent words were over, a short silence flowed. Grayson, who had been thinking a lot in his head, opened his mouth with a short sigh.
“Okay, I’ll go now.”
As soon as he hung up, he turned around and walked out of the snack bar as if running. Behind him, only a whiskey glass that was not even half full remained.
Desire Me if you can
The drunken man’s scream was so close that it sounded like he was shouting right next to him. You can’t expect soundproofing in a cheap hotel in the first place. Somewhere else, a couple was having sex, and moans and thrusting sounds could be heard.
In such a headache-inducing noise, Dane was lying alone on the bed, staring at the ceiling with an empty face. Darling, who is deaf, fortunately settled between Dane’s armpits and purred. Dane stroked Darling’s body as a habit.
It’s already been over a week since I came to this hotel. After all, the human body is fickle. It was the hotel I had stayed in since the fire, but after spending three months at Grayson’s house, I was shocked to see how terrible this place was.
153 – 153
The bed was terrible. He could put up with the short length, as that was a common issue, but the creaking sounds emanating from somewhere within the bed every time he moved, and the hard mattress that felt no different from the floor, disturbed his sleep every moment. Because of that, he found it hard to get up in the morning, weighed down by layers of fatigue.
How could he have lived here?
He had the same thought every morning. It wasn’t just the environment that had changed. After getting off work and coming home, he would finish the necessary tasks and then go to a club every two or three days without fail. If it were the old him, he would be at a club right now, thinking about who he would sleep with tonight. But what about now? He was lying alone with a cat in a cheap hotel, staring at the stains on the ceiling.
He had never felt so listless. He didn’t want to do anything and just wanted to lie down. If the bed had been very comfortable, he might not have gone to work. It was fortunate in a way that this terrible bed was pushing him out of it.
This wouldn’t do.
Dane, who had been lying blankly, got up carefully so as not to startle the cat. He drove out and arrived at a convenience store attached to a gas station. He bought a few cans of beer and came back, sitting in the chair and chugging the cold drinks, emptying them in one go. He planned to drink until he was drunk today. He had bought plenty, so he would fall asleep before he finished them all.
As he chugged down the second can, the empty parking lot suddenly came into view. The sparsely placed streetlights were mostly broken, flickering or barely emitting a faint light as if they were about to die. Frowning, Dane drank his beer again, and a strange feeling suddenly came over him.
…Come to think of it.
〈Even so, that place is too dangerous! You should look for another hotel…〉
The speed at which he was gulping down the drink slowed significantly. Ezra’s worried face flashed before his eyes. What had that bastard said before that?
〈That, the place where Miller got robbed?〉
Dane slowly placed the beer can on the table. Something was wrong. He had brushed it off without a second thought back then, but now that he thought about it, it didn’t make any sense.
How did Grayson know he had been robbed here?
Grayson wouldn’t have said anything. If he had, the firefighter sparrows would have already been pecking at Dane, asking why, how, and how Grayson had been robbed in the parking lot of the hotel where Dane was staying.
Of course, Dane had never mentioned it either. So how did he know?
Dane furrowed his brow and pondered, then shook his head. No, this was a ridiculous thought. Ezra was kind to everyone. He was the one who had approached Grayson first. He had even defended him, saying nonsense like, ‘He turned out to be a good guy’…
Grayson could have told only Ezra separately.
Thinking that way, it made sense. Deep down, he knew it was unlikely, but he couldn’t find any other answer.
Could it be that Ezra was…
Just as he reached that point, there was a sudden knock on the door. Knock, knock, knock, the rather fast and loud sound startled Dane, who had been lost in thought, and he widened his eyes and turned his head.
Who was it? He wasn’t expecting anyone.
Knock, knock, knock, knock. The visitor had no patience at all. Dane slowly got up and glared at the door. There was no way there would be any security in this cheap hotel. A robber might come into the room, just like what happened to Grayson. Should he hide Darling in the bathroom in case? As he thought that and looked at the cat sprawled on the bed…
“It’s me, Dane. Open the door.”
Dane paused again at the voice from the other side. …What?
He was frozen in confusion when he shouted again.
“I said open the door, I know you’re in there. Open it right now before I break it down!”
For some reason, the man was very angry. There was no longer any doubt about the visitor’s identity. Dane composed himself and strode across the room. Even in the short moment of turning the doorknob, the man was knocking on the door. Soon after, he faced the man standing in the hallway. Dane frowned in disbelief as he saw the face he had expected.
Why was this guy here…?
Desire Me if you can
“Miller!”
Ezra, who had revealed himself from the car, ran up, delighted by Grayson’s appearance. Grayson looked down at him with a frown and asked.
“What’s going on? Where’s Dane?”
“This way, this way.”
Ezra turned around and walked ahead. Grayson still stood there with a displeased expression on his face at the sight of his hurrying back.
“Miller, what are you doing? Hurry up!”
Ezra, who had run far away, turned around and shouted urgently. Grayson seemed to hesitate for a moment at the sight of him waving his arms and urging him on, but he sighed and took a step when Ezra repeatedly shouted, “Hurry!”
The reason he had called Grayson was because of Dane. He said that Dane was in trouble now, so he should come quickly and help him.
Why me?
To Grayson’s question, Ezra rambled and said, ‘Dane is looking for you.’
And the place Grayson headed to was the parking lot of a commercial restaurant. It was late, so all the stores were already closed. The desolate and quiet parking lot had only two cars, Grayson’s and Ezra’s.
In the eerie atmosphere, Grayson followed Ezra around the back of the building. As expected, that place was also empty.
“What’s going on?”
Grayson asked Ezra, leaning to one side with his weight on one leg. Ezra, who had called him here, was startled and stammered.
“A, actually, I was the one who had something to say… not Dane.”
“I know. So what is it?”
Ezra widened his eyes again at the indifferent tone. His disbelieving expression would have been ridiculous, but Grayson still answered expressionlessly.
“Yeah, of course.”
Dane would never look for me no matter what.
He added bitterly in his heart. But he couldn’t let go of the hope that maybe, just maybe. Even though he knew he would only be disappointed.
Just like now.
Facing Grayson, who was looking at him with a cold gaze, Ezra didn’t know what to do and rolled his eyes around. As if he hadn’t expected this situation.
“Th, th-that is, well.”
Grayson quickly grew bored with him just stammering and not easily revealing his business. He would wait another 10 seconds, and if he was still like this, he would just turn around and leave. Okay, one, two, three…
Suddenly, he felt a chill behind his back. The moment he turned his head, something hit him hard on the head.
“…Ugh.”
“Grayson!”
“Got him… huh?”
Ezra screamed in a panic, and the man who hit Grayson’s head shouted excitedly, then made a flustered sound. Grayson seemed to duck, then immediately grabbed his neck. The man, startled, dropped the wooden stick and screamed.
“Ugh, ughhh!”
Grayson grabbed the man’s neck with one hand and asked in a low voice.
“What? Who are you?”
The man’s face turned white at the infinitely threatening voice, and he struggled to get away. The fists he swung wildly, however, only stirred the air in vain and didn’t even touch Grayson’s eyebrows. Seeing his unsightly appearance didn’t even make him laugh. He was already stressed to the point of bursting. This bastard had attacked him first without knowing his place, so from now on, it was self-defense. When he raised the hand holding his neck high, the struggling man’s feet also floated into the air.
“Ugh, cough, keuh.”
The man’s face turned red, and he made a choking sound. Grayson didn’t loosen his grip, but tightened it even more. At this rate, he wouldn’t last a minute, no, not even 30 seconds. And with this, everything would be over…
“Okay, that’s enough.”
Another man’s voice flew in. Grayson slowly turned his head. He could see several men standing at a distance. The man holding a gun to Ezra’s pale head said.
“Let go of Joseph, or you’ll see this guy’s head fly off.”