Chapter 188

three

I am currently in front of the XX building where the bomber is located. This perpetrator is known to be related to the bomber of the AA building terror attack. He is currently demanding the release of his colleagues and is holding hostages with explosives strapped to his body…

“That son of a bitch!”

DeAndre, who was driving, slammed his fist on the steering wheel. The urgent voice of a reporter continued to flow from the radio. The guys sitting in the back seat also listened to the broadcast and cursed in resentment.

AA building bombing.

Dane, vaguely recalling the memory, was asked by the man facing him.

“Isn’t that the place where you defused the bomb before?”

Yes. Dane silently nodded. That day when he had something like a date with Grayson, that guy grumbled that I had ruined the date.

“What’s wrong?”

At the words of the man from before, Dane turned his gaze to him. The man still asked, as if wondering.

“You’re smiling.”

Dane’s lips slowly lowered. Only then did he realize that he was smiling.

“No, nothing.”

He said it casually, but for some reason, he turned his gaze away. Without understanding his own actions, he stubbornly stared out the window until he arrived.

Desire Me if you can

When they arrived at the scene, people were already crowded together. Pushing through the crowd taking pictures and videos and chattering, the firefighters immediately moved forward. Taking their places near the police and special forces, they waited anxiously, ready to rescue people immediately in case of an emergency.

“There are experts here today, so you don’t need to do anything, got it?”

Wilkins urged Dane. His colleagues, who knew his personality of rushing in first whenever something happened, also cast worried glances. Dane smirked as if he was dumbfounded.

“Everyone thinks I’m desperate to die.”

Did that guy think so too?

He let out a short sigh at the face that came to mind again. Stupid, is this the time to be thinking about that guy’s face? He blamed himself, but he couldn’t help it. Even without being conscious of it, that face occupied his mind frequently, no, almost every moment.

What are you going to do now?

Dane scratched the back of his head irritably. He had lived well alone until now. He will continue to do so in the future. Because that is the ending that suits him best.

Just then, the ground shook with a loud roar. Someone shouted from behind Dane, who reflexively braced himself.

“Damn it, that bastard detonated the bomb!”

As he said that, black smoke was seen rising from one side of the building. Urgent shouts followed.

“What about the hostages? What happened to the people?”

“I don’t know, were the two who came out earlier all of them?”

“What about the rest then? Are they inside?”

“What happened to the terrorist? Did he blow himself up?”

Shouts of screams continued. The sound of someone, perhaps an acquaintance of the hostage, calling out an unknown name and wailing was also mixed in. It was all a mess. Even the people who had no choice but to wait for instructions were restless with anxiety.

Just then, miraculously, someone shouted.

“We’ve made contact with the woman inside!”

A police officer who had rushed over with a cell phone handed it to his superior. Station Chief hurriedly answered the phone and shouted.

“Are you okay? What’s your situation?”

The fire team watched the ongoing call with tension. Soon, Wilkins ran to Station Chief. Whether something was going on urgently, the Team leader of the special team, the police Station Chief, and Wilkins began to talk together. And the firefighters waited for him to return with anxious faces.

A moment later, Wilkins, with a serious expression, quickly conveyed the situation. Fortunately, there was someone hiding inside the building, and the terrorist was not yet aware of her presence. It was fortunate, but instead, she was hiding in the inner space of the office, so she did not know any other situation at all.

‘Please save me, please help me…’

Recalling the sobbing voice, Wilkins couldn’t help but feel complicated. DeAndre asked, seeing him shaking his head.

“So what happens now? Do we have to keep waiting?”

“Of course not. I’ll tell you what you have to do from now on, so listen carefully.”

Wilkins quickly conveyed the situation that had been discussed. The fact that the fire must be suppressed before it gets bigger, and that if anyone is rescued, they must be taken out immediately.

“Let’s start quickly. At this rate, even healthy people inside might inhale smoke and die.”

Everyone agreed with what someone said. Wilkins raised his hand as if to calm them down and continued.

“The signal will come soon. Don’t move arbitrarily, we have our role, and if we get too involved and things go wrong with them, it’ll be a bigger problem.”

‘Got it?’

Wilkins turned his gaze to Dane as if to say. Only when Dane said yes as if he was annoyed did Wilkins turn his head. And a moment later, the moment Team leader nodded, everyone ran out as if they had been waiting.

Desire Me if you can

There were no problems until they entered the building. Putting out the rising flames, checking the surroundings, it was the same as they had always done.

Everyone was embarrassed by the sudden sound of gunfire. Could it be that a battle had broken out with the terrorists?

“How many are there on their side?”

Another guy answered DeAndre’s question.

“Five? Six? That’s about what we figured out.”

Soon after, another guy shouted.

“That means there could be more, damn it!”

DeAndre said again.

“Everyone, don’t overdo it, we just have to take care of what we have to do, or things might get twisted. Hey, don’t forget…”

Before he could finish speaking, the building shook again with another explosion. While everyone was crouching in surprise, Dane suddenly heard something. He thought it was impossible, but even while thinking to himself that it was impossible to hear that sound in this roar.

Where is it?

He couldn’t help but turn his head in the direction of the sound.

And…

Dane groped for his memories while lying down. He coughed repeatedly in the thick black smoke. Cough, cough, as he coughed violently, shaking his whole body, something flowed out of his mouth. He realized belatedly that he had spat out blood.

And what happened?

The recollection continued again. Dane immediately contacted headquarters via radio.

“I hear a sound from inside. I’ll check it out.”

“What? Wait, what do you mean you hear a sound?”

The other guys who heard the radio together shouted in embarrassment.

“We didn’t hear it, and how can you hear people’s voices in this situation?”

“That’s right, you must be mistaken. You can’t move arbitrarily, wait!”

The other guys shouted urgently. They are right. How can you hear a sound in this situation? You must be mistaken.

It was nonsense, but he couldn’t just let it go. Instinct kept shouting. He had to go, he had to check.

“Everyone get out, it might collapse!”

Wilkins shouted from over the radio.

“The building is cracked from this explosion. It’s going to collapse soon, the other team guys are evacuating now! Get out of there!”

“What about the hostages?”

Dane asked immediately.

“What happened to the hostages? Did everyone get out?”

“Yes!”

Wilkins shouted.

“We’ve rescued everyone now, the terrorist committed suicide! The explosion just now was the sound of that guy’s body flying away, get out of there!”

At those words, everyone hurriedly turned around and started running. Dane also had to join them, but for some reason, his feet wouldn’t move.

“Dane, what are you doing! Get out of there!”

DeAndre gestured urgently. Dane, who was awkwardly looking back, made up his mind and turned around. Just as he was about to run, he heard a clear voice in his ear.

‘Save me.’

“Dane!”

Another guy shouted at Dane, who had stopped again.

But this time there was no room for doubt. Dane had clearly heard it. The voice of a person wailing.

“Dane, where are you going? Dane!”

“Don’t go, stay there!”

His colleagues shouted from behind, but he didn’t stop. They could only watch in embarrassment as his back disappeared as he ran like crazy. Soon after, the building shook again. There was no more time to hesitate. Eventually, they turned their heads and left the building.

189 – 189

Where is it, where am I?

Dane frantically looked around and ran. The collapsing building was too large and ominous. Cracking sounds echoed from everywhere, and occasionally, noises like explosions erupted. Could I be mistaken? Dane thought in confusion. Am I making the wrong choice…?

“Hey! Where are you? Answer me!”

Dane shouted at the top of his lungs. But no one else’s voice could be heard.

Why am I running?

He had a thought he’d never had before. There had been many situations like this. But he had never felt such a doubtful emotion. Naturally, he would jump into the scene without any questions.

Why am I thinking this now?

“Where are you? Answer me, damn it!”

He ended up swearing. It was then, miraculously, that he found her. A woman groaning with blood flowing from her forehead.

“Hey, wake up! Hey!”

Dane shouted repeatedly, calling out to the woman. He almost missed her. The walls that had collapsed on both sides miraculously supported each other, creating a small triangular space, which saved the woman’s life. Admiring himself for managing to find her groaning in that gap, Dane hurriedly approached her. He pulled the woman out of the gap and shouted repeatedly, and she barely opened her eyes, letting out a faint groan.

“Are you conscious? Get up, we have to get out of here right now.”

He hastily supported the woman to stand up. “Ugh,” the woman groaned. Her head wound seemed to be hurting. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to be seriously injured elsewhere, so Dane decided to focus on getting out of here for now.

“Okay, we have to get out of here quickly. If we don’t hurry, you and I will both die. Do you understand?”

Die.

The word suddenly felt ominous. He had faced death countless times, but he had never felt like this before.

Stop having stupid thoughts.

Scolding himself, Dane hurriedly focused on reality. He just had to go back the way he came. There would never be an easier mission. Soon, he started running with the woman in his arms.

It’s okay, we can get out.

While running, Dane mentally calculated the distance to the outside. He was already approaching the place where he had parted ways with his colleagues. Good, this speed is enough…!

It was not a bad observation. Perhaps his prediction would have come true.

If it weren’t for another explosion.

With a tremendous “Kwang!” sound, the collapsing building shook violently.

“Aaaaaah!”

The woman screamed in terror. At that moment, the ground beneath Dane’s feet collapsed, and at the same time, without even thinking, he threw the woman across to the opposite corridor. The last sight he saw was the woman with a pale face, awkwardly sitting down, watching him fall.

“No…!”

Following the woman’s scream, a loud noise was heard, and Dane lost consciousness.

Desire Me if you can

“A woman came out!”

Everyone’s attention was focused on someone’s shout. The woman who came out, staggering, had blood flowing from her forehead. Paramedics rushed to her, and Wilkins immediately joined them.

“Hey, have you seen a firefighter? Have you seen a tall firefighter like this?”

His voice felt desperate. Seeing him shouting with a pale face, the woman gasped and answered with difficulty.

“I, I saw him. He saved me…!”

“What happened? Why are you alone?”

“Where is he? What happened?”

Following the reporters’ questions, camera shutters clicked incessantly. Amid the loud noise, she continued to speak.

“He was taking me out of the building, but the floor collapsed… He threw me across to the opposite corridor and disappeared. I could only watch him fall…”

Then, she began to sob as if the shock belatedly hit her. The reporters’ uproar continued, and Wilkins staggered back amidst the pouring camera flashes. The team members who had been waiting behind him immediately rushed to him.

“Wh, what happened? Did they see Dane?”

“Did you hear what happened?”

“Should we go back in now, even now? Wouldn’t that be better?”

Wilkins, who had been distorting his face at the impatient and pouring questions, shouted like a thunderbolt.

“You idiots! You should have stopped him earlier, why did you just come out!”

At the harsh rebuke, the team members who had come out first were momentarily taken aback, then looked at each other, embarrassed. Soon, they began to pour out words as if they were wronged.

“We tried to bring him out too, but he disappeared too quickly.”

“He suddenly said he heard a noise and ran off, there was no time to stop him.”

“What do we do now? Can we go back in to save Dane? What’s the condition of the building now?”

Seeing them full of worry and embarrassment, Wilkins could only distort his face. He couldn’t blame those who didn’t bring Dane out. If there was a fault, it was on Dane’s side for acting arbitrarily. He clearly said the building was collapsing…!

“It’s no use going in now, I can’t let you guys be in danger too.”

Wilkins muttered in a painful voice. Immediately, the team members’ faces turned pale. Wilkins continued to speak.

“From now on, we leave it to the heavens. We have to hope that Dane is lucky like last time… Damn it, I wish he would get rid of that habit of rushing in recklessly on this occasion.”

It was when he added as if lamenting.

“Huh?”

DeAndre made a strange noise. Everyone, including Wilkins, who had been wiping his face with one hand, turned their attention to him. DeAndre, noticing the attention focused on him, blinked in embarrassment and scratched the back of his head.

“Oh, no. Sorry. I think I saw something wrong.”

“Get a grip, you damn bastard.”

“In this situation, I’m just going to…”

Words of criticism poured out from here and there. DeAndre could only keep saying he was sorry.

I must have seen it wrong.

He turned his attention back to the group.

Thinking repeatedly, there’s no way.

Desire Me if you can

Crack, crack, the sound of the building cracking can be heard. Dane leaned against the wall and sat, blankly blinking his eyes. His side screamed every time he breathed. His ribs seemed to be broken. He might have punctured his lungs. The reason he was spitting blood was probably…

“Cough, cough.”

Again, blood-mixed saliva flowed down. Seeing me doing this kind of analysis at this moment, I’m such a carefree person. Haa, haa. Gasping for breath, he recalled.

His vision blurred, and he blinked again to focus. But his vision slowly became unclear again.

Is this how I die in the end?

He thought blankly. Darling is okay. In case of emergency, Josh will take care of him. Come to think of it, that actor guy, did he say he hated dogs? Was it cats? I can’t remember. …Maybe it’s better to leave it to Yeon-woo.

I never thought the end of my life would come like this. Even though I’ve jumped towards death countless times, I’ve never really thought I would die.

Of course, who in the world would want to die.

He was satisfied with his life. There was no reason to die on purpose.

…But wasn’t there no reason to live either.

“…Haa.”

At the thought that suddenly came to mind, a sigh-like laugh leaked out. Again, her face came back to life. The bloodshot eyes he saw last were vividly drawn. What was my mother thinking when she hanged herself then? Was she sorry for me, or did she curse me?

If only at that time…

Her afterimage soon changed to another face. I still remember that gaze that felt so terrible. Like this, painfully.

If only I had looked back.

Black smoke mixed with white smoke, filling his vision. Occasionally coughing, he looked into the distance.

‘Dane.’

Now I don’t know if my vision is blurry or if I’m blind because of the smoke. I’m just blankly looking at the swaying air.

If only I had…

Meaninglessly looking at the shape shaking in the air.

If only you had.

It was gradually getting closer. Is it a grim reaper, Dane vaguely recalled. Death was approaching like this. So peacefully. …Painfully.

“Cough.”

It was when he spat out blood-mixed cough again. He suddenly realized that it was not an illusion.

You are…

His eyes gradually widened. No, no way. Dane immediately denied it. There’s absolutely no way this can be. Why, how?

Why you.

He stopped a few steps away. He slowly bent down. A smile gradually spread across the man’s face, lowered to a height where their eyes could meet. As if a flower that had been crouching bloomed fully.

“Found you, Dane.”

Grayson.

Dane stared blankly at his bright face. Again, a rumbling, ominous sound echoed from afar.