By Zephyria 
So, in the end, is Dane the victor?
Everyone was thinking the same thing when suddenly, someone remembered a forgotten fact.
“Wait a minute, then who won this match?”
The atmosphere suddenly shifted. This couldn’t be glossed over.
“Obviously Dane, Miller cheated.”
“Cheated? How?”
“I don’t know, but there’s no way Dane would lose to that bastard without him doing something underhanded.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Miller. He’s a psychopath, a Dominant Alpha.”
The guys who had been freely exchanging opinions now turned their arrows toward Dane.
“Right? Something must have happened, right?”
“There’s no way that bastard could beat you! He must have used some dirty trick, for sure!”
“Tell us everything, Dane. We believe in you.”
“Yeah, there’s no way you lost to the likes of Miller. You’re Dane Striker!”
Everyone was united in their voices. Dane, looking displeased, glanced sideways. Grayson Miller was still standing in the same spot, as if watching to see what he would say.
Sighing, Dane opened his mouth without hesitation.
“I lost.”
“Yeah, right, what?”
“What? What did you just say? You lost?”
Ezra, who had been nodding along, was startled and widened his eyes. DeAndre was also flustered and repeated the same words several times. Dane rubbed the back of his head and said in a tired voice.
“You all saw it, me arriving late. That bastard won, it’s exactly as you saw it. Nothing’s going to change.”
“But, but, that bastard cheated, right?”
Another guy asked urgently. He was so anxious that he stuttered several times, and the others chimed in beside him.
“That’s right, there’s no way you would have lost if it was fair and square. You’re our station’s ace!”
“Tell us honestly, Dane Striker. Were you threatened or something? Is that it?”
“There’s no way Dane would give in to threats, unless it was money!”
“What, did you take money? How much? Hey, I’ll give it to you! So tell us honestly!”
“I’ll chip in too, our pride is at stake, we can’t just let this go!”
“Me too, me too!”
Everyone was burning with enthusiasm, their eyes shining as they waited for Dane’s words. They looked ready to rummage through their pockets and empty out all their money as soon as he spoke. Though, at best, it would probably only amount to about $423.82.
Of course, Dane couldn’t give them the answer they wanted.
“I’m saying again, I appreciate your feelings, but this is reality. I lost, Grayson Miller won.”
Everyone who had placed their last hope on him went silent with blank faces. Their grand plan to crush that annoying bastard’s nose had now crumbled. Dane repeated the same words again.
“I was late. That bastard came in first. So Grayson Miller won.”
Dane pointed at himself and then at Miller. As a group of gazes followed his finger, Grayson smiled brightly and waved. As if saying, I won. Of course, none of the gathered guys smiled back at him.
The female employees who had been watching until then finally began to speak one by one.
“Too bad, Dane. But for you to lose, you must have made some kind of mistake, right?”
“It’s a relief that you don’t seem too hurt. In the end, things like this are just luck.”
Words of comfort continued to be directed at Dane, when suddenly Valentina shouted.
“Grayson’s buying drinks, anyone want to go?”
It was almost quitting time. The response to the perfectly timed suggestion was split exactly in half. The women cheered and waved their arms, while the men glared at him with twisted faces.
“We can’t lose.”
Wilkins gritted his teeth and gathered the male employees.
“I’m buying here. Let’s drink until we puke, got it?”
“Yeah!”
The men shouted back, not wanting to be outdone. When Dane raised his hand as if to say something, Wilkins immediately put on a stern expression.
“No, no matter what cat excuse you come up with, you can’t skip out today, got it? We all know you’d just be drinking beer at home anyway.”
“It’s not an excuse, my cat is really waiting……”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I know very well that he finds food just fine even without you.”
“That’s right, and you even got paid leave, for two days. There’s no way you’re getting out of this.”
Ezra chimed in from the side. Dane frowned unhappily, but had no choice but to lower his hand. And as soon as it was time to leave work, they became one and headed to the bar. Because his colleagues formed a scrum around him to prevent him from escaping, Dane couldn’t even think about running away and was helplessly dragged to the bar. However, Wilkins had to endure a tremendous scolding from Station Chief before that.
With a loud bang, Station Chief slammed his desk, causing Wilkins to flinch his large body. Station Chief breathed heavily and glared at him with fierce eyes.
“Why are you doing things I didn’t even ask you to do, huh? Do you have nothing else to do? Are you bored? Then you should have gone to the school in front and volunteered!”
“I’m sorry, Station Chief.”
Wilkins lowered his head and apologized in a voice that didn’t match his size. But it wasn’t as if he had nothing to say.
“But Station Chief, it was a desperate measure on my part. The team’s atmosphere has been terrible since that guy came. We needed to knock him down a peg.”
“And did you succeed? Did you knock him down a peg, I’m asking!”
At the shouted question, Wilkins answered in an even quieter voice, “No.” Station Chief, as if feeling suffocated, straightened his tie and shook it, then pounded his chest.
“Did I tell you not to touch that bastard, or did I not? Why are you stirring up trouble, making things complicated! Did you think I was just saying it when I told you not to touch that bastard? Huh?”
“……But we can’t just leave things as they are. You must have seen it too, Station Chief. The team members have been running wild since that guy came.”
“You’re really giving me a headache. One year, one year! You couldn’t even endure that much and caused this mess? You, and your team members too! Aren’t you guys afraid?”
“Of course, I’m afraid of Miller, but……”
“Miller is the second problem! Grayson is the problem! That bastard right there!”
As if he was frustrated to death, Station Chief shouted wildly. Wilkins, bewildered, could only blink and stare at Station Chief. Wasn’t he just a messy, pleasure-seeking loafer? Alphas are said to be psychopaths, but he didn’t particularly see that side of him. To the team leader, who was clearly confused, Station Chief, still catching his breath, said in a somewhat calmer voice.
“Do you know what that guy did when he had his interview?”
“……No, I don’t know.”
“Of course not, because I didn’t tell you.”
At Station Chief’s confident words, Wilkins was dumbfounded. Seeing his subordinate with a blank expression, Station Chief continued in his still rough voice.
“The questions I asked Miller were all very ordinary. Why he wanted to become a firefighter, what he wanted to do if he became a firefighter, whether he had experienced other jobs before, things like that.”
Those were, as Station Chief said, basic questions asked in an interview. To Wilkins, who was waiting in bewilderment, Station Chief said.
“But do you know what Miller answered?”
“I don’t know, because you haven’t told me yet.”
Wilkins quickly added, recalling his previous experience. Station Chief glared at him once, as if displeased with that answer, and continued.
“His answer was perfect. Really, there wasn’t a single flaw.”
“……And?”
To Wilkins, who still didn’t understand, Station Chief suddenly placed both hands on the desk and leaned forward, making eye contact.
“That’s the problem. He said it perfectly, exactly the same as the video.”
“Video? ……Ah!”
As Wilkins belatedly remembered and exclaimed, Station Chief nodded and straightened his posture again.
“Yes, that video we made. The educational material, the one we put on the website.”