By Zephyria 
“Hey, Ezra… this isn’t working. Did Diane… already go in? Then….”
Wilkins, who had been calling out several names in succession, clutched his head. Damn it, no one’s here!
“If there’s no one to go in with, I’ll go.”
Just as he was about to give up, a voice of salvation came from behind. Wilkins, turning around with a look of delight, froze in surprise. Grayson was looking at him with the same smiling face as before.
“Ah, no, it’s alright. You don’t have any experience….”
He hurriedly turned his head, but Grayson replied nonchalantly.
“I’ve had enough training, so I can do it. And isn’t it something I have to do eventually?”
He wasn’t wrong. But sending a complete novice with an ace, he couldn’t afford to lose the ace so meaninglessly.
“No, really, it’s okay. There’s no need to go that far….”
He refused repeatedly, but he couldn’t drag it out for too long. Dane, behind the embarrassed Wilkins, adjusted his mask as if he didn’t care and moved his body.
“I’m going in.”
“Wa, wait, just a minute!”
Wilkins called out to Dane, who was about to rush into the house immediately, once again. There was no other choice. Maybe he’ll do surprisingly well. He just has to follow Dane closely.
Wilkins made up his mind and this time spoke to Grayson.
“Don’t push yourself too hard, just follow behind. If anything happens, don’t come out alone, make sure you take care of Dane… got it?”
It’s something he has to go through eventually. Of course, even though it’s only for a year, manpower is always lacking. Even if it’s Miller, if he can be of help, there’s no reason to refuse.
While rationalizing himself and repeatedly giving instructions, Grayson consistently replied with a smiling face.
“I understand. Then, I’ll be going now….”
Wearing a mask and equipped with gear, he rushed into the house. Dane had already entered with the hose.
“Don’t act on your own, you must follow Dane’s instructions!”
Leaving behind Wilkins’ desperate cry, Grayson also disappeared inside.
Desire Me if you can
The unsettling sound of burning furniture breaking and falling echoed from all directions. Behind Dane, who was steadily holding the hose and spraying water as he advanced, Grayson silently followed. Less than five minutes after entering, he was already regretting it.
Wasn’t it too reckless of a decision, just to see Wilkins’ flustered face?
He was thinking inwardly when suddenly, with a loud noise, one side of the ceiling collapsed.
“Whoa!”
Surprised, Grayson exclaimed and unconsciously stepped back. That was close. After briefly whistling at the large chunk that had fallen in front of him, he joked with a smile.
“Wow, I thought I was going to burn to death, but I almost died from getting my head smashed.”
He even burst into a cheerful laugh, but Dane didn’t even look back and continued to advance. Grayson abruptly stopped laughing and tilted his head with a frown.
“No fun.”
He muttered to himself and moved his feet again, chasing after Dane, who was already blurred by the smoke. He was inhaling oxygen, but it was still not easy to breathe. The heat felt outside the fire suit was tremendous, and he was tense in the life-threatening flames. It was even more so because he was maintaining his breathing in the limited space of the mask. But Dane didn’t stop, he went even deeper inside.
Doesn’t that bastard feel hot?
Grayson frowned and looked at Dane’s back. Only after feeling the hose he was holding being pulled did he reluctantly move his feet. The interior, engulfed in thick smoke, was full of red flames, making it difficult to secure visibility. Yet, Dane fearlessly sprayed water and moved forward as if he had been here many times.
“Charles!”
It was the first time Dane had made a sound since entering the house. But all he did was call a dog’s name. He called the dog’s name repeatedly at the top of his lungs, but it was easily drowned out by the sound of the building being damaged here and there.
“It’s no use.”
Grayson shouted at Dane. For the first time, Dane turned to look at him. Grayson smirked, feeling a small sense of accomplishment.
“He’s probably dead anyway, that’s why he’s not responding.”
Dane looked at him without a word and kicked the door in front of him hard with one foot. As the door, weakened by the fire, flew off miserably, Dane immediately entered the room.
“Huh.”
Grayson let out a sigh of disbelief. Did that bastard just ignore me?
A vein popped out on his temple. Grayson quickly walked towards the room Dane had entered. Just as he was about to go inside, he ran into Dane, who was coming out after finishing his search.
Crash, a thunderous sound echoed. Something else must have collapsed. Dane seemed to be frowning behind the hazy mask.
“What? Get out of the way.”
Without giving Grayson a chance to step back first, Dane pushed him away as he spoke.
“Hey, hey! Hey you!”
Grayson, enraged, called out to him again, but Dane ignored him and entered the next room this time.
“Charles! Charles, where are you? Charles!”
Grayson simply watched him call out for the dog again with a cynical face. Let’s see when he gives up. He watched with a nearly spiteful heart, but as he repeated this several times and came out empty-handed each time, that feeling soon faded.
“Hey, let’s talk for a second.”
When Grayson finally spoke, Dane had just taken out a Crowbar and broken the doorknob.
“What is it? Make it quick.”
He said, grabbing the dangling doorknob and throwing it behind him, but unlike his words, he immediately put his hand into the round hole, opened the door, and went inside again. Grayson was dumbfounded, but still followed behind and poured out the words he had been holding back.
“How long are we going to keep doing this stupid thing? The dog is dead, there’s no way it could be alive in these flames. It probably suffocated from the smoke before it even burned.”
It was foolish to come in here to save it and wander through the middle of the flames. Isn’t this enough? How much more are you going to do?
After asking, hiding numerous questions behind him, Dane, who had been lifting the mattresses inside and opening and closing the closet, came out. He gave Grayson a brief glance without a word and headed to the second floor. Dane didn’t say a word, but it was as if he had already heard the answer.
“Wait, wait! Wait!”
Grayson shouted, but Dane still ignored him and quickly went up the stairs. Grayson ran up the stairs like he was flying and grabbed Dane on the landing.
“It seems like it’s your hobby to repeat meaningless things, but I hate wasting my life on things like this. So let’s go back now.”
At Grayson’s request, Dane stared at him with a blank face. The eyes visible beyond the dusty mask looked unexpectedly bored. Dane, who seemed to sigh, opened his mouth.
“Isn’t that what you’re doing, wasting your life looking for an impossibly destined love?”
“What?”