By Zephyria 
As the handsome man with dark brown hair said that, the blond man behind him spat out roughly,
“I grind my teeth at the mention of Miller. I had no choice because of the money.”
“Henry, that’s why I told you not to gamble…”
“Can’t you be quiet?”
As soon as another brown-haired man spoke, Henry kicked him in the shin. Seeing them hopping on one foot while screaming, the man who seemed to be the oldest sighed and said,
“Henry, stop hitting Isaac.”
Even as he said that, he didn’t seem to be actively stopping him at all. He tossed the words offhandedly, as if this kind of thing was an everyday occurrence, and then turned his attention to Dane.
“Well, we’ve done our part, so we’ll be going now. Hey, stop it and retreat.”
As soon as those words were spoken, the other three men moved away. As if they had touched something they shouldn’t have touched and seen something they shouldn’t have seen, they quickly disappeared, leaving Dane dumbfounded.
“The job went well. But what the hell are those guys? They ran away like they were disgusted.”
When he called Joshua before the helicopter took off to give an interim report, Joshua replied with a laugh.
“Ah, my fellow bodyguards. They weren’t keen on getting involved in this, but what we wanted matched up.”
Just as he felt like he vaguely knew what that was, Joshua continued.
“Well, I’ll be waiting. Take care of him.”
And he added one last thing.
“Don’t believe anything Grayson says. It’s never the truth. That bastard lies so naturally, just like the real thing.”
“I know.”
Dane said, looking at Grayson, who still had his eyes closed.
“I know quite a bit about this bastard too.”
“You must have suffered a lot too, huh?”
Joshua said. Dane frowned at the faintly sympathetic tone. As if he could see his reaction, Joshua concluded.
“Don’t let your guard down until the very end. Grayson Miller is definitely not a man who will be easily defeated.”
Dane asked him cynically, as if urging him one more time.
“Knowing that, isn’t it too reckless to bet everything on just me?”
Joshua chuckled briefly on the other end.
“Because you’re worth it.”
Dane didn’t listen anymore and hung up the phone. And now, he was alone with that man, or rather, the three of them, including the pilot who was flying the helicopter, were flying to their destination, a remote villa, in this huge military helicopter.
It’ll be over in two days at most, he thought.
Dane recalled his thoughts. He had told Station Chief that the shock of the pay cut was so great that he would take a week off. He had set the date generously in case of any unforeseen circumstances, but he was thinking of returning early if he had time left. In any case, Station Chief had said okay with a very dejected face.
Darling was left at the hospital for a checkup. He had left his clothes with a lot of Pheromone on them so that he wouldn’t be anxious, so he would be able to live in peace for a while.
He had solved or taken measures for anything that bothered him in advance. Now, the only problem left was this guy.
Dane stared silently at the man across from him, who still hadn’t regained consciousness and had his eyes closed.
The best outcome in this situation is obviously that…
Dane pictured the situation in his head. Chase Miller complaining to Grayson about what he had suffered, and Joshua and himself watching him.
Does Grayson Miller even know what remorse is?
Of course not. Dane, who immediately denied it, added to his thoughts.
That’s what I’m going to make him realize, this time.
If Grayson Miller apologized to Joshua’s family and promised not to appear in front of him again, there would be nothing more to wish for.
But no matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t think of a more unrealistic situation. The thought of an alien appearing in front of Dane and telling him the Powerball numbers seemed more realistic, and he sighed involuntarily.
Am I just making unnecessary trouble?
But then, thinking about Darling’s health checkup made him feel better. It’s not like there’s no gain at all, so it’s okay. The checkup was said to take two days, and in the very unlikely event that he couldn’t pick him up on time or had a problem, he had told Yeon-woo in advance to take care of him. Of course, Yeon-woo had readily accepted, and had met Darling with Dane in advance, greeted him, volunteered to be his guardian, and even followed him to the hospital to actively take care of Darling.
He had only helped Josh for a short time at Josh’s request when he was in trouble due to unavoidable circumstances, but he was still grateful to Dane. Thanks to that, he was able to accept this request so easily.
Come to think of it, that guy had quite a few things to be sorry for me about after that.
The loud propeller noise continued. Dane, who had been staring at Grayson silently for a while, opened his mouth.
“Hey.”
He continued, speaking to Grayson, who was still not moving with his arms crossed.
“How long are you going to keep up the act? I’m getting tired of it, so get up.”
But Grayson still didn’t move with his eyes closed. After staring at him for a while, Dane got up and tried to slap him across the cheek without mercy.
“Heh heh heh.”
Just as he raised his hand, he heard a laugh from below. Grayson was shaking his shoulders and laughing. That’s more like it. As Dane lowered his hand, he finally opened his eyes and sat up.
“How did you know? That I was awake.”
“Your acting is too lousy.”
Dane went back to his seat and sat down, crossing his legs. Grayson raised his handcuffed wrists and shook them, then gave a lewd smile.
“Is this why you kidnapped me?”
Dane showed his fist silently with a blank face. As if to say that he wouldn’t let him get away with it if he said any more nonsense.
“Why did you pretend to be unconscious? If you were awake, you could have resisted or run away a long time ago.”
To Dane’s question, Grayson answered nonchalantly.
“I was curious about what you were going to do.”
Dane reminded him of reality.
“You’re being kidnapped.”
“Yeah, I know.”
The answer that came back was too calm. He even seemed to be enjoying it, and Dane inadvertently frowned.
“Do you know why too?”
“Well, I’ll know when I get there.”
To the provocative question, Grayson responded lightly again. As if what was happening now had nothing to do with him, Dane’s frown deepened.
What’s his plan?
As he thought that, he suddenly noticed something strange. Grayson was still smiling, but somehow it was awkward.
He soon realized why. It was because he was trembling all over.
“…What?”
To Dane’s question, Grayson only blinked. As if to say, What do you mean? There were more than one or two strange things. He was blinking abnormally often and was even sweating. Dane pointed at him with his chin irritably and asked.
“What are you doing? What’s wrong?”
“What? Ah…”
Only then did Grayson raise the corners of his mouth as if he understood. His listless smile wasn’t refreshing at all.
“I have a fear of heights.”
“What?”
Dane was flustered and asked, raising his voice without realizing it. Grayson’s face, looking at him, was literally ashen. His temples were sweating and he was smiling, which looked bizarre to anyone. But Dane couldn’t believe him.
“Why don’t you just pass out again?”
To the sarcastic words, Grayson answered with a bitter smile.
“I wish I could, but it’s not easy.”
His tone sounded somehow dejected. Dane couldn’t help but feel a corner of his heart wavering, even though he didn’t believe him.
…Is it real?
Psychopaths are also excellent actors. Deceiving people with lies and manipulating them to their will is too common. With their excellent acting skills, they make the other person completely believe them. Just like he did to Ezra.
“Don’t be ridiculous, do you think I’ll fall for your cheap acting?”
As Dane spat out roughly with curses, Grayson answered with a smile.
“I’m hoping you will.”
Grayson’s face, saying that, was now pale blue. His breath was rough and his body trembled even more, now shaking his shoulders convulsively as if he was having a seizure.
…Is it real?
Dane finally reluctantly got up from his seat and approached him.
“Hey, are you okay? Just hold on a little longer. Hey, are we still far away?”
His face, seen up close, was too serious. His purple eyes were shaking wildly, unfocused, and the surrounding Pheromone was also scattered erratically. He looked like he was going to go into shock.
Damn it, why did you put him on a helicopter when he has a fear of heights?
He blamed Joshua for a moment, but soon changed his mind. They might not have known either. Anyway, what’s important now is to solve this situation right away.
“Snap out of it, Miller! Snap out of it, should I give you something? Is there anything you need?”
As he shook his shoulders violently and asked, Grayson stuttered, trembling all over.
“Wa, water, some water.”
At the desperate repetition, Dane turned his head and quickly looked for bottled water. He threw away the cap of the bottle and turned around.
“…Ugh!”
In the fierce wind, Dane couldn’t help but let out a rough groan. When he raised his head in embarrassment, he witnessed a scene he couldn’t have imagined.
Grayson had opened the door of the helicopter and was standing in front of it.