By Zephyria 
three
“Right, it’s on the right!”
“Wait, don’t go in yet!”
“Are you sure there’s someone inside? Has it been confirmed?”
While continuously pouring water on the fiercely rising flames, the firefighters shouted incessantly. Amidst the noisy shouts, the person stepping forward with a helmet on was, as expected, Dane Striker.
“Damn it, this is such a pain in the ass.”
Grayson watched him grumbling with annoyance, his face furrowed. He says that, but he’ll actually be the first to go into the most dangerous place.
He knew well through learning that people say things different from what they mean. Especially in the case of Dane Striker, he had recently realized that even more so.
As expected, Dane went into the flames before he even finished putting on his mask. Grayson Miller thought as he watched his back disappear first.
I knew it, I knew he’d do that.
He frowned and stared in the direction Dane had disappeared. Since that day, there had been several Deployments. Each time, Grayson had the same experience. Dane always goes into the most dangerous place, first, and comes out last. The situation was repeated every time. Dane always volunteered for the most dangerous role as if it were natural. But what angered Grayson was something else. It was the fact that all the other firefighters took the situation for granted. They talked glibly about being colleagues risking their lives together, but the person most exposed to danger was always determined to be Dane Striker. Is this what they call ‘colleagues’?
An unknown anger bubbled up. Useless bastards…!
But Grayson was also standing there, not moving. He couldn’t bring himself to throw himself into those fierce flames. He could only wait anxiously for Dane to come out. Hoping he would return safely, without getting hurt anywhere.
“Dane!”
“Welcome back, good work!”
“Are you okay? Was there anything special inside?”
“Was it just a mistake after all?”
Finally, when he returned from the flames, everyone welcomed Dane and began asking him questions. Grayson, behind them, sighed in relief. Dane, after briefly explaining the situation to Team leader, took off his helmet and ruffled his hair as if he was hot. It was then that he met Grayson’s eyes. Dane, seeing him still standing there blankly, opened his mouth.
“What, you fucking bastard.”
He spat out the curse as if it were natural, but instead of glaring as before, he raised the corners of his mouth and smirked. And then, Dane turned around and ran towards the next place he was needed. Grayson could only continue to follow his back with his eyes.
“Ah, Miller.”
Ezra, who happened to be passing by, called his name. Reluctantly turning his gaze, Ezra said with a smile.
“This side is done, so could you clean up over there now? You just have to take care of the remaining embers.”
The work still given to Grayson was only very minor chores. Grayson didn’t want to do anything more than that, so he didn’t care. His interest was elsewhere.
“Ezra.”
At the call, Ezra turned his head. Grayson stood there and opened his mouth.
“I have something to ask you.”
“What is it?”
Ezra blinked, puzzled. Grayson smiled at him. As most people do in these situations.
Desire Me if you can
Ezra, sitting across from Grayson at their usual bar, widened his eyes at Grayson’s gift.
“T-This, this isn’t real, is it?”
Seeing him stutter so much in surprise, Grayson said something else instead of answering.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to your birthday party. I thought I should at least give you a gift.”
“No, if you had circumstances, it can’t be helped… More than that, is this real? Real diamonds?”
Ezra held the bracelet in his hand, shining it in the light, and gasped. As if he had never seen such a thing in his life.
At the request to spare some time, they came to the bar together after work. There, Grayson handed over the bear doll and the bracelet he had prepared last time.
When Ezra first saw the bear doll, he burst into hearty laughter and happily accepted it, but after opening the small box the bear doll was holding, he was so surprised that he gasped roughly. He repeated rapid breaths as if he was having trouble breathing. Only after emptying an entire bottle of beer did he seem to have the composure to talk to the man in front of him.
“H-How could you, h-how could you buy s-such an e-expensive thing?”
“It’s okay, it’s 49 dollars.”
“What?”
Ezra, who was stuttering as if he was about to collapse, paused at Grayson’s calm voice. Grayson pointed to the box with a smiling face. Only then did Ezra check the receipt inside. After confirming the receipt that said 49 dollars as Grayson said, he finally sighed in relief and stroked his chest, then laughed as usual, “Wahahaha.”
“I knew it, I was so surprised. I knew it, ahaha.”
Ezra repeated the same words and laughed. His face was filled with relief and bitterness. When he felt relieved and disappointed at the same time, Grayson said.
“Happy birthday to your daughter.”
“Thank you.”
They lightly raised their newly ordered beers for a toast and brought the drinks to their mouths. As the atmosphere ripened with meaningless small talk, Grayson brought up the main point.
“What’s Dane’s family like?”
“Dane?”
Ezra, repeating what Grayson had said, tilted his head.
“Well, I don’t know. He’s the type who doesn’t talk about himself.”
Damn it, Grayson regretted it inwardly. I thought this guy would have a lot of information, but was I wrong?
But he had no intention of giving up right away. There was plenty of other information that Ezra might tell him.
“Do you know why he became a firefighter?”
“Salary.”
Ezra answered as soon as the question was asked. “Really?” Grayson said and asked again.
“And?”
“Insurance.”
This time, Ezra readily gave an answer.
“I heard it before, he said he likes being a firefighter because it’s stable and pays a lot.”
Ezra, who had given quite reliable information, soon laughed heartily.
“Dane is the type who always says he hates freebies.”
Grayson was expected to laugh along, but he didn’t. At Grayson’s reaction, who was looking at him with a mask-like expressionless face, Ezra stopped laughing and blinked.
“Miller? What’s wrong?”
When Ezra called his name in embarrassment, Grayson suddenly smiled. As if nothing had happened.
“I see. So Dane likes money?”
“Well, that’s about it…”
After answering, Ezra stroked his chin and pondered for a moment, then muttered to himself.
“And maybe Darling.”
Grayson, who managed to hear those words in the noisy bar, frowned.
“Darling? That ugly cat?”
At Grayson’s question, this time Ezra looked surprised.
“You saw Darling? How? Dane doesn’t take anyone home unless he’s going to sleep with them…”
Soon after, he wore a doubtful expression. Immediately, Grayson shook his head and denied it.
“I just happened to see it. It’s definitely not like that.”
Ezra narrowed his eyes suspiciously and looked at Grayson. Grayson said again with a serious face.
“No, it’s definitely not.”
Only they know that Grayson slept with Dane. He never intends to reveal it to anyone, and it won’t happen. And it’s true that Grayson hasn’t been to Dane’s house.
Ezra, who had been staring at Grayson without saying anything at the repeated denials, suddenly averted his gaze.
“Well, you’re not Dane’s type at all.”
Ezra laughed as he brought the beer to his mouth. Grayson also smiled back, but his eyes were coldly hardened.
77 – 77
“What’s his type?”
Grayson asked, still with a smirk playing on his lips. His narrow eyes were full of displeasure, but Ezra, perhaps due to his intoxication, didn’t notice.
“Well, at least not someone as huge as you… Dane is already so big that I’ve never seen anyone bigger than him. So, anyone who wasn’t Dane’s type simply didn’t exist. But you’re a bit, well, very massive.”
Ezra, after giving Grayson a meaningful once-over, added with a wry smile,
“I know Dane’s position, and you might have a hard time.”
Grayson silently downed his beer, which had no effect whatsoever. He felt inexplicably annoyed. Dane had said something similar once before. He hadn’t been particularly pleased then either, but why was he so angry now? Without realizing it, Grayson blurted out his true feelings.
“You don’t even know Dane properly…”
“Huh? What was that?”
Ezra asked, blinking. Fortunately, the noise of the bar swallowed Grayson’s words. Grayson seized the opportunity, flashed a smile, and quickly changed the subject.
“How did you end up raising that cat? I can’t imagine Dane taking care of anyone.”
“Well, yeah, that’s true. He doesn’t take care of people, that guy.”
Ezra readily agreed and added,
“But animals are different.”
“Does he like animals?”
“…Does he like them?”
Ezra tilted his head again before continuing.
“It’s not like he welcomes every animal unconditionally. He mostly just looks at them indifferently. Well, it’s true that he can’t just leave them if they’ve been abandoned or injured.”
In short, he only steps in when help is needed. So, that cat was one of those cases?
“Like Darling?”
“Oh, yeah.”
When Grayson asked tentatively, Ezra readily nodded.
“It was the only cat left in a building from a previous Deployment. It was hiding in a corner and was severely injured. Eventually, it went blind and deaf. It was almost euthanized because the medical bills were too high, but Dane paid for all the treatment himself and adopted it.”
Following the long explanation, Ezra let out a hearty laugh.
“He worked overtime for two months without a single day off to pay back those hospital bills. He barely slept and was so sensitive that you couldn’t even talk to him, he’d curse you out if you even acknowledged him.”
“Wow,” Ezra said, shaking his head. Grayson knew in his head that he should laugh along, but for some reason, the corners of his lips wouldn’t turn up.
“Didn’t you say Dane likes money?”
In most cases, those people are misers. But he not only paid for the cat’s hospital bills himself but also worked overtime to earn money? It didn’t make sense at all. Ezra readily offered an answer to Grayson’s suspicion.
“Yeah, Dane doesn’t skimp on money he spends on Darling. Or on people he sleeps with.”
Ezra then gave a strange smile.
“I heard he buys pretty expensive alcohol for people he likes and even makes them breakfast.”
At Ezra’s words, Grayson frowned and cast a suspicious glance.
“Did you sleep with Dane too?”
How does he know that? Grayson asked, his words full of suspicion, and Ezra immediately turned serious and shook his head.
“Are you kidding? I have a wife and three kids! It’s not something I experienced, just something I heard.”
“How?”
Grayson still didn’t shake off his suspicion and asked. Ezra looked exasperated and distorted his face as he retorted.
“You think none of the women you’ve slept with have slept with Dane?”
“You’re saying there are colleagues within the fire station that you’ve slept with?”
“Yeah, not all of them like you, though.”
Ezra pointed out bluntly before softening his tone and adding,
“Of course, there were quite a few women who wanted to date Dane. But Dane is willing to sleep with them as much as they want, he just doesn’t want a serious relationship. He’s a bad guy.”
He said the last words with a wry smile. Grayson silently fiddled with his beer bottle. The more he knew, the less he understood.
Just what kind of man is Dane Striker?
He had tried to find a clue, but it felt like things had become even more tangled. Grayson downed his beer with a gloomy feeling.
Desire Me if you can
Naomi, who was catching her breath after finishing yoga and cooling down from the sweat, twitched her eyebrows at the sound of her cell phone ringing, disturbing the most peaceful time of her day. With an inevitable sigh, she finally opened her eyes and reached for the cell phone she had placed on the side table. But the moment she saw the caller ID, the annoyance at being disturbed vanished without a trace. After reconfirming the name on the screen, Grayson Miller, she answered the phone with a delighted expression.
“Hey, Grayson? What’s up?”
That’s right, what’s really up? Did you finally find him? And got dumped? Are you miserable and sad now? Aren’t you regretting how you’ve lived your life, beating your chest in remorse? Tell me where you are, I’ll rush over right now! Hurry up and show me your miserable state!
Thinking about willingly handing Grayson a napkin, she perked up her ears, and the voice of the man she had been waiting for flowed from the other side of the cell phone.
“You raise dogs, right?”
At the unexpected question, Naomi blinked a couple of times. Taking the cell phone away from her ear and looking down at it once, she brought it back to her ear and asked.
“Yeah, want me to show you pictures?”
“No, it’s okay.”
A small murmur returned to the offer she had kindly extended.
“Really useless.”
It was clearly a muttered remark, but it was enough to turn Naomi’s stomach. What made it even more infuriating was the fact that Grayson hung up the phone on his own after saying just that.
“What, this, what.”
Naomi clenched her fists in anger and gasped for breath. Still unable to suppress her anger, she finally burst out with the resentment that welled up from the depths of her heart.
“What kind of son of a bitch is this?”
Desire Me if you can
Grayson sat at the tea table, deep in thought with a serious expression. After ending several unhelpful calls, a sense of emptiness and bewilderment washed over him, and he couldn’t think of what to do next.
What had he done until now?
Matching the other person’s mood was easy. Spending time together would reveal what they wanted from their expressions or eyes. He had plenty of money and time. Whether it was a heartfelt gift or an event plastered with money, he would do whatever they wanted. The reactions he got in return always met his expectations, so he had never been in trouble. He was sure he could succeed with the same method this time.
The problem was that it was impossible to spend time alone with Dane.
How could he create such a situation with a man who didn’t even know what a date was? He still had one chance left, but he didn’t want to waste it like this. Dane Striker would definitely end everything without looking back once the date he was indebted to was vaguely over.
Was there no other way to find out about him?
…Cats and money.
Grayson furrowed his brow and made a serious expression. These were the only two methods he could use right now. And one of them was something Grayson had in abundance.
Having barely found a way, Grayson immediately picked up his cell phone and made a call. The other party answered immediately before the ringing even sounded a few times. Grayson made a request to the Team leader of the secretarial office, who handled various chores for his family.
“Find out about cat supplies right away.”
“Excuse me? Cats? Did you raise cats…?”
The Team leader asked, surprised by the sudden words. Grayson didn’t give a long explanation to the bewildered man and replied briefly.
“I’m going to give it as a gift, so find something appropriate, something that any cat owner would like.”
“Ah, I understand.”
The Team leader, who had readily answered, added softly as if telling a secret.
“For reference, people who raise cats are called servants, not owners.”
“What?”
Grayson frowned, but the Team leader only left a short greeting before hanging up the phone. He stared at the disconnected cell phone for a while, dumbfounded.