By Zephyria 
“Haaaaaa…”
Dane stretched his arms behind him, hooking them over the back of the chair, and let out a long sigh toward the ceiling. His eyes wandered emptily, lost in the air. How had it come to this? He tried to think of the cause, but in the end, there was only ever one conclusion.
Why did I have to stick my nose in someone else’s business…?
If he hadn’t shown that bit of sympathy back then, if he hadn’t gone to the hospital with Sabrina, he would have responded immediately when the problem arose, and maybe his house wouldn’t have been burned to the ground, Darling wouldn’t have been in danger, and furthermore, his glamorous nightlife wouldn’t have been so drastically disrupted.
But dwelling on regrets now wouldn’t change anything. Inside the club, where loud music overflowed from all directions, Dane slumped in his chair, staring at the ceiling, and opened his mouth.
“How do you manage to show up and ruin things every single time…”
Grayson, hearing the words that spilled out like a lament, looked down at him and smiled.
“You didn’t think I’d anticipate you doing this?”
Dane silently rolled his eyes to look at him, then turned them back to the ceiling.
He’d lost count of how many times this had happened. After failing spectacularly that day, Dane set another date, constantly checking for any cars following him as he headed to another club. But no matter how many times he tried, Grayson appeared without fail, causing the person he’d managed to pick up to run away, loading the dumbfounded Dane into his car, and driving him directly to a motel with his ‘
Boobs Boobs
’ song playing, before disappearing.
Then again, and again, the same thing repeated. Go to the club, Grayson appears, the other person runs away,
Boobs Boobs
plays as he drives back to the motel. Go to the club, Grayson appears, runs away,
Dick
, car, motel. Club, Grayson, runs,
Boobs
, car, motel. Club, Grayson, runs,
Boobs Boobs
…….
Fuck, stop it!
Dane wanted to tear his hair out. He was starting to believe the conspiracy theories that the fire station guy often spouted, like, ‘The FBI is monitoring the public with 5G.’ Otherwise, how could this guy show up at such perfect timing every single time?
Today, too, Grayson had popped up before he could even do anything, and Dane had finally given up.
“How do you follow me around all day…”
Haaaa, he asked with a sigh, as if lamenting, and Grayson readily answered.
“The power of love, of course.”
“I told you not to talk bullshit.”
Dane retorted, still in a listless voice, then raised his head. Still slumped in the chair, only his head upright, he turned his unfocused gaze to Grayson and said,
“Can’t we just end it with me touching your chest?”
At the final offer, Grayson smiled brightly and replied.
“Of course not. If we’re lovers, I can naturally touch your chest, so why would I do something that puts me at a disadvantage?”
And as if to show off, he pressed his finger firmly into Dane’s large chest, then blushed as if embarrassed and said,
“Moon landing.”
Dane, hearing the tone that sounded like it had a heart attached to the end, lost even the will to curse or hit him and just stared blankly.
That bastard is clearly making me dumber.
Dane cursed irritably and straightened up, leaning forward. He rummaged through his pockets, pulled out a cigarette, and clicked the lighter several times before finally managing to light it. Three months, it was an absurdly long time. Three weeks would have been enough. No, three days. Three hours…
Again, he replayed meaningless regrets, then nervously inhaled the smoke and exhaled it with a whoosh.
“What the hell is your problem?”
At Dane’s irritated question, Grayson tilted his head as if puzzled.
“Problem? What do you mean?”
“Don’t you think it’s weird that you’re just following me around like this? Even if we’re lovers, we should each have our own private lives. But how can it make sense to just follow one person around like this?”
When Dane finally poured out his words rapidly, Grayson closed his mouth for the first time. Had he realized something? Dane had a small hope, but of course, he was wrong. The corners of Grayson’s lips slowly lifted, and his long eyes narrowed. He opened his mouth to Dane, who had paused.
“I thought it wouldn’t be easy.”
Dane was bewildered by the unexpectedly calm attitude. Was that somewhat bitter face just learned, or was it genuine? Of course, Dane couldn’t tell. In the end, he had no choice but to exhale a long sigh again, pretending to release cigarette smoke.
Is this what they call karma?
He was confused by the situation that made him look back on the life he had lived so far. Until now, he had coldly rejected everyone who approached him with sincere feelings. Sometimes he heard resentment, and sometimes he heard curses close to damnation, but he ignored them all. Was he paying the price now?
Dane rubbed his face with one hand and then finally spoke.
“…Okay.”
He continued in a subdued voice, as if resigned.
“I won’t come to the club for a while. Is that enough?”
“Really?”
Grayson asked in a voice that was more excited than before. Dane was embarrassed, but there was nothing else he could do. How could he catch a sparrow with a living scarecrow waving its arms like that next to him? He just had to endure for three months. After that, he would be free.
“I’ll take you.”
Grayson reached out his hand as if it were natural. It meant he wanted the car keys. Even though he hadn’t even had a chance to drink today, Dane absentmindedly rummaged through his pants pocket, took out the car keys, and handed them over. Ah, he belatedly realized, but the keys were already in Grayson’s grasp. In the end, he had no choice but to leave the club and sit in the passenger seat like any other day. And, as always, he headed to the motel listening to Grayson’s ‘Boobs Boobs’ song.
Desire Me if you can
“Aren’t you getting tired of motel life by now?”
Grayson asked as he parked the car and handed over the keys. Dane snatched the keys and turned away instead of answering. Was the next step to bring him into his house?
Not a chance.
Dane went inside the building without answering. As always, Grayson, left alone, waited for Dane to reappear on the second floor. Sure enough, he soon appeared, walked down the hallway, passed a few doors, and stood in front of the room where he was staying. Only after confirming that Dane had entered the room did Grayson turn around and take out his cell phone.
While waiting for the car to be called, as always, he put his hands in his pants pockets and whistled. Grayson was the only one standing in the wide parking lot, facing the cool night breeze. He strolled slowly, aimlessly walking around the parking lot. One step, then another. As if he had no purpose, as if the waiting time was too long to bear.
Slowly, deliberately slowing his pace, a shadow flickered behind him.
And.
Thwack, someone hit him in the back. The loud impact echoed through the quiet parking lot, followed by the man’s tense, rough breathing. Grayson fell forward and at the same time turned around and stretched his leg out toward the man.
“Ugh!”
The man, hit squarely in the head, staggered back. Thanks to that, the baseball bat that the man had swung fell pathetically to the ground, and it immediately went into Grayson’s hand.
“Well then.”
Grayson smiled, pulling up the corners of his mouth. Shadows cast an eerie darkness on his face, illuminated by the dim lights.
“Now it’s self-defense.”
And then he began to swing the baseball bat at the man mercilessly.
Desire Me if you can
“Miller! What happened? What’s that injury?”
Ezra asked in surprise as soon as Grayson took off his shirt, revealing his back. There was a large, bluish-red bruise there. The other guys were just as embarrassed. Receiving everyone’s attention, Grayson answered nonchalantly.
“I was mugged. He hit me in the head with a baseball bat.”
Everyone’s eyes widened in surprise at the nonchalant explanation.
“Mugged? Where?”
“Why would you get mugged?”
The words that followed were all questions that everyone had in common. Money is buying safety. Grayson Miller, the Second son of the Miller family, who was an incredibly wealthy man, probably lived in a mansion with tight security, and the clothes he wore, the car he drove, and even the restaurant he went to were clearly top-notch places that ordinary people couldn’t even get close to, so where on earth would he meet a mugger wielding a baseball bat?
98 – 98
“Ah, Dane.”
Grayson turned his head at the sudden utterance. Dane was standing at the entrance of the locker room, looking at him. As Grayson turned his body, Dane’s gaze followed. Noticing that his eyes were tracing his back before getting lost, Grayson smiled and greeted him.
“Hi, Da…”
“I need to talk to you for a second.”
Before he could even finish his sentence, Dane blurted out and turned away, striding off. Grayson tilted his head, then quickly put his shirt back on and skipped after him, humming.
Desire Me if you can
“What happened? With that.”
Once they were alone behind the building, Dane got straight to the point. Grayson scratched the back of his head and replied.
“I ran into a robber…”
“Where did you run into this robber?”
Again, Dane cut Grayson off. Grayson looked down at him, hand still on the back of his head. Dane’s reaction was a little hard to read right now. What did that expression mean?
‘When it’s hard to understand, just bring up something else.’
“How’s Darling doing?”
As he had been taught since he was young, Grayson tried to change the subject, bringing up the easiest topic for Dane to gloss over. But Dane only frowned, looking displeased.
“Just answer the question. Where did you run into the robber?”
At the repeated question, Grayson closed his mouth. This time, Dane didn’t bother waiting and concluded.
“It happened in the motel parking lot, didn’t it?”
Grayson didn’t answer this time either. He just blinked and looked at Dane. Dane sighed deeply and lowered his head, clearly trying to figure out the intention behind the question.
“That’s why I told you that you didn’t need to walk me home every time. I’m not a woman who needs an escort.”
The last words sounded annoyed. This was also an unfamiliar reaction to Grayson. It was the first time an actual accident had happened while escorting someone, but he had pretended it had happened before. To get the other person’s attention. They had all been worried and tried to take care of Grayson, but none of them had ever shown such a sharp reaction and displeasure.
Why is he angry?
Puzzled, Grayson soon came to a plausible answer. Dane must be responsible and think it was his fault. If so, he was probably annoyed because of guilt.
“I’m fine.”
“I’m not fine.”
Dane, who had taken Grayson’s words and thrown them back at him, frowned and seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, then muttered to himself.
“Now you have no reason to come there…”
“Me? No reason? Why?”
Suddenly, Grayson snatched his words and asked. Dane, who had been rubbing his forehead, stopped and looked up at him. This time, Dane looked puzzled, as if he didn’t understand.
“I told you that while we’re dating, I won’t go to clubs or meet anyone else, right? So now you have no reason to come to my motel.”
“I’m going.”
At the brazen answer, Dane paused, and Grayson added brightly.
“I can’t leave you alone in such a dangerous place. I’ll go with you every day when you get off work.”
“Didn’t you hear me say I don’t need an escort?”
Dane’s voice was starting to get annoyed. He wasn’t used to this kind of clingy relationship. Others called it dating, but Dane just found it annoying. That’s why he had never formed a deep relationship with anyone until now.
“But I want to take you home.”
At Grayson’s stubborn words, Dane finally exploded.
“Are you saying you’re going to monitor whether I’m meeting someone else or not?”
At the harsh outburst, Grayson immediately shook his head.
“Of course not, I know you’re a man who doesn’t break his promises.”
“Then?”
If this guy thought of him as someone who needed to be protected, he was going to make him realize he was wrong with his own body. He clenched his fist and waited for an answer, but Grayson, who had been scratching his cheek, showed an unexpected reaction. Avoiding Dane’s gaze, he hesitated as if he was in trouble, then opened his mouth.
“I just… want to be with you a little longer.”
At the unexpected words, Dane paused. Is this guy lying to me again? He looked at him, unable to hide his suspicion, but Grayson was still just blinking at him blankly.
An awkward silence flowed. Dane couldn’t react immediately because it was the first time he had been in this situation.
“…Why?”
Grayson tilted his head to one side and raised the corners of his mouth at Dane, who had only managed to squeeze out those words with a frown.
“Because I’m happy when I’m with you?”
He trailed off slightly, as if he wasn’t sure himself. Dane frowned and stared at him. As if asking what that meant. Grayson hummed and answered.
“So… my heart beats fast, my feet keep floating like this, my fingertips tingle, and I want to be kind to everyone in the world.”
Grayson, who had listed the sensations he was feeling one by one, smiled brightly.
“This is happiness, right?”
…Yeah.
Dane blinked in surprise. For the first time, Grayson’s smiling face didn’t feel awkward. He had always felt that he was making expressions that didn’t fit the situation or smiling artificially. But now, it was like…
He really knew what happiness was.
Even though he thought that couldn’t be the case, Dane couldn’t be sure of his own beliefs. Was this man really unable to feel emotions?
“…Similar.”
Probably, he added inwardly. In fact, he didn’t even know what happiness was, so how could he say for sure that it was that?
I can’t be a good teacher after all.
Dane thought bitterly. Suddenly, a headache came over him. Anyway, it was his fault that Grayson was hurt. He had repeatedly told him not to follow him in the first place, so strictly speaking, he wouldn’t be responsible. But he couldn’t ignore what was bothering him.
Even if he told him not to follow him, this guy would shamelessly cling to him.
Now, the only way to get rid of this guy was to wait for three months to pass. Well, it was only about two and a half months now.
Then maybe…
Haaa, he took a deep breath before making a decision. He suddenly realized that he had been sighing frequently since he had bumped into Grayson Miller, but he couldn’t stop it. He took another deep breath and finally opened his mouth.
“Okay, let’s live together.”
Grayson gasped roughly like a scream. Before he could spill out his words, Dane added coldly, as if to cut off his excitement in advance.
“I’ll move into your house. But only for the remaining time. After three months, we’re completely done.”
“Okay.”
“And don’t follow me around.”
“Of course, I will.”
Grayson answered repeatedly without hesitation. He was clinging to him like chewed gum right now, so could he really believe those words? Dane had a lingering sense of unease, but he had no choice but to believe him for now.
He turned around to go inside, but suddenly stopped and looked back at him.
“Tell me the truth. How did you find me every time?”
Grayson, who was following behind, smiled brightly again and answered immediately.
“I put a tracking device on your car.”
“Ha.”
Dane let out a hollow sigh, but that was all. He shook his head and started walking again, with Grayson following behind him with excited steps.
Could that guy have hurt himself on purpose?
Dane quickly shook off the sudden thought. Surely he wouldn’t go that far. For now, he had no choice but to believe that.
And it was late that night when Dane and Darling entered Grayson’s mansion together.