Chapter 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.

“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.