Chapter 143

"What happened here?"

Wilkins, who had noticed the commotion, came running belatedly. Looking alternately at the man lying down and the paramedics, DeAndre hesitantly opened his mouth.

"Uh, well, that is..."

As he hesitated about whether he should say what he had seen, suddenly another guy stepped forward and shouted.

"Miller hit that person!"

Following that, other guys came out one by one to support him.

"That's right, I saw it too! Miller kicking that person!"

"He was down and he kicked him with his foot, in the head."

"That man is the owner of this house. I saw him sitting there blankly until just now, so why would he be here like this? Miller must have done something!"

"No, wait. Okay, I got it. Whoa, calm down."

Wilkins showed his palms and soothed the clamoring team members. And he soon turned his head to Greyson, who was standing blankly behind them, and asked.

"Why did you do that? What happened?"

Ha, Greyson let out an incredulous sigh and then spoke.

"That man was trying to go into the fire..."

He had only said that much when jeers and shouts immediately burst out.

"So, were you trying to help again?"

"I thought I was wrong about you, but you were that kind of guy after all!"

"Crazy bastard, I'm the crazy one for trusting you!"

Seeing the guys shouting and even swinging their fists, Greyson just found everything tiresome.

"Ah, how annoying..."

Repeating the same words Dane usually had on his lips, he shook his head. Seeing this, the team members became even angrier and started screaming.

"What? Annoying? Someone died and that's what you have to say?"

"Crazy bastard, you're crazy!"

"It's shameful that someone like you is a fellow firefighter..."

Ignoring the pouring criticism, Greyson just turned around and walked away. Through the guys who continued shouting, Wilkins's cry could be heard.

"Come on, stop it and let's finish the remaining work first. Are you going to stay here forever? We need to clean up and go home! Come on, move! Hurry!"

The team members had no choice but to scatter as instructed, though they continued grumbling. Thanks to this, the noise at least subsided. Greyson picked up a plastic bottle from the fire truck, opened the cap, threw it away, and gulped down the water. Only after emptying the entire bottle at once did he seem to come to his senses. Looking up at the sun obscured by the flames, he suddenly thought.

Ah, I want to kiss Dane.

* * *

After barely extinguishing the remaining fire completely and coming to his senses, Dane organized the hose and only then looked around. The man who always hovered around wasn't visible.

With that build, it doesn't make sense that he's not noticeable.

After securing the hose and wandering around looking, Dane found DeAndre and spoke to him.

"Haven't you seen Greyson?"

"Who?"

To him, who didn't readily understand, Dane said again.

"Greyson Miller."

"Ah, Miller? Ah..."

The second exclamation sounded unclear. When Dane frowned, DeAndre, who had been hesitating, reluctantly began to speak.

"There was an accident. Over there, well..."

"That bastard is really trash."

Suddenly another guy stepped forward and spat out curses. Dane looked alternately at him and DeAndre with a still frowning face.

* * *

Greyson was sitting at a distance, just looking at the ground. Quite some time seemed to have passed. Was the fire extinguishing all finished?

By now Dane must have heard the story too, right?

It was obvious what reaction Dane would show. He would curse at me and get angry again. Fuck, just as he was cursing lowly and scratching the back of his head roughly, someone's shadow suddenly entered the edge of his vision. Greyson, who raised his head, hesitated and blinked. A tall man was standing upright, looking down at him. A tense silence circulated for a brief moment. Seeing Dane open his mouth, Greyson anticipated what was next. He's definitely going to curse at me...

"What happened?"

Dane suddenly threw out a question.

...Huh?

Greyson thought his ears were wrong. Did he curse at me but my ears arbitrarily created different words?

Of course, that didn't make sense. As proof, Dane wasn't angry at all. With the same indifferent expression as usual, he was just looking down at Greyson. As if he genuinely wanted to hear his words. Greyson, who had been staring blankly up at him, opened his mouth a beat late.

"...Didn't you hear?"

"I'm asking what happened."

Dane repeated the same words again. There was no way he hadn't heard. Surely the team members would have chattered about everything in detail. They would have excitedly talked as if what they saw was everything. And they would have certainly repeated the same criticism they had poured on Greyson earlier. But, surely that must have happened.

But Dane was still standing in front of Greyson. Asking what happened and waiting for an answer. Greyson, who had been looking up at him, slowly moved his lips.

"...That man, suddenly tried to go into the fire."

"And then."

"I thought about just leaving him alone... but I wondered what Dane would do."

Dane's eyes wavered for a moment.

"...You thought about what I would do?"

At the quiet question, Greyson nodded.

"I thought you would stop that person. So I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back, but that man suddenly got angry and came at me..."

Dane waited without rushing the next words. Greyson, who had been observing his expression, continued.

"He was trying to hit me and then saw the axe and lunged for it, so since it was dangerous for him to grab that, I kicked him to stop him."

The confession was over. When Greyson's voice, which had been flowing calmly until then, disappeared, silence came again. Dane was still just looking at him. Greyson, who had been silently waiting for a reaction, moved his lips.

"Did I, do wrong again?"

His voice was no different from before. An indifferent voice as if nothing had happened. But Dane could see it. That Greyson was trembling finely.

Dane's eyebrows contorted. Seeing his mouth corners slowly rise along with that, Greyson was momentarily confused. What was that expression? Was he laughing, getting angry, or wanting to cry? To him, who was confused, Dane reached out his hand. Placing his hand on the head of Greyson, who was just watching, he gently opened his mouth.

"No, you did well."

The hand stroking his head was incomparably affectionate. At that moment, the anxiety and despair that had completely occupied Greyson's insides disappeared all at once.

"Re-really?"

At the surprised voice, Dane smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, you did very well. So don't worry."

Following that, he moved the hand that had been stroking his head to in front of Greyson.

"Let's go, we need to tell those idiots the truth."

But Greyson couldn't readily take his hand. Looking alternately at the hand placed in front of him and Dane's face, he still asked half-doubtingly.

"...Do you, believe me?"

"Yeah."

To the hesitant question, Dane answered without hesitation. Following that, he simply provided his reasoning.

"If it's the you I know, you definitely wouldn't have just hit that man. That man must have given you some excuse, so you could beat him up to your heart's content."

"Right."

Greyson's face gradually brightened.

"Yeah, you're right. I never hit first. This was self-defense!"

"If he was trying to swing an axe, it's definitely self-defense."

"Right?"

Dane is taking my side. He's saying everything I said is right!

Unable to contain his excitement, Greyson's cheeks flushed red. At the same time, his ears flapped rapidly. Seeing this, Dane smiled and extended his hand again. Only then did Greyson firmly grasp his hand and stand up in one motion.

"You said I would have stopped that man, but that's wrong."

Dane said to Greyson, who was facing him. When Greyson hesitated and looked down at him, he added nonchalantly.

"If it were me, I would have kicked the axe instead of hitting that man then. And I would have secured witnesses before hitting him. If you just hit him and get caught wrongly, this is what happens."

Following that, he looked at Greyson with a face full of laughter.

"Now you just have the annoying task of being called to committees. Too bad."

Dane's face was full of mischief. He was like a child teasing while watching a troublemaking classmate get in trouble. Seeing that expression, Greyson also relaxed and laughed.

"Nathaniel will handle the lawsuit. I'm a Miller."

Confirming that he had returned to his usual self, Dane lightly patted Greyson's back and moved first. Following behind, Dane, who had gone ahead toward their colleagues, shouted loudly to call them.

"Hey, you bastards. You guys are babbling without properly finding out anything..."

At Dane's shout, the guys who had almost finished cleaning up and were preparing to return stopped moving in puzzlement. Greyson watched as Dane ran lightly and approached them to say something, walking slowly.

...Huh.

Something seemed to stir inside his chest. A feeling like a warm flower blooming inside his chest. His mind became hazy with the feeling of that flower spreading throughout his body.

It's Dane.

Greyson named that flower he was feeling for the first time.

This is Dane.

"Come over here, Greyson. These idiots want to apologize."

Just then Dane looked back at him and shouted. Flowers bloomed on both of Greyson's cheeks too. With his flushed face, Greyson nodded. His face as he ran toward Dane was brightly smiling.