Chapter 15

"Is that so...? Hey, Wilkins! Wilkins! Yes, you. Come over here."

The chief, who had tilted his head, soon called out to one of the men drinking and beckoned him over. Wilkins, who had been drinking with other employees, approached them with a reluctant face, lazily carrying his beer glass.

"Yes, Chief. What is it?"

To Wilkins, who cast a disapproving glance at Greyson, the chief said.

"Miller is looking for someone. You went into the mansion with your team members that time, right?"

The chief introduced Wilkins to Greyson.

"This is Darius Wilkins. Wilkins, as you know, this is Greyson Miller. He'll be working in your team from now on. Greyson, this is the team leader you'll be working under."

Wilkins's face immediately twisted. His gesture of spreading both hands wide while looking down at the chief seemed to scream 'What is this nonsense?' Despite his blatant rejection, Greyson casually grabbed Wilkins's hand and shook it as he pleased.

"Looking forward to working with you, pleased to meet you."

Wilkins again looked dumbfounded and shrugged while pointedly gesturing at Greyson with his free hand. The chief deliberately ignored Wilkins's protesting look and patted both their arms.

"Work well together. Wilkins is a good team leader, so follow his instructions, alright? Miller."

"Of course, I'll certainly do that."

Though Greyson responded as if he had been waiting for this, Wilkins's face showed complete disbelief. Roughly shaking off his hand as if something dirty had touched him, he glared at Greyson while speaking to the chief.

"Then are we done here? I'll go back to my team members."

"Wait, hold on."

The chief stopped Wilkins as he was about to turn and leave immediately. To Wilkins, who reluctantly turned back, the chief pointed at Greyson and said.

"Take your team member with you."

Wilkins opened his mouth wide and mouthed "What?" Once again spreading his arms wide and dropping them, he watched as the chief sternly admonished him.

"Isn't this a good opportunity to introduce him to team members and get familiar? That's what this gathering is for."

It wasn't wrong. Wilkins sighed into the air before simply turning away. The chief gently pushed Greyson and said.

"Follow him. They're colleagues you'll be working with, so exchange greetings..."

"So this team is the one that entered the mansion that time?"

Once again, Greyson cut off the chief's words. The chief, seemingly already used to his attitude of completely shifting focus elsewhere, nodded with a resigned expression.

"Yes, if you ask them, you'll find out who it was."

By the time he said 'if you ask,' Greyson had already left his seat. Left alone, the chief finished his sentence weakly and sighed.

* * *

When the team leader had gone to the chief's call, he was definitely alone, but when he returned, he wasn't. Seeing him return with an unwelcome tail, the team members who had been waiting while drinking around a round standing table all looked at him in confusion. Though Wilkins mouthed "I know," there was nothing he could do. The team members watched with unfriendly gazes as Greyson naturally came to their table and took a spot.

"Hi, hello, hey."

Greyson nodded lightly and greeted each one with a bright smile, but no one smiled back. In such a situation, one might normally feel intimidated by the awkward atmosphere, but unfortunately, this was Greyson Miller. However thick-skinned this shameless man was, he showed no sign of embarrassment. Rather, his behavior of smiling brightly and even offering handshakes so disgusted the team members that they soon lost all motivation. To the team members who silently drank their beer with dejected expressions, Greyson brought up the first topic.

"When there was a fire at Mendez's mansion last time, this team went in for rescue operations, right?"

"Mendez?"

"You know, that pheromone party."

To the team member who had asked without thinking, another member elbowed his arm and said.

"Where extreme Alphas gather in groups to fuck while claiming they're releasing pheromones. Yeah, shoot that cum! Brrrr. Ahhh! My pheromones are coming out! My brain is coming out too!"

The team members burst into laughter at the man's actions as he shook his hips back and forth while making strange noises for show. Of course, since it was mockery aimed at Greyson, they couldn't help but enjoy it more. However, they stopped abruptly when they saw Greyson also laughing uproariously along with them.

What's this? Is he crazy?

Everyone had similar thoughts. As their expressions faded one by one and they looked at him with bewildered faces, Greyson, who had been laughing alone in the silence, also stopped. When they saw him immediately become expressionless like a mask, everyone moved beyond confusion to getting chills. What the hell? What's with this guy.

"Why? Keep going. It was funny."

"Is that it? Well, that's fine."

Greyson shrugged demonstratively.

"Anyway, as it happens, I was at that mansion. I'm that extreme Alpha, thinking I might release some pheromones. Thanks to the fire, it ended up incomplete, so fortunately my brain didn't come out."

As Greyson continued speaking, the faces of those standing around grew darker by the moment. They felt in their bones that this wasn't someone to be taken lightly. If he were simply ill-tempered or trash-natured, they could settle it with fists or whatever, but from ancient times, the answer was not to associate with crazy people.

"Uh, well, I... have something to do."

As the man who had mocked Greyson tried to leave quickly, others hurriedly moved too. But before they could even lift their feet, Greyson stopped them first.

"Stop."

At that cold word, those trying to escape froze in place. When they reluctantly turned around, Greyson ordered with a still expressionless face.

"I have something to ask, so gather again. Now."

"..."

"Come here right now."

At his action of demonstratively tapping the table with his index finger, they had no choice but to hesitantly return. As they just watched each other awkwardly in the uncomfortable silence, Greyson looked around once and spoke.

"Is this everyone who went into the mansion that day?"

At his chilly tone, different from before, the team members just blinked in confusion. Somehow the atmosphere had turned into an interrogation and they couldn't easily speak up, when Wilkins asked first.

"Why suddenly? Why are you curious about that?"

At his curt voice, Greyson smiled. Again the team members felt a strange sensation. Was this the right timing to smile? Smiling to soften others' hostility was something everyone did routinely. But there was something unsettling about this man's smile. What was it?

While they couldn't find the answer, Greyson opened his mouth.

"I want to find the person who saved me then. I'm not sure how I lost consciousness, but when I opened my eyes, I was in a hospital room. If that person hadn't saved me, I probably would have died."

He put one hand on his chest and sighed deeply with a moved expression.

"Thanks to them I'm alive like this, so I want to repay them. I'd like to at least express my gratitude - could I find out who it was?"

At those words, Wilkins looked around at the rest of the team members. As if asking if anyone knew. Then the quick-witted Ezra quickly stepped forward and asked loudly.

"Well, everything was so chaotic then, I'm not sure. Does anyone remember?"

The other team members all shook their heads and just repeated that they didn't know. Though Greyson narrowed his eyes and furrowed his brow, their reactions didn't change. Greyson slowly ran his fingers through his hair and muttered as if to himself, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"When I say I want to repay them, everyone says they don't know..."

Then he smiled brightly and said.

"Then I'll just have to find them myself."