Chapter 48

Dane walked across the shower room floor with wet footsteps, brushing back his wet hair. Until he raised his head with a tired sigh, he hadn't noticed the presence of another person at all. And then he made eye contact with Greyson Miller, who had been waiting until then, while completely defenseless. Immediately, Dane's brow furrowed.

"What is this?"

To Dane, who blurted out exactly what he was thinking, Greyson's mouth opened and closed again. Dane waited with furrowed brows for what seemed like an attempt to say something. But Greyson couldn't continue speaking. His eyes were fixed on Dane's chest, unable to move.

Part 4

In the silence, only the sound of water droplets falling from the shower head echoed regularly with a drip, drip. Greyson stared intently at Dane's chest, lost in a trance without even blinking.

Had he ever seen such a perfect chest before?

The appropriately full flesh completely filled the chest space without any gaps. The pink nipples were attached in just the right size, and the small areolas also formed perfect circles. The chest, temptingly hanging above the abdominal muscles with a perfect six-pack, was enough to make one's mouth water just by looking at it. That such a beautiful and attractive chest existed.

Greyson rubbed his eyes with his arms and blinked several times. Still, it was there. Such a perfect chest.

Greyson's stomach boiled and his lower body hardened. He blinked blankly. The words he had been about to say simply evaporated, and only Dane's chest remained in his mind.

Such a perfect chest.

Meanwhile, Dane felt uncomfortable seeing Greyson just standing there with his head down, saying nothing. At any other time, he would have ignored him and walked away, thinking he wasn't even worth laughing at, but he couldn't do that now. The reason was clear. Because he had seen an unexpected side of Greyson.

It would be the same even if Greyson did something foolish again. He couldn't easily think of melting this guy's head with pheromones and running away like before. The reason was the same.

It was something he neither wanted nor thought about, but what had already happened couldn't be helped. Dane had found out, and because of that, he had no choice but to act accordingly.

Whew, Dane let out a long sigh. As he inhaled deeply and exhaled, his luscious chest rose and fell once. Greyson's eyes captured every moment of that wonderful sight without missing a single instant.

"If you have something to say, I'll listen anytime later, but for today, just go back. I'm too tired to wait today."

Dane, speaking in an uncharacteristically calm tone, smoothly moved his body and went outside. He didn't forget to lightly pat Greyson's arm encouragingly as he brushed past him. And from behind Greyson, who was still frozen in place, he bent down to snatch up the clothes he had left at the entrance and walked away.

The sound of wet footsteps gradually faded away. When Greyson belatedly turned his head, Dane had already disappeared. As he stood there blankly, recalling the chest that still lingered before his eyes, a forgotten fact suddenly came to his mind.

Yes, that perfect chest.

He had thought it then too. That he would never see such a wonderful chest again.

Then? When?

...Then.

Suddenly Greyson realized. That he had completely forgotten about the extreme Omega he had been searching for all this time. Surprisingly, what had filled his mind instead all this time was that man.

Dane Striker.

His heart was greatly shaken by this sudden realization. He became bewildered about how to accept this fact.

I forgot about the destined partner I've been searching for all my life? That was almost everything in my life, how could I completely forget about that existence? How could someone else occupy my mind? And so completely at that.

"Surely that can't be."

Greyson covered his face with one hand and rubbed it roughly, then muttered without confidence. There's no way Dane Striker could be an Omega. He was such a plausible Beta male. The idea that someone so overflowing with testosterone could be an Omega was nonsense. Clearly, something was wrong with his head. Yes, there was only one reason.

"...Pheromones."

He muttered under his hand.

"I need to release them."

After making the decision, action didn't take long. Greyson turned around without any further lingering and came outside. Even as he drove out onto the road in his parked car, he was convinced. That man definitely couldn't be the one.

* * *

Could he really not be?

As he handed his car keys to the valet parking attendant and entered the mansion, Greyson fell into serious contemplation.

How could there be another chest so perfect? That size, those round lines, that amazing chest so visibly full of firmness and elasticity—could there be another like it in the world? Nonsense!

All he could remember was the fact that he had seen a truly wonderful chest. Though he couldn't recall the shape or color at all, only that remained strongly imprinted in his mind. And the most excellent chest among all he had seen in his life, one he could be certain he would never see again, was Dane Striker's.

'Is the chest big?'

Just as he suddenly recalled the question he had asked the fortune teller.

"Greyson! It's been so long!"

As soon as Greyson appeared in the hall, the host who spotted him brightened and spread his arms wide. Making a welcoming gesture with his whole body, the host smiled brightly and looked Greyson up and down.

"How have you been? Why haven't you been around for so long!"

At the light reproach, Greyson pretended to search his memory and answered while looking to the side.

"Has it been that long? I went to the last party."

He was referring to the orgy party disguised as a pheromone party. The host glanced at him and scolded Greyson.

"You didn't come to my party! How long I've been waiting."

"Sorry, sorry. I've been a bit busy lately."

When he apologized with a smile, the host tilted his head and looked up at Greyson. Everyone in the world knew that Greyson lived a life of leisure. To the host, who was clearly expressing the question of how someone literally unemployed could be so busy, Greyson answered lightly.

"I got a job as a firefighter."

"What? A firefighter? How did that happen? And come to think of it, you're alone? Why don't you have a partner?"

He asked in succession, raising his voice in surprise. People around them looked at them with surprised faces as they heard his voice. Greyson lightly brushed off the questions.

"Just wanted to try it once. I don't have anyone special these days, that's why I'm here, isn't it?"

When he provided answers to all the questions at once, the host nodded with a puzzled face, saying, "I see." Though he didn't look entirely convinced, he didn't want to drag out the conversation any longer. Greyson deliberately looked around the hall beyond the host and said.

"Well then, I should go fulfill the purpose of my coming to the party... It was nice to see you, good party."

After giving a formulaic greeting, Greyson walked toward the center of the chaos. As if they had been waiting, another man approached the host and spoke.

"Greyson is a firefighter? Did I really hear that right?"

"I know, I'm doubting my own ears right now. You all heard it too, right?"

When he asked, looking around at the others nearby, heads nodded here and there. The host muttered again, looking in the direction where Greyson had disappeared.

"What sudden change of heart is this?"