Chapter 58

Pressed by the momentum as if he might grab his collar and shake him right away, DeAndre instantly shrank smaller.

"Well, you know... quite some time has passed... and that bastard doesn't seem to be particularly looking for it anyway..."

His mumbled excuses continued, but his colleagues' attention had already moved elsewhere.

"Why is Miller interested in Dane anyway?"

"I was actually uneasy from the moment he followed along saying he'd eat lunch together. Why didn't anyone stop him?"

"How could we stop that? It would be too obvious!"

"That's right, and what could happen just once? They didn't even go out alone, there was another guy with them..."

"Dane went out with ulterior motives, so he wouldn't have made any dangerous comments. There's no reason to bring up that incident in the first place, it's from so long ago."

"Then why is that bastard suddenly curious about Dane?"

"Could something suspicious have been mentioned earlier?"

"Suddenly?"

The question returned to square one. They just looked at each other with serious expressions without saying anything.

* * *

Greyson was lost in thought alone in the empty fitness room. He stood there for a considerable time, staring intently at one side, then running his fingers through his hair, then stroking his chin.

Should I use that method after all?

To get the answer he wanted, it was the simplest and surest method Greyson could use. All that remained was to choose a suitable target.

At the sound of the door opening with a click, Greyson raised his head. When their eyes met, the other person flinched in surprise and froze.

Yes, someone just like him.

Greyson smiled broadly and said.

"I have something to talk about, could you spare some time?"

The man looked around with wide eyes. But the only people there were Greyson and himself. To the man who was pointing at himself half in doubt, Greyson nodded.

"Yes. You and me."

After deliberately pointing a finger at him and then changing direction to point at himself, Greyson tilted his head and smiled.

"Please."

When he smiled while saying this, there was no one who didn't fall for it. As expected, the man, who had been tense and wary, hesitated but eventually nodded.

* * *

What the hell is this bastard up to?

Ezra couldn't control his anxiously beating heart as he stole glances at Greyson sitting across from him. Going back to the fitness room then had been a mistake. Just as he was hesitating because he had left an important item behind, he ended up face to face with Greyson alone.

I never thought he would still be there alone.

Giving himself an excuse, Ezra drank the beer in front of him. In the insanely awkward situation, he had ended up accepting the absurd proposal. Drinking alone with Greyson Miller. Who in their right mind would do this?

He said just one beer together, so I can leave after drinking this. Ezra promised himself. That was his best option.

As he gulped down his beer, demonstratively tilting his head back, Greyson quietly watched him from across the table. After emptying half the beer at once, Ezra put the bottle down with a thud and stared directly at Greyson.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

His pronunciation wavered slightly as if he was already feeling the effects of alcohol. Of course he would, even if it was just beer, he had drunk it so quickly. Greyson narrowed his eyes and thought. He's not an extreme Alpha who's immune to alcohol or drugs.

Hiding his contempt and cynicism for the man sitting across from him, he put on a bitter expression and opened his mouth.

"I was hoping you could help me with something."

"What is it?"

Ezra leaned forward, saying the single word loudly. It was an attempt to appear threatening, but to Greyson, he looked like nothing more than a meerkat. Looking at the insignificant man who seemed like he would fly far away if pushed, Greyson pretended to be troubled and opened his mouth.

"It seems like you guys feel distant from me, and I was wondering if it's... because of Dane Striker."

Greyson deliberately paused and checked for a reaction. As expected, Ezra was startled and didn't know what to do.

"D-Dane, why Dane? What does he have to do with it? Why, why would you think that?"

"Because..."

In contrast to Ezra, who was stammering, Greyson slowly dragged out his words and then closed his mouth. Ezra was waiting for what came next with a tense face, not even breathing. With his face clearly showing his inner voice saying, 'Say it, say it quickly!'

Greyson let out a "haa," a sigh in between, and then spoke extremely slowly, but just before Ezra would get tired and press him, he opened his mouth.

"I made a spectacle of myself in front of him, and I was wondering if that's why you guys are keeping your distance from me..."

Ezra, who had been holding his breath and not moving at all, suddenly exhaled with a "huk." The words came after.

"...What did you say?"

Greyson silently looked back at Ezra, who was staring at him with a dumbfounded face. With a bitter smile on his lips.

* * *

The bar after dinner time was crowded with people. Though there were people who occasionally shouted loudly as their voices mixed with the noisy sounds, their table was just quiet. Ezra blinked with a dazed expression. As if wondering what he had just heard.

"Um, so..."

He barely started but seemed unable to think of what to say, waving one hand to stall for time. Ezra, with his face all scrunched up, asked.

"You made a spectacle of yourself? What does that mean? When? How?"

Ah, is he talking about fainting?

With the sudden thought, Ezra tensed up again. In the atmosphere that seemed to have come full circle, he was thinking of making an excuse and running away again, when Greyson opened his mouth.

"I opened the wrong door thinking it was the bathroom, but Dane was inside. I should have just left, but as I turned around, I hit my head on the door and fainted."

He was indeed talking about that day. But the content was somewhat different from what Ezra knew.

"You hit your head on the door? You? By yourself?"

Greyson nodded readily. Seeing his response, Ezra took a sip of beer instead of swallowing dryly and looked at him again.

"W-when was this?"

It was an important question, but Greyson answered as if it were nothing.

"That day when there was my welcome party, at that bar."

Ezra blinked blankly. What's going on? He had naturally thought that Dane had beaten this guy up and knocked him out.

...But thinking about it.

Belatedly, he realized. Wasn't this all just our assumption? Dane had said directly that this bastard fainted on his own. Then it's exactly the same as what Miller is saying now?

Having thought that far, Ezra raised his eyes again and looked at Greyson. He already had an expression of having more than half fallen for it and carefully opened his mouth.

"So, um... really, you hit your head and fainted by yourself? Really?"

Greyson nodded at the word "really" that was repeated twice and added self-deprecatingly.

"It happens often because of my height. Funny, right? I'm a bit of an idiot."

Watching Ezra's expression, he counted inwardly. Five seconds at most. After that, the desired result would come.

Greyson had experienced this situation many times. No matter how strong the wariness and hostility toward extreme Alphas, this method always works.

Showing vulnerability.

The bigger the vulnerability, the better. Greyson adjusted the size according to the other person and obtained what he wanted from them. Sometimes material things, sometimes something invisible. He had never failed once, and this time was no exception. Watching Ezra's face gradually brighten, Greyson slightly raised the corners of his mouth. ...3, 2, 1.

"Aha, ahahaha, s-so that's what happened, ahaha!"

Ezra laughed loudly and pounded the table. Greyson could tell that he had completely let his guard down.

"No, it's just a common mistake. I once urinated in public in front of my house. You have no idea how angry my wife was, she didn't speak to me for a month because I peed in her precious flower bed."

"I see, that must have been awkward."

"Tell me about it, it was nothing short of torture..."

Ezra chatted excitedly at Greyson's response. Greyson, who was listening with a smile, muttered in a low voice.

"So he was there after all."