"What happened here?"
Wilkins, noticing the commotion, arrived late. He looked back and forth between the man lying on the ground and °• N đť‘ś v đť‘’ l i g h t •Â° the paramedics. Diandre hesitated before opening his mouth.
"Well, you see... that’s..."
Unsure if he should say what he had seen, suddenly another guy stepped forward and shouted.
“Miller hit that guy!”
Soon, other team members came forward to support him.
“That’s right, I saw it too! Miller kicked that guy!”
“He was lying down, and Miller kicked him in the head!”
“That guy is the owner of this house. I saw him sitting there absent-minded just a while ago—what do you think happened here? Miller must have done something!”
"Wait, hold on. Alright, calm down, calm down."
Wilkins, raising his hands to soothe the shouting team members, then turned his head toward Grayson, who was standing at the back, and asked.
"What happened? What went on?"
Grayson let out an exasperated sigh before answering.
"That guy tried to walk into the fire..."
Before he could finish, boos and shouts erupted.
"So, you tried to help him again?"
"I thought I was wrong about you, but you’re really that kind of guy!"
"You’re a crazy bastard, I’m the idiot for trusting you!"
As the team members raised their fists and yelled, Grayson became completely uninterested.
“Ugh, this is such a hassle...”
He muttered the same words that Dein often said, shaking his head. Seeing this, the team members became even angrier and started yelling louder.
"What? A hassle? Are you seriously saying that when someone’s dead?"
"You crazy bastard, crazy bastard!"
"It’s disgraceful to have someone like you as a firefighter..."
Ignoring the barrage of complaints, Grayson simply turned and walked away. Through the continuing shouts, Wilkins’s voice reached his ears.
“Alright, enough. Let’s wrap up and finish the rest. Are we gonna keep standing here? Let’s clean up and get out of here! Move, let’s go!”
The team members, still grumbling, had no choice but to disperse and follow orders. Thanks to that, the noise gradually subsided. Grayson grabbed a bottle of water from the fire truck, twisted off the cap, and gulped it down in one go. Only after finishing the bottle did he seem to snap out of it. He looked up at the sun, which had been obscured by the smoke from the flames, and suddenly thought,
Ah, I want to kiss Dein.
After finally putting out the remaining fire, Dein, while cleaning up the hose, looked around. He couldn’t see the man who was usually around.
It’s strange that such a big guy is nowhere to be found.
After securing the hose, Dein glanced around and spotted Diandre, approaching him.
"Have you seen Grayson?"
"Who?"
Diandre didn’t immediately understand. Dein repeated.
"Grayson Miller."
"Oh, Miller? Ah..."
Diandre’s second response sounded suspicious. Dein furrowed his brow, and Diandre, after hesitating, reluctantly began speaking.
"There was an incident... that guy..."
“That bastard’s really trash.”
Suddenly, another guy shouted out a curse. Dein, still frowning, looked back and forth between him and Diandre.
Grayson sat down at a distance, staring at the ground. Some time seemed to have passed. Has the fire been fully put out by now?
By now, Dein must have heard the news.
He could already imagine Dein’s reaction. He’d probably curse him out and get angry. Shit. He muttered under his breath and scratched the back of his head. Then, suddenly, a shadow appeared at the edge of his vision. Grayson lifted his head and blinked in surprise. A tall man was standing and looking down at him. For a brief moment, a tense silence hung in the air. As soon as Dein opened his mouth, Grayson figured he would be yelled at.
“What happened?”
Dein suddenly asked a question.
...Huh?
Grayson wondered if he had misheard. Had he cursed at him, and his ears were just making up something else?
Of course, that made no sense. The evidence was clear: Dein wasn’t angry. He had the same indifferent expression as always, looking down at Grayson. It was as though he genuinely wanted to hear what he had to say. Staring blankly at him, Grayson took a moment before speaking.
"...Didn't you hear?"
“What happened?”
Dein repeated the same question. There was no way he hadn’t heard it. The team members must have been talking non-stop, excitedly sharing what they saw, acting as if that was all that happened. They would’ve repeated all the criticism they had thrown at Grayson earlier. But, despite that, Dein was still standing in front of him, asking what happened and waiting for an answer. Grayson slowly parted his lips.
"The guy... he suddenly tried to walk into the fire."
"And?"
"I thought about just leaving him, but... then I wondered what you would do."
Dein’s eyes flickered for a moment.
"...You wondered what I would do?"
At Grayson’s quiet question, he nodded.
"I thought you’d stop him. So, I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him away, but then the guy suddenly got angry and attacked me..."
Dein didn’t rush him to continue, waiting for him to finish. Grayson, watching his expression, added on.
"I kicked him to stop him from grabbing the axe—because it was dangerous, and I didn’t want him to do that."
The confession ended there. As Grayson’s calm voice faded, silence returned. Dein still didn’t say anything, just continuing to watch him. Grayson, waiting silently for a response, moved his lips again.
"Did I mess up again?"
His tone was as indifferent as before, like nothing had happened. But in Dein’s eyes, Grayson could see the faint trembling.
Dein’s brow furrowed, and as his lips slowly curled up into a smile, Grayson momentarily panicked. What was that expression? Was he laughing, getting angry, or maybe even wanting to cry? Confused, Grayson saw Dein extend his hand. Without hesitation, Dein placed his hand on Grayson’s head, speaking softly.
"No, you did well."
The gentle touch on his head was incredibly kind. In that instant, all the anxiety and despair that had consumed Grayson disappeared.
"Really?"
In a surprised voice, Grayson heard Dein laugh and nod.
"Yeah, you did great. So, don’t worry about it."
Then, after moving the hand that had patted his head to Grayson’s front, Dein spoke.
"Let’s go, we need to tell those idiots the truth."
But Grayson couldn’t bring himself to take his hand right away. He looked back and forth between the outstretched hand and Dein’s face, still unsure, and asked hesitantly.
"...You trust me?"
"Yeah."
Dein answered without hesitation. Then, he offered a simple reason.
"If I know you, you wouldn’t have just hit that guy. He must have given you some reason, letting you do what you wanted."
"That’s right."
Grayson’s face began to brighten.
"Yeah, you’re right. I never hit first. This was self-defense!"
"If he was going to swing the axe, then yeah, self-defense is right."
"Exactly?"
Dein’s words were in my favor. He’s saying everything I said is right!
Unable to control his excitement, Grayson’s cheeks flushed bright red. At the same time, his ears quickly turned pink. Seeing this, Dein smiled and extended his hand again. Finally, Grayson grabbed his hand tightly and quickly stood up.
"I said I would stop that guy, but that was wrong."
Dein said as he faced Grayson. When Grayson paused and looked down at him, Dein casually added,
"If it were me, I would have kicked the axe away instead of hitting him. And then, after securing a witness, I would have hit him. If I just hit him without thinking, this is what happens."
Then, with a face full of amusement, Dein looked at Grayson.
"You’re only going to get bothered by the committee now. Tough luck."
Dein’s face was full of playful mischief, like a child teasing a classmate who got into trouble. Seeing that expression, Grayson relaxed and laughed.
"The lawsuit? That’s Nathaniel’s job. I’m Miller."
Seeing Grayson back to his usual self, Dein lightly patted his back and started walking ahead. As he walked, he shouted loudly to the team behind him.
"Hey, you guys. You have no clue what’s going on, do you...?"
At Dein’s shout, the team members, who were nearly done cleaning up and preparing to leave, stopped in confusion. Grayson slowly walked behind, watching as Dein approached them and began saying something.
...
Something stirred in Grayson’s chest. It felt like a warm flower blooming inside him. The sensation spread throughout his body, and his mind became a little dazed.
It’s Dein.
Grayson named the flower blooming inside him.
This is Dein.
"Come here, Grayson. These idiots want to apologize."
Just as Dein turned and shouted at him, Grayson’s cheeks flushed even more. With a red face, Grayson nodded and ran toward him, his face beaming with a wide smile.
