"Hah, hah."
The chief gripped his chest and took a deep breath. There is no such thing as a free ride in this world. If you want sothing, you have to pay the price. And right now, the price they had to pay was Grayson Miller.
Just endure for a year.
He reassured himself once again. A year would pass quickly. If he just holds on, Grayson Miller would eventually disappear. The problem was that this nightmare was just beginning.
With a heavy heart for the bleak future, the chief staggered toward his office. As the ominous day ca to a close, the welco party that the chief had painstakingly prepared began.
As usual, when there was sothing to celebrate at the fire station, the staff gathered at a nearby bar, even if it was early. By the ti the chief arrived at the scheduled ti, so of the employees were already quite drunk. Shouts and laughter spilled out from all directions.
"Welco, Chief."
"You’ve arrived, we’ve already started drinking."
When the chief entered, the employees who were already there greeted him one by one. The chief nodded in acknowledgnt and casually surveyed the crowd.
"Where’s Miller? Is he not here yet?"
Looking for the guest of honor, one man, leaning against the bar table while sipping a beer, answered.
"Not yet. Honestly, I hope he doesn't show up at all."
"Hahaha!"
The man’s offhand comnt made one of the other staff laugh out loud. The chief wanted to ask what was so funny, but it was a waste of ti trying to reason with soone who was already drunk. So, he silently took a seat at the bar and ordered a beer. When people drank together, the atmosphere would usually lighten. He hoped everyone would get along and forget the day’s events.
But when the alcohol wore off, things would return to normal, wouldn’t they?
With a deep sigh, the chief reflected on the grim future ahead, just as he was starting to relax.
"He's here."
Soone spoke, and the air in the room shifted. The staff, who had been laughing and chatting until then, gradually fell silent, and a chilling tension filled the space. The only sound now was the loud music blaring from the speakers. As expected, the reason for the shift in atmosphere was Grayson Miller’s arrival.
He entered in a simple outfit of a shirt and jacket. Of course, compared to the other n, who were all dressed in sloppy t-shirts and worn-out jeans, he looked much more polished. Wearing a cream-colored jacket and khaki pants, with three buttons undone on his shirt, he appeared quite relaxed. His stride, neither slow nor hurried, had a feline grace to it, as though he were a mber of a large cat family. Despite the hostile and uncomfortable glares, he walked across the bar as if nothing were amiss.
Where does that audacity co from?
The people at the bar stared at him in disbelief. Any ordinary person would have fled from such an atmosphere, but Grayson Miller was the opposite. He might have thought, "What could you possibly do?" Of course, it was true, but the unease was unavoidable.
Grayson Miller walked toward the counter in a steady pace, and everyone at the bar blatantly turned their heads to follow his every move.
Get lost! Get out of here! The atmosphere was so thick with hostility that it was impossible to mistake it for anything else. Yet, Grayson seed to ignore it all as if he were used to it. Both hostility and kindness had been a part of his life in abundance.
"Hello, Chief. It’s a nice evening."
Grayson, who had reached the chief first, greeted him with a wide smile. It was a smile that left no room for doubt, but the chief felt a chill run down his spine. He desperately tried to mask the discomfort he was feeling, nodding casually in return.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
"Welco, we’ve all been waiting for you."
The chief made a standard greeting, and Grayson, as if he had been waiting for it, ca to stand next to him and said,
"Thank you for hosting this party. I’m truly touched."
He placed one hand over his heart and gave a genuinely "moved" expression, causing everyone to look at him with strange eyes. Despite the attention on him, his focus was solely on one thing. The chief, feeling an indescribable discomfort, broke into a cold sweat.
"Well... if you behave well from now on..."
"Is everyone here?"
Without letting the chief finish his sentence, Grayson cut him off and looked around the room. His behavior, cutting off others mid-sentence again, made everyone’s expressions twist in confusion. What the hell is this guy doing? The chief, too, stared at Grayson, equally baffled.
"Uh... Maybe? I don’t do a headcount..."
"So, there might be more people coming, huh? Got it."
Grayson interrupted again and surveyed the room. More specifically, he ticulously examined the faces of everyone at the bar. Whenever soone caught his gaze, they would flinch and quickly look away or, feeling the need to assert themselves, glare back. To them, it seed like a provocation, but in reality, Grayson had another goal entirely. The chief, stunned by his actions, blinked in confusion before snapping back to his senses and spoke to {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} the bartender.
"Hey, can you get Miller a beer too? Anyone else want one? Let's all make a toast. Welco, Miller."
"Thank you. I’m so glad to be welcod like this."
When the chief raised his glass first, the others reluctantly followed suit. Grayson, as if he were an Oscar-winning actor, put on an exaggerated emotional expression and raised his glass dramatically into the air.
"Alright, everyone drink up. You there, keep playing billiards. Yeah."
The chief, trying to smooth over the uncomfortable atmosphere, gestured for the employees to return to what they were doing. The employees, still scowling at Grayson, reluctantly turned away and went back to their tasks. After the tension started to dissipate a little, the chief sighed and finished his beer. But the uncomfortable mood remained, mainly because of Grayson, who was sitting right next to him. Though he tried to ignore it, the chief couldn’t hold back and spoke up first.
"So, you decided to beco a firefighter, huh? That’s impressive. What made you think of doing that?"
It was a simple question, but when Grayson heard it, his eyes suddenly lit up. The chief, startled by his sudden reaction, instinctively shrank back, but Grayson’s voice beca even brighter.
"I’m looking for soone."
"Soone? One of our team mbers?"
Caught off guard by the unexpected response, the chief had no choice but to ask. Grayson nodded and continued.
"I’m looking for the firefighter who saved before. I want to thank him."
"Well... you could have just asked... Why go to the trouble of getting hired...?"
The chief trailed off, thinking, Is he really going to ss with our team like this? He tried to hide his feelings, but as he looked at Grayson’s clean, smiling face, frustration boiled up inside him. Instead of sighing again, the chief gulped down more beer and spoke.
"Alright, what happened? Tell , I’ll help you find him."
The chief, thinking that it would be better to resolve this nuisance quickly, waved his hand dismissively, urging him to speak. Grayson, still smiling, answered.
"Thank you. A few days ago, there was a fire at ndez's party."
"ndez? ...Oh, the pheromone party?"
"Yes."
It had been quite a spectacle. Of course, every fire is a tragedy, and for the victims, it’s a disaster, but seeing people running out, naked, intoxicated by alcohol and smoke, crying and snotting, was sothing Grayson had never seen before. Not to ntion the twins who acted like maniacs...
As the chief thought about it, Grayson added more details.
"I'm not talking about everyone. I’m looking for the firefighter who ca to save ."
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