Desire Me If You Can Novel - Chapter 26

The chief’s voice rose a notch with every question. Wilkins, though flustered, tried to salvage the situation.

“Physical fitness tests are important, aren’t they? If someone isn’t properly prepared on the front lines, the lives of the other team members are endangered…”

“Why do you decide that on your own, I should have been informed first! And if you don’t trust him, you just shouldn’t take him out, should you? There are ways to make him just do odd jobs at the scene! But you arbitrarily drag Miller out and cause trouble like this? Do you see me as a scarecrow? Huh?”

The voices that had been bickering earlier vanished, and only the chief’s voice roared loudly. Wilkins could only hang his head and repeatedly say, “I apologize.” The chief, whose face was flushed with anger, looked around and, seeing that Grayson was not present, still spoke in a rough tone.

“So, what happened? It’s still not finished? When did they even start?”

To the continuous barrage of questions, Wilkins answered honestly.

“About three hours ago.”

“…”

It was precisely three hours and fifty minutes. But everyone kept their mouths shut, anxiously watching the chief. As expected, the chief flared up in anger and shouted.

“Even at the maximum estimate, two hours is more than enough, but three hours have passed? And you are all just standing here doing nothing! Go find Miller immediately, hurry! As for you, I’ll deal with you later.”

The chief roared, pointing a finger at Wilkins and growling. Wilkins reluctantly agreed, saying, “Yes,” and quickly organized search teams.

“They might be on their way back, so let’s go up the opposite way. Also, grab first aid supplies in case of an emergency…”

Wilkins quickly gave instructions, selecting a few members with particularly good performance records. The employees immediately moved to gather the necessary supplies and hurried to prepare to climb the mountain. The sun would set soon. If they didn’t hurry…

“Oh, ohh?”

Someone let out a stunned exclamation. Those who inadvertently turned their heads stopped, and those who noticed the suspicious atmosphere followed suit and also stopped. At the end of their gaze, the man they had been waiting for was walking toward them.

Grayson Miller.

His beautifully shining blonde hair was covered in dirt and leaves, making him entirely dusty. His entire body was covered in scratches and torn wounds, his clothes were ripped in places, and his face was bruised as if he had been hit by someone. It was clear that large, colorful bruises would form all over his body within a day.

“Hey, Team Leader.”

He raised one hand and greeted them brightly, as if nothing had happened. Everyone was stunned by his smile, which revealed his white teeth. Amidst their blank stares, Grayson walked up nonchalantly and stood before Wilkins.

“I’m back. Is the test over now? Since I completed the course safely, I’ll be able to participate in the field operations from now on, right?”

He was anything but safe, yet Grayson was defiant. Despite his appearance, which clearly showed a fight had taken place, he insisted nothing was wrong. He didn’t tattle that Dane had hit him, didn’t demand to know who the instigator was, and didn’t throw a tantrum.

The chief, who had been inwardly nervous that Grayson might immediately withdraw the donation or even threaten to sue the entire fire station for being treated like this, blinked with a foolish expression. Since he first showed up wanting this job, it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Others were just as confused. Could he participate in field operations from now on? Ridiculously, his question sounded so bright and innocent. He was clearly a worn-out man, but how could he look so pure, like a child?

Surely, even if the word ‘innocence’ died and came back to life a million times, it wouldn’t be able to get within a millimeter of this man.

“Uh, uh… well, yes.”

Behind Wilkins, who nodded, dazed, Ezra, who had regained his senses a moment later, shouted.

“Where’s Dane?”

As if that were a signal, startled cries followed from everywhere.

“Right, what happened to Dane?”

“He was definitely faster than you, so why are you back first?”

“You bastard! What did you do to Dane? There’s no way you’d come back first otherwise!”

Just as they were shouting and about to lunge at him, someone suddenly cried out in surprise.

“Dane!”

At first, the sound was muffled by the murmuring. But another guy who coincidentally heard the sound spotted him and shouted in alarm.

“Look, everyone! It’s Dane! Dane is here!”

“Dane?”

“Where, where?”

Those who belatedly realized the situation stirred and looked around, then suddenly stopped. Dane was walking from the direction Grayson had come from. He was reluctantly dragging his feet, exhausted and worn out. Seeing him, his colleagues screamed and rushed forward, pushing to the front.

“Dane!”

“Dane, you’re back!”

“What happened? We were worried! Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Oh my god, what a mess you are…”

To the people surrounding him and chattering all at once, Dane just nodded his head silently. He looked as if he didn’t even want to speak anymore, but they wouldn’t stop. It was the chief who finally sorted out this chaos.

“Everyone quiet down! Return to your places!”

At the chief’s booming shout, the employees flinched and quickly backed away. The path that opened up before Dane, as if the Red Sea were parting, led straight to the chief. Showing an obvious reluctance, Dane walked toward the chief. The chief scanned Dane’s entire body once, then tsk-ed and clicked his tongue.

“What is this state you’re in?”

The chief lamented in a voice mixed with a sigh, as if utterly dumbfounded. And rightly so, Dane, like Grayson, had not a single uninjured spot. His soft red-gold hair was thoroughly tangled, covered in leaves and small twigs, and his face, blackened and soiled in places, was wounded with dried blood. Confirming that his uniform was also torn and ragged, the chief rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache and said.

“To ruin your handsome face like this… reflect on yourself.”

As the saying went, Dane was the face of this fire station. He decorated one page of the annual calendar, and in the year he was on the cover, the calendars sold out instantly, requiring several reprints—an exceptional occurrence. Since not a few people visited the fire station just to see Dane Striker’s face, leveraging him to receive donations was a significant help to the station, but here he was, treating his body so carelessly.

“Your body is not just your own! It belongs to all of us!”

The chief chastised him sternly. Following that, there were many more words about how he had been misled by Wilkins and recklessly endangered himself, how his face might scar so he should go to the emergency room, but only the last words entered Dane’s ears.

“I’m giving you two days of paid leave. Go rest well, understood?”

Only then did Dane nod, a small smile appearing on his lips.

“I will. Thank you.”

“Wait a minute, just like that?”

“No, we all caused trouble, but only Dane gets paid leave? Does this make sense?”

“It violates equity! Where is the equality?”

As expected, a strong backlash erupted. But the chief’s will was firm.

“You guys must have dragged Dane into this! Dane is fiercely individualistic, only caring about his own business and having no interest in others’ affairs! There’s no way Dane would have gotten involved in something like this, ending up in this mess, unless it involved sex, money, or his cat! Am I wrong? And you still have the nerve to complain! All of you, reflect on yourselves!”

Although everything he said was technically correct, somehow it felt like Dane was being insulted. Feeling unnecessarily sorry for him, Dane piled it on, helping the chief.

“He’s right. As expected, Chief knows everything.”

At his sight, placing one hand on his chest and smiling as if touched, the rest of them were dumbfounded. As they sighed and cursed in disbelief, Dane cast a quick glance at them. As if asking, Do you guys even dare to speak? Of course, they did not.