Desire Me If You Can-Chapter 91

The fire blazed high, like the flames of hell, engulfing the house in a fiery red inferno. At the same time, an eerie sound of something collapsing echoed through the air.

"Darling!"

At Dein's shout, the firefighters, gathered around, stared at him in confusion. But Dein didn’t have time to hesitate. He tried to rush into the house, unarmed and unprepared. Ezra, seeing this, panicked and yelled.

"Wait, Dein!"

"No, what are you doing?!"

Immediately, they grabbed him from all sides, trying to stop him from rushing into the house. Dein struggled to shake them off, but several strong men formed a barricade around him, and he couldn’t break through.

"Let go, let me go!"

"Calm down, Dein! What’s going on?"

"Darling is in there, Darling!"

"What?"

"What did you say?"

Everyone looked at each other in surprise. This was Dein’s house? Darling? The cat? What should we do? They were all confused, trying to process the situation, but then Wilkins intervened.

"What the hell is going on here? Get back to work! Dein, what are you doing here?"

"It’s my house!"

Before anyone else could speak, Dein shouted.

"Darling is in there, we have to save him! Darling’s in there alone! Darling!"

"Wait a minute! Calm down, Dein, calm down!"

Wilkins urgently grabbed him from behind. With his strong arms, Wilkins, a former professional wrestler, easily restrained Dein, who struggled and tried to wriggle free, but couldn’t escape.

Wilkins kept shouting.

"It’s too late, how is he supposed to survive in that fire? Give it up, Miller is in there too, and he can’t get him out! No one can go in, unless they’re out of their mind!"

At those words, Dein stopped struggling. Slowly turning around, he saw Wilkins nodding solemnly.

"Yeah, we’re getting ready to go in once the flames are under control, but right now, we can’t even rescue anyone. How are we supposed to save a cat...?"

Dein’s mind was in turmoil. Just dealing with Darling was complicated enough, but now what?

"Miller went in? Into my house?"

He turned to Wilkins, asking.

"Why?"

"Who knows, that guy’s mind."

Wilkins sighed deeply, clearly troubled. Just then, an unexpected commotion caught their attention. Dein, who had casually turned his head, widened his eyes in shock. Everyone, including Wilkins, stared in disbelief at the same sight.

A man, staggering out of the flames.

Grayson Miller.

Someone whispered under their breath, unable to believe their eyes. Grayson, always impeccably dressed and spotless, was now covered in soot, his platinum blonde hair singed in places, looking disheveled. His usual proud violet eyes lacked their usual gleam, and his shoulders, heaving with labored breaths, sagged in exhaustion.

He looked like he had been through a war. And, in truth, he had.

"...Miller."

Dein muttered his name, almost to himself. Wilkins carefully let go of the still shaken Dein. Dein’s gaze shifted from Grayson’s face to the small life he was carefully cradling in his arms.

Darling was inside Grayson’s helmet, eyes closed, taking in oxygen. Grayson, staggering, slowly made his way towards Dein. He held out the cat, which he had been holding with great care.

Dein received the cat without a word, gently, almost cautiously. Grayson’s trembling hand, offering the cat, was clearly visible to Dein.

Carefully holding Darling in his arms, Dein held his breath as he checked the cat’s condition. His tense hands lightly stroked the cat's body, and for the first time, Darling moved slightly, making a small mewing sound as it tried to nuzzle against Dein’s chest. Finally, Dein let out a sigh of relief.

"Wait."

After briefly asking Grayson for permission, Dein rushed to the ambulance. The paramedic gently laid Darling in the backseat of the ambulance, administered oxygen, and began emergency procedures. After performing a few basic tests, he quickly came to a conclusion.

"You don’t have to worry too much. For a more detailed checkup, we’ll need to take him to the animal hospital, but for now, he’s fine. A little fur singed, but that’s really nothing. He didn’t inhale much smoke."

He smiled while holding up the helmet that had been removed from the cat.

"Looks like a brave hero lent his life to your Darling."

Dein silently looked at the helmet. He noticed the large crack in the mask and stood still, frozen in place, unable to move.

Grayson sat alone, some distance away from the scene of the fire. Sitting on the curb, holding an empty water bottle in his hand, he stared blankly into space. Dein slowly walked over and stopped beside him. The other firefighters were still busy handling the embers and cleaning up the mess.

"Miller."

At the sound of his name, Grayson paused, slowly lifting his head. Dein gazed down at him, watching his still-cloudy violet eyes.

He had seen him earlier, but seeing him again like this was shocking. His disheveled hair, parts of which had burned and broken off, his face covered with ash and dirt, looking filthy beyond recognition, with cuts all over, bleeding red. Seeing him in such a sorry state, Dein couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

"Hey, what's with your face, pretty boy?"

He said it lightly, almost jokingly, but Grayson didn’t respond. That, too, was different from what he was used to. Normally, Grayson would say something to make people uncomfortable or confused, but this time, he just stared silently at Dein.

Maybe he was still shaken from what had just happened.

It was a common reaction for firefighters, especially the less experienced ones. But for Grayson Miller to react like this... It was unexpected. Why had he thrown himself into the flames alone? He could have lost his life.

There were many questions, but Dein had only one thing to say. He slowly moved his lips.

"Thank you."

At those quiet words, Grayson blinked for the first time. As he met Dein’s fixed gaze, Dein continued.

"Darling is fine. We’ll need to do more tests, but... thanks to you, I don’t have to worry. Thank you."

It was the softest tone Dein had ever used with Grayson. Grayson blinked again, his eyes still locked on Dein. He didn’t respond immediately, his gaze fixed on Dein’s face.

Dein, feeling a little awkward, scratched the back of his head.

"I didn’t expect you to jump into the fire to save Darling... I was really surprised."

To break the awkward silence, Dein tried to say something, and just then, Grayson, who had been silent until now, opened his mouth. After a few attempts, he finally spoke.

"I thought you’d hate me..."

Grayson’s voice was rough, as though from smoke inhalation or something else. Dein paused and looked down at him. But Grayson stopped speaking ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) again, closing his mouth, as if he had something to say but couldn’t find the words.

Dein waited silently, standing still, waiting for Grayson to find the right words.

"I thought... if Darling died, you’d hate me forever. I thought that’s how it would be."

Finally, Grayson spoke, but stopped once more, his thoughts too jumbled to make sense of. His voice trembled slightly as he explained.

"My heart was racing, I was dizzy, my mouth was dry..."

Grayson, reliving the emotions of that moment, started to shake. Dein saw his hand tremble uncontrollably.

"So my body moved on its own. All I could think was... I had to save Darling..."

Grayson sighed, his pale face breathing heavily as he tried to collect himself. Dein stood there, watching him in silence.

"People would call that fear."

Grayson froze for a moment, then slowly looked up. Their gazes met again, and this time, Dein didn’t look away. He repeated, quietly.

"What you’re feeling right now is fear. It’s not too different from being afraid."

Grayson slowly blinked, as if processing the new sensation, as though he were experiencing something completely foreign. Then, slowly, his lips moved again.

"...I was afraid."

"Yeah."

Dein said softly, and bent down. Kneeling on one knee, he opened his arms and pulled Grayson into a hug.

"You did well, Miller."

Like comforting a child, Dein patted Grayson’s back a few times. Grayson, his eyes wide, stood frozen in his embrace. His heart raced, but it wasn’t the same feeling as the one he had confessed to Dein just moments ago. His breath became difficult, and dizziness spun in his head, just like before, but this wasn’t fear. No, this wasn’t fear.

"...I like you."

Grayson confessed, as if releasing a breath he had been holding. Dein’s hand, still on Grayson’s back, froze. After a few seconds of silence, Dein slowly pulled away.

They faced each other, so close that it felt like they could breathe each other’s air. Grayson stared at Dein’s face, sighing, but with deep conviction, he confessed once more.

"I think... I love you."

Just as the words were out, the house behind them, barely holding together, collapsed with a loud crash.