Damn! Damn! Chapter 26

At his casual spouting of dirty talk in that pleasant voice, Achim momentarily lost his temper and raised his voice. At that, Michael pulled the corners of his mouth into an amused smirk.

“Come here.”

Achim was still standing near the door. Michael reached his hand out toward him and commanded.

“Closer.”

Achim glared up at Michael, but in the end, he moved his feet with a sigh. After all, he was the underdog here, and the upper hand clearly belonged to the other man. It was frustrating, but there was no other choice but to endure.

What on earth was wrong with his own eyes that this guy kept spouting such nonsense yesterday and today? Was it not the influence of the rut?

He wanted to just dismiss it as a foul joke, but the man’s expression was surprisingly serious, which left him confused.

Achim slumped down onto the sofa opposite him, just like yesterday.

Michael picked back up the book he had briefly set down. At a glance, the color of the book cover seemed different from yesterday’s, so Achim secretly glared at him before subtly dropping his gaze to the title.

On Philanthropy

“…”

Does he actually read it? No, is it even readable to him? Love, ethics, philanthropy… aren’t they all things that are completely poles apart from a guy like him?

He wasn’t curious about the guy himself, but he was a little curious as to why he went out of his way to pick and read books like that.

Rustle. A page turned at the touch of those long fingers. Achim, who had been watching him, raised his eyes as he felt a gaze on him. Meeting his eyes, Michael’s pupils narrowed slightly.

Damn it. The guy was in his robe today as well. Feeling a sense of crisis, Achim urgently opened his mouth as if being chased by someone.

“Do you pick them out yourself, sir?”

Michael tilted his head slightly as if asking back. Achim pointed with his eyes to the book held in his hand.

“The books.”

“Why?”

“…”

Because they don’t suit you, was something he couldn’t dare say aloud, so Achim pondered his answer for a moment.

“…Because they look interesting.”

Since he hadn’t expected to be asked why, Achim managed to squeeze out an answer. For a quickly fabricated reply, it sounded quite plausible. Gaining confidence, Achim even threw in a question: “Is it interesting?” At that, Michael closed the book with a thud and drew a pretty arc with his lips.

“Hmm, surprisingly…”

“…”

“It’s nothing but absolute bullshit.”

It was a book review that made it hard to guess the actual title. There was no way a book with the theme of ‘philanthropy’ would have bullshit written in it as the guy claimed. Unless the theme was ‘persecution.’

However, Michael looked entirely sincere as he scanned the book’s cover with slightly furrowed brows, before raising his eyes.

“Did you think I was reading it?”

It wasn’t? Remembering how the man had been consistently turning the pages at regular intervals, Achim gave a slow nod.

Staring blankly at Achim, Michael faintly crinkled the outer corners of his eyes.

“I don’t read this kind of garbage. If I were to read something, it would be related to economics, statistics, or management.”

When Achim fixed his gaze on the book as if to ask why he was looking at it then, the man easily flipped over the book, which looked heavy at a glance.

“It’s bullshit, but there are times when it’s necessary.”

“…”

“I memorize it. Without needing to understand.”

“…”

“Blindy memorizing words you can’t even comprehend can’t possibly be fun.”

“Don’t you agree?” Michael asked, his eyes curving.

“…”

Memorizing a whole book word for word, huh…

And that too, simply because he couldn’t understand the content? And he actually manages to memorize it? Just what on earth is the reason for doing such a thing…

— There are times when it’s necessary.

As statements that defied common sense crossed his mind, the original image of Michael that he had known before entering the mansion flashed through his head. It consisted of various media articles and magazine interviews he had come across for reference during his preliminary investigation.

In those pages, a face that seemingly harmonized with words like love, ethics, and philanthropy was decorated with beautiful, poetic verses he had uttered, right alongside the flowery prose written by journalists.

Every single bit of it was a far cry from the true colors of Michael Bernhard that he had come to discover inside this mansion.

Recalling the face of Michael Bernhard, ‘the representative of the non-profit autonomous welfare organization Maaconi,’ Achim felt a fresh wave of admiration. To rattle off words he couldn’t even understand just to deceive people—the guy was a high-effort psychopath…

“Want me to lend it to you?”

Michael asked, flashing his trademark pretty, eye-crinkling smile.

Achim stared at him blankly for a moment, then shook his head. When he replied with a simple “No,” Michael reopened the thick book. Then, as if they had never even shared a conversation, he stared into the book with a frightening level of concentration.

By the way, am I supposed to just sit here blankly in front of him today too?

Since he had spent a whopping one hour yesterday doing nothing but watching the guy read a book, Achim was starting to feel fidgety.

Besides, hadn’t the man sat him down just to look at a familiar face? Yet instead of looking, he was only reading—no, memorizing—a book, which made no sense to Achim. Ultimately, he cautiously addressed the man sitting opposite him.

“I have nothing to do and I’m bored, so…”

“…”

“May I look around the room a bit?”

Achim asked, feigning a nonchalant face.

Since their prior agreement had already been broken, if the man said no to this as well, he was planning to reconsider the guy’s proposal.

It was torturous enough to be stuck in this spot just staring at the guy’s face like yesterday, but keeping his seat without making any progress felt like a massive loss for him.

Rustle. It was right after the sound of a page turning was heard.

“Go ahead.”

Michael spoke without taking his eyes off the book.

At the approval that came much more readily than expected, Achim looked at him as if gauging his thoughts, then stood up from his seat. He then moved his steps, looking around the surroundings as if he were truly touring the room, so as not to arouse suspicion.

However, having stepped forward to explore the room, Achim ran into an unexpected obstacle before long. Although his first impression of the room was that it was simple, nothing worthy of notice particularly caught his eye.

The space, which didn’t even have a common picture frame hanging on the walls, gave off an impression of being utterly desolate on one hand, despite being surrounded by expensive items.

Just then, the sound of Michael’s voice reached him from behind.

Turning around, he saw Michael holding his phone to his ear, speaking in a foreign language as if he had received a call. The moment his eyes met Achim’s, the man placed his book on the sofa, stood up, and walked straight toward the passage connected to the room.

Soon after, as Michael disappeared from his line of sight, Achim’s mind became busy.

Michael’s bedroom without Michael in it. Would there ever be another opportunity like this? Just as Linus said, God was definitely helping him.

Achim glanced toward the passage where Michael had vanished a few times to double-check, then hurried toward the nearest bed.

When he opened the first drawer of the wooden nightstand positioned at the head of the bed, the inside was completely empty. Achim closed the drawer and looked back toward the passage where Michael had disappeared. Then, this time, he opened the second drawer.

However, the second drawer was also completely bare.

Why on earth did that bastard even put this here? Along with his complaint, Achim glanced at the passage once more, and finally opened the third drawer.

“Fuck.”

Seeing the drawer that was empty to the very end, a curse slipped from Achim’s lips involuntarily.

Startled by his own reaction, he instantly clapped his hand over his mouth and looked toward the passage, but fortunately, the surroundings were quiet as if the man was still on the phone.

Achim let out a sigh of relief and closed the third drawer. To think that even this expensive-looking nightstand was just a nice decoration to him. It was incomprehensible, and at the same time, it somehow felt fitting for the guy, which made him even more annoyed.

He hadn’t expected the guy’s semen to be in such an exposed place, but actually finding absolutely nothing drained his energy. Since his opponent was Michael, it even felt as if the man had intentionally set it up that way just to mock him.

Achim gnawed on his lower lip and snapped his head toward the opposite side. Anxiety made his heart race.

It would be a shame to waste an opportunity that might never come twice, so he was scouting out his next target. Suddenly, Achim’s eyes landed on the neatly made bed.

Achim looked toward the passage where Michael had disappeared once more. It was still silent, so he immediately dropped down flat on his stomach beside the bed.

The large bed, which was undoubtedly custom-made, had an equally spacious area underneath it. Achim thoroughly scanned the space between the frame and the floor with wide-open eyes.