Damn! Damn! Chapter 27

However, not a single strand of hair was to be found. Achim smacked his lips in disappointment and stood back up.

He was just about to step away from the bed when he spotted something poking out from beneath the crisp white pillow. Reaching his arm out, Achim lifted the pillow halfway.

Then, his eyes widened in surprise. What lay beneath the pillow was none other than a handgun.

Of course, since he possessed a Glock himself, he wasn’t shocked simply by the sight of a firearm. Germany allowed gun ownership, and with about a third of the population owning firearms, they weren’t exactly difficult to come across.

The reason Achim was surprised was the location. He leaves the nightstands completely bare but puts it right by his head?

Unless he expected to get into a gunfight in his sleep, Achim couldn’t help but think it was a highly bizarre choice of placement. The more he learned about this guy, the more…

It was right at the moment Achim placed the pillow back down.

“What are you looking for?”

Hearing the voice directly behind his back, Achim nearly shrieked out loud.

He had no idea how the man had managed to get right behind him without a single trace of a presence. Since he was usually like an animal when it came to sensing a presence, Achim couldn’t conceal his astonishment.

Forcing his hammering heart to calm down, Achim turned around.

“Ah, the bed looked so fluffy, sir…”

“I apologize for touching it without permission.” Achim excused himself in a fairly nonchalant tone that contrasted with his racing heart.

At that, Michael tilted his head slightly.

As the man’s gaze briefly seemed to flick toward the pillow where the hidden handgun lay, Achim tightly clenched his hands behind his back.

Did he see? What do I say if he asks why I lifted the pillow without permission?

Achim had already mapped out an escape route in his head once again.

“Lie down.”

“…Excuse me?”

When Achim snapped his eyes up at the completely unexpected words, Michael gestured toward the bed with his eyes.

“If you’re so curious about a thing like that, try lying down yourself.”

“…”

Was he joking?

…He had to be joking, right?

Knowing him, he might be expressing his displeasure through this kind of sarcasm. Furthermore, given his meticulous personality, it wouldn’t be surprising if he had a severe case of mysophobia.

Achim stared at the expressionless face as if trying to gauge his true intent, then shook his head.

“No, I’m fi—”

It was then. Michael suddenly closed the distance. As the space between them shrank, Achim took a corresponding step back.

Is cornering people his specialty? Watching Michael’s toes about to close the distance on the floor again, Achim tried to step back further when his calves suddenly caught on the bed, and his body tilted backward, losing its balance.

“…!”

Having inadvertently ended up sitting on the bed just as the man had said, Achim hurriedly tried to stand up. Or rather, he attempted to. It would have been possible if not for the man’s hand seizing his shoulder and forcefully pinning him down.

Achim knit his brows slightly and looked down at the hand clutching his shoulder.

“…Did I look at you with those suspicious eyes again, sir?”

At that, Michael slowly shook his head.

“Then why…”

“I thought you led me to the bed to do this.”

“Was I wrong?” he shamelessly asked, his eyes crinkling softly.

Achim looked up at him, then quickly averted his gaze, fearing it would cause another pointless misunderstanding.

In that instant, the words the other maid had said just an hour ago flashed through his mind.

— Because he practices premarital chastity…!

Chastity, my foot. If it turned out this guy was actually a woman, that claim would be far more believable.

Around the time Achim was sighing inwardly, the man let out a low, humming ‘Hmm,’ then spoke in a smooth voice.

“There’s a handgun under the pillow.”

“…!”

Never expecting the man to admit it with his own mouth, Achim momentarily failed to control his expression and raised his head with a startled face.

“Aren’t you curious about the reason?”

“…”

Achim felt as though he had been thrown into a test.

He couldn’t fathom the motive. While it wasn’t a classified secret, he couldn’t understand why the man was going out of his way to tell him this. What on earth was the reason for revealing the location of the gun, and to him, of all people?

When Achim merely looked up at him without offering a ready response, Michael raised his hand.

He firmly pressed his thumb against the outer corner of Achim’s eye and swept it sideways. The eye holding the dark pupil naturally crinkled.

While wearing a faint smile, Michael looked down at Achim from a stark height difference, then brought the hand that had been caressing his eye downward.

The large hand slid down as if to wrap around his neck, before suddenly clamping tight.

“Khk…!”

In a split second, his neck was throttled. His Adam’s apple was compressed, and his breathing was instantly choked off completely.

Reflexively, Achim gripped Michael’s wrist with enough force to rip it away. Looking up at him in that state, the man maintained an amused expression from start to finish, as if finding it fascinating.

Crazy bastard. Achim was absolutely certain in that moment that the man had seen him checking under the pillow.

Achim chewed on his internal curses and counted numbers. If he dragged this out any longer, his airway would truly be blocked, so he intended to throw the guy off before that happened.

Three, two…

Staring up at him with bloodshot eyes, just as he was down to the last number—right before his vision truly began to blur—Michael released his grip on Achim’s neck.

“Gah… cough, cough!”

As Achim’s blocked airway cleared, his suppressed breath burst out all at once like a backed-up drain.

Achim clutched his neck, which was left with flushed handprints, and let out a string of dry coughs. He just couldn’t get used to this sensation of his mind going distant, something he hadn’t experienced in a long time.

Achim breathed heavily and looked up at Michael through half-lidded eyes.

Glancing at his still-smiling face, Achim couldn’t help but feel a bit regretful. If he had dragged it out just a little longer, to hell with the mission, he could have pinned the bastard down and beaten him to a pulp.

Since he was genuinely disappointed, Achim massaged his burning neck while keeping his eyes locked on Michael’s smiling face.

“Hmm…”

Suddenly, Michael leaned his upper body down and placed both hands on the sheets. Finding himself trapped between the man’s arms, Achim sharpened his gaze even more.

“If you’re curious about something, ask me directly.”

“…”

“If there’s something you want, that too.”

At those words, Achim’s expression stiffened. Something I want? There was only one thing he wanted from this bastard, but it was something he could never utter aloud.

Just as Achim narrowed his eyes again in frustration, Michael brought his face close and whispered in a pleasant voice.

“I’ll give you a special answer.”

Achim didn’t take those words at face value.

The behavior the man had shown just a moment ago was a type of warning. Furthermore, the bastard was unquestionably a master at pacing himself. He knew the precise timing between life and death and knew how to utilize it properly.

If his true intention had been to kill him, he would have snuffed out his breath, but instead, he had merely enjoyed watching him suffer.

Torture isn’t your taste? He could bet his right hand that it was his taste.

“As you know, I treat you well, don’t I?”

“…”

To Achim, the problem was that he had absolutely no idea what the man’s standard of ‘treating him well’ was. Spouting dirty talk? Dislocating his jaw? Throttling his neck until he was on the verge of suffocating?

The more he mulled over each one, the more his anger boiled over, so Achim decided to stop thinking.

“Speak.”

“…”

“If there’s something you want, that is.”

Your semen, you piece of shit.

Achim wanted to say exactly that, but he endured it with every ounce of his patience. It was for the sake of the grand task ahead.

Ultimately, Achim nodded his head as if dropping it. At that, Michael smiled with satisfaction and softly stroked Achim’s neck, where his own handprints remained.

Achim watched it without even blinking and made a vow to himself.

The instant he got his hands on that bastard’s semen, he would absolutely pay everything back twofold.

🖤🥀

“What’s with the scarf, man?”

Under Greta’s direction, they were currently decorating the hall with party supplies.

Turning around at the voice coming from behind, he saw a whole crowd of maids gathered there for some reason.

Achim instinctively counted their numbers as he set down a bundle of burgundy fabric and a crystal wine glass onto a round table. He then massaged his neck, offering a bashful smile.

“Ah, this. I caught a cold.”

At that, the seven maids quickly exchanged glances, then stealthily surrounded Achim.