Damn! Damn! Chapter 28

As Achim blinked in response to their suspicious behavior, the maid standing right in the center stepped forward.

“Still, it violates the dress code.”

“…”

“Yvonne, are you seriously doing this because you want to look good for Mr. Michael?”

…Seriously, with this tacky thing?

Achim lowered his head as if in deep thought.

The scarf had been personally picked out by Linus, who didn’t possess an ounce of fashion sense on a regular basis. There was no way a guy who couldn’t even dress himself properly would choose a decent scarf. He had even spent precious moments earlier in a frantic rush, debating whether he should actually wear it or not…

Recalling how he had gasped upon looking in the bathroom mirror this morning, Achim raised his head again.

He wanted so badly to tell her that he was wearing this mismatched scarf just to cover up the marks left behind because her precious ‘Mr. Michael’ had choked him, but Achim barely held it in.

Besides, given that he was dying to get on the man’s bad side anyway, weren’t those words just too harsh? He felt it would be better to be told he was too ugly to share a meal with.

“Or are you trying to hide something, by any chance?”

“…!”

Someone actually noticed his violent streak! Thrilled by that fact, Achim widened his eyes.

“Look at you getting startled. Is it true? Do you really have a hickey from Mr. Michael on your neck?”

“…”

Fuck. Achim chewed on his internal curses. As the situation branched out in a completely unexpected direction, he felt sick to his stomach.

“I heard you’ve been drifting in and out of Mr. Michael’s bedroom lately. Did you seriously sleep with Mr. Michael?”

The maid squeezed out the words in a hushed, strained voice, her face completely twisted. At that, even the other maids stared at Achim with matching expressions of doubt.

Among them, the one whose face was twisted the most was Achim. He secretly clenched and unclenched his fists, forcing his expression to loosen up with great effort.

“It’s a misunderstanding. I only stopped by briefly because there was something I needed to help him with.”

“Help? What exactly are you helping him with?”

“And in Mr. Michael’s bedroom, of all places?” As the maid in the center pressed further, Achim clamped his open mouth shut.

It was because he couldn’t lay out the truth as it was. As for the location, it seemed the guy just preferred it so he could wash up and be in comfortable clothing, but…

Thanks to that, his own eyes were uncomfortable, but either way, nothing seemed more perfect for breeding misunderstandings among the others. He had explicitly asked the man to be careful precisely because of this.

Then again, whether such rumors spread or not, there was no way a guy who was so cynical about marriage would listen to his request in the first place.

Somehow, the more he thought about it, the more he felt like he was losing out.

“Yvonne, why can’t you speak?”

It was before Achim could even come up with a plausible excuse.

“I asked what you were helping him with!”

“Stop trying to draw attention to yourself for no reason and just spit it out!”

“Yeah, Yvonne!”

The maids surrounding him each threw in a word as if threatening him.

Their shrill voices made his ears ache so much that Achim instinctively blocked his ears and took a step back.

Just then, someone extended a long arm. The moment those fingertips brushed against the tacky scarf, Achim reflexively snapped his neck backward. He then slapped away the hand in front of him with a sharp thwack.

But this time, a hand reached out from another direction.

Having dodged that hand as well with his built-in reflexes, Achim finally realized the gravity of the situation. The gazes of every single maid in front of him were glued to the scarf.

They’re going this far? Achim couldn’t comprehend it, but surprisingly, they seemed entirely serious.

Even if there were seven of them, overpowering them with brute strength wouldn’t be a difficult task. However, he couldn’t use force against women, nor could he move his body with an agility that would draw suspicion from others.

As Achim racked his brains while staring at the maids whose eyes flashed as if they were ready to pounce at any second—

“…!”

This time, three or four of them reached out their hands all at once.

Achim stumbled while trying to dodge them, accidentally stepping on something. At the same time, taking advantage of the moment Achim let his guard down, one of the countless hands grabbed the knot of the scarf.

“What…!”

A flustered sound slipped from Achim. It wasn’t a hickey, but a choked handprint wouldn’t look normal either, would it? Not wanting to become the target of even more gossip among the servants than he already was, Achim quickly reached his hand behind his neck.

However, the fabric wrapping around his neck loosened, and fresh air immediately brushed against his bare skin. Damn it. The knot came undone.

It was at that exact moment of realization.

Instead of the scarf that fluttered down to the floor, an unfamiliar warmth immediately wrapped around his neck, causing Achim to snap his head up with a startled face.

“Hmm…”

The first thing to reach his ears was a familiar hum.

Next, enveloped by the fragrant body odor wrapping around his entire frame, Achim stared blankly up at Michael, who had seamlessly pressed right up behind his back.

With his arm draped over Achim’s shoulder, Michael naturally cupped his neck and flashed a gentle, eye-crinkling smile.

“Be careful. There’s a wall behind you.”

“…”

Achim wasn’t the only one shocked by his sudden appearance. The seven maids quickly blinked their wide-open eyes, looking back and forth between Michael and Achim as if they had just witnessed an unbelievable sight.

“Ah, h-hello, sir…”

The moment the first one among them snapped out of it and greeted him, the rest rattled off the same words in succession.

Michael looked down at Achim, whose eyes were perfectly round with surprise, before turning to ask the maids.

“Is it almost time for you to clock out?”

“Y-yes, sir.”

The maid who had untied the knot answered with a flustered look.

At her cautious attitude, which was a far cry from how she had treated him just moments ago, Achim let out a hollow laugh inwardly. At the same time, he felt relieved.

It was fortunate that Michael had shown up just in time to cover his neck; it was a little dizzying to think that his flushed handprints might have been exposed otherwise.

“Hmm, I see.”

Michael gave a light nod. Well, perhaps the guy just didn’t want to be caught up in a pointless misunderstanding himself—

“Would you like to go to the bedroom ahead of me today?”

However, at the voice that shattered his expectations, Achim turned to look at him with wide-open eyes. The maids looked about the same, or perhaps a bit more shocked.

The only peaceful one among them, Michael looked down at Achim and murmured in a low whisper.

“I have some work left to finish.”

“…”

“If you’re hungry, tell Wolfgang.”

Michael said exactly that, his eyes curving beautifully.

At his seemingly generous attitude, Achim secretly gripped the hem of his skirt tight. The maids’ reactions aside, the tone of the guy—who was being impossibly soft and kind—made every single hair on his body stand on end.

“That…”

Thinking that this would only breed more misunderstandings, Achim tried to squeeze out at least a word of objection. Suddenly, the hand wrapping around his neck loosened as if it were about to drop away; treating it like a lifeline, Achim grabbed the man’s hand in a death grip, pinning it in place as he spoke urgently.

“Y-yes.”

“…”

“I’ll do that. …I will do so, sir.”

…Fuck.

If he had it his way, he wanted to crush the hand he was holding into pieces, but he had to leave that to his imagination.

To think he had assumed the man did it to avoid a pointless misunderstanding; there was no greater delusion when dealing with this guy. Under the guise of helping him, hadn’t the bastard essentially plunged him into an even deeper mess?

To expect that kind of goodwill from a guy who gives you a disease, pretends to offer medicine, and then continues to just give you more disease—even he had to admit he was being stupid.

“Would you like to walk me to the office?”

“…”

The guy was clearly enjoying this situation. For someone who was on the receiving end of a favor, it was truly exasperating.

However, since he was also in a position where he currently needed Michael’s help, Achim ultimately gave a reluctant nod.

“Yes, sir.”

Let’s go, you psycho.

Achim whispered inwardly while putting on the sweetest smile possible.

🖤🥀

Thud. Silence descended the moment he closed the door behind his back.

He had just come back from walking him to the office as requested moments ago.

Feeling as though the warmth of that large hand was still lingering on his neck, Achim rubbed his neck roughly with the back of his hand.

After sweeping down his neck irritably, Achim scanned Michael’s bedroom. Hilariously, having seen it a few times now, it was a space that had become somewhat familiar to him.

To tell him to go to the bedroom ahead of him. At first, he thought he had misheard. Did it mean there was nothing to worry about? Or was it some kind of test?

“Dammit.”

Though several guesses sprouted in his mind, he couldn’t be certain of anything. Based on his past experiences, there hadn’t been a single instance where the man had acted according to his assumptions.