Damn! Damn! Chapter 29

What the man was thinking on a regular basis was something Achim simply could not fathom. One thing for sure was that he was a psycho, but…

Only after redefining Michael in his mind did Achim finally step away from the door.

“…”

How much time had passed since then? Hearing an approaching presence, Achim lifted his eyelids.

As he stared up at the ceiling while lying stretched out on the sofa, darkness had already settled over the room, indicating the sun had set.

Achim slowly closed and opened his eyes, letting out a groan. Right before giving up and falling asleep, he had searched both the bathroom and the space connected to the bedroom through the passage, but he hadn’t managed to scavenge anything.

And so he had intended to just close his eyes for a brief second. Enjoying the touch of the plush sofa, he had ended up falling fast asleep with his legs kicked out before he knew it.

This is no time for this, Achim told himself, shaking his head before slowly pushing his upper body up. At the same time, hearing the presence once more, Achim looked toward the door, wondering if the man had finally arrived.

However, Achim soon narrowed his eyes. The silhouette visible in his line of sight was far too petite to be Michael. For a split second, he wondered if it was Wolfgang, but the figure looked even smaller than him.

Because the room had turned pitch black, it was difficult to discern the person’s identity. Just as Achim narrowed his eyes even further—

He caught a glimpse of a face faintly illuminated by the streetlights filtering through the window, and his eyes widened slightly.

…Martina?

What on earth was Martina doing coming all the way to Michael’s bedroom? Did the guy call her? Knowing his meticulous nature, it didn’t seem likely that he would double-book appointments.

As Achim came up with various possibilities while staring at the unwelcome face, Martina hurriedly scanned her surroundings, then suddenly yanked her skirt straight up.

At that, Achim flinched in surprise and squeezed his eyes shut.

Opening his cautiously closed eyes a moment later, he saw that fortunately, Martina’s skirt had returned to its original state.

His relief was short-lived, however, as a rustling sound made Achim raise his eyes slightly.

Martina tore something held in her hand straight down, then quietly shifted her steps like a shadow in the darkness.

Moving without a sound, the place where Martina came to a halt was near the bed.

It was in front of a table holding simple refreshments, teacups, a glass bottle filled with water, and a water glass. Although it was extravagantly decorated to match the room, it was also essentially a nice piece of garbage that Michael would undoubtedly never touch.

Standing in front of it, Martina stared intently at the table, then sharply looked around.

Watching her closely during a series of movements that looked suspicious to anyone, Martina suddenly opened the cap of the glass bottle containing water and poured whatever she was holding in her hand right into it. Then, as if trying to mix it, she closed the cap and shook the glass bottle from side to side.

It was too dark to see clearly, but judging by the sound, it seemed closer to powder than liquid.

What did she put in? Achim stared intently at Martina in the darkness with slightly widened eyes.

What was she planning to do to Michael? Was she seriously trying to kill the guy?

If that was the case, it was a bit problematic. He hadn’t even obtained the semen yet, so if the guy up and died right now, the 500,000 euros would become a distant dream.

The man dying didn’t matter to him in the slightest once he found the semen, but what he meant was that it was problematic right now.

Her courage was commendable, but he couldn’t let things go according to Martina’s wishes at the moment. Therefore, Achim intended to thoroughly empty out the water mixed with the mysterious powder after Martina left.

However, it didn’t take long for the plan to fall apart.

Watching Martina hide behind the curtain instead of leaving the bedroom after finishing her business, Achim raised a whole bunch of question marks in his head.

Michael’s presence hadn’t even been heard yet, so why was she hiding without escaping the room?

It was quite a while after that when Michael finally entered the bedroom.

Fearing that Martina might see him, Achim, who had been lying on the sofa the entire time, only pushed his body up when the sound of those uniquely leisurely footsteps echoed.

“Why aren’t you lying in the bed?”

“…”

It was a sarcastic tone, completely typical of him. Achim wanted to talk back to that, but he clamped his lips shut and didn’t open his mouth. He had acted as if he wasn’t there the whole time, and he didn’t want to reveal his identity to Martina, who was bound to be hiding behind the curtain.

When Achim merely stared at him silently without a word, Michael thrust both hands into his pants pockets and tilted his head askew.

“…”

“…”

Along with the silence, a gaze that seemed to be gauging something followed.

He hadn’t even committed a crime yet, so he had no idea why he felt so anxious.

It was after a suffocating silence that felt like walking a tightrope. Achim suddenly thrust his arm out, pointing his index finger toward the passage leading to the bathroom.

“…”

Was that too arrogant? Looking at Michael, who wasn’t smiling, Achim subtly added his opposite hand to the gesture. If translated, it meant for him to go to the bathroom and wash up right this instant.

If Michael would just follow his words for once, he was fully prepared to go and dump that suspicious water somewhere.

“Hmm…”

However, the guy was naturally not a pushover. Michael let out a low hum with his head tilted, then subtly pulled up the corners of his mouth.

“Are you saying we should wash up together?”

“…!”

This absolute psycho!

He had gone out of his way to try and save the man’s lifeline, yet the level of his nonsense pierced the heavens.

Achim swallowed his anger and shook his head. At that, Michael, who seemed about to shift his steps, suddenly stood in front of the round table where the refreshments were placed.

“…”

No way. It was right when Achim was carefully watching Michael’s movements. The man seemed to lift the glass bottle, then poured water into a spare glass—and a full glass at that.

Why on earth was he touching something he usually wouldn’t even lay a hand on?

Seeing that sight, Achim immediately set off. Striding over, he snatched the water glass held in Michael’s hand and hurled it straight onto the floor.

Shatter—!

The glass smashed into pieces, a loud bursting sound echoing out. The floor, which hadn’t held a single speck of dust, became a complete mess of water and glass shards in an instant.

It was the best course of action as far as he was concerned, but since it must have been an erratic behavior to the guy, Achim thought it wouldn’t be surprising if a fist came flying at him right after pulling it off.

“…!”

However, it seemed that was strictly Achim’s own assumption. Michael lifted the glass bottle once more and began pouring water into yet another spare glass.

It was a behavior that was utterly impossible to comprehend. If someone suddenly snatched a water glass and hurled it away without a word, normal behavior would dictate that you interrogate the person who hurled it, or otherwise assume there’s a reason for it and refrain from drinking the water, right?

Michael was neither of the two. Glancing briefly at the messy floor, he simply poured the water with utter composure.

Achim reached his hand out toward Michael, who had poured a full glass this time as well. The moment he grabbed the water glass with a tight grip, Michael merely stared intently at Achim without loosening the strength in his hand.

Achim engaged in a brief staring contest with Michael, who refused to let go of the glass.

“…”

“…”

Did he notice something? Then shouldn’t he dump the water instead of being so stubborn about it? Instead of acting so foolishly!

Watching Michael refuse to let go of the water glass, Achim quickly racked his brains. Then, as if making up his mind, he suddenly yanked the glass sharply toward his side.

Tilting the water glass held in the man’s grip, Achim brought it to his mouth and began gulping the water down. At that, Michael snatched the glass away with a rarely seen look of surprise in his eyes.

“You…”

Michael muttered while holding the water glass that was already half-empty.

Achim looked up at him with sharply raised eyes without a word, using the back of his hand to roughly wipe away the water dripping down his lips.

Afterward, Michael slowly raised his eyes from the water glass.

Meeting his eyes, Achim habitually channeled strength into his fingertips and toes. Because the eyes that locked onto his possessed a distinct aggressiveness.

To think he hadn’t even blinked an eye over breaking an expensive glass and dirtying the room, yet he would put on that kind of expression just because someone stole a drink of water… As expected, the guy’s inner thoughts were impossible to read.

Fearing that a fist might actually fly his way this time, Achim focused his attention entirely on his movements to minimize the impact.

However, it didn’t take long for him to realize his guess was wrong this time as well.

Far from throwing a fist, Achim stared blankly as Michael smoothly brushed past his side.

Turning around, Michael had already reached the window before he knew it. Surprisingly, it was near the curtain where Martina was hiding.

Did he notice? How did he pinpoint it so accurately when not even a shadow is visible? Focusing on Michael’s movements, Achim swallowed his saliva in suspense.

“What did you put in it?”

In front of the curtain, Michael spat out the words as if uttering them to himself. His gaze remained fixed entirely on the water glass held in his hand.