Damn! Damn! Chapter 9

If he happened to run into someone, he would have to make small talk, and at the very least, he might end up learning their face while exchanging greetings, so he had avoided them with all his might.

He stuck to only two responses: nodding or shaking his head. It reached the point where a fellow maid even asked if he was mute.

If he were kicked out like this, it was self-evident that his reputation would be tarnished. Furthermore, just imagining Linus mocking him made Achim feel like he’d rather die.

I’d rather die.

Achim was closing his eyes and cycling through various methods for suicide when a very low voice seeped into his ears.

“I…”

The moment he opened his lips, Michael yanked the wrist he was holding. To Achim’s chagrin, his body tilted like a sheet of paper.

“…!”

He had been confident that he could hold his own against most guys during his mercenary days. But faced with a strength he had never experienced before, Achim was rarely caught off guard, and he couldn’t help but be flustered.

Not content with pulling Achim right in front of him, Michael brought his face close enough that their noses touched.

“Have we met before?”

“…”

Achim knitted his brows slightly.

This bastard, could it be…

—In my opinion, I don’t think it’s entirely impossible. Achim, you wouldn’t know, but you’re secretly…

Damn it. Was he hitting on Yvonne right now?

Achim was stunned. He never imagined that Linus’s words would turn out to be true. Besides, hadn’t he called him pathetic the moment they first met?

He wasn’t entirely sure, but either way, Achim couldn’t understand why, of all things, he would resort to such cheesy pickup lines to flirt with Yvonne.

Moreover, if Michael were to take an interest in Yvonne, that was a problem in its own right.

Achim clawed at his hair inwardly. Just when he was walking on eggshells for fear of getting kicked out, this was a development he truly never imagined.

“Don’t make me ask twice. I don’t have much patience.”

Isn’t that a bit coercive for a pickup line? Achim thought, then shook his head. He didn’t forget to tuck his hair behind his ears, pretending to be shy.

Just as he thought that if Linus could see this, he would laugh until he collapsed, a slightly dampened voice reached him.

“Can’t you speak?”

Was it his imagination? Somehow, Michael’s tone had been sharp from the beginning. He had been sparing his words, judging that it was better not to even let him hear his voice if possible.

“No.”

After spitting out the short reply, Achim gave a faint smile. Michael stared fixedly at Achim’s face. His gaze, as if assessing something, traveled down and rested on his blood-speckled lips.

Achim watched as Michael’s mysterious-colored eyes were half-covered by his long, thick golden lashes, as if observing him, before finally turning his gaze away.

Just as he thought their lips might touch due to the intense stare, Michael let go of the wrist he had been holding.

Achim stumbled again from the somewhat rough touch. However, he quickly regained his balance and clasped his hands behind his back, pretending nothing happened.

It was obvious his wrist would already be bruised, but he couldn’t very well strangle the guy. Consequently, Achim suppressed his expression again, offered a good-natured smile, and bowed his waist deeply.

“…”

He had even bowed politely, saying goodbye as he should. But for some reason, Michael didn’t leave.

Suddenly, a pair of pristine black shoes—without a single speck of dust—entered Achim’s field of vision while he remained in his bowed, frozen posture.

The moment Achim raised his head in confusion, Michael, having leaned his upper body slightly forward, whispered something small into his ear.

A moment later, Achim stared at Michael’s back as he walked away leisurely, his face now dazed.

Grind. Before long, the sound of his molars clashing echoed past his lips.

—Still pathetic.

As the words Michael had just uttered echoed in his ears, Achim grabbed his hair with a flushed face.

That son of a bitch!

Nothing was going according to expectations.

He thought he’d be kicked out after being caught in a compromising situation, but there wasn’t even a mention of it, and he thought Michael was interested in Yvonne, but far from interest, he’d heard that he was “pathetic” twice.

Damn it. Achim kicked a stone he encountered while walking.

That wasn’t all. Michael, who was a gentleman to everyone, was inexplicably rude only to Yvonne. And he did it very craftily and secretly, so that no one else would know, but the person involved could feel it. He was truly a handsome fox with nothing but a pretty exterior.

Putting that aside, the problem was that he didn’t know the reason why. Michael, who was kind and gentle to everyone, disliked only Yvonne, and the reason he didn’t even bother to hide it was…

Did I do something that would warrant his hatred or stand out?

But no matter how much he mulled it over, no situation came to mind.

Only the image of Yvonne, hearing that he was pathetic for no reason, remained in his mind like a taxidermy specimen.

At that, Achim felt a sudden, powerful impulse. To report the side of Michael Bernhard that was completely different from his public image to the press…

“…Hah.”

Achim exhaled the impulse along with a sigh. Even though he was furious, he knew that the 500,000-euro commission came first.

Passing through the garden, Achim reached the servant building and opened his room door. As soon as he opened it, Dora, who came running, hugged Achim’s waist tightly.

“Sister…!”

Surprised by Dora suddenly popping out, Achim widened his eyes. But then, he chuckled and patted her hair, which was still damp as if she had just come out of a wash.

Dora hugged his waist even tighter and buried her face in his embrace.

“Sister…”

Because of Dora, who was clinging to his waist, Achim waddled into the room and closed the door. Just as he was about to press on the shoulders of Dora, who was stuck to him like a cicada, and peel her off, Dora cautiously raised her head.

“Did you… get in trouble…?”

Achim shook his head. The image of that annoying, beautiful face surfaced, but he erased it quickly.

“Really…?”

“I told you, yes.”

Achim replied with an indifferent tone.

Only then seeming relieved, Dora let out a sigh and let go of his body.

When Achim came out after washing up, Dora was holding something in her hands. As soon as she spotted him, she ran over quickly.

“Can I… put some medicine on it for you?”

At Dora’s cautious question, Achim looked at the small tube in her tiny hands. It seemed to be ointment.

A split lip didn’t even count as a real wound, but Achim nodded generously. At that, Dora looked moved and led Achim to her bed.

“I’m so sorry… because of me…”

As Dora, who knelt before him, whispered in a small voice, Achim, who had been sitting comfortably cross-legged, opened his eyes, which had been closed.

“And thank you…”

Achim didn’t respond to Dora’s words. He simply tapped Dora’s cheek with the back of his hand and said, “It’s gone down.”

Suddenly, a flush rose on Dora’s snow-white cheeks. The finger that had been touching Achim’s lips had also stopped moving.

“Are you all done?”

Should I sleep now? As Achim said this and opened his mouth wide to let out a long yawn, Dora just nodded her head vigorously.

“Are you safe?”

“What.”

“Your rear end, I mean.”

At the playful words, Achim gripped the beer glass he was holding tightly. Fearing that the glass might be thrown at him, Linus quickly crossed his arms in an ‘X’ shape.

But contrary to his expectations, Achim didn’t throw the glass, nor did he swear.

Just as Linus was puzzled by the unusual reaction, Achim glared at empty air while holding the glass.

“I’m more than safe; I’m practically a target.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

When Linus asked with a blink, Achim gulped down his beer and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“I actually had something to tell you, Linus.”

“Yeah?”

“Michael Bernhard hates me.”

“…”

“No, to be precise, he hates Yvonne.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

Linus twitched one eyebrow as if to ask what kind of nonsense that was, but Achim really seemed not to know, just as he had said.