SOTBW - 25

Maximón entered a certain shop with Najane in tow. The sounds of women’s laughter echoed endlessly from inside.

It was obvious what kind of place it was. Najane didn’t want to go in.

The thought that Luna might be somewhere in this kind of place made it hard for her to breathe. Yet, at the same time, she couldn’t help but wonder what Maximón was thinking.

After hesitating for a moment, Najane stepped over the threshold of the shop. There was a familiar smell of drugs in the air.

Najane nervously looked around the place. At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary bar, but women were everywhere, exposing their bare chests and enticing the customers.

Could Maximón be like other knights, frequenting places like this? The more she thought about it, the angrier she became, but she clenched her lips tightly and stared at Maximón’s back.

Maximón briefly spoke with a woman in the hall before turning to look at Najane. His dark green eyes were as cold and indifferent as ever.

Fearing another argument, Najane quickly approached him. At that moment, a woman who had a cigarette in her mouth pointed at Najane with her chin.

“Who’s this?”

“A spectator.”

“You know there’s an extra charge if it’s the three of us, right?”

“It won’t be necessary.”

Najane alternated her gaze between Maximón and the woman, trying to understand the conversation. The woman smiled cheerfully and gestured for Maximón to follow her.

In the corridor leading deeper inside, the sound of pleasure-filled moans continuously echoed. Najane glanced with contempt at the room where men and women were mingling.

Maximón had said he would prove he hadn’t had sex with anyone, but why had he come into such a lowly place?

Maximón looked at Najane for a moment before heading toward the room the woman entered. Najane covered her ears and followed him.

Inside the room, there was a shabby bed big enough for two to lie on, and a foul-smelling leather couch. The room was filled with the stench of lust, causing Najane to wrinkle her nose slightly.

As soon as the door closed, the woman began to undress. Surprised, Najane tried to stop her, but Maximón, with a completely calm expression, started to unbuckle his belt.

Najane couldn’t understand what was happening in front of her. She had followed Maximón here because he had promised to prove something, but was he really going to have sex with this woman in front of her? Was this what he meant by proving it?

Tears started to well up in her eyes. She didn’t know what to say in this absurd situation. In fact, she was so dumbfounded that she almost wanted to laugh.

“What... what exactly...”

Najane barely managed to speak. Maximón glanced coldly at the woman sitting on the couch. The woman looked back and forth between Maximón and Najane before speaking with disbelief.

“You really give 100 francs if just using your hands makes him hard?”

“Yes.”

Maximón responded in a flat tone.

Najane looked at Maximón, her voice trembling as she muttered,

“Please stop.”

The woman approached Maximón. But Maximón only stared straight ahead. Najane, with tears in her eyes, looked at him one last time before running out of the room.

Unable to suppress her anger and disappointment, she fled the shop. She wanted to run far away to somewhere Maximón wouldn’t find her, but as soon as she stepped out of the shop, her legs gave way.

Najane leaned against a window, where laughter spilled out from inside. She collapsed onto the ground. Passersby glanced at her, but she rubbed her dry forehead, trying to cool the feverish heat in her body. She didn’t know why she felt so sad and angry.

Was it because Maximón had broken his promise not to meet with other women? No, it wasn’t just the disappointment and betrayal from breaking a promise.

Najane knew she was special to Maximón. He was always fierce and violent with others, but not with her. Even when he did show aggression, he seemed to be controlling it bit by bit.

Although their relationship was one based on sex without emotions, Najane had believed there was at least some human connection between them. How arrogant that thought was. Hugging her knees, she buried her head between them.

She was angry. She didn’t even know who she was angry with. If there was anything comforting, it was that Najane had become accustomed to resigning herself to things.

She decided to give up all expectations and focus solely on finding Luna. Whatever Maximón did in the future, no matter how kind his words were...

Najane raised her reddened eyes. She could hear the busy sounds coming from inside. The woman who had left the shop noticed Najane and let out a long sigh. It was the same woman who had gone into the room with Maximón.

“So, you’re here. Let’s go back to the room quickly. This is ridiculous.”

“...What?”

“Who was that customer? It’s so annoying. He said he’d give me 100 francs if I made him hard, but I just wasted my time. Hurry up and take him out of here!”

Najane looked at the woman entering the shop with a confused expression. She couldn’t understand what the woman was saying. Ridiculous? Wasting time?

Blinking her eyes, Najane carefully stood up. The women in the shop paid no attention to anyone coming or going.

Najane wanted to get out of this underground market immediately, but the woman’s words still lingered in her mind, so she walked toward the room where Maximón was. Sounds of excitement, like those of beasts, continued to leak from other rooms, but the room Maximón was in was eerily silent, as if no one was inside.

She hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to open the door, then peeked through a narrow gap. Maximón was still sitting alone on the couch. No one else was in the room.

At that moment, Maximón glanced toward the door. It seemed like he had noticed Najane standing outside. She bit her lip and carefully opened the door.

Najane stood at the threshold, looking down. She didn’t want to look at Maximón.

“Come in.”

Maximón spoke quietly.

Najane stared down at the dusty wooden floor and clenched her fists.

“...You said you’d prove it.”

“I’m doing it.”

“You’re mocking me!”

Najane shouted as she stepped into the room.

Maximón still looked away from her, speaking in his usual emotionless voice.

“I’ve never done anything to doubt my chastity.”

Najane burst into laughter at Maximón’s calm words.

The situation was so absurd that she couldn’t help but laugh cynically.

“Should I call that woman back? You’re still trying to hold it in. Don’t mind me, just enjoy yourself. After all...”

“I didn’t get hard.”

He slowly turned to face Najane. She gradually stopped smiling, her cynical expression fading.

Maximón remained expressionless, but in his eyes, various emotions seemed to swirl.

Najane felt that the way he looked at her, with such selfish eyes, was infuriating.

Who’s the one who wants to cry? The one who wants to scream and shout is me, not you.

At that moment, Najane wanted to slap Maximón across the face. Just like when they first met, he truly was the worst.

Najane strode toward Maximón. She planned to slap his cheek and then leave this place. But perhaps because of Maximón’s stubborn insistence that he hadn’t gotten hard, Najane, without realizing it, looked down.

...

Her raised hand, which had been about to slap him, paused in mid-air. Through his loosely undone pants, something Najane had grown somewhat accustomed to seeing had popped out.

His manhood hung limp, as if nothing had happened. It seemed to have lost all its energy.

The sight was a little unfamiliar to Najane. Maximón was a man who didn’t need to put any effort into getting an erection. He embraced Najane, who was constantly aroused, as if to prove his robust physique and the muscles all over his body, and he never tired easily.

Najane quickly averted her gaze from Maximón’s lower body. It came to her very naturally that the woman hadn’t been able to arouse him.

Why?

Confusion settled in Najane’s eyes. Perhaps sensing her bewilderment, Maximón murmured in a low voice.

“You seem to think I’m a dog who carelessly throws his body around.”

Maximón tilted his head back and looked up at Najane.

“I don’t get a hard-on for just anyone.”

He smiled calmly. As if he felt a mix of unfairness, relief, and loneliness at finally showing this side of himself to Najane.

“You were my first, and you’ll be my last.”

The words held a lot of meaning, but Najane was simply stunned and stood there blankly, surprised that Maximón hadn’t become aroused by another woman.

Najane wanted to ask why. Why he had tried to prove the truth using such a shocking method. Maximón was acting outside the bounds of common sense.

She had so much she wanted to say, but she was captivated by Maximón’s calmly sunken eyes and couldn’t say a word. She simply parted and closed her lips a few times, looking down at Maximón.

Maximón chuckled softly. It was a light, childlike laugh that didn’t seem to care about the situation.

“Kiss me.”

“......”

“Kiss me, Najane, and I’ll prove it.”

Maximón called her name in a sad and tender voice. As if possessed by something, Najane closed her eyes and kissed him. As soon as their lips met, Maximón’s tongue entered with a hot sigh.

Najane flinched at the rough kiss, but she couldn’t back away. His hands gripped her face and wouldn’t let go.

Najane held back her trembling breath and extended her tongue. Outside their parted lips, the two tongues intertwined with wet, smacking sounds. Maximón swallowed Najane’s small lips and all the saliva she produced.

The hand that embraced her slender neck grew hotter and hotter. She was about to fall into Maximón’s embrace when she flinched at a loud noise from outside and raised her head.

Heavy breathing lingered between them. She didn’t need to look down to know. Maximón’s limp manhood had become fully erect, almost touching his navel.

Catching her breath, Najane staggered back from the sofa. Drops of thin liquid gathered at the tip of his aroused glans and dripped down. Najane’s face slowly turned red. Maximón smiled crookedly.

“Now all that’s left is for you to beg for forgiveness.”