She had no idea who was staying in Room 401, but as the wall gave another violent shudder, only one coherent thought remained in her head:
What the hell is that guy, a literal superhuman?
Another loud, muffled scream echoed through the drywall, followed by a frantic, rhythmic thud-thud-thud that rattled the picture frame hanging above Yuka's bed.
"It's been four hours," Yuka grumbled into her pillow, her voice muffled with disbelief. "Four. Actual. Hours."
She shifted, pulling the pillow down just enough to glare at the wall. At first, she had just been amazed—and furiously jealous—of the guy's ridiculous stamina. He had been going non-stop since 10 PM.
But as the heavy rhythm continued without any sign of slowing down, her disbelief shifted toward the woman in Room 401.
Another wet slap of skin echoed through the plaster, accompanied by the girl next door crying out again. She didn't sound tired at all. If anything, she sounded like she was demanding more.
"How is her pelvis not completely shattered by now?" Yuka whispered into the dark, horrified and impressed at the same time. "Is she some kind of superhuman too? Normal girls don't take that kind of pounding for hours and ask for more."
She kicked Kenji's leg again out of pure spite. He snorted, rolled over, and kept snoring.
Yuka let out a defeated sigh. The wall gave another sustained shudder as the couple next door clearly hit another peak. She yanked the pillow back over her head, resigning herself to being awake until sunrise while two literal monsters broke a hotel bed in half.
...
Meanwhile, inside Room 401, the digital clock finally clicked over to 4:30 AM before the frantic squeaking of the bedframe came to a complete halt.
Maki lay face down on the mattress, buried beneath the heavy white duvet. Her dark green hair spread across the pillows in a sweat-slicked mess. She breathed heavily, every muscle feeling like melted lead. Her stamina was completely gone.
Ren sat on the edge of the bed with a towel wrapped loosely around his waist. A tired, satisfied smirk rested on his face as he brushed the damp hair away from hers.
"You alive in there, Maki?" he murmured, his voice low and raspy.
Maki didn't open her eyes. She let out a long groan and weakly shoved his hand away from under the blankets.
"Don't talk to me," she mumbled into the mattress, her voice hoarse. "I'm asleep. I'm dead. Don't even look at me."
Ren chuckled and pulled his hand back. His eyes drifted toward the nightstand, where a crumpled grocery bag sat beside two empty cardboard boxes.
"I'm just glad this city has a decent 24-hour delivery app," Ren said with lazy amusement. "We blew through the first box by midnight. If that courier hadn't shown up when he did, I would've had to go raw. And I'm pretty sure you would've killed me if I tried that."
"I would have," Maki confirmed bluntly, her voice still muffled by the mattress.
She fell quiet for a few seconds, her shoulders slowly rising and falling with each breath. Then one arm emerged from beneath the duvet and pointed vaguely toward the room's trash can.
"Put them in a bag," she ordered.
Ren blinked, looking from her hand to the overflowing bin. "Put what in a bag?"
"All of it," Maki mumbled, shifting enough to glare at him with one half-open amber eye. "The wrappers. The used ones. Everything. Find a polythene bag, put it all inside, and tie it shut."
A grin spread across Ren's face as he realized what she meant. "Are you seriously asking me to smuggle our trash out of the building?"
"I am not leaving a mountain of evidence sitting in a hotel dustbin for the cleaning staff to stare at," Maki grumbled stubbornly, pulling the covers back over her head. "We're taking it with us and throwing it away in a public dumpster tomorrow. Now shut up, tie the bag, and let me sleep."
Ren laughed softly, shaking his head. Even completely drained and barely able to move, she was still fiercely protective of her privacy and barking orders at him.
"Yes, boss," Ren said warmly as he grabbed the delivery bag from the nightstand. "I'll handle the evidence. Get some rest."
He scooped the crumpled wrappers and tied-off latex into the plastic bag, knotting the top twice before tossing it onto his duffel bag near the floor.
Then he turned back toward the bed.
Maki was still sprawled on her stomach, a tangled mess of limbs and dark green hair, shivering slightly in the cool air-conditioned room.
Ren grabbed the edge of the duvet and pulled it higher around her shoulders before leaning down beside her. He brushed another damp strand of hair away from her face.
Maki cracked one amber eye open, too exhausted to lift her head, as he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss against her lips. She let out a sleepy hum and leaned into him for a brief second before her face dropped back into the pillow.
Ren let the towel fall to the floor and slipped beneath the covers beside her.
The sheets were cool, but the space beneath the duvet was already warm. He shifted closer, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her flush against his chest.