Kiss Me if You Can Novel Completed - Chapter 126

After a quick shower, he just lay down on the bed in only his underwear. He felt like he had a fever. Was it a cold? Josh briefly considered taking some medicine before falling asleep, then gave up. Everything was too much trouble. He didn’t want to move a single finger. He closed his eyes and soon fell into a deep sleep.

It was late afternoon the next day when Emma burst into the room, opening the door with a menacing force. Since it was the weekend, Josh hadn’t gotten out of bed until close to noon.

I need to call Rita.

It was the weekend, so she would be waiting for a date. He thought of his girlfriend, but his body continued to feel heavy. He thought he would feel better after a night’s sleep, but the languor and exhaustion weighing down his entire body simply wouldn’t disappear. He felt like he had a fever, and occasionally, his breathing became shallow. The events of the previous day had been somewhat shocking, but it was strange that he was so damaged by just that much.

Had a lot accumulated until now?

Thinking that stress was this bad for the body, Josh lay in bed, exhausted by a fatigue he had never felt before. Suddenly, he felt his mouth dry.

I need to get some water…

“Too lazy,” he thought, burying his face back in the pillow. Then he heard footsteps ascending the stairs from outside, gradually getting closer. As he lay motionless, they soon reached Josh’s door, and then the door opened.

“Josh, get out here right now!”

Emma, who had shouted imperiously, immediately saw Josh lying on the bed, wrapped in his blanket like a cocoon, and strode in without hesitation.

“Get up! You have something to apologize for!”

“I don’t know.”

Josh mumbled and turned over. But Emma wasn’t one to let it go that easily, and if she were, she wouldn’t have invaded Josh’s room like this in the first place.

“You went to Jack, didn’t you? With those big gorillas! Tell me, what did you do to Jack?”

“Haa.”

Perhaps because of the fever, his head ached, and his mind was a mess, but Emma kept shouting. Feeling his ears ringing, Josh muttered with his eyes closed.

“I didn’t do much. He was being lynched, so I helped him. We saved him.”

“Oh, reeeally?”

Emma, asking rhythmically and sarcastically, immediately changed her expression and ground her teeth menacingly.

“What a ridiculous lie! Can’t you get up right now? Let’s settle this today, it’s not like it’s the first or second time you’ve interfered with me and blocked my path at every turn! You Satan, demon, kidney bean on a salad!”

Emma furiously poured out all the words she had been holding back and violently snatched Josh’s blanket. Josh, who had been curled up motionless, was mercilessly exposed naked.

“Aargh!”

Emma’s eyes were unfiltered by his firm, muscular body with almost no fat. Momentarily flustered, Emma quickly averted her gaze and screamed.

“You pervert! Why aren’t you wearing clothes? Mom, Josh, he—!”

It was annoying and tiring, but he couldn’t just let this go. Josh, annoyed, half-sat up.

“Who’s the one barging into someone else’s room and causing a ruckus? Can’t I take off my clothes in my own room as I please, huh?”

It was good that he had yelled, but then dizziness washed over him. Josh swallowed a curse and curled up again. Emma, who belatedly noticed that he wasn’t doing well, spoke with a reluctant expression, glancing at him.

“……What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

Only after confirming he was at least wearing underwear did she cautiously ask, and Josh spat another curse through clenched teeth.

“It’s a cold, just leave! I’m going crazy.”

“……Okay.”

At his unusual reaction, Emma lost her earlier momentum. She knew this might be her only chance to confront him, but seeing him in such a terrible state, she couldn’t push him further. Josh had been healthy since birth, rarely catching colds that others suffered from, and even if he had a severe fever, he would shake it off in a day.

Emma thought it wouldn’t last long this time either, but something felt off. His flushed face and his own words suggested it was a cold, but he wasn’t coughing, nor did he seem to be experiencing chills.

Before leaving, she looked back one more time to see Josh curled up on the bed. The muscles, precisely divided by an elegant curve running down the center of his back, gently rose and fell with each breath.

…Is he very sick?

Emma stood there for a moment, secretly worried. Should I bring him some medicine? As she pondered, she suddenly tilted her head.

“……Huh?”

Emma, looking around in confusion, began to sniff. Soon, having found the source of the scent, she asked, facing Josh’s back.

“Josh, did you put on perfume?”

Josh just raised his middle finger instead of answering, as if telling her to leave quickly. Emma felt a surge of anger but decided to hold it in for now and retreated.

As she left Josh’s room, the scent quickly faded. It was indeed Josh’s scent.

I’ve never smelled a scent like this before.

Emma still tilted her head as she went down the stairs. The fresh and crisp scent made her heart flutter endlessly. For Emma, who had lived in California since birth, the cold of the East with its heavy snow was something she had only seen on screen, but it was enough to make her imagine that the first spring breeze after a long winter might be like this.

When he gets over his cold, I’ll ask him what perfume it is.

Emma, making a fresh resolve, sat on the living room sofa and began to watch TV.

Josh’s condition, which they thought would clear up in a day, did not improve even after two days.

As the weekend drew to a close, Mother and Emma finally accepted the seriousness of the situation. Now, no matter how much they called Josh, he would only make sounds that were indistinguishable from sleep-talking or groans, and he wouldn’t respond.

Strangely, he didn’t seem to be in pain; he wasn’t sweating or suffering. Only a slight fever, coloring his entire body red, persisted.

“First, I’ll tell him to skip school tomorrow, and then we’ll have to go to the hospital. …Oh, right. I’ll have to make an appointment…”

Seeing Mother muttering worriedly, Emma also felt uneasy. Suddenly, Father, whom she had buried in her heart, came to mind. He, like Josh, had been so healthy that he had never suffered even a minor illness, but one day he suddenly collapsed and passed away.

If Josh also becomes like that.

Emma couldn’t sleep out of fear. She felt like she could do anything if Josh just got healthy again. She thought she could overlook it, whether he tried to ruin her relationships again or went to harass the people Emma liked. She even thought she would rather have him do that again.

The house, which had barely regained its vitality, sank into silence again, and Josh did not wake up. The scent that emanated from him now subtly spread throughout the entire house, beyond the tightly closed door.

That day, Mother and Emma had a serious conversation over breakfast cereal. It was about how to get Josh to the hospital. They had barely managed to make an appointment, but calling an ambulance was out of the question. The only way they could get Josh to the hospital was to load him into the car.

The problem was, Josh was too big.

Those gorillas.

Emma thought in a fit of pique. And Josh was the leader of those gorillas. As far as she knew, her brother was over six feet tall and weighed nearly 200 pounds. He hadn’t eaten or drunk for several days, so his physique seemed to have shrunk a bit, but that wouldn’t help much.

This is exactly when the gorillas need to unite.

At least Josh was slender compared to the members of his football team. Emma, recalling the massive physiques and heights of the other guys, decided now was the time to put those giants to use.

“I’ll contact them.”

Declaring this, Emma went up the stairs and headed for Josh’s room. When she opened the door and entered, the scent that had spread throughout the house became even stronger.

So it really is Josh’s scent.

Emma thought, stepping inside. Josh was still asleep, looking as peaceful and carefree as he always did.

Has he lost some weight?

Emma gazed down at his face, her heart aching slightly as she tilted her head.

“…Huh?”

Suddenly, she paused, recalling a fact she had forgotten.

No, wait. …That can’t be.

No matter how she thought about it, it was impossible. But these symptoms were exactly what she had learned in school. More than anything, the fresh and sweet scent overflowing around Josh was the evidence.

Could it be, then?

“Uh… Mom!”

A flustered Emma stumbled backward, then quickly turned and ran out of the room. A loud bang echoed, and the sound of hurried footsteps soon faded.

At that moment, Mother was putting letters into the mailbox. She had just decided to take a day off work to go to the hospital. She sighed softly, lost in thought, worried about Josh, when a neighbor, who had come out to water her lawn, spoke to her.

“Oh, hello. Good morning.”

Mother forced a smile at the friendly greeting.

“Yes, it is. Good morning.”

The neighbor, completely unaware of Mother’s worries, continued with some useless small talk. How her roses were doing, whether she should get a dog, a cat, or both, how her husband had messed up an errand the day before leading to a small argument, and how she couldn’t understand why men were so slow to understand.

After happily badmouthing her husband, she belatedly realized and shut her mouth. Mother pretended not to notice, lowering her gaze as if rechecking the address on the mail. The neighbor quickly cleared her throat and changed the subject.

“How have you been lately? You must be busy with this and that, with two kids at that sensitive age.”

“Ah, yes. That’s right.”

The neighbor, who had no idea Josh was sick, continued nonchalantly.

“This is the most sensitive period. Kids always need attention until they grow up, but especially now. My child was like that too.”

“Yes…”

Is she talking about puberty?

Mother vaguely guessed, giving a perfunctory agreement. She was thinking of making an excuse to go back inside when the neighbor chuckled, speaking casually.

“If you have any questions, feel free to consult me anytime. I can also share any necessary supplies. Like suppressants or delayers. We have some extra at our house.”

“Pardon?”

Mother blinked in confusion at the unexpected words. The neighbor misunderstood her reaction and offered help kindly, as if it were nothing.

“My husband is the type who believes in buying plenty of everything. After all, when a presentation first happens, there’s a lot to take care of and a lot that gets missed. You can come over anytime, we should help each other with these things.”

“Presentation?”

“Mom!”

Just then, Emma shouted and ran out of the house. The neighbor’s and Mother’s gazes simultaneously turned to her, and Emma urgently continued.

“Josh isn’t sick! Josh isn’t like this because he’s sick!”

“A presentation?”

Mother muttered as if to herself. Emma paused and stood still, then, a beat later, nodded.

“I think so.”

After Emma’s words, everyone fell silent. Mother’s eyes were wide with surprise, the neighbor looked on with interest, glancing between the two, and Emma panted, waiting for her mother’s reaction.

“There’s no doubt about it.”

The neighbor, invited into the house by Mother, confirmed Josh’s condition, then came down to the living room and declared while sipping tea.

“It’s a presentation. My daughter was exactly like this. This scent is an Omega’s scent; it’s especially strong during the initial period of presenting as an Omega. The pheromone scent is stronger and lasts longer than during a heat cycle. It even spread to my house, Josh’s pheromone scent. So I thought one of your children had presented. You didn’t know? Haven’t you smelled it until now? Well, Omegas and Alphas aren’t that common, after all.”

She concluded on her own, then added with a laugh.

“But Josh being an Omega, that is a bit surprising. I thought he would definitely be an Alpha if he presented. I even thought Emma was the one who presented as an Omega. If Josh presented as an Alpha, he would have really suited my daughter…”

Her voice gradually faded as she spoke, and soon she sipped her tea with a gloomy expression. Emma and Mother silently looked at each other, then turned their attention back to her. After waiting for the neighbor to put down her teacup, Mother spoke.

“Are you sure? So there’s nothing we really need to do right now…”

“Nothing.”

She stated definitively, then continued.

“My daughter was sick for about three days, but I heard some cases last a week to ten days. It doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with their body, though. And your maternal grandmother was an Omega, right? Everyone else is a Beta?”

“Yes.”

Mother nodded, waiting for her next words. The neighbor earnestly provided information, as if trying to share everything she knew.

“The doctor who treated my daughter said that the weaker the trait, the longer the presentation period. Of course, there are exceptions, but that’s generally the case. But he also said it doesn’t cause any physical problems. However, the scent might be weak or the cycle might be irregular, but he said there’s no particular problem with that. You can control it by taking medication. Even if not for that reason, you’d have to take medication periodically for heat cycles anyway, so nothing changes.”

Hearing that, Mother visibly relaxed, sighing in relief. The neighbor smiled reassuringly, exchanged a few more words, and then returned to her house. She also didn’t forget to share the medication and supplies she had at her home.

“It’s still good to get a check-up once. You can get various kinds of advice depending on your constitution.”