Lick Me Up If You Can Novel (Completed) - Chapter 10

Just as he sighed and slumped his shoulders,

“I’ll help you.”

Huh?

At first, he thought he had misheard. He blinked and looked up, and Ashley said with his usual smiling face,

“I said I’ll help. What should we do first? Clean?”

“What, what? Why?”

This time he heard it clearly. But still, Koi couldn’t believe what his ears had heard. Ashley Miller was going to help him clean? Why, all of a sudden? For what reason?

He definitely has an ulterior motive.

Suspicion was his first thought, but that didn’t make sense either. That assumption could only be made if there was something for Ashley to gain from him. Ashley Miller wouldn’t gain a speck of dust from Connor Niles.

He probably has more dust in his own house.

Adding a self-deprecating humor, Koi straightened his face and looked at Ashley before he could laugh pointlessly. Still, he couldn’t feel at ease. It was hard to believe that he would do something like this without any intention, even if there was nothing to gain.

“I don’t believe in kindness without a reason.”

He said, full of caution. The smile slowly faded from Ashley’s face. They looked at each other in silence for a while.

Phew, it was Ashley who sighed first.

“Actually, I came because I had something to ask you.”

Of course.

“What is it?”

He asked, completely unable to grasp the situation, and Ashley, who seemed to hesitate for a moment, finally opened his mouth.

“About the assignment.”

“The assignment?”

At the sudden mention, Koi blinked and repeated what he had said. Ashley scratched his head awkwardly and said,

“That, Ms. Martinez’s team assignment. The one we both got A+ on.”

“Ah, ahh.”

Only then did Koi understand what he was talking about and let out a small exclamation of understanding. Now he also knew what Ashley wanted to ask. Sure enough, Ashley continued in a slow tone, as if in deep thought,

“Why did you put my name on it?”

His expression was utterly bewildered. Seeing that face, Koi felt a little relieved. Along with that, a bit of mischief arose, and he deliberately retorted curtly,

“Why? Do you have a problem with it?”

“It’s strange.”

Ashley frowned. Koi felt a sense of unfamiliarity, as if he was seeing his true face for the first time.

“You said it yourself, you don’t believe in kindness without a reason. Why did you do it? I can’t figure it out no matter how much I think about it.”

Ashley folded his arms and looked down at Koi, as if telling him to speak. Koi stretched his body as much as possible so as not to be intimidated by him. Even then, he still had to crane his neck to look at Ashley’s face.

“It’s nothing much. I just put your name on it because we were on the same team.”

“Even so?”

Ashley still didn’t believe him. Koi thought for a moment, then answered honestly,

“I was worried that if I said I did a team assignment alone, I might not get a grade.”

“Other guys just took their names off it and submitted it, though?”

“That’s them.”

Koi said stubbornly.

“Anyway, it was a team assignment, so what if Ms. Martinez docked points because a team member didn’t properly participate?”

And you just bailed on it, even though it was so important to me.

As he glared, recalling his belated resentment, Ashley asked again,

“Still, weren’t you angry?”

“I was. That’s why I put my name above yours.”

At Koi’s reply, Ashley widened his eyes, then began to laugh out loud. Koi looked at him, bewildered, as he bent over with laughter, finding something so amusing.

“I owe you one.”

After a long while, Ashley said, still with a face full of laughter.

“It’s fine, you did it for me anyway.”

Koi said readily. He inwardly added, And you helped me earlier too, but he didn’t say it out loud. However, his recent words were meant to tell Ashley to leave now, but instead of leaving, Ashley stood there and looked around the store once more.

“You’re going to clean now, right? Let’s do it together.”

“What?”

Are you serious?

He asked in surprise, and Ashley, without wasting any more time, turned and walked, asking,

“What about the ceiling? It’s better if I wipe that, right?”

Koi looked up at his words, pondered for a moment at the dizzying height, and finally replied, “Yes.”

“Wait a moment, I’ll rinse the mop for you.”

Koi ran off and returned with cleaning supplies. Ashley, who had been waiting in the same spot as before, took the mop from Koi and began to wipe the ceiling. Koi felt a brief moment of self-loathing at the sight of him wiping the stains with his arm outstretched without a step stool, but he soon returned to reality. There was a lot to do. He quickly began to wipe and organize the messy display shelves.

With Ashley’s help, the cleaning finished more easily than expected. Soon, the store was as neat as before, but the problem was the empty display shelves here and there. Five beers were also missing from the refrigerator.

How much is all this?

Phew, he let out a deep sigh.

“Are you done now?”

At Ashley’s voice, Koi looked up. Ashley, who looked completely unchanged from when they started cleaning, was looking down at him. Koi, seeing Ashley Miller perfect even in this situation, weakly nodded, “Yes.”

“You can go now. Thanks for your help.”

“You’re welcome. …Are the missing items okay? A lot of them seemed unusable.”

“What can you do?”

As soon as he finished speaking, another long sigh escaped him. Ashley, who had been silently still, opened his mouth.

“…I’m having a party on Friday.”

Koi looked up, wondering what he was suddenly talking about, and Ashley continued,

“I need a lot of snacks and various other things. I want to buy them here, can you ring me up?”

“…Okay, then.”

Koi waved his hand as if to say, Do as you please, then went behind the counter and sat down. Seeing him slump onto the counter, Ashley turned around and began to put items into a basket.

When he returned to the counter, Koi had already fallen asleep. Ashley pondered for a moment, then took out a memo pad and a pen from beside the counter, left a message, and placed five 100-dollar bills next to it.

The jingling sound woke Koi, who startled and stood up, only to find himself alone. He hastily came out from behind the counter, and in his sight, he saw the Cayenne leaving the parking lot. Koi stood there for a moment, then turned back to the counter and belatedly discovered the money and the memo.

What is this? 500 dollars?

He widened his eyes in surprise, then quickly checked the message, which was clearly left by Ashley. Several items were written on it, but the types and quantities of the items were haphazard. Koi tilted his head, and only understood the reason when he closed the store and checked the remaining inventory to see what items had been lost.

The next day, Koi went to school at his usual time, his heart pounding, and looked around. Ashley and his gang were always conspicuous, so he often ran into them even when he didn’t want to, but today, for some reason, they were nowhere to be seen.

Strange.

He checked the time, feeling inwardly anxious, and needlessly opened and closed his locker, looking around. He’s not skipping school again today, is he…?

Just as he thought that, he suddenly felt the air around him change. Of course, this was also familiar.

Ashley Miller had arrived.

Koi turned his head with a welcoming feeling and confirmed that his prediction was correct. But he immediately spotted an unwelcome face as well. Nelson’s gang was lurking a short distance away from Ashley’s group.

Retreat first.

Koi stealthily backed away, then turned and ran like mad. Given what had happened yesterday, Nelson must be seething. If he got caught now, he would surely be bullied far more severely than yesterday. He had to avoid Nelson’s sight somehow. The semester would end soon, so he just had to endure a little longer.

What if they come to the store again?

An uneasy premonition flashed through his mind, but that was another matter. For now, overcoming the immediate crisis came first. Koi gasped for breath, running and running towards the classroom building.

“Oh.”

Suddenly, Ashley let out an exclamation, and the guys with him asked curiously,

“What’s wrong? Is something there?”

“What is it? What?”

Ashley continued to look in the same direction for a while, ignoring the guys asking around. He was just as curious and had nothing to say.

He realized what was happening when he turned his head to the opposite side. The moment his eyes met Nelson’s, he saw the other flinch in surprise and hastily disappear with the other guys, and Ashley understood why Koi had run so hard.

“…Hmm.”

He stroked his chin, deep in thought, and his friends still looked at each other, bewildered, but no one knew the reason.