Lick Me Up If You Can Novel (Completed) - Chapter 118

“Ash, Bill!”

Koi screamed, turning pale. Two large boys tumbled clumsily to the floor.

Koi hesitated for a moment, unsure who to run to. He was worried about Ashley, but Bill was also in bad shape. Bill was coughing and groaning on the floor, as if he had used his last bit of strength. It felt like something truly terrible would happen in this state.

Koi, terrified, looked from one to the other, then urgently thought. Should I call 911? No, then Ashley’s status as a True Alpha might be revealed. That would definitely be a problem. But he couldn’t just leave them. Bill, I have to help Bill. First, I need to get him out of here…

It was then. Ashley got up and glared at Bill with a terrifying face. At that moment, Koi realized he couldn’t hesitate any longer.

“Ash, no!”

Koi immediately blocked Ashley, who was about to lunge at Bill. Then, a strange sensation, one he had never felt before, enveloped his entire body.

A faint electric current, a feeling of goosebumps—Koi was momentarily stunned by the unfamiliar sensation. He didn’t know what it was. Ashley roughly pushed Koi away, who had frozen still as his mind went blank.

“Ah!”

Koi stumbled greatly and screamed without realizing it, but Ashley ignored him and lunged at Bill. Koi, who had hesitated for a moment, regained his composure and frantically wrapped his arms around Ashley’s waist.

“No. Stop, Ash!”

“Let go!”

Ashley growled roughly, grabbing Koi’s arm. Koi resisted with all his might against Ashley’s hands, which were trying to forcibly pull him off, and shouted.

“You can’t do that, Ash! It’s Bill, he’s your friend!”

“I said let go, damn it! Are you protecting another guy in front of me right now? How dare you?”

Ashley finally roared. It was the first time he had seen him so angry. But Koi already knew someone like that. A man who would hurl insults and throw punches at him without restraint.

It was his father.

Ashley easily pushed Koi away, who had frozen pale, and he fell weakly, landing on his bottom.

“S-stop! No!”

He was momentarily bewildered, but there was no time for that. The moment he saw Ashley grab Bill by the collar and prepare to punch him, Koi turned pale and lunged at them.

“D-don’t! Ash, stop it!”

Koi finally burst into tears.

“Don’t be like my father too…!”

At that moment, Ashley froze. He heard Koi’s small sobbing from behind him.

Only then did his vision gradually clear, and his head cooled. He looked down at his hand gripping Bill’s collar, then looked up to see Bill, half-conscious, in his sight.

Haa, haa.

Only ragged breaths echoed softly in the silence. Ashley remained frozen, simply gasping for air.

His clenched fist slowly lowered, and then the hand that had grabbed Bill’s collar lost its strength. Seeing Bill fall limply to the floor, Ashley slowly turned around.

He saw Koi clinging tightly to his waist. Only then did Ashley realize what he had done, and his mind went completely blank.

Ashley lost consciousness right after seeing a woman and several large men who had rushed over after receiving a call.

After assessing the situation, she immediately ordered Bill to be taken to the hospital and had Ashley put in the car. It was then that she spoke to Koi.

“You get in too, I’ll tell the school.”

“M-me too?”

Koi blinked in surprise, not expecting such an offer. She nodded and continued.

“If you don’t want to, I’ll take you to the hospital. You’ll need to get checked to see if you’re okay too…”

“Oh, no, I want to go too. Please let me go.”

Koi urgently interrupted, then belatedly stammered, realizing he had cut her off.

“I want to be with Ash…”

More precisely, he wanted to see Ashley’s condition with his own eyes.

He remembered Ashley saying he was going to his family home for a bit and not returning for almost a year, and it made him inwardly afraid. He didn’t want to be separated so absurdly again.

Seeing Koi’s earnest expression, she nodded, and the waiting man immediately opened the back door of the car and stepped back. Koi followed her into the car, and only after the door closed did he finally ask.

“Um, but who are you…?”

Koi wanted to ask what her relationship with Ashley was, but she answered calmly.

“You should have asked that before getting in.”

At that moment, Koi flushed with embarrassment. She still spoke nonchalantly.

“I’m Mr. Miller’s secretary.”

As he pondered the meaning of her words, she added.

“Dominique Miller, Ashley’s father.”

“Ah…”

The car started just as he realized the name sounded familiar and that ‘Dominique’ was Ashley’s middle name.

After that, things happened in a blur. As soon as they arrived at the mansion, a waiting doctor and nurse greeted them, drew Ashley’s blood, and immediately hooked up an IV. Koi also had his blood drawn.

The medical staff, who had been busy moving the unconscious Ashley to his room and laying him on the bed, left shortly after. Only Koi, Ashley, and the secretary remained.

“Haa.”

Koi flinched at the sigh, which sounded exhausted, and the secretary, arms crossed, looked down at Ashley and spoke.

“I expected something like this to happen, but…”

Koi swallowed hard, waiting for her next words. But she remained silent, and eventually, Koi couldn’t bear it any longer and asked.

“Um… what happened? Ash, he’s okay, right?”

With a trembling voice, the secretary, still looking down at Ashley, replied.

“He’s okay, for now.”

The last part sounded ominous. He was about to ask again, but fortunately, the secretary spoke first.

“It’s pheromone instability. He can’t control it properly yet. His emotional control is probably also a cause…”

“Is that why Ash’s eye color changed too?”

When he asked what he was curious about, she readily nodded.

“True Alphas’ eyes change color when their pheromone emission increases. During rut or when they intentionally release them… This time, it seems Mr. Miller didn’t intend it either, so it’s probably a case of excessive release due to lack of control.”

“Yes…”

As Koi nodded, somewhat understanding, the secretary suddenly turned the question back to him.

“Now it’s my turn to ask, what on earth were the three of you doing there? What happened?”

At the very obvious question, Koi hesitated, then spoke with difficulty. She listened silently as he explained.

When he finally fell silent, the secretary remained silent for a moment with a serious expression, then sighed again.

“So it was because of you, wasn’t it?”

“…Yes.”

He couldn’t deny it. Ashley was like this because of his mistake. He just hung his head, filled with self-reproach and sadness, when the phone rang. The secretary checked the caller ID on her phone and then answered. After a few short words, she ended the call and looked at Koi.

“It was the hospital. Your friend is safe.”

“Bill?”

Koi asked, pleased, and the secretary nodded.

“He was affected by Mr. Miller’s pheromones, but they’re extracting it with an injection, and there won’t be any major problems, they said. That’s a relief, isn’t it?”

“Yes, truly.”

As he let out a sigh of relief, the secretary suddenly narrowed her eyes.

“But why are you perfectly fine?”

“Huh?”

Koi blinked, flustered by the unexpected question. The secretary, still frowning, continued.

“You were next to Mr. Miller last time too when he presented, weren’t you? But you weren’t affected at all. It’s the same this time, your friend, who’s also a Beta, vomited and even lost consciousness from the side effects, but you, look.”

She scanned Koi from head to toe once, then fixed her gaze on his face again and asked.

“Aren’t you too perfectly fine?”

“Um…”

Koi also didn’t know the reason for that. Why was he completely unaffected by Ashley’s pheromones? Then, Koi suddenly remembered having his blood drawn as soon as they arrived at the mansion.

“Um, my test results… how did they come out? That’s why you drew my blood, right?”

“Yes.”

She twisted her lips, letting out a short, irritable laugh.

“You’re still a Beta. There’s no sign of you presenting at all. What do you think the reason is?”

Koi couldn’t answer. He just shook his head in confusion, and the secretary asked.

“Are you perhaps not truly in love with Ashley Miller?”

“What?”

At the unexpected words, Koi suddenly felt a jolt. The secretary, arms crossed, continued.

“So your whole body is rejecting him, because you don’t truly desire Ashley Miller.”

“What, that’s not true.”

“Don’t lie, you don’t like Ashley Miller.”

Koi denied it, but the secretary lightly scoffed.

“Your father is a drunkard who beats you constantly, isn’t he? Your mother never looked for you after the divorce, and you’ve been alone without friends until now. Am I wrong?”

At that moment, Koi froze. How did this person know so much about him? The thought that she had investigated him sent shivers down his spine. She chuckled, looking at the terrified Koi.

“You’re mistaken. You don’t want to lose him because Ashley Miller is the only one who likes you.”

“No, I really… Ash…”

“If you truly loved Ashley Miller, you would have presented a long time ago.”

Koi insisted on his sincerity again, but she relentlessly pressed him.

“Everyone wants to resemble the person they love. They try to share the same hobbies and follow what they like, and then there’s presenting? If your partner presents, everyone wants to present too. Because they want to be together. And you’ve had several opportunities to do so but didn’t. What do you think the reason is?”

For the first time, Koi felt wronged and indignant. To have his feelings for Ashley denied like this. Just because he hadn’t presented.

“If you could stop presenting just with willpower, that would be a research subject!”

“Yes, that’s right.”

She sneered at Koi, who had barely protested with a trembling voice.

“So aren’t you truly unique?”

Koi couldn’t say anything more, just bit his lip, his eyes welling up with tears. No matter how much he denied it, reality didn’t change. He eventually wept, tears streaming down his face.