Lick Me Up If You Can Novel (Completed) - Chapter 121

Koi opened his eyes to the sensation of someone gently shaking his shoulder. He lifted his head, blinking his still-sleepy eyes, and looked around, when a quiet voice descended from above him.

“Wake up now. You need to go home.”

With those words, Koi’s memories finally returned. Ashley comforts him before falling asleep again, gripping Koi’s hand tightly before drifting off, telling him not to leave until he woke up, and how Koi, waiting by Ashley’s side, had also fallen asleep slumped over the bedside, still holding his hand.

He lifted his head to see the secretary’s cool eyes looking down at him. Koi instinctively felt all his sleepiness vanish and his shoulders hunch, but then he realized he was still holding Ashley’s hand and finally mustered some courage.

“Until Ash wakes up… I’ll wait.”

His voice was trembling badly and barely a whisper, completely devoid of any authority.

He himself felt intimidated by his own miserable voice, which anyone would surely mock, but unexpectedly, the secretary’s expression remained unchanged. She spoke again in her usual calm and businesslike tone.

“It’s already past midnight. Won’t your father worry if you’re any later?”

At those words, Koi flinched and froze. He wondered how much she knew about him but couldn’t bring himself to ask. If it had been earlier, he might have called his father to say he was staying at a friend’s house, but he had already missed his chance. If he stayed out without a word like this, his father would truly be furious.

He hadn’t hit him lately…

It had been a while since his father’s attitude had changed. Because of that, Koi had held a little hope. Perhaps his father had changed.

Then he absolutely couldn’t displease him.

There was still time until graduation. And he had to prepare for college entrance exams. He wasn’t in a position to leave home, nor was it the right situation. After all, he was just a high school student.

However, something still weighed on his mind.

“Still, I promised…”

He looked down at Ashley with reluctant eyes, but Ashley showed no sign of regaining consciousness. Suddenly, he recalled when Ashley had presented. He had been unconscious like this back then too.

What state was Ash in now?

“Um, when you become a True Alpha… do you lose consciousness frequently like this?”

Koi asked cautiously. She was the only one who could answer. It wasn’t easy to find information, and all he knew was that their eyes turned purple after presenting, their immunity was several times stronger than ordinary people, and their brains would melt if they didn’t regularly release pheromones.

Perhaps Ash doesn’t know well yet either.

He couldn’t even control his pheromones properly, so it was entirely possible. To Koi, who asked hoping to get some information, the secretary replied indifferently.

“Not necessarily. Ashley Miller is a special case.”

“How so?”

As Koi quickly asked, she looked down at Ashley and said.

“This is because he didn’t release his pheromones on time.”

For a moment, he blinked, not understanding the secretary’s words.

“Why didn’t Ash release his pheromones on time?”

Koi knew that if a True Alpha didn’t release pheromones, it would cause problems in their brain. But why hadn’t Ashley done so? To Koi, who asked in bewilderment, the secretary added with an expressionless face.

“You can ask Ashley Miller that later. I’ve prepared a car downstairs. Wouldn’t it be better to leave before it gets any later?”

Koi’s gaze shifted from her face to Ashley. He squeezed the hand he was holding, and seeing this, the secretary spoke.

“Sometimes, you can’t keep promises. You two need to grow up now.”

“Breaking promises is growing up?”

Koi asked. He thought if that was what it meant to be an adult, he didn’t want to be one, but the secretary stared directly at him.

“No, understanding that is growing up. If Ashley Miller is your boyfriend, shouldn’t you naturally understand?”

He couldn’t find any flaw in her words. Koi said nothing more and looked down at Ashley again.

He felt secretly disappointed by Ashley’s inability to open his eyes, but then he quickly admonished himself. Ashley wasn’t well right now. Shouldn’t this be something he understood?

“There are many people here besides you.”

The secretary spoke again to the still-hesitant Koi.

“Your staying here isn’t very helpful to us.”

Her words hit too close to home. It was true.

When Ashley had presented or was sick, there was only Koi, but not anymore. When he woke up, he would be able to have much better quality meals than the instant soup Koi had bought, and doctors and other employees would immediately move to help him. His staying here, offering no help, would only be a nuisance.

Unable to resist the harsh reality any longer, Koi squeezed Ashley’s hand one more time before letting go and standing up. He picked up his bag, which he had casually placed on the floor, and straightened himself. The secretary turned first. Koi looked back several times before finally following her out of the room.

“Now, get in.”

The car waiting outside the mansion was an unfamiliar black sedan. A man who appeared to be a bodyguard opened the door at the secretary’s direction, and Koi awkwardly mumbled his thanks before getting in. The door closed soon after, and the car started. Koi sat alone in the silence, hugging his bag tightly.

Oh, right.

Inside the car, as it left the estate, he belatedly remembered something. He pulled out his phone, which had low battery, turned on the internet, and quickly typed in a search query.

How True Alphas release pheromones

As he typed the search query, recalling what the secretary had said, results immediately flooded in.

He didn’t know how ordinary Alphas or Omegas released pheromones.

He thought he might have heard it in class, but he had dismissed it as irrelevant to him, and judging by the secretary’s reaction, it seemed True Alphas were different. He quickly scanned the results screen, trying to grasp the content. And as Koi opened and closed several linked pages, his face gradually turned pale.

His head ached as if it would shatter. As he regained consciousness, his whole body felt heavy and tingly, as if soaked in water.

Feeling a familiar yet unpleasant sensation, Ashley slowly opened his eyes. He blinked his unfocused eyes several times, and his blurry vision gradually brightened. With that, his memories slowly returned.

Koi.

Ashley, who thought of him first, quickly turned his head and then froze. The hand that had tightly held Koi’s before he lost consciousness was now empty. He unconsciously tried to get up but stumbled and fell back down, having to gasp for breath and curl up for a moment.

Only after he had managed to calm the dizziness somewhat could Ashley finally lift his head and survey the room. There was no one in the spacious room. No one but himself.

It was a situation all too familiar to him, but now it was different. When he recalled what Koi had said and promised before he fell asleep, and his face quickly paled, a knock came at the perfect time.

“You’re awake.”

The secretary, who had opened the door and entered, spoke with her usual indifferent face.

“I sent him home first. It was getting too late. He’s still a student, so he shouldn’t worry his parents.”

“Worry his parents?”

Ashley repeated her words, sneering. Remembering what Koi had told him just before, his stomach churned again.

That was just an unavoidable accident.

Yet, to shift all the blame onto the still-young Koi and pour all the criticism on him. Was that what an adult, a parent, should do?

The thought of Koi accepting and enduring it as a matter of course made him feel nauseous. He should have comforted him more, hugged him more.

He felt like he was going crazy, thinking that he had sent Koi back to that violent father, unable to overcome these hateful pheromones.

“…Give me my phone.”

Ashley managed to utter. As if she had expected it, the secretary pulled a phone from her pocket and handed it to him. But Ashley didn’t make the reckless move of calling in front of her. He desperately wanted to hear Koi’s voice but suppressed the urge, waiting for the secretary to leave the room. She checked Ashley’s IV drip, called a doctor to remove the needle, and finally asked.

“Do you need anything? Food?”

“No, everyone out.”

Ashley, who had been holding back, spat out roughly. Fortunately, it happened easily. Only after he was left alone did he frantically dial a speed dial number on his phone. After a moment, a ringing tone sounded, and Ashley waited for Koi’s voice to follow. However, after only a few rings, the tone cut off, and then a mechanical voice was heard.

• The call cannot be connected…

The blood instantly drained from Ashley’s face.