Lick Me Up If You Can Novel (Completed) - Chapter 129

A loud horn blared, striking his ears. Ashley, who had instinctively swerved the wheel at the last moment, gasped for breath and blinked for a moment.

Calm down, calm down.

Muttering to himself like a mantra, Ashley slowed down. He had almost met a tragic end right before reaching his destination. The thought of how shocked Koi would be if he came to the station and saw his corpse made him dizzy.

He slowed down and entered the station, parked his car, and hastily grabbed his luggage. He also needed to discard his mobile phone, but meeting Koi was the priority. Without it now, meeting Koi would be difficult.

He entered the station, looked around, then sat down at the first empty seat he saw and quickly searched for train tickets. Seeing that there were still seats available on the train he had checked before coming, he bought two tickets.

Now, only about an hour remained until their appointed time.

Unable to control the pounding in his chest, a mix of anxiety about his father’s employees who might come to catch him and anticipation for reuniting with his longed-for lover, he kept looking around. Time was passing slowly.

Koi faced his father, his face pale. He couldn’t understand what he was suddenly saying. No, he clearly understood, but he couldn’t accept it. Why was his father suddenly acting like this towards him?

Seeing his son’s face full of confusion, his father let out a desolate sigh. He opened his mouth as if to find words, but no words seemed to come out, so he squeezed his eyes shut and closed his mouth again.

“…Koi.”

His voice, when he finally spoke, was subtly trembling.

“Koi, I know I was wrong. I did terrible things to you. …But please don’t leave like this. Can’t you give me just one… just one more chance?”

His father’s words grew faster. His emotions seemed to escalate, and the grip on Koi’s arm tightened, making Koi instinctively frown. But his father, without a care, urgently poured out his feelings.

“I’ll truly do better from now on. I, I’ll do anything… Koi, please.”

“L-let go.”

Koi managed to say in a trembling voice filled with fear. Ashley was waiting. There was no time to be doing this. Koi would leave. With Ashley. Whatever his father said now, it was already too late.

If only, earlier.

Koi looked at his father with resentful eyes.

If only he had said that earlier.

“Let, let go. I have to go… Ash is waiting, so.”

“Koi!”

His father cried out desperately. But that only gave courage to Koi, who had been frozen and trembling.

“Don’t yell at me!”

His father flinched at Koi’s shout. Koi looked up at his father, his eyes welling with tears.

“You said you’d change, but look, you’re still yelling at me like this. How can I trust you? You want one more chance?”

All the emotions he had suppressed poured out. Koi spoke clearly to his father, without stammering.

“You had so many chances until now, but you threw them all away.”

His father looked at Koi with a bewildered face, speechless. Koi clearly saw despair and regret mixing on his face. But there was no time to hesitate. Koi used all his strength to shake him off and finally managed to get out of the corner.

“Koi!”

His father desperately called his name and tried to grab him. But Koi quickly slipped out of his hand and opened the motorhome door.

A wide-open world unfolded before his eyes. He just needed to take one more step. He would leave this miserable place forever for a new world.

With Ash.

“Cough…”

Just as he was about to rush outside, a sudden rough cough echoed from behind him. At that moment, Koi should have ignored it and run out. Without hesitating, without looking back.

“Cough, cough, cough… Gasp!”

However, with a series of chilling coughs, he stopped and looked back. And at the terrible sight that entered his vision, Koi’s eyes widened, and he froze.

His father was hunched over on the floor, covering his mouth with one hand. But the blood that poured out with each cough ignored his desperate attempts to hold it back and flowed emptily onto the floor.

“Ko, i.”

His father called his name, panting. He seemed to want to say he was okay, but what followed was another bout of hemoptysis. His father’s pale body fell forward in front of Koi, who was pale and covering his mouth with both hands.

And Koi saw it. His father collapsed helplessly onto a puddle of red blood.

“…Dad!”

Belatedly, Koi screamed and ran towards him. The motorhome floor, illuminated by the dim interior light, was stained crimson with blood.

Suddenly, Ashley thought he heard Koi’s voice and unconsciously stood up from his chair. He hastily looked around, but there was hardly a shadow of a person coming and going in the station.

Ashley, feeling awkward, sat back down and checked his wrist-watch. The appointed time was almost upon them. He looked at the train ticket time once more, then, unable to control his impatience, he bounced his leg and stared in the direction people entered.

He wanted to call, but if Koi was coming by bicycle, he wouldn’t be able to answer anyway. His call might even distract him from driving.

He slowly took a deep breath to calm his anxious self, trying to settle his mind. The minute hand of the clock moved again.

The paramedics who transported his father immediately took him to the hospital’s emergency room.

Koi, who had ridden in the ambulance with them, watched blankly as the medical staff busily moved his blood-soaked father onto a bed and connected various machines.

He couldn’t grasp the reality of it. He couldn’t understand what was happening before his eyes.

…I have to go to the station.

Ashley would be waiting. His heart felt like it was burning, but he couldn’t move his feet. How much time had passed? Even if he left now, it would already be too late, wouldn’t it? Ash would be worried; he had to call him. No, this isn’t the time for this. Let’s go quickly. My father will be okay now that he’s at the hospital. Anyway, there’s nothing I can do by staying here.

I have to go quickly.

“Excuse me, are you Mr. Victor Niles’ family?”

Just as he was about to finally move his feet, someone suddenly spoke to him. Koi hesitated, then turned around, and saw a man who appeared to be a nurse. He nodded hesitantly, and the nurse looked around Koi and asked again.

“Is there anyone else besides you? A mother, or siblings?”

“No.”

Koi replied.

“It’s just us, two.”

He felt a little awkward using “us” to refer to his father and himself. He forced his tongue to form the words.

The nurse said, “I see,” with a somewhat troubled expression, then urged him to wait there before turning around and returning to the medical staff next to his father. Koi had no choice but to stand there, as they seemed to be talking while treating him. Perhaps a guardian was needed. He didn’t know what help he, a minor, could be.

Thinking that far, Koi tightened his grip on his bag strap. Ashley was waiting. This was not the time to hesitate here. Just as he was about to regain his composure and leave.

Suddenly, one of the medical staff standing around his father turned his head and looked at him. Koi, whose eyes were caught, awkwardly stopped in place. The man, who appeared to be a doctor, walked directly towards Koi and extended a hand.

“Hello, I’m Gerald. What’s your name?”

Koi hesitated, then carefully took his hand, quickly let go, and said,

“Ko-Connor Niles. Call me Koi.”

“Alright, Koi. …You’re Victor Niles’ son, aren’t you? And you’re his only family?”

Koi nodded and replied.

“…Yes, just me.”

Gerald sighed and made a troubled expression. The doctor scratched his chin, looking reluctant, but spoke with a firm, albeit resigned, tone.

“Koi, don’t be too surprised by what I’m about to tell you.”

At the ominous opening, Koi instinctively tensed. To Koi, who looked up at him silently, the doctor spoke with a serious expression.

“Did you know your father has cancer?”