Lick Me Up If You Can Novel (Completed) - Chapter 147

It took more courage than ever to utter the next words. Koi clenched his fists tightly, took a deep breath, slowly exhaled, and then opened his mouth.

“Did… me coming to see you, causing a lot of trouble?”

“Yes.”

Ashley spat it out without a moment’s hesitation. He turned his head away from Koi, who had frozen again, and muttered to himself, looking straight ahead.

“You came too early.”

“Early?”

He couldn’t just let those words pass. Did Ash intend to meet me? If I had stayed in the West, would Ash have suddenly come to find me one day?

“Were you… thinking of coming to see me?”

He asked hesitantly, and Ashley answered readily again.

“Yes.”

Koi couldn’t decide what emotion he should feel. He felt relief and joy, but also an unnecessary sense of guilt. Would it have been better to just wait for Ashley in the West? If Ashley had a plan, it was natural for him to be flustered by Koi’s sudden appearance. Koi hesitated, then carefully opened his mouth.

“Um, was it wrong for me to come here…?”

Ashley let out a short, deflated laugh. Behind that somewhat hollow, yet irritable laugh, he said,

“Yes, you ruined my plan. Completely.”

Koi’s heart sank. Anxiety and self-disgust washed over him. I made another big mistake with Ashley.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

All Koi could do was apologize. He repeated his apologies again and again, then suddenly remembered. It had taken him over 10 years to get here. When did Ashley plan to find Koi?

“Well.”

To Koi’s question, Ashley muttered to himself.

“About 10 years from now?”

“So we almost wouldn’t have met for over 20 years?”

Suddenly feeling hollow, Koi slumped his shoulders. He felt sorry for Ashley, but he also thought he had done well to come here with all his might. He didn’t know why Ashley had planned to come after 20 years, but by then, Koi might have withered and died from waiting.

“20 years is too long.”

Koi sighed, but Ashley just stared straight ahead without a word. Koi, who had been waiting for his next words, finally spoke first due to the continued silence.

“Um, why did you wait 20 years to meet?”

If he had intended to forget him completely, he wouldn’t have even tried to meet. Koi felt relieved that Ashley had intended to meet him, but the excessively long period bothered him. Ashley didn’t answer Koi’s question immediately. Just as Koi thought he was ignoring him, he opened his mouth.

“It’s not like I was trying to make it exactly 20 years.”

“Then?”

Koi asked again in a somewhat deflated voice. Ashley answered, still not looking at him.

“I thought my plan would work out by then.”

This time, Koi couldn’t help but ask.

“…What plan?”

Silence fell again. He was determined to wait until Ashley answered, but the words that came out when he finally spoke were different from what he expected.

“Your only goal was to meet me, wasn’t it?”

“Yes… that’s right.”

Koi hesitated, then opened his mouth.

“I also wanted to apologize.”

“Apologize for what?”

“When I… “

Koi forced saliva into his dry mouth, swallowed, and then spoke with difficulty.

“When I didn’t choose you.”

Ashley fell silent. Koi felt a heavier silence than ever before and barely managed to continue his stammering confession.

“I wanted to apologize for hurting you. Back then… when I chose my father, and said harsh things to you, I’ve regretted it ever since. Back then, when I chose my father, and I said you had a lot, it was because…”

Koi continued quickly, taking trembling breaths between words.

“I thought you were better off than me…”

“Koi.”

Ashley suddenly cut him off. Koi, startled, lifted his head, and Ashley asked him in a cynical voice,

“Is there any meaning in comparing who’s more unfortunate?”

Koi couldn’t answer. He was right. What was the point of all this now?

“…I’m sorry.”

This time, he apologized for a different reason, but it was still the same. This, too, was useless.

“That’s enough.”

Ashley returned to his indifferent tone and said,

“It’s all in the past.”

He was right. Koi knew it well. He also knew that he was struggling meaninglessly.

Go back to the West again…

Just as that thought came to mind, Ashley suddenly spoke.

“Goodbye, Connor Niles.”

At the resolute farewell, Koi’s mind snapped awake. He couldn’t just leave like this. Whatever Ashley’s plan was, they had already met and come this far. It was a reunion completely different from what he had expected, but he couldn’t end it like this. Koi wanted to seize one more chance.

“Um, give me your phone number.”

As he hastily spoke, Ashley finally turned to look at him. Seeing his vaguely frowning face, Koi gathered his courage and continued.

“I said I’d treat you to dinner again next time, didn’t I? I need your contact information to set a date.”

“Haa…”

Ashley let out a loud sigh that Koi could hear. He might be annoyed or bothered. But Koi didn’t back down. After confirming Koi’s determined gaze, Ashley finally, reluctantly, pulled out his wallet from his suit’s inner pocket. Koi waited nervously for him to hand over a business card, but unexpectedly, Ashley flipped the card over, placed it on the steering wheel, and wrote something on the back.

“Here.”

As Koi carefully took the business card Ashley gave him and checked the back, Ashley said,

“It’s my personal number. Call me there.”

“Oh… U-Uh-huh.”

Koi’s face gradually brightened as he saw the quickly scrawled numbers. It was time to say goodbye and get out of the car, but he didn’t. Instead, he took out his cell phone and quickly dialed the number. Ashley, who had been watching him, frowned when his phone rang shortly after. He slowly picked up his phone, looked at the unfamiliar number suspiciously, and then turned his gaze back to Koi’s face. Koi, who had hung up the phone, smiled brightly and said,

“It’s my number. Save it.”

Then he added shyly,

“You wouldn’t want to not answer, thinking it’s spam, would you?”

He seemed to have no idea that Ashley might intentionally not answer. Ashley looked at him without a word, then reluctantly saved the number.

“Well, thank you very much for today.”

Before getting out of the car, Koi forced a smile and said,

“Don’t worry, I’ll be going back to the West soon.”

Ashley paused, but Koi didn’t notice and continued.

“I just want to treat you to a good meal one last time. As a token of my gratitude… that’s really all it is.”

I won’t bother you anymore.

Koi added in his mind, then hurried to get out of the car.

“Koi.”

Ashley suddenly called out to him. Koi, who had just opened the car door, paused and turned around, and Ashley asked,

“When’s your date?”

Koi, surprised by the sudden question, quickly answered,

“Huh? Oh, it’s Sunday, so it’s tomorrow. We’re meeting at 4 to watch a movie and have dinner.”

He suddenly remembered what Ashley had said and scratched his head, embarrassed.

“This is only our second time meeting, so it’s probably not a date. Just casually as friends…”

“Do you have anything to wear?”

“Huh?”

Another unexpected question came back, and Koi paused. Ashley added in his usual indifferent tone,

“Even if you’re not going out with that intention, you should at least be polite. You’re not planning to go out looking like that, are you?”

At his words, he unconsciously looked himself over. After spending more than half a day in the detention center, his already dirty work clothes were completely messed up. Feeling somehow embarrassed, Koi’s face flushed as he answered,

“Of course, I won’t wear work clothes. I have a few nice clothes too.”

Ashley let out a small laugh and said,

“It’s not the ones I bought you before, is it?”

It was clearly a joke, but Koi couldn’t laugh along. Seeing Koi’s face turn red with embarrassment, Ashley’s expression hardened.

“No way, really?”

Ashley asked in a chilling voice, almost a growl. Koi, flustered, couldn’t help but flinch.