Lick Me Up If You Can Novel (Completed) - Chapter 156

“Over here, Koi.”

Ariel waved her hand, calling out to him. Koi, who had been looking around the entrance of the store, soon spotted her and hurried his steps. Ariel wasn’t alone. Koi inwardly sighed as he belatedly noticed another woman with her.

“Say hello, Koi. This is Sarah. Sarah, this is Koi. I told you about him, didn’t I?”

Ariel, who had waited for Koi to pull out a chair and sit down, introduced them. Sarah smiled brightly and greeted him first.

“Hello.”

“Hello.”

Koi awkwardly returned the greeting, then asked Ariel.

“Sorry I’m late, have you been waiting long?”

Ariel smiled and shook her head at his apologetic tone.

“No, Sarah was just telling me a very interesting story. Sarah, would you mind telling that story again?”

At Ariel’s words, Sarah gave a troubled smile, looking between Koi and Ariel.

“Oh… I’m not sure if he’ll find it interesting. It’s about the asteroid we just discovered.”

“An asteroid? The one Dr. Hanson discovered?”

Suddenly, Koi’s ears perked up. When he asked without realizing it, Sarah blinked, looking pleased. Ariel, confirming their reactions, quickly seized the opportunity and interjected.

“Sarah works at NASA. Koi is also very interested in space. Aren’t you?”

“NASA, you say?”

She asked Koi as if to confirm, but Koi, as if he hadn’t heard Ariel’s words, asked Sarah again. Soon, they enthusiastically began to talk about all sorts of topics, starting with the newly discovered asteroid. Ariel watched them with a satisfied smile, then, seizing a brief lull in the conversation, opened her mouth.

“Well then, I have something to do, so I’ll be going. I’ll place the order before I leave, so you two keep talking, alright?”

Koi looked at her, momentarily flustered, but Ariel ignored him and turned her gaze to Sarah. Sarah took her eyes off Ariel, looked at Koi, and smiled.

“A man who’s sexy down to his brain, that’s the best.”

Confirming that Koi’s face had turned bright red, Ariel exchanged a brief goodbye and left. She ordered a simple lunch for them so their conversation wouldn’t be interrupted, paid for the food and even left a tip, then exited the store.

This time, Koi will surely do well.

A satisfied smile naturally appeared on her face. She didn’t know how many dates she had set up for him already. Koi scored high on looks, but he was usually rejected on actual dates.

There were many reasons, such as “he’s handsome and a good person, but not proactive,” or “he doesn’t seem very interested in me,” but the conclusion was always that Koi was too naive and awkward. Of course, from Koi’s perspective, it was closer to a ‘project to make another friend introduced by a friend’ than a date, but Ariel felt uneasy about his repeated failures. She couldn’t help but feel angry, thinking that Ashley might have even anticipated such an outcome. Given the situation, she desperately wanted to help Koi succeed in a relationship with someone other than Ashley.

He’ll succeed this time, won’t he?

She had even mobilized Garrett’s connections to find this talent. With conviction from their last meeting, Ariel walked down the street with light steps.

♬♪♩♪♪♬♩♪…….

Koi only realized his phone was ringing after three missed calls. He had found someone whose interests aligned with his after a long time and had been so engrossed in conversation that he hadn’t noticed the time passing. Realizing that four hours had already passed since they sat down to talk, Koi’s eyes widened without him realizing it. But there was something even more surprising. When he checked the caller ID, his heart sank in surprise.

“I’m sorry, just a moment.”

Koi hastily apologized, quickly answered the phone, and spoke briefly.

“I’ll call you back, sorry.”

He then hung up and, giving an awkward smile to the woman sitting opposite him, said,

“Shall we leave? I think we’ve been here too long.”

“Oh, yes. We have been here a long time.”

Koi, who had intended to pay first after seeing Sarah quickly stand up, simply stood there blankly when he realized Ariel had already paid for everything.

“Ariel paid in advance. Even the tip.”

When he told Sarah, who had followed him out, she also looked surprised. As the atmosphere suddenly became awkward, Koi hesitated, but Sarah quickly suggested,

“Shall we talk more somewhere else then? Or maybe grab dinner?”

It was already nearing dinner time. There had been a similar situation last time, but then Koi had awkwardly refused and parted ways with the person, only to get a smack on the back from Ariel. Having had one harsh experience, and enjoying the conversation with Sarah so much, Koi readily nodded. And that day, for the first time, he succeeded on a date.

When Koi arrived home and finished showering, he saw a call from Ariel. When Koi called her back, she immediately asked,

“How did it go? Did it end well? Did you see Sarah off?”

Koi took a breath before answering the rapid-fire questions.

“Thanks for lunch. I had dinner with Sarah and saw her off at the subway station since she said she’d take the train.”

“Well, seeing someone all the way home on a first date might be a bit much.”

Ariel, who had come to her own conclusion, asked again in a bright voice.

“How was Sarah? You got along well, right? She has a good personality too.”

“Oh, yeah. Thanks. I feel like I’ve made a really good friend.”

Ariel paused at Koi’s answer. An ominous premonition ran down her spine. She lowered her voice and quietly asked,

“Koi, you didn’t split the bill for dinner, did you?”

“No.”

Just as she was about to sigh in relief, Koi added,

“You bought lunch. And she’s your friend, so I should pay.”

It was off-kilter, but at least the outcome was good, so it was fine. Ariel took a deep breath and opened her mouth.

“Anyway, it’s fine. Did you make plans for next time?”

“Oh, yeah. On Sunday.”

Ariel tilted her head.

“Why Sunday? What are you doing on Saturday?”

She asked, wishing they could meet both Saturday and Sunday, and Koi hesitated before answering.

“Uh, well… I’m meeting Ash…”

“Ash, you say?”

Suddenly, Ariel’s voice changed. Flustered by her chillingly low tone, Koi confessed honestly.

“He called before I left the cafe, but I told him I’d call him later and hung up. It’s rude to talk to someone else when you’re with company, and it wasn’t for work or anything… Anyway, we moved to another place for dinner, and I called him briefly when I went to the restroom. Two more missed calls had come in, so I thought it might be urgent.”

“So? How did Ash react?”

Koi answered dejectedly at Ariel’s rapid-fire questions.

“Of course, not good, since I kept not answering his calls.”

That’s probably not why.

Ariel thought, but didn’t bother to tell him, urging him to continue. Koi hesitated before adding,

“He asked if I was free this weekend, and I said yes, so he said to meet me on Saturday. But when I was parting ways and trying to meet Sarah again, I had already made plans with Ash, so I said to meet on Sunday.”

“I see.”

This was quite a good performance for Koi’s level. Ariel took a deep breath, composed herself, and asked,

“Why did Ash call suddenly? Three times, at that.”

“Uh…”

Koi hesitated, then corrected himself.

“To be exact, six times. Three more missed calls came in before that at the cafe.”

“Huh.”

Ariel let out a gasp of disbelief.

“He wished you happiness, but now he’s doing stalker-like things? That guy.”

“No, he probably called again because he was worried since I wasn’t answering. He’s not a stalker.”

“Of course not. How could he be?”

Ariel, who ignored Koi’s words, as he was clearly taking Ashley’s side, fell silent for a moment, then spoke.

“You said Saturday, right? Are you having dinner?”

“Yeah. We’re going to the same restaurant we went to last time.”

At his ready answer, Ariel began gently, “Oh, really?”

“Then Koi, when you meet Ash, could you do this?”

“Huh?”

At her sudden words, Koi asked without realizing it, and Ariel, in an even softer voice, chanted a magic spell.

“Please.”

Of course, the spell worked instantly.