Lick Me Up If You Can Novel (Completed) - Chapter 160

“What happened? You suddenly got sick?”

As soon as the boss saw his face, he asked, and Koi replied shyly, “Yes.”

“I’m sorry, I caught a cold…”

He had been bedridden for the entire weekend and two more days. It was fortunate that he had called Sarah early to cancel, but he couldn’t even contact or answer calls from work or anywhere else. Thanks to that, when he finally got up, his phone had rung so much it had run out of battery.

The first person he called, of course, was Ariel. At first, she was very surprised and asked about his well-being, but once she knew he was safe, she got angry. Of course, that didn’t last long either.

<Next time we meet, give me a spare key. If anything happens, I’ll just open the door and come in.>

After giving her final instruction, Ariel hung up. Ariel was the only one who came to Koi’s house during the time he was out of contact. And even then, Ariel, thinking Koi wasn’t home because he didn’t answer, had even filed a missing person report with the police. She suspected Ashley might have done something, but fortunately, it ended up being a misunderstanding. If Koi had contacted her even one day later, she might have stormed into Ashley’s office again.

Koi, unaware of these circumstances, repeatedly apologized to her, promised to repay her kindness soon, and then called his company.

The company seemed to have thought Koi had run away. The boss, who had been quite surprised when he called, looked very angry when Koi came to work the next day. Regardless of the reason, it was true that he had been absent without leave, so Koi repeatedly apologized to him.

“I’m sorry, I’ll work harder from now on.”

“Of course. You’ll have to make up for not showing up without contact.”

The boss threatened him once more, then assigned him work. As Koi hastily left to gather his tools, another employee, Tony, subtly approached him and spoke.

“What happened? You didn’t answer any of my calls. Were you that sick?”

“Uh, yeah.”

Koi replied with a bitter smile.

“I don’t usually catch colds, but this time it was really tough. I kept having a fever and my body felt heavy, so I couldn’t open my eyes.”

But compared to that, he wasn’t in pain. His mind was hazy, and sleep kept overwhelming him, making it impossible to get up, but even though his whole body was burning with a high fever, there was no pain at all.

Is it the new流行 flu?

Tony, who was inwardly puzzled, lowered his voice and asked,

“You weren’t pretending to be sick and went somewhere to play, were you?”

“No.”

He chuckled involuntarily at the suspicious gaze, and Tony said, “Really?” and tilted his head, then sniffed.

“I’ve been smelling something nice from you since earlier, so I wondered if you went somewhere and bought perfume.”

“Smell?”

“Yeah.”

When Koi asked in surprise, Tony said,

“It smells like flowers, and like grass, anyway, it’s a really good smell. Like it makes your heart feel at ease.”

Koi, who had been momentarily tense, inwardly breathed a sigh of relief at Tony’s satisfied expression. Since he couldn’t smell, he would have been extremely flustered if he had heard that he smelled bad.

“Oh, a flower bloomed in the pot at home.”

He remembered the tightly closed bud that had bloomed fully when he watered it before getting sick. He had bought the seeds on discount when he stopped by a store, so he didn’t know the name, but since it was a flower scent, he thought of the yellow glowing plant in the pot.

“It’s probably that flower’s scent. Three of them bloomed at once.”

“Really?”

Tony turned around with a puzzled face and mumbled,

“Does a flower scent last that long…?”

Fortunately, the situation ended without incident. Koi soon forgot about it, and he was so engrossed in his work that it was already evening.

“Haaah.”

As soon as he returned home, he let out a deep sigh. His cold must have been gone, but his body still felt languid and heavy. It was fortunate that his fever had gone down. As he moved his heavy steps towards the shower, something caught his eye.

It was the flower he had seen that morning. Seeing the brightly blooming yellow flower, his heart felt warm. He immediately moved closer and looked at the flower for a while, then carefully touched a leaf. The bright light of the soft petals seemed to transmit through his fingers.

What kind of scent could it be?

Remembering Tony’s words, he felt a sense of regret. If only he could smell, he would know what this flower’s scent was like.

Would it make my heart feel at ease too?

Koi looked at the flower for a while, then put his hand down and entered the narrow bathroom. After quickly washing himself, he immediately lay down in bed and tried to sleep.

Since that day, Ashley had not contacted him once.

The flower’s scent, which he had thought nothing of, became a problem about a week later. When Tony first mentioned the scent, he had dismissed it without much interest, but as days passed, the scent emanating from Koi’s body gradually became stronger.

Tony was the first to approach Koi, drawn by the scent. Koi, startled, pushed Tony away when he suddenly hugged him around the waist. As a result, Tony sprained his ankle and had to miss work, and a day later, another employee tried to forcefully grab Koi, fell, and broke his nose.

A few days later, the small office, which only had about four or five people, was quickly emptied. After the last remaining employee, who had been clinging to Koi, had a huge fight with the boss and quit, only Koi and the boss were left.

Although it was not his intention, Koi could not deny that he was the cause of all this. Because of that, he was so filled with guilt and apology that he couldn’t lift his head, but the boss was so generous as to tell him it was alright and even comforted him. Furthermore, on the day the last employee left, when Koi was at a loss, the boss told him not to worry and to continue coming to work steadily, even giving him money.

He was very grateful for the boss’s kindness, but since it was his fault, he couldn’t just let it go. Moreover, when he took the subway, people would constantly talk to him or try to touch him, often making him walk several stops. When he walked on the street, it was somewhat better because the space was open, but he couldn’t live like this forever.

How strong is this flower’s scent that it’s causing all this?

Koi looked at the still fresh yellow flower with a serious expression, then finally made up his mind.

It’s a shame, but I’ll throw it away.

It was heartbreaking as it was the first flower he had grown in the East, but he couldn’t help it. This flower was causing too much trouble.

…But it’s a waste to just throw it away.

Koi carefully placed the potted plant in a plastic bag. The next day was the weekend, and he had plans.

I’ll show it to Ariel tomorrow.

“Oh, it’s pretty. Did you grow this recently?”

“Yeah, a little over ten days ago.”

As he answered, unable to hide his pride, Ariel picked up the small potted plant and took a deep sniff. Koi was momentarily flustered, but she calmly looked up and said,

“Did you bring it to show off?”

“Huh? Oh…”

At her incredibly nonchalant reaction, Koi blinked in confusion and then spoke. “Actually,” he briefly recounted what had happened, and Ariel, listening with a serious face, tilted her head.

“It just smells like a normal flower.”

“R-really?”

Koi was dumbfounded and just stared at her. What’s going on?

He couldn’t understand the situation, as Ariel wasn’t someone who couldn’t smell like him. Koi, who had been blinking in confusion, belatedly looked around. They were sitting on an outdoor cafe terrace, and even though the tables weren’t very far apart, the people around them weren’t paying any attention to Koi.

…Did I imagine it?

Koi, who was bewildered, belatedly asked Ariel.

“Um, do I smell like anything?”

“Smell?”

Ariel immediately grabbed Koi’s arm, leaned over the table, and took a deep breath. After sniffing and checking the scent, Ariel let go of his arm and looked up.

“I don’t smell anything.”

“Really?”

Koi was flustered again. What on earth is going on?