Lick Me Up If You Can Novel (Completed) - Chapter 198

When Koi woke up, he was alone. As always, Ashley had already gone to work and was nowhere to be seen.

“…Ah.”

A moan involuntarily escaped his lips as he got out of bed. His lower body was unusually sore today. He tilted his head, thinking it was strange since Ashley hadn’t been particularly rough, when he suddenly felt dizzy. Koi frowned, closed his eyes, and plopped back down on the bed.

Am I feeling a bit unwell…?

This was the first time something like this had happened, which made him unnecessarily anxious. He sat there for a while, taking deep breaths, and after the dizziness subsided, he carefully got up.

The house was as quiet as ever. Loneliness found him again. Koi slowly moved towards the kitchen. As always, Ashley had left a note in the same spot.

Koi, you don’t have to clean today, just rest.

Below it were the documents needed for a health check-up. Seeing Koi’s name at the top, it seemed to mean he should fill in the necessary information.

He was relieved that he didn’t have to clean. He really just wanted to rest today. After asking for his meal to be brought up, Koi filled out the documents. There were no unusual questions. To questions about whether he had undergone surgery or had a family history of illness, he thought for a moment and marked ‘Unknown’. He knew nothing beyond his father’s history of cancer. He wrote ‘Beta’ for his parents’ designations.

Halfway through filling out the documents, he changed his mind. He decided to go downstairs for his meal, called the front desk to cancel, and got into the elevator.

“Hello, Mr. Niles.”

Koi acknowledged the friendly staff member who greeted him and walked as guided, sitting at a window seat.

Hoo.

He let out a short sigh, and the staff member immediately handed him a menu book.

“We have some good tea that just came in, would you like to try it?”

Koi nodded, smiling at the question. It didn’t matter anyway, as he couldn’t feel much difference.

While waiting for his meal, he drank the tea that had arrived first and stared blankly out the window for a while. His increasingly lethargic body didn’t seem to get better. The weather was clear, and he had slept enough, so why was he like this? He thought it was strange when he brought the teacup to his lips.

Suddenly, he felt a presence, and someone brushed past Koi, pulling out the chair opposite him. Without asking Koi’s permission, the person boldly sat down, and Koi, startled, turned his head and widened his eyes.

The person sitting opposite him was so beautiful that he wondered if he was dreaming. His neck, framed by somewhat long silver hair that brushed his shoulders, was long and elegant, and his eyes, directed at Koi, were a deep green. His neat nose, naturally rising cheekbones, soft jawline, and lips as red as ripe cherries were certainly enough to steal one’s gaze. His long eyelashes were the same color as his hair, and his transparent, white skin showed not a single blemish.

He couldn’t believe such a person existed in the world, but Koi knew this man. It was the very angel who had brazenly sat naked on the balcony, smoking a cigarette. That he was now sitting in front of him—was this a dream?

He really was a human.

Reminding himself of what was perhaps an obvious fact, Koi examined his face again. Even though he had clearly seen his naked body, he felt awkward trying to define his gender. Perhaps it was because angels had no gender.

Even knowing he was human, Koi still felt bewildered. Moreover, despite only seeing him for the second time, he felt a strange sense of familiarity. His mind felt at ease, and he even felt a sense of welcome, as if meeting an old friend, which confused Koi even more. What was this feeling?

To Koi, who was staring blankly, the man with long, narrow eyes smiled faintly and greeted him first.

“Hello.”

Contrary to his expectations, his voice was low and husky. Koi flinched at the somehow chilling voice, and the man continued.

“You hide it well. You’re a commendable child.”

Koi didn’t understand what he meant. Moreover, he was even more bewildered by the way he spoke, as if he were much older. He looked to be a similar age on the outside, so was he perhaps the type to look young?

“Um… Excuse me, how old are you?”

He realized it might be a rude question after he had spoken. He quickly shut his mouth, but the other person smiled and returned the question.

“How old do I look?”

“Uh…”

Koi, flustered, hesitated before speaking. Just as he was about to speak, the person opposite him answered first.

“Definitely ten years older than you.”

An awkward silence fell. Unable to understand what was happening, he just watched, and then the man smiled. To Koi, who was mesmerized by his sweet face, he continued gently.

“It’s true, they said we could recognize each other, but I didn’t believe it. I’ve never seen anyone of my kind besides myself. You too, right? Because we are truly, very rare. I thought we’d never meet…”

He rambled on about things only he knew, then pulled something out of his pocket. Just as Koi was about to tell him not to, seeing him put a cigarette in his mouth, a staff member approached and politely stopped him.

“I apologize, but smoking is prohibited in all seats.”

The man lifted his head with the cigarette still in his mouth. When Koi was secretly nervous, the man spoke.

“It’s fine as long as I don’t light it, right?”

The man, holding the cigarette between his fingers, smiled. Unexpectedly, the staff member’s expression softened, and he replied, “Yes.” Furthermore, after checking if anything else was needed, he turned and walked away, leaving Koi blinking in confusion. To Koi, the man said nonchalantly.

“People are kind to ‘us’.”

His reaction was as if this situation was perfectly normal. But what caught Koi’s attention was something else.

“‘Us’?”

As he repeated the man’s words, he smiled faintly.

“You know too, don’t you? Just a tiny bit of pheromone, and anyone will fall for it.”

He was talking nonsense. As Koi stared blankly, the man finally seemed to notice something was amiss and frowned.

“What’s wrong? It’s like you don’t understand anything I’m saying. We don’t need that between us.”

Again, he used the term ‘us’. Koi couldn’t understand it at all. How could he be grouped together with such an angelic person?

Seeing Koi’s utterly bewildered expression, the smile slowly faded from his face. Koi hesitated, then struggled to speak.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand what you’re talking about at all… You and I are of the same kind, what do you mean by ‘us’?”

The man stared at Koi, the cigarette still in his mouth. Koi felt uncomfortable and fidgeted, as the man didn’t even blink, let alone make a small movement. After staring at Koi for a while, the other person suddenly frowned and leaned back in his chair.

“I just showed you that I’m like you, there’s no need to be wary. We’re on the same side, so you don’t have to be so guarded.”

“Pheromones?”

That made even less sense. He understood from the nuance that the man had released pheromones towards him, but that was all. Koi had no idea why this man was acting this way towards him.

“I’m a Beta, so what do you mean by pheromones…?”

At Koi’s words, the man opened his mouth with an astonished expression.

“You don’t have to hide it even in front of me.”

He didn’t believe Koi at all. Unable to bear it, Koi asked again.

“You keep saying ‘us,’ ‘us,’ but what exactly is your relationship with me? Please explain it properly, I don’t understand at all.”

The man silently gazed at Koi. Koi met his gaze without flinching. Silence hung in the air for a while, and the man, who had been half-doubting, closed his mouth with a serious expression. Staring intently at Koi, he let out a short exclamation.

“…My God, are you serious?”

He mumbled to himself, then took a drag from his cigarette, realized no smoke came out, and frowned. Instead, the man sighed, “Hoo,” and spoke.

“I finally met someone of my kind, only to find out he’s an idiot who doesn’t even know what he is.”

“What?”

Koi asked, his face contorted. The strange familiarity he had felt earlier gradually faded, and a slight discomfort at the man’s rudeness began to take its place. How could he say such a thing to his face?

But as if completely uninterested in Koi’s reaction, the man still spoke with a nonchalant expression.

“So you’ve believed you were a Beta your whole life?”

“I am a Beta. The test said so too…”

“Ignore those shoddy tests. We don’t show up on tests anyway.”

The man, who had used the term ‘us’ again, lifted his head after a short sigh. And then he dropped a bombshell on Koi.

“You’re not a Beta, you’re an Extreme Omega, just like me.”