Lick Me Up If You Can Novel (Completed) - Chapter 212

“Wait, Ash! Stop, I said stop! Ugh!”

Bill, who had urgently shouted and leaped over the sofa, lost his balance and slammed his face into the floor. Fortunately, it was carpeted, but it still hurt. He had to be careful not to strain his injured wrist again, but staying alive was more important right now. Ashley was incredibly angry. His purple eyes looked black, and the pheromones emanating from his entire body were suffocating.

“Nothing happened between me and Koi. Seriously, believe me!”

Bill shouted with all his might as the stick narrowly missed his face. Suddenly, Ashley retracted the stick and looked down at him. To Bill, who was gasping for breath and looking up at him, he spoke in a quiet voice.

“You’re saying you didn’t call Koi to the hotel room?”

Bill hesitated, then replied.

“Th-That’s right, but…”

“You’re the one who gave Koi champagne to drink, too, right?”

“Th-That’s also true, but…”

“…And the kiss?”

“Th-That too… I…”

Bill increasingly realized he was cornered. As proof, Ashley narrowed his eyes and openly sneered at him, asking.

“What do I know that’s different from the truth? Everything is correct, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s right but it’s wrong, don’t do this! What happened was, Aargh!”

Bill barely dodged the incoming stick again, rolling on the floor and screaming.

“You said you confirmed with Koi, so why are you doing this? Are you saying Koi lied to you?”

“Koi doesn’t lie.”

Ashley stated decisively, without even a flicker in his breath. Just as Bill was about to hope, he added coldly.

“My Koi wouldn’t betray me, you must have seduced him.”

“My Koi?”

Bill repeated Ashley’s words in disbelief. He had no idea what this commotion was about. Memories of him and Ashley flashed through Bill’s mind as he narrowly dodged the stick. We were so close, how could you do this to me?

Overwhelmed with injustice, Bill yelled.

“Then Koi, who fell for me, is also at fault! Why are you only doing this to me? You said Koi easily fell for you!”

To Bill, who was screaming and arguing, the answer was still calm.

“I can’t hit Koi.”

“You son of a bitch!”

Just as Bill shouted again. Finally, his body was trapped in a blind spot, and the stick was about to strike his head precisely.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang, and someone’s voice was heard. And then Ashley immediately stopped moving.

“Bill, it’s me, Koi! Is Ash here?”

Silence fell upon the noisy room. It was only a short moment, one or two seconds, but the active ice hockey team’s ace didn’t miss the opportunity.

“Save me, Koi!”

“You…!”

Ashley let out a harsh curse at Bill’s back as he squeezed through the gap and shouted desperately. Bill ran with all his might, feeling like he was desperately fleeing from the Grim Reaper’s scythe. He instinctively knew. Only one person could save him. Only Koi, who was standing outside the door right now.

Three. Two. One.

The door was instantly closed. Bill stretched out his arm and turned the doorknob with all his might. Click! The moment the door opened, a loud thwack echoed from behind his head.

“Ugh!”

“Bill!”

“Heeek!”

Along with Bill’s scream, another scream mixed in through the opened door. In Ashley’s sight, who stood still holding a hockey stick, he saw a pale Koi and wide-eyed Ariel.

“Aaaah, Aaaah!”

They both rushed to Bill, who was clutching the back of his head and rolling on the floor, and checked his condition.

“Are you okay, Bill? Shouldn’t we go to the hospital?”

“We need to call an ambulance, he got hit in the head!”

“It doesn’t look like he’s bleeding. Did it just graze him?”

As Ariel said, his head didn’t seem to be split open. Koi, who had let out a sigh of relief, then finally looked up at Ashley.

“Ash, what happened? What is that?”

Ashley lowered his gaze. Immediately, his eyes met Bill’s, who was groaning and peeking at him through narrowed eyes, clutching the back of his head. Then Bill gasped, heeek, like a scream, and began to groan even louder. Seeing that, Koi turned pale again and quickly said.

“I explained everything, why are you doing this after saying you understood? Put that down. Bill is scared.”

Ashley said nothing. Koi looked up at him, who stood unmoving, and urged him, “Quickly.”

Then Ashley spoke after a pause.

“What are you doing right now?”

“Huh?”

When he unconsciously repeated the question, Ashley slowly, with a surprisingly calm voice, continued.

“Are you protecting Bill right now? In front of me?”

“Uh, uh?”

As Koi kept repeating blank sounds at the unexpected words, Ariel quickly interjected.

“He’s doing this so you don’t become a murderer. He’s not protecting Bill, he’s protecting you, you idiot.”

“No, I’m worried about both of…”

“You be quiet.”

Ariel growled in a low voice at Koi, who was being tactless, then turned her gaze back to Ashley.

“Let’s talk this out. Koi is scared too, aren’t you?”

“Uh? Uh-huh…”

This time, he quickly agreed, not missing the opportunity. Koi exchanged glances with Ariel, who nodded, and then spoke again.

“Um, so, let’s put that down first and talk, okay? Please.”

At his almost pleading voice, Ashley’s intensity softened somewhat. Bill and Ariel could feel the much softer scent of his pheromones, but Koi couldn’t tell. He just looked up at him anxiously, and Ashley spoke.

“Move, you’ll get hurt.”

“Huh?”

Koi flinched and blinked. His trembling eyes darted to the hockey stick and then back to Ashley.

“Um, if you put that down first…”

“Move.”

Ashley ground his teeth and growled in a low voice.

“You first.”

He couldn’t hold out any longer. Koi looked back and forth between Bill and Ariel, then stepped back hesitantly, and only then did Ashley put down the hockey stick he was holding. Even so, it was still dangerously close, within arm’s reach.

Anyway, the moment of crisis seemed to have passed, and Koi let out a sigh of relief, pressing his hand to his chest. Ariel helped Bill to his feet, and the four of them finally stood facing each other.

“What the hell are you doing? Are you trying to kill me?”

The first to vent his indignation was, as expected, Bill. He yelled at Ashley, his face filled with a mixture of injustice and resentment.

“Even if we haven’t contacted each other in 10 years, how could you do this? It’s me, Bill Gulliver! Your best friend in high school!”

As the time they had spent together flashed before his eyes, tears welled up. Ariel patted Bill, who was a mountain of a man sniffling and wiping his eyes with his thick forearms, on the back consolingly.

“Alright, this time you went too far. Even if you lose sight of everything when it comes to Koi. I understand your position, but still.”

“You understand? Ash?”

Bill immediately retorted. As the arrow turned to her this time, Ariel offered a calm analysis.

“From Ash’s perspective, it would make him angrier that you, his former best friend, seduced Koi.”

“That’s not it! You don’t believe me either?”

“Aaaah!” Bill shouted, violently ruffling his hair. Ariel pinched his waist to calm him down and raised her eyes.

“Listen properly. I said, ‘From Ash’s perspective,’ didn’t I?”

Looking up at his even more crestfallen face, Ariel continued.

“Ash is not in his right mind when it comes to Koi. I’ve never seen that bastard act rationally when Koi is involved.”

Ariel, with her arms crossed and chin raised, narrowed her eyes mockingly.

“It seems he’s been quite lenient because it’s you? Before, some guy ended up in the hospital for months and became a beggar.”

“Right?” Ariel asked, but Ashley didn’t answer. Leaving Bill and Koi bewildered, Ariel spoke.

“Now that everyone’s calmed down, shall we sit down and talk? It’s been a long time since we’ve all been together, there’s no need to stand here glaring at each other, is there?”

Ariel, who had made the suggestion, was the first to sit on the sofa. Then Ashley looked down at Koi and extended his arm as if telling him to sit. Koi hesitated, then nodded and sat opposite Ariel as he was told. Ashley, as if it were natural, sat next to Koi, draped one arm over Koi’s shoulder, and held the hockey stick in his other hand. As if he would swing it immediately if anyone said anything foolish.

Seeing that, Bill cautiously backed away and perched on the very edge of a seat as far away from Ashley as possible. As if ready to flee at any moment, he measured the distance to the door with his eyes.

Ashley seemed uninterested in his actions, rummaged in the inner pocket of his suit jacket, and pulled out a cigarette. He frowned, put the cigarette in his mouth, then paused before lighting it. He soon took it out of his mouth and put it back in his inner pocket. Koi watched him silently, and then Ashley spoke.

“So, what is it you want to talk about?”

At his usual cold voice, Ariel glanced at Bill. Leaving Bill bewildered, Ariel spoke.

“Bill has no ulterior motives towards Koi. He came to the East because of me.”

Ashley raised an eyebrow. At his questioning gaze, Ariel explained with a reluctant tone.

“He came because he wants to get back together with me. Koi is our mutual friend, so he was just acting as a messenger. You understand now, don’t you? Stop the unnecessary jealousy and tantrums.”

Koi nodded repeatedly at Ariel’s calm persuasion. This should be enough, he thought, but Ashley’s reaction was unexpected.

“How long do you plan to play nanny?”

“What?”

Ariel wasn’t the only one bewildered by the sudden question. In everyone’s gaze, Ashley looked only at Ariel and scoffed.

“Haven’t you played queen bee enough in high school? Don’t you think it’s excessive to keep following your friends around and cleaning up after them?”

“Ash, what are you…”

“So you’re saying.”

Ariel interrupted Koi, who was flustered, and asked.

“You’re displeased and annoyed that Koi comes to me for support whenever something happens to him, right? Then why didn’t you find Koi earlier and build trust so he could rely on you?”

Ashley’s face hardened. Ariel, who had hit a nerve, blurted out mercilessly.

“You have no idea how Koi lived during the 10 years you were apart, do you? He starved and went without sleep to save money. Just to come here to meet you.”

“A-Ariel!”

Why are you saying such things? Koi thought, desperately trying to stop her, but Ariel’s mouth didn’t stop.

“When Koi was working so hard, thinking only of you, all we could do was support him from the side. What were you doing during that time? What did you do while Koi struggled to come to you? You got engaged to a woman from a good family, and you went to pheromone parties, didn’t you? For you, it might have been 10 years of forgetting Koi, but for Koi, it wasn’t. It was 10 years of remembering you and only you. And now, you, who did nothing and pretended not to know, dare to misunderstand and be jealous between Bill and Koi? Without even knowing how we felt watching over Koi?”

Ashley’s face was pale and rigid, still saying nothing.