Lick Me Up If You Can Novel (Completed) - Chapter 33

Just then, Ashley was coming out of the kitchen.

“Already done?”

“Uh, uh-huh.”

At Ashley’s question, Koi hastily nodded. He was secretly anxious that his actions might look awkward, but Ashley just said, “Really?” and casually moved on.

Was it okay?

Koi didn’t trust his acting skills at all, but since Ashley just let it go, maybe it wasn’t bad. He had no choice but to think that.

“Are you going straight to bed? Or should we drink a little more?”

“I’ll drink more.”

Going to bed already? That’s impossible. As he answered quickly, Ashley smiled. The swelling on one cheek was still there, but the handprints had largely faded. By tomorrow, the swelling would subside, and the handprints would be completely gone.

“You’ll be able to come to school on Monday.”

At Koi’s words, Ashley chuckled.

“I told you I was going.”

Seeing his obvious reaction, Koi felt a mischievous thought. He asked, pretending not to know.

“What if you’re still like this until then?”

Ashley looked down at him.

“Who said I’d be cool no matter what state I was in?”

Koi’s cheeks flushed.

“…Me.”

Ashley nodded as if to confirm and chuckled. As he hurriedly followed behind Ashley, who walked ahead with a relaxed gait, Koi felt strange with his heart secretly pounding.

“Haaah.”

A sigh of satisfaction escaped him. Koi sat side by side with Ashley in the garden, looking at the night sky. Beside them, various kinds of carbonated drinks and snacks were piled high.

“It looks like stars are pouring down.”

Koi said, stretching out his hand.

“It’s my first time seeing such a vast sky.”

“Didn’t you see it last time too?”

At Ashley’s annoying remark, Koi hastily corrected himself.

“You can only see such a vast sky at this mansion.”

No power lines hanging from utility poles crossed the sky, nor was it jaggedly fragmented by occasionally rising buildings. The endlessly vast sky always made his chest feel open.

“It must be easy to see constellations too.”

Koi said, drinking his beverage.

“Do you want to see them?”

At Ashley’s question, Koi turned his head and looked at him.

“Is there any other way to see them besides this?”

Ashley muttered in an indifferent voice.

“I do have a telescope.”

“What? A telescope? An astronomical telescope?”

Ashley, who had flinched and recoiled at the raised voice, answered a beat later.

“Hmm, well.”

“Amazing! Where? Where is it? Second floor? Third floor? Where is it? Can I see it now?”

Koi, who had exclaimed with delight, paused for a moment.

“Sorry, I got too excited.”

Seeing Koi instantly deflate, Ashley chuckled. His ears, which had been moving frantically, soon became still. Ashley suppressed the urge to touch those ears and said.

“It’s not here, it’s at the main house in the east.”

“Ah…”

Koi’s voice, which had been high with excitement, faded. Ashley cleared his throat and asked.

“Do you like stars that much?”

“Yeah,” Koi nodded.

“I wish I could go to an astronomy department. I want to join NASA.”

“NASA?”

“Yeah.”

Koi’s mood quickly changed, and he said excitedly.

“I want to be an astronaut.”

“An astronaut?”

Ashley repeated his words again. Koi nodded again.

“I want to experience that universe directly. How wonderful would that be? A pitch-black universe that goes on endlessly. There, far, far away, that far…”

He stretched out his arm as he spoke. Koi already felt as if he was in the middle of space. The indigo sky surrounding him felt like the universe. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Cold air filled his lungs. Koi felt as if he was submerging into space.

“…Koi!”

Suddenly, Ashley called his name and grabbed his arm. Koi, startled, opened his eyes, which he had kept closed until then, and looked at him.

“Ash?”

Koi called him, bewildered. Ashley’s face was pale, completely drained of color. In the unexpected situation, Koi blinked and cautiously opened his mouth.

“Ash, what’s wrong?”

Ashley, who had been looking at him with a pale face, blinked as if he had come to his senses belatedly.

“…Uh, huh?”

Koi became even more worried at his somewhat dazed reaction.

“Ash, what’s wrong?”

When he called him again, Ashley’s face finally relaxed, and a deep sigh, “Ah,” escaped him.

“Sorry, I was a bit surprised.”

“Why?”

Koi, still not understanding, asked again. Ashley opened his mouth and then closed it again.

“…No.”

Ashley whispered.

“No, nothing. I’m sorry.”

Koi wanted to know why, but Ashley didn’t seem like he would tell him. All he could do was look at Ashley worriedly.

“…Are you okay?”

Seeing that his complexion had somewhat returned, Koi asked. “Yeah,” Ashley nodded.

“I’m okay now.”

Ashley smiled. But it was different from his usual refreshing smile. Koi tried to lighten his mood with a small joke.

“Did you think I was going to go somewhere alone?”

He even laughed aloud, but Ashley didn’t laugh. He didn’t turn away in embarrassment either. He just stared intently at his face.

Ash…?

Koi waited silently, though puzzled. The surroundings were silent. He couldn’t even hear his own breathing.

…Huh?

Ashley tilted his head towards him. A faint, different sound mixed into the endlessly quiet air around his ears. It was the sound of his own heart beating rapidly.

Koi watched Ashley approach with wide eyes. The excitement he had felt until now seemed somewhat dulled. All his senses moved only towards Ashley. His eyes watching him, his ears listening to his sounds, every single hair on his body stood on end, acutely sensitive to his movements.

Koi held his breath. He had no idea what Ashley was going to do. He just watched him get closer.

The time, which was only a few seconds, felt endlessly long to him. He watched him with a quietly pounding heart. Just as he noticed Ashley’s eyelashes were unusually long and dark.

“Gotcha.”

Huh?

At Ashley’s sudden voice, Koi blinked in surprise. A smile appeared on Ashley’s neat face, which came into view, and he raised one hand.

“There was a bug.”

“A b-bug?”

At his stammering, foolish question, Ashley readily nodded. He stood up, holding one hand clenched, and asked.

“Want some ice cream?”

“Huh? Oh.”

Koi, who had been dazed until then, nodded absentmindedly. Ashley smiled sweetly and then turned and walked away with long strides.

Koi remained seated, watching Ashley’s retreating figure. Listening to his frantically pounding heart, which was louder than ever, Koi thought.

I thought he was going to kiss me.

His face belatedly flushed hot.

That was a close call.

Only after he was far enough that Koi’s gaze couldn’t reach him did Ashley finally stop and clutch his chest. Why did I do that? He couldn’t understand it, no matter how much he thought about it. The wind was so nice, the dark sky was clear and bright, and Koi, who was sitting next to him, Koi.

He felt like he was going to leave far away.

“Haah.”

He closed his eyes and let out a trembling sigh. He was such a fool. There’s a limit to how much you can fantasize, how pathetic.

Ashley took rough steps towards the snack bar. As he took out ice cream and drinks within reach, he tried to find the cause of the unpleasant incident that had just happened.

He wasn’t a child having his first romance.

He slammed the refrigerator door shut and then turned around.

After taking a deep breath, Ashley walked towards the garden where Koi was. Koi was sitting with his legs pulled up, hugging them, and looking at the night sky. Ashley readily sat next to him and offered him ice cream.

“Thank you.”

Koi peeled off the spoon attached to the lid and scooped ice cream into his mouth. Cold, sweet vanilla flavor filled his mouth.

It’s delicious.

He couldn’t help but smile brightly, his mouth opening involuntarily. Ashley glanced at him and then turned his head away.

He opened the can and poured about half into a glass. Just as he was about to drink it, he realized he had brought the wrong one. He thought it was root beer, but he had taken the beer next to it. He put down the glass with the pungent smell of alcohol and looked for another drink.

He looked down at the cola he had picked up and was about to drink it when he suddenly saw Koi gulping something down.

“W-wait!”

Ashley, who realized it was the beer he had almost drunk, hastily tried to stop him, but Koi had already finished the entire can.