Lick Me Up If You Can Novel (Completed) - Chapter 43

What was that just now?

Koi curled up on his narrow bed, lost in thought. He had attributed his constantly fluctuating feelings to puberty at the time, but now that he was back home and clear-headed, it felt strange.

If it’s puberty, shouldn’t it happen all the time?

Koi fell into serious contemplation. He had experienced the emotional changes of puberty, which he had only learned about in class, when he was that age. But he hadn’t had the environment to express them, and by enduring and ignoring them, they had just passed by. He could think that they were only now surfacing, but then another question remained.

Why does it only happen when I’m with Ash?

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t find the answer. Moreover, the emotions of puberty should swing between extremes like anger and joy and other feelings, but the only emotion he felt was joy. And that too, only towards Ash.

This is strange. Why is this happening?

Koi turned over with a serious expression. It was still happening now. He could feel his ears twitching just by thinking of Ashley. Koi quickly grabbed his frantically flapping ears. This is the problem, this. He knew that Ashley sometimes stared at his ears. Whenever that happened, his ears were always moving, and by the time he belatedly realized it, Ashley was already smiling.

Ash doesn’t tease me about things like that, though.

Koi felt his face flush and held both ears tightly.

Still, it’s embarrassing.

He had been so bold in telling Ashley he liked him, and now he was this embarrassed. It wasn’t just the act of moving his ears that was embarrassing. It was embarrassing to be caught with his ears reacting so eagerly to Ashley.

Why suddenly?

He thought it was strange himself, but he couldn’t find the cause. Puberty that only reacts to one person—he had never heard of it. They say that many cases involve rebelling against parents or taking out anger on family, but that also didn’t fit Koi’s example.

Is it because he’s a friend?

Koi thought, holding his ears. Isn’t everyone this happy and joyful when they’re with a friend? Come to think of it, Ash also laughed a lot when he was with the ice hockey team guys.

Oh, right, it’s natural because he’s a friend.

As soon as he reached that conclusion, another question arose.

But do friends’ hearts pound like this, and do they get all flustered?

He racked his brain, trying to remember if Ashley or the other guys had ever blushed or seemed embarrassed around each other. Nothing came to mind.

Am I the only one like this?

The question returned to square one. Why, exactly? What’s the problem? Why does my heart pound and why do I get so happy and flustered whenever I see Ash?

Ever since he started getting close to Ashley, Koi would get flustered with joy whenever he saw him. It was so obvious that Ashley had even laughed several times and asked if he liked him that much. Even if his ears hadn’t moved, Ashley would have known. Koi expressed his joy with his whole body.

Each time, Koi answered “yes” without hesitation. There was nothing holding him back. He wasn’t embarrassed either. He had so confidently said he liked him, so why did just recalling those words now make his heart pound and his breathing quicken?

If Ashley were to ask him again if he liked him now, Koi felt he wouldn’t be able to answer like before. Just imagining it made his heart pound and his whole body tingle.

Ugh! He screamed inwardly and curled up, and suddenly Ashley’s face vividly came back to his mind.

Koi.

I like you.

Whoosh, his face flushed, and his skin tingled. In his memory, he was already back to the scene from earlier.

They were facing each other at the snack bar. Ashley’s clear, silver-blue eyes were fixed on Koi. Koi held his breath, waiting for Ashley to speak. Ashley gently stroked Koi’s cheek and whispered with softly smiling lips,

Date me.

“He didn’t say that!”

Koi screamed, pounding the bed. At the same time, the flimsy frame beneath the thin mattress let out a loud creak, and he quickly stopped his hands, rubbing the spot he had hit.

This is strange, too strange.

Even though it was his first time making friends, he could tell. This was too strange a feeling. Is it okay for friends to have feelings like this? And dating? What’s that? That’s something you say to someone you want to be your girlfriend.

“We’re both guys.”

Koi said aloud. His wildly pounding heart gradually slowed. His own voice pulled him back to reality. Right, and. Koi murmured softly.

“Ash likes someone.”

He relaxed his shoulders and rested his head on the mattress. The tumultuous pounding was gone, and his mood sank. Koi kept thinking.

Once he confesses to that person, he won’t have time to hang out with me anymore.

Thinking that made him feel so lonely. Suddenly, he remembered Ashley with Ariel.

Why did I really run away so frantically then?

He was back to square one, but his heart felt heavier. Koi turned to the other side and fell back into thought. He was experiencing all sorts of emotions by himself, from joy to sadness, but no answer came. One thing was certain: it was all because of Ashley.

What if this isn’t a feeling friends feel for each other?

He had no idea what his feelings were. But he had no one to consult about this. Ashley was his first and only friend, so he couldn’t consult him, could he?

What if he finds it disgusting and hates me?

If this wasn’t a normal feeling, he might despise Koi. Koi absolutely wanted to avoid Ashley hating him. But to do that, he needed to know the cause.

For someone like Koi, who had no other friends and no suitable adults around to consult, there was a very good system available for situations like this. Koi jumped up and took out his cell phone.

On the site students mainly used for homework, all sorts of questions seeking answers were posted. There were also many trivial 고민 (worries/concerns) about things like parents’ divorce or relationship problems. For Koi now, it was the most necessary place.

He immediately went to the site and pondered for a moment before posting his question. What should I write?

Hello. I’m Connor Niles from Buffalo High School.

Koi, who had written that far, was startled and hastily deleted what he had written. Crazy, crazy! Just go to the sports field and make a billboard advertising “Connor Niles’ heart goes crazy whenever he sees Ashley Miller, what should I do?!”

It’s a good thing I don’t have money.

Koi thought, clutching his still pounding chest. If he had money, he might actually have done something that crazy. For the first time, he was grateful for being poor.

“Phew.”

After taking a deep breath, he began to carefully compose his question again. It was somehow much harder than writing the countless assignments and essays he had struggled with until now. Could simply leaving a question on a bulletin board be this difficult? Koi revised and revised, read it aloud, and revised again several times before finally completing the post.

I’m a high school male student. I recently made a friend, and he’s a really cool kid. He’s always kind and treats me very well. He’s the captain of the ice hockey team and incredibly handsome. He’s the most popular kid in school, but he doesn’t brag. Plus, he’s smart and takes AP classes in all subjects. He also got a perfect score on his college entrance exam.

I really like him. But lately, strangely, whenever I see him, my heart pounds and my face flushes. I don’t think it’s puberty, so why am I like this? Is it possible to have this kind of reaction to just a friend? I’m new to making friends, so I don’t know. Can anyone tell me?

Let’s remove the part about being the ice hockey team captain.

Koi read the post aloud and was about to touch the screen to edit it when.

[Registered]

“Huh? Huh, huh?”

Koi’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment. Oops! As soon as he realized what had happened, he let out a startled squeak.

“Ed-edit, no, de-delete.”

Koi frantically looked around for the button. He quickly pressed the delete button and entered his password.

[Incorrect password]

“What? What?”

Flustered, he slowly pressed numbers and letters alternately this time. His fingers trembled, and his breathing quickened.

[Incorrect password]

“Aargh!”

Finally, Koi clutched his head and screamed. What do I do, what do I do! As he kept entering passwords that came to mind, his face a tearful mess, the view count continued to rise.