Lick Me Up If You Can Novel (Completed) - Chapter 58

Gulp, gulp, gulp.

He had cried so much that his sobs wouldn’t easily stop. The tears had finally subsided, but his breath continued to hitch, so Koi held the bicycle handlebars with both hands, panting, and slowly moved forward.

Haaah…

As he let out a trembling sigh, tears he thought had stopped streamed down once more. Koi stopped there and rubbed his eyes with his arm. Sniff, he inhaled through his nose, but it was completely blocked, and he couldn’t breathe. He had no choice but to draw air into his parched mouth again when—

“Oh my, what a mess you are?”

At the high-pitched voice, Koi flinched. It took him a few seconds to turn his head and confirm who it was. At his slow turn, the other person gasped and asked in an even higher voice.

“Good heavens, what happened? Did you quit school and decide to become a homeless person?”

Koi stared blankly at Ariel, who was approaching. Buffalo High’s queen was perfect even outside of school. As she always did during cheerleading practice, she had her hair tied high in a ponytail and wore a tight pink tracksuit with white sneakers. Ariel, who seemed to have been jogging, removed one earbud from her ear and approached Koi, her face visibly contorting as she saw his swollen, dirt- and dust-covered, messy face.

“Don’t tell me, did those ice hockey gorillas beat you up?”

“Ah, no.”

Koi flinched and hastily shook his head.

“Absolutely not, they have nothing to do with it, cough.”

His voice, thick and hoarse, came out, and he coughed hastily. Ariel frowned, then took out a water bottle from her waist and held it out.

“Drink, it’s new.”

As Koi hesitated, she shook the bottle, urging him.

“Tha-thanks.”

He barely managed to speak between sobs, then took the bottle, opened the cap, and carefully brought it to his lips. Ariel watched Koi drink, her arms crossed.

“I drank well.”

As he wiped his mouth and held out the half-empty water bottle, Ariel shook her head.

“It’s fine, you keep it.”

“Oh, uh, okay.”

Ariel watched Koi, who hesitantly took the bottle back, with a frown, then tilted her head to one side and said,

“Well, those gorilla guys, despite their size, are soft-hearted and can’t really hit anyone.”

She mumbled to herself, but her voice was loud enough for Koi to hear. However, she didn’t seem to care whether anyone heard or not. When Koi sniffled, Ariel looked at him again at the sound and furrowed her brows.

“Then what happened to you to look like that?”

“…Just.”

Koi stammered through his remaining sobs.

“Just, I, fell, by myself. The wheel, slipped.”

At his words, Ariel looked at the bicycle next to Koi and let out a disgusted “Oh.”

“Does that thing even roll? Or are you going to throw it away right now?”

“Ah, no.”

Koi hastily shook his head.

“I’m still using it. It’s still fine, I think I can use it for another year.”

“If you’re still alive in a year, that is.”

Ariel pointed out firmly.

“If you keep riding that bike, you’ll break your neck and die soon.”

“No, that’s not true.”

“That’s not trueee.”

Ariel, who had mocked Koi’s tone, swept her gaze over his entire body once, then asked.

“Where do you live?”

“Huh? Oh, over there, behind Birdseye…”

As Koi stammered and pointed in one direction, Ariel murmured, “Hmm,” and fell into thought for a moment. Koi subtly watched her, wondering if he could finally say he was leaving.

Ariel’s words weren’t wrong. Perhaps the wheels were damaged from rolling down the slope, because not only could he not ride it, but even holding the handlebars, the bike kept wobbling, unable to maintain its balance. There was still a lot of time until his father would arrive, but if he had to drag this old bike home, he might not arrive until dawn. Koi was forcing himself to endure the urge to just collapse and lie down, and because of that, he only wanted to part with Ariel as soon as possible and get home a little faster.

“Um…”

Just as he managed to open his mouth, Ariel suddenly cut him off.

“Can’t be helped, follow me.”

“Huh? Huh?”

He was flustered by the sudden words, but Ariel, who had already turned around, looked at him and said,

“Follow me, quickly. Hurry.”

And Ariel put her earphones back in and started running. Koi stood there for a moment, watching her receding back. What should I do? Even if I go hard now, I’ll be late. Where on earth is she going? Why? I just want to rest…

But he didn’t have the courage to ignore Ariel’s words and leave. As he stood there, unable to move, Ariel, who had run quite a distance, came back again.

“What are you doing? I told you to hurry up.”

“Um, excuse me… I was thinking of going home now…”

When he spoke bravely, Ariel jogged in place and pointed out,

“It’ll take 20 minutes to get to Birdseye even by bike, and you’re going to walk, dragging that? Are you really going to become a homeless person?”

“No, that’s not it, but…”

To Koi, who was flustered and couldn’t finish his sentence, Ariel continued,

“Come on, we don’t have time to waste like this.”

She checked her wrist-watch and said,

“Our house is about 10 minutes away. Just come.”

Ariel started running again and shouted,

“If you don’t follow quickly, you’ll really end up spending the night on the street!”

At her warning shout, Koi flinched and tightened his grip on the handlebars. Ariel was gone in an instant. He couldn’t understand the situation at all, but Koi had no choice but to get on his bike and walk in the direction she had disappeared.

After that, Ariel came back three or four more times. Koi apologized to her, but Ariel lightly brushed it off, saying, “It’s fine.”

“Anyway, I have to run this much. You just hurry up and follow.”

And she ran off again. Koi panted, chasing after her diligently.

The place Ariel headed to was a not-too-distant residential area. On the dark street, houses of different shapes stood at regular intervals, most of them dark, making the surroundings eerie and quiet.

Koi cautiously walked through the quiet residential area, following the sparsely lit streetlights. The unpleasant creaking of his old bicycle echoed particularly loudly.

Ah.

He had been looking around for Ariel’s trace when he soon found a garage door opening at a house not far away. He stopped, startled by the pouring light, and Ariel emerged from inside.

“Come this way, quickly.”

Seeing Koi standing blankly, Ariel waved her arm. Koi hastily quickened his tired steps, saying, “Uh, uh,” and approached her.

There were two cars in the garage, and Ariel’s car was parked on the street in front of the house. As instructed, Koi dragged his bicycle into the garage, and Ariel snatched it, leaned it against the wall, and then pointed to the other side.

“Use that one.”

“Huh?”

He looked in the direction she pointed, puzzled, and saw a well-maintained bicycle. It wasn’t brand new, but compared to Koi’s, it was an incomparably excellent product. To Koi, who was blinking in bewilderment, Ariel pulled the bicycle closer and showed it to him, saying,

“I rode this before I got my license, and it’s still usable. It’s been a while since I used it, but there’s no problem with its performance. My dad checked it when he was going to sell it at a garage sale, so you can trust it.”

“Huh?”

Koi repeated the same exclamation once more. What was happening all of a sudden? She’s just giving me such a good bike? Why?

To Koi, who was blinking in a daze, Ariel urged him.

“Come on, try it quickly. Let’s see if it’s okay. Hurry.”

“Oh, uh-uh…”

Koi, practically pushed by Ariel, dragged the bicycle out and got on it in front of her. At first, it wobbled in a zigzag, but he soon collected himself and found his balance, and the bicycle moved surprisingly smoothly.

Wow.

Koi’s eyes widened unconsciously, and he let out an exclamation. He had been laboriously riding an old bicycle for over 10 years, constantly dealing with flat tires, but the bicycle Ariel gave him was on a different level. How could it go so fast and easily?

“Done?”

When he returned to the starting position, Ariel, who had been watching, asked. Koi nodded, his face flushed.

“Uh, uh-huh. B-but really? Are you giving this to me? Just like that?”

“Yes.”

Before Koi could ask why, Ariel offered the answer first.

“If you keep riding that old bike and get into another accident, no one will want to come to our club. Compared to that, it’s cheap.”

“Ah.”

Koi understood immediately. But even so, it was excessive kindness. The thought that Ariel cared so much about the cheerleading team made him ashamed of himself, who had only joined because of his grades, and after much deliberation, reluctantly submitted his application.

“…Thank you.”

He spoke with difficulty, but Ariel replied casually.

“It’s fine, this is nothing.”

And she crossed her arms and added confidently,

“Even if you had jalapeños between your legs, since you’ve joined our team, it’s only natural for us to help each other.”