Lick Me Up If You Can Novel (Completed) - Chapter 78

Waaaaaaah…

The deafening cheers hurt his ears. Koi tensed his shoulders, feeling incredibly nervous. Even standing in the hallway, his whole body trembled uncontrollably.

Currently, the girls of the cheerleading team, excluding him, were getting ready to go out onto the rink in their new uniforms. It was for their performance before the start of the second period, after the first period ended.

Although Koi was something of a ‘jalapeno,’ ‘paprika,’ or ‘broccoli’ among them, changing clothes with them was strictly forbidden. So, it was decided that the girls would use the locker room first, and then Koi would change in the second round. Koi waited for them to come out, breathing in and out with a trembling sigh.

This day has really come.

He still couldn’t believe it, even after trying on the clothes the day before. Me, wearing girls’ clothes and cheerleading? And in front of all those people?

“Ugh!”

His face flushed with shame, and a scream burst from his lips. What exactly is college? Is it worth doing all this? Were there really no other options? Really, absolutely not?

He was tearing at his hair when suddenly the door opened, and the cheerleading team girls came out. Ariel, who was leading the way, spoke to Koi, who looked up, clutching his head.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and go in and change.”

“Quickly, no time.”

The vice-captain added another word from the side. Koi hugged his bag of clothes and shuffled his feet, but he couldn’t easily move. The girls pushed him from behind.

“Hurry up, we’re busy!”

“Do it quickly!”

The door slammed shut behind Koi, who was forcibly pushed into the locker room. Koi looked back at the door, but it was already too late to quit. He reluctantly opened his bag, took out the clothes, and the moment he saw the skirt, the blood drained from his face.

Please, let this all be a dream…

He awkwardly put on the shorts, then the deep V-neck shirt without sleeves over them, and finally picked up the skirt.

“Ugh…”

A groan escaped him automatically. Koi grunted as he put on the skirt. But he couldn’t bring himself to look at himself in the mirror, so he squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath.

He had shown it the day before, but at that time, it was just a quick look by the girls from the same club, so it didn’t require this much courage. But this time, it was the real thing.

I’ve worked so hard until now, I can’t let it all go to waste because of one skirt.

He chastised himself, but that didn’t magically create courage. After several deep breaths and calming his chest before going out, he finally managed to grab the doorknob. As he heard the door open, a thought suddenly flashed through Koi’s mind.

If I do this much, shouldn’t they just let me into college instead of just giving me internal scores…?

Ariel and the other girls’ faces came into his shaky vision, blurred by tension. He couldn’t even guess what he looked like. Will it be funny? Of course, it will, right? There’s no way they’ll just overlook it because of all my efforts until now. Really? There’s no way? Can’t they just give me a break?

Koi imagined all sorts of scenarios in his head, holding his breath, and just looked at them. They, too, looked at Koi without a word, then suddenly started cheering and jumping up and down from various places.

“It suits you!”

“You’re so cute, Koi!”

“You’re even cuter than you looked yesterday, the new uniform suits you so well!”

Koi was bewildered, seeing them giggling and happy. Are they making fun of me? Surely that’s what it is, right? Noticing his flushed face and helplessness, the girls vied to encourage him.

“Really, Koi. It suits you, you’re cute!”

“Yeah, no one will know you’re a cross-dressing guy. They’ll just think you’re a skinny, tall girl.”

“Right, right.”

“It’s okay, anyone would just see a skinny girl!”

He didn’t know whether to be happy or sad about this. He didn’t like looking like a girl, nor did he like looking like a guy cross-dressing. Koi felt conflicted, even as he was grateful to the girls who were trying so hard to cheer him up.

He stood there, at a loss, when Ariel, who had been watching him with her arms crossed and a stern face, suddenly reached out her hand. He flinched reflexively, but Ariel didn’t care and stroked one side of Koi’s hair. He just watched, unsure of what was happening, when Ariel frowned and then spat on her palm, pressing his hair down harder.

“It keeps sticking up.”

Ariel mumbled to herself, seemed to ponder for a moment, then suddenly pulled out a pin from her own hair and offered it to Koi.

“Bend your head down a bit.”

“U-uh-huh.”

As he obediently bent his head towards her as instructed, Ariel held the spot where she had just spit with one hand and poked the pin in with the other.

“See? Much better.”

She nodded after checking Koi, who had lifted his head. He felt a small weight on his head. At the unfamiliar sensation, he unconsciously raised his hand, but Ariel firmly grabbed it.

“No, don’t touch it. It’s fixed.”

“Oh, okay.”

After confirming Koi, who had hastily lowered his hand, Ariel turned her head. After looking around at the other cheerleading team members, Ariel spoke.

“Everyone ready?”

“Yes!”

Everyone answered in unison. Ariel, with a more confident expression than ever, nodded and turned around. And with Ariel leading, the cheerleading team girls walked towards the ice rink with determined attitudes. Only Koi, feeling a suffocating tension, awkwardly shuffled at the very back.

Thwack! With a loud sound, the hockey stick sent the puck flying. The puck, flying low, then slid long on the ice. Ashley immediately received it and began to run, breaking through the formation. The cheers from the stands grew even louder. Immediately, the opposing team’s defense stuck to him.

Ashley quickly checked his surroundings, blades clashing loudly. Bill was on his right. He passed it to Bill.

The puck hit his hockey stick with a thwack, as if sticking to it. Bill immediately sped off and passed the puck back to Ashley. As soon as the defense stuck to him, he passed the puck to the left this time, and the guy shot.

“Whoaaaaaaah!”

Cheers erupted as soon as the net rippled. Soon after, a horn sounded, and the Goal Light turned on, signaling the end of the first period. Ashley and the others sighed, catching their breath.

“Isn’t that too easy?”

Bill said as they returned to the dugout. The other guys laughed and replied,

“Why go all the way to the third period? We could end it in the second.”

“Since we’ve come this far, we should at least let them skate their fill.”

“Why, don’t you want them to eat at the restaurant too?”

“Hey, isn’t that too cruel?”

Just as Ashley also burst out laughing at the guys’ words, he saw the cheerleading team girls walking out for their performance. Bill and the other guys cheered “Wow!” and vigorously waved their arms.

“Buffalo! Buffalo!”

To the loud shouts of the ice hockey team gorillas, Ariel and the girls laughed as they passed them. The guys even whistled and gave thumbs up.

“New uniforms?”

“Oh, cute.”

“Cool, they suit you well.”

When the vice-captain lightly touched her lips with her finger and blew a kiss, the ice hockey guys groaned and pretended to collapse, clutching their chests. They really had great chemistry.

Ashley spoke to Ariel, who was leading the way and passing by him.

“Good luck.”

At that, Ariel haughtily lifted her chin and gave a faint smile. Ashley also smiled back.

Ariel went out onto the ice first, followed by the vice-captain, and then the girls in a line. Until then, Ashley was still smiling. Where could Koi be? When he thought that and looked back, he saw someone following the girls, as if being chased, at the very end.

…Huh?

The first thing he saw was the cherry pin in his hair. Next, his long neck, straight shoulders, thin body, and then the ridiculously short skirt came into view. And Ashley saw it. The long, dazzling legs revealed beneath.

“…Wait, Koi!”

Ashley shouted urgently, but it was already too late. The formation was set, and the music began.