Lick Me Up If You Can Novel (Completed) - Chapter 8

What do I do now?

He hadn’t imagined that Ashley would abandon his responsibilities so carelessly, so he hadn’t even thought of a Plan B. But now it was time to think.

To be such an irresponsible guy!

Koi felt like crying for a moment, so he tilted his head back and took a deep breath.

He’s probably sick and everything’s a bother. But still, you have to do what you have to do. He should have called and said he couldn’t do it earlier; then I would have had a little more time. Now, how am I supposed to do this alone…

He even felt self-loathing, as if he were the only person in the world who had to finish assignments by the deadline, no matter how sick he was. For brilliant guys like Ashley Miller, this kind of assignment was probably nothing. He wouldn’t care at all if he got a B. If his grades weren’t good enough, he could just build a building for the school and get in.

I hate brilliant guys.

Koi roughly wiped away the tears that had finally welled up. He had no choice. He had to be calm. He was the only one who needed this assignment grade. So, he had to finish it somehow within the deadline.

Once he made up his mind, he became anxious. He would need twice as much time to complete Ashley’s portion. But he couldn’t cut back on his part-time job. The only thing he could cut back on was sleep.

“You can sleep as much as you want when you’re dead.”

Koi repeated to himself, pedaling furiously and sprinting at full speed.

“Wow, Ash! What happened? A cold!”

As expected of a celebrity, Ashley Miller became the center of attention as soon as he arrived at school. The gang, who usually gathered in front of his locker, were more boisterous than usual, eager to talk to Ashley. While kids standing far away were busy taking pictures, Koi silently packed his things and closed his locker door.

To get to the building where his class was, he had to pass through the burly guys blocking the way, but it wasn’t a big problem. For Koi, this kind of crisis was quite amusing.

He flattened himself against the lockers and walked sideways, passing through the narrow gap without asking them to move. In the middle, one guy laughed loudly and slammed the locker Koi had been leaning against, almost causing a huge disaster, but fortunately, Koi narrowly dodged the fist.

Phew, Koi, who had barely overcome the ordeal, rubbed his creaking neck and glanced back. Ashley was still surrounded by the gang, chatting and laughing.

He must have been sick.

His somewhat pale complexion was clear evidence, but Koi had no particular reason to sympathize with him. Because of Ashley, Koi had also stayed up all night for three days and then dozed off at his part-time job, getting a severe scolding.

Koi turned his head again and walked towards the classroom building. From behind him, he could hear the loud laughter of the ice hockey team, including Ashley.

“I will now announce the grades for the last assignment.”

At Ms. Martinez’s words, Koi tensed up. All his attention was focused on her next words when she pushed up her glasses and said,

“Everyone worked hard, didn’t they? Of course, there were a few who just winged it, but. Oh, Dixon, I’m not talking about you, don’t worry. When I see your assignment, I can tell how hard you worked.”

The children burst into laughter, looking at Dixon. Dixon, who had been joking with the guy next to him, also laughed along. Of course, Koi didn’t laugh. There probably wasn’t anyone who just winged it if they were taking an AP class. Ashley’s approach was unexpected, but no one would blame him for not being serious. He had plenty of other ways to make up for any lacking grades.

Only people like me struggle like this.

Just as he felt a bit self-deprecating, Ms. Martinez called out names.

“Connor Niles, Ashley Miller.”

“Yes!”

Koi, who almost stood up unconsciously, managed to keep his rear glued to the seat and raised his hand. Ashley also raised his hand, but his expression was clearly bored. Of course. He hadn’t contributed even a single letter to the assignment, let alone helped.

Koi, tense, stared only at Ms. Martinez’s mouth. She looked away from the paper with the grades and smiled at Koi.

“You worked hard. You two got the highest score. I’d give you even more if there were grades above A+.”

Of course!

To Koi, whose eyes sparkled, Ms. Martinez nodded with a trusting smile. Koi was so happy that his lips naturally curved into a bright smile. He did it. It was tough, but he did it anyway!

There were countless times when he had struggled immensely only to get terrible results. But this time, the desired outcome followed. Could there be anything more joyful than this?

He suppressed the urge to scream and covered his mouth with both hands. Ms. Martinez continued to call out students’ names and announce grades, but no other sound reached his ears as he gasped for breath, reveling in his joy.

In his world, only he existed. No sound could be heard or felt.

The same went for Ashley’s gaze, who was looking back at him with a strange expression.

“Don’t doze off today, watch carefully, okay?”

The owner sternly scolded him, pointing to a corner of the ceiling. After checking the CCTV that was focused on Koi standing in front of the counter, the owner gave him one more sharp look and then left.

Left alone in the store, Koi let out a deep sigh. The joy of the assignment being resolved lasted only a fleeting moment. What followed was an immense wave of sleepiness.

“Ugh, haaam.”

As soon as he was alone, he stretched out a yawn, wiped away the tears in his eyes, and looked around the store. The store, which sold snacks and miscellaneous goods, had no customers today. Thinking it was good timing, he took out his assignment, but his eyes were blurry, and his eyelids kept drooping.

“Ah, really.”

He deliberately spoke out loud and rubbed his eyes hard, but it didn’t have much effect. This won’t do, after all. I should go wash my face with cold water, he thought, and just as he turned away from the counter,

The bell jingled, and the door opened. Of all times, he thought, and at the same time felt relieved that the timing was at least somewhat right. When he casually looked up and saw the customer who had entered, Koi was momentarily flustered and froze.

It was Nelson and his gang.

He wanted to act nonchalant, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. Seeing Koi frozen as if by reflex, Nelson grinned.

“Hey, where are you going? Is it okay for a part-timer to just leave their post?”

The gang began to laugh and chatter as if they had been waiting for this.

“Wow, the owner must have some guts to leave the store to Koi Niles!”

“Doesn’t that mean he trusts our Koi Niles that much? Amazing, Mr. Niles.”

“You pathetic loser, what can you even do here?”

Following the burst of laughter, one guy poked Koi’s forehead with his fingertip and pushed him. Koi stumbled backward and immediately bumped into another guy. The guy then shoved Koi with a curse.

“Damn it, you idiot, where are you trying to rub yourself?”

“Ugh, the smell. Look at this guy, he smells, aren’t you going to get it on you?”

“Damn it, hey, what are you going to do? Come here, smell it, smell it. Ah, damn, my nose is going to rot.”

The last guy grabbed the back of Koi’s head and pressed down, as if to shove him to the floor. Koi desperately tried not to fall, but he couldn’t prevent his body from bending in half and his head dangerously bobbing.

“No, stop it. Stop!”

Koi cried out urgently, but the only response was ridicule. While Koi was being bullied, Nelson opened the refrigerator, rummaged for drinks, and then arbitrarily pulled out a beer and threw it to the guy standing behind him. The guy, who had caught it with both hands in a daze, grumbled unfairly,

“Hey, how am I supposed to drink this if you throw it?”

“Like this.”

Nelson ostentatiously shook the beer can vigorously, then extended his arm as far as he could and opened the beer he had just received.

“No, don’t!”

Koi cried out urgently, but of course, he didn’t stop. The moment he pulled the pull-tab ostentatiously, white foam shot up in a straight line.

“Whoa!”

“Damn it, what the hell?”

“Ah, that crazy bastard!”

Shouts of protest mixed with laughter from all directions. Koi’s vision went black. The beer, which had left a brown stain on the ceiling, only subsided after soaking Nelson’s hand. Only then did Nelson bring the can to his mouth, take a big gulp, and then make a disgusted sound, grumbling,

“Less than half left, damn it.”

Of course. Half of it had hit the ceiling and spilled down, scattering across the floor along with the displayed items.

But it was too early for Koi to feel despair. Nelson opened the refrigerator again and began stuffing several beers into his pockets.