L*ck Me If You Can-Chapter 116

"You don't have to answer right away."

Ashley was the first to speak, seeing the confusion written all over Koi's face.

"Just think about it for now. Of course, if you’ve got other plans in mind, I’ll respect that. But I’d like you to at least consider the direction I mentioned."

He added more seriously than ever before,

"Because after graduation, I want to live with you."

Koi hesitated for a moment, then gave a small nod.

"I’ll think about it."

"Okay."

Ashley smiled softly and changed the subject.

"We’re gonna be late for class. Let’s go."

"Yeah."

Koi gave the same answer as before, then hurried to match Ashley’s pace. But his mind was still a tangled mess.

*

The East Coast, huh.

Even lying in bed, trying to sleep, Koi couldn’t stop thinking about it.

He had never imagined leaving the place he’d lived all his life. Even after falling for Ashley, the most he had imagined was a long-distance relationship. The idea of actually following him somewhere had never once crossed his mind.

When did Ash start thinking about all this?

All Koi had thought about was living together. Ashley, on the other hand, had already mentioned marriage. Maybe it really was something he’d been thinking about from the beginning.

Koi rolled over to the other side, blinking slowly with a serious look.

Was that really the only way to stay with Ash...?

Just thinking about leaving this place made his mind go blank. It wasn’t because he liked this narrow, old motorhome. It was the fear of abandoning the only place he’d ever known, the fear of starting over somewhere unfamiliar, the lack of courage to take that step.

<I’ll take care of you.>

Ashley’s face flickered in his mind, and Koi let out a quiet sigh without meaning to. Ashley had been born and raised on the East Coast. He’d just be going back to where he belonged. There was a good chance he couldn’t fully understand the kind of fear Koi was grappling with.

Did Ash feel that way when he first came here?

The thought suddenly came to Koi. Ashley had been even younger when he first arrived. What must it have felt like, coming alone to a strange place and living there?

...Was something that serious going on back then?

As his thoughts reached that point, the motorhome door rattled. Koi flinched and squeezed his eyes shut, pretending to sleep. The door opened, and footsteps followed. Koi curled up tightly, his ears perked for every sound.

Lately, his father had been drinking less. But now he spent more time sitting silently in his chair under the dim light, lost in thought.

Tonight was no different. The faint lamp flicked on, and he dropped heavily into the worn dining chair, letting out a deep sigh. Koi tensed up instinctively. He hadn’t seen his father’s face in a while, but that didn’t matter. Drunk or not, seeing Koi always seemed to piss him off—and it never ended well.

So it was fine.

Koi kept his eyes shut tightly, forcing himself to sleep. The night dragged on, long and silent, filled only with his father’s sighs.

*

"Hey."

"Hey."

As usual, Ashley was waiting in the same spot, and Koi ran up to him, lifting his head with a quiet greeting.

Ashley pulled him into a hug and kissed him before replying in kind. On the drive to school, they chatted about their usual, everyday stuff. The proposal Ashley had made the day before was completely ignored, as if it had never happened. But in truth, both of them were thinking about the same thing.

When would Koi give him an answer?

When should I give him an answer?

Ashley knew it wasn’t an easy decision to leave behind everything you’d ever known. He himself had his reasons, and the conditions aligned. But Koi would have to abandon everything familiar and take a leap of faith, trusting only Ashley. That wasn’t a choice anyone could make lightly.

Even so, Ashley believed that Koi would eventually say yes. It was the only way they wouldn’t be separated—and he was sure Koi felt the same. So he decided not to rush him, and instead to wait patiently for his answer.

"Yo, Ash! Koi!"

As they got out of the car, one of the guys from the hockey team spotted them first and waved. After greeting Ashley, he gave Koi a nod as well and started walking beside them. Before long, Bill joined them, and then another guy jumped in, and just like that, the usual group had formed.

Even as they walked, Ashley kept his arm around Koi’s shoulders. The others noticed but said nothing. And Koi, without even realizing it, blended in naturally among them.

The morning passed quickly as usual. As soon as lunchtime hit and they gathered in the cafeteria, one of the guys spoke up.

"Did you get any college pamphlets yet?"

Another guy replied.

"A few showed up. I’m sure more will come."

"Did you miss any requirements? My counselor told me I should get more volunteer hours in."

"You should’ve done that ages ago."

"I thought I had enough, damn it."

Listening to the conversation, Koi felt strangely out of place. College counseling was something he couldn’t even dream of. He had to look up schools on his own and do all the legwork himself. That meant he had to move faster and be more proactive than anyone else.

"Should’ve applied early decision."

"Didn’t have the chance. Sometimes it’s better to be careful, anyway."

"Ash, why didn’t you apply early? You had the qualifications, didn’t you? Didn’t your counselor bring it up? You’re doing counseling, right?"

Koi was curious too. Ashley had mentioned checking out colleges on the East Coast, so surely he was doing something in that direction. He said he was going to his dad’s alma mater—so his path must be set. Maybe he’d already applied?

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As Koi quietly waited for an answer, Bill, sitting next to him, let out a soft groan.

Turning to look, he saw a wilted piece of lettuce stuck to the hamburger patty. The big guy was struggling to peel the tiny leaf off the center of the meat. Seeing that, Koi couldn’t hold it in.

"Pfft."

He burst into a small laugh.

Ashley turned his head at the sound, and so did Bill. Flustered by their sudden attention, Koi blushed and tried to explain.

"Ah, uh, there was something on your face."

"On my face?"

Bill asked, and Koi nodded, gesturing to one side of his mouth. Bill, holding his burger in one hand, wiped at his mouth with the other.

But that turned out to be a big mistake. The hand he’d been using to fight with the lettuce still had burger sauce on it—and now even more of it ended up smeared across his mouth. The rest of the guys erupted with laughter.

"What are you doing, man?"

"You idiot! Dumbass!"

The group laughed and clapped like crazy, and Ashley joined in. But just as he was about to say something else, his eyes landed on Koi’s face—Koi, who was looking at Bill with a bright, sunny smile.

In that brief, fleeting moment, Ashley felt a strange, cold chill. And sure enough, his gut feeling was right. Koi reached out and wiped the corner of Bill’s mouth with his thumb.

"There, it’s all good now."

Koi smiled again as he said it. And Bill, smiling back, said,

"Thanks, Koi. You’re such an angel."

Then he muttered something about how "those gorilla idiots are never any help..." but Ashley didn’t hear a word of it.

"Ash?"

Koi turned toward him and called his name, confused. But Ashley didn’t respond. He was frozen in place, completely silent. Koi, a little unsettled, called again.

"Ash, what’s wrong?"

When he nervously repeated his name, Ashley suddenly turned to him. The moment their eyes met, Koi flinched, shrinking slightly. Ashley was glaring at him—with a sharp, furious look in his eyes.

"Um..."

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Koi tried to say something, but Ashley abruptly stood up. And it wasn’t just Koi who was caught off guard.

The others stared with wide eyes, not understanding what was going on, ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ as Ashley grabbed Koi’s arm.

"Come with me."

"Uh—what?"

Koi got up in a daze and followed him. The rest of the guys just watched in stunned silence as Koi was dragged off by Ashley.

"...Dude, what just happened?"

One of them asked, and Bill, equally stunned, muttered back,

"I don’t know."

He looked completely lost.

"I just wiped something off his face, that’s all..."

"Ash likes Koi, right?"

"Yeah, but... he’s seriously mad over that?"

"Ash is chill, though. That’s not like him."

The group looked at each other in confusion. None of them had the slightest idea what had just happened.