L*ck Me If You Can-Chapter 49

“Mmm-mmm-mmm, mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm.”

Humming to himself as he organized the display shelf, Koi caught the suspicious gaze of a man inside the store—a customer and a friend of the store owner.

“Something good happen today?”

“Sorry? No, why?”

The man, arms crossed, uncrossed one hand and pointed at Koi’s face.

“You’ve been smiling. Even humming a tune.”

“Me?”

“Yeah.”

The man gave Koi a once-over, then fixed a suspicious gaze on his face. Like he was up to something. But Koi just tilted his head with a bright smile and a puzzled look, then went right back to humming and doing his work. The man kept watching him with clear disapproval.

Ten minutes left.

Koi glanced at the clock and barely stopped himself from hopping in excitement. Not once had he ever closed the store even a minute early—in fact, he usually worked overtime. On weekdays, the store closed at 10 p.m., but between closing up, cleaning, and taking out the trash, it always took at least another hour.

If he tried to start cleaning early, someone always showed up right before closing to mess things up again or dump more trash. Plus, whenever he was caught tidying up early, he got scolded for making customers feel unwelcome, so he had no choice but to work right up to the very last minute before wrapping up.

These days, thanks to figure skating practice, he didn’t work weekday shifts. But on Saturdays, he had to clean and take out all the trash he hadn’t done the night before, which meant arriving at least an hour early.

Of course, there was no extra pay for any of this, but Koi quietly did whatever the owner asked. Just being able to have a part-time job at all was something he was grateful for.

Five minutes left.

He was about to see Ashley.

Unable to contain his excitement, his ears perked up.

“Did you take your college entrance exams?”

The customer suddenly started talking to him. Koi paused and mumbled.

“Ah, yeah... kind of...”

“Yeah? What score did you get?”

“...Not that great.”

He tried to brush it off, but the man wasn’t letting it go.

“I asked how much you got.”

“Uh...”

Koi was always helpless when people pressed him like this. In the end, he shrank back and answered honestly. The man’s stern, glaring expression softened immediately.

“I see. So you really didn’t do well.”

The man—who was the store owner’s friend—had a son in the same grade as Koi. He often dropped by and compared the two, always nitpicking at Koi. It wasn’t always like that. At first, he just ignored Koi completely. But when he happened to find out that Koi was in the same grade as his son and had better grades, his attitude flipped.

He started out subtly fishing for Koi’s test scores and study habits, but before long, he began making snide remarks outright. Getting asked about his scores like this was common. If Koi didn’t answer, the man would just stick around and keep pestering him until he gave in.

Now, clearly in a good mood—maybe because his son did better than Koi this time—the man placed his items on the counter. Koi turned quickly from the shelf he was organizing and headed over when—

The bell above the door jingled. A cool breeze swept in, and Koi instinctively turned his head. “Oh,” he murmured, freezing in place.

The customer at the counter also went wide-eyed.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

The man who entered was massive. He had to duck to get through the doorway, and once he stood up straight, it felt like the small shop was completely filled by his presence.

The customer craned his neck to look up at the guy’s face, but the man ignored him and scanned the store before locking eyes on something—or someone.

Still stunned, Koi finally called out his name.

“Ash?”

Ashley took off his sunglasses and smiled.

“Koi.”

The customer immediately turned to look between Ashley and Koi, completely thrown off. Like it never even occurred to him that Koi might have a friend like that. But Ashley didn’t care in the slightest. He stepped forward without hesitation and strode confidently over to Koi.

“Store’s about to close, right? I came to pick you up.”

“Uh, yeah, but...”

There were still two minutes left. Ashley followed Koi’s gaze to the clock on the wall and grinned.

“Close enough. I’ll wait.”

“Uh, okay.”

Koi nodded and looked up at him. He couldn’t stop the smile spreading across his face.

“Thanks. Just wait a little bit, okay?”

“Sure.”

Ashley answered easily. Koi turned and hurried back to the register. The customer, still standing there and staring, finally spoke.

“Who’s that? You know him?”

“Sorry? Oh. Yeah.”

Koi answered without thinking—but then his chest swelled with emotion. Before saying anything else, he had to take a deep breath.

“He’s my friend.”

“What? Friend?”

The customer looked visibly rattled and glanced back at Ashley. Ashley had one hand in his pocket, looking casually over the display Koi had been organizing. Just then, he looked up and made eye contact with the customer. The man flinched and immediately turned away in a panic.

“G-Geez, he’s huge. Is he in the same grade as you?”

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“Yeah. He’s the captain of our school’s ice hockey team.”

“What...”

Koi held out the bagged items, but the customer didn’t even °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° try to take it. Instead, he raised his voice.

“That’s him? Ashley Miller? The one who got a perfect score on the college entrance exams and takes all AP classes?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Koi nodded proudly.

“He lives in that country house up front.”

“Huh...”

The man sighed heavily, his face a mess of emotions, and listlessly pulled out his card. Once the transaction was done and Koi handed back the card, the customer picked up his bag and headed for the door. Just before stepping out, he paused.

“Hey, kid.”

His voice was suddenly cautious—completely different from how he’d been talking to Koi. Ashley looked up from his phone, and the man pointed outside.

“That car over there... is it yours?”

Ashley followed his hand with a glance and replied,

“No.”

“I-I see...”

The customer visibly relaxed. Then Ashley added lazily,

“It’s my dad’s.”

The man stared at Ashley’s face in silence. Koi, flustered, looked between them. Just then, Ashley’s phone chimed with an alarm.

Ashley glanced at his screen, then turned it toward the man and said,

“Store’s closed, sir.”

Koi quickly checked his own phone—6:00 p.m. on the dot. The man practically bolted out the door, and the store was quiet again, just the two of them left.

Ashley walked straight over to Koi at the counter and asked,

“We’re done now, right? Let’s go.”

“Y-Yeah.”

Koi responded automatically, then looked down. He was still in his grubby work uniform. He could clean up tomorrow morning, but he really wanted to change clothes first. Except now he wouldn’t have the time.

“Why’d you come so early? We were supposed to meet at 6:10.”

“No reason.”

Ashley smiled.

“I just wanted to see you sooner.”

At those words, Koi’s mouth opened on its own and he laughed—soft and giddy. Ashley smiled back, then held out his hand to him.

“Come on, let’s go.”

“Mm.”

Koi was about to take his hand when he hesitated and stopped short. Ashley frowned slightly, and Koi quickly blurted out,

“W-Wait. Can you give me five minutes? I just need to change out of this uniform real quick. I don’t know where we’re going, but I can’t go out looking like this...”

His eyes dropped to the ground, and Ashley’s followed. The uniform was crumpled and stained in places, looking extra pitiful on him.

But this was Koi standing in front of Ashley. Even if Koi were wearing a trash bag, Ashley wouldn’t care. In fact, nothing at all would be even better.

“You look fine to me.”

Koi was touched—but still, he felt he had to be responsible. Ashley only said that because he was a friend. He couldn’t just take it at face value and risk putting Ashley in a tough spot.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, Ashley suddenly leaned down. With no time to react, he grabbed Koi’s arm and buried his face in Koi’s neck. Koi heard the sound of a deep inhale right next to his ear.

Stars burst in front of his eyes and his heart raced wildly. The spot where Ashley’s breath touched his skin burned like he’d been branded. His whole body tingled, and his fingers curled up. Face bright red, barely able to breathe, Koi heard Ashley whisper,

“Ah... you smell.”