By Zephyria 
Watching Koi’s face grow increasingly flushed, Ashley wore a leisurely smile.
“I know you better than you know yourself, Koi.”
Koi’s face turned a vivid red, as if it might burst. As Koi looked around, not knowing what to do, Ashley leaned back casually in the chair and asked.
“Shall we go up now?”
“……Yeah.”
With a burning face, Koi gave a small nod. This time, it was Ashley who found it difficult to hold back. He wanted to push Koi onto the table right then and there and shower him with kisses, but he forced himself to resist, tightening his lips. He had absolutely no intention of showing Koi’s erotic side to a crowd of strangers.
“Let’s go.”
With those words, Ashley stood up. He felt some discomfort due to his already hardened member, but it wasn’t to the point where he couldn’t walk. He had to get to the room before it became fully erect. Ashley wrapped an arm around Koi’s shoulder and left the restaurant. The time spent alone together at the hotel was nothing short of sweet.
“Is it okay for me to be this happy?”
Koi, who had been repeatedly kissing Ashley, suddenly asked. Ashley, who had laid him on the bed and stripped off his pants along with his briefs, smiled as he stroked the bare leg.
“Why do you think it wouldn’t be?”
Koi had no choice but to smile back.
“I love you, Ash.”
As he whispered with deep affection, Ashley smiled and kissed his calf. His lips slowly moved upward, and when they finally reached his face, Koi happily wrapped his arms around his neck.
“Haaaaa.”
Koi let out a deep sigh and leaned his head against the backrest of the seat. The sun had set long ago, and darkness had settled over the road. Ever since he started auditing the classes, he had been this busy every single day. Just as he did when attending, he leaned back in the car heading home, closing his eyes and letting his exhausted body slump.
The fact that such unbelievable luck had come to Koi, who was not even a university student, was entirely thanks to Ashley. Before auditing the classes, Koi spent every day playing with the babies and waiting for Ashley. Those were incredibly happy and rewarding days, but he couldn’t let this immense opportunity slip away. When Koi thought of the children later and felt sorry, Ashley had told him nonchalantly.
〈There are plenty of people to look after the children. I’m there too, and the course is only six months anyway, so you can see the kids plenty after that.〉
Besides, he wouldn’t be in class all day, so there would be enough time to see the children. With his guilt eased, Koi participated in the classes with a much lighter heart. However, Ariel, who heard the news via video call, raised a suspicious question: “A civilian can audit that class? I’ve never heard of that,” before quickly changing her words to, “I must have been mistaken.”
Of course, Koi didn’t know that this was because he had looked so disappointed, as if his world were collapsing, upon hearing Ariel’s comment.
Everything had been perfect up to that point, but the problem came next. Reality was completely different from his imagination. The course content was interesting but difficult, and it required a vast amount of study to understand what he had heard and prepare for the next class.
Of course, that was another kind of joy for Koi, but the problem was that he had absolutely no time to rest. Whenever he sent an email gathering the parts he didn’t understand or questions he had while studying the previous day, the professor would send back an enormous amount of information. Then, Koi would often spend the entire time obsessing over understanding that specific part. Moreover, the volume of the assignments was daunting. He was always short on time because he had to read through stacks of incredibly thick books.
Consequently, Koi barely saw the children’s faces. By the time he barely made it home, the children were already asleep, and in the mornings, he had to leave before they woke up.
He thought he could at least catch his breath on the weekends, but that too was a delusion. As soon as Friday night arrived, Ashley would take him down as if he had been waiting for it, and by the time he barely managed to escape the bed, it was already Sunday evening. Then, he would briefly see the children’s faces and have to go to sleep early for the next day.
Three months had already passed like this. Since half the semester was over, he only had to push through for another half. Happily, classes were canceled for a week starting tomorrow because the professor was attending a conference. Thanks to this, Koi finally had a chance to breathe.
“This is great.”
Koi let out a loud sigh and looked up at the ceiling of the car. He could finally spend time with the children. He wanted to hold them, smell their scent, and shower them with kisses. He had spent far too little time with his precious children. He was going to spend the entire week buried in them!
Just imagining it made him so happy that all the fatigue from the past few months seemed to vanish. Before he knew it, he was humming a tune while looking out the car window. Since he had also been quite neglectful of Ashley, this vacation was even more precious.
Maybe we should all go on a trip together……?
Of course, that was assuming Ashley was okay with it, but his heart still fluttered at the thought. Thinking about the week to come, Koi remained excited throughout the ride.
“Welcome, Al!”
“Koi! How have you been? It’s been so long!”
As soon as Ariel stepped out of the car and saw Koi standing in front of the mansion, she hugged him tightly and asked how he was in a loud voice. Since Koi had also been waiting for his friend to arrive since early morning, he couldn’t hide his excitement and hugged her back.
The first thing Koi planned for the vacation was to invite Ariel to the house. Several years had passed since the wedding, but Koi had never been able to invite her. Above all, he felt sorry because she lived so far away.
However, since it was a rare holiday and Ariel was also on vacation, he gathered his courage and asked her to visit. Fortunately, Ariel accepted the invitation without hesitation, and finally, Koi could introduce the children to her.
“It’s about time Stacey officially met her godmother, too.”
“Right, finally.”
At Koi’s words, Ariel spoke with a mischievous expression. When the twins were born, Koi had asked Bill and Ariel to be their godfather and godmother, respectively. While the formal arrangement was only for the twins, the two had promised to willingly act as guardians for the other children if any emergency ever occurred. Since neither Ashley nor Koi had family, such figures were absolutely necessary. Koi was deeply moved that his precious friends had willingly taken on such a heavy responsibility and had been grateful ever since.
“Starting next year, I’m going to throw big birthday parties. Let me know if you need anything; I’ve already told Ash to let you use the helicopter if necessary.”
Ariel laughed happily at Koi’s reassuring promise.
“Then I can finally attend my goddaughter’s party.”
“Of course! I’m sorry I couldn’t invite you until now, Al. Ash was so worried……”
Koi trailed off, sounding embarrassed. Ariel naturally assumed that Ashley was the cause of all the problems.
There was no way Koi would do something so childish and transparent.
Ashley had likely made a fuss about the risk of kidnapping because the children were young and had unique traits, effectively preventing anyone from coming near Koi. Of course, it was true that Extreme Alphas often faced risks of kidnapping or terrorism, so caution was warranted. However, to Ariel, who saw right through Ashley’s dark ulterior motives, it was simply a matter of feeling disgusted, thinking, ‘Cut it out, you crazy bastard.’
Still, he surprisingly allowed the invitation.
The thought occurred to her, but she immediately denied it. He didn’t “allow” it. He simply gave in to the request because he had no choice. Since Ash would be at the company anyway, Koi would be left alone, and in that case, he figured he could generously overlook a friend visiting for a while.
What a joke, seriously!
Ariel felt a surge of irritation at Ashley’s narrow-minded behavior, but she exercised patience to calm herself. Regardless, wasn’t this precious time spent with Koi after so long? If she didn’t enjoy it to the fullest, there would be no point in having come all this way.
“Here we are.”
Opening the door to the tea room, Koi extended an arm to signal her to enter. Ariel gave a light smile and readily stepped inside.
“Oh my.”