By Zephyria Koi stole glances at Ashley with a worried heart. He didn’t know what he was thinking, so it was difficult to start a conversation. Ashley, who had been watching Koi carefully, finally opened his mouth after a long time.
“You tried to come here for ten years? …Since then?”
His voice was absurdly quiet. Koi unconsciously swallowed hard and avoided his gaze at the calm look directed at him. Ashley, confirming the answer with that reaction, fell silent again.
<Ash.>
The image of a boy with a much younger face calling his name and smiling flickered in his vision. The boy who always ran towards him, the thin, small body that came into his arms, even the shyly touching lips.
<I like you, Ash.>
Ha, a futile breath flowed from his lips. Ashley opened his mouth between a sigh and a self-deprecating breath.
“So?”
A cold air descended. In everyone’s gaze, Ashley turned his head to Koi. When their eyes met, he narrowed his eyes and twisted his lips into a sneer.
“You weren’t there when I needed you most.”
In an instant, the blood drained from Koi’s face. Watching Koi turn pale, Ashley continued slowly, still wearing a sneer.
“How long do you think I waited for you? How do you think I felt, sitting alone at that train station, just waiting for you to come?”
Chuckling, he made a sound of laughter. Of course, Ashley was the only one laughing. He shook his shoulders as if he couldn’t stand it, and then asked in a voice still full of mockery.
“Aren’t you too late?”
“This son of a bitch, really.”
“Ariel, Ariel!”
Koi, who hurriedly stopped Ariel from getting up with a fist, said hastily.
“Ashley is right. It’s all my own doing that I came here, and it has nothing to do with Ashley. It’s not a problem that Ashley has to take responsibility for or care about.”
Ariel looked at Koi in disbelief, then turned his gaze back to Ashley.
“So, does it mean nothing to you that Koi has been keeping you in his heart all this time?”
At Ariel’s words, Ashley only stared at Koi and did not answer immediately. Ashley slowly opened his mouth at the trembling eyes that were anxiously looking at him.
“Didn’t I say? It doesn’t matter whether Koi likes me or not.”
Koi’s face turned pale, and sparks flew from Ariel’s eyes.
“You stubborn son of a bitch!”
“Ariel!”
Koi shouted urgently, but Ariel was faster. The fist of the former amateur boxing champion blew away the jaw of the former high school ice hockey MVP. Ashley staggered greatly, Koi covered his mouth, and Bill clenched his fist and shouted ‘Yes!’ silently.
But that moment was not long. Ashley’s eyes turned black, and pheromones boiled from his whole body.
“This…”
Ashley’s forehead, who jumped up, was veined, but he hesitated the moment he saw the opponent standing in front of him, glaring at him. Ariel was a woman, and Koi was Koi. His only remaining option was Bill.
“Wait, this is too much! I didn’t do anything!”
Bill screamed in horror when he saw Ashley immediately grab his hockey stick and try to attack him. He desperately protested, but Ashley’s decision did not change. At that moment, Bill rushed towards his savior.
“Koi, save me!”
Ashley narrowly changed the direction of the stick due to Bill’s sudden action of grabbing Koi urgently and shoving his large body behind him while shouting. The stick, which made a close swing, caused a fierce wind, and Koi’s hair fluttered lightly. Ashley, who hurriedly withdrew the stick, reached out and snatched Koi. Koi, who had been trying to cover Bill in confusion, staggered and was dragged away, and Ashley immediately hugged his body and urged him with a pale face.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“Uh, uh-huh. I’m okay. Don’t worry.”
Koi nodded in a daze, but Ashley still groped all over his body and tried to check again and again. Only after he was sure that there was nothing wrong with Koi did he finally let out a sigh of relief, and immediately hugged Koi and threw him at Bill.
“You son of a bitch, what are you doing now? Using Koi as a shield, are you crazy?”
Bill, who had been watching the couple’s lovey-dovey behavior with a dumbfounded face until then, belatedly burst into anger.
“Then would I hide behind Ariel? Who else is here to protect me but Koi? You’re the crazy one! Why are you attacking me unconditionally!”
“Koi is pregnant!”
Silence followed Ashley’s shout. Ariel also widened his eyes in surprise, and Bill’s anger also evaporated. The two simultaneously turned their gaze to Koi, who was deeply buried in Ashley’s arms. Bill was the first to speak.
“What are you talking about? Koi is pregnant?”
“Don’t lie, you scammer.”
Neither Bill nor Ariel believed it. But thanks to that, Ashley calmed down his anger. Ashley’s eyes slowly returned to their usual purple color, and his pheromones also subsided. A faint smile appeared on his lips. As if he couldn’t bear to be happy just thinking about it.
“Koi is pregnant. Of course, it’s my child.”
Ariel’s eyes turned to Koi this time. Koi avoided his gaze at the questioning look asking if it was true. Ariel’s anger exploded at the most definite evidence.
“You son of a bitch, how dare you get Koi pregnant?”
He wanted to swing his fist at Ashley again, but he couldn’t because of Koi. Bill flinched for a moment, but Ariel slammed his fist on the wooden table in front of him instead of Bill’s stomach. A loud bang echoed, and Ariel glared at Ashley, grinding his teeth.
“Koi, get out of the way. I need to hit that bastard one more time.”
“Wa, wait, Ariel. Don’t do that, I’m okay.”
Koi hurriedly stopped her, but nothing changed. Bill, still bewildered, intervened at the sight of the two glaring at each other as if they were about to eat each other with Koi in between.
“What do you mean Koi is pregnant? Koi is a beta, right?”
“You be quiet, Bill.”
Ariel spat out, still glaring at Ashley. Behind Bill, who had no choice but to shrink back again, Ariel asked fiercely as if he was about to pounce.
“So what are you going to do? You’re not saying you’re going to get Koi pregnant and abandon him now, are you?”
Of course, Ariel would not stand still if that happened. He was determined to take away that bastard’s property and give it to Koi by mobilizing all the means he could, but Ashley opened his mouth. Still with a relaxed attitude.
“I have to take responsibility, since I made Koi an omega.”
“What?”
“What did you say?”
“What?”
Koi, Ariel, and even Bill shouted together. Ashley, in front of the three who were clearly embarrassed, stared at Ariel with narrowed eyes.
“You must have already known that? You said you were with Koi when he had his heat cycle.”
Bill stared at Ariel with wide eyes. But instead of explaining the situation, Ariel turned his face full of displeasure to Ashley and answered.
“Yes, I knew. But what do you mean by taking responsibility? What does it have to do with you that Koi is an omega?”
Ashley answered calmly to the returned question.
“It must have mutated because of my pheromones.”
He was sure. Most people would probably think so. Koi would certainly have believed it if he hadn’t met Angel.
But his guess was completely wrong. And Koi was not the only one who knew that fact.
Ariel glanced at Koi, and Koi also flinched in surprise and cautiously looked around. Ashley frowned, sensing an unusual atmosphere. And finally, even Bill noticed the strange air.
“…What?”
Ashley opened his mouth in a low voice. As if he had a premonition of an unpleasant situation, a sense of tension was felt on his face, which had been relaxed until now. Ariel and Koi exchanged glances again, and when Ariel nodded, Koi swallowed hard and opened his mouth with a deep breath.
“Um, that’s.”
He struggled to speak in a faintly trembling voice.
“Me becoming an omega has nothing to do with you.”
The wrinkles etched on Ashley’s forehead deepened even more. Koi hesitated and continued stammering.
“It didn’t mutate because of your pheromones… I’m just normally developed. So, you know, it’s way past my age, but I mean, that’s it.”
“Koi is not a normal omega, but an extreme omega.”
Ariel, who was watching, could not stand the frustration and intervened, dropping a nuclear bomb.