By Zephyria When Ashley opened his eyes, he was alone in bed. Familiar ceiling came into view, he blinked a couple of times, then closed his eyes again with a sigh. The throbbing pain in his arm reminded him of reality. It was the same this time too. Nothing new.
Every time he lost consciousness, he returned to the same place. Waiting, waiting, and waiting.
Then, when he regained consciousness and opened his eyes, he was alone again. However, there was something different from before. This time, the cause was not Rut but a Pheromone Seizure.
Finally.
He thought while lying down. Seeing him lying in bed, Bernice must have been here. The report must have gone to his father, and Dominic must have also realized that Ashley had an abnormal seizure.
When will they find out?
Bernice would have already noticed that he didn’t take Pheromones at the party. The strange thing was that she didn’t report it to Dominic. If his father knew, he wouldn’t have left him in this state.
But fortunately, or unfortunately, Bernice didn’t report to him, and Dominic was not in a situation to monitor and restrain Ashley as before. Because ‘Ashley’s’ condition was seriously bad.
The doctor warned that ‘Ashley’ would not live for more than a few years. Of course. When a Gamma mutates, there is almost a 50% chance of death. Even if they barely survive, they mostly die when they have children, but ‘Ashley’ had overcome the brink of death twice. In return, he became so weak that he could hardly get out of bed on his own.
They say God grants wishes if you pray earnestly.
Then ‘Ashley’ and he will achieve it. Even the most persistent man cannot defy death.
Serves you right, Ashley thought, twisting the corners of his lips.
‘Ashley’ has now achieved his wish, but he himself didn’t know when that would be. It had already been several years, but his brain was still too intact.
When will he be able to go crazy?
Ashley pondered while lying down. He has plenty of time anyway. Eventually, he will end up like that.
A weak laugh, like a deflated balloon, leaked from his lips.
When that day finally comes, I may not even realize that I have finally achieved my dream.
“…so it can be used as evidence of rebuttal. I want to supplement this part further.”
“Wait, that could make the jurors feel sympathetic instead. We shouldn’t attack the child’s parents so easily.”
“But people are more angry at irresponsible parents. Let’s take advantage of that.”
“But there’s no evidence that the child’s parents intentionally administered the drug to the child, is there?”
“Is there any evidence that they didn’t?”
Ashley silently watched the lawyers arguing repeatedly in front of him. The trial between a pharmaceutical company and its victims, which their law firm was currently handling, was a fairly large case that was attracting public attention. He gathered the lawyers together for the last time to check what preparations they were making for the upcoming trial, but they had been exchanging meaningless wordplay since earlier. It was already well past midnight.
“……so.”
When Ashley opened his mouth, the lawyers all turned their attention to him. He pointed to the lawyer in charge with a pen and continued.
“What is the basis for the rebuttal you just mentioned? Harvey, people hate playing with words without a basis. Even more than irresponsible parents.”
A couple of people almost burst out laughing, but quickly composed themselves and straightened their expressions. The lawyer called Harvey quickly got up from his seat, took the documents, and walked towards Ashley.
“This is the part. Please take a look.”
After returning to his seat, he anxiously rolled his eyes while Ashley looked at the documents. For a while, the conference room was as quiet as a mouse. Just under a minute felt incredibly long, and then Ashley opened his mouth.
“Not bad.”
Harvey and the team members let out small sighs of relief here and there, but he continued.
“It would be good to add one more thing here. Wasn’t there Mason’s precedent from last time? By citing that…”
At that moment, there was a knock. Ashley stopped talking and looked at the door, and then the secretary who came in walked straight towards him and stopped before speaking.
“I’m sorry. I have an urgent call right now.”
The thought ‘Is he finally dead?’ flashed through Ashley’s mind for a moment, but his prediction was wrong.
“It’s a call from the police station. They made an emergency arrest, and one of them says he knows Mr. Miller and is requesting a defense.”
Ashley frowned instead of answering. There was no one in the world who would dare to call him as a lawyer at this hour. The fact that they singled out Ashley Miller, not even a group of subordinate lawyers, made him feel absurd before he felt unpleasant.
Maybe that’s why. He tried to check the message that he would have ignored normally.
Without saying a word, he held out his hand, and she quickly came forward and handed him the documents. He scanned the names densely written on one page without meaning, but as expected, there was nothing that stood out. It was clear that some drunk or drug addict had mentioned the name of a lawyer they had heard somewhere. It wasn’t the first time, so he thought it was a waste of time again and was about to return the documents.
Suddenly, one name came into his view.
The secretary, who had reached out to receive the documents, straightened her posture, wondering at Ashley’s appearance of sitting up straight and checking the documents again.
He couldn’t believe that the name that came into his sight so clearly was real. But no matter how many times he read it again, the letters didn’t change.
Conor Niles.
Ashley remained frozen, staring intently at that name.
I have to check.
He stormed out of the conference room and drove straight to the police station, trying to stay calm, but it wasn’t easy.
How is Koi here?
It might be a person with the same name. It probably is. But even while thinking that, Ashley had to check it himself. If, with a really small possibility.
If it’s real.
His hand holding the steering wheel subtly tightened. It’s nothing, Ashley thought. He was confident that he wouldn’t be shaken even if it was the real Koi.
It’s already been almost 10 years, so maybe he’s changed a lot. Maybe he and Ashley won’t recognize each other. He’s not a teenager anymore, so he won’t be as cute as before. Ashley thought. Even if he looks the same, he won’t shake Ashley’s heart anymore.
You messed up my life.
He thought with a cold head. Now, all that was left for him was hatred, and he was just going to confirm that.
He sped through the deserted streets as dawn approached.
“Mr. Ashley Miller, you came in person.”
The officer in charge widened his eyes in surprise as soon as he saw him. Ashley had experienced similar reactions several times since entering the police station, but it was out of his interest. He went through the simple procedures and headed to the detention center where the group was being held.
His head was calmly sinking, but his heart was not. The dull pounding pulse was something he couldn’t control with his will.
“This way.”
Ashley, who turned his head in the direction the police officer pointed, stopped abruptly. Inside the detention center, a group of people were tangled up here and there. Some were still out of their minds from drugs, some were crying, some were in Rut regardless of the place, it was truly a scene of chaos.
Ashley found him at once.
At that moment, he even forgot to breathe. He felt dazed as if he had been hit hard on the head with something.
I want to kill you.
Yes, that’s what I thought. I imagined going to find you and killing you several times. And when I got tired of that, I thought I had given up everything. I thought that even if I met you again, no emotions would arise. The human brain is really convenient, so it makes you forget painful memories. I thought that the memories with you were now faded and no longer anything, but. Even if I see you again, I won’t feel any emotions.
Yes, I came to confirm that.
I was confident. My Koi is no longer in this world. All that’s left for me is revenge and hatred. Seeing you suffer as you watch me fall apart is my last revenge, and there’s no more meaning in my life, that’s what I thought.
Why do I just want to hug you and kiss you now?
The man whose name was called slowly got up. His expression changes as he makes eye contact and seems surprised. Koi was taller than before, and his youthful and pretty face had now settled down and he had become a respectable man, but he still looked like a boy to Ashley. His little lover who always ran towards him.
Ashley wanted to cry again.
He couldn’t see anything in his eyes. Except for the sight of Koi walking towards him.
The absolute being who killed me is now trying to give me life.
〈In the Closet〉 End