By Zephyria Koi, who had hurriedly followed him outside, was breathless when he saw the parked Bentayga. Ashley had probably never lived in a place like this, so he might not realize how unstable the security was. Koi vowed to himself that he would never call him to the neighborhood he lived in again, and hurriedly got into the car. And it was only after Ashley started the car that he finally let out a sigh of relief.
Ashley took Koi to a small restaurant about ten minutes away by car. Koi was relieved that he wasn’t going to the French restaurant they had gone to before, which he had been worried about. He didn’t have enough money to eat anything there, but more than anything, it was too far away.
Following Ashley, who got out of the car first, into the restaurant, the cozy atmosphere and the quiet jazz playing in the background relaxed him.
The employee who led them to a window seat placed menus in front of each of them and then stepped back. Koi hesitated for a moment and was about to pick up the menu when Ashley suddenly snatched it away. Ashley opened his mouth with a blank expression at Koi, who was startled and looked up.
“Answer my question first, Koi.”
He asked, seeing Koi reflexively tense up.
“How much money do you have right now? I’m asking if you can afford ice in your Coke.”
Koi paused, but Ashley continued without paying attention.
“Don’t forget what you promised me.”
Honestly, without hiding anything.
Koi inhaled and exhaled, and confessed with difficulty.
“…I can barely afford the Coke.”
A sigh was heard at the shrinking voice. It was the sound of Ashley exhaling. Koi was ashamed, and he felt a sense of guilt for no reason, so he couldn’t lift his head.
“Here.”
Ashley placed the menu back in front of Koi. Ashley continued, seeing Koi’s gaze automatically turn to the drinks.
“I’ll pay for the food here. Order as much as you want.”
“Huh?”
The words perked his ears up and he looked up without realizing it, and Ashley, who was sitting across the table, looked back at him.
“Think of it as a friend’s favor. If the tables were turned and you had the means and I was starving, you would do the same for me, wouldn’t you?”
The word ‘friend’ didn’t apply when the other person was Ashley. Koi was a friend to Ashley, and Koi pretended to be one too, but that wasn’t the truth. Instead, Koi imagined Ariel in that position. Of course, the conclusion was the same.
*It’s a friend’s favor.*
Hiding his bitter feelings, Koi said, “Thank you,” and scanned the menu. He was so hungry that it was hurting now, so anything that came out quickly would be fine.
It was only after he had eaten about half of the food he had ordered that he came to his senses. After mindlessly devouring a hamburger and a pile of french fries, Koi finally regained enough energy to say something.
After satisfying his hunger, Ashley, who was across the table, came into view. He suddenly felt embarrassed when he realized that he hadn’t properly thanked him.
Ashley was silently cutting his steak and putting it in his mouth. If it were a restaurant that he would normally go to, he would have ordered a course meal. How hungry would he have been during the gaps between the dishes?Thinking that way, Koi felt a surge of gratitude towards Ashley for choosing this place. Only after confirming that Ashley had passed him the steak did Koi open his mouth.
“Hey, aren’t you really busy? Is this a good time for you?”
He was grateful and sorry that Ashley had come running to help him. Thinking he needed to finish this as quickly as possible, he asked, and Ashley replied with a blank face.
“I’ll manage my own schedule.”
“Oh, okay.”
Koi, feeling like he’d said something unnecessary, shut his mouth and cautiously watched him. Peaceful jazz flowed between them, but Koi felt an uncomfortable silence.
He had to say something.
If he brought up work first, it would feel like he was pushing Ashley. Since he didn’t intend that at all, he had to bring up another topic.
Pretending to eat the remaining food, Koi racked his brain and finally thought of something.
“Hey, about the client’s rules you mentioned earlier.”
Ashley glanced at him. Koi repeated the things he had asked him to do.
“To be honest and not hide anything, to not lie.”
Ashley didn’t raise any objections and just looked at him. Koi diligently continued his one-sided conversation.
“So, as long as I don’t lie and don’t hide anything, that’s it? Really?”
To the question of whether the condition was too simple, Ashley readily replied.
“Yeah. My clients never keep that, no matter how much I tell them.”
Soon after, he twisted his lips into a sneer.
“You’ll probably be the most obedient of all my clients.”
Koi was startled and widened his eyes.
“Of course, you’re trying to help me, so I have to listen to you.”
The words that came out without hesitation were met with a cynical reply.
“There are a lot of idiots in the world who don’t even know such simple things.”
Koi tilted his head and looked at him.
“Why is that?”
As Koi muttered to himself, Ashley unexpectedly answered.
“Well, probably because lying and hiding things is their daily life.”
In any case, the conversation was continuing. Koi was happy that Ashley was accepting even his trivial words, so he immediately thought of the next thing to say.
“There must be far more people who don’t live like that than those who do, so it must be really hard for you to have those kinds of people as clients.”
Koi knew what kind of people Ashley defended. But because some trust in him still remained, Koi thought there must have been some unavoidable circumstances. Ashley mercilessly shattered Koi’s belief.
“Koi, don’t try to deny it. I only deal with trash. And I’m the lawyer who saves them from ending up in the trash can.”
Ashley’s voice was extremely cold. As if telling him to face reality. Koi hesitated before opening his mouth.
“But you came to help me, even though you clearly know I can’t afford your fees.”
Instead of answering, Ashley started cutting his steak. For some reason, Koi was reminded of himself just now, putting unnecessary onion rings in his mouth while trying to find something to say, so he added quietly.
“I didn’t hear from you for two months, and I thought it was over for good.”
But as soon as Ashley heard that Koi was in trouble, he rushed to him. Maybe Ashley had been waiting for Koi to contact him first?
The moment that thought occurred to him, Ashley opened his mouth.
“I thought you’d never want to see me again.”
At the unexpected words, Koi was startled and widened his eyes.
“Me? No way. Why?”
Seeing him ask “Why?” again, Ashley gave a bitter smile.
“Because you looked at me with a face that said you were sick of me.”
Instantly, Koi was at a loss for words. Me? I made that kind of face?
Unbelievable, but if Ashley said so, it must be true. Koi belatedly remembered that he had a terrible cold that day. It was true that he was shocked by what Ashley had done. So much so that he had such a bad cold.
It’s been more than 10 years.
Koi whispered to himself. It’s impossible for Ash to be exactly the same without changing at all. I must have changed a lot from before too. Father used to be rich, and now Ash is rich, so it’s natural that the way he spends money and the scale of things would be different. Besides, the worlds we live in are completely different now. I guess that’s what Ashley’s daily life is like.
If something happens where he has to apologize to someone, he settles it with money.
Koi didn’t think that method was right, but he had no right to interfere in someone else’s life. The only thing he could do was make him aware that their lives were different.
“I was very surprised, but neither I nor the people around me give gifts when we break promises…”
Explaining it in words suddenly felt too difficult. How difficult it is to put into words something that you’ve always taken for granted.
Ash used to live like that too.
Feeling helpless at the inadequacy of language, Ashley put down his fork and knife and opened his mouth.
“Shall we stop talking about personal matters and get down to business?”
“Huh? Oh…”
This was clearly a signal to end the uncomfortable topic. There might not be another chance to say these things.
But instead of stubbornly insisting, Koi followed his wishes. There was no reason to continue a conversation that the other person didn’t want to have.
While Koi explained in detail what had happened, Ashley didn’t say a word and just listened. Koi was inwardly nervous at his businesslike and cold face, which he had never seen before, but he managed to finish his story without trembling.
“…That’s what happened.”
After finishing his story, Ashley seemed to think for a moment before finally opening his mouth.
“I understand what’s been happening, but what’s the cause of it?”
“Huh?”
When Koi paused at the unexpected question, Ashley rephrased his question.
“It’s strange no matter who thinks about it that people at the company are suddenly quitting one by one. When several people quit in a short period of time like that, there’s usually a clear reason. Why is that? Did the boss do something abusive?”
“Huh? No…”
Ashley’s suspicion was too reasonable. If the boss had done something unfair and the employees had left their jobs, it would definitely help solve Koi’s problem. But unfortunately, that wasn’t the reason at all. Koi hesitated, saying that wasn’t it, and opened his mouth.
“People suddenly started clinging to me…”
Ashley, who was about to drink his coffee, stopped his hand. Slowly putting down his glass, he looked straight at Koi and slowly moved his lips.
“…Clinging?”
※ The rights to this work belong to the copyright holder. Copying, reproducing, modifying, or distributing this work may result in criminal penalties and civil liability.
(163)============================================================