Koi spoke as if he were speaking to a child, and then carefully placed his head on the pillow. Ashley was momentarily disappointed that Koi didn’t leave him. Ashley realized that he was relieved by the touch of his hand pulling the blanket up to his neck and patting his chest over it.

“Yeah, I’ll be here.”

Koi said. Only then did Ashley realize that he had whispered something to him.

Don’t go.

It was a word he had never said to anyone. Not to his girlfriends, not to his friends, not even to the parents who gave birth to him.

Because he thought it was meaningless.

Ashley blinked blankly and looked at Koi. In his blurry vision, he saw Koi smiling.

…Everyone will leave even if I hold on to them.

Ashley raised his heavy hand and grabbed Koi’s hand, which was slowly patting his chest. Unlike himself, who was getting a fever, Koi’s hand was cool. Haa, Ashley sighed in relief and fell asleep. This time, he didn’t wake up once in the middle.

*

Koi looked at Ashley’s face, who was asleep and breathing evenly, and stroked his chest. When he first found Ashley, he almost called an ambulance. He looked so serious, and he felt a sense of crisis that something big might happen if he wasn’t careful.

I have to stay calm.

Koi calmed his fear and tried to sort out the situation as calmly as possible. When did Ashley start getting sick? It was certain that no one was in the house. So far, Koi had not encountered anyone, let alone felt anyone’s presence.

Let’s do what I can do first.

He made up his mind and carefully left Ashley’s room. As he came, he confirmed that there was a snack bar or a simple kitchen on the second floor. All he needed was a pot and a plate to boil the soup, and a glass of water to mix the medicine, so he didn’t need to go all the way to the kitchen for dining.

Koi closed the door behind him and hurried back the way he had come. The kitchen was coincidentally on the opposite side.

He walked for a long time again, arrived at the kitchen, and started boiling the instant soup he had brought. It seemed that he had woken Ashley up when he opened the closed door again, but anyway, he had given him medicine, so that was enough. Koi looked down at Ashley’s sleeping face and thought.

First, let’s see how the medicine works.

He was worried about how effective it would be because he had roughly picked it up at the store, but he had done everything he could do right now. After wiping Ashley’s sweaty forehead with the napkin he had brought, he straightened his posture.

When Ash wakes up, I’ll reheat the soup……Koi yawned absentmindedly, thinking that. Fatigue washed over him belatedly. Ashley was sound asleep, holding Koi’s hand. Koi looked down at it for a moment, then just left it and flopped down on the bed. Sleep overtook him in an instant, and Koi, too, fell asleep, snoring softly.

*

Birdsong came from somewhere. The cool morning breeze awakened his mind, and refreshing air lingered around him. Ashley frowned slightly at the sunlight coming through the window and the cold air, then slowly opened his eyes.

“……”

At first, he was just dazed.

Blinking while lying down, Ashley suddenly felt strange and checked his hand, his eyes widening. He shifted his gaze to identify the owner of the hand he must have been holding all night, and froze.

Koi.

His empty head struggled to move again.

How?

Taking a deep breath, memories returned one by one as he looked at Koi’s face, sleeping soundly. Koi had come to Ashley out of nowhere, tried to feed him four kinds of soup, bought a handful of medicine and handed it to him with water.

And finally, he had held Ashley’s hand and promised to stay by his side.

Koi had kept his promise. He had brought a chair next to the bed, sat down, held Ashley’s hand, and was now sleeping face down. His face, half-buried in the bed sheet, was so deep in sleep that it seemed nothing could wake him.

Ashley watched Koi like that for a while without moving.

He could have just left.

He couldn’t believe that Koi had listened to what he’d said in a fever and was sleeping so uncomfortably. If it were him, he would have gone back long ago.

Why.

Ashley thought.

Why didn’t he leave?

As he thought that far, a monotonous alarm suddenly rang out. Startled, Ashley tried to figure out where the ringing was coming from. After confirming that it wasn’t his cell phone, he looked around and soon realized. It was coming from Koi’s cell phone.

Carefully rummaging through the clothes of Koi, who was still snoring softly, Ashley found the cell phone in his jacket pocket and opened the screen to turn off the alarm. And the moment he checked the schedule on the screen, he snapped to attention.

“Koi, Koi!”

Ashley shook Koi’s shoulder urgently. Until then, Ashley was still holding his hand. He didn’t want to let go, but he had no choice. Ashley took a deep breath and, instead of letting go of Koi’s hand, grabbed both his shoulders and forced him up.

“Koi, wake up! It’s morning!”

“Ugh… huh?”

Koi mumbled, barely opening his eyes. He stared blankly at the face in front of him, then grinned.

“Ash, are you all better?”

“Snap out of it!”

Ashley shouted urgently.

“It’s your exam, you! The college entrance exam!”

Koi only blinked his sleepy eyes at Ashley’s shout. It was a few seconds later that he reacted.

“What?”

Koi screamed as loudly as Ashley, and suddenly jumped up from his seat.

“Wait, Koi!”

Ashley, who was about to follow Koi as he ran off in a panic, staggered from dizziness and closed his eyes for a moment.

Damn it.

His fever hadn’t gone down yet. He felt that it was much better than the day before, but his head still felt heavy, and he quickly moved his feet.

“Koi, wait!”

Ashley called out to him in a still hoarse voice. Koi, who was rushing down the stairs, turned around. Seeing his panicked face, Ashley leaned against the railing and said.

“I’ll take you to the exam site. Did you pack everything you need? Check that first!”

“Huh? Uh-huh.”

Koi stopped in his tracks and rummaged through the bag he had brought down haphazardly. Fortunately, his admission ticket and most of the other things were in the bag. Except for one thing.

“Wait, I’ll give you my calculator.”

Before Koi could scream, Ashley quickly said and ran back up the stairs.

“Wait for me in the car!”

Ashley shouted in a hoarse voice and quickly disappeared from sight. Koi looked in the direction he had disappeared, his chest tight with anxiety, and hurried down the stairs.

Ashley’s car was still there, just as he had seen it the day before. Koi was worried that an alarm would go off as he touched the car, but no sound came out.

The passenger seat door opened easily. When he got in the car, he noticed that the smart key was lying haphazardly on the dashboard.

“Here.”

Ashley, who had thrown the calculator in before even sitting in the driver’s seat, started the car.

“Where’s the exam site?”

Koi answered in a trembling voice as they left the mansion.

“Good thing, it’s close.”

“Yeah.”

The problem was the rush hour. If he couldn’t get in within the allotted time, it would be impossible to take the exam. Koi clasped his hands together as if praying and closed his eyes tightly. Please!

“Shouldn’t you be praying to me?”

Ashley asked abruptly. Koi answered with his eyes closed.

“I’m praying to you and your car. Please get me there on time.”

“If we succeed, what will you do for me and my car?”

His voice was still hoarse, but it was better than the day before. Koi noticed that he was constantly trying to ease his tension.

“Just tell me, I’ll do anything I can.”

Ashley laughed when he said it with sincerity.

“Didn’t you learn not to say things like that carelessly?”

He was joking, but Koi was serious.

“It’s okay, I can do anything for you.”

Ashley took his eyes off the road and looked at Koi. Koi said again.

“Thank you so much.”

“Say that after we get there on time.”

Ashley, who spoke in a playful tone, immediately turned the steering wheel and cut into the next lane.

By Zephyria

Hello, I'm Zephyria, an avid BL reader^^ I post AI/Machine assisted translation. Due to busy schedule I'll just post all works I have mtled. However, as you know the quality is not guaranteed. Maybe just enough to fill your curiosity.

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