By Zephyria 
A hush fell over the boisterous room. It was only a brief moment of one or two seconds, but the ace of the current ice hockey team didn’t miss the opportunity.
“Save me, Koi!”
“This…!”
Ashley spat out a rough curse at Bill’s retreating figure as he squeezed through the gap and shouted urgently. Bill felt like he was desperately dodging the Grim Reaper’s scythe, running with all his might. He knew instinctively. There was only one person who could save him. Koi, who was standing outside the door right now.
Three. Two. One.
In an instant, the door was close. Bill reached out and turned the doorknob with all his strength. Clunk, the moment the door opened, a loud thud echoed from behind his head.
“Ugh!”
“Bill!”
“Eek!”
Along with Bill’s scream, another scream mixed in through the crack of the opened door. In Ashley’s sight, who was standing still with a hockey stick in his hand, he saw Koi, who had turned pale, and Ariel, who had her eyes wide open.
“Aaaah, aaaah!”
The two rushed to Bill, who was clutching the back of his head and rolling on the floor, to check on him.
“Are you okay, Bill? Shouldn’t we go to the hospital?”
“We need to call an ambulance, he got hit in the head!”
“It doesn’t look like there’s any blood. Did it just graze him?”
As Ariel said, it didn’t seem like his head was busted open. Koi, who was relieved and sighed in relief, finally raised his head and looked up at Ashley.
“Ashley, what happened? What’s that?”
Ashley lowered his gaze. He immediately made eye contact with Bill, who was squinting and peeking at him while clutching the back of his head and groaning. Then Bill gasped like a scream and started groaning even louder. Seeing that, Koi turned pale again and hurriedly said.
“I explained everything, you said you understood, so why are you doing this? Put that down, quickly. Bill is scared.”
Ashley didn’t say anything. Koi looked up at him, who was standing still without moving, and urged him to hurry.
Then Ashley opened his mouth after a pause.
“What are you doing right now?”
“Huh?”
As he inadvertently asked back, Ashley continued to speak in a slow, surprisingly calm voice.
“Are you protecting Bill right now? In front of me?”
“Huh, huh?”
Still repeating only dazed sounds at the unexpected words, Ariel quickly interjected.
“He’s doing this because you might become a murderer. He’s not protecting Bill, he’s trying to protect you, you idiot.”
“No, I’m worried about both of you…”
“You be quiet.”
Ariel growled in a low voice at Koi, who was nosy, and then raised her gaze back to Ashley.
“Let’s talk it out first. Koi is also scared, isn’t he?”
“Huh? Uh-huh…”
This time, he didn’t miss the opportunity and quickly agreed. Koi, who exchanged glances with Ariel, who nodded, said again.
“Um, so let’s put that down and talk, okay? Please.”
Ashley’s momentum subsided somewhat at the pleading voice. Bill and Ariel could feel his pheromone scent becoming much softer, but Koi didn’t know. Ashley opened his mouth to him, who was just anxiously looking up.
“Move, you’ll get hurt.”
“Huh?”
Koi paused and blinked. His shaking eyes went to the hockey stick and then back to Ashley.
“Um, if you put that down first…”
“Move.”
Ashley gritted his teeth and spat out in a low voice.
“You first.”
He couldn’t hold out any longer when it came to this. Koi, who looked back and forth at Bill and Ariel, hesitated and stepped back, and then Ashley finally put down the hockey stick he was holding. Even so, it was still extremely dangerous, located within easy reach.
Anyway, the moment of crisis seemed to have passed, so Koi sighed in relief and stroked his chest. Ariel helped Bill up, and the four of them finally stood facing each other.
“What the hell is this? Are you trying to kill me?”
It was Bill, of course, who first burst out with resentment. He shouted at Ashley with a resentful face, mixed with injustice and disappointment.
“Even if it’s been 10 years since we contacted each other, how can you do this? It’s me, Bill Gulliver! Your best friend from high school!”
As the time they had spent together flashed before his eyes, tears welled up. Seeing Bill, a huge man sobbing as he wiped his eyes with his thick arms, Ariel patted him on the back as if to comfort him.
“Yeah, you went too far this time. Even if you can’t see anything when it comes to Koi. I understand your position, though.”
“Understand? Ashley?”
Bill immediately questioned. As the arrow turned to himself this time, Ariel gave a cold analysis.
“From Ashley’s point of view, you, who were his best friend in the past, seduced Koi, so he’s even more angry.”
“That’s not it! Don’t you even trust me?”
Ariel pinched Bill’s waist to calm him down, who was screaming and ruffling his hair violently.
“Listen properly. I said, ‘From Ashley’s point of view,’ right?”
Ariel continued, looking up at his face, which had become even more subdued.
“Ashley is not in his right mind when it comes to Koi. I’ve never seen that guy act rationally in relation to Koi.”
Ariel crossed her arms and raised her chin, narrowing her eyes as if jeering.
“I think he’s being lenient because it’s you? I heard that some guy was hospitalized for months and became a beggar.”
“Right?” Ariel asked, but Ashley didn’t answer. Leaving Bill and Koi, who were bewildered, Ariel opened her mouth.
“Now that everyone has calmed down, shall we sit down and talk? It’s been a long time since we’ve met in one place, so there’s no need to stand here and glare at each other, right?”
Ariel, who made the suggestion, sat down on the sofa first. Then Ashley looked down at Koi and reached out his arm as if telling him to sit down. Koi hesitated, nodded, and sat down across from Ariel as he was told. Ashley, who sat next to Koi as if it were natural, put one arm around Koi’s shoulder and held the hockey stick in the other hand. As if he was going to swing it right away if he said anything nonsense.
Seeing that, Bill slowly backed away and sat down as far away from Ashley as possible, only perching on the edge of his seat. As if he was going to run away right away, measuring the distance to the door with his eyes.
Ashley, as if he had no interest in his actions, rummaged through his suit jacket pocket and took out a cigarette. He frowned and tried to light the cigarette he had in his mouth, but stopped. Koi was watching him silently as he took it off his mouth and put it back in his pocket, and then Ashley spoke.
“So, what’s the story you want to tell?”
At the usual cold voice, Ariel glanced at Bill. Leaving Bill, who was bewildered, Ariel opened her mouth.
“Bill doesn’t have any ulterior motives for Koi. The reason this guy came to the East is because of me.”
Ashley raised his eyebrows. At the gaze that seemed to be asking what she meant, Ariel explained in a reluctant tone.
“He came because he wanted to get back together with me. Koi is a friend of both of us, so he was just acting as a messenger in the middle. Now do you understand? Stop with the pointless jealousy and venting.”
Koi nodded repeatedly at Ariel’s calm persuasion. He thought this was enough, but Ashley’s reaction was different from what he expected.
“How long are you going to play the nanny?”
“What?”
It wasn’t just Ariel who was bewildered by the sudden question. In everyone’s gaze, Ashley sneered, looking only at Ariel.
“Didn’t you play the queen bee enough in high school? Don’t you think it’s too much to keep following your friends around and cleaning up after them until now?”
“Ashley, what are you…”
“So, what you’re saying is.”
Ariel asked, cutting off Koi, who was flustered.
“You’re saying that you’re uncomfortable and annoyed that I come to you and rely on you whenever something happens to Koi? Then you should have found Koi earlier and built trust so that Koi could rely on you?”
Ashley’s face hardened. Ariel, who had hit the nail on the head, spat out mercilessly.
“You don’t know at all how Koi has been doing for the 10 years you were apart? He saved money without eating or sleeping. Only to come here to meet you.”
“A, Ariel!”
Why are you talking about that, Koi thought, and tried to stop her urgently, but Ariel’s mouth didn’t stop.
“While Koi was working hard thinking only of you, we could only cheer him on from the side. What did you do during that time? What did you do while Koi was struggling to come to you? You got engaged to a woman from a good family and went to pheromone parties, right? It was 10 years for you to forget Koi, but it wasn’t for Koi, it was 10 years to remember you more and only for you. But do you, who didn’t do anything and didn’t care, have the right to misunderstand and be jealous of the relationship between Bill and Koi now? You don’t even know how we watched over Koi with what kind of heart?”
Ashley was still speechless, his face pale and hardened.