By Zephyria “Hmm hmm hmm, hmm hmm hmm hmm.”
A man who was a customer in the store and a friend of the store owner suspiciously watched Koi, who was humming and organizing the display case.
“Did something good happen today?”
“Huh? No, why?”
The customer, who had his arms crossed, released one hand and pointed to his face.
“You keep smiling. And even singing.”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
The customer scanned Koi up and down, then fixed a suspicious gaze on his face. As if he was suspicious. But Koi just tilted his head with a bright smile, wondering what was wrong. The customer watched his back with displeasure as he continued to hum and do his work.
10 minutes left.Koi glanced at the clock and barely managed to stop himself from jumping. He had never closed the store even a minute early, and always worked overtime. After all, the store closed at 10 p.m. on weekdays, but after closing, cleaning, tidying up, and taking out the trash, it took at least an hour no matter how fast he was.
Whenever he tried to clean or take out the trash early because closing time was near, someone would always come in right before closing and make a mess or throw away trash. Plus, he was always told off for making customers uncomfortable if he cleaned and tidied up beforehand, so he had no choice but to fill his time to the brim before finishing up.
These days, he was at least taking a break from his weekday part-time job because of skating practice, but on Saturdays, he had to come in at least an hour early to finish the cleaning and trash disposal that he hadn’t done the day before.
Of course, there was no extra pay, but Koi silently did as the store owner told him. He was grateful just to have a part-time job, anyway.
Now, 5 minutes.
Soon, he’d meet Ash.
He couldn’t contain his joy and perked up his ears.
“Did you take the college entrance exam?”
Suddenly, a customer spoke to him. Koi paused and mumbled quietly.
“Ah, yes… well…”
“Really? How did you score?”
“…I didn’t do, well.”
He tried to gloss over it, but the customer didn’t let it go.
“So, what was your score?”
“Uh…”
Koi was endlessly weak against being pushed like this. Eventually, he caved and told him honestly, and the customer’s expression, which had been fiercely glaring until then, softened.
“I see, you didn’t do well.”
The owner’s friend had a son in the same grade as Koi. He often came by and compared his own child to Koi, picking fights over every little thing. Of course, it wasn’t like that from the beginning. Naturally, he had ignored Koi all along, but his attitude changed drastically after he happened to find out that Koi was in the same grade as his son and had better grades.
At first, he subtly tried to find out his scores or how he studied, but one day he started openly saying unpleasant things to him. Asking about his scores was a common occurrence, and if he didn’t answer, he would cling to him until he did.
The customer, who seemed to be in a good mood because his son had scored better than Koi, placed an item on the counter, and Koi, who had been tidying up the shelves, hurriedly turned towards him.
Suddenly, the bell rang, and a cool breeze was felt for a moment. Koi, who had unconsciously turned his head, went, “Oh,” and froze. The customer standing at the counter also widened his eyes.
The man who had opened the door and entered was incredibly huge. As he bent his head to pass through the door and straightened his back, it felt as if the not-so-large store was filled to the brim.
The customer craned his neck to look up at the man’s face, but he didn’t care and looked around the store before fixing his gaze on one spot. Koi, who had been watching in surprise until then, belatedly called his name.
“Ash?”
Taking off the sunglasses he was wearing, he smiled.
“Koi.”
The customer hurriedly looked back and forth between Ash and Koi, as if he had no idea that Koi had such an acquaintance. Ignoring his reaction, Ash readily moved and strode towards Koi.
“It’s almost closing time, right? I came to pick you up.”
“Uh, it is, but…”
There were still 2 minutes left. Ashley, following Koi’s gaze to the clock on the wall, smiled.
“It’s all done. I’ll wait.”
“Uh, okay.”
Koi nodded and looked up at him. His lips naturally loosened.
“Thank you, please wait a little longer.”
“Okay.”
Leaving Ashley, who readily answered, behind, Koi hurried to the counter. The customer, who had been standing there watching Ashley, asked.
“Who is that? Do you know him?”
“Yes? Yes.”
Koi answered unconsciously, and soon his chest swelled. Before saying the next words, he had to take a deep breath first.
“He’s my friend.”
“What? Friend?”
The customer looked noticeably flustered and turned to look at Ashley again. Ashley stood with his hands in his pockets, looking at the shelves Koi had been tidying up. Just then, he raised his head and met the customer’s eyes. The customer was startled and hurriedly turned his head away.
“He’s, he’s very big. Is he in the same grade?”
“Yes, he’s the captain of our school’s ice hockey team.”
“What…”
Koi handed him the item in a plastic bag, but the customer didn’t even think of taking it and shouted in a raised voice.
“Is he that kid? Ashley Miller? The one who got a perfect score on the college entrance exam and takes all AP classes.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Koi nodded with a proud heart.
“He lives in the country in front of here.”
“Huh…”
The customer let out an incomprehensible sigh with a complicated expression, then listlessly took out his card and handed it over. After Koi finished the calculation and returned the card, the customer, holding the plastic bag with the item, turned around and stopped at the door.
“Hey, kid.”
His cautious tone was completely different from when he spoke to Koi. Ashley, who had been looking at his cell phone, raised his head, and the customer pointed to one side and asked.
“That car over there, is it yours?”
Ashley, who had turned his gaze following his hand, answered.
“No.”
“Oh, really?”
It was when the customer’s expression relaxed. Ashley added nonchalantly.
“It’s Father’s.”
The customer stared intently at Ashley’s face without saying a word. Koi, flustered, looked back and forth between the two, when Ashley’s cell phone rang.
Ashley, looking at his cell phone, turned the screen around and showed it to the customer, saying.
“We’re closed, sir.”
Koi quickly checked his cell phone and it was exactly 6 o’clock. The customer hurriedly ran out, and soon they were the only two left in the store. Ashley readily walked to the counter where Koi was standing and asked.
“Are you done now? Let’s go.”
“Uh, uh-huh.”
Koi, who had answered absentmindedly, belatedly looked down. He was still wearing his grimy uniform. He could clean tomorrow morning, but he wanted to change his clothes, but he didn’t have time to do so.
“Why did you come so early? We were supposed to meet at 6:10.”
“Just because.”
Ashley answered with a smile.
“I wanted to see you sooner.”
At those words, Koi’s mouth opened on its own and he just smiled. Ashley also smiled back and reached out his hand to Koi.
“Come on, let’s go.”
“Okay.”
Koi, who had readily tried to take his hand, flinched and stopped right before. Ashley frowned, and seeing that, Koi hurriedly said in a fluster.
“J-just a moment. Can you wait 5 minutes? I’ll quickly change out of my uniform. Well, I don’t know, but going like this is a bit…”
As he mumbled and lowered his gaze, Ashley also followed his gaze. The dirty uniform, crumpled and stained with old stains in places, made the person wearing it look even more unsightly.
But right now, Ashley had Koi in front of him. He didn’t care if Koi was wearing a trash bag. Not wearing anything would be best, though.
“It’s fine.”
Koi was happy at Ashley’s words, but the thought that he should still keep his boundaries stopped him. Ash is my friend, so he’s saying that. I shouldn’t believe him as he says and make things difficult for Ash.
As he was thinking that, Ashley suddenly bent down. Before he could avoid it, Ashley grabbed Koi’s arm and buried his nose in his neck. The sound of him taking a deep breath was heard right next to Koi’s ear.
Suddenly, stars appeared before his eyes and his heart beat fiercely. As Ashley’s breath touched his skin, it burned as if he had been burned there. His whole body tingled and his fingers curled up. To Koi, whose face was flushed red and couldn’t breathe properly, Ashley whispered.
“Ah, you smell.”