By Zephyria What do I do now.
He never imagined that Ashley would abandon him so irresponsibly, so he didn’t even think about a Plan B. But now is the time to think.
I didn’t know he was such an irresponsible guy!
Koi felt like he was about to cry for a moment, so he tilted his head back and took a deep breath.
He must be annoyed by everything because he’s sick. But he still has to do what he has to do. He should have called earlier to say he couldn’t do it, then he would have had a little more time. How am I supposed to do this alone now…?
He felt a self-pitying feeling that he was the only one in the world who finished his assignments on the set date even when he was dying of pain. To well-off guys like Ashley Miller, this assignment is nothing. He wouldn’t care at all if he got a B. If his score isn’t good enough, he can just build a building for the school and get in.
I hate well-off guys.
Koi roughly wiped away the tears that had finally welled up. There’s no choice. Let’s be cold. I’m the only one who needs this assignment score. So I have to finish it within the deadline no matter what.
Once he made up his mind, he became anxious. To finish Ashley’s share, he would need twice as much time as he had now. But he couldn’t reduce his part-time job either. All he could cut back on was sleep.
“You can sleep as much as you want when you die.”
Koi repeated to himself and pedaled like crazy, sprinting with all his might.
*
“Wow, Ash! What happened? You have a cold!”
As a celebrity, Ashley Miller became the center of attention as soon as he arrived at school. The gang that usually gathered in front of his locker was more excited than usual, and they were all eager to talk to Ashley. While the kids standing far away were busy taking pictures, Koi quietly packed his things and closed his locker.
He had to pass the giants blocking his way to get to the building where his class was, but it wasn’t a big problem. To Koi, this kind of crisis was just a joke.
He stuck flat to the locker and walked sideways, passing through the narrow gap without bothering to ask them to move. One guy laughed and slammed the locker Koi was stuck to, almost causing a huge disaster, but fortunately, he barely dodged the fist.
Huff, Koi, who barely made it through the crisis, rubbed his creaking neck and glanced back. Ashley was still surrounded by his gang, joking and laughing.
I guess he was sick.
His pale complexion was clear evidence, but Koi had no reason to pity him. Because of him, Koi had also stayed up for three nights and was scolded for dozing off at the store where he worked part-time.
Koi turned his head again and walked to the building where his class was. He could hear the ice hockey team guys, including Ashley, laughing loudly behind him.
*
“I’m going to tell you the scores for the last assignment.”
Koi was very nervous at Teacher Martinez’s words. All his nerves were focused on the next words, and he pushed up his glasses and said,
“Everyone worked hard, right? Of course, there were some who just winged it. Ah, I’m not talking about you, Dixon, so don’t worry. Looking at the assignment, I can see how hard this guy worked.”
The kids burst out laughing at Dixon. Dixon, who was joking with the guy next to him, also laughed. Of course, Koi didn’t laugh. There probably aren’t any kids who wing it when taking AP classes. It was unexpected that Ashley would do that, but no one would blame him for not being serious. He’ll have other ways to make up for the missing points.
I’m the only one who struggles like this.
Just as he was feeling self-deprecating, Teacher Martinez called out his name.
“Corner Niles, Ashley Miller.”
“Yes!”
Koi, who almost stood up without realizing it, barely fixed his butt in place and raised his hand. Ashley also raised his hand, but his expression was clearly indifferent. Of course. He didn’t contribute to the assignment at all, let alone an Alpha-bet.
Koi was very nervous and only looked at Teacher Martinez’s mouth. He took his eyes off the paper with the scores and smiled at Koi.
“You worked hard. You guys got the highest score. I wish I could give you more than an A+.”
Yes!
Teacher Martinez nodded with a smiling face as if to tell Koi, who was shining brightly, to trust him. Koi was so happy that his mouth fell open and a bright smile appeared. He did it. It was hard, but he did it anyway!
There are countless times when there’s only hardship and the results are terrible. But this time, the desired result followed. Could there be anything more joyful than this?
He held back the urge to shout and covered his mouth with both hands. Teacher Martinez was still calling out the students’ names and telling them their scores, but no other sound reached his ears as he gasped for breath and enjoyed the joy.
Only he existed in his world. No sound is heard, no feeling is felt.
The same was true of Ashley’s gaze, who was looking back at him with a strange expression.
*
“Don’t doze off today and look straight, okay?”
The owner scolded sternly and pointed to one side of the ceiling. After checking the CCTV showing Koi standing in front of the counter, the owner gave Koi another fierce look and left.
Koi, who was left alone in the store, let out a deep sigh. The joy of solving the assignment was only fleeting. What followed was an enormous sleepiness.
“Ughaaaam.”
As soon as he was alone, he yawned widely, wiped the tears from his eyes, and looked around the store. The store selling snacks and miscellaneous goods was unusually empty today. He thought it was a good thing and took out his assignment, but his eyes were blurry and his eyelids kept drooping.
“Ah, really.”
He deliberately spoke out loud and rubbed his eyes hard, but it wasn’t very effective. I guess it won’t work. I should wash my face with cold water, he thought, and was just turning around the counter.
The door opened with a tinkling bell. He thought, “Of all times,” but on the other hand, he felt relieved that the timing was right. Koi inadvertently raised his head to check the customer who came in, and was momentarily embarrassed and froze.
It was Nelson and his gang.
He wanted to pretend to be calm, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. Seeing Koi, who had frozen like a reflex, Nelson grinned.
“Hey, where are you going? Is it okay for a part-timer to leave his post like that?”
The gang started laughing and chattering as if they had been waiting for it.
“Wow, the owner must be pretty brave to leave the store to Koi Niles?”
“That means he trusts our Koi Niles that much, right? Amazing, Mr. Niles.”
“You loser, what can you do even if you do it here?”
Following the roar of laughter, one guy poked Koi’s forehead with his fingertip and pushed him away. Koi, who staggered back, immediately bumped into another guy. Then the guy cursed and pushed Koi away.
“Damn, where are you coming from, you sick bastard.”
“Wow, it stinks. Look at how smelly this guy is, aren’t you going to catch it?”
“Damn, hey, what are you going to do? Come here, smell it, smell it. Ah, damn, my nose is going to rot.”
The last guy grabbed the back of Koi’s head and pressed down as if he was going to slam him into the floor. Koi tried desperately not to fall to the floor, but he couldn’t stop his body from folding in half and his head from shaking dangerously.
“D-don’t, stop it!”
Koi shouted urgently, but all that came back was ridicule. While Koi was being bullied, Nelson opened the refrigerator and rummaged through the drinks, then took out a beer at random and threw it to the guy standing behind him. The guy who received it with both hands in a daze complained resentfully.
“Hey, how am I supposed to drink it if you throw it like that?”
“Like this.”
As if to show off, Nelson shook the beer can violently and stretched out his arm as far as he could to open the beer he had just received.
“Ah, no!”
Koi shouted urgently, but of course he didn’t stop. The moment he pulled the tab as if to show off, white foam shot up in a straight line.
“Wow!”
“Damn, what?”
“Ah, that, that crazy bastard!”
Shouts and laughter were mixed everywhere. Koi’s vision went dark. The beer that left brown stains on the ceiling subsided only after soaking Nelson’s hands. Only then did Nelson bring the can to his mouth and take a big sip, then made a “Ugh” sound and grumbled.
“There’s less than half left, damn it.”
Of course. Half of it hit the ceiling and poured down, scattering with the items on display all over the floor.
But it was too early for Koi to feel despair. Nelson opened the refrigerator again and started taking out several beers and putting them in his pockets.