LMI 83

“Al, Al!”

Koi belatedly shouted, stopping her. Ariel, who had walked quite a distance, turned around, and Koi stammered,

“Um, can I ask you one more thing…?”

Ariel nodded as if to say, do as you please. Koi hesitated and opened his mouth with difficulty.

“Um, buying clothes for someone… is that because you’re embarrassed of your friend?”

Ariel frowned.

“If I were embarrassed, I wouldn’t hang out with them, why would I buy them clothes?”

At the question that came out without hesitation, Koi hesitated and replied,

“Because they’re your friend…?”

“Hmm,” Ariel tilted her head and said,

“Well, I might buy them a t-shirt or something?”

Koi lowered his gaze and muttered,

“They… bought me a lot…”

“How much?”

When Ariel asked, Koi began to list them one by one, racking his memory.

“Um, they bought me a dress shirt, and a t-shirt, and pants too… oh, and a watch.”

Ariel, who had been listening silently, furrowed her brow and sighed.

“That’s not something you do as a friend, that’s flirting.”

Koi was startled and shook his head.

“No, how could it be, we’re the same sex…”

“Koi, Ash may be rich and have good manners, but that doesn’t mean they throw money around on just anyone.”

Koi gasped at the sudden mention of their name. How did she know? Seeing him flustered and rolling his eyes, Ariel continued sternly.

“You seem to be mistaken about them treating the gorillas at Green Bell last time, but that’s not a common occurrence. The gorillas always pay for what they eat themselves. That was a really special event. Well, Ash was paying that day, so they really ate a lot.”

Shaking her head and speaking as if he were hopeless, she soon added,

“Of course, I didn’t pay a single penny when I was dating Ash. They paid for everything, naturally.”

Of course, they would. Wouldn’t anyone if they were with Al?

At Koi’s reaction of readily agreeing, Ariel asked with a serious expression,

“Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Before Koi could say something else absurd and irritate her, Ariel spoke first.

“That was a date expense. So, they were spending generously on you.”

Koi was stunned again. Ariel didn’t waste any more time and pressed him.

“Koi, you seem to want to find evidence that Ash doesn’t like you no matter what, but what do you gain from doing that?”

Koi was speechless and couldn’t open his mouth. Ariel continued to speak.

“Ash is a good person. Don’t wallow in self-deprecation and torment someone who likes you.”

Her words were so right that Koi had no choice but to listen silently. Seeing him hanging his head and unable to speak, Ariel gave him an ultimatum.

“If you keep doing that, I’m going to burst your jalapeño and really make you my sister.”

“Eek.”

Startled, Koi gasped without realizing it, and when he looked up in confusion, Ariel was already far away.

*

When he returned to the rink at a slow pace, the stadium, which had been so noisy, was as silent as the grave. The people had already left, and all that remained was silence.

Koi cautiously entered the dugout and spotted Ashley in the distance, slowly skating wearily on the ice. Koi stood holding onto the fence and watched him for a while. In his mind, Ashley confessing to him and Ariel sternly advising him flashed alternately.

Why does Ash say they like me anyway?

Ariel is right. Ashley is the only one who knows the truth. All Koi has to do is be honest with his own feelings.

Then, what about me?

Feeling his heart beating dully, he was looking at him when Ashley, who had just turned, raised his head and met Koi’s eyes. Seeing a soft smile appear on his face, his cheeks flushed involuntarily, and it became difficult to breathe. Koi stood silently in his place and waited for Ashley to come closer.

“I was wondering if you had run away,”

Ashley said with a smile as he stood with the fence between them.

“I almost did.”

Koi also replied with a difficult smile. But Ariel grabbed his ankle. She scolded him for not running away like this and pushed him to settle things. She’s right. Koi has to face this situation sooner or later.

Huff, Koi took a deep breath and smiled awkwardly.

“I don’t see the ice hockey team.”

“I told them to go ahead. I was waiting for you.”

Koi wondered inwardly what their reaction had been. Perhaps it showed on his face, as Ashley soon continued,

“They thought it was some kind of show. I don’t know if they really thought that or if they were just trying to get through the situation, but anyway, I told them to think what they wanted and sent them away.”

“I see.”

His voice cracked in the middle, and he quickly cleared his throat. When Koi closed his mouth, the surroundings became quiet again. The vast stadium was so empty that their voices echoed far away, embarrassingly loudly.

Koi felt a suffocating tension and raised his head with difficulty. He immediately met Ashley’s gaze, and once again, he swallowed hard.

Ashley was waiting. As he had been all along, for Koi’s answer.

Koi opened his mouth to speak, but a sigh came out before any sound. His chest felt tight, and after taking several deep breaths, he finally opened his mouth.

“…Al said that it’s completely over between you two.”

“That’s right.”

Ashley readily replied. They had both calmly accepted the breakup and had long since moved on. Only Koi and the people around them couldn’t accept it. Koi couldn’t help but lower his head, thinking that it was only natural that Ariel was annoyed.

“…Sorry, I thought you… would get back together with Al.”

He apologized with difficulty, but Ashley didn’t react for a moment.

“…Why did you think that?”

The words that came out after a pause sounded truly dumbfounded. Koi desperately tried to stop himself from wanting to hide somewhere out of embarrassment and replied.

“I thought that if you won the game, you would… confess to Al again.”

“Ah…”

Ashley, who seemed to have finally understood, added quickly,

“You thought that and still gave me a lucky coin to win?”

His voice rose a tone, as if he were quite taken aback. Koi quickly apologized.

“I’m sorry.”

He glanced at Ashley and whispered softly.

“I thought that’s what you wanted.”

“That was a misunderstanding, a huge one,”

Ashley pointed out.

“Yeah.”

Seeing him looking clearly displeased, Koi had no choice but to apologize as he had to Ariel.

“I’m sorry.”

Ashley was silent for a moment. He spread his arms wide and grabbed the fence with both hands. Looking down at Koi, who was trapped in his arms with the fence between them, Ashley said,

“I’ve told you I like you countless times, and I even said that if I won this game, we should come to a conclusion, but you mistook that for Al, why are you doing this?”

Koi’s face flushed red. It wasn’t teasing or sarcastic, it was a tone that seemed like he was really curious to the point of madness. Koi hesitated and finally opened his mouth.

“The thing I posted on the bulletin board, that was me.”

“Yeah.”

Instead of ‘I know,’ Ashley said that. Koi continued with difficulty.

“You and I are friends… but having those feelings is strange. I posted it on the bulletin board too, but it just got buried.”

Of course. Because I buried it.

Ashley waited for his next words without saying anything. Koi was silent for a long time. He was hanging his head, so it was hard to know his expression. Ashley gathered all the patience within him and waited and waited. Until Koi finally opened his mouth.

“Why do you like me?”

At the weak, trembling voice, Ashley immediately replied.

“Because you’re someone worth liking.”

When Koi cautiously raised his head, he smiled and added lightly, as if joking,

“You seem to think I’m amazing, so think about it the other way around. How much more amazing are you, who is liked by someone like me?”

Koi just looked at Ashley’s face for a while. He seemed to have a lot to say, but he couldn’t say anything. Ashley had to gather several times more patience than before to resist the urge to kiss him. Koi finally managed to open his mouth. The red flesh inside was visible in glimpses.

“Having those feelings, it shouldn’t be allowed.”

The voice that came out after a long time was choked up. Ashley, who had been momentarily distracted, frowned and asked.

“Why not?”

“Because.”

Koi took a trembling breath. Huff, after a sigh, he finally confessed.

“I know you’re just taking pity on me and hanging out with me, but this shouldn’t be allowed.”