By Zephyria At the bolt from the blue, Ashley lost his words for the first time. He really couldn’t have imagined that these words would come out. His mind was all messed up.
“…Who said that?”
Don’t tell me.
Ashley barely managed to think of one thing.
The reason Koi has been rejecting me until now is because of that.
Ashley ended up distorting his face miserably.
So it was true.
Koi felt like his heart was sinking. The emotion that appeared on Ashley’s face was clear. Seeing that expression, Koi completely gave up the expectations he had held for a moment. He was still a fool for expecting even a little bit. Koi also concluded that Ariel’s guess was wrong.“A-and you… you have someone you like, don’t you?”
A sob rose in his throat, cutting his words short.
“Why are you doing this to me when you already like someone else…?”
Seeing Koi’s eyes brimming with tears, Ashley said urgently, “It’s you.”
Koi looked up at him, his eyes still glistening with tears. Ashley confessed with even more sincerity, with a desperate heart.
“It’s you. The one I like is you, Corner Niles.”
Koi’s face was filled with disbelief. He deserved it all. Ashley resisted the urge to kick his past self and opened his mouth.
“…At first, it’s true, I pitied you.”
How could he explain this? Ashley felt hopeless. It was the first time he felt his vocabulary failing him. He sighed and looked down at Koi again. Koi was still looking up at him, but his expression was full of confusion. Looking down at him, Ashley said,
“Koi, do you know the difference between pitying someone and liking them?”
Koi silently shook his head. Ashley said,
“I do.”
He then gave a bitter smile.
“If this uniform wasn’t so ridiculously thick, you’d know how fast my heart is beating right now.”
A sigh escaped him in frustration. Ashley rubbed his forehead and fell into thought for a while. What should he do? What could he do to make Koi believe his sincerity?
Was his only option to drag him away and lock him up?
Koi stared blankly at Ashley, who was clearly distressed. He had never seen Ashley like this before. He looked anxious, bewildered, and a complex mix of guilt and other emotions seemed to be swirling within him.
〈You seem desperate to find proof that Ash doesn’t like you, but what do you gain from that?〉
Ariel’s words suddenly came to mind.
〈Just be true to your feelings. Don’t deny someone else’s feelings, that’s ignoring them.〉
Ariel continued to whisper.
〈So, what are your feelings?〉
Me.
My feelings.
Koi slowly raised his head. Ashley’s face, twisted in anguish, was right there.
My heart.
“I know,”
Koi finally spoke. Ashley took his hand away from his forehead and looked down at him. Koi silently stared at him before taking his hand and carefully placing it against his chest. And Ashley could feel it. He could feel Koi’s small heart, beating like crazy beneath the thin fabric of the cheerleading uniform.
Ashley looked down at him, his eyes wide with surprise. The surroundings were still quiet. But their ears were ringing with a deafening noise. Their hearts were pounding madly, throbbing against their temples. Koi opened his mouth. A trembling voice escaped.
“I like you, Ash.”
Tears welled up for some reason. Koi sniffled and finally confessed.
“I like you, Ash.”
He said it again and again, but it still wasn’t enough. The emotions he had been suppressing burst forth all at once, overflowing from his lips. Ariel was right. What mattered was that Koi liked Ashley. It was such an obvious fact. No one could deny it.
Ashley’s feelings must be the same.
“Koi.”
Ashley tilted his head. He whispered from a distance close enough for their breaths to mingle.
“I’m sorry, for hurting you.”
Ashley apologized sincerely. It didn’t matter how Koi knew it. He shouldn’t have said those things in the first place. To say he hung around out of pity, and to brag about it in front of the others.
How arrogant he had been.
Looking down from above, offering pity, saying he felt sorry for him, and actually acting that way. When he had seen with his own eyes how hard Koi worked. While he himself was living off Father’s money, freely enjoying the wealth of the man he so despised.
“I was wrong.”
Ashley apologized again. Koi just blinked and stared at him. Suddenly, he realized that Ashley’s eyes looked different than usual. So deep and so intense…
Purple eyes.
How could there be such a dark yet clear purple? Koi was momentarily lost in those incredibly mysterious eyes. If he became a pilot and went into space, would the light he saw then be this color? If countless stars twinkled within them, and he was left alone in the middle of an endlessly distant and deep universe, would he…
Would he feel like this then, too?
“I like you, Koi.”
Ashley confessed.
“You’re the only one.”
Unlike the passionate whisper, the breath that touched his lips was cool. Koi felt a strange shiver run down his spine and gently closed his eyes. As his eyelids slowly lowered and closed completely, soft lips touched his.
Ah…
Koi stopped breathing and hunched his shoulders. He gripped the fence tightly and stretched his neck as far as it would go, and Ashley pulled away before immediately pressing his lips against his again. Koi trembled all over as their lips met. Only his lips were touching, but his whole body was shaking, and his pulse was racing so much that he couldn’t think straight.
That’s when it happened. Ashley stopped kissing him and licked Koi’s tightly closed lips with his tongue. Koi almost fainted at the sensation of the wet saliva gently moistening his lips.
Ashley chuckled softly. If he hadn’t taken his hands off the fence and pulled Koi closer by wrapping his arms around his waist, Koi would have collapsed on the spot.
“Uh, unh…”
A sound involuntarily escaped his lips. Koi was embarrassed and wanted to stop it, but he couldn’t. He entrusted his whole body to Ashley’s arms around his waist, placed his hands on Ashley’s chest, and eagerly responded to the kiss. He squeezed his eyes shut and flinched every time Ashley’s lips met his, curling his toes, when Ashley suddenly stopped kissing him and whispered,
“Koi, you have to open your lips.”
Huh…?
Koi barely managed to open his eyes and look up at him. He just blinked, not understanding what he meant, and Ashley, who had been looking down at him for a moment, gave a bitter smile.
“Maybe I should just lock you up after all.”
“Huh…?”
Naturally, Koi didn’t understand. Seeing him just blinking, Ashley bit his ear, feigning ignorance. Koi flinched in surprise, and he playfully asked,
“Is this your first kiss? Koi.”
“Uh… yeah.”
Koi nodded. It was the answer Ashley had expected, but he felt strange. He couldn’t just be happy, knowing that all of Koi’s firsts were with him, and that another period of patience was beginning.
Slowly, slowly.
Ashley comforted himself and smiled instead.
“Koi.”
“Yeah.”
Koi still answered with an excited expression. His ears perked up.
“I want to devour you.”
“Huh?”
At Koi’s question, Ashley realized that he had accidentally spoken his thoughts aloud and quickly changed the subject.
“Should we go now, Koi? Aren’t you hungry?”
“Ah, yeah.”
Koi nodded obediently. Ashley couldn’t help but hug him tightly once more. He didn’t forget to lick his lips with his tongue and press a kiss on them. When he looked up, Koi was looking at him with a flushed face. Ashley made sure not to let his true feelings show this time and released Koi from his arms.
But that didn’t mean he let him go. Instead, Ashley took his hand and led him around the fence.
“Koi.”
“Yeah.”
Koi’s face was still red as he looked up at the sound of his name. He was smiling brightly, just the way Ashley had wanted him to be. His occasionally twitching ears were the same. Ashley looked down at him and smiled.
“Want to shower together?”