L*ck Me If You Can-Chapter 12

The loud voices of the big guys chattering away quickly made Koi feel dazed. It was complete chaos—each of them talking over one another, their words overlapping into a wall of noise. They were speaking English, but somehow, he couldn’t understand a single thing. His eyes darted around anxiously, his body shrinking in on itself.

"Look at this freak!"

"He’s a monkey! A monkey!"

"No, he’s a dog! Walk on all fours, freak!"

"Woof! Woof woof! Come on, do it! Woof!"

Laughter, loud and mocking, echoed in his ears like a haunting memory. Sweat broke out on his back, and the cafeteria seemed to spin around him.

He had let his guard down. His old habit had slipped out before he could stop it.

The first time this was discovered, the bullying had been relentless. Nelson’s gang, who had already tormented him for fun, turned their attention toward him full force after that.

And now, again.

He had finally found a new group to fit into, and this happened.

Tears pricked at his eyes.

Koi didn’t dare look at Ashley. He didn’t want to see him laughing, sneering, mocking him the same way Nelson did.

The mere thought made his throat tighten.

He bit his lip and trembled, trying to suppress the overwhelming humiliation.

Then, through the noise, Ashley’s voice cut through.

"Koi, is it real?"

It’s over.

He had completely screwed himself over.

Of course. Of course.

Koi Niles. Did you really think something good would happen to you?

You got too excited, and now you’ve ruined everything.

Your life never goes right. You idiot.

Self-hatred churned in his chest like poison.

Then, Ashley spoke again—his voice louder.

"Shut up, all of you! You’re scaring him. I said, shut up!"

The surrounding chaos halted.

Then, Ashley turned to him again.

"Koi, it’s okay."

Koi blinked.

"I’m sorry. These guys forget how intimidating they are sometimes. A bunch of dumbasses with muscles."

"Hey, you’re one of us, too!"

"Yeah! You’re literally the biggest one here, Ashley!"

His friends erupted in protest, yelling at Ashley, not at Koi.

That was when Koi realized—the situation wasn’t what he thought it was.

...Huh?

Cautiously, he lifted his head.

Ashley’s group was not mocking him.

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They weren’t sneering, weren’t ganging up on him like Nelson had.

They were just... talking.

Like normal.

Still confused, Koi slowly lowered his hands from his ears.

And when his gaze hesitantly met Ashley’s, the other boy smiled.

Like it was nothing.

The tension in Koi’s shoulders loosened slightly.

...Is this okay?

He warily glanced around.

Then—

"Wait, can you really move your ears?"

A voice cut in.

Koi flinched.

"I saw it!" another one of the guys insisted. "What, you think I’m hallucinating?!"

Nobody cared about his dramatic reaction.

They all turned back to Koi, eyes glinting with curiosity.

"Really? Show us!"

"Yeah, let’s see!"

"Come on, just once! Please?"

The reaction was so different from what he had expected that Koi didn’t know how to respond.

They weren’t laughing at him.

They were interested.

Even Ashley was watching him, intrigued.

Hesitantly, Koi worked up the courage to twitch one ear.

A wave of excitement burst from the table.

"Holy shit."

"Whoa!"

"That’s insane!"

"How the hell do you do that?!"

"Wait, is this like a trained thing, or were you born with it?"

"Can you move both? Separately? Together? Oh, shit, you can!"

Voices piled on top of one another, overwhelming but... not cruel.

Koi swallowed nervously.

And then, slowly, he moved both ears at the same time.

The entire table exploded into cheers.

Guys clapped, laughed, and even started tugging on their own ears, attempting to mimic him.

Of course, none of them succeeded.

"How do you do this?!"

Even Ashley, frowning in concentration, tried and failed.

Still flustered, Koi stammered out an answer.

"I-It’s just... I’ve always been able to do it, ever since I was a kid."

Ashley, still messing with his ears, looked up.

"Wait, so you can control it whenever you want?"

Koi hesitated, then—speaking a little louder this time—answered,

"Sometimes, yeah. But a lot of times, it just happens ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) when I feel really happy... or really surprised."

The table erupted again.

"That’s crazy!"

"See? Some things are just natural-born talent!"

Someone even whistled in admiration.

And just like that—they moved on to a different topic.

Like it was no big deal.

Koi never imagined something he had been bullied for so much could be... this easy.

Could it really have been nothing all along?

Still dazed, he reached for his vegetable juice.

And then—

One of the guys snatched it.

Koi barely had time to react before the guy took a sip.

"Ugh! What the hell is this?!"

The moment he realized it wasn’t his drink, his face twisted in horror.

Koi immediately felt guilty.

"I... I tried to stop you..."

"The one who wasn’t paying attention is at fault, so don’t worry about it," Ashley said nonchalantly.

Still feeling guilty, Koi hesitated, glancing at the guy who had taken his drink by mistake. With a disgusted expression, the guy shoved the drink back toward Koi and grimaced.

"What the hell is this? Tastes like month-old underwear washed in sewer water."

"You’ve tasted that before?"

"You would too if you ever tried it."

Their bickering continued as if on cue, and Koi, pretending not to be bothered, forced a casual response.

"I don’t mind it."

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

The conversation immediately shifted again.

"Nobody drinks that unless they’re trying to build muscle or something."

"Or they’re already dead."

"Hey, weren’t your pancakes last time basically an assassination attempt?"

Laughter erupted as they seamlessly moved to another topic. Even Ashley joined in, laughing and chatting like nothing had happened.

Koi let out a breath of relief.

There had been a few close calls, but he had made it through.

In his short life, he had never faced two consecutive near-disasters in a single day like this before. He clutched his chest, trying to steady his pounding heart.

But once the danger had passed, a sense of pride swelled within him.

He had eaten lunch with the most popular six guys in school.

And it hadn’t been a disaster.

It still didn’t feel real.

—

After returning his tray, Koi was about to head toward his next class when he hesitated.

Steeling himself, he called out.

"Ashley."

Ashley stopped walking and turned around at the sound of his name.

Koi hesitated for a second, then reached into his pocket, feeling for the money he had been carrying around all morning.

"About the money from yesterday..."

"Hm? Was it not enough?"

Ashley asked without hesitation.

Koi’s head snapped up in shock.

"No, that’s not it..."

Ashley tilted his head, puzzled.

"Then what?"

For some reason, Koi couldn’t get the words out.

He stared at Ashley for a second, then quickly lowered his gaze and pulled out the money from his pocket.

"Ah."

Along with the neatly bundled bills he had meant to return to Ashley, another bill slipped out.

His lucky two-dollar bill.

Before he could pick it up, Ashley bent down and grabbed the crumpled bill first.

"Here."

Ashley handed it back to him with a smile.

"You’ve had this for a long time, huh?"

"Uh..."

Koi swallowed.

There was a reason for that.

But instead of explaining, he quickly changed the subject.

"The money you left yesterday—it was too much."

Carefully, he chose his words, keeping his voice steady.

"You covered the stuff that got damaged too, didn’t you?"

Ashley must have deliberately overpaid, since there was no way he knew exactly how much Koi had lost.

Of course, this wasn’t a moment to act proud or pretend they weren’t close enough for favors. He wasn’t dumb enough to push Ashley away over something like that.

But still—

Koi needed to return at least some of the money.

Even if it was just to hold onto what little dignity he had left.

"...Thanks."

He said it softly.

Ashley flashed his usual grin.

"I was the one who owed you first."

"You’ve more than paid me back."

"Good to know."

Ashley took the money and stuffed it haphazardly into his pocket.

Then, with a casual wave, he turned and strode off toward his waiting friends.

Koi watched him go.

For a long time.

His heart still beating a little too fast.