L*ck Me If You Can-Chapter 156
"Over here, Koi."
Ariel waved him over. Koi, who had been glancing around near the entrance of the café, spotted her and quickly made his way over. But Ariel wasn’t alone. When he noticed the other woman sitting with her, Koi involuntarily swallowed a sigh.
“Say hi, Koi. This is Sara. Sara, this is Koi. I told you about him, remember?”
Ariel, who had waited for Koi to pull out a chair and sit down, introduced them. Sara smiled brightly and greeted him first.
“Hello.”
“Hi.”
Koi returned the greeting awkwardly, then turned to Ariel.
“Sorry I’m late. Did you wait long?”
Ariel shook her head with a smile.
“No, not at all. Sara was just telling me a really fun story. Sara, would you mind sharing it again?”
At Ariel’s request, Sara smiled, a bit awkwardly, and glanced back and forth between Koi and Ariel.
“Um... I don’t know if you’d find it that interesting. It’s about a recently discovered asteroid.”
“An asteroid? The one Dr. Hanson found?”
Koi’s ears perked up at once. He blurted it out before he could stop himself, and Sara’s eyes lit up at his response. Seeing the reaction between the two, Ariel quickly jumped in to seize the moment.
“Sara works at NASA. Koi’s really into space stuff, too. Aren’t you?”
“Wait, you work at NASA?”
She was asking Koi for confirmation, but he didn’t seem to hear Ariel at all. He turned directly to Sara and asked again. From there, they quickly launched into an enthusiastic conversation—starting with the newly discovered asteroid and branching into all sorts of other topics. Ariel watched them with a satisfied smile and waited for a lull in the conversation before chiming in.
“Well, I’ve got something to take care of, so I’m going to head out. I’ll place your order before I go, so just keep chatting, okay?”
Koi looked at her, a little flustered, but Ariel turned her attention to Sara without hesitation. Sara turned from Ariel to Koi, smiling as she met his eyes.
“A sexy brain? That’s the best kind.”
When Ariel saw the deep blush creep across Koi’s face, she gave a short goodbye and left. To keep their conversation going, she ordered them a light lunch before she left, paying not only for the food but even leaving a generous tip.
This time, maybe Koi will actually pull it off.
A smile formed on her lips. She’d already lost count of how many times she’d tried to set him up. Koi always made a great first impression with his looks, but when it came to actual dates, he usually got rejected.
He’s handsome and a good person, but not very assertive... or he doesn’t seem that interested... The reasons varied, but they all came down to one thing: Koi was hopelessly inexperienced and awkward.
Of course, from Koi’s perspective, these weren’t dates at all—they felt more like “a friend introducing me to another friend” projects. But still, the repeated failures left Ariel frustrated. She couldn’t help but think that maybe this was exactly what Ashley had anticipated. The thought made her so angry she could hardly stand it.
At this point, she was determined to make Koi's love life work—with someone other than Ashley.
This time has to work out.
She’d even tapped into Garrett’s network to find the perfect candidate. With the way the two had looked together just now, she was feeling hopeful as she walked off down the street with a light step.
*
♬♪♩♪♪♬♩♪.......
Koi only noticed his phone ringing after three missed calls. It had been so long since he’d met someone who matched his interests so well that he completely lost track of time as they talked.
He suddenly realized they had been sitting and chatting for almost four hours. His eyes widened. But that wasn’t even the most surprising part. When he checked the caller ID, his heart dropped.
“Sorry—just a moment.”
Koi quickly apologized, picked up the call, and said briefly,
“I’ll call you back. Sorry.”
He hung up and gave the woman across from him an awkward smile.
“Shall we head out? We’ve been here a while.”
“Ah, yeah. We really have.”
Sara stood up promptly, and Koi, who had intended to pay the bill, was left standing awkwardly when he realized Ariel had already taken care of it.
“Ariel paid ahead. Even left a tip.”
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
He explained to Sara as they walked out, and she looked surprised as well. As the mood turned slightly awkward, Koi hesitated, but Sara picked up on it and made a quick suggestion.
“Shall we go somewhere else to talk more? Or maybe get something to eat?”
It was already nearing dinner time. A similar situation had happened before, but Koi had cluelessly turned the woman down and gone home—only to get scolded by Ariel afterward. With that memory fresh in mind and genuinely enjoying his conversation with Sara, Koi nodded without hesitation.
And that day, for the first time, he had a successful date.
*
When Koi got ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) home, he showered, then came out to find a missed call from Ariel. When he called her back, she skipped the greeting and jumped right in.
—So? How’d it go? Did it end well? Did you walk her home?
Faced with the barrage of questions, Koi took a breath and answered.
“Thanks for lunch. We had dinner too, then split up. She said she’d take the subway, so I walked her to the station.”
—Well, yeah. Walking her home on the first date might’ve been too much.
Ariel accepted that reasoning and quickly asked in a cheerful tone,
—So? What did you think of Sara? You two seemed to get along well. She’s got a great personality too.
“Yeah. Thanks. I think I’ve made a really good friend.”
Ariel paused. A chill ran down her spine. She lowered her voice and asked carefully,
—Koi... You didn’t split the bill for dinner, did you?
“No.”
She was about to sigh in relief when Koi added,
“You paid for lunch, right? And you introduced her, so I figured I should pay.”
The logic was a bit off, but the result was acceptable. Ariel took a deep breath and continued.
—Anyway, that’s fine. Did you set up another date?
“Yeah. Sunday.”
Ariel tilted her head.
—Why Sunday? What about Saturday?
She’d hoped they’d spend both days together. When she asked, Koi hesitated and answered.
“Uh... well... I’m meeting Ash.”
—Ash?
Ariel’s voice suddenly dropped. At the sound of her chilling tone, Koi got flustered and explained honestly.
“He called me just before I left the café. I told him I’d call back later and hung up. I mean, I was with someone—it’d be rude to take a call from someone else unless it was an emergency... Anyway, we went to dinner afterward, and while I was in the restroom, I called him. He’d tried calling two more times, so I figured it might be urgent.”
—And? How did Ash react?
Ariel’s words came fast, and Koi answered, sounding downcast.
“Of course he wasn’t happy. I didn’t answer his calls.”
That’s not why, though.
Ariel thought to herself but didn’t say it out loud. She prompted him again, and Koi hesitated before continuing.
“He asked if I had plans this weekend, and I said I did. So he asked to meet Saturday. But by the time I tried to reschedule with Sara, I already had the plan with Ash, so I suggested Sunday instead.”
—I see.
Given Koi’s standards, that was actually pretty impressive. Ariel took another deep breath, calmed herself, and asked,
—Why did Ash call, anyway? And three times at that?
“Um...”
Koi hesitated, then corrected himself.
“Actually, it was six times. There were already three missed calls from earlier when I checked.”
—Wow.
Ariel let out an astonished sound.
—He said he wanted you to be happy, and now he’s pulling stalker moves? That guy...
“I-I’m sure he was just worried because I wasn’t answering. He’s not a stalker.”
—Of course not. Of course he isn’t.
Ariel dismissed Koi’s words, as always siding with Ashley, and fell silent for a moment before speaking again.
—You said Saturday, right? You’re having dinner?
“Yeah. We’re going to the same restaurant we went to last time.”
Ariel responded sweetly.
—Okay then, Koi. When you meet up with Ash... could you do me a little favor?
“Huh?”
Startled by the sudden request, Koi blinked and asked. Ariel, in an even softer tone, cast her magic spell.
—Please.
Of course, it worked immediately.
