L*ck Me If You Can-Chapter 36
"Uh, uh."
Koi was being pulled along when he suddenly realized what was going on. It was still awkward, and he thought to himself that it would probably stay that way for a while. He hurriedly followed Ashley.
"Now, tell me."
Ashley led Koi to a secluded spot behind the school and, once they were alone, finally spoke up. The opportunity was there, but Koi still couldn’t find the words.
I’ve joined the cheerleading team, and I’ll have to dress in women’s clothing. I’ll need to practice the choreography too. And now they’re saying I need to skate. I don’t even have skates! Why? Because I don’t have the money!
"Koi."
Ashley spoke gently to Koi, who had his eyes tightly shut.
"Tell me, or I can’t help you."
His voice was soft, but Koi could tell he genuinely wanted to help. Still, after all the layers he had built around himself, Koi couldn’t bring himself to open up.
"Koi."
Ashley said again when Koi just lowered his head.
"Don’t you trust me?"
"N-No," Koi hurriedly shook his head. His face flushed bright red in embarrassment.
"...It’s just... embarrassing."
"What’s embarrassing?"
Ashley asked again. Koi let out a deep sigh and groaned in frustration before finally speaking.
"Actually... um..."
Koi hesitated, his words slow and disjointed. Ashley listened patiently, giving him time to gather his thoughts. Koi tried to be as honest as he could, leaving out only the part about wearing women's clothing.
"So, there’s an ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) opening, and you’re trying to solve it this way."
After hearing everything, Ashley muttered. Koi felt tense, but fortunately, Ashley seemed to be unaware of the situation. It appeared he didn’t know the latest gossip about Ariel breaking up with him. That was a relief.
After thinking for a moment, Ashley spoke.
"So, the problem now is that you don’t know how to skate and don’t have skates, right?"
"Y-Yeah."
"It’s best to buy skates that fit your feet, but since you only need to play for one season..."
"Yeah."
Ashley, sensing Koi’s nervousness, suggested a solution.
"Here’s the plan. There’s an ice rink in my basement. We can practice there."
"An ice rink? In your house?"
Koi was shocked, and Ashley continued.
"I think I still have the skates I used when I was a kid. I’ll check if they fit your size. What do you think?"
"O-Okay."
Koi nodded reflexively. Ashley smiled brightly.
"Well, that solves everything, right? Is there any other problem?"
"Um..."
Koi blinked in surprise. No, there wasn’t. In an instant, all of his worries were gone.
"Ah, no, there’s nothing else."
He quickly nodded, his face heating up.
"Really, everything’s solved, all of it."
His eyes sparkled as he looked up at Ashley, his gaze so full of admiration that Ashley nearly burst into laughter.
"Glad to hear that."
Ashley smiled warmly and continued.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
"So, how are we going to practice? You’ll need to train every day to get used to the movements, and I won’t finish my practice until 7. If we have dinner at my place and then practice skating for about two hours, we’ll probably be done around 11. Is that too late? Are you okay with that?"
"Yeah. It’s fine."
Koi nodded quickly.
"I actually finish work around that time too."
In reality, his part-time job ended at 10, but he only got paid until then. Cleaning up, tidying up the trash, and checking inventory took another hour, sometimes even two. He didn’t get paid for that extra time.
"I can quit my part-time job on weekdays."
But on weekends, he would still have to take care of the store. It couldn’t be helped. Managing his grades was his top priority.
"Isn’t that a bit too much?"
Ashley asked with a frown, clearly worried. Seeing that, Koi deliberately smiled brighter.
"It’s okay, this is more important right now."
"...Yeah, I guess."
Ashley nodded, agreeing with Koi’s reasoning.
"Alright, then. The conversation’s over. What do you think? Should we start today?"
"Please. There’s not much time to practice. I still need to memorize the basic moves."
Even a day was too much of a delay. He had skimmed through it, but most of the moves were confusing and unclear.
"The cheerleading team has a lot to do."
Ashley said with a smile.
"Okay, then. I’ll see you at 7:10. I’ll start the car, so come to my car. It’s parked on the street in front of the school. You’ll recognize it. Can you find it?"
"I should be able to."
By that time, there shouldn’t be many cars left. His Cayenne was hard to miss. Still, Ashley seemed a bit uneasy.
"If you can’t find it, just call me."
After giving his instructions, Ashley hurried off. The ice hockey team was about to start their practice.
Koi, on the cheerleading team.
Ashley sighed as he walked quickly.
He really followed through with the idea of dressing a guy up to break the curse.
*
"Uh, uh."
While waiting alone in the quiet cafeteria after class for Ashley, Koi searched for the basic moves that Ariel had given him. He had trouble understanding the written instructions and images, so he turned to videos, but still, it made no sense.
Why on earth do people move their bodies like this?
Even something as simple as a side step felt impossible for Koi. He couldn’t even imagine how to do it or what the principles behind it were. When he was very young, he couldn’t even manage the easiest roll.
Can I really do this?
Sighing, he watched the video over and over, but time passed quickly. The alarm he had set beforehand blared loudly, and startled, he hurriedly packed up and left the cafeteria.
He had already located where Ashley's car was. But first, he had to go get his bicycle. Sometimes his bike disappeared, but no one would steal Koi’s old, worn-out one. This time too, his bike was left alone, so he quickly grabbed it and skillfully hopped on.
Finding Ashley's Cayenne wasn’t difficult. After passing the sports field and exiting the parking lot, Koi spotted the car immediately. When Ashley saw Koi approaching on his bike in the rearview mirror, he opened the trunk.
"Go ahead and sit."
Ashley said, standing in front of the open trunk after getting out of the driver’s seat.
It’s my bike. Shouldn’t I be the one loading it?
Koi hesitated and began walking toward the passenger seat. However, after seeing Ashley easily lift the old bike with one hand and load it into the car, he quietly sat in the passenger seat.
Ashley quickly returned to the driver's seat and fastened his seatbelt. After making sure Koi also had his seatbelt on, he skillfully turned the wheel and asked.
"How about dinner at my place? Is that okay?"
"Uh? Yeah, of course. That sounds great."
Koi answered eagerly, but his face quickly turned red. He felt embarrassed, as if he had inadvertently revealed he was happy because he could save money. Ashley, noticing Koi's discomfort, continued speaking.
"After eating, we’ll have to practice right away. If we stop somewhere else, we’ll waste too much time."
"Oh, right."
Koi felt relieved. Ashley smoothly drove the car, heading straight for the countryside.
*
The dinner that Ashley had prepared was from something the household staff had made earlier, and as expected, the portions were enormous. Koi had never seen such a large salad bowl. So much lettuce. Then, beside it, the mashed potatoes were also piled high in a salad bowl of the same size, which made Koi nervously wonder how much food would still be left afterward.
Contrary to his expectations, what Ashley had served them were just chicken salad, steak, and mashed potatoes. Koi, thinking more food was coming, looked at Ashley sitting across from him in wonder and asked.
"So, you don’t eat much at home?"
This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
"Well, it’s not that we don’t, but..."
Ashley stood up, as if remembering something, and added.
"Right now, this is all there is."
"Ugh."
While cutting a large piece of steak and putting it in his mouth, Koi suddenly choked. He quickly pounded his chest and gulped down some water, regaining his composure. Looking back and forth between his plate and Ashley’s, Koi made up his mind and cut the remaining half of the meat. This was the only way.
