Ashley’s offer caught Koi completely off guard.
“What?”
At first, he thought he had misheard. Blinking, he looked up, only to see Ashley smiling in that usual way of his.
“I said I’ll help. Where should we start? Cleaning?”
“W-What? Why?”
This ti, he had definitely heard correctly. But Koi still couldn’t believe his own ears. Ashley Miller was offering to help him clean? All of a sudden? Why? For what reason?
There has to be so kind of ulterior motive.
His first instinct was suspicion, but even that didn’t quite make sense. Soone only acted like this when they had sothing to gain. Ashley Miller had absolutely nothing to gain from Koi Niles.
Even the dust in my house is probably more useful than I am to him.
Adding a self-deprecating joke in his head, Koi barely stopped himself from laughing bitterly and instead looked at Ashley with a serious expression. He still couldn’t let his guard down. Even if there was nothing for Ashley to gain, believing that he was being kind for no reason was even harder.
“I don’t believe in kindness without reason.”
His voice was laced with wariness. Slowly, Ashley’s smile faded. The two of them stared at each other in silence for a mont.
With a quiet sigh, Ashley was the first to break the silence.
“Actually, I ca because I wanted to ask you sothing.”
There it is.
“What is it?”
Koi couldn’t even begin to guess what it might be. When he asked, Ashley hesitated briefly before finally speaking.
“Our assignnt.”
“...Assignnt?”
Koi blinked, confused, and repeated what Ashley had said. Ashley scratched his head awkwardly before explaining.
“You know, Professor Martinez’s team project. The one we both got an A on.”
“Oh, that.”
Only then did Koi realize what Ashley was referring to, letting out a quiet murmur of understanding. And now, he had a pretty good idea of what Ashley wanted to ask. Sure enough, Ashley, looking sowhat troubled, continued in a slow voice.
“Why did you put my na on it?”
His expression was one of complete bewildernt. Seeing it, Koi felt a bit relieved. At the sa ti, a mischievous streak surfaced, prompting him to answer in a deliberately blunt tone.
“Why? You got a problem with that?”
“It doesn’t make sense.”
Ashley frowned. For the first ti, Koi felt like he was seeing his real, unguarded expression.
“You just said it yourself—you don’t believe in kindness without a reason. So why did you do it? No matter how I think about it, I don’t get it.”
Ashley crossed his arms, looking down at Koi as if demanding an answer. Koi straightened his back as much as possible, trying not to be intimidated. Even so, he still had to crane his neck to et Ashley’s gaze.
“It’s nothing. We were on the sa team, so I put your na on it.”
“Did you really have to?”
Ashley clearly didn’t believe him. After a brief pause, Koi decided to be honest.
“It was a team project. I thought if I submitted it alone, maybe Professor Martinez wouldn’t give full credit.”
“But the other guys had no problem submitting theirs without their teammates’ nas.”
“That’s their choice.”
Koi remained stubborn.
“Either way, it was a team project. What if Professor Martinez thought my teammate didn’t contribute and deducted points?”
This project was that important to , and you just ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) walked away.
Koi glared at him, rembering his earlier frustration.
“And yet, you weren’t mad?”
“Of course I was. That’s why I put my na first.”
At Koi’s response, Ashley’s eyes widened in surprise before he suddenly burst into laughter. He laughed so hard he bent over, shaking with amusent.
What the hell is so funny?
Koi just stared at him, dumbfounded.
“I guess I owe you one.”
After what felt like an eternity, Ashley finally spoke, still grinning.
“Forget it. I did it for myself.”
Koi said firmly. And besides, you helped out earlier, too, he added in his head—but he didn’t say it aloud.
What he did say, however, was ant to tell Ashley to leave. But instead of leaving, Ashley simply looked around the shop.
“You’re going to clean now, right? Let’s do it together.”
“...What?”
Is he serious?
Koi stared at him, dumbstruck. But Ashley, without wasting any more ti, turned and started walking further into the shop.
“What about the ceiling? I should probably handle that part, right?”
Koi followed his gaze and hesitated. The ceiling was ridiculously high. After a mont of consideration, he gave in.
“...Yeah.”
“Hold on, I’ll get a cloth for you.”
Koi ran off, grabbed the cleaning supplies, and returned. Ashley, waiting in the sa spot, took the cloth from him and started wiping the ceiling.
Watching him stretch his arm out, wiping off the dust with ease, Koi felt an unexpected pang of inferiority—but quickly pushed the feeling away.
There was too much work to be done.
He hurriedly turned away and started wiping down the ssy display shelves, focusing on organizing them.
*
With Ashley’s help, the cleaning was finished much more easily than expected. Soon, the store was back to its original tidy state, but the problem was the empty display shelves scattered throughout. Five beers were also missing from the fridge.
How much did all that cost?
Koi let out a deep sigh.
“Are we done now?”
At the sound of Ashley’s voice, Koi lifted his head. Ashley, looking completely unchanged from when they had started, was gazing down at him. Even in a situation like this, Ashley Miller remained effortlessly perfect. Feeling exhausted, Koi nodded weakly.
“Yeah. You can go now. Thanks for helping.”
“You’re welco. ...Are the missing items okay? A lot of stuff was ruined too.”
“There’s nothing I can do about it.”
As soon as he finished speaking, another long sigh escaped him. Ashley, who had been silent, finally spoke again.
“...I’m throwing a party on Friday.”
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Koi looked up, puzzled by the sudden change of topic. Ashley continued.
“I need snacks and a bunch of other stuff. I’d like to buy them from here—can you ring them up for ?”
“...Yeah, sure.”
With a wave of his hand, Koi motioned for him to do as he pleased before heading behind the register. He slumped over the counter, resting his head on his arms.
Ashley, instead of saying anything, simply turned around and began gathering the items he needed.
By the ti he returned to the counter, Koi had already fallen asleep.
Ashley stood there for a mont, lost in thought, before pulling out a notepad and pen from the counter. He scribbled a ssage and placed it beside a stack of five $100 bills.
The sound of the door chi startled Koi awake. He jolted up, looking around in confusion, but the only one left in the store was himself.
As he hurriedly stepped out from behind the counter, his eyes caught sight of a Cayenne pulling out of the parking lot. He stood frozen for a mont before finally turning back to the counter. It was then that he noticed the cash and the note left behind.
What the hell? $500?
His eyes widened in shock. Quickly, he grabbed the note, which was clearly from Ashley.
There were a few items listed on it—various products with no clear pattern or organization.
Koi tilted his head in confusion, only realizing the reason behind it later that night.
After closing the store, he checked the remaining stock to assess what had been lost.
*
The next day, Koi arrived at school at his usual ti. Despite trying to act normal, he found himself anxiously scanning the area.
Ashley and his group were always easy to spot, whether he wanted to see them or not. But today, strangely enough, they were nowhere to be seen.
Weird.
Feeling restless, Koi checked the ti and fiddled with his locker, opening and closing it for no reason.
He’s not skipping again, is he...?
Just as the thought crossed his mind, he sensed a shift in the atmosphere. It was sothing familiar.
Ashley Miller had arrived.
Relieved, Koi turned his head—and his guess was right. But his relief didn’t last long. Alongside Ashley’s usual group, he also spotted an unwelco face.
Nelson and his gang were loitering nearby, keeping their distance from Ashley’s group but clearly watching.
Ti to get the hell out of here.
Koi slowly began backing away before turning on his heel and breaking into a full sprint.
After what happened yesterday, Nelson was probably furious. If he got caught now, the bullying would be on a whole new level.
I just need to stay off his radar. The sester is almost over—I just have to hold out a little longer.
What if he cos to the store again?
A bad feeling crept up his spine, but that was a problem for later. Right now, the priority was escaping.
Panting, Koi ran toward his classroom building as fast as he could.
“Huh.”
Ashley let out a small noise, catching the attention of his friends.
“What’s up? What do you see?”
“What is it?”
While his friends looked around in confusion, Ashley remained silent, still staring in the sa direction.
He was just as puzzled as they were.
It wasn’t until he turned his head the other way that he realized what was going on.
The mont he locked eyes with Nelson, the other boy flinched in surprise before hurriedly retreating, dragging his friends away with him.
Ashley watched them disappear, finally understanding why Koi had taken off running.
“...Hmm.”
Rubbing his chin, he mulled over sothing, deep in thought.
His friends exchanged glances, still confused.
No one else seed to know what was going on.
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