Ashley was just coming out of the kitchen.
"You're done already?"
"Uh, y-yeah."
At Ashley's question, Koi hurriedly nodded. He was nervous, wondering if his behavior seed unnatural, but Ashley just said, "Yeah?" and let it go without much thought.
Did I manage to pull it off?
Koi had absolutely no confidence in his acting skills, but since Ashley didn’t question anything, maybe it wasn’t so bad.
That was what he had to believe.
"Are you going to sleep right away, or do you want another drink?"
"I’ll have another drink."
Going to bed already was out of the question. He quickly responded, and Ashley smiled.
The swelling on one side of his face was still there, but the handprint had faded a lot. By tomorrow, the swelling would subside completely, and the marks would disappear.
"You’ll be able to co to school on Monday."
At Koi’s comnt, Ashley smirked.
"I told you I’d be there."
The way he answered so matter-of-factly made Koi feel mischievous for so reason. He pretended not to know and asked,
"What if you’re still like this by then?"
Ashley looked down at him.
"Who was it that said I’d look amazing no matter what?"
Koi's face turned red.
"...."
Ashley nodded slightly, as if confirming, and chuckled.
Koi, flustered, hurried to follow him, his heart pounding for so reason that he couldn’t quite explain.
*
"Haaa."
A satisfied sigh escaped.
Koi was sitting side by side with Ashley in the garden, gazing up at the night sky.
Beside them was a pile of different kinds of soda and snacks.
"It feels like the stars are about to pour down."
Koi stretched out his hand toward the sky as he spoke.
"I’ve never seen such a vast sky before."
"Didn’t you see it last ti?"
Ashley teased him.
Koi quickly corrected himself.
"You can only see a sky this wide at this mansion."
There were no power lines cutting across it, no scattered high-rises ruining the view.
The endlessly open sky made his chest feel lighter every ti he looked at it.
"It must be easy to see constellations here."
Koi took a sip of his drink as he spoke.
"Do you want to see them?"
At Ashley’s question, Koi turned to look at him.
"Is there another way to see them besides this?"
Ashley murmured nonchalantly.
"I do have a telescope."
"What? A telescope? A real astronomical telescope?"
Koi’s voice rose in excitent, making Ashley flinch slightly before replying a beat later.
"Uh, yeah."
"That’s amazing! Where? Is it on the second floor? Third floor? Can I see it now?"
Koi exclaid, eyes shining, but then he suddenly hesitated.
"Sorry, I got too excited."
Seeing Koi’s enthusiasm deflate in an instant, Ashley let out a ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) small laugh.
Koi’s ears, which had been twitching slightly with excitent, suddenly went still.
Ashley resisted the sudden urge to touch them and said,
"It’s not here. It’s at the main house in the East."
"Oh..."
Koi’s voice, which had been filled with excitent, quieted down.
Ashley cleared his throat and asked,
"You like stars that much?"
"Yeah."
Koi nodded without hesitation.
"I wish I could study astronomy. I want to work at NASA."
"NASA?"
"Yeah."
Koi’s mood lifted again as he spoke excitedly.
"I want to be an astronaut."
"An astronaut?"
Ashley repeated again.
Koi nodded once more.
"I want to experience space firsthand. How amazing would it be? A pitch-black universe stretching endlessly. All the way over there, as far as the eye can see..."
As he spoke, he stretched out his arms.
It already felt as if he were floating in the middle of space.
The deep blue sky surrounding him felt like the cosmos itself.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Cold air filled his lungs.
It felt like he was sinking into space.
"...Koi!"
Suddenly, Ashley called his na and grabbed his arm.
Koi flinched, startled, and opened his eyes to look at him.
"Ash?"
He called out in confusion.
Ashley’s face had gone completely pale, drained of all color.
Koi blinked in surprise and cautiously asked,
"Ash, what’s wrong?"
Ashley, his face still pale, blinked as if finally coming back to his senses.
“...Huh?”
His dazed reaction only made Koi more worried.
“Ash, what’s wrong?”
He called his na again, and only then did Ashley’s face relax. A deep sigh escaped his lips.
“...Sorry, I was just startled.”
“Why?”
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Koi still didn’t understand and pressed for an answer.
Ashley opened his mouth, then closed it again.
“...It’s nothing.”
He murmured.
“No, it’s nothing. Forget it.”
Koi wanted to know the reason, but Ashley didn’t seem willing to explain.
All he could do was watch him with concern.
“...Are you okay?”
Koi asked once Ashley’s color seed to return.
Ashley nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine now.”
He smiled.
But it wasn’t the usual bright and carefree smile.
Wanting to lighten the mood, Koi made a playful joke.
“Did you think I was going to just disappear sowhere?”
He even let out a short laugh, but Ashley didn’t smile.
He didn’t even look away awkwardly.
Instead, he just kept staring at him, intently.
Ash...?
Koi, confused, simply waited.
The air around them was still.
Even his own breathing seed inaudible.
...Huh?
Ashley tilted his head slightly toward him.
Amidst the silence, another sound mixed in—a soft, rhythmic thumping.
His heartbeat.
Koi’s eyes widened as he watched Ashley lean in.
His heart, which had been fluttering earlier, now felt strangely muted.
All of his senses seed to focus solely on Ashley.
His eyes, locked on him.
His ears, listening to his every movent.
Every hair on his body stood on end, hypersensitive to his presence.
Koi held his breath.
He had no idea what Ashley was about to do.
All he could do was watch him co closer.
A few seconds stretched into eternity.
His chest pounded quietly as he gazed at Ashley.
He noticed, for the first ti, how long and dark Ashley’s eyelashes were.
“I got it.”
...Huh?
Ashley’s sudden voice snapped him out of his trance.
Koi blinked in surprise.
A gentle smile spread across Ashley’s face as he lifted his hand.
“There was a bug.”
“A... a bug?”
Koi stamred like an idiot.
Ashley nodded without hesitation.
Standing up, he asked casually,
“Want so ice cream?”
“Huh? Oh... yeah.”
Still dazed, Koi nodded without thinking.
Ashley flashed him a grin before turning away and walking off.
Koi sat frozen in place, staring at Ashley’s retreating back.
His heart pounded so loudly it echoed in his ears.
I thought... he was going to kiss .
Realization hit him all at once.
His face burned with heat.
*
That was close.
Only after he had walked far enough out of Koi’s sight did Ashley finally stop, pressing a hand to his chest.
What the hell was I doing?
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t make sense of his own actions.
Maybe it was the perfect breeze.
Maybe it was the clear, bright sky.
Or maybe... it was Koi.
Koi, sitting right next to him.
He had felt like Koi was about to disappear.
“...Haah.”
He closed his eyes and let out a trembling sigh.
How stupid.
Losing himself in ridiculous thoughts—how pathetic.
Ashley shook his head and walked briskly toward the snack bar.
He grabbed whatever ice cream and drinks were within reach, still trying to pinpoint the exact cause of the strange mont earlier.
He wasn’t so clueless kid experiencing his first relationship.
With a sharp clang, he shut the refrigerator door and turned around.
*
Taking a deep breath, Ashley walked back toward the garden where Koi was.
Koi was sitting with his legs pulled up, hugging them as he gazed at the night sky.
Ashley silently sat down beside him and handed him the ice cream.
“Thanks.”
Koi pulled the spoon off the lid and took a bite.
Cold, sweet vanilla spread across his tongue.
It’s good.
A bright, uncontrollable smile spread across his face.
Ashley glanced at him, then quickly turned away.
Opening a can, he poured half of it into a glass.
Just as he was about to take a sip, he realized he had grabbed the wrong drink.
He had thought it was root beer.
But instead, he had taken a can of beer from the fridge.
The sharp scent of alcohol wafted up as he put the glass down and reached for another drink.
This ti, he grabbed a cola.
But before he could take a sip, sothing caught his eye—
Koi, gulping down sothing.
“...Wait!"
Ashley’s voice shot out in alarm as he realized what Koi was drinking.
The beer.
But it was already too late.
Koi had finished the entire can.
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