L*ck Me If You Can-Chapter 177

Ashley’s voice was calm and low, no different from usual, but Koi felt a chill run down his spine. His fear was plainly visible in his hunched shoulders and wavering eyes, yet Ashley made no effort to hide his anger to comfort him. This wasn’t the time to coddle him. Koi stammered, forcing the words out with difficulty.

“Uh... but you already did your part. You’re going to get paid, so from here on, I should handle it myself...”

He gave what he believed was a valid justification for acting on his own.

“I couldn’t ask you for more when I couldn’t even pay your fee.”

There were no holes in his reasoning—or so he thought. Ashley ruthlessly dug right into the gap.

“Koi, did you actually receive that money after I called you?”

“Huh?”

Koi was caught off guard, and Ashley continued coldly.

“Of course you didn’t. You got it after you retrieved the truck.”

“Uh, y-yeah...”

As Koi fumbled without a proper answer, Ashley stared down at him and continued scolding.

“Then I wasn’t done with my job, was I? My job isn’t over until you actually have the money in hand. So tell me—was I wrong?”

“Uh...”

Sweat trickled down Koi’s back. He looked at Ashley, then muttered softly.

“You’re right...”

“Good. Glad you can admit that.”

Ashley’s sarcasm was sharp as ever. He finally let go of Koi’s lip and looked down at the blood-stained handkerchief with a frown. He then checked Koi’s lip again. The bleeding had stopped.

“How badly were you beaten? I need to check if anything else is injured.”

“Ah, wait—!”

Ashley suddenly lifted Koi’s shirt without warning, causing him to yelp. Seeing the red bruises in several places, Ashley’s expression twisted as he began pressing around Koi’s body to check for injuries. Koi flinched and cried out with every touch, but when Ashley pressed on one spot on his side and didn’t move for a moment, Koi looked at him curiously.

“That part doesn’t hurt.”

To his surprise, Ashley looked visibly relieved.

“Good. That’s a relief.”

Koi, puzzled, remembered that last time Ashley had pressed there, it had hurt enough to make him scream. Maybe he was pressing more gently this time—but considering how much the other bruises hurt even under light pressure, it seemed like there was another reason.

Ashley didn’t explain. He simply moved on, checking the rest of Koi’s body. After a quiet sigh, he removed his hands.

“So why the hell did you end up fighting like this? You’re not a kid anymore. You’re an adult—there must’ve been a reason you threw punches.”

No matter how reckless Nelson was, he wouldn’t have lashed out completely unprovoked. Ashley gave Koi a stern warning as he hesitated.

“Tell me the truth. All of it.”

“Y-yeah.”

Those words were like a magic key. Koi finally began to confess.

“It’s just... Nelson started badmouthing you.”

Ashley’s brows furrowed in disbelief.

“What did he say?”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Koi couldn’t bring himself to look at him. He stared elsewhere and mumbled.

“I went to get the car... and Nelson was there. I mean, it’s his house, so of course he was there... Anyway, I said I came for the truck and he started being annoying. So I just tried to play along and get out, but then he suddenly started talking shit about you...”

As he recounted it, anger rose in his voice. The nerve of someone like Nelson, dealing drugs, to insult anyone.

“He was saying crap about me too—calling me a loser and stuff. I didn’t care. He could’ve told me to crawl between his legs and I wouldn’t have batted an eye. I just wanted to grab the car and get out of there. But then he said Ashley Miller’s a loser, too.”

Ashley didn’t interrupt—just listened, even as Koi’s voice grew more heated from the surge of emotion. His mind was already in chaos. That bastard Nelson had said what? Made Koi ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) crawl between his legs? A new wave of fury rose—but another, even stronger emotion came first.

“Koi... so you fought because of me?”

“That trash was insulting you—how could I just stand there and take it?”

Koi actually said something like that.

Ashley was stunned to hear such rough words coming out of his mouth. Koi fought for him—even used language close to cursing. Against a thug who used to torment him back in high school, no less.

For me.

Ashley exhaled deeply without meaning to. His heart swelled. He didn’t know whether to smother Koi in kisses or spank him for breaking his promise and getting himself beat up.

He wanted to do both. But then his eyes landed on Koi’s torn, bruised face. By tomorrow, his whole body would probably be sore and covered in bruises. For now, he had to hold back. Ashley decided he’d make it up to him later—maybe a kiss after a spanking would be best.

Is he mad at me for doing things on my own?

Seeing Ashley’s furrowed brows and intense gaze, Koi quickly said,

“It’s okay, I’ve been beaten worse than this. You know that, right? I can take a hit.”

He even let out a loud, forced laugh, but Ashley’s expression only darkened further. Realizing it was another badly timed joke, Koi awkwardly raised his hands and tried to recover.

“This time was different. I didn’t just take it—I fought back. I probably hit him more than he hit me. Look, I punched him.”

He held out his fist. It was already turning purple from bruising. Ashley stared at the hand for a moment, then gently took his wrist. To Koi’s surprise, he kissed his fingers. Koi’s eyes widened, startled. Ashley, lips still pressed against his hand, glanced up and said softly,

“Don’t use your hands to fight anymore. You’ll hurt yourself.”

Koi didn’t understand right away and just looked at him blankly. Ashley added,

“You will.”

And just like that, Koi got it. His heart began racing like crazy. His face turned bright red, his eyes trembling and glittering. Seeing that expression, Ashley was overcome again. He wanted to kiss him—right now, to pin him down and kiss him breathless—but his gaze caught on Koi’s torn lip. He groaned in frustration, like he was in pain.

Ah.

Suddenly, an irresistible scent bloomed around him. The pheromones that hadn’t really affected him earlier now struck him like a blow to the chest. Ashley forced himself to act like everything was normal, let go of Koi’s hand, and stood up.

“Get some rest. I’m going to change.”

“O-okay.”

Koi nodded obediently. Ashley left the room, his steps now hurried, completely abandoning his usual calm demeanor. As Koi lay back on the chair with his eyes closed, resting, a small mechanical sound reached his ears.

The ventilation system had kicked into high power.

*

Loud music pounded through the space. The booming sound of the club was so deafening that it was impossible to hear even the person next to you.

Nelson sat like a king among a group sprawled out on a wide sofa. The men and women who surrounded him catered to him, all chasing either drugs or money.

“Hhheee!”

Nelson snorted a line of powder off the table with a screeching inhale, then casually tossed the used bill onto the floor. A man scrambled to pick it up, laughing with excitement. Nelson smirked at the sight.

“Nelson, are you okay now? We heard you got hurt and were worried.”

A woman next to him shouted over the music. Nelson leaned back into the couch with a lazy grin.

“No big deal. Some loser idiot didn’t know his place and got a little taught.”

“Wasn’t it that guy Ashley Miller bailed out before?”

Someone chimed in, trying to sound clever. Another woman gasped and lit up.

“The hot one? He’s so tall and handsome!”

“And he’s got such thick hair too,”

someone else giggled. Despite the music, Nelson heard that and snorted mockingly.

“You all have shit taste. I’ve told you a dozen times—back in high school, that guy was under me. A total loser freak.”

He laughed as he kept talking.

“Soon as I raised my voice, he’d lie flat on the floor and crawl between my legs. Want me to prove it? If I really wanted to, I could piss on his head in front of all of you.”