L*ck Me If You Can-Chapter 178

"Really?"

"Wow, that sounds insanely sexy."

Someone muttered dreamily, clearly imagining Koi wet and vulnerable. Seeing her dazed, enchanted face made Nelson’s blood boil. He’d always had a thing for her—and now she was fantasizing about that loser?

"Let’s see if she still says that after I beat the shit outta that fucker."

Another guy chimed in, laughing obsequiously to flatter Nelson.

"Of course! Who could ever beat you, Nelson?"

"Yeah, Nelson’s the best. Cheers!"

As the group shouted and downed their drinks, Nelson felt slightly appeased. He pulled out some drugs from his jacket and dumped them onto the table. The crowd erupted in excitement. As they eagerly started snorting the powder, Nelson watched with satisfaction—until a staff member from the club cautiously approached him.

"Uh, excuse me..."

*

Creeeak—the rusted back door let out a horrible noise as it opened. Stepping outside, a cold breeze—so different from the stuffy stench of the club—brushed across Nelson’s cheek. He walked out into the alley behind the club, the air faintly reeking of piss, and glanced around.

Soon, he spotted a towering man in a suit and overcoat.

Just behind the man, a Bentayga stood quietly.

Blinking several times in disbelief, Nelson tried to make sense of what he was seeing—but the image didn’t change. Standing under the weak, flickering light over the back door, the man’s face became clear.

Nelson froze completely.

"A-Ashley?"

He mumbled, voice uncertain and barely audible. But the other man didn’t answer. Not that he needed to—there was no way Nelson was hallucinating.

"You're the one who said you wanted to meet me? Why, why?"

Nelson could hear his own voice trembling, but it was already too late. That fearful sound that slipped past his throat seemed to be Ashley’s cue.

"You should know why."

"What?"

Nelson frowned—then realization dawned.

"Wait... this is about that loser?"

It was hard to see Ashley’s expression in the shadows, but the silence coming from him was anything but normal. Still, Nelson couldn’t believe it.

"You’re serious? You really came all the way here because of him? You, a busy fucking hotshot like you? You’ve gotta be joking. What even is this? It was weird enough when you hung out with that dork back in high school—but what, turns out you’re both freaks now? You’re a loser too, huh?"

The words just spilled out of his mouth. Emboldened, Nelson laughed and even clutched his stomach.

Ashley still said nothing.

Only when Nelson finally stopped laughing did Ashley open his mouth.

"You're still trash."

"What the fuck did you just say?"

His voice dripped with contempt and ridicule. Just a single sentence—but it was more than enough to ignite Nelson’s rage. Plus, he was still high, the drugs flooding his body with reckless confidence.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Cursing, Nelson charged at Ashley, swinging a fist toward a man nearly twice his size.

Thud. A dull sound rang out as his fist landed. Ashley stumbled back, and Nelson's face lit up with triumph. He'd landed a solid punch to the guy’s jaw, and it surged through him like a drug—pure, pumping ego. No matter how big the guy looked, it didn’t matter in a real fight. What was he gonna do—throw legal briefs at him? He was just some gym-pumped lawyer who’d probably never thrown a real punch in his life.

Nelson wasn’t wrong.

Ashley, hit just once, stepped back, then turned around and began walking away. See? Losers like him always crumbled. With that reassurance, Nelson’s fear vanished completely.

"Fucking dumbass! See that? Try and mess with me again, and I’ll drop you with one punch! Go home and cry, you coward. Tell Connor Niles, too! Tell that pathetic little shit to come here tomorrow and beg me. If he doesn’t, I’ll fuck him up just like I did you, you loser freaks!"

He kept shouting, ranting loudly—until Ashley reached into his coat pocket and pressed a button on his smart key.

Beep-beep.

The Bentayga’s trunk popped open with a simple sound. Ashley walked to the back and pulled something out. Nelson finally fell silent as he watched—and froze when he saw what it was.

An ice hockey stick.

"W-what the hell, you...?"

Nelson stammered without realizing it. But Ashley paid him no mind, walking forward, stick in one hand. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Step by step, his massive shadow loomed closer. Nelson couldn’t move, couldn’t run—he was frozen in place. Just a few feet away, Ashley stopped.

"From here on out, this is self-defense."

Only then did Nelson understand.

Why a man like Ashley Miller would drive a van instead of a luxury sedan.

Thwack.

A sickening sound echoed through the alley—and Nelson screamed.

*

The moment Koi heard the elevator stop, he perked up and headed toward the sound with a smile. He’d spent the whole day inside. Not because Ashley forced him to, but because he didn’t want to worry him any further. Even if he’d wanted to go out, it wouldn’t have been easy.

He had only the clothes he was wearing when he first came here—and those were torn up after the fight with Nelson. He had planned to go out the next day to buy clothes, but when he woke up, Ashley had already thrown them out. So until Ashley got back from work, Koi had no choice but to wear a borrowed white shirt, which left his lower half rather exposed. It was far from comfortable.

He was genuinely grateful when Ashley said he’d pick up some clothes for him. So when the elevator doors opened and Koi saw his face, he rushed forward—but stopped in his tracks with wide eyes.

"Koi."

Ashley greeted him with a smile, but the smile on Koi’s face quickly disappeared, replaced by visible alarm.

"What happened?"

Ashley had arrived even later than the night before—and there was a red mark on his jaw.

Koi had assumed he was late because he went shopping for clothes. But now it was clear there was another reason. His face went pale, and Ashley, noticing it, dropped his arm that had been about to °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° pull Koi into a hug. He kept walking, casually changing the subject.

"How was your day? Everything okay?"

"Uh... yeah."

Koi nodded, but inside he wasn’t thinking about his boring day. What he really wanted to know was what had happened to Ashley. Trailing behind him with a serious expression, Koi looked so adorably worried that Ashley almost laughed—but he feigned ignorance and asked,

"The plant?"

"Oh, yeah. I put it by the window."

Ashley had given him a small potted plant the day before. He’d remembered Koi saying he kept accidentally killing plants and had ended up giving one to Ariel.

<This one should be fine. It doesn’t bloom.>

That’s what Ashley had said, and only then did Koi relax and accept it. He’d remembered to say thank you, too.

So Koi had spent the day tending to the plant and cleaning the house. Ashley had told him a housekeeper would come and to just leave it—but Koi couldn’t sit still. He felt he needed to do something to repay the kindness.

But when Ashley saw the sparkling clean apartment, instead of being pleased, he frowned.

"Didn’t I tell you not to do stuff like this?"

"Uh, yeah. But... I wasn’t doing anything else, and..."

Koi had thought Ashley would be happy, but his reaction was so different it immediately made him sulk. Of course, Ashley was happy—just knowing Koi wanted to do something for him was enough. But if he praised him now, Koi would get all excited and polish every surface in the apartment to exhaustion. Ashley much preferred seeing Koi resting quietly, doing nothing.

Guess I’ll have to find something else for him to do.

That was the only way to make them both happy. As he headed to the dressing room, Ashley handed Koi a shopping bag.

"Clothes. Try them on."

"Oh, thanks."

The thought of finally covering his exposed lower half instantly brightened Koi’s face. Seeing that, Ashley smiled, tousled his hair, and walked into the next room. Koi hurried into an empty bedroom and pulled out the clothes from the bag.

"...Huh?"

His face, which had been glowing with excitement, turned confused the moment he saw what was inside.