♛
MAX WAS STANDING IN front of the class like he was going to teach a very important lesson to everyone. When his classmates, friends, and even boyfriend found out that Max knew Jontell in the past, they all became relieved. Now they have an upper hand. They don't have to be so afraid of him anymore.
"I've known Jontell for two years, and there are three things I noticed about him," Max explains while looking at the students of Class II-A. Even the princes were listening to him.
"First, Jontell purposely likes to intimidate people to get a reaction. He taunts people because he knows they're afraid of him."
"Sounds like something you would do," Ren teases while looking at their brotherhood's second-strongest prince, Killshot.
Killshot glares at him, but Ren just chuckles and looks back at Max.
"Second, he's not afraid of using his family name. Here in J.S High, mentioning your family is practically forbidden, and it is seen as a weak tactic if you suddenly start using your family name to threaten people. But Jontell is different. He will use the Rosario name without hesitation," Max explains further.
"And lastly, Jontell likes to gamble. When things get rough, that's when his interest skyrockets."
"Alright, we get all that. He's basically just Cj and Viktor merged into one. That doesn't really help anything," Killshot—who looked bored—straightforwardly says, and Blade nods his head to agree with him.
"Well, I'm only trying to lessen the others' fear of him. You guys are obviously not afraid of Jontell, so I'm telling the glass what kind of person he is so they'd be cautious," Max tries to explain. He knows that such a thing isn't much of a help, but this is the only thing he can do for now. If things go down, at least the class will be ready.
"Anyway, since we're all aware that this short lesson won't be much of a help, I'll just address the obvious elephant in the room," Adachi Ren then says, suddenly standing from his seat and walking beside Max. "The only reason why we're tense isn't exactly because we're scared of him. I could punch his face if he tried anything funny without any hesitation, but the very thing that's stopping me from actually doing it is because his family is connected with the death of the Stepanovs. "
As soon as Ren mentions such a claim, Max's body instantly stiffens. Gavriil saw Max's reaction and was about to stand from his seat to say something, but Ren quickly lifted his index finger up and stopped him.
"Take a seat. I know you're the vice president of the Elites and an underling of Busters, but we have to talk about this if we want to actually plan something," Ren insisted. Gavriil glanced back at Max, who only nodded his head, making Gavriil sigh and go back to his seat.
Ren adjusts his gloves, looks at the class, and continues, "Jontell Rosario is connected to Viktor, the king of our house. Whether the Rosario family was really involved or not, the mere fact that we're giving Jontell a warm welcome here is such a big slap in our faces."
"Well, we can't exactly ban a student from attending an annual convention just because of baseless rumors," Max keenly answers, making Ren chuckle.
"Baseless rumors? Oh, come on, Sinclaire, let's not act ignorant here. You know damn well that there's a very valid reason why they're the main suspects in the bombing incident. You're a son of a mighty family. You should know what happened to their—" Before Ren could even finish his sentence, a sharp blade suddenly flew just inches away from Ren's face, instantly making him stop talking.
The knife pierced through the blackboard, and the entire class had their jaws dropped. Even Max and Gavriil were surprised.
But Ren didn't flinch. Instead, he reached out to touch his cheek, which actually got scraped by the blade. He smirked and wiped the blood off with his thumb before looking at the person who threw the weapon at him: Killshot.
"You shouldn't say such a thing out in the open, Ren. I am fully aware that you're our brotherhood's most reliable informant, but such information shouldn't be announced in such a setting," Killshot casually says, looking like he didn't just throw a knife at his own brotherhood member.
Everyone thought Ren would get mad because Killshot embarrassed him in front of them, but Ren looked back at the prince seriously and respectfully bowed to him. "I apologize. I got careless."
The room was quiet as Ren walked back to his seat. As soon as he sat down again, Killshot stood up this time, Blade following behind him. The two strong princes faced the class while Max stepped aside. Killshot removes the knife from the board, then hides it back in his boot before looking at the dumbfounded white uniforms.
"Listen carefully, all of you. It is true that Sinclaire's connection with Jontell Rosario may help us, but we must not forget that Jontell is still from a very dangerous family. Keep a close eye on him and make sure he does not disrespect our house. Is this understood?" Killshot asks with authority.
"Yes, sir," everyone answers in unison.
"And besides, if anything were to happen, our cute little Max would definitely come to the rescue," blade then adds, which would have sounded like an insult if he didn't have such an innocent look on his face.
"That will be all. Let's just wait for that fucker to arrive and get this over with," Killshot says, heading back to his seat with a bored look on his face while Blade rushes to Ren to put a bandaid on the bruise on his cheek.
Ari, Felix, Ervin, and Keigo walk to Max and start thanking him for even revealing such a piece of private information to them.
"You didn't have to tell us that you knew Jontell. It just gave you an additional burden," Ari explains, which was something that Felix and the rest of his friends agreed on.
"It's okay. I didn't want to lie to you guys about something like that anyway. Besides, if I can be able to help with Jontell, then I'll do it. We're all aware that he's here because he's after something, so we'll make sure to stop him before he even thinks about staining the floors of our school," Max says in determination, making his friends smile and nod their heads.
"You really are something. You can't seem to fail to amaze us every passing day," Ervin then tells Max, reaching out to pat his head, which caused Max to smile this time.
"You're so cool that I'm starting to fall in love with you all over again," Keigo then jokes. Ari was about to smack him for saying such a thing, but then Keigo saw Gavriil approaching them, instantly making him flinch and start panicking. "O-Of course, that was a joke. I'm not in love with you or anything. Well, I did have a crush on you, but that's beside the point!" Keigo defends.
While Keigo tries to explain the harmless statement that wasn't really an issue to Max, Gavriil finally arrives and stops in front of them, making Keigo shut his mouth in an instant.
"May I speak to you?" Gavriil respectfully asks while looking at Max.
Max looks at his friends, and then he nods his head and says, "Let's talk outside."
Max doesn't wait for Gavriil's response and walks out of their classroom. The two of them head inside an empty laboratory just a few rooms away from where their class is. Max enters first and walks towards a window while Gavriil closes the door behind him.
The room was quiet as Max nervously touched the brooches in his collar. "Are you mad?" He finally asks, staring at the view outside.
Gavriil didn't say anything, but then Max saw him approaching through the reflection of the window. The vice president walks closer, and then he gently touches Max's waist, pulling his body close to him until he can finally rest his head on Max's shoulder.
"I'm not mad," he says with a low voice that almost sounds like a whisper. "I was worried but never mad. What you did back there made me feel proud, and like what Kawanishi said, I might have fallen deeper in love with you because of it."
"Please don't joke about something so serious," Max quickly says, his ear red because of Gavriil's hot breath.
"That wasn't a joke, though. I really have fallen deeper in love with you," Gavriil defends.
Max quickly pushes Gavriil's hand off his waist, turning around to face his lover. "I lied to you and pretended like I didn't know Jontell. You had every right to know such an important thing, but I—"
Before Max can even finish his sentence, Gavriil grabs Max's cheeks and decides to press his lips on him. Max was startled, but he gently kissed Gavriil back, slowly closings his eyes to feel his warmth and comfort. After a couple of seconds, Gavriil finally pulls away.
Max stares at his eyes, and then he leans his head on Gavriil's chest while his lover grabs hold of his waist for the second time.
"What's on your mind?" Gavriil asks.
Max didn't want to answer the question. He wasn't the type to be vulnerable around people, but Gavriil was different. So after thinking of the right words to say, he tells him, "I have achieved so much, Gav. I've achieved things that I can even brag about now. But why...why do I feel like I'm still in the same spot? Why do I feel like the more I try to climb up, the more I'm being dragged back down."
Gavriil reaches out to Max and lifts his head up so they can look at each other. "Maybe it's because your past is starting to resurface, and your weight is starting to get heavier."
"How do I lessen the load then? How do I ensure I don't end up drowning from the past I desperately tried to run away from?"
"What you did earlier, that was a good start," Gavriil answers. "You faced your past and told us about it with no hesitation. Leigh, I'm not the right person to say these things to you, but your past will only continue to hurt you. If you learn to accept them, they'll become your shield, and they will no longer be powerful enough to hurt you."
"But what if my past starts to hurt others? What if it hurts Marcus, my friends...what if it hurts you?" Max genuinely asks, and Gavriil gives him a small smile before gently rubbing his thumb on Max's cheek.
"Then hurt me as much as you want," Gavriil replies with no hint of hesitation. "I promised that I will hold you close no matter what, and that is a promise that I will make."
Max looked at the man in front of him and tried his best not to cry at such sweet words.
"I love you, Gav. Do you know that?" Max whispers.
"I know, Leigh. I know."
Max gives Gavriil a quick kiss this time. Gavriil leans towards him and gets ready to kiss him even deeper, but Max pulls away and suddenly asks him, "Do you think Ren was right? Do you think Jontell's family really had anything to do with the death of Viktor's family?"
"Shouldn't you know that better since you've been with him for two years?" Gavriil sarcastically asks.
"So you are mad!" Max immediately says, making the vice president laugh.
"I'm just joking," Gavriil then replies, reaching out to tuck Max's hair behind his ear. "But on a serious note, I also had a suspicion that they had something to do with it. As I mentioned before, the bombs my family produces are the same bombs used to kill the Stepanov Clan. We tried to trace the buyer that matched the bombs used, and the Rosario family came up."
"W-Wait, what?"
"The Rosario family is one of our regular buyers. All the weapons we produce have unique identification numbers in them, so we can easily trace who bought the bombs that were used that night. The Rosario family was the main suspect, but there was a problem..."
"It was too clean. Almost like it was the perfect setup," Max finishes, and Gavriil nods his head to confirm it.
"Other than the information my family has given to the police, there was no other evidence to support that the Rosario family was involved with the bombing incident, so the case was instantly closed. But I believe that everything is connected somehow," Gavriil explains.
"Do you think Jontell knows something about this?"
"Probably, but he'll definitely keep that information hidden and use it against us if he could."
"Then maybe I can do something about it," Max then suggests, but it is a suggestion that Gavriil does not like one bit.
"You're going to speak to him? And I'm assuming it's going to be a private conversation," Gavriil says, and this time, it was Max's turn to reach out and touch his cheek.
"I told all of you that I'm connected to Jontell for this very reason. You all can now look after me. If I can get to talk to Jontell, then he might be able to negotiate with me, and then we can find out what he really wants in our house," Max explains.
Gavriil is hesitant, but he sighs and nods his head eventually. "If you're really going to push through with this, then I can't stop you. But please, be careful. You have to tell us everything before you decide to speak with him."
"Of course," Max says, moving away from Gavriil.
Gavriil was about to say something, but then the second bell rang, making him stop. Max rushes to the door to head out, but before grabbing the doorknob, he looks back at Gavriil and suddenly says, "Just for clarification, Jontell and I weren't exactly in a serious relationship. We didn't have any feelings for each other, but I guess we just needed someone to be with. We weren't physical or anything like that, but Jontell acted as if he owned me, so there were times when he would become possessive."
"You really had to explain that too?" Gavriil asks with a playful grin.
"Well, I didn't want you to overthink."
The vice president chuckles and leans on a table before staring at Max. He removes his peak cap and then brushes his hair back before saying, "Leigh, you know what? I lied."
Max furrows his brows after hearing what his lover has to say, but then the grin on Gavriil's face changes into a much more serious expression as he continues, "I actually am very...very mad."
...
"Max, you okay?" Ari asks when Max got back to their classroom. "Are you actually worried about Jontell coming to our class?"
"W-What? No, why do you think so?"
"Well, you kinda look nervous," Keigo then adds, making Max awkwardly laugh it off.
After Max's conversation with Gavriil, Max ended up looking worried because of Gavriil's last statement. For a quick second, Max saw anger in Gavriil's eyes. It was burning compared to his cold expression, and if Max didn't know any better, the vice president looked like he was ready to kill someone.
"By the way, where's Alexeev?" Ervin then asks.
"He went to the Elite's office. I think they're going to be calling the guests now," Max explains, and as soon as Max said that, Ari went in front of the class and made the announcement.
"Alright Class II-A, the guests will be arriving soon. Head back to your temporary seats and make no unnecessary sound before they arrive," Ari says with a serious expression like the responsible class representative that he is. But when he turned his head to the princes who were staring back at him, his serious expression quickly changed into nervousness as he adds, "P-Please."
Blade giggles, but he does what he was told and returns to his seat.
Everyone else in the class sat in their proper seats as well. Ari nods his head and goes to his chair beside Max. The entire class was quiet as they waited for the door to open. In a distance, they could hear the other classes welcoming the guests in their class, making them feel even more anxious.
"Any time now," one of his classmates whispers.
After a few more torturing minutes, the door at the front finally opens, automatically making everyone stand from their chairs except for the princes who remained seated.
Their class advisor—sir Kai Barron—enters the room first, and then followed by the Elites' vice president, Gavriil Alexeev. Sir Barron walks to the middle and looks at his class with a serious expression before telling them, "Class II-A, for the next 4 days, these guests will be your temporary classmates. Please welcome and guide them accordingly."
Keigo gulps as everyone stared at the entrance of their classroom. The door opens, but surprisingly enough, the first guest does not enter the room. Instead, the second guest entered, and the moment he appeared in front of them, the entire class felt his presence.
This was the student who has the same level of presence as Viktor. This was Crème de la Crème's rank 4, Jontell Rosario.
Jontell enters the room with a smirk on his face and his hands inside his pockets. He enters the room and stood beside sir Barron before looking back at the class. Jontell looked at them one by one, and then, when he reached the back, his eyes met with Max, and the smirk on his face instantly changed into a grin.
Gavriil notices it, so he immediately clears his throat, making Jontell remove his gaze on Max.
"It seems like the other guest is still on their way, but for now, Class II-A, this will be your new classmate," sir Barron says, and the class immediately touches their chest and bows before saying, "Welcome to Class II-A."
"Mr. Faulkner," sir Barron then calls out, immediately making Ari look back at him. "Assign him to his seat. I'll leave you all here for now, so wait for your first professor."
Ari was nervous and didn't really want to get close to one of the guests, but he nods his head anyway, so sir Barron looks at Gavriil and nods his head first before finally walking out of the room.
As soon as he was gone, everyone returned to their seats while Ari walked in front of their intimidating guest, Jontell.
"Welcome to Class II-A. I am Aristotle Faulkner, a gaffer and a class representative. We have arranged our seats so that you can have a better experience with our classes, so please..." Ari surprisingly explains in a calm yet commanding manner, which makes his friends feel proud of him.
Well, he is an underling of BND, after all.
Ari gestures at the chair in front, but as expected, Jontell ignores everything that he just said and starts walking to the back of the room where Max is seated, surprising the entire class.
"Leigh! I can finally be in the same class as you," Jontell casually says, throwing Ari's bag away so he can take his seat. "We're going to have so much fun together like old times' sake."
"Mr. Rosario, what do you think you're doing?" Max angrily asked, but before Jontell could even respond, Gavriil was already on the scene to handle the situation.
"Mr. Rosario, I suggest you get back to the seat assigned to you by our class representative," Gavriil bravely told him.
Jontell chuckles and slowly looks his way to the vice president. He grins at him, and then he moved close until their faces were only inches away from each other. "White uniform...I am a guest here, so I can sit wherever I please," Jontell fires back, but instead of being intimidated, Gavriil matches his energy and doesn't back down.
"No, you're not," Gavriil tells him. "Starting today, you are a student of J.S High. I am the vice president, the second highest-ranking student here, and you will obey me and follow the rules of our great house. Disrespect it once, Mr. Rosario, and you will be punished accordingly."
"You can't touch me," Jontell reminds him.
"You're right. I can't," Gavriil answers with a wide grin now implanted on his face. "But our other guest definitely can."
The front door suddenly opens as a figure enters the room. As soon as they saw who it was, the entire class's jaw dropped. And before anyone could even say a single thing, everyone—including the princes—instantly stood from their seats to bow to the powerful black uniform in front of them.
"It's been a while, Jontell. After all these years, you still look like shit."
- END -