♞

CJ STEPS OUT OF his car holding a coffee cup. As his driver closes the door for him, he instantly spots the homeless old man that's been there before he even bought the building two years ago. "Working hard today again Grover?" Cj asks with a charming smile before handing him the coffee.

     The man named Grover happily takes the coffee and shows Cj a thousand-dollar bill that he received from Max earlier.

     "A very rich-looking man just arrived and he was looking for you. He even gave me this. I might as well ask him for a job," he manages to joke.

     "I've been offering you to be our security guard for months and you always decline me. Is it because I'm broke?" Cj asks, and Grover laughs and brushes him away.

     "Alright, I'll see you later Grover."

     Cj heads inside his empty building, the soft expression on his face instantly changing into something more serious. There weren't any people at the building yet since they usually operate during the night. Max is just a special case.

     "Why do people always work so early?" Cj complains while yawning.

     He heads inside the small elevator that brought him to the top floor. As soon as he steps out, he sees his secretary who was just about to head inside his office.

     "Master Charles!"

     Cj steps out of the elevator, and Rose immediately runs to him to give him a respectable bow.

     "Where is he?" Cj asks instead of acknowledging the greeting. He doesn't even have to specify who he's referring to because his secretary immediately stands back straight and gestures at his office.

     "They're waiting inside," she tells him, and Cj raises his right eyebrow and asks, "They?"

     Rose doesn't answer him as Cj finally steps inside the room without saying anything else, and there he was welcomed by Max and his butler, Étienne. They were sitting at the sofa, and piles of papers and folders were scattered on the table in front of them.

     "Am I somehow disturbing you?" Cjasks when Max and Étienne didn't even notice him when he went inside.

     Max stops what he's doing and instantly looks at the man standing in front of him. "Cj...you're finally here," Max says, but Cj doesn't say anything and looks at Étienne instead.

     "He's my butler," Max tells him when he noticed the count staring.

     Cj's expression suddenly turns bitter as he answers back, "I know."

     Max was confused about the unwelcoming response, but then Étienne suddenly stands from his seat and faces his master. "I'll wait for you at the car, master Leigh."

     "What? You can stay here and-"

     Not even letting Max finish his sentence, Étienne leaves the room, completely ignoring Cj, which made Cj roll his eyes in annoyance. Max was confused about what went down, so he looks at Cj with a puzzled expression and asks him, "Do you know my butler? Because it's obvious that you don't seem to be fond of him."

     "I just don't like people who are older than twenty-five," Cj answers, which was an obvious lie, but it's probably the truth too considering how Cj can be very truthful.

     Just when the atmosphere was getting awkward, Cj takes a deep breath and takes the seat where Étienne was seated earlier. "Would you mind?" he then asks, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket.

     "No," Max answers, and Cj takes a cigarette stick and lights it up so he could start smoking. He inhales the smoke that instantly calms him down, and as the smoke escapes from his mouth, he finally asks, "So, have you found enough evidence to send me to jail?"

     "Don't be ridiculous," Max immediately defends. "You're the one who instructed your secretary to hand me these so don't act like I'm snooping around."

     Cj chuckles at the reaction that he already expected and says, "You're way too easy to tease, it's amazing."

     Max glares at him and was ready to start an argument, but Max decides not to as he says instead, "Since you're already here, let's not waste any more time. I'm not sure if you already know this but your company is moments away from bankruptcy. The statistics say that you at least have a month to salvage this, and if not you'll end up being in debt, considering how you even asked the bank to loan you a large amount of money."

     Cj inhales the smoke from his cigarette again before taking one of the folders that are on the table. He opens it up, and he sees a chart of their sales from last month.

     A low "hmm..." was the only thing Cj could say about the situation.

     He exhales the smoke from his mouth again and tosses the folder back on the table, irritating Max even more since Cj wasn't saying anything.

     "Excuse me Mr. CEO but am I the only one who's concerned here? Or do you secretly have millions of dollars hidden somewhere and that's why you're so complacent?" Max angrily asks.

     Cj chuckles at the ridiculous claims and flat out says, "No, I'm dead broke. Don't worry."

    "Then how the hell do you even pay for J.S High's insanely expensive tuition fee?"

     "I don't," Cj casually says while exhaling the cigarette smoke. "Brotherhood leaders automatically get a scholarship so all the fees are free, but most of the time they're too ashamed to accept it so they still pay in full. I, on the other hand, will not throw away free things. It's free after all," Cj says with a proud look, almost making Max slap himself.

     "You're impossible."

     "Are you going to give up then?" He suddenly asks.

     Max was surprised by the question, and for some reason, it irritated him. "I only just started. What makes you think I'm giving up now? After everything I told your father, I'm not going to make a fool of myself. I'm definitely going to help you, and I'm definitely going to prove him wrong."

     The office becomes silent, but then Cj smirks and exhales the smoke away from Max. "Can this boy really become part of the Elites? He's as tough and strong-willed as a brotherhood leader. It's almost a shame," Cj thought to himself before saying aloud, "You really are too easy to tease little Maxy."

     "What do you mean I'm-" Max stops midsentence when Cj suddenly pulls out the cigarette from his mouth and hands it over to him. Max was surprised, but then Cj tells him, "Try it. It's our product. You smoke, right?"

     Max stares at the stick before looking at the pack that's on top of the table. Only then did he realize that it's the same cigarette brand that Cj used when he made a deal with him before. So Max takes the cigarette from Cj's hand and uses it. His expectation wasn't high, but as soon as he inhales the smoke, an icy feeling enters his mouth, and the coldness of the smoke surprisingly eases him.

     How could hot smoke even feel so cold?

     "It's our "prince" flavor. As low us our sales are, this one sells the most," Cj explains. "When I created this, I remember how I always take a cold shower whenever I'm stressed out. Cold showers increase endorphins or the feel-good part of our brain that helps ease symptoms of anxiety and depression. I applied that concept with that cigarette."

     Max couldn't help but be impressed. The cigarette tasted and felt good that Max eventually finished it off.

     As he exhales the last smoke out of his mouth, he looks back at Cj and asks him, "You made this? On your own?"

     Cj chuckles like it wasn't a big deal as he answers, "I grew up in the cigarette business so it's what I know best. Are you impressed?"

     "Of course I am!" Max says, not even trying to lie about it. "This is a deal-breaker. It's different from the common cigarettes that even the Mills family releases."

     "I'm flattered."

     Max reaches out for the cigarette pack and stares at it. "You call this Kings' Tobacco, and this is prince flavored," Max says, staring at the icy blue package. But as he continues to stare at it, his eyes widen from realization as he looks back at Cj and asks, "You were inspired by J.S High. You named this because of Kim Hee-joon since he's considered the ice prince, right?"

     Cj grins at Max's realization and stands up from his seat. He then walks back to his desk and pulls out three more packs of other flavors. He places them in front of Max so he could check them out, and then he takes a seat again.

     "Those are the other flavors," Cj tells him.

     Max looks at the packs and sees that there's a Baron flavor, Marquis flavor, and a Duke flavor.

     While Max checks them one by one, Cj explains, "The baron flavor has a bubblegum taste. It's sweet, so the buyers I get from this flavor are from club owners around this area since the sweetness helps when you're drunk. On the other hand, the marquis flavor is fruity, but others say it has an after-taste of a cocktail. The duke flavor is our second bestseller since it's a classic tobacco taste. That's why I also refer to it as the gentleman's cigar."

     "Very clever," Max honestly says, smelling the cigarettes to check what they'd be like.

    "Krist and the others said you were the one who distanced yourself and purposely forgot about them, but I feel like that's not the case," Max truthfully adds, but Cj doesn't comment about it.

    After testing them one by one, Max takes a sip of the tea that Rose gave them earlier and tells Cj, "They're really interesting, but..." Max pauses, and Cj thought that he was going to comment something about it, but then he continues, "They all smell unfamiliar. When you made a deal with me, they weren't any like that."

     Cj, who wasn't expecting Max to remember the smell of the last cigarette he used, smirks and explains, "Oh, that's because that was the "count" flavor. It's my personal favorite, but we haven't produced a lot of it yet since we're still adding a few tweaks."

     "And what kind of flavor would that be?" Max asks next, and Cj's smirk turns into a grin as he leans closer.

     "It feels hotter than normal cigarettes. It warms your body up in an instant, and it's a good cigarette to smoke before sex," Cj suddenly says, but Max doesn't budge nor react, making Cj pout at the dry response.

     "You're no fun," Cj complains, but Max doesn't entertain the topic anymore and looks back at the packs. While he was staring at them, he realizes that they might actually have a chance with this.

     "I gotta hand it to you, Mr. Mills, you did great with this one. Your father's just stopping you from bringing out its potential," Max says, and Cj couldn't help but smile proudly at himself.

     "Anyway, now that I know that your company actually has something to offer, I want to introduce you to a friend of mine. She's one of the best strategists in this generation, and I'm sure she'll be able to help us out," Max explains, and Cj grabs his cigarette pack and lighter and shoves them back inside his pocket.

     "Don't you think it's too early to introduce me to your friends," Cj manages to joke, and Max just rolls his eyes in annoyance before finally standing from his seat.

     "I guess that's all for today. Thank you for your time," Max says, ready to leave and call it a day. But then Cj, who wasn't even looking at him, says, "Thank you."

     Max instantly stops, and he almost cleaned his ears to check if he heard him wrong or not.

     "W-What did you just say?" Max asks, slowly turning around to look back at Cj.

     The leader obviously doesn't say anything anymore, but then Max forces not to smile as he walks back to where Cj was. He was expecting Cj to pretend like he didn't say anything, but then he was taken aback when Cj looked back at him with a serious and sincere expression.

     "Thank you," he says again, and Max couldn't help but gulp. He has never seen Cj with such an expression. Something about it made Max feel conflicted inside.

     "D-don't be stupid," Max says instead as he fixes his coat just to distract himself. After clearing his throat, he looks back at Cj and tells him, "But you're welcome. And thank you too for getting me that invite. Even though it wasn't how I expected it to be, I was able to talk to your father. Now I'm a step closer from regaining my inheritance."

     Cj chuckles when he heard Max say that to him, but he doesn't make fun of him for it.

     "I'd say I'm glad that you enjoyed the party, but I heard you ran away with the vice president right after talking to my father. It's surprising since I wasn't expecting the two of you to be the 'let's run away together' type," Cj suddenly reveals, almost making Max choke on air.

    It doesn't really concern him, but he wasn't expecting someone to actually see him run away with Gavriil last night. He kinda feels shy about it now.

     "He's a close friend of mine," Max answers, which was a lie that's also somehow true. They were childhood friends, and Max could confidently say that they're now acquainted enough to call themselves friends again, but then he's still conflicted with considering it a close relationship.

     "Is that so?" Cj ask, and Max thought that he was finally going to let go of it, but then he adds, "You know I don't want to be that guy, but since we're helping each other out here, let me just say that he's bad news so you better be cautious. That's a piece of serious advice, considering how it came from someone like me."

     Max was surprised at what he said, so he unconsciously went back to his seat again and asks, "What do you mean by that?"

     Now that he heard it, there is no way in hell he's leaving now without answers.

     "Don't you know?" Cj asks as he pulls out his cigarette and lighter again so he could start smoking for the second time. When he saw Max looking at him with furrowed brows, he chuckles and says, "Oh, you probably didn't."

     Cj lights a cigarette before explaining, "I've known this for a long time, considering how the Mills family is one of the biggest families with hidden stocks. But in the past, no one really went on par with us except for one family, and that was the Alexeev's."

    "Alexeev's? You mean Gavriil's family?"

    "That's right. Other than the Mills, the Alexeev family was one of the families who also has the largest hidden stocks in the world," Cj reveals, making Max now realize why Gavriil was the first one to tell him about Cj's family having the biggest hidden stocks in companies all around the world. He knew because he was one of them too.

     "They were a big deal, but then a couple of years ago, they just disappeared. Like...they vanished. No one has literally heard of them ever since, and their family name eventually died down. That's why no one knows about the Elites vice president. I think I was the only one who was genuinely surprised when I saw him enroll in J.S High," Cj explains further, and Max couldn't help but be surprised.

     No wonder Gavriil didn't want to talk about his family.

     "This may seem like a strange question, but do you happen to know what his relationship is with Viktor? Max asks.

     Cj inhales and slowly exhales the smoke in his mouth and looks at the ceiling. "Gavriil and Viktor? Well not really, but I do know about Viktor and Hee-joon's relationship. Heard someone caught them ki-"

     "N-No! Not that kind of relationship you idiot," Max immediately says, making Cj laugh since he knew what Max meant and he was only teasing him.

     "I really don't know much about them, but my Ashes sometimes tell me that they secretly meet up with each other in school," Cj finally answers.

     "Then could it be they're helping each other out, considering how both their families fell," Max explains since he also knows that the two of them are childhood friends. Unlike Max, Viktor and Gavriil remember everything about their past, so their relationship must have stayed the same.

     "I doubt it," Cj suddenly says as he exhales the smoke in his mouth.

     Max was about to ask what he meant by that, but then Cj adds, "The Alexeev family was a military weapons company. They manufactured different types of guns, tanks, you name it. With what they specialize in, I don't think Viktor would want to help him in any way."

    "Why? What do they specialize on?" Max asks, suddenly nervous to hear what it is.

    Cj finishes his cigarette and presses it on the table before looking back at Max with a serious expression.

     "Bombs. They specialize in making bombs. It's what made the Alexeev family one of the most powerful families in the world.."

- END -