♝

"I DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE the time. Who would have thought that we'd be staying there for at least two hours," Gavriil says as he and Max head out of the fast-food restaurant with full stomachs.

     "It's alright. At least we enjoyed it, didn't we?" Max asks with a genuine smile, making Gavriil smile too.

     "So, shall we go? I'll drive you home," Gavriil says as they walk their way to his car.

     Max stops walking and looks at the tall man beside him. "Don't worry, I called Étienne so he could drive me instead; I didn't want to inconvenience you any longer. But how about we walk around before he arrives? Will that be alright with you?" He asks him.

     Gavriil was surprised by the request, but he nods his head as an answer, and the two started walking around the street like normal teenagers do after eating dinner together.

     Though both of them never mentioned that this was a date, Gavriil couldn't help but feel anxious because of several reasons. One reason is because he was afraid that people might start recognizing who Max is and the press would find out and swarm them, while the other reason is because he wasn't expecting Max to look that good.

     Gavriil couldn't help but stare at Max while they walked down the pavement. He was staring at him too much that Max eventually noticed him.

     "Is there something you'd like to say?" Max finally asks, almost making Gavriil flinch.

     "I'd say it but I'm afraid that it would sound too cliché," Gavriil honestly replies, making Max chuckle.

     "Why, were you going to tell me I look good?" Max asks. He thought Gavriil was just going to make a joke out of it, but then Gavriil looks back at him seriously and says, "Yeah, you do look fucking good."

     When Max heard what Gavriil said, Max accidentally trips, causing him to bump into a group of friends who were walking opposite their direction. The one in the middle was even eating ice cream, so he accidentally spilled it in his shirt when Max bumped into him.

     "What the fuck man?!" the man angrily shouts.

     "I-Im sorry," Max immediately says as Gavriil helped him stand properly.

     The man didn't appreciate the apology and was about to grab Max, but Gavriil immediately blocks Max from his view and says, "It was an accident. No need to get physical."

     "Accident? You obviously bumped into him on purpose!" The woman among the five friends argues.

     Gavriil was about to say something, but Max goes in front of them and says, "It's my fault. I'll pay for the compensation."

     The friends looked at each other and suddenly started laughing as if Max said some kind of joke. "Compensation? Do you even know who I am?" the man asks. "I'm Philip Mendez, the son of the director of Ruby Enterprise. If you think you can just compensate me then think again. Your family has to earn at least seven digits to be able to do that."

     Max and Gavriil look at each other, almost like they couldn't believe that this was happening to him.

     "Should I handle this?" Gavriil whispers.

     "No, let me." 

     Max takes a deep breath and stares at the man's shirt before saying, "Ralph Lauren, that's the brand of your shirt, right? Well, I personally know Patrice Louvet so give me your name and your address and I'll just ask that he make you a new one."

     The man in the middle, who was named Philip, was flustered and speechless, but his friends started laughing again, making Philip laugh too. It was obvious that they don't believe a single thing that Max was telling them.

     "Are you shitting with me right now asshole?" Philip then asks.

     "Fine, if you don't want to then here—" Max pauses and pulls out his wallet. He then takes a couple of thousands before handing it over to the agitated man. "I sincerely apologize for bumping into you, but here are five thousand euros. You can buy a new one or you can just dry clean it. I don't have a lot of cash with me because I usually use my card, but I hope that's enough. Please don't think of this as an insult."

     The group of friends finally become quiet as they stare at the money that Max was handing to them. While the man in the middle got angrier so he suddenly slaps Max's hand away, making the money fall off his hand.

     "Get that filthy cash away from me!" Philip then shouts.

     The atmosphere finally becomes tense, and Max looks down at the money on the ground before kneeling and picking it up himself. "You know, money isn't always everything, but I work hard to earn them. I'm not prideful either, so when someone decides to give me some, I accept it wholeheartedly because not everyone has the luxury to give them away."

     Max stares at the cash in his hand before slowly standing to face the man again. Max looked different than earlier. His aura was darker and his eyes were sharper. He was definitely trying to intimidate them.

    "Did I trample on your tiny little pride when I gave you cash, Mr. Philip Mendez? You were bitching about how expensive your shirt was so what did you expect me to do? Strip and give you mine? Take it or just walk away. Life isn't that complicated," Max says while looking directly at the man's eyes.

    Philip gulps, and the rest of his friends couldn't really say anything either, but just when things could get any worse, someone suddenly approaches Max and says, "Sinclaire? You're Maximilian Leigh Sinclaire, right?"

     Max stops and looks around. He then notices that people were already staring at them.

     The group of friends, on the other hand, looked at Max with complete shock and fear.

     "D-Did she just say...you're Maximilian Leigh Sinclaire?" Philip asks as he takes a step away from Max.

     Max was about to deny it, but then Gavriil grabs Max by the arm. He then moves closer to Max and tells him, "Looks like we need to go before the press arrives. People are starting to recognize you."

     Philip, who was still speechless, couldn't help but feel embarrassed after everything he just said to someone like Max. But before Max and Gavriil could make their escape, Gavriil pulls out his wallet and hands them a calling card.

     Philip takes the card, and as soon as he saw what was written on it, his eyes instantly widen and he almost stumbled back if his friends didn't catch him on time.

     "Your father is the director of Ruby Enterprise, correct? Well, my family has half of that company's shares. If you want to settle this in a more formal way, you can just give me a call and tell your father so I could personally talk to him," Gavriil says before grabbing Max's arm and finally running away, leaving Philip and the rest of his friends speechless.

     "Well, sorry again for the inconvenience. Have an amazing evening!" Max shouts as he and Gavriil finally make a run for it.

     The two ran away from the scene, Gavriil holding Max's hand tightly so they wouldn't get separated. After a couple of blocks, the two arrive at an empty playground.

     "I guess we're safe here," Gavriil says as he finally lets go of Max's hand. Both of them were panting heavily, but when their eyes met, they couldn't help but laugh.

     "What the hell just happened? I thought those kinds of scenarios only happen in movies," Max says as he continues to laugh at how hilariously cliché their night has been going.

     Gavriil laughs it off as well as he takes a seat at the swing; Max sitting on the other swing beside him right after.

     "It's been a while since I've been to a playground," Max then says while looking around. "I never really got to play since I was already forced to study at the age of three. Mother was very strict so I never complained either."

     "Well, that's one thing that we have in common," Gavriil replies while kicking the dirt on the ground like a kid.

     The two became quiet for a while and enjoyed the silence. Soon after, Max looks at Gavriil and tells him, "Thank you for helping me unwind, Gav. After everything that happened with the company, my family, and even Cigarettes, this meant a lot to me."

     "Well, thank you for agreeing to eat dinner with me," Gavriil answers back with a sweet smile. "If you want to go somewhere you can always just tell me about it."

     "Are you already asking me on another date, Mr. Alexeev?" Max asked with a playful grin, making Gavriil chuckle.

     "So all this time you thought of this as a date?" Gavriil asks back instead, making Max flustered even though he was trying to tease Gavriil first.

     "D-Don't be stupid. I was being sarcastic," Max immediately defends as he stands from the swing. He then turns his back and crosses his arms like a stubborn kid. Gavriil was about to laugh but he tries his best not to because he knew that Max would only feel offended.

     "Alright, I'm just joking. This is not a date at all. We're just eating dinner like normal friends. Nothing wrong with that, right?" Gavriil says, heading towards Max and standing in front of him so he could hold onto his shoulders.

    Max immediately looks away from him, so Gavriil moves closer until they were only inches away from each other.

     "You're always so intimidating and serious in school that I forget that you act like this when you're flustered," Gavriil says, touching Max's chin and making him look back at him. "Are you mad?" he then asks.

     Max finally looks straight at Gavriil's eyes and tells him, "I'm not petty enough to get mad at such things."

     Gavriil sighs and lets go of Max's shoulder. "Do you hate it that much though?" He then asks.

     "What do you mean?"

     Gavriil reaches out and touches Max's cheek before asking, "The idea of us dating, do you hate it?"

     The questions made Max's face heat up. Out of everything that was asked of him, this was a question that he wasn't expecting to ever hear from anyone.

     "Do you?" Max shyly asks back, making Gavriil smirk.

     "How about we find out if we'll hate it together?"

     Gavriil leans close to Max. He was checking if Max was going to react, but to his surprise, Max closes his eyes and waits for what Gavriil was about to do, making Gavriil smile.

     Their lips were only inches away from each other to the point where they could feel each other's breath. But just when their lips were about to touch, someone suddenly honks loudly, making the two quickly pull away from each other.

     Max looks at the side and sees their family car parked near the pavement. The window was down, making Max see Étienne who was at the driver's seat, and Marcus who was sitting beside him, honking the steering wheel like a total maniac.

     "Alright! I heard you the first time!" Max angrily shouts, finally making Marcus stop honking so he could sit properly on the passenger seat.

     Gavriil laughs at their sudden appearance, but he wasn't mad at all. He found the situation funny.

     "I'm sorry about that," Max says as he looks back at the vice president.

     "It's fine. Maybe next time?" Gavriil tells him, making Max look flustered again.

     "I-In your dreams."

     Max runs to the car as Étienne heads out to open the door for him. Before Max could head inside, he looks back and smiles at Gavriil before finally entering the car.

     Gavriil waves goodbye as the car drives away, and as soon as the car was out of sight, the smile on Gavriil's face vanishes and turns into an irritated expression. He then pulls out his phone from his pocket which has been vibrating since earlier, and when he turned the screen on, he sees twelve missed calls from none other than Viktor Alekovich Stepanov.

     "How annoying," he whispers underneath his breath before dialing Viktor's number. It didn't even take two rings for Viktor to immediately answer.

     "Wow! You finally decided to pick up you fucking asshole," Viktor immediately says with a furious tone, making Gavriil roll his eyes in annoyance.

     While walking back to the parking to get his car, Gavriil says, "I told you I was busy. What the fuck do you even want?"

     "Busy? Really? Busy doing what, playing around with Sinclaire? This isn't the time for that Gav. You know damn well that we're close to our goal. You can't be fucking around right now," Viktor says, and Gavriil doesn't comment anything about it anymore.

     "What do you want?" He asks instead.

     "Head to the warehouse. I want you to handle something for me."

     Gavriil arrives in front of his car. He takes a deep breath after hearing the request from Viktor, but he doesn't complain. Instead, he answers with a cold expression, "Understood. I'll be right there."

...

Gavriil parks in front of an old warehouse. He then steps out of his car and pulls out a cigarette  and a lighter from his pocket. He lights his cigarette and puts it in his mouth before walking inside.

     Inside the warehouse were dozen of men with guns. In the middle was an open office-like area filled with boxes of never-ending documents.

     "Sir Alexeev," one of the men greets, and everyone else bows to him as Gavriil walks his way to the office where Viktor was waiting. He inhales and slowly exhales the cigarette smoke before walking towards Viktor who was standing in front of a table, signing papers.

     "Vi," Gavriil calls out, finally making Viktor turn around to face him.

     "Look who finally showed up. You enjoyed your little date with Sinclaire?" Viktor asks with a grin.

     "When are you going back to J.S High?" Gavriil asks instead, making Viktor chuckle. He then snaps his fingers, and the men surrounding them turned their backs so they wouldn't see what they were doing.

     "Why? You miss me already?"

     Gavriil doesn't answer, so Viktor heads back to the table to read the documents. While signing them, he says, "Heard from Joon about what Sinclaire did with Cigarettes. Cj's a selfish asshole so I'm surprised that he submitted to that kid. He usually wouldn't give a damn, but I guess he wants change too."

     "Change is good," Gavriil replies as the smoke escapes his mouth.

     "Change is good if it's initiated by the right people."

     "You're the one to talk. You're already the king yet J.S high is still the same from when we were first-year students. Nothing has changed, just the people who rule it," Gavriil seriously says, making Viktor stop what he was doing.

     "Don't lecture me, Gav. We both know that the only thing the king can really do is discipline and order. The Elites have the real power for change. That's why I gave you enough points so you could enter the Elites and become the president, yet you're still stuck with rank 2," Viktor says, leaning on the table behind him.

     Gavriil looks at Viktor with an annoyed expression and approaches him. "If you think it's easy to surpass president Ian then you're wrong."

     Viktor smirks and snatches Gavriil's cigarette from him. "Oh yes, our perfect president, Ian Rothman. It seems like he's unbeatable, but that's what losers always say," Viktor tells him before inhaling the smoke from the cigarette.

     "You can say whatever you want, but I'm not planning to become the president anymore like you planned. I have other plans of my own."

    "Don't tell me—"

     "Leigh will change J.S High, not me."

     Viktor exhales the smoke and suddenly starts laughing.

     "Let's see about that," he says as he finishes the cigarette before throwing it on the ground and stepping on it. "His next target is Crazy 8, right? Well, good luck with that. Siren is the master of secrets, and she knows everything about everyone. Crossing paths with her is worse than making deals with the Counts."

     "You don't have to worry. Leigh will be able to conquer them, just like what he did with the barons, dukes, and the counts," Gavriil answers with a determined expression.

     "You put your trust in him too much that it's sickening, but what else can I do? You're hopelessly in love with him," Viktor teases before turning around to check on the documents on the table again.

     "Whatever, I'll be returning to J.S High soon anyway since I was finally able to gather the documents and the information that I need. I can't keep on missing out on all the fun, right? And besides, Joon's getting mad," Viktor says before grabbing a paper and tearing it to pieces.

     He crumples another paper and turns around to face Gavriil again, "Anyway, since you're finally here, I want you to handle a snitch for me. He tried to run away with a bunch of documents, but thankfully someone caught him in time. He was about to rat us out, so I want you to silence him and use him as an example so the others wouldn't betray us too."

     "So you want me to do your dirty work again?"

     "Why? For a boy like you whose family business is to make deadly weapons and nuclear bombs for the government and criminals, I don't think you have the right to act clean now," Viktor answers.

     Gavriil clenches his fist in anger, but he doesn't say anything anymore as two men approach him. They were carrying another man who was already covered in bruises.

     "He's all yours sir," one of the men says.

     Gavriil takes a deep breath and stares at the injured man who apparently betrayed them. He approaches him and snaps his fingers, automatically making another man run to him so he could hand him his leather gloves.

     "You've got guts to try and run away from us," Gavriil says as he puts on his gloves. "Make him stand properly," he commands next.

     "F-forgive me...sir Alexeev," the man begs, but Gavriil's expression doesn't change at all.

     While the other men in the warehouse stood and watched, Gavriil cracks his knuckles and says, "You're lucky that I'm in a good mood right now, so don't worry, I'll make it quick. But after I'm done with you, let's see if you can run away from us again."

- END -