♝

CJ WALKS INSIDE HIS brotherhood base with the rest of the members of Cigarettes. Everyone was in a terrible mood after finding out what happened with Krist. They wanted to go to the clinic to reassure the baron, but Cj instructed that they don't do anything. Any action they do might make the white uniforms suspicious, and then they might connect that rumor to Krist.

     "B-Boss!" The underling, who stayed at their base to guard it, shouts in a panic before standing in front of Cj.

     Cj looks at the lighter with his right eyebrow raised. "What? Did someone raid the place while we were gone?" He asks him.

     The lighter gulps and gestures at the smoking room which is Cj's office. "I tried to stop him but he insisted to wait inside." He explains, obviously scared of their unexpected guest.

     Cj doesn't ask anything else and just walks towards the smoking room. The rest of the counts were supposed to follow him, but Cj stops them and says, "You guys stay here. I know the only asshole in this school who has the guts to go in there without my permission."

     Cigarettes stopped like they were told as Cj entered the room by himself. When he got inside, he closed the door behind him and saw someone sitting in his chair, instantly making his expression turn bitter.

     "Siren..."

     Siren, whose legs were on top of Cj's desk, looks at Cj and smiles at him. "I never really liked your base. It feels like I'm in a cheap club. I could almost smell sweat, cigarette, and cocaine all mixed together," Siren says while watching Cj walk towards her.

     "What the hell are you doing here?" Cj asks, grabbing Siren's legs and pushing them off the table. Siren obviously didn't like being touched, but she just laughed it off and stood from the seat. She then walks closer to Cj and stops just inches away from his face. "You must know the reason why I'm here," she says.

     "I don't," Cj answers.

     Siren smirks and suddenly reaches out and grabs Cj's necktie, pulling him closer so their lips could only be inches away from each other. "You know, I never really liked you, but your dominance and your honesty are very tempting. It almost makes me want to take a bite."

     Siren was literally about to bite Cj's lips, but Cj quickly pushes Siren away. The action only made Siren laugh even more.

     "Oh lighten up my count, I'm just here to thank you, that's all," Siren says as she starts walking around the room, inspecting every corner of it like she was checking if it was bugged.

     "Why the fuck would you be thanking me?" Cj confusingly asks.

     Siren stops in front of Cj's punching bag that was no longer covered in blood. She touches it with her slender finger, gently pushing it before telling him, "The secret you exchanged with me so I wouldn't spread your own secret became useful after all. I guess you don't remember that anymore because it happened last year, but I never forget a secret once it's spoken out loud. That's just my human nature."

     Cj didn't know what she was talking about, but the moment he remembered what it was, Cj almost stumbled back in complete shock. His reaction gave Siren so much satisfaction that she ended up laughing like a madman.

     "Why so surprised count?"

     "What the fuck did you do?" Cj asks, trying not to throw a punch at her because of complete anger.

     "Oh you know, just something to trigger a ripple. But it seems like someone has been handling it way to fast. It's not fun when there's not much of an effect. It doesn't quite satisfy my boredom after all," Siren playfully says, making Cj clench his fist, burying his nails on his palm so much that he thought it would start bleeding.

     "Sky Hansen...how do you know that man? How did he know about this? Did you fucking tell him?" Cj asks as he slowly walks towards Siren.

    Siren doesn't say anything and just grins at Cj, so Cj — who finally lost his composure — grabs Siren by the neck, strangling her and lifting her from the floor. But just before he could do anything else, Cj felt something cold touch his temple. He looks at his side and sees that Siren was now pointing a gun at him. 

     Even though she was being strangled like this, she was still able to pull her gun out, which was something that made her even more terrifying.

     "L-let's see...who's...f-faster..." Siren struggles to say as saliva oozes out of her mouth.

    Cj tightens his grip on Siren's neck. He was inches away from actually breaking it, but he immediately lets go of her, making Siren fall on the floor as she tries her best to gasp for air.

     "Get out of my sight before I fucking rip you to shreds!" Cj angrily shouts.

     Siren wipes her mouth with her bare hand that's holding onto her gun. Afterward, she slowly stands from the floor, touching her neck which already has a bruise because of what Cj did.

    "You knew this would happen, count. What is hidden cannot be touched. When you gave me the baron's secret, you knew the consequences. We gave you the kiss mark and you chose to keep our mouths shut to save your own, now suffer the guilt...because those who cannot lock the door, are bound to encounter a thief," Siren says before finally storming out of the room.

     Cj doesn't say anything for a while, but then he angry punches his punching back, almost making it fall off of the chains. The impact was so strong that it even bruised his knuckles.

    "Siren!" Cj shouts at the top of his lungs. He wanted to pull Crazy 8's flag out of complete anger to declare war, but deep down he knew that what happened was his fault; everything happened because of him. How could he have been fooled so easily?

    In the past, he easily gave away Krist's secret to save his own skin, and that was a mistake that he could never take back.

    "You fucking shit!" Cj continues to shouts, kicking his table and making a mess. Just in time, Cigarettes came in and saw their leader. Anthony, who was surprised to see the state that Cj was in, immediately grabbed Cj to stop him.

    "Boss, what happened?" One of the members asks.

    Cj continues to struggle, but Anthony — who was holding him — looks at the others and asked for their help so they could put their leader down. When Cj was now on the floor, he finally calms down. He was filled with anger; not at Siren but at himself. He felt so ashamed that while his members were pinning him down, all Cj could do was let a tear fall from his eyes.

...

"It was Cj...Cj made the post and sent it to Krist," Felix says on the other line, almost making Max drop his phone in shock.

     "W-what do you mean? Cj would never—" Max pauses when he notices Heaven looking at him, so Max clears his throat and says instead, "I'm going back. Let's figure this out when I get there."

     Max quickly hides his phone away before looking back at the Elites. "I apologize for disrupting your work but I have to go." Dustin was about to ask him something, but Max was already out of the office before he could even open his mouth. 

     Max was running down the hall as fast as he could. He couldn't believe what he just heard from Felix. Cj was the one who spread the rumor? It can't be. Cj would never do something so cruel as that to his best friend. It just wouldn't make any sense at all.

     "Max!" Felix shouted as soon as Max busted the door open.

     Max - who was still panting heavily - runs to Felix and Jacob's side, demanding an explanation from what Felix just said.

     "I traced back the user and found the student number. When I tried to find who it belonged to, I found out that it was Charles Justin Mills, see," Jacob explains while pointing at the name on the screen of his laptop.

    Max still couldn't wrap his head around it so he thought of possible explanations. "Could it be that someone hacked his account? It has to be, right?" He asks.

     "I thought of that too. I wanted to check if his account was breached, but for some reason, it wouldn't let me check. It's almost like someone's purposely blocking it. Only a really good hacker could open it," Jacob explains further, making Max sigh, massaging his temple because he felt defeated.

     "We can't pin all this on Sky now. This was the only chance we have to find evidence against Sky, but if that post gets traced back to Cj then it's game over for him. We can't release this information," Max says, and Felix sighed as well and started patting his friend's back as a sign of comfort.

     Jacob, who didn't want to make things worse, decided to share his thoughts as he said, "But what if...if...it was really the count? What if he did spread that rumour."

     "That's impossible," Max says, almost slamming the table because of how ridiculous he found the statement. "Cj is a truthful man. Felix and I just talked to him earlier and it's as clear as day that Cj wants the person who has done this to get punished too. Cj wouldn't lie like that for no reason."

    Jacob doesn't say anything anymore and just nods his head in understanding. Just in time, Payton and Eren got back from the Computer Club.

     "We found the people in the picture," Payton excitedly says when he got inside the room, but when he saw everyone's faces, his excitement mellowed down as he asked, "What happened?"

     Max doesn't say anything and just told him, "Give the information to Jacob. Jacob, make a post clarifying the picture. That would be enough to make the white uniforms stop talking about it."

    "Yes Max," Jacob answers, and Payton doesn't ask anything anymore and just did what Max asked him to do.

    A couple of minutes later and the picture was finally posted on J.S High's student website. The members of the Omega Society posted about it as well, and just after a couple of likes, comments, and shares, the secret regarding Krist was forgotten in a snap, showing how social media could really make an impact on people.

     Max sat back down on his seat as the rest of the omegas returned from their duties. They shared that they did all sorts of things so that the students wouldn't talk about it anymore. Some even went all out by confiscating their phones.

     The outcome might not have been what they expected, but at the end of the day, they were able to complete their assignment, and that's all that matters.

     "We did a good job, everyone. I just received a notification and all of us were given 200 points. Congratulation," Payton announces, making the members of Omega Society start cheering.

     Max, on the other hand, looked like he was out of it. Felix was starting to worry, so he approached him and said, "Max, I believe in Cj too and I know that he's not the one who did this. Someone out there is just trying to ruin their friendship. We might not be able to find him today, but we will eventually."

     "It's Sky. I just know it," Max says, clenching his fist in anger.

     Felix doesn't say anything, but deep down he knew that it was Sky too. But like what Max said to Cj earlier, they don't have any evidence to pin the blame on their club advisor. If they do something now, Sky might turn the story around and they end up getting the blame for it instead. It's just too risky.

     "I know you're all tired so let's all grab our lunch for now," Payton then says, and everyone started removing their bodysuits so they could head to the Great Hall.

    Max tries not to think about it anymore and just removed his bodysuit as well. He then went to his locker and grabbed his peak cap so he could put it on. As soon as he wore it, his phone suddenly vibrates again.

    Max honestly didn't want to pick it up because he was afraid to hear another bad news, but when he checked his phone, he saw that the caller was actually his brother, Marcus.

    Max didn't know why Marcus was suddenly calling him, but he immediately answered and said, "Hello? Marcus, what's wrong?"

     "We're at the rooftop. There's something you have to know," he says, and the panic in his voice immediately made Max run out of their clubroom, surprising Felix and the others.

     "Max!" Felix shouted, chasing after Max who ran straight to the rooftop.

    The two eventually arrived at the scene, and what they saw was something that they didn't expect. Boys Next Door and Jokers were there, and in the middle was Cj who was kneeling down on the floor while Brave continuously kicked him.

     Felix gasped and covered his mouth from shock, while Max immediately ran to where they were, pushing Brave away from Cj who was now coughing blood.

     "What the hell is going on?!" He shouted, trying to block Cj.

     "Max, step aside. That man behind you is a fucking bastard! He doesn't deserve your pity," Brave angrily says, confusing Max even more.

     "What the fuck is going on? Is no one going to tell me?" Max asks, looking at the members of Jokers, but the Jesters only looked away from him. They couldn't say it either, so BND did it instead.

     "He did it," Hans says, making Max look at him with furrowed brows.

     Hans, who also looked disappointed, glanced at Cj before looking back at Max to finally tell him, "Cj received Siren's kiss mark. She threatened to spread his secret, so Cj gave her Krist's instead as an exchange."

     Felix gasped, and Max's eyes instantly widened from shock. His legs weakened at that moment, making him fall on his knees. He couldn't believe what he just heard. He had hope...he had hope that no matter what happens, Cj would never be involved in this. But now...

    "I-I'm sorry..." Cj suddenly says, his voice shaky. He couldn't even lift his head up to look at them. "I'm so sorry," he says again, and all Max could do was bite his lip, trying his best not to shed a tear.

     "You're sorry?" Brave asks, moving closer to Cj again. "Mj is at the clinic losing his goddamn mind because of what happened and all you could do is say sorry? You've done shitty things Cj, but this? Mj trusted you with that! He trusted you!" Brave then shouts, kicking Cj again.

     "What was so important about your secret, huh? What was so important that you had to give away Mj's like it was nothing? Huh Cj? Answer me!"

    Cj's body starts to shake, but he still didn't say anything. After everything that happened, even when he's now kneeling in front of Jokers to ask for their forgiveness, he still couldn't say a word.

    "Just when I thought we can finally go back to what we were before, you manage to still fuck it up," Brave says, a tear now falling from his eyes. "Never show your face to us ever again, you got that you fucking asshole?!" Brave says, walking away from the rooftop as the members of Jokers quickly followed behind him.

     The others who were left were completely quiet, but when Cj lifted his head up, Max immediately turned to him and slapped him on the cheek. Cj didn't even flinch. He expected such a reaction.

     "Why Cj? Did Krist's friendship mean nothing to you?" Max asks, pain visible in his voice.

     Cj wanted to explain himself, but he knew that whatever his reason is, it wouldn't be enough. What he did was out of the line. He had no valid excuse. Cj didn't have the right to tell anyone about Krist's secret, but he still did.

     "I told you didn't I? I'll make anyone who did this pay," Max says as he slowly stood up from the floor. "I know you didn't make that post, you're not that cruel. But what I do know is that you're a coward, and if the word brotherhood means nothing then here..."

    The members of BND, as well as Felix, were left speechless when Max suddenly takes off Cigarettes' brooch from his collar.

    Max drops the brooch in front of Cj. He wanted to shed a tear, but he tried his best not to. He had to make sure he doesn't break so that the brotherhoods know that Max isn't wearing their brooches just for show.

     "I'm giving back the points you gave me as well. I would rather reach the top without using the help from someone like you," Max says even though he didn't mean such words. It was just something that he needed to say.

     He was angry, and he felt complete sadness. But all those emotions weren't really directed towards himself. Max was angry because he couldn't swallow the idea of Krist finding out about this. What would Krist feel if he finds out that the reason why his secret is suddenly being broadcasted like this is because his best friend disclosed it to Siren despite knowing what the marquis could do to such information?

     "Starting today, our connection with each other is over. Farewell...count," Max says as he finally walks away with Felix and the members of BND, leaving Cj who was still kneeling in the middle of the rooftop, just like the time when he left Krist.

- END -