♛

VIKTOR EXHALED THE SMOKE inside his mouth as he stared at the moon's reflection on the ocean. He was in his bedroom resting after a tiresome day of training. He planned to mess around with some of the white uniforms but their adviser was with them so he didn't get to have any fun. But the other reason why he agreed to come on this trip with them was so that he could have an excuse to come back here again. After all, this island was owned by the Stepanov Clan, a clan that perished a long time ago.

     "Viktor," someone calls out, but Viktor ignores them and just places his cigarette back in his mouth like he didn't hear anyone.

     "Everyone's drinking at PHD's room. They're looking for you," Tanis Hendrix, Viktor's right-hand man, says as he heads to the balcony to stand beside Viktor.

     "Tell them I'm tired. I'm not in the mood right now," he says, exhaling the smoke again. When Tanis saw the color of the smoke, Tanis couldn't help but chuckle. "That's Mill's brand. Didn't know you're using it," he comments.

     "It tastes like strawberries," Viktor simply says, not even explaining why he's openly using Cj's cigarettes now. 

     "I bet you're feeling weird for being here," Tanis then says, leaning his back on the balustrade and looking at Viktor. "You told me the other day that you used to go with your family here. Was it really a good idea to let them use this?"

     Viktor inhales the smoke on his cigarette before answering Tanis's question. When he already finished the cigarette, he throws it on the floor and steps on it. "This is just an island. Nothing special about it at all," Viktor says, and Tanis knew in an instant that his words were empty. Viktor had such sad eyes, but Tanis doesn't say anything.

     "Just let me be. I want to rest," Viktor then says, and Tanis sighs and nods his head, bowing to Viktor before leaving his room. When he was gone, Viktor looks at the horizon again, trying his best to keep his emotions in check. But as he was enjoying his alone time, he notices two figures downstairs, talking about something completely serious, something that Viktor wouldn't be able to predict.

     "I like you, Max. Please go out with me," Keigo says with such a serious expression that Max was left speechless. He didn't know if Keigo was being serious or if he was just messing with him, but what he does know is that he has to do something now before things get out of hand.

     Max has never been confessed to by anyone other than Gavriil, but the thing with them was different since they've known each other for a while now. It wasn't awkward because both of them knew about their feelings before anyone said a thing.

     Keigo on the other hand was the opposite. Max barely knows him, and for a while, Max thought that he was a stalker, so the sudden confession came to him like a shock. It's like when a guy bullies the person they like and they confess to them out of the blue. Being in that situation was what Max was feeling right now.

     "I'm sorry," Max finally says since it was the only thing he could think of at the moment. Whatever Keigo's intentions are, that was the best response for now.

     "I'm sorry because I—"

     "It's because of the person you're talking to on the phone earlier, right?" Keigo suddenly cuts off, surprising Max. "You were talking to someone with such a sweet smile so I could only assume that it's someone important to you. I understand that, but I'm still not going to give up," Keigo tells him with complete determination, leaving Max surprised even more.

     "I fell in love with you when I watched you during Mr. Brains & Brawn, and I've wanted to get close to you ever since. I know this may be strange to you since I'm a guy, but I hope you could give me a chance."

     Max didn't even have a chance to speak when Keigo bowed to him for the last time before running off.

     "What in the world just happened?" Max asks as he scratched the back of his head, confused as to how things escalated that way.

     "Max!" Someone suddenly calls out, and Max immediately turned around, only to see Ervin walking toward him. Thank god Keigo was already gone. It would have been even more awkward if his friends saw what happened.

     "The others are already heading back," Ervin informs him.

     "Is that so? Then are we going to Felix's room to hang out?" Max asks, trying his best to act normal as the two walk back to the building.

     "Not a chance. Ari's practically dead after drinking so much whiskey, so the members of BND are carrying him to their room. We'll just have to go back to ours," Ervin says, and Max instantly got nervous since Keigo was going to be in their room too. How on earth is he going to face him now, now that he knows that the guy actually likes him?

     "Will Felix be alright since he has to take care of Ari by himself? I doubt Gavriil is going help take care of him either," Max says, trying to think of a way to make sure he doesn't get to be alone with Keigo.

     "You have a point. Should Felix and I just switch places for now? I think I'll be able to carry Ari to the bathroom if he starts vomiting in his bed," Ervin suggests, and Max quickly shakes his head and says, "N-No, I'll do it. You're probably tired after playing with the others earlier, and I didn't do much today so I think I'll be fine."

     "Are you sure?"

     "Yes, I'm sure."

     "Alright then, if you insist."

     The two of them arrived at the rooms where the 2nd-years can be found. Ervin gave Max a good night and went to their room, while Max went to Ari, Felix, and Gavriil's room as planned. When he got inside, he saw Felix removing Ari's shirt for him. He could practically hear Felix cursing at their passed-out friend, but when he saw Max, an innocent smile instantly appeared on his face instead.

     "Oh Max, what are you doing here?" Felix asks, standing from the bed to face him.

     "Ervin and I thought that it would be best if I stay here instead so I could take care of Ari. You should head to our room so you could get some rest. Besides, today's still your birthday. You don't need to bother with our friend here," Max says, and Felix was once again reminded of how the brotherhoods started singing happy birthday to him at the hall earlier. Even the members of Crazy 8 arrived when the white uniforms left so they could celebrate number 7's birthday too. Felix is still one of Crazy 8's Executives after all.

     "Thanks, Max. And Ari's too heavy for me anyway. Let me just grab my phone and leave before sir Barron sees me in the hallway," Felix says as he rushes to the desk to get his phone, but just before he could head to the door, Felix realized something that made him grin, a realization that was definitely wrong.

     While Max was waiting for Felix to leave, Felix slowly turns his head to look at him, making Max furrow his brows in confusion. "Is there a problem?" he asks.

     The grin on Felix's face doesn't go away as he approaches Max until they were only inches away from each other. "Are you using Ari as an excuse just to be here?" Felix suddenly asks him.

     Max was surprised because he thought Felix found out about Keigo's confession, but then his little friend moves even closer to him and whispered instead, "You just wanted to be alone with Gavriil didn't you?"

     "What?!" Max practically shouts, making Ari turn and groan. Thankfully he didn't wake up.

     "N-No, that's not it at all. I even forgot that Gavriil stays in this room," Max honestly says, his face heating up in embarrassment. Unfortunately for him, Felix wasn't listening to him anymore.

     "Whatever you say, lover boy. Just make sure to be quiet. Ari might wake up and see something he'll regret," Felix teases, patting Max's shoulders and finally heading out. As soon as the door closes, Max sighs in defeat. Thanks to Max trying to avoid an awkward encounter with Keigo, Felix ended up thinking about such strange things. Well, you win some you lose some.

     "It's fine, at least I don't have to worry about Keigo for now. Things are still way too awkward for me, especially after what he said," Max says to himself before walking toward Ari who was still unconscious in his bed.

     "Alright, let me at least help you for real," Max then says as he starts stripping Ari so he could help change his clothes. But as he was removing Ari's shirt, the door to the bathroom suddenly opens, revealing Gavriil who had just gotten out of the showers.

     "Leigh?" Gavriil asks in shock, almost making Max flinch.

     "Gav?! You were at the bathroom all along?" Max asks back, a little flustered since Felix didn't even tell him that he was there.

     "That's not important now, is it? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in your room? What if sir Barron finds out?" Gavriil asks as he walks closer to Max while drying his hair with a white towel.

     "Relax, I'm just helping him. He passed out because the jesters made him drink too much again. Like his fake bad guy persona, Ari isn't good at handling his drinks," Max explains as he continued removing Ari's shirt for him.

    "Is that so? Well, I guess it's good that you're helping him out, but I'm not quite sure what to feel about seeing my boyfriend strip another man who's passed out in bed," Gavriil then says, sitting on the edge of his bed before staring at Max.

     Max laughs and throws Ari's dirty shirt in his direction. "Shut up, just get me new clothes. It's in his suitcase, the red one," he commands, and Gavriil sighs but did what he was told.

     When Gavriil finally got some fresh clothes for Ari, he heads to where the drunkard was and helped wear the clothes for him. Gavriil was also the one who changed his lower garments since he didn't want Max to do it, even though Max insisted that it was okay. When they finally got Ari changed, the two decided to rest so they went to the balcony to get some fresh air.

     "I thought you already went to sleep when I ended the call," Max says while leaning on the balustrade.

     "I was about to, but I decided to take a shower first," Gavriil says, staring at the beach in front of them. The two were silent for a while, but when Gavriil looked back at Max, he noticed the worried expression on his face. He knew in an instant that Max was bothered by something, especially since he ended their call so abruptly earlier.

    "What's on your mind, Leigh?" Gavriil asks after a while.

    Max takes a deep breath and thought for a second. He didn't want to tell Gavriil about what happened with Keigo since it wasn't really a big deal, but at the same time, he thought it was better for Gavriil to know before he finds it out from someone else.

     "Gav, someone confessed to me," Max finally says. For a second Max thought that the vice president was going to be surprised, but Gavriil didn't give much of a reaction. He just stood there in silence, probably thinking of what to say.

     After a while, Gavriil takes a deep breath and finally tells him, "My opinion on this doesn't really matter, but what matters is what you think about it. Do you like this person? Are you getting confused about what you should tell them? Do you not want to reject them?"

     "No, that's not it. I told him I was sorry and I got ready to reject him, but then he goes on by saying he wasn't going to give up and just ran off. I didn't have the chance to say anything else," Max desperately explains.

     Gavriil looks at him and sees the worried expression on his face. Of course, he was bothered by it, but it wasn't his place to dictate what Max does with his life. To be honest, Gavriil is glad that Max gets to experience something like this; something normal that happens to every high school student. It was the most normal thing to happen to him, so Max should handle this confession on his own.

    "Come here," Gavriil says, and Max approaches him and buries his head on Gavriil's chest, making Gavriil wrap his arms around him to comfort him.

     "If you think I'm mad, then rest assured, I'm not. Thousands of people already like you. For Pete's sake, I'm dating a Maximilian Sinclaire, so I knew that something like this would eventually happen. If it bothers you so much then I'll come with you when you reject them, and then I'll confidently say that you can't have Max because he's mine," Gavriil says with a smile, and Max buries himself in his chest even deeper, embarrassed that the vice president could say such a thing without laughing.

     "I can reject him on my own. You don't have to get involved," Max says before finally looking at Gavriil.

    "Okay, but if this person does anything funny, I'm stepping in," Gavriil says, and Max smiles and nods his head before reaching out to touch the mole near his lover's right eye, admiring the beauty mark. The two stare at each other as Gavriil moves closer to Max to give him a kiss, but just when their lips were about to touch, Ari groans inside the room, quickly making the two move away from each other.

    Max looks back at Ari and sees that he was still sleeping, so Max touched his chest and sighed in relief.

     "I think we should go to sleep before anything else happens," Gavriil tells him, and the two finally went back to the room, sleeping on two separate beds, completely unaware that the red-haired Aristotle Faulkner was actually wide awake the whole time.

...

The next day came by fast and everyone was at the beach early in the morning because they wanted to at least cherish the little time they have left before heading back to reality later this afternoon. Max, Ari, Felix, and Ervin were walking in the sand while the other sophomores were swimming, playing beach volleyball, and doing all sorts of activities that will definitely tire them.

     "Hey Max, do you play any sport?" Ervin asks, his feet touching the water every time the waves got closer to them.

     "I only really play tennis and golf, but when I was younger my family forced me to learn martial arts, as well as how to use a gun. I only got better at it when BND trained me," Max explains like it was the most normal thing in the world.

     "Why is your childhood so fucked up," Ari comments while massaging his aching forehead.

     "Are you okay? Do you still have a hangover?" Felix asks when he noticed how tired he looked. Ari wanted to confess that he wasn't able to sleep well after overhearing Max and Gavriil's conversation last night, but he laughs it off and says instead "Yeah, just a hangover."

     "Well it's your fault anyway so you have to endure the consequences," Ervin then adds, and Ari just sighed in defeat.

     The four continued walking on the seashore, watching the sunset like they were in some kind of teen-beach movie, but as they were walking, they notice a group of men walking toward them. The 2nd-years who were playing around immediately stopped what they were doing as the brotherhoods arrived at the beach. The atmosphere instantly drops and everyone became quiet in an instant.

     Jokers, Cigarettes, and Boys Next Door came to the beach and stopped right in front of the sophomores. The white uniforms thought that the brotherhoods were going to do something troublesome, but then, the jesters cheered and suddenly started running toward the water.

     "Let's see who's the fastest swimmer!" Rome excitedly says, and the rest of the members of Jokers happily followed their youngest. Even Brave—who was wearing so much sunscreen on his face—ran to the water too like he was a kid.

     "Boss, we're just going to play some volleyball," Anthony then tells their leader, Cj.

     Cj, who was wearing an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt, removes his sunglasses and says, "Alright, but you better win."

    "On it boss!" The counts answered in unison as they approached the 2nd-years who were playing volleyball earlier. The white uniforms were ready to give the ball to them out of complete fear, but then Pablo looks at them with such a serious expression before saying, "What are you fucker's waiting for? Let's play!"

    They were all surprised, but then one of the white uniforms smiled and nodded his head before hitting the ball towards the counts, making the two groups start playing.

     "Alright, we'll just enjoy the sun while we still can. If you want to find us, we'll be at the sunbed," Arjun says this time as he and the members of BND walked away, leaving Hans and Marcus with the others

     Max and his friends approached the leaders who made their unexpected appearance.

     "Look at you guys," Ari says, eyeing the leaders who were flaunting their well-toned bodies after all the training they did for the past weeks.

     "I told you didn't I, we're going to join you today and make Max's first field trip memorable," Krist says, and even though Cj and Hans looked like they didn't care, they actually agreed with it too. A change of pace is always nice after all that training.

     "Besides, this is a rare opportunity for me as Max's brother. When else will I be able to go on a school trip with him?" Marcus then says as he drapes his arm around Max.

     "Well, I'm glad you guys are able to join us," Max says with a genuine smile. "But where's River?" he then asks.

     "The members of Crazy 8 aren't allowed to show their faces to the white uniforms, and it would be weird if they wore their masks on the beach, so River decided to just stay with them. I think they closed off the pool area so they could have it all to themselves," Cj explains, and Max nods his head in understanding.

     "It can't be helped then. At least River gets to hang out with his brotherhood. It's the perfect time for them to get to know each other, especially now since they're not wearing their masks anymore," Max says, and the others couldn't help but nod in agreement.

     "As much as I want to join them as a marquis, I'd rather hang out with you guys, so what should we do?" Felix then asks, and the leaders looked at each other and started smiling like they had a plan.

     "Let's do...everything!" Krist excitedly says, grabbing Max's hand and dragging him to where the others were.

     The 2nd day of Max's very first field trip was once again filled with joy and laughter. Thanks to the brotherhoods, Max ended up playing volleyball with Cigarettes, sunbathing with BND, swimming with Jokers, and even just chatting on the side of the pool with Crazy 8.

     It was indeed memorable, and everyone, including all the 2nd-year white uniforms, enjoyed their time together as well. Surprisingly enough, they enjoyed their time with the brotherhoods too. Their judgment towards them changed, even just for a little bit.

     This was definitely one of the best experiences Max has ever had, and he was definitely going to go on their next trip again, hopefully with the same group of friends who made his very first field trip worthwhile.

     But of course, such trips had their end, and the students had to eventually pack their bags and leave their temporary paradise. In a blink of an eye, everyone was already waiting for their plane to arrive at the airport. It was already 6:00 PM, so some were taking a nap while others still had the energy to play around.

     "I can't believe it's finally over. Now we're back to our boring lives in J.S High," Ari complains before shoving the lollipop in his mouth.

     "Let's be honest, we've never really had a boring day in J.S High anyway," Felix then tells Ari, and Ari couldn't help but agree.

    "That's still different though," he says before putting back his headset on so he could relax.

     Felix was reading another book, Ervin was watching his favorite series on his laptop so he was preoccupied too, while Max was reading reports from the company. He's only been gone for two days and a lot of people are already looking for him. It was still Sunday tomorrow and Max was hoping he could rest, but it looks like he has to attend a bunch of meetings instead.

     The brotherhoods, on the other hand, were practically dead too since they trained like crazy yesterday, and instead of resting, they played around earlier with the others. Now all they want is to get back to their beds. Even the Royals, who didn't really show themselves much, looked tired too.

    "Ervin, I'll just head to the restroom," Max says, patting Ervin's shoulder to get his attention.

     When Ervin gave him the okay sign, Max stood from the bench and went straight to the restroom. When he got there, he saw someone washing their hands. Max was nervous for a second because he thought that it was Keigo, and Max wasn't prepared to talk to him yet, but when he saw who it really was, Max almost hoped that it was Keigo instead.

     "My prince," Max greets, bowing his head to show his respect to the prince, Kim Hee-joon.

     Joon looks at him through the mirror but doesn't say anything. When Max was confident that he was finally on the clear, he walks past Joon so he could head to the toilet. But before he could take another step, Joon stops him.

     "Sinclaire," he calls out, instantly making Max stop. The way his name went out of Joon's mouth even made the hair on his skin stand. He was literally the ice prince.

     "You're in rank 10 now, is that correct?" He asks him, and the fact that Joon was even talking to him left Max dumbfounded.

     "Yes my prince," he answers, unsure why Joon would even ask him that in the first place.

     Joon doesn't say anything and just stares at Max's reflection in the mirror. Max has done so much that it's natural that he has a strong presence, but for some reason, Kim Hee-joon was still able to overpower him without even lifting a finger. He was just staring at him with such cold eyes yet Max felt like he was being strangled by the silence.

     All Max could do was swallow the lump in his throat as he waited for Joon to say something else. This was Max's next target, yet Max could still feel how different their strengths are. Max definitely has to work harder if he wants to reach them.

     "How many points are left?" Joon finally asks, leaving Max confused.

     "I'm sorry?"

     "How many points are left...for you to be the Elites' student representative?"

- END -