♛

MAX CONTINUES TO LOOK through the list on Gavriil's laptop screen, trying to look for a name that might sound familiar to him. The list contained hundreds of white uniforms with a copy of what they posted online about J.S High. It would take forever if Max tries to check every single one.

    "This is impossible," Max complains, massaging his temple as he leaned his back on the sofa behind him. He closes his eyes and tries to think of something that might make his job easier, but as he was contemplating, he suddenly heard Keigo shout, "What?!"

    Max shots open his eyes as he looked in the direction of the kitchen. "What on earth are those two doing?" He asks before looking back at the laptop screen again, trying to ignore Keigo's scream. But as Max tries to ignore it, his curiosity ended up bothering him instead, so he sighs and finally stood up from the floor. 

     He scratches the back of his head and walked to the kitchen where the two underlings were found. He wasn't expecting much, but when he got there, he was surprised to see Keigo and Gavriil staring intensely at each other like they were moments away from fighting. The two didn't even notice Max's presence, so Max clears his throat, instantly making them turn their heads to face him.

     "I'm sorry but am I interrupting something here?" Max asks with his arms crossed, and Gavriil immediately pushes Keigo away so his lover wouldn't end up speculating weird things.

     "We were just talking," Gavriil answers, trying to just laugh it off. "Anyway, what are you doing here? Have you found anything?"

     "No, I'm still looking. I heard Keigo scream so I thought something happened," Max answers, and Keigo pushes Gavriil away this time and says, "Oh, so you were worried?"

    Max looked at Keigo weirdly and tried to ignore what he said while Gavriil was moments away from hitting him with a pan.

     "Whatever, I got curious for nothing. If there isn't anything wrong here then I'm going back. You guys should wrap things up." Max says, and before Gavriil and Keigo could even say anything else, Max walks away and heads back to the living room. As soon as he was gone, Keigo takes a deep breath and grabs hold of Gavriil's shoulder.

     "That was close. If things got a lot more heated, Max would have thought that we were a thing or something," Keigo jokingly says, and Gavriil looks at him with disgust before removing Keigo's hand off him.

     "Sorry if I shocked you a little about that confession. You got so angry all of a sudden so I thought I offended you," Keigo explains, but then he realized something so he looks back at Gavriil like he was some sort of criminal. "Wait, don't tell me you're actually homophobic? It's the 21st-century man. You gotta look at things with an open mind," Keigo suddenly assumes, and Gavriil clenches his fist in irritation.

     "What do you even think of me? I'm obviously not mad because of that," Gavriil defends. He wanted to explain that he was actually Max's boyfriend, but he still wasn't sure if Max is comfortable enough to share such things with people they barely know. Max hasn't even formally told Ari and his other friends about it so telling such a thing to someone like Keigo is the last thing that he'd want.

     And it's not Gavriil's place to out Max now. Gavriil just has to calm down and think rationally.

     "I wasn't expecting that the guy who confessed to Leigh would actually be him," Gavriil thought to himself before massaging his forehead in frustration. He then takes a deep breath and looks back at Keigo with a calmer expression.

     "I told you didn't I that I'm Leigh's childhood friend, so as his 'childhood' friend, I don't approve of you. You two don't match at all. If I were you I'd give up," Gavriil says, expecting Keigo to get mad at him, but instead, Keigo puts on a sad expression as he leans on the counter.

     "That's what Max said too. It seems like he already has someone he likes. Of course, I don't want to force myself on him, but I at least want to try. There's just something about Max that I really admire. I don't want to just give up without putting on any fight, you know? And even though I don't end up getting together with him, I'd at least want to be his friend," Keigo says with a genuine smile, which surprised Gavriil.

    He wasn't expecting Keigo to be this sincere. According to Viktor, Keigo was already facing a computer screen when he was about five years old. He was a genius so his parents made use of him at a very young age, forcing him to hone his skills instead of experiencing a normal childhood.

    In a way, Keigo was like them.

     "So you're that serious, huh?" Gavriil asks, and Keigo nods his head in determination.

    Gavriil couldn't help but chuckle as he walks back to the food that he was cooking. He wasn't laughing at Keigo, but rather, he was impressed. If someone was that sincere, then they deserve respect.

     "Alright, then do your best. It's not my place to stop you, but I'm still not helping you. Do your best and ask Leigh again; ask him what he really feels about you. After that, promise me that you'll respect whatever answer he gives and you'll move on," Gavriil seriously says, and a bright smile instantly appears on Keigo's face.

     Gavriil didn't say that because he was confident that Max would reject him. He said that to him because he wanted Keigo to give it his all so he won't have any regrets, and at the same time, he wants Max to finally give him a more direct answer.

     "But do anything stupid and I'll show you why I'm an underling of the Kings," Gavriil threatens right after, and Keigo gulps and nods his head as a reply.

    When everything was now settled, Gavriil turns the stove off and says, "Alright, you can go back to Leigh. I'll handle everything from here."

     "Understood. Thank you, vice president!" Keigo happily says, patting Gavriil's shoulder and heading back to the living room where Max was still fixated on the laptop, still trying to look for someone who looked suspicious.

     "Any luck?" Keigo asks as he sat on the sofa just behind Max.

    Max doesn't remove his eyes on the screen as he answers, "No, not at all. There are way too many names here, and I can't seem to find anyone I'm familiar with."

     Keigo looks at the screen too and scratches his chin. "May I?" He asks while gesturing at the laptop, so Max takes the laptop and hands it over to him.

     Keigo doesn't say anything and started typing something down. Max stood from the floor and sat beside Keigo to check what he was doing. After a few minutes, Keigo hands the laptop back to Max and tells him, "Here, you should check it out again. This might be easier for you now."

     "What did you do?" Max asks, surprised that the number of names decreased.

     "I filtered out all of the posts made by these students. Those that mentioned words such as buying merit points, Paradox, Alpha Society, can now be found there," Keigo explains, and Max couldn't help but be impressed.

     "This is easier now. Thank you," Max answers, automatically putting a smile on Keigo's face.

    Max and Keigo continued looking through the list with full concentration. After a couple more minutes of still finding nothing, Gavriil got back from the kitchen and served them food, which was surprisingly delicious. After their pleasant dinner, Keigo volunteered to wash the dishes while Max went back to looking at the list.

     "Here," Gavriil says as he approaches Max, handing him another can of beer.

     "Thank you," Max answers, grabbing the can and taking a sip while his eyes were still glued to the screen. Gavriil then sat beside him and took a sip of his own beer. "Found anything yet?" He asks, and Max shakes his head as an answer.

    Keigo finished washing the dishes right after. When he got to the living room, Gavriil throws him a can of beer as well as Keigo sat on Max's left side. "Can't believe there's a lot of white uniforms who tried to expose J.S High," Keigo says as he opens his can of beer so he could take a drink.

     "I honestly can't believe the Elites were able to catch them all," Max then adds, and Keigo couldn't help but agree with it either.

     "The Elites in the past were somehow different, but they had a lot of connections so it's not that difficult. Of course, there are some that get away with it, but most of the time people don't believe them. To be honest, we could use someone like you in the current council," Gavriil then tells Keigo.

     Keigo thinks about it for a while and was about to laugh it off, but then he remembers that Max is actually trying to penetrate the Elites too. Keigo instantly got an idea that if he enters the council then he'll be able to get closer to Max.

     "That's actually a great idea," Keigo says, smiling brightly at Gavriil because he thought the vice was helping him out with Max. Gavriil was confused when Keigo winked at him as a form of thank you, but he tries to just ignore it because he knew that nothing good would come out if he asks him about it now.

     "I'm still a serf but maybe—"

     "Here!" Max suddenly shouts, startling the two royals' underlings.

     "This...this is it," Max says as he clicks on a name of a white uniform, opening his profile.

     Keigo and Gavriil leaned close so they could see the screen better.

     "Abel Henedy? Looks like he enrolled in J.S High in 2019, but then he got expelled the following year," Keigo says as he reads through the profile. "What's with this guy? Why'd you specifically pick him?"

     "You filtered out the posts with the words alpha society right? Well this guy posted about it, but it's not about alpha society at all," Max explains, and Gavriil spots one of the white uniform's titles found on his profile.

     "Wait, he was the previous club leader of Omega Society?" Gavriil asks, and Max nods his head and opens the article that Abel posted when he got expelled.

FAKE POINTS in the house of KINGS

December 18, 2020. Friday, 2:30 PM

I'm writing this to let people know about the unfairness of the merit points system in the House of Kings. The White Uniforms shed blood and tears to collect points so they could rank up and prove their worth, but those in the higher ranks don't deserve their position at all.

I was a club leader of Omega Society, and I've seen a lot of things. A couple of months before I got expelled, our society received a cleanup job by an infamous brotherhood. We were tasked to throw away all the evidence about their private activities in school. We weren't allowed to ask questions, but after digging deeper, I found something shocking.

This certain white uniform was bullied and beaten to the point where he decided to leave J.S High. The people who bullied him were the brotherhood who asked us for the cleanup. Apparently, they were seen in one of the CCTV cameras and they asked us to make sure that all of that was erased.

We had no choice but to finish the cleanup job, but I decided to dig deeper. I sought out the white uniform who got bullied and privately talked to him. He didn't want to talk about it at first because he was scared, but eventually, he confessed.

I found out that this brotherhood bullied him into giving them his points. It was a surprise because brotherhoods didn't even need merit points, to begin with. After a couple more questions, I found out that they weren't the ones who were using the points. I found out that they were actually selling them to other white uniforms.

They were holding an illegal auction.

It seems that a lot of white uniforms, especially serfs, were subjected to this kind of bullying so they could forcefully give their points away. I tried to expose them about this, but the situation suddenly got turned upside down. I was accused of bringing matters from J.S High outside the campus, and they said I was spreading false information. I was eventually kicked out of the House of Kings despite my desire to spread the truth.

I don't regret what I did. The people at the top are so proud of where they are, using their powers to step on those below them, not knowing that the points they have are all thanks to the money they spent, which goes against what J.S High stands for.

I've already told the new president of the student council, Matthew Grey Cullen, about this matter as well, and he promised he'll do something about it.

This has to be stopped before it gets worse.

- A.H

     "This can't be real," Keigo says in shock. "There was an auction of merit points?" Keigo asks in shock, completely surprised by what he just read. He also realized that this is where Daniel probably spent Alpha Society's funds so he could buy points for himself.

     "So Grey knew about this," Max says as a sad expression appears on his face. "But it seems like this was the time Grey died. That's probably the reason why he wasn't able to do anything further."

     "Then how about Ian? Did president Ian do anything about this when he got appointed as the new president?" Keigo then asks as he looks at Gavriil.

     Gavriil, who was surprised about this too, shakes his head and answers, "I don't think he knows about this either. When Grey died, all his files and documents were thrown away, almost like J.S High was trying to erase anything related to him. But we also heard rumors about this supposed auction, but no one really came forward, and there was no solid evidence that it actually happens," Gavriil explains, which angered Max even more.

    "So there's a high chance that this auction is still happening," Max says, looking back at Keigo and Gavriil. "We have to talk to this Abel guy. We have to know more about this matter."

     "I'll find more details about him," Keigo answers, and Max nods his head towards his assistant to thank him. 

     "Do you think the brotherhood who bullied white uniforms to forcefully take their points were Paradox?" Keigo then asks.

    "I'm not sure, but we'll find out about this when we talk to Abel Henedy," Max answers. "Let's talk about this matter back in our planning room, so for now, let's end this session," he says since the two of them wouldn't be able to openly discuss this with Gavriil around.

     "Alright, sounds like a plan. I also have more resources back at my apartment so it would be easier for me to find this Abel guy. Oh and vice, could you send me this file?" Keigo asks as he stood up from the sofa.

    "I'll send it to your email."

    Keigo yawns and scratches the back of his head as he wears his cap back. "Looks like it's getting late, I should head back first. I parked my motorbike outside. How about you Max? Want me to drive you back?" Keigo then asks, and before Gavriil could ask Max the same question, Max shakes his head to decline it.

     "It's fine. My butler Étienne's just waiting to pick me up," Max answers, and Keigo just nods his head in understanding.

     "Alright, then I'll see you tomorrow. And vice, thank you for the dinner, it was pretty good. Maybe next time you can teach me some of your recipes, recipes that Max likes," Keigo bravely says, and before Max could even react, Keigo waves goodbye at them and immediately takes his leave.

    As soon as the door was shut, Max looks at Gavriil and asks him, "What on earth did he mean about that?"

    Gavriil looks at Max and suddenly grabs his nose so he could pinch it. "Your assistant just shamelessly told me that he confessed to you. I told him that we're childhood friends so Keigo started asking me if I could help him get you two together."

     Max's eyes widened from shock, but after a couple of seconds, when everything finally sank in, Max started laughing out loud like he heard the best joke in the world.

    "That's way too funny!" Max says, touching his aching stomach because of how much he was laughing. "Was that the reason why you two were staring so intensely at each other earlier?"

    Gavriil couldn't believe Max's reaction so he just shrugged his shoulder and went back to the living room so he could throw the cans of beer away. "Why didn't you tell me that the guy who confessed to you was actually Kawanishi?"

     "Well at that time I thought Keigo was just our regular classmate. Who would have thought he'd be an underling of PHD and we'd be acquainted thanks to the banquet," Max explains as he helped Gavriil clear out the center table. "Anyway, Keigo seems like a pretty good guy. I had doubts about him, but I feel like he's harmless."

     "That's one dangerous assumption, Leigh. I knew about him thanks to Viktor, but I still don't know who he really is. Maybe I do agree that he seems like a nice guy, but we still can't put our guards down," Gavriil says as he throws the empty cans of beer in the bin.

     "I know that, and it seems like Felix knows that too. I'm just trying to weigh things down, that's all. It's still pretty unclear, but what I do know is that he's a big help. I wouldn't have been able to do my first task without him," Max admits, and Gavriil walks closer to him so he could help clear his things too.

    "I'm assuming that has something to do with Thomas Woods, but of course, I'm not going to ask anything else," Gavriil says, and Max looks back at him and gives him a sweet smile.

     "Thank you, Gav," Max says, and Gavriil puts down his files and approaches Max so he could touch his cheek. "Anything for you," he whispers.

    Gavriil was about to move closer, but then Max quickly dodges him as he steps back, clearing his throat to remove any awkward tension between them. Max and Gavriil have been alone together a couple of times now, but this was a bit different. Max was alone in Gavriil's apartment. This wasn't like the time at the resort during their field trip.

     "A-Anyway, I should go. I'll message Étienne and—"

     "Want to stay over for the night?" Gavriil suddenly asks, instantly making Max stop.

     "Pardon?" Max asks in disbelief, and Gavriil takes a step closer and tells him, "Before you spend more time with Kawanishi Keigo, how about spending more time with me? What do you say, Leigh?"

- END -