Kings On The Horizon (Vol. 1-3) ✓

26 | Litte Boy

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EVERYONE WAS STARING AT Max as if he's a painting in a museum. They were waiting for him to do something, or to be more accurate, they were waiting for something to happen to him.

     It's their third period, which means they were minutes away from their lunch break. Their teacher continues with their lecture, while Ari continuously glances at his watch, his legs bouncing up and down because of how nervous he was.

     Nothing has happened to Max yet, but Ari was a hundred percent sure that once the bell rings, Ari won't be enough to protect him. And since Max shamelessly provoked Ervin like that earlier, he was certain that the Jacks wouldn't go easy on him anymore.

     "Now if you can turn your page to—" The bell finally rings, interrupting their Geometry teacher Ms. Warren. The class doesn't even wait for further instructions as they start standing from their seats to get ready for their lunch.

     "Please solve the equation written on the board. We'll talk about this at our next meeting," Ms. Warren tells the students of Class II-A before grabbing her things and taking her leave.

     Ari hurriedly lifts himself from his seat and stands in front of Max like he's covering him. Max, who was grabbing his student card from his bag, looks at Ari and massages his temple. "What the hell are you doing now?" he asks.

     "Protecting you," Ari casually answers.

     Max sighs and stands from his seat before pushing Ari away from him. He then looks back at Ari with a serious expression and says, "Be honest with me Aristotle. Did my brother ask you to do this? Did he threaten you? Do you owe him money?"

     Ari immediately breaks eye contact with Max before giving him an answer. "I-It's complicated okay? There are things that I just need to do, and since it's already obvious, yes, one of those things is protecting you. So if you don't mind, stop being stubborn."

     "Who's protecting who?" Felix asks, suddenly appearing beside Ari.

     Max takes another deep breath. He then looks around and notices Ervin and his friends glaring at him before leaving the room. It was obvious that they couldn't make a move because of Ari standing in their way.

     "Alright, since you're so worried. What do these Jacks usually do to their targets?" Max asks Ari.

     "Mostly it's just public humiliation like pranks, but in some cases, it involves physical injuries." Ari answers and Felix nods his head to confirm it.

     "Has something serious ever happened before?" Max continues to ask.

     "Well last year there was a student who..." As the three were talking, shrieks were suddenly heard outside. Moments later, someone barges inside their now empty room. Ari thought that it was going to be Jacks, but to their surprise, it was Max's brother, Marcus, with another equally good-looking man standing right beside him.

     "Holy shit that's Marcus and Khian," Felix says with a shocked expression.

     Max looks at Ari with an angry expression, but Ari immediately shakes his head, mentally telling him that he hasn't said anything to his brother yet so he's just as shocked as he is.

      "Heard about the news. Have they done something already? Place snakes in your bag perhaps?" Marcus asks as soon as he sees Max.

     "What are you doing here?" Max asks back instead of answering him.

     "What kind of person would I be if I didn't check on my little brother who just so happened to receive a jack-in-the-box even though he promised me he'll be careful next time." Marcus stupidly says out loud, shocking Felix to the point where his mouth was left wide open. Even Ari wanted to facepalm himself because of it.