Kings On The Horizon (Vol. 7-9)

291 | Family Dinner

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MAX WOKE UP FROM the loud banging sound that was coming from the door. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the clock, his vision still blurry. "It's still 5:00 PM. I told them to wake me up at six," Max complained as he got up from the bed, stretching his arms while he dragged his feet to the door. Max was expecting to see his butler, but when he opened the door, his older brother Marcus was standing in front of him instead, still wearing his black uniform, indicating that he just got back from school.

     "Max!" He shouted in excitement, grabbing Max for a hug before the young heir could even say anything. "I'm so glad you're back. The house has been so lonely without you, and Father keeps bugging me instead since you're not around. I'm starting to understand why you get so annoyed by him."

     Max doesn't say anything as Marcus continues to crush him with his tight embrace. But when Marcus finally pulled away from the hug, his smile slowly faded when he saw the annoyed expression on his brother's face. "You weren't sleeping, were you?" Marcus then asks, laughing nervously.

     "I don't think it matters now," Max says as he returns to his room, Marcus following behind him. "But I'm glad to be back, and I'm glad to see you too. How's everything been going so far? Anything new in J.S High?" Max then asks as his brother lies in his bed without even asking.

     "Nothing drastic happened, surprisingly. That's why the guys and I were joking around, saying that you're the only reason shit happens in J.S High. The moment you left, everything became normal," Marcus answers as Max angrily removes his boots for him.

     "Please don't lie on my bed with your sweaty outside clothes," Max complains again, and Marcus just laughs, ignoring his sibling's frustration.

     "But I'm really glad you're returning to J.S High tomorrow. There are going to be a lot of events this term like the School Festival and the Spring Dance. I might invite Cindy if she's available," Marcus explains next.

     Max, who gave up on kicking his brother away, starts going through his closet instead. Since he's already awake, he might as well pick the outfit he's going to wear for tonight's family dinner. "School festival and Spring dance? Sounds interesting," Max says as he pulls out a silky cream shirt from the closet. "And normal. After the Annual Reranking, those sound less violent."

     "Hey, brotherhood battles aren't violent. It shows a magnificent display of camaraderie and skill," Marcus suddenly defended, making Max pretend like he was gonna gag.

     "You're starting to sound like a prince of J.S High, it's annoying. But speaking of 'prince', have you seen Joon?" Max asks this time, making Marcus sit back up from the bed.

     "Joon? Heck no. I'm actually glad I haven't seen that Ice Prince yet. I don't want my day to get ruined. In fact, the entire idea of choosing him as an underling is already too much for me. Hans was pretty mad about it too, but since this was your idea he's trying to reconsider. The only one excited about this was CJ, and I'm pretty sure there's a reason why he's excited if Joon ends up becoming his underling," Marcus explains, which confuses Max. But when Max realized that his brother had no idea that Joon was living with them for the time being, the young heir couldn't help but laugh out loud.

     Marcus looks at Max and furrows his eyebrows at him. "What's so funny? What I said was true."

     "I know it's true, which makes this even funnier," Max replies, wiping the tears in his eyes. "You know what, let me just show you. Come on."

     Max walked out of the room before Marcus could even ask what that was all about. With no other choice, he got up from the bed and followed his brother outside. They walked towards the guestroom, and then Max started knocking on the door. After a few knocks, no one answered, so Max opened the door and got in. As expected, the room was empty, which led Marcus to be even more confused as to what Max was trying to do.