Kings On The Horizon (Vol. 7-9)

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MAX ARRIVED AT THE rooftop, which was his favorite brotherhood base. It's been a while since he'd been there, so as soon as he saw the scenery, Max couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. He looks at the view of the campus and walks closer to the edge, only to notice Joon sitting on the bench, reading a book.

     "What are you doing?" Max asks as he approaches the prince.

     Joon puts the book down when he hears Max and immediately gets up from his seat. "I found the book here. I think one of the jesters owns it. Those guys aren't here either. They didn't say anything to me and just left," Joon suddenly explains to Max, making the young heir chuckle. For some reason, after their exchange at the greenhouse earlier, the air around Joon became less suffocating.

     "I wasn't trying to interrogate you," Max says, taking a seat on the bench and patting the space beside him. "Sit," he then tells Joon, and like an obedient Jack, he does what he's told and sits beside Max, the two of them now facing the scenery that takes both of their breaths away.

     Joon was waiting for Max to say something. He was expecting him to scold him again or ask him about what happened with Hans earlier, but Max remained silent. And as someone who isn't a talker himself, Max's silence was starting to annoy him. Joon gets annoyed when people talk a lot, but not when it's Max. For unknown reasons, Joon doesn't want Max to ignore him. He doesn't want Max to ignore him like Viktor does when he's mad.

     "My name is Max by the way," Max says out of the blue, confusing Joon because he doesn't understand why Max would suddenly introduce himself to him like that.

      "I know," Joon simply answers.

     "That's good. For a second I thought you were confusing me with Viktor," Max says next, immediately making Joon turn to him with his eyes wide, shocked that Max seemed to have read his mind.

     When Joon reacted, Max took a deep breath and removed his peak cap.

     "I've only noticed it earlier, but you keep stealing glances at me, glances that you originally stole from Viktor," Max continues to say as he looks at Joon, making the ice prince flinch when their eyes meet, Max's ocean-blue iris unconsciously making Joon swallow the imaginary lump in his throat.

      "People tell me I'm like my mother, sometimes they see Grey, but you're the only one who sees Viktor in me, and I'm telling you now, Kim Hee-joon, I find that as an insult," Max reveals next, and this time, Joon's heart was starting to beat faster and faster. Was he getting annoyed? Scared? He couldn't even tell.

     "Don't look at me like I can replace Viktor because I won't. Whatever kind of toxic relationship you two have, I don't want any part of it. I've already made up my mind on how I'm going to deal with you. I'm going to help you find the third suspect, I'll look after you, and I'll let you sleep in my house as much as you want. But I cannot be more than what you might be imagining in your head. Don't use me as a way to escape that mad king," Max states, and Joon quickly looks away from Max, his expression now unreadable.

     The wind blows on the two of them. Joon clenches his fist but unclenches it as he releases a breath.

     "You think I'm going to fall in love with you?" Joon finally asks, the question sounding serious instead of it being sarcastic.

     Max shakes his head and denies it. "No, not love. One look and I already know that that's not the thing you feel about Viktor. Love is too pure to be used by someone like you," Max says, causing the fire inside Joon to burn bigger and brighter.

     "And what do you know about what I feel?"

     "Not much," Max answers in a calm manner. "But I know it's not love."