Saving the Villain

Maxen raised his fist to knock on the door of Luke's apartment. However, he hesitated, retracting his hand away. Cosette and Maxen had agreed that he would check on Luke or stay with him for the night. Hence, he didn't stay in the Blac residence for over thirty minutes, leaving right after he changed clothes.

'I don't want him to gloat in front of me.' A deep exhale slipped past his lips, only realizing now that he didn't think of Luke's reaction when he went back to this place. 'Should I just leave him be?'

​ Maxen took a step back, ruffling his hair in irritation. He gazed at the door and clicked his tongue, turning on his heel to leave. However, unlike what he wanted, his feet dragged him to the stairs going up to the roof of the apartment building.

He didn't know why stopping in the middle upon realizing he was going up instead of going down. Yet, Maxen ended up resuming. In his head, he should think about this thoroughly and make up an excuse in case Luke gloats about it.

To Maxen's surprise, when he reached the rooftop to breathe and think, he caught a figure sitting on the railing. His eyes dilated, taking gigantic steps toward that person.

"Ugh… this is so boring I feel sad — Woah?!" Luke's heart instantly dropped to his stomach when he felt a hand grab his clothes from the back before he was pulled back in. He landed on the rooftop's ground with a thud, wincing at the pain in his back.

"Aw… aw… ouch… what the…" Luke trailed off while holding his back, raising his eyes, only to see Maxen looking down at him. "What the — you! Hey! Are you planning to kill me?!"

"What?"

"Is snatching Cose — ouch, ah!" Luke's eyes flared up, glaring daggers at Maxen. "Do you hate me so much?! This is attempted murder!"

"What are you talking about?" Maxen frowned. "I'm stopping you from taking your own life. Do you think suicide is the answer to everything? If you can't take being poor, then just swallow your pride and go back to your home."

"Hah…?!" Luke scoffed, blinking in disbelief. "Who said I'm going to kill myself?!"

"If you're not planning on killing yourself, then why are you sitting there?" Maxen tipped his head towards the railing where Luke was sitting previously.

Luke followed the direction Maxen was talking about, only to ruffle his hair in distress. He pushed himself to sit upright, wincing at the pain in his hip.

"I'm not, alright?!" His frown deepened, gazing at Maxen. "Can't you see? Even if I fell accidentally, there's a level over there to catch me."

Maxen furrowed his brows and looked over the railing. His expression died, seeing that there was a surface mounted on the wall for some architectural reason. So even if Luke jumped, he could just jump right back up.

How would he know, though? Maxen didn't think this was even possible.

"Tsk." Luke shook his head as he clicked his tongue. "What are you doing here?"

Maxen cleared his throat as he looked back at him. "To take a fresh of air."

"Not on the rooftop, but in this place." Luke's frown deepened, bending his knees, and sitting crossed-legged. "Where's Cosette?"

Maxen kept his lips closed before he slid down, sitting on the dirty floor. His back was against the wall of the rooftop, shrugging.

"Home."

"So you came back?" Luke arched a brow. "Why?"

"Cosette was worried."

Luke let out a short laugh, shaking his head in disbelief. "Why would she get worried?"

"She said she is worried that you're alone."

"She shouldn't, though. There's no need for that." Luke carefully collapsed on his back until he was lying flat, gazing at the cloudless and starless night sky. "Being alone isn't new to me. I've always been alone since I was a child. So being alone now doesn't matter. I'm used to it."

"But at least back then, you are in a comfortable place," Maxen argued, resting his arm over his knee. "Isn't it better to cry in a car than on a bike? But you're broke now, so I highly doubt you even have a bike."

"Well, true." Luke spread his arm and doesn't care about the dirt clinging to him. "But who said I'm going to cry? Maxen, do you see me as a pushover? Just because I'm poor now doesn't mean I will let you look down on me."

"I'm not looking down on you."

"Not the literal term."

"I'm not dumb."

Luke broke out in laughter. "Ouch… my back…"

"I guess she was worried for nothing." Maxen shook his head as it seem they were worried for nothing. Surely, Luke was more than alright. He could even joke and had the energy to sass… which was a good thing. At least, Maxen was assured Luke was doing fine.

"Life is funny, don't you think?" Luke spoke after recovering from his laughter, staring at the sky with soft eyes.

"How so?" Maxen arched a brow, staring at Luke with intrigue.

"It's just… funny. Back then, I call everyone a peasant and don't care much about money. I always think money shouldn't be a big deal. We had a lot of that. The real problem is how you spend it and how it will help you become happy," Luke explained. "But now, I can't even buy you guys a nice meal, and to think it's just day 1… it's pathetic."

"You gave us candy."

Luke glanced down at him. "A candy can make you happy, but I want to give Cosette the world."

"You don't have to." Maxen cocked his head to the side.

"Why? Because you will do it?" Luke snorted. "Fat chance. I'm poor now and you got lucky to get her father's sympathy, but just see. I will be the one marrying her."

"Fat chance." Maxen cocked his head to the side. "But good luck with that."

"Oy!" Luke sat upright and pointed at him. "How can you be so confident, huh? You two aren't married yet! Until you two exchange vows, there's always a chance!"

Luke went on and on while Maxen tugged his earlobes, thinking he made the wrong decision for coming back to accompany Luke. Yet, deep in Maxen's heart, he was relieved that this punk was alright.

Little did Maxen know, Luke was more than grateful for his presence. At least, he forgot the silence that had been devouring him bit by bit.