Saving the Villain

Maxen let out a dry chuckle, walking beside Cosette on their way to their school. He just recalled the conversation he had with Conrad, and it felt like a thorn was plucked out of his throat, knowing Conrad was aware of his relationship with Cosette.

"Hmm? Why are you smiling?" Cosette tilted her head to the side, watching him look back at her. Maxen flashed her a kind smile and shook his head.

"Nothing. I just remembered something," he explained, raising his hand to pat her head.

She walked slower. "Something funny?"

"Not funny per se... more like something I'm relieved about." He withdrew his hand, shoving it inside his pocket. He looked ahead, keeping his lips closed, but the side was curled up. Seeing him in a good mood, Cosette just nodded and looked ahead.

To Cosette, for as long as Maxen was happy, she was also happy. It wasn't like she wasn't happy with her current status with him, but she cared for him so much. Her smile, however, faded when she remembered her father. She looked down to hide the guilt in her eyes.

'Should I tell him secretly and strike a deal with him?' she wondered, knowing she couldn't keep a secret from her father that long. After all, Conrad trusted her and had been very understanding. Keeping her relationship with Maxen from Conrad had always tugged her conscience, but she needed some sort of plan.

Not that Cosette was worried Conrad would kick Maxen out. She knew her father very well and he wouldn't do that. Still, she didn't like being restricted, despite knowing it was for her own good.

Oh, youth...

'Whatever. I'll come up with a plan.' Cosette glanced at Maxen and smiled subtly. Her eyes grew soft just seeing his slight smile and the luster from the corner of his eyes. 'That's right. I'll come up with a plan to protect him and his heart.'

Cosette peeled her eyes away from him and drew a deep breath. Her mood slowly grew better since she couldn't help but recall the difference between when she met Maxen and the current Maxen. Back then, Maxen's eyes were just dark. There was no life in them; he carried the eyes of a man who had lost everything, or rather, the eyes of a person who had nothing to lose anymore.

But now... the shine in his eyes brought warmth to her heart instead of pain. Cosette no longer had the urge to cry just by looking at him.

As they walked side by side, Maxen unintentionally brushed her arms. He glanced at her and smiled, seeing her exciting front. His eyes then fell on her hand, making his brow arch. Without saying a word, he carefully reached for her hand, but just before his pinky could hold her fingers, he halted when a car suddenly drove past them like a bolt of lightning.

Maxen and Cosette automatically paused, staring at the car's rear. Their brows furrowed when it suddenly stopped, only to move in reverse at the same speed.

'My nightmare...' Maxen thought as they faced the car upon stopping beside them. '... is here.'

"Hello, hello!" the window from the backseat rolled down, revealing the charming second young master of the Quinn Family, Luke. "Cozie~!"

"Good morning, Luke." Cosette chuckled awkwardly, watching Luke talk to the driver to stop him off there. When Luke opened the door, Maxen grabbed her arm and pulled her back to save her from hitting the door.

"Oh." She looked back at Maxen, and sighed, seeing the ugly frown on his face. "Thanks."

"Cozie!" Luke exclaimed the second he hitched outside the car, furrowing his brows when he noticed Maxen holding her arm. "Oy, oy! What the --! This is too early for our rivalry, eh?!"

Luke hurriedly held Maxen's wrist and Cosette's arm, separating them as fast as he could. Even Cosette couldn't react quickly to how he was, darting her eyes between Luke and Maxen.

"Wah — wow... have you been beating yourself to grow tall like this?" Luke blinked twice and was in awe, looking at Maxen from head to toe, and then up again. "Just when I thought I can look down on you — wow. This is unbelievable. Have you been injecting yourself with all sorts of vitamins?"

"Get your hands off of me." Maxen clicked his tongue in irritation, snatching his wrist away from Luke.

Meanwhile, Cosette darted her eyes between the two before she realized her neck felt a little stiff. She blinked, rubbed her eyes, and darted her eyes between the two again.

'What have they been doing this summer?' she wondered, furrowing her brows in disbelief. 'I had seen Luke a few times during the summer, but he wasn't... I mean, I noticed he had grown a bit, but not this much.'

Back then, Maxen and Luke were nearly at the same height. The only reason Luke was a bit taller from a distance was because of his lean figure. But now that Maxen and Luke were standing in front of each other while Luke had started his drama, they were still around the same height while Cosette... was stuck in the same height.

'Hah...' she scoffed in disbelief. Now, she wanted to drink whatever vitamin the two of them had been taking.

Maxen's eyes fell on Luke's hand, which was still holding Cosette's arm. "Let her go," said Maxen, snapping his eyes up at Luke ever so tenderly.

"Huh?" Luke gazed down and snorted, raising his chin at him. "And if I don't want to? Oy, you had been with her all summer — hah! Right. Cosette was busy during her internship, right? You must've missed her. Well, I visited her every time I have the time --"

"Gosh." Luke abruptly stopped gloating when Cosette snapped her tongue in irritation, snatching her arm from Luke's grip. His hold wasn't tight. It was surprisingly loosened that she was able to free herself.

"This is unfair," she complained, darting her eyes between the two of them. "How can you grow so tall?"

Maxen's brows rose and Luke blinked in puzzlement. The two of them sized her up before settling their eyes on her displeased expression.

"Cosette, did you shrink?" asked Luke with genuine wonder in his voice, causing her to snort in dismay. Although Maxen remained silent, he also had the same silly question. It wasn't like they grew that tall — or what these two young guys believed.

"Tsk. I can't believe you two." She shook her head, pivoting on her heel as she stomped her feet away grumpily. As she walked away, she couldn't help but complain.

"Shrink? What am I? Something that withers while breathing? Goodness... this is probably just some sort of perks for the characters," she grumbled, knowing this was quite impossible for everyone. "But I'm also a character too. They're still so young, but they are almost like already in their early twenties. Gosh... this is so unfair."

While Cosette grumpily walked away, both Maxen and Luke idled on their spot. Their eyes remained on her back, tilting their heads to the side. She was complaining about their heights, but in their eyes, Cosette's figure was getting better, like a woman. Her uniform wasn't that fitted, but one could tell she had a good figure.

Maxen, in particular, knew how great her body was since he had seen and touched her. His throat bobbed, shutting his eyes to stop himself from recalling the image of her underneath him. He shouldn't think about her flustered face with her mouth falling open but to no avail.

The more he told himself to forget about it, the more his imagination run wild. He couldn't easily forget that sight of her; her eyes shining with desire while her exposed chest moved up and down heavily. The blush on her face while he hovered over her, the softness and the sweetness of her lips lingered in his mouth. Not to mention the feeling of her breast under his palm and how her body shivered each time his lips kissed her on the lips and on the body.

Yes. Cosette didn't grow taller, just like Luke and Maxen. However, her body figure had slowly become a woman's body. She had shamelessly paraded it in front of Maxen, back on the trip in the Quinn's family vacation home. Therefore, he could see the difference.

Maxen let out a deep exhale, reopening his eyes. He glanced at Luke, who had already jogged to follow her. But Maxen was standing rotten on the ground.

'I promised her father...' he thought, dragging his heavy feet to follow her and Luke. '... and it feels like torture.'

Just the thought of her was enough to make him hard. He already believed he was becoming a pervert for fantasizing about her, and that incident in the theater room in the Blac residence amplified his perverted desire.

'I need to get a grip,' He told himself, running his fingers through his hair. But this would be a challenge that would constantly test his patience and self-control since he had already had a taste of the delicacy. It wasn't his fault to crave for it.

Little did he know, as they make their way to Winter High, something that would challenge Maxen's principles, morals, and his change awaits him.