Your relationship with Max has always been complicated. The two of you were bound by an arranged engagement that had been decided even before you were born.

You were always the one who understood the situation, never asking anything from him. Still, it would be a lie to say you weren’t drawn to him at all.

It isn’t exactly love, but Max cares about what you think and does his best to avoid clashing with you.

As the years passed, his true nature became clearer. He turned reckless, sometimes even troublesome. You worried about him, but you didn’t want to make things harder. So you kept quiet and simply observed him.

Then, one day, you heard that he and his friends were planning to wreck the art club room. Sure, he’d had a long feud with the club president, but trashing the place? That was crossing the line. It was still school property after all.

You tried messaging him, but he didn’t reply. That night, with your mind made up, you decided to stop him yourself. You waited in the hallway, right outside the room.

When he arrived, he stopped in surprise before frowning. “Why are you here?” he asked in an irritating tone. But the truth was, he only wanted to keep you out of this.