The Monday morning sky in Buangan City is grey as usual. Lenny crosses the busy square of the fashion district with his hands shoved in the pockets of his trench coat. Between the curtain haircut is a laser-focused stare. And as per the silent rules of the City of Crime, one does not say hello to strangers on the street. You don't maintain eye contact; you don't say hello. You brush past a stream of other dark-colored trench coats and dark-colored hair, minding your own business and avoid seeing what you're not supposed to.

Hanging from his elbow is a bag of pastry from the local bakery. It is part of his and Kai ritual to enjoy them every Monday morning. Kai would stop by Kai's apartment past the busy hours of the traffic. When he arrived, Kai would normally still be in his room, asleep, due to their night job with the Organization. Kai, especially, would be very busy every night. Lenny would then get the coffee machine to work and get Kai up. 

Except, this time, he may not have to. After all, Kai is walking out of the Organization.

Lenny huffs and hastens his pace towards the apartment complex. Being a regular to the place, Lenny owns a card key. A short elevator ride brings Lenny to the 15th floor. The Owens' unit is behind the second door to his right. 

The clean spa-like smell and the heavy chilled air from the air conditioner engulf him the moment he opens the heavy door. The hallway lights up as he closes the door behind him. As usual, the condo is dead silent on his arrival. He makes a beeline to the kitchen to get the coffee machine started.

Except it's already brewing.

"Morning".

"Wah!!!" Lenny jumps as he swiftly turns around to face his greeter. There, sitting on the kitchen counter with a mug of coffee, is Nanami Edward. Clad in an oversized anime t-shirt, the 20-year-old looks even smaller than he already is. The short boxer briefs exposes his pale limbs, allowing it to paint a stark contrast against the black granite countertop.

Out of all the annoying things he find in the other guy (like how he quirks an eyebrow at Lenny's overreaction and mutters, "You're energetic this morning," under his breath), the first thing Lenny points out is the ugly hero-character merchandise in Ed's hand. "That. What is that?" Lenny tilts his chin at the offensive green drinkware.

"Hm?"

"That. That mug".

"It's He Ogre," the nerd names the character on the mug with a flat almost-sarcastic tone.

"Your brother won't appreciate that," he says matter-of-factly. The two Owens who live in this unit, Godiva and Kai, are both very particular about the aesthetic of their furnitures. The kitchenwares are all in uniformed colors. The plates are all white, the mugs are all gray-brown, and the cutlery are all stainless steel.

"I got him a She Ogre one," Edward replies with ease.

"He w - you what?"

"He likes it".

As if on cue, Kai appears at the entrance to the kitchen in his loose sleeveless top and a pair of baggy slacks, all black. "Good morning~," he yawns right before he approaches his adoptive younger brother and, with no hesitation, pecked the younger on the cheek.

Now, Lenny has known Kai since they were in junior high school. The other guy has a tendency to be touchy-feely. He has too many memories of being smothered by Kai's snuggling tendency whenever they have a sleepover and have to share the bed, or being subjected by the other's bear-hug. Yet, he has only seen Kai give morning kisses to his mother and past girlfriends.

Edward, for the second time that day, raises an eyebrow.

"Oh, coffee done?" Kai turns toward the coffee machine.

"I -," Lenny starts, trying to explain that it wasn't him who made the coffee. But, he was disrupted by the culprit himself. "Hisashi likes having his coffee early in the morning, so I had to get up early to start the coffee machine".

It's funny that in this household no one refers to Hisashi as anything but Hisashi. He's not dad nor father. He's just Hisashi, even to his sons.

Lenny crosses his arms as he waits for Kai to tell Edward off for making the coffee. After all, it has been Lenny's job for the last few years. Instead, Kai says, "Great! Now, Lenny doesn't need to make them anymore".

Lenny opens his mouth to protest, but quickly closes them again. Surely Kai would not let this kid make his coffee - the kid who almost burned a whole kitchen from trying to cook eggs and just learned how to do the dishes. Kai takes a mug out of the cupboard and prepares himself a latte. He groans loudly after his first sip. "Ohhh, that hits the spot!"

Lenny stares in horror. 'What the fuck did you do to him?' He questions internally as he directs his gaze at the other Hisashi spawn on the kitchen counter.

But you know what's worse?

Out of the rows of grayish brown mugs in the cupboard, Kai deliberately picked the one other mug in ugly green.

***

Ivanov Phillips is one of Larks International's best employee who are often sought for advice and mentoring. So how did he end up with an idiot mentee?

Said idiot mentee is sitting behind the wheel of a Rolls Royce Ghost. Ivan has the poor luck of having to sit next to him as he rambles about how happy he is to be assigned to Ivan. "I've always looked up to you," Li confesses heartfully as he turns the wheel, "Like, I know in my heart that we're going to make it. We're going to be the best duo in Larks International".

"Yeah... no," is what Ivan is thinking to that. Larks International has a buddy system where agents are paired as a form of skill transfer. He thought he would be partnered up with their best rookie. They assigned this idiot to him instead . What is more ridiculous is that there are even two Lis in the company and still Ivan ends up with the less capable, less smart, and very much male Li twin.

Li is excited though, "We can be brothers!"

"...no," and again, Ivan rejects him.

Their car enters the outdoor parking lot of a 6 star hotel where the conference Angelo is attending is ending. Li puts their car to a stop in a spot where they can watch the hotel's conference hall entrance. Waves of men in suits start flooding out of the large double door. It doesn't take long until they catch the sight of their patron. Dressed smartly in his marroon suit, Angel's tall and swimmer-like built is easy to tell apart in the sea of middle aged men. The young man is standing in a flock of other men is suit, most of them beyond his years. They can be seen conversing; laughing.

"He's so young, isn't he?" Li mentions. 

While Li's comment should earn him another smack in the head, Ivan will have to agree. "He's brilliant. You don't even know it".

"I know he is! I mean, he's Mr. Larks' son -"

"He doesn't even have to be," Ivan states. That young man has touched a lot of milestones that most people his age dont. And those men around him can sense the brilliance in him. It's clear from the way they laugh at his jokes and listens to every word he utters.

Or perhaps they see the lines of his mother, Brianna Starling, in him. Michelangelo inherited the Singaporean Actress' tan skin and deep brown hair, along with her infamous cinematic smile. A lot of him is also that of his father's; the roman nose, the high cheekbones, the hollow cheeks - all of those are so undeniably Benjamin Larks.

Then again, maybe they see Gregory Drake in him. After all, Gregory Drake and Brianna Starling is a beloved power couple in Angkasa City, and their son, even before he stepped into the world of acting and modeling at the age of 11, was already treated like Angkasa City's own royalty. The Drake name gets him far, far enough to be recognized anywhere he goes.

Hence, people miss the brilliance that is hiding underneath the beautiful smile and the infamous name. They missed the elite Italian boarding school valedictorian, the top graduate of an American law school, and the Jaxxon University's dean list student who continuously conspires. But most importantly...

They miss the sole heir to the Larks Industry.

The day these people are informed of his parentage though, Ivan is sure they all would rush to put a crown on his head. Then, the shadow community within the depth of Buangan City will have a new reigning king. When that day arrives, nothing will be able to stop Michelangelo Magnus Drake - nothing but....

Ivan swallows thickly. "Hey," he starts.

Li, who was watching Angelo, distractedly answers, "Hm?"

"I think Angelo is hiding a lover".

"The Young Master?" Li turns to Ivan, "Isn't that a good thing? I mean, look at him. Every woman would dream to score that".

'It's not a good thing,' Ivan wants to respond. Since he's tasked as Angel's protector, back when Angel was 14, he has never left the younger's side. In fact, when Angel was sent to that boarding school in Italy, Mr. Larks paid for Ivan to attend the same school, posing as Ivan's foster father when in truth he was Ivan's employer. 

So Ivan knew of every person Angel talked to. Sometimes, Angel would even send Ivan to bring the woman (or man) to his bed. Other times, he even shared them with Ivan. And this... this is the first time he hides them from Ivan.

"Not when he's hiding it," from me, Ivan wanted to say, "from his Father".

"Maybe it was a fling? A one time thing - not important enough to report to Mr. larks. It can get awkward, y'know, to discuss all of your escapades with your parents".

Ivan snaps, "He called her his future wifey!" His harsh tone starts a minute-long stunned silence, only broken by the knock from the glass window behind Li. The two car occupants turn towards the door at the same time, finding their patron already standing outside. 

Li scrambles to open the car's window. "Y-yes, Young Master!"

"Oh, don't do that. Call me Angel, or Angelo; whichever you fancy," Angel then points sideways, "Do you mind moving aside? I'm driving".

"B-but this is my j-job-!"

But Angel has opened the car door. Li robotically leaves the car and reenters through the back door. Ivan rolls his eyes. He is so used to Angel's little antics. "So... coffee before we head to the club?"

"At Bailey's," Angel starts the car, "And I need to go to the restroom when we arrive there because if I have to use the hotel's restroom, I'll be stuck doing another hour of small talks".

"Alright," Ivan relents. He and Li will have to continue their conversation some other time,

When they arrived at Bailey's, Angel goes straight to the restroom, leaving Ivan to start a hushed converstaion with Li. Hence, they missed how Angel actually skipped the restroom and snuck out to the flower shop next door. When the florist asks him what she can help him with, he smiles sweetly back, "How many red roses do you have?"

***

Dominic 'Dom' remembers telling everyone and their mothers when he received the email that he got accepted to intern at XenTech's new headquarter in Buangan City. He was expecting cool projects, meeting brilliant and motivated youths like himself, and just making connection with the bright-minded lots of Asia. 

While all of those are true most of the times, some other times he's stuck with a bunch of sullen college students, either too stressed out by the amount of work or simply by interacting with XenTech many quirky engineers. The latter seems to be the case as Dom walks past a group of interns in the office cafeteria.

"When they say 'Senior Engineer' transfered from Angkasa, I was expecting an actual senior, someone with years of experience behind them. Not a kid! A cocky one at that!"

"What's his name again?"

"I dunno, Edward something. Something Japanese".

A lot of XenTech's employees are the strange sort. A good example is David Lou, their head engineer; a brilliant-minded old man with the personality of a 10 year old. You'll notice him by the long gray beard and neon colored hawaiian t-shirt (along with a purple manbun and miss-matched socks). Talking to him convinces Lou that XenTechs engineers are all children in adults' body.

No matter, Dom is here to secure a future. He doesn't have to understand (nor become) those strange geniuses. In fact, he has a pressing matter to solve right about now. He left his card holder at the Office's front desk and has to retrieve them from the locker ASAP.

On his way, he sees another intern that seems lost. The kid must be very new because Dom has never seen him before. He doesn't even have his name tag yet. Being the more experienced (and older) intern, Dom thinks he should be generous to the kid and show him his ways. "Are you new here?" Dom greets.

The kid, a pale guy with platinum white hair, looks slightly surprised that he was addressed out of nowhere. "Yeah".

"Do you need to be somewhere?"

"Uh," the guy shuffles awkwardly with his phone, a XenTech's latest smart device. Dom thinks: 'He's one of those XenTech fanboy'. "I got a text saying I have a package I need to pick up from the locker".

From the flat-tone he uses, it's obvious the kid is not a fan of chatting . "I'm going there too! The locker is where you can just drop stuff and pick it later. They often left delivery packages there," Dom explains as he leads the way. It's funny; interns don't usually have the gal to use the office as their delivery address. 

The locker lady is not amused when she hands Dom his card holder. "Watch your stuff better next time. Don't lose them again," she scolds, to which Dom chuckles nervously.

"And this guy needs help with something," he points at the other.

The woman now glares to the kid, "and how can I help you?"

"I have a package I need to pick".

"We don't have any packages today. And interns should not use the office to have their stuff sent to. This is not your home".

The kid does not appear bothered by the scolding. He deadpanned at the woman, seeming uninterested, "I received a message saying I do".

"There's only one package for a senior engineer today," the woman rebuts, before suddenly, as if alarmed, she asks, "What's your name again?"

"Edward. Nanami Edward".

She visibly pales to the point that she could rival the boy. "I'll hand them to you," she rushes, almost runs, to the backroom. She returns with a large bouquet of red roses that towers over her in the hold of her two arms. The design was very luxurious and over the top that Dom can't help but gape at the sight.

"You know what," the kid says with that bored tone, "I don't want it. You can have them". And without further words, he turns around and walks away.

"W-wait!" The locker lady waves madly at him behind the pick up counter, "I-I'm sorry Mr. Nanami!! Forgive my rudeness, Sir! There's also a card!! A card for you, Sir!" She calls out to no avail. The woman's shoulders drop, "Oh my God, am I going to get fired? I thought Nanami is his first name and assumed it's a woman's. And why is he so young??"

"I don't think it's you that make him ignore the flowers," Dom states as he absently picked the card from the bouquet and opens it.

Inside, it says:

Congratulations for the transfer!

                           Love,

                           Your Angel

Dom frowns in curiosity. Girls these days send flowers too, huh?

***

To be Continued.