When Primo’s team walked into the gymnasium, he looked around the audience podium. There were too many people, mostly parents or guardians of students.
"Mommy!"
"Daddy!"
"Nana! I’m here!"
His brows rose as he turned to the children in his class, all quickly spotting their families. Their smiles stretched from ear to ear as they waved their little arms to get their attention. The families also called out, cheering for them to win.
It wasn’t a national competition, but a sequence of gas. So, they could lose one ga and win the next one.
I don’t see them, he thought as he looked around more. Are they late?
Ashley and Lucian promised they would attend all three days of the school festival.
Primo didn’t doubt that for a second.
Unlike the first ti he asked them to co see him — the parent-teacher eting — Primo was not as worried anymore. He knew those two would co no matter what. They could be late, but they would definitely co.
Just as Primo convinced himself that Ashley and Lucian were just late, he heard this faint call across the gymnasium.
"Primo~! Primo! Here!!"
His brows furrowed as he looked around and eventually spotted Ashley finally holding up a large banner that said:
[Primo, look here!]
The mont he saw Ashley holding up a banner, Primo’s face lit up ten tis brighter.
Standing beside Ashley was Lucian, waving mildly before bending over to pick up another banner.
[Have fun, Primo!]
For sure, Ashley wrote those banners for them.
Primo smiled in satisfaction, nodding at them. While others were telling their children to do their best and wishing them luck, those two were simply telling him to have fun.
"Primo, that’s my dad!" the boy on Primo’s team tugged at him and pointed in a direction. "Daddy!"
Primo furrowed his brows and followed where the boy pointed, catching sight of a tall, slightly bulky man standing among the audience. He stood near where Ashley and Lucian were.
But his classmate’s dad wasn’t the one who got Primo’s attention. It was the other banners being held up by Ashley’s bodyguards and Nolan, right behind the couple.
"Primo, who are those guys?" the boy, who had caught sight of the other banners, looked at Primo curiously.
Primo pursed his lips as he looked at the boy, blinking. Then, he used sign language because the boy could understand it.
[Neighbors.]
The boy’s mouth ford an o-shape. "Oh." Then, a little confused and intrigued, he looked at the guys at the back of the audience.
"I didn’t know we could bring our neighbors," the boy blinked. "Primo, are you close with your neighbors too?"
How does Primo explain it?
That the entire neighborhood was actually occupied by Lucian’s n?
[My mama is a neighborhood mayor.]
The boy nodded in understanding, his eyes twinkling as if he had just t his hero. For Primo, Ashley’s title was unofficial, but honestly, it wasn’t a lie. She knew every person who lived in every house.
The house across from theirs wasn’t the only place Ashley would visit every once in a while. She would also spend part of her day checking on other mbers of Dominion just to see their living conditions.
"Wow," the boy looked at Primo with obvious awe. "Primo, your mama is amazing."
Then, the children turned to where Ashley was holding up the banner. Primo smiled proudly at his mama and nodded.
Of course, he thought. My mama is amazing.
*****
anwhile, on the audience side, Ashley bit her lips, but that wasn’t enough to stop her smile from stretching wider.
When she put down the banner, knowing Primo already knew where to look, she couldn’t help but giggle.
"Lu, look at him," she leaned against Lucian’s shoulder, watching Primo and another boy stick with each other. "I think that’s his friend."
Lucian also kept his eyes on his son, who was not chasing the boy away. He had raised the boy all on his own. He knew that Primo had changed recently just as much as Lucian had; their improving relationship was one example.
However, Lucian didn’t really believe Primo was making friends.
Not because he thought the boy was lying, but because Primo never once called anyone a friend. Primo would just refer to them as classmates, nothing more or less.
Seeing one boy hang around Primo and the latter showing no sign of wanting the boy to leave him alone today, however, expanded Lucian’s horizons.
"I think so too," he whispered as the corners of his mouth subtly hooked upward before looking back at Ashley.
The couple chuckled at each other before turning their attention back to the children.
anwhile, Nolan, who was standing behind the couple, also smiled from ear to ear. His eyes were soft as ever, his gaze fixed on Primo.
Right now, Primo and his team had gathered as a teacher spoke to them.
"He does look like a normal kid now," he whispered to himself, his voice getting drowned out by the chatter and noise in the gymnasium. "Oh, how ti flies."
Just a few months ago, Primo was always alone.
One would say it was because he was Lucian’s son, and that the boy was more or less following in his father’s footsteps. Soone who was on a path to stand at the top all alone. After all, only one could stand at the top.
That lonely path to the top.
But now, seeing how Primo stood among children his age, listening to their teacher, no one would think that Primo used to be like an old man inside a child’s body.
As for Ashley’s bodyguards, who were dragged here because it was part of their job, they stretched their necks toward where the children were.
"Wow, the young master is becoming unrecognizable," Rum blurted out in almost awe. "I was expecting him to teach his own teacher the lessons they’d have."
Gin added, "Or coach his team."
Khan and his group instinctively turned to Rum, only to see the rest of the original group nodding.
"Really?" Rus asked in a quiet gasp, watching the others look back at him and nod.
"You guys are lucky," Red remarked in a matter-of-fact tone. "Back then? If you guys t him, it was like standing face-to-face with the master."
Again, everyone nodded.
One could get in trouble because of Primo.
"He might not have crossed that line yet, but he’s very sensitive," Vodka said in a knowing tone. "He dislikes disorganized people and places. And if sothing was moved even an inch from where the young master was used to seeing it, that would require an entire renovation... or restructuring."
The four recruits, who had nothing else to do and ca here with them, looked up. They tried to imagine the version of Primo these guys were talking about. However, they couldn’t picture it.
In their heads, the Primo they rembered was the boy they saw in the amusent park with his parents. The sa boy who obediently went to school, took night walks or short bike rides with Ashley and Lucian in the neighborhood, or simply held his parents’ hands.
Rum snorted as he studied their reaction. "That’s why I said you guys are lucky," he intoned. "It’s hard to imagine, just like how it is hard for us to imagine that..."
He trailed off as he set his eyes on Primo, who was taking position as the first ga for the day was about to start.
"... he is actually just a kid."
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