Kirill was awakened suddenly to the darkness. He woke up because he was sure that he had turned the bed lights on before he went to sleep. But now it is completely dark. The air-conditioning was also turned off on its own. It’s clear to Kirill now that there has been a power cut. He gets out of the bed. He is still wearing his jeans and white T-shirt from which he had worn the whole day. He didn’t bring his extra clothes that day out of impulsivity and he even agreed to spend the night here out of impulsivity as well. 

“Hello? Maxim? Maxim! Where the fuck are you?!” 

He heard Stepan screaming in panic from the outside of the door to his room. He didn’t know which room Stepan was sleeping in but he was immediately alerted due to the panic in Stepan’s voice. So he rushes out of his room and calls out to him, “Stepan?”

“Kirill! Fuck! Kirill!” Stepan rushed towards him guided only by the sound of his voice and Kirill was immediately wrapped by a strong embrace. “I don’t know where Maxim is…,” Stepan complained. His voice was trembling and he sounded fragile. It softens Kirill’s heart and incites a desire in him to coax as if wanting to coax a child.

Kirill is usually uncomfortable with too much physical contact but by this point, he is almost already used to Stepan’s embrace. He pats him on the shoulder and coaxes him softly. “It’s okay… We’ll find him, okay?” As Kirill said that, he tried to pry Stepan’s arm away but Stepan only tightened his arms around him even more.

“No, no… It’s so dark. I can’t see. Let’s go together,” Stepan suggested but Kirill can sense that something is wrong with him.

“What’s the matter with you?” He asked.

“I.. I… I’m…,” Stepan stammered.

“Are you hurt?” Kirill asked another question, suspecting Stepan might have been harmed.

“No,” Stepan denied. “Actually…, I’m… Hmm. Nevermind. I’ll just hold your hands and we will go together, okay? I th-”

Before he could finish his sentence, a loud bang sound can be heard coming from the front door downstairs. It clearly sounds like someone or something was trying to force their way into the cabin. Stepan ended up letting out a little whimper and only hugged Kirill tighter. “Shit!” He then cussed both out of anger and fear.

“Let’s check it out,” Kirill suggested but he was still held in place by Stepan. “Let go. I wanna go check it out,” Kirill instructed, starting to feel annoyed with Stepan’s clinginess.

“No. Don’t leave me alone in the dark.”

“Then come together with me.”

“But what if we are attacked? It’s too dark…”

“Stop being a fucking pussy!” Kirill got angry.

“Kirill, please…” Stepan begged. And that’s when Kirill realises the real problem.

“Damn. Don’t tell me you’re afraid of the dark?” Kirill asked, trying to confirm his suspicion.

Stepan is not answering so it is obvious that it’s true. Kirill wanted to laugh but he also wanted to cuss at him but he knew that the timing was not right for that. 

“Young master?” Maxim’s voice calling from the darkness surprised them both. 

“Maxim, I was calling you just now. Where the fuck were you?!” Stepan cussed in a hushed voice but stopped immediately as he could make out in the dim light, the seriousness on Maxim’s face. “What’s wrong?” He asked.

“The German bastards are here. They cut our power lines and they use something to disrupt our handphones’ signal. I can’t call for backup. You and your friend take whatever you can, your handphones especially and go through the ‘bookcase’. Go somewhere with a phone signal and call for help,” Maxim instructed.

“Are you crazy?! It’s fucking dark in there!” Stepan protested.

“You have no choice,” Maxim insisted. He then looks at Kirill with firmness in his eyes. “Please… take my young master away. He’s afraid of the dark but he has to go through the tunnel nonetheless. I’ll handle the rest here,” he begged and immediately turned around to go back downstairs. The banging below continues.

Kirill had no idea of whatever tunnel or whatever bookcase meant but he knew that he had to take action. So, he pulled Stepan with him back to his room, taking his handphone and backpack and then pushed Stepan who was trembling in fear around to his room to take his stuff hurriedly. “What bookcase now? Hurry and sober the fuck up!” Kirill instructed. But Stepan was still hesitating. “Motherfucker!” Kirill cussed and held Stepan’s cheeks with both of his hands so that he would look directly into his eyes. “Focus!” he instructed.

Then, out of nowhere, Kirill pulls Stepan’s face closer to him and pecks on his lips. It was only for one second. One touch of each other’s lips. Stepan widens his eyes in surprise and looks at Kirill in disbelief. “Kirill?” He called out to confirm that he wasn’t dreaming.

“If you want more than just a peck, let’s go to whatever bookcase and tunnel Maxim told us to go,” Kirill said.

Stepan immediately pulls Kirill’s hand towards the bookcase in his room, suddenly becoming emboldened and feeling that the darkness can’t hurt him now. In the past, it was the dark that had turned him into who he is. It was the dark that made him see clearly the true faces of people he used to trust. It was also the dark that destroyed all that had tried to eliminate him. But now, the dark is his salvage. Kirill is the light in the darkness. For the first time, Stepan finally acknowledges that he wasn’t into this for the game at all. The game was just an excuse. He was in this for Kirill. It was always just for Kirill from the beginning.

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Next update: 2022/05/30

*Author’s Note: I believe I hadn’t written the season or the month when Kirill arrived in Krasniy, right? Guys, please help to inform me if I did or did not because I don’t remember and it might affect the story’s timeline. I don’t wanna write my story like Amber Heard speaking in court.. lol. -K