It's never too late to think about how to get out. But he needed to be calm and pretend to be stupid. Kirill got out of the bookcase and pushed it to see if it could close but it didn't. He didn't want to waste time so he decided to just not bother with properly closing the door and rushed to find his clothes. He looked around but it seemed like they're not in the room. He then had no choice but to rummage Stepan's closet. He was at first afraid if he might find more secrets but God was kind enough to not let that happen. There was nothing out of the ordinary in the closet. He picked the smallest shirt that he could find and wore it. The problem was the pants. There's none that fit him.

"What the fuck!" He cursed. His heart was beating wildly as it was pumped with adrenaline. No. He can't waste his time like this. So he looked at the bookcase again and decided to be bold. He went back to the secret room and faced the box at the corner one more time. This time, he took everything out of the box one by one. He held on tightly to Kliment's phone first. He decided to take the phone away with him. The next item was a keychain of a glass bottle with pink glitters in it. Then, it's Kliment's watch which was a pair with Kirill's watch. The only difference was the colour. Kliment's watch was white while his watch was red. Kirill couldn't help but to cry again. It's painful for him to see each item. What came next were Kliment's clothes. They are neatly folded in separate plastic bags. There were traces of blood on the t-shirt. Kirill didn't dare to take it out. Kirill examined the pants and took it out of the plastic bag when he confirmed that it was clean. He shook his head to eradicate the uncomfortable feelings in his heart. He put the pants on. It fits perfectly on him. Then he took Kliment's phone and slipped it into the right pocket of the pants.

He took one last look at the secret room. The pictures on the wall and the rest of the items in it. His heart was filled with bitterness. This is not a time for him to stall. He will think of his next move later. Now, he just needed to go. He left the door of the secret room open this time, not bothering to try to even close it. He took his backpack and left Stepan's room behind him. He had forgotten about how weak and uncomfortable his body is. He just wanted to run. But first, he needed to pretend to be calm. And it's not easy under such circumstances.

"Sir,... Where are you heading, sir?" He heard a familiar voice calling out to him as he was going down the stairs. He had just realised that he had been unconsciously rushing himself.

Kirill turned around to see Maxim looking down on him with an expressionless face. "Hi, Maxim. I'm going back home," Kirill answered as calmly as he could.

But Maxim quickly noticed the abnormality. He furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you okay, sir?" The moment he was asked this question, Kirill began to panic. He slipped and almost fell down a step from the stairs if it wasn't for Maxim's quick reflex to pull him by the waist. "Careful, sir," Maxim advised as he sighed in relief that his young master's favourite person was safe. If something bad was to happen to Kirill, he would be beaten to death by his young master.

But he was suddenly pushed off by Kirill and he ended up falling down the stairs. He couldn't believe what had happened as he looked at the perpetrator inquiringly. Instead of looking at him apologetically, he saw the anger in Kirill's eyes. "You-!" Kirill shouted in anger but couldn't continue his sentence. Tears were falling from his eyes uncontrollably as he shook his head in disbelief and he quickly rushed down the stairs, avoiding stepping on Maxim and left through the front door without looking back.

Maxim was speechless for a moment, not realising what he just did to cause such anger in Kirill. But then he saw it. His sleeve was lifted a little when he helped Kirill a moment ago. And Kirill had definitely seen the scar on his wrist! "Shit!" Maxim cursed as he got up quickly and rushed to the front door to catch up to Kirill. But as he looked outside, Kirill was nowhere to be seen. "God damn it!" He cursed again. He shook his head in disbelief and had no choice but to nervously fish his phone out of his pocket and make a call to his young master.

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The sight of that scar on Maxim's wrist kept flashing at the back of Kirill's mind. It scarred his soul knowing that all this while, he had been around the perpetrators all along. He never saw it coming. He felt angry at himself for letting himself get carried away in their wicked games.

As the former ace of the track team back in New Japan, Kirill ran very fast away from Stepan’s house but he didn’t know where else he could go. He was running aimlessly for a moment before finally stopping at the only other place he felt safe to be at; the school. He was here because most of his stuff was still at the dorm. And if he was to run, he better run far away from Krasniy. Krasniy is Stepan’s territory. The police here probably wouldn’t help him too since Stepan is from the most powerful family here.

He thought of asking the help from his mother but he quickly dropped the idea. It’s better if she knew nothing for now. If not, she could end up being in danger. She had just had a new baby with her new family. It’s better for him not to burden her with this heavy information. She couldn’t help anyway. Kirill can only rely on himself. He must find a way out of this town first and then only probably find some ways to convict Stepan of his crime.

Come to think of it, he still has no idea why Stepan did what he did or if he even did it at all. Deep inside him, he still has the tiniest hope that Stepan was not the perpetrator. But the chance is too slim. Every clue led to him. The scar on Maxim’s wrist, Maxim being his chauffeur and bodyguard, Kliment’s stuffs found in the secret room, his pictures all over the wall as well as pictures of those sadistically tortured young boys. Kirill couldn’t get them out of his head. He was angry. But he was also… heartbroken.

Honk! Honk!

He was surprised by the sudden honk of a car behind him. He turned to find a flashy bright pink sports car stopping by the side of the road near him. “Honey, where are you going in this weather? Why are you wearing so thin?” The concerned voice of the person behind the wheel caused Kirill to feel stupefied for a moment.

“Mr. Lebedev!” Kirill called out to the effeminate man who was wearing a bright pink shirt with a picture of a glittering unicorn on the front. He never felt so relieved to see someone in his whole life and he started to cry uncontrollably. Only then did he realise how cold he was and how beaten his body felt.

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Next update: 2022/11/28

*Author’s Note: Did you guys miss our ‘Mr.’ Legally Blonde? -K