They drove down the hill for only five minutes before Stepan was kicked out of the driver's seat by Kirill. "You are really a shitty driver. Get off!" Kirill shouted. Stepan sighed slightly as he got out of the car. He turned to get into the passenger’s seat but he was blocked by Kirill. With an attitude changing completely, Kirill spoke to William softly. "Will, sit at the front with me," he said with a smile. He then looked at Stepan angrily. "You, get lost! Go to the back!"

Stepan didn’t say a word. There was a look of dissatisfaction on his face but he just decided not to dictate Kirill this time. He had compromised a lot for Kirill. A little more compromisation won’t be a problem. He just followed the instruction and went to sit at the back while William also switched to sit at the front.

So, the cousins ended up sitting in the back seat together with sour faces. William and Kirill sat in the driver and the passenger seat respectively with smiles on their faces. "So, Will, how old are you?" Kirill striked up a conversation with William.

"Guess," William simply prompted.

"You should be about my age?" Kirill guessed. The people at the back then started to laugh loudly. At this point, Stepan had forgotten that he was supposed to pretend not to know anything about William. Luckily for him, William missed noticing this flaw. "You two shut the fuck up!" Kirill shouted to the people at the back. They stopped laughing to appease him but they still looked at each other in amusement while holding back their laughter.

William snickered quietly to himself before saying; "I'm older. Guess again."

"Older than Marcus?" Kirill asked doubtfully.

"Yes."

"Then… 22?"

William laughed out loud as he heard this guess. "I'm flattered you think that way. I'll actually be 30 in the next two months," he simply informed him. He no longer wanted to make Kirill guess as he looked quite pitiful when he’s being teased by the guys sitting at the back.

"Fuck. What?" Kirill was shocked to hear the truth. He then turned to look at William up and down amidst driving carefully down the narrow dirt road. "You're for real?" He asked in disbelief.

"It's true," William answered casually. His casual attitude made Kirill even more doubtful about it. He wondered if William intended to mess around with him. He, afterall, looked very relaxed and calm.

It was unknown to Kirill that William had always received this kind of judgement from people around him when he met them for the first time. So, overtime, he had grown tired of trying too hard to prove himself. "I don't believe you. Show me your ID," Kirill finally said.

William was laughing as he fished his wallet from his pocket and took out his ID. He showed it to Kirill with a smile on his face. "Shit. You seriously look about our age," Kirill commented after he confirmed William’s age from the ID. He then turned to look at Marcus at the back through the rearview mirror. "Then the two of you. Who's on top?" Kirill then straightforwardly asked a question.

Stepan felt amused by Kirill's naivety. He sneered at him from the back seat; "You think age matters under the question of who's getting fucked? You're too naive."

Kirill couldn't stand Stepan's ridicule so he immediately retorted; "Am I talking to you, shitty driver?"

Stepan chuckled softly before saying in a hint of a warning; "Haa… I think I still have those gags and handcuffs back at home." He was clearly insinuating something sexual to provoke Kirill.

It worked like magic. Kirill turned completely quiet behind the wheel as he continued to drive the rest of the way to Krasniy.

William was the eldest among them. But he was also the shortest in terms of height. This fact dawned on him when they reached the carnival. His height was only at 167cm while Kirill was at 176cm and Stepan was at 182cm. Marcus was the tallest among them, at 191cm. He felt so small walking among the three tall boys.

The moment they got there, what interested both William and Kirill the most was the haunted house. What’s funny is that right beside the entrance of the haunted house, there was a booth selling all kinds of hairbands. There were also bunny-ears, cat-ears, and dog-ears. Stepan and Marcus both didn’t want to go inside the haunted house so they tried to distract the other two by leading them towards the booth. Stepan pulled out one bunny-ear headband and wanted to place it on top of Kirill’s head. Kirill was resisting at first but Stepan still forced his way and managed to put it on his head. Kirill frowned as he had the bunny-ears on his head. “You fucker,” he cursed.

Stepan laughed and commented, “that’s cute.” He then turned to look at Marcus. “Hey, put one on your boyfriend too,” he instructed. Marcus immediately followed the instruction without question. William wanted to correct Stepan. He wanted to tell him that he and Marcus are not like that but Marcus moved so naturally as if what Stepan had categorised them as was the absolute truth. He had a smile on his face as he gently placed the bunny-ear headband on William’s head. The smile caught William off guard. The dimples and the smiling eyes made William’s heart beat faster. So he dogged completely and his face flushed red. It was rare for William to be shy. He was naturally flirtatious and was rarely embarrassed by any advancement from anyone. But facing Marcus at the moment, he was really clueless on how to react. Thankfully, before he could further sink deep into a state of awkwardness, Stepan started saying something. “Oh. Look at that. These two little bunnies will be eaten by the wolves,” Stepan commented and immediately laughed out loud. Marcus took the dog-ear headband and put it on his head. Stepan also took one and wore it.

“Well, can we go in now?” Kirill, completely understanding Stepan’s intention to avoid going into the haunted house, started to ask with an unfazed expression. Stepan looked away, trying to avoid the situation. But Kirill came to his side and held his hand. “Don’t worry. I’ll hold your hand,” he spoke. To that, Stepan couldn’t say anything and could just let Kirill guide him into the darkness. He was scared of the dark but if Kirill was by his side, then it probably won’t be that bad. That was what he thought of.

None of them expected that by the time they exited the haunted house, something else was about to haunt them.

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Next update: 2023.10.13

*Author’s Note: I’m trying very hard to write a chapter per week amidst my busy schedule. Hope you guys can bear with me. -K