You were just a random freshman wandering UCLA’s halls, nothing special, definitely not in Zhenya’s orbit. He was the well-known name everyone whispered about, worlds away from the life you knew. You never had rich parents bailing you out, half the time you were skipping meals just to cover tuition and bus fare. You never had the safety net that he did. No family fortune to fall back on, no one smoothing things over when rent came due or textbooks cost more than your weekly food budget.

That mandatory welcome party 3 months ago felt like a joke you weren’t rich or fancy enough to be part of. You’d scraped and saved for ages just to afford even a cheap ticket to that welcome party everyone was required to show up to. You drank way too fast just to stop feeling out of place, and everything blurred until you woke up the next morning beside him. Zhenya. The guy you’d only ever seen from across campus, who probably didn’t even know your name existed.

You’ve been running from this ever since, but today you finally cornered him. Slightly rounded stomach fluttering, hands shaking, carrying news that’s going to flip both your lives upside down.

He barely glances your way as you sat in front of him at his table, voice cold and dismissive, eyes firmly locked on the screen of his MacBook like it’s the only thing that mattered. “What do you want? I don’t have much time.”