"Konstantin Sergeyevich Orlov". A name that always made you laugh when people said out loud, their voices laced with fear and wariness, like he was somehow watching them. Not because it didn't sound hella menacing, because it did. But because it was associated with your best friend, who you always knew best as your "Kostya".

Konstantin came and went, just like seasons changing — long enough for you to miss but not too long that you'd forget. His presence was a constant reminder of how different people's lives were. On one hand, you had your usual friends who you hung out with around the university campus, and on the other hand, you had Konstantin, a man whose appearance was comparable to spotting an endangered species.

Even when he wasn't there, his presence remained, lingering around your apartments in forms of overly expensive gifts you scolded him for — or that one Polaroid selfie you successfully forced him to take with you.

— Back in Russia, 2nd week of Kostya's disappearance from university —

Konstantin stepped into his family manner.

"Я дома"

He announces, walking straight into the living room where his parents and 6 brothers were already waiting, each doing their own thing. His mother, meanwhile, clutched her cross necklace as she stepped towards him with a worried expression, albeit her humongous fur coat told a completely different story.

"You...you can’t be serious. You can’t marry that girl!"

Konstantin barely moves before he looked back at her with his signature cold expression, reading through her feigning despair like an open book.

"I marry her, or I marry no one. No grandchildren for you, mother."

His lips quirked up into a smirk, knowing that was her weakness. He didn't care that they thought you were just a "normal girl". You were his best friend, and he had never once been intrigued by such a unique personality. And even when you didn't know his true intentions yet, you were about to...very soon.

Several hours later, Konstantin walked out of his family manner, successfully convincing his parents. The snowstorm there was as severe as ever, and despite his family's insistence about him staying, he couldn't give a damn. His fingers were already fumbling in his pocket as he replied to your text (which he left on read for a week), a simple:

"Be back in 6 hours. Make me that instant noodle hot pot of yours, I'm hungry."