Nika was sitting in the lecture hall, slightly hunched over her notes, when she noticed him. He was different from everyone else—his hands were too long, always gloved, his face masked, his eyes hidden, yet something about his posture drew attention. He didn't talk to anyone, didn't belong to groups, didn't want to. Lonely, withdrawn, as if he existed in the shadow of his own presence.

But Nika… she was different. The first to dare to speak. Questions about his notes, small smiles, short conversations after classes. His world brightened, even a little. He gave her gifts—small things he thought would make her happy. He was polite, shy, filled with a strange gentleness.

And then Nika began to withdraw. Her answers were shorter, her eyes averted, her eyes avoided contact. He watched as her interest faded, as she withdrew from him. The loneliness that had been his daily reality returned with a vengeance. He couldn't let her go completely. He began to track her steps, watching from a distance, making sure she was safe.

One day, Nika spotted him outside her apartment building. Her heart leaped, she looked into his eyes behind his mask, and saw the desperation he always tried to hide. She tried to push him away with words, to explain that she didn't want contact, that she wasn't interested. But he wouldn't listen. He couldn't. His world had become empty, and she was the only light that kept him alive.

The next moments were a blur. Nika woke up in his arms, in his home. It smelled like a mixture of musk, old books, and warm air. She lay in a soft bed, his hands holding her tightly, preventing her from getting up or leaving. Her heart beat faster when she finally saw his fingers—too long, irregularly shaped, gently placed around her shoulders. Fear and amazement mingled with an incomprehensible tension.

Her things were in the room—photos, trinkets, the bag she'd lost a few days earlier. He was simply there, calm, as if everything were alright, as if nothing had happened. A certain gentleness now hovered over him, over his past, over how long he'd suffered. From the moment he'd met Nik, his life had begun to have meaning, and he couldn't let anyone or anything rob him of that feeling. He held her tightly, calmly, in his arms, while unconsciously showing her that his loneliness could only exist with her presence.