Victor was planning to bite his own teeth and survive through the studies to make his parents happy.
That was until he found a student card lying on the sidewalk near the train station. It belonged to a boy named Boris Vilkov, studying modern music at the local art university.
The moment he found the card, he looked for the school's address and got on the train without much thinking. He would just return the card and go on with his day, however the moment he set foot in the building, he never wanted to leave again. It was the end of august and the school was hosting an open day. He walked around the halls, too distracted to be phased by his original reason of coming here.
All that mattered to him were people dressed in some sort of funky way, classrooms full of paint supplies, chill music playing somewhere on the upper floor. Victor knew that it's what he was yearning for, the freedom that blasted through the school's lively halls. He needed it too.
As he finished walking around the halls of the second floor, Victor was ready to finally see the music rooms, when he overheard two students mentioning a name that rang a bell in his head. Boris... who is that?
He reached into his pants' pocket to take out the card. Ah right. He only had to bring this back. There is no way he would be allowed to try to inscribe himself for this, he shouldn't be even thinking of it.
'The people say Vilkov is almost never coming to the courses, so I didn't think I was supposed to put him on the list...' A pretty girl was walking out of a classroom next to a boy. They both wore some sort of punk clothing, in their hands they were carrying some boxes filled with office supplies. Victor assumed they were classmates.
'He is a student here, which means he is supposed to be here helping with the open day! Now all the work falls on us' He sighed brushing his fingers through his bleached hair.
'Does anyone even know what the guy looks like?' The girl thought out loud as they walked off. And that's when it hit him. A boy no one has ever seen before, who never shows up at school, losing his student ID. Victor was desperate to go for his dreams, to fight for them again. It was tempting, but he knew that life isn't so pretty.
He took a seat on the staircase, as realized he needs to stop daydreaming about making music and just give the card back. He sighed as he reached for the railing, pulling himself up. He walked through the hall where the lockers where located, when he noticed someone standing by one of them.
A boy was looking desperately through his bag that was nearly falling off his shoulder. He was quite pale, pretty short. His baggy pants and a sweater were hiding his body. He finally gave up his search and slammed his fist against the locker. He then suddenly looked over, noticing Victor just standing there awkwardly. 'Ah, sorry... I can't find my key' The boy called out to him, awkwardly brushing his copper hair out of his face. He then fixed his bag and walked off.
'Who even was that guy?' Victor thought to himself as he walked over to the locker after he made sure the weird boy was gone. The lockers had names engraved on it. 'Vilkov', huh? Unlike any other locker he has seen at this school, this one was quite empty, undecorated. 'This dude really is gone somewhere, huh? Didn't even bother to hang up a picture or something' He sighed.
That day Victor didn't go to his own school's. open day as planned, instead he spent the whole day walking around the art university. 'Shoot, I saw the guy and didn't return his card!' He frowned as he was walking down the street. He decided to go on a walk in a nearby park. Connecting with the nature was something that always calmed him down, and since he failed to do what he came here for, he really needed some rest.
He was walking around still thinking about school and how infuriating it was for him to know that there are people out there in the world who are allowed to do things he could only dream of. Why wasn't that guy taking his opportunity? It did work in Victor's favor, but still it was something he could not grasp.
He walked around kicking around some rocks, occasionally staring at parents walking with their children. Their laughs rang loud inside of Victor's head, sending him off to a sad spiral. 'When was the last time I saw my father? Hell, I can't even remember going out with them somewhere' Knowing well that it wasn't his fault at all, he couldn't help but still feel guilty. Maybe if he just accepted going to med school from the start instead of causing trouble he wouldn't have to have it cold at home.
Lost in his thoughts he didn't realize how late it got. He grabbed his bag and got up from the bench that he was sitting on, picking up speed as he walked towards the train station. As he was passing through the park, he caught a glimpse of a silhouette, resting on a bench. Victor slowed down to take a better look at them.
A similar face, a boy with copper hair was sitting there. His head was tilted back and a notebook was resting on his lap. Pretty normal sight until Victor had realized that the boy wasn't moving at all.
'Uh... Hey' He walked up to him without thinking, now standing in front of him. As he took a closer look it seemed the boy had fallen asleep on the bench. 'Hello!' He tried once again, this time waking him up.
'Huh?!' The boy jumped at the sight of Victor standing in front of him. 'Sorry... I didn't mean to scare you' Victor apologized, suddenly feeling awkward. It wasn't helping that the guy just stared at him in silence waiting for Victor to continue talking. 'Well, uh, are you Boris?' He asked while fixing his school bag on his shoulder.
'Depends who's asking' The boy replied, some sass in his voice. Victor looked at him in slight shock as he took him off-guard. 'Kidding. I suppose that'd be me' The guy grinned as Victor's reaction amused him a little. 'Great... Um... I found something that belongs to you' He said as he reached into his pocket, then handing him the student card. 'I found it at the Central Station...' He added. Boris took the card, inspecting it for a moment. 'Thanks! I've been searching for this crappy card for days' He chuckled. 'You're my hero' He said sarcastically, before leaning in a bit and taking a closer look at Victor's face. 'I've seen you today, haven't I?' He asked as a soft smile creeped onto his face. 'Are you a new student?'
Victor's face dropped a little. He wished he was, of course. 'I uh... Wait! I need to catch my train, sorry!' He excused himself and ran off to the station, leaving Boris behind.
His face dropped even more when he saw his train leave in front of him. He threw himself onto the bench, burying his face in his hands. 'Mother isn't going to be too happy... Hell, I missed the open day and now I'm also out late...' His thoughts were driving him crazy. It was so dark outside and the next train would only be there in an hour, so to kill time he walked out, to sit in front of the station.
'Missed your train?' He heard a familiar voice, so he looked up to see copper-haired boy sitting on a motorbike, with a cigarette in his hand. 'Yeah...' He replied before looking down at his knees. It was suprisingly cold now too.
Boris took a breath and threw out the cigarette, before walking up to Victor, reaching out his hand to him. 'I can drop you off' He grinned at him. 'On the motorbike? That's scary' Victor shook his head, but instead of hearing a reply, Boris grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the bike. 'Don't worry, I've got a spare helmet. I drive safely too' He chuckled playfully, pulling the helmet down on Victor's head, before sitting down on his motorbike. 'N-No it's fine, really!' He declined to which Boris just rolled his eyes. 'Let me repay you for coming all the way here to bring me my shitty card, would ya?'
Victor hesitated for a minute, before sitting down behind him. 'So where to?' Boris grinned at him and before they knew it, they were on their way.
As they were driving, Boris was only going faster and faster, which nearly sent Victor into a coma. The road was bumpy and Victor had to hold very tightly, praying that he won't fall off that damn thing. It didn't take too long before they arrived.
---
'Here is fine...' Victor got off the bike once they stopped. 'That was the most terrifying experience ever' He sighed as his shaky legs could barely hold him up. 'Oh come on, that was the slowest I ever drove!' Boris grinned as he leaned on the handlebar. Victor just took a deep breath, quickly putting a shy smile on his face. 'Thank you for bringing me home... Sorry for detouring you' He said to which Boris' grin just grew wider. 'Nah, I live in this city too' He said and laughed at Victor's shocked face. 'See you around, my hero' He stuck out his tongue and drove off.
After getting scolded by his mother for being back so late, Victor plopped on his bed, rethinking his whole day. 'That guy... He was so cocky... I wonder why he doesn't go to school. Why is he riding a motorbike so young? Does he have a death wish? He can't be much older than me... Or younger either. I wonder... He said he lives here but I've never seen him, but then again this city is not the smallest...' His overthinking cycle kept going as he thought back at the moment he sat behind him, having to grip onto his waist, scared of falling. 'Crap, was it too overboard? What if I made him uncomfortable? But then again, it felt nice... Uh... What?'
He turned to the other side, completely flushed now. Sure the guy was... cute, but Victor wasn't like... that. The thought seemed to bug him for a minute, but he probably won't see Boris again anyway. It really didn't matter after all. Once that was out of the way, he could sleep peacefully.
Except he couldn't.