Solo For Two

The director of Ballets Russes, Mikhail, who stood over 190 centimeters tall, was also a former dancer who had once performed with the Imperial Ballet in Saint Petersburg. Known for his quick temper and harsh manner of speaking, he never gave compliments gently and couldn’t tolerate any defiance from his dancers.So, it was expected that he would storm in and yell at Sasha for acting independently. Sasha wiped away the sweat that had started to form from his stretching and looked at him. As soon as their eyes met, the director made a commanding gesture for him to follow. Resigned, Sasha followed him out of the room.“What are you all looking at? Get back to it!” the director shouted, and the piano music resumed.Sasha followed him down the hallway, the sound of the piano growing fainter. It was only after a while that he remembered he had left his bag in the rehearsal room.As soon as they entered the director’s office, he angrily threw a newspaper at Sasha.[I’m fed up with your antics! If you have eyes, read that newspaper.]Sasha opened the newspaper. It contained a review of their recent performance in Vienna. Despite having sold out all the seats and receiving good audience reactions, the critics’ reviews made it sound like a disaster.《Especially, the principal dancer’s skills need to be re-evaluated to see if he truly understands the language of dance. The public doesn’t want a doll with a pretty face.》The critique was harsh. Sasha read the article silently and then asked the director.[Are you going to re-evaluate me?]His tone was calm.The director frowned, trying to read Sasha’s emotions.[If I am?][Do it.]Sasha put down the newspaper and looked at the director as if to ask if there was anything else he wanted to say.[Would you step down as the principal?]Sasha looked down without answering. It seemed compliant, but compared to his usual demeanor, it was quite rebellious. A principal dancer stepping down was unheard of—it meant leaving the company. Despite knowing this, Sasha’s defiant attitude was unusual. Mikhail, aware of Sasha’s attachment to his position, narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing him.‘Why is he acting like this all of a sudden?’ Mikhail thought, holding back his reprimand.In Vienna, Sasha had left immediately after the final performance, as if his duty was done. He skipped all meetings with reporters, sponsors’ dinners, and celebration parties. Normally, he would at least show up for scheduled events, even if he wasn’t enthusiastic.Mikhail sensed that something had changed deeply within Sasha. The Sasha he knew was easily pressured and couldn’t hide his anxiety. He was also very attached to his position as principal, becoming more compliant under Mikhail’s high-handedness.‘Sasha Sedrin responds better to the stick than the carrot,’ Mikhail believed. He had driven Sasha hard, both mentally and physically, from the moment he discovered him. Mikhail prided himself on molding Sasha into the dancer he was through rigorous discipline.The career of a dancer is short, and Sasha had spent much of his golden twenties in the countryside, wasting precious time. Mikhail had been especially harsh on him to help him catch up quickly. If Sasha hadn’t had such exceptional talent, Mikhail wouldn’t have pushed him so hard.Recognizing Sasha’s extraordinary appearance, talent, and charisma, Mikhail had nurtured him as a principal, regretting not finding him sooner. Sasha had lived up to his expectations, often exceeding them.‘He’s done so well until now…’Perhaps this was Sasha’s first act of rebellion. Every dancer goes through such a phase when they reach the top and have nothing more to achieve. Mikhail sighed deeply and gestured for Sasha to sit down. His tone softened.[Sit down. Don’t just stand there… You know that’s not what I meant.]Deciding it was time to offer a carrot instead of the stick, Mikhail guided Sasha to a chair.[The editor-in-chief of the newspaper was at the banquet you skipped. You shouldn’t have upset him. That twisted fellow just made up lies to mess with you…. Damn, you were excellent. I know that. Yes, I know better than anyone else.]Sasha still hung his head without responding. Mikhail began to coax him again.[Sasha, it’s not hard. I’m not asking you to entertain them like the others. Just show your face and nod along to their chatter. That’s all you need to do!]Mikhail’s voice sounded almost desperate. The public wasn’t stupid. Sasha, if he could just slightly correct his uncontrollable depressive state, could continue to be a star for several more years.[You just need to be a little bit smarter, like everyone else. Do you understand?][…Yes.]Mikhail patted Sasha’s shoulder in encouragement. His large, heavy hand pressed down on Sasha’s thin shoulder.＊ ＊ ＊Hartley contacted Sasha three days before the ‘Patrons’ Club’ meeting. It wasn’t an invitation but a personal message, meant to leave no evidence of the meeting place. Sasha promptly forgot the details he was told the next day, his subconscious aversion to attending erasing the information.In the meantime, Sasha had become deeply attached to the baby he had taken in. Levin, who had to raise her much younger siblings from an early age, proved to be an excellent nanny. With Sasha often away late at night due to performances, the baby spent a lot of time at Levin’s house. Given Sasha’s clumsiness, it was likely better for the baby’s well-being to be at Levin’s home with her many siblings.Sasha tripled her salary.“Entrusting a single person with the role of nanny,” Levin remarked, but she continued to care for the baby diligently. She no longer mentioned sending the baby to an orphanage.On the day of the Patrons’ Club meeting, Sasha saw the carriage waiting below his window but thought nothing of it. He just noticed it was blocking the narrow road and thought, “That’s not good.”But a few minutes later, the coachman knocked on Sasha’s door.“Sasha Sedrin? Sir Hartley is waiting below. Please come down quickly.”Surprised that Hartley would come to fetch him personally, Sasha hesitated before telling the coachman to wait. He grabbed whatever clothes were within reach from his wardrobe and left without doing anything to his hair.Opening the carriage door, Sasha found Hartley waiting with an annoyed expression. Overwhelmed with the repulsion he felt for Hartley, Sasha boarded without a greeting. Even though he had left the noble waiting on the street for thirty minutes, he didn’t feel like apologizing. In silence, the carriage started moving.After a while, it was Hartley who broke the silence.“It’s been a while. How have you been?”The timid noble, despite his own anger, was cautiously gauging Sasha’s mood. Sasha, not understanding why the noble was trying to be accommodating, turned his gaze slightly. The breeze from the open window ruffled his black hair across his forehead and cheeks. When his proud, unsmiling eyes met Hartley’s, the noble shuddered.But the gaze quickly shifted, and Sasha looked out the window again.“I’ve been to Austria.”“I know. The newspapers were abuzz with praise.”At that, Sasha involuntarily smirked. The director had thrown the newspaper at his face in anger, yet the noble was trying to curry favor with fabricated praise. He found it amusing.The carriage soon left the outskirts of Paris, moving through the dark countryside. Hartley tried to keep the conversation going, but Sasha’s lack of response often led to prolonged silences.By the time they arrived at the manor where the meeting was held, Hartley was visibly seething with anger.As soon as they got out of the carriage, Hartley grabbed Sasha aggressively and dragged him behind the dark garden.“Wait…! What are you…?”Sasha tried to twist away from the sudden grip, but the hand determined to use force was hard to shake off. Hartley shoved Sasha into an unlit area, grabbed his hair, and forced him to his knees. The fresh scent of grass and the dampness of the garden enveloped him. The sound of people ascending the stone steps and laughter from the hall inside could be heard not far away.Feeling the dew wetting his knees for a brief moment, Hartley pulled down his pants and revealed his fully erect member. Without any warning, he rubbed the head of his penis against Sasha’s lips. Sasha was forced to perform oral sex, enduring the violent intrusion deep into his throat.“Gasp, acting all high and mighty like some high-class gigolo, huh, huff, and where do you think you are? Do you think I don’t know why you begged to be let in here? You’re just a lowlife trying to seduce a rich noble!”Hartley climaxed almost ridiculously quickly. Sasha tried to spit out the semen, but Hartley grabbed his chin forcefully, preventing him. Hartley looked down at the semen pooling on Sasha’s tongue with gleaming eyes, rubbing his member against Sasha’s parted lips repeatedly. Sticky semen smeared Sasha’s cheeks.“Know your place!”Hartley then adjusted his clothes and left the garden alone. Sasha remained kneeling in the garden for a while.[Bastard.]Sasha spat multiple times and wiped his lips with his sleeve. After struggling to his feet on trembling knees, he leaned against a wall for a moment. Sasha looked up at the sky with a limp neck. Stars blinked sporadically in the night sky.To get home, he needed to catch a carriage, but it was uncertain whether any carriages would pass by here.Sasha regretted following Hartley. Because he was a noble, because he had connections with the director, and because it wasn’t wise to leave a carriage parked in the alley for too long… Sasha found it laughable that he had followed for such petty reasons.‘If I can’t catch a carriage, I’ll walk home.’Walking might take three or four hours. Sasha didn’t think much of it as he trudged toward the lights. At the entrance of the castle, luxury carriages were arriving continuously, and people were disembarking one by one.Amidst them, a four-wheeled vehicle stopped. It looked like a carriage but had no horses or cover, only sleek black wheels. It seemed the saying about wealthy patrons gathering at this club was true.At that moment, a tall man in luxurious clothing alighted from the vehicle. Although it was just a simple action of getting out and closing the door, something familiar about it made Sasha stop in his tracks.The man turned around.Long limbs, golden hair gleaming in the light…And a familiar face.“Karel?”A voice like a groan escaped Sasha’s lips. He called out again, his voice trembling.“Karel!”At Sasha’s shout, people’s eyes turned toward him. Ignoring the stares, Sasha approached the man, Karel. It was indeed Karel who was looking back at him.It was undoubtedly Karel.“Sasha Sedrin?”Among the murmuring crowd, someone recognized Sasha and called his name, but Sasha didn’t hear it. He stood there like a statue, entranced by the sight of Karel, who seemed to have come back to life.Everything appeared very slow to Sasha.However, the moment Karel’s gaze left him,The moment he started walking towards the castle entrance…Sasha realized that the man was completely ignoring him.A moment later, Sasha hurriedly chased after him. His legs wobbled with urgency.“Karel!”The distance between them narrowed to a few steps, but Karel did not respond. It wasn’t possible that he couldn’t hear Sasha’s voice, so why was he ignoring him so completely? Sasha, flustered, recalled the moment he had left Karel in the past.‘He must be angry that I left without a word. But…’Sasha reached out and grabbed Karel’s arm. Forced to stop, Karel looked down at Sasha with a blank expression.“Karel, you’re alive… You’re alive.”“Please step aside.”The man spoke in a polite voice and looked past Sasha. At that moment, two uniformed guards appeared behind Sasha. Caught without a chance to react, Sasha watched in a daze as Karel adjusted his rumpled clothes.“It seems you’ve had too much to drink. You should leave now.”“I understand, Karel. You’re very angry… but.”From a certain point, Karel completely stopped looking at Sasha. Sasha’s eyes frantically scanned Karel. The expressionless face, the blunt voice, even the small gestures when angry—everything was exactly like Karel. Yet, pretending not to know him was incomprehensible.‘Since that day, you’ve decided to treat me as if I don’t exist.’Suddenly, Sasha felt an inexplicable squeezing sensation in his chest.Then, a flash went off in the distance. Sasha, held by the guards, was helplessly photographed without being able to cover his face.“Damn! Reporters must be hiding around here. Search the area immediately!”With a booming shout from a middle-aged man, several guards dashed out of the bushes.“You should head inside quickly, Sir Scar.”At someone’s words, Karel nodded. Sasha watched them with a confused feeling. Scar? And he’s a noble?“Karel?”“If you cause any more disturbance… you’ll end up on the front page of tomorrow’s paper.”The man called Scar walked past Sasha without a hint of emotion. Even while restrained, Sasha stared at his retreating figure for a long time.Could that man really not be Karel? Could someone look so strikingly similar in this world? But even the scent he caught when standing close was familiar—the same bitter and refreshing scent of oud that Karel always used.While Sasha was still overwhelmed with confusion, recalling the Karel he had been close to for a brief moment, the guards were already dragging him away from the entrance. Only then did Sasha start to hear the murmurs around him. There were quite a few people who recognized Sasha.‘Sasha Sedrin? What kind of trouble did he cause to get thrown out like that?’‘Maybe he approached a high-ranking noble too openly? People often try such desperate measures to climb the social ladder.’‘Surprising. I heard he had quite the high opinion of himself….’“Let go.”As they neared the crowd of carriages, Sasha spoke coldly to the guards. When he shook them off irritably, they hesitated and stepped back a few paces.Sasha turned and looked back at the entrance of the castle with lingering eyes. If he tried to go back in, he would undoubtedly be forcibly removed by the guards again. While he was gazing at the brightly lit doors and windows of the castle, someone nearby asked politely,“Are you leaving, sir? Shall I fetch you a carriage?”Sasha shook his head.“I don’t have a carriage.”Hearing that he had no carriage, the servant gave him a peculiar look. One could only guess what he thought of Sasha, who had been brought by a patron only to be thrown out before the proper party even started. Sasha tried not to dwell on it as he kept his head down.It was a struggle just to walk to the main gate, avoiding eye contact and pretending not to hear the whispers. Meanwhile, several luxurious carriages passed along the gravel path. Sasha walked alone, ignoring the gazes on his back.He had just passed the wide gate made of stone and iron when it felt like waking up from a dream.‘That wasn’t Karel.’It was just someone who looked similar. Shocked by the news of Karel’s death, Sasha had imagined similarities where none existed, overlaying Karel’s image onto this stranger.The back that didn’t respond when called Karel.The tone that dismissed him as if he were drunk when Sasha had felt relief thinking he had survived.Even the way he brushed off his arm as if it were unpleasant…In an instant, his face flushed hotly. If that man wasn’t Karel, then Sasha had just made a scene in front of an unknown noble. But Sasha couldn’t let go of his lingering doubts and turned to look back once more. He wanted to see the face again, to hold him and breathe in his scent, to be sure. Only then did he think he would know for sure.At that moment, a man walked out from just inside the main gate.“Sasha Sedrin?”Though it was dark and hard to see clearly, Sasha could tell he was dressed quite elegantly. Sasha initially thought he might be a reporter and was wary. However, the man’s hand, stuck in his pocket, was empty without a camera. Somewhat relieved, Sasha observed him as he approached. He was tall, slender, and had black hair.“I can’t believe you were going to walk… Someone is looking for you.”There was a hint of condescension in the man’s words, making Sasha’s expression harden.“Who’s looking for me?”“I can’t say. But please, come inside.”Sasha sensed a businesslike attitude in the man’s neatly combed hair and dry expression. In contrast, his own hair was likely disheveled, and his mouth still carried the unpleasant taste of semen.Sasha shook his head. Sometimes nobles would arrange private meetings like this. Thinking of Hartley, Sasha felt a surge of disgust and immediately refused.“I’m leaving as is.”“Someone wants to meet you.”“So tell me who it is.”“You’ll find out when you meet them.”“I’m not going unless you tell me.”The man sighed deeply at Sasha’s insistence. Seeing the man’s irritation, Sasha resolved to refuse no matter whose name was mentioned.But when the man spoke the name, he couldn’t refuse.“Count Scar wants to see you.”“Scar….”It was the name of the noble who looked strikingly like Karel.Sasha stood there, conflicted. The man in front of him even crossed his arms, observing Sasha’s indecision. Just looking at him made Sasha want to turn around and leave. But….Looking off into the distance, he saw the castle’s stone wall he had just left, with its stately and beautiful windows emitting a reddish light. If he went inside, he might meet the man he had just missed again.‘Just one more time… Let me confirm one more time.’When Sasha moved, the man raised his eyebrows and then led the way.＊ ＊ ＊The man guided Sasha through the back door. Having been kicked out once, Sasha had no choice but to follow obediently.Unlike the gray stone exterior of the castle, the interior was finished with luxurious marble and agate. Columns extended into arches from the ceiling, and each domed ceiling held an ornate chandelier. Even the stair railing was smooth, without a speck of dust.They arrived at a room situated along a long corridor. It looked like a guest room. While Sasha’s gaze wandered over the white canopied bed and the freshly arranged flowers, the man spoke from the doorway.“Wait here until he arrives.”Then, without a word of farewell, he closed the door. Sasha quickly turned, but the door had already clicked shut.‘What a fool….’Sasha tried the doorknob, but it was locked from the outside. He had no choice but to accept that he was locked in an unfamiliar room within the castle. He sighed. Thinking it was a mistake to trust and follow someone based on the desire to meet an unknown man named ‘Scar.’ Besides, there was no guarantee that the person who would enter this room would be the man who resembled Karel.Sasha sat nervously at the edge of the bed. The fact that they had locked him in a rarely used room was suspicious, and the luxurious bed made him uneasy.