Solo For Two

The moment our eyes met, Karel felt overwhelmed.

“Eyes that rely on me.”

All the doubts vanished from Karel’s mind when Sasha looked at him—doubts about whether revealing bruises would lead to jail time, or whether Sasha might be of lower quality like the other men, or the fact that they hadn’t had a proper conversation, indicating this might not be love but mere lust… All of these concerns disappeared when Sasha looked at him.

Karel couldn’t think of anything else but holding onto this person and being with him. Maybe, Karel thought, this conviction might even be love.

No, it couldn’t be so intense if it weren’t love.

“I’m going with you.”

Whether he understood Karel’s words or not, Sasha, Karel decided, would not be let go now, even if he resisted.

If their first meeting was chance and their second encounter fate, then this third meeting was certainty. Karel held Sasha’s hand tightly.

***

Last night, Karel had been absent all night.

Julian, suppressing the urge to nag Karel about his nocturnal outings since they arrived in Paris, was making his way back to their room.

Compared to Julian’s carefree attitude, Karel was still relatively quiet. It was a fact that speaking up against Julian’s fun was a bit uncomfortable for Karel, considering he was still more subdued.

Anyway, they needed to pack soon if they were to catch the train on time today. Julian, heading back to the room to pack instead of Karel, who might not have done any preparations, thought of himself as the “good brother” for taking on the task.

“Hey there?”

When Julian opened the door, Karel was standing in the middle of the room. He looked exactly the same as he did last night.

“Oh… I just came in.”

“You haven’t tidied up at all? It seems like we’ve been staying here for a while. You seem to have a lot of stuff too. Should we call a butler? Wait… Who’s there?”

Julian stopped mid-sentence and turned to look at Karel abruptly.

The sound of running water could be heard from the bathroom. As Julian approached to investigate, Karel hastily grabbed him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Don’t go in. Someone’s showering.”

“What…? Wait, did you bring someone here last night?”

Julian asked with a furrowed brow, and Karel shook his head. Then, with a calm expression that Julian found unbelievable, he spoke.

“No. I found Sasha.”

Upon hearing this, Julian thought Karel must be lying or delusional, wanting to believe in some fantasy. After all, it was unbelievable that the man who had been nowhere to be found for over two weeks suddenly appeared the day before they were to leave.

“You found the man we’ve been searching all over for, even hiring private detectives and runners, just the day before we leave?”

“Yeah, I found him.”

“That’s absurd.”

“So I thought… maybe it’s fate.”

Speaking so sentimentally made Karel feel embarrassed, almost as if he couldn’t hear his own voice. And to Julian’s surprise, Karel’s face was blushing slightly. Seeing Karel struggle to speak, Julian was speechless.

“Well, about that, bro, I want to take Sasha with us. And he looked unwell, so shouldn’t we see a doctor before we leave? I won’t take much time. I’m sorry for suddenly changing our plans… but…”

Throughout his difficult speech, Karel couldn’t meet Julian’s eyes. After waiting for two weeks, postponing for one more day shouldn’t be too difficult. What shocked Julian was that Karel, for the sake of a stranger named Sasha, was pleading with him using the term ‘bro’.

“Even though I’ve always told him to call me ‘bro’ since we were kids, he rarely does, except as a joke… and now, of all times…”

Julian slumped onto the couch. He could clearly see Karel’s nervousness, despite his attempts to hide it.

Despite growing up together, while Julian always considered Karel as a true younger brother, Karel always regarded Julian as someone he should look up to. No matter how much Julian insisted Karel could call him ‘bro’ and act like brothers, Karel never crossed the line, always maintaining respect for Julian’s position. Julian thought it was just Karel’s personality and stubbornness…

Julian let out a quiet sigh, then asked Karel a question, barely audible.

“Did you ask him about his plans?”

“Plans?”

“Yeah. Whether he’s going with us or not.”

At Julian’s question, Karel seemed a little puzzled.

“You didn’t ask him? It’s not just because of the communication issue… he just decided to come along by himself.”

Julian furrowed his brow. Given the effort Karel had put in so far, it didn’t make sense to just let it go, but somehow Julian couldn’t shake off a feeling of unease. Karel had no intention of letting Sasha go.

No, it wasn’t just that. It seemed Karel didn’t even consider the possibility that Sasha might reject him. Watching Karel’s blind devotion felt like witnessing a teenager’s first love, and Julian felt a momentary dizziness. Even if he felt like he was late to the game in terms of romance, he didn’t expect it to be this intense…

“Well, forget it. I’ll ask him myself.”

“Why? What are you going to ask?”

“Why? Well, he might have his own plans too. Just like we have our travel itinerary, he must have his life plans. If we’re going to mess with that because of us, we should ask for his understanding. Don’t you think?”

Julian’s words were entirely sensible, but Karel frowned.

“Sasha… I’ll take care of him. I’ll accommodate his wishes, but…”

“Okay, okay. It’ll be as you say. It’ll be something we’ll figure out. My question is whether we’re forcibly taking him with us or pretending to ask for his opinion…”

Karel paused for a moment, lost in thought, then nodded.

The two of them exchanged various conversations while waiting for Sasha to come out of the bathroom. However, no matter how much time passed, Sasha didn’t emerge. Julian was the first to realize.

“But isn’t it too quiet inside?”

“Huh?”

Julian’s words made Karel raise his head. “How long has he been in there washing up? I can’t hear any sound from inside…”

As Julian pointed out, there was no longer the sound of water coming from the bathroom. Karel approached the bathroom and listened for any sound inside. With no sound of water or movement, an abnormal silence hung in the air. After hesitating for a moment, Karel cautiously opened the door.

Upon seeing what was inside, Karel widened his eyes and hurriedly rushed in.

“What’s going on?” Julian shouted towards the room, but there was no response. After a moment of splashing water, Karel emerged carrying a man wrapped in a large towel, his limp arms suggesting he might be unconscious. Julian, startled, also stood up and approached Karel.

“It’s that guy. No, more importantly… what happened? Did he pass out?”

“He almost drowned.”

“Wait, don’t lay him on the bed! He’s dripping wet.”

Ignoring Julian’s words, Karel carefully laid the soaked Sasha on the bed. He placed his hand under Sasha’s nose, listening for the faint heartbeat.

“His breathing is shallow.”

Then, with an infinitely worried gaze, Karel looked down at Sasha.

“He’s running a fever all over. We need to call a doctor.”

“Maybe he got dizzy from taking a hot bath? It could happen… especially if he’s already weak. It’s easy to faint when you’re in water with low stamina.”

“How weak must he be for that to happen? I’ve never experienced anything like this.”

Karel fetched extra towels and began to gently dry Sasha’s wet hair. His careful touch reminded him of the way he would care for newborn goats at the estate.

Julian resisted the urge to nag and sat on the couch. From the looks of it, Karel was clearly going to be tied up with Sasha for a while.

“By the way, how did you find him?”

“…I just happened to run into him.”

Karel deliberately hid the fact that he found Sasha in the gang’s hideout. He didn’t want to hear Julian’s scornful remarks about it.

“By chance? Where?”

“I was also drunk, so I don’t remember well. I rescued someone being beaten up by someone else, and it turned out to be Sasha.”

As Karel said, Sasha’s face was marked with prominent bruises. These bruises adorned his face with shades of red, blue, and yellow. Though they should have been wounds to be lamented, on Sasha’s face, they merely added a layer of pitiful decoration.

Karel couldn’t imagine how it would look in his eyes, but to Julian, the touch of Karel’s hand soothing Sasha’s bruised cheek seemed as delicate as stroking a feather, and his gentle touch on Sasha’s cold bare feet even appeared somewhat desperate.

Julian let out a short sigh. In the blink of an eye, he could see the path ahead with Karel, who had turned into a caregiver for Sasha.

—

Sasha, there’s no kindness in this world without a price. So always be cautious of people’s kindness and don’t easily give your heart away.” Sasha Serdrin remembered the words his mother, Galina, always used to say. However, as a child, he couldn’t understand why this was emphasized among the many truths his mother imparted during her lifetime. With his long eyelashes, chubby cheeks, and plush pink lips, Sasha, as cute as an angel, was treated kindly by everyone, adults and children alike. Yet, living on looks alone is shallow, and especially for the poor, it could easily become a pretext for ridicule. Knowing this well, Galina taught Sasha the need to be wary of people’s kindness. She also advised young Sasha to live a quietly ordinary life, unnoticed as much as possible.

Sasha thought to himself. Living an ordinary life wasn’t difficult at all. Sasha had no desire to become like his friends who ended up in prison for robbery, nor did he want to live like the neighbor who had been married eight times. He simply wanted to become an ordinary peasant like his brother Levin. And one day, fleeing his homeland, Sasha thought to himself, he should have realized sooner why his mother had given him such teachings.

***

Sasha began learning dance at the age of eleven. However, it was not a formal education but a “beginning,” as there were obstacles. Compared to professional dancers who started their education at five or even younger, he was quite late, and the reason for starting was nothing more than coincidence. It was the day the school invited a ballet dancer for a special class. Sasha had originally planned to go sledding with friends at that time. However, seeing Sasha concerned about the possibility of few people attending the special class, his favorite teacher, sensing his discomfort, eventually persuaded him to attend.

“Sasha came! How grateful we are! You’re the only boy here.” The teacher’s words were true. However, Sasha, who rarely received attention due to his quiet demeanor and lack of involvement, became more noticeable than anyone else once the class began. Praised for quickly following the moves, Sasha received plenty of compliments. As someone who seldom stood out due to his reserved nature, Sasha remembered the excitement he felt that day for a long time. Returning home after practicing the steps dozens of times, he proudly boasted to his mother. However, Galina dismissed Sasha’s words as insignificant. “It must have been fun. Perhaps you felt special because you were invited.”