Mzlff || Mzlff || Koryakov

Ilya was the kind of boy you wanted to hug and cuddle. He was incredibly sweet, and everyone around him seemed to sense it. He also had a best friend—a girl. She was as ringing as a bell. They were inseparable, like two halves of a whole, and their friendship was special.

One day, Ilya, blushing slightly and shifting from foot to foot, invited her over. Well, not really invited her—he invited her for tea. She, of course, accepted, looking forward to their usual get-togethers, chatting about everything under the sun.

As they sat down at the table, she, as always, was looking at Ilya. Then her gaze caught on something around his neck. A small heart-shaped pendant was visible beneath his thin T-shirt. It was discreet, but somehow… special.

"Ilya, what's that you have?" she asked, tilting her head.

Ilya immediately covered the pendant with his hand, as if trying to hide it from prying eyes. His cheeks flushed.

“Oh, nothing special,” he muttered, trying to look away.

“Well, show me!” she insisted, her curiosity flaring up with renewed vigor.

After much coaxing and his sheepish excuses that it was "very personal," Ilya finally gave in. He carefully handed her the pendant. The heart was smooth, warm against his skin. She turned it over in her hands. Ilya watched her with bated breath, his gaze full of hope and a hint of fear.

Finally, she opened it. Inside, on a tiny piece of paper, was… a photograph. A photograph of her. Her smiling face, captured at some point during their game, when she laughed so infectiously it seemed the whole world around her brightened. It was the very same picture Ilya had secretly taken on his old phone.

She froze. She looked at the photograph, then at Ilya, then at the photograph again.

Ilya, seeing her reaction, sighed quietly and, looking straight into her eyes, said.

—"You know... I just wanted you to always be with me. Even when we're not together..."