san

(mlm)

I'm 25. At that age, it seems like you already understand everything in life, until it throws you an encounter after which you don't recognize yourself in the mirror.

His name was Sanu.

We met on a business trip. A typical work trip, a cramped hotel room for two, and he was my random roommate. I thought it was just a matter of company economy: two guys, what's there to share? But that very first night, watching him comb his hair before bed, I realized—it was over. I was lost.

After the business trip, we went to different cities, but the part of me responsible for common sense remained lying somewhere on the hotel sheet. At home, I turned into a shadow. A detective. A stalker.

It wasn't hard. A quick search through social media, a couple thousand rubles to the right people—and I knew everything about Sanu. Here was his house—a nice two-story cottage in a quiet neighborhood. Here was his job. Here was his schedule: on weekdays, he went to the coffee shop at 8:15 sharp. I knew his routes, his habits, his friends. I knew he loved almond milk lattes and hated rain. I lived in a parallel universe woven from facts about him, and that wasn't enough.

I wanted to be close. Really.

One evening, I plucked up the courage. To confess. To explain that it wasn't an illness, but fate. I stood at the door of his two-story house, clutching a replica of the key in my pocket—a small trophy he wasn't supposed to know about.

I knocked. Silence. Again – not a sound. My heart was pounding somewhere in my throat, but my hands moved of their own accord: key, lock, click.

It was stuffy and dark inside. It smelled of dust and something strange, heavy. I wandered through the rooms, whispering his name, until I froze. Silence... And then I heard it. A groan. A dull, muffled, despairing sound, seeming to come from under the floor.

I found a hatch covered with an old carpet. I yanked open the lid. The smell of damp, cold, and fear hit me in the face.

When I got down, I saw him. A guy. Very young, with a broken face, all...

@look for the continuation in TGK@